Transcripts For CNN CNN Newsroom 20120711

are giving children a chance. children that otherwise could be locked in failing schools. i was inspired a few weeks ago by students in a charter school in philadelphia. right here in houston, there's a remarkable story, the knowledge is power program thanks to groundbreaking work of the late harriet ball. these charter schools are doing a lot more than closing the achievement gap. they are bringing hope and real opportunity to places where for years there has been none. charter schools are so successful that almost every politician can find something good to say about them. as we saw in massachusetts, true reform requires much more of the talk. as governor, i vetoed the bill blocking charter schools. but my legislature was 87% democrat and my veto could have been easily over written. so i joined with the black legislati legislative caucus and their votes help preserved my veto, which meant that new charter schools, including some in urban neighborhoods, would be opened. [ applause ] when it comes to education reform, candidates can't have it both ways. talking up education reform while indulging in the same groups that are blocking reform, you can be the voice of disadvantaged public school students or the protector of special interests like the teacher unions but you can't be both. i've made my choice, as president, i will be a champion of real education reform in america and i won't let any special interest get in the way. [ applause ] i will give the parents of every low-income and special needs student the chance to choose where their child goes to school. for the first time in history, if i'm president, federal education funds will be linked to a student so that parents can send their student to any public or charter school they choose. and i'll make that a true choice because i'm going to ensure there are good options available for every child. and should i be elected president, i'll lead as i did when i was governor. i'm pleased to be joined by the reverend jeffrey brown who was part of my kich cabinet. i'll look for support wherever there is goodwill and shared con conviction and i'll work with you to help our students attend better schools and help our economy create good jobs with better wages. i can't promise you that i'll agree on every issue, but i do promise that your hospitality to me today will be returned. we will know one another. [ applause ] and we will work the common purpose. i will seek your counsel. and if i'm elected president and you invite me to next year's convention, i will count it as a privilege and my answer will be yes. [ applause ] you know, the republican party's record by the measures you rightly apply is not perfect. any party that claims a perfect record does not know history the way you know it. yet always in both parties there have been men and women of integrity, decently, and humility who have called it justice by its name. for every one of us, a particular person comes to mind. someone who set a standard of conduct and made us better by their example. for me, that man is my father, george romney. it wasn't just that my dad helped right the civil rights provision for the massachusetts, he helped create michigan's first civil rights commission or that as governor he marched for civil rights on the streets of detroit, though he did those things, too. more than these acts, he was the kind of man he was and the way he dealt with every person, black or white. he was a man of the fairest instincts and a man of faith who knew that every person was a child of god. [ applause ] i'm grateful to him for so many things and, above all, for the knowledge of god whose ways are not always our ways but whose justice is certain and whose mercy endures forever. every good cause on this earth relies in the end on a plan bigger than ours without dependence on god, dr. king said, our efforts turn to ashes and our sun rises in the darkest night. we find only what called cures that don't cure, blessings that don't bless, and solutions that don't solve. end of quote. of all that you bring to work of today's civil rights cause, no advantage is more than the abiding confidence in the name above every name. against cruelty, arrogance, and all the foolishness of man, this spirit has carried the naacp to many victories. more still are up ahead. [ applause ] so many victories are ahead and with each one of them we will be a better nation. thank you so much and god bless every one of you. thank you. hello, everyone. i'm fredricka whitfield. you've been listening to mitt romney in houston at the naacp convention. receiving a lot of applause on free enterprise but receiving boos when talking about pushing to repeal obama care and that he would create jobs, that in his word, obama has failed to do and once again receiving some boos on that. just take a listen. >> now, i want you to know that if i did not believe that my policies and my leadership would help families of color and families of any color, more than the policies and leadership of president obama, i wouldn't be running for president. i'm going to eliminate every nonessential expensive program i can find. that includes obama care and i'm going to work and reform to save -- [ booing ]. >> mitt romney hearing from the audience there at the naacp again, hearing lots of boos and some applause on some of the points that he was making. jim acosta has been following this speech that mitt romney has been making there in houston and, you know, this was a very interesting thing because we heard from mit rom me who says this is very bold for him to be there, particularly addressing an audience, trying to appeal to an audience that polls will show in large part are in great support of president obama and at a time when mitt romney has been supporting those states that have put in place new restrictions on voter registration which many people believe makes it much more difficult for blakes and hispanics to actually vote come november. how did his words resonate, jim? >> reporter: i've been covering the romney campaign for a good portion of a year now and i taked to my fellow reporters and i have not heard that kind of sustained booing for mitt romney during the course of this campaign up until what happened today at the naacp. i don't think it really is sort of overstating it. this was, perhaps one of the most negative reactions mitt romney has had in the course of his 2012 presidential campaign. that booing that went on, after he said he would repeal the president's health care law, went on for nearly ten seconds. he used the term obama care which, by the way, that's fine in republican circles but democrats bristle at using the term obama care. we at cnn use the term the president's health care law instead of commenting to an audience that is very friendly to the audience and say you would repeal it is almost sort of inviting a confrontation. now, if you go on social media right now, you will see that there are a lot of republicans out there applauding mitt romney for coming into this audience and saying what he will do as president of the united states and this message may be designed not just for the naacp but to go out across the country because it's being carried live and go to those independent sectors of independent areas, battleground states and it's interesting to see the different takes on what happened here today, but no question about it, this was a very negative reaction to what mitt romney had to say here this morning. >> and it will be interesting to hear, jim, what romney thought about the reception there, what his own camp -- how they might spend this appearance by mitt romney there in houston. jim, thank you so much. let's discuss this further, however, with gop strategists and cnn contributor, anna navarro and donna brazil. anna, let me begin with you. was this mission accomplished for mitt romney? did he accomplish that goal that he set out to do by trying to say that the republican party by his very presence there is much more inclusive? >> i think it does send a very strong message of inclusiveness. look, fredricka, it's not easy to go into a tough crowd and mitt romney is showing that he can reach out to a tough crowd. he will go in and say the same thing to different groups even if it's not popular. so i think even all of those boos are not a bad thing because it shows that he is not pandering. it is not easy to go into a crowd like naacp and say that he's going to repeal obama care. he's saying it there like everywhere else. he gets points for consistency. this helps with swing votes, moderates, people that like to see inclusiveness and he absolutely in my books gets brownie points for showing up to a very tough audience. >> donna, what do you think? >> i thought the audience was polite. the americans that believe that obama care is something out of the ordinary, basically obama care or the affordable care act will allow many americans, especially those with pre-existing conditions and children to receive coverage. those that decided to boo on that occasion were right to boo because they understand the affordable a affordable care act will reduce the cost of health care in this country. i don't want to litigate health care. look, mitt romney would have gotten booed if he would have given the same speech that he gave to some of his tea party audienc audiences, that supports voter i.d. and will prevent many americans to exercise their vote. he's embracing the ryan budget that will create more joblessness. the estimates that the budget that mitt romney has embraced will essentially lead to more unemployment in this country. mitt romney embraced the tax cuts, his own economic proposals. he says he wants to reduce the deficit, there are independent analysis that will increase the deficit. i think what this audience wanted to hear was job, peace, and freedom and he got a long list of promises without any details of solutions. >> he did mention the items that you mentioned but he did propose more, greater efforts if elected president, greater efforts to award free enterprise as well as charter schools which seemed to resonate in the audience there, or he tried to then underscore examples when a massachusetts governor he was a great proponent of it and he would do the same if elected president. >> and he also -- you know, donna, you've got to give him credit for at least being there. yes, he made promises, which is the right thing for him to do. he also provided some specifics but at least he was there. where was barack obama, to this loyal friendly group, a good audience for him? that's not a lot of detail. >> is that what this is about, just arriving or arriving with a message? >> i think it's both things. >> ana, the point is, it's not just about showing up. it's about delivering as well. it's about the policies, the vision. and i think members of naacp -- it's a nonpartisan organization. our chapter president here in d.c. is a prominent, loyal republican who works on capitol hill for a very conservative member of congress. naacp has always, throughout its history, tried to invite leaders from both political parties. >> donna, we know that the overwhelming -- you know, the folks in that audience are overwhelmingly obama supporters. he got 90% of the african-american vote four years ago. he'll probably do the same this time around. we don't know if turnout will be the same. also, yes, showing up is important because showing up to a tough audience, speaking to them, and he did give them specifics and he did also call into question the 14.4 unemployment rate under the obama administration for the black community. that's something that requires answers and requires, you know, some specific proposals. i heard romney give some specific proposals and i heard him say things that the audience was very receptive. >> except i don't think any specific proposals as it related to that unemployment rate, specifically the 14% of african-americans. there will be other opportunities to digest what we've all heard today. ana navarro, donna brazile, thank you so much. we'll have much more in the newsroom. energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy development comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment. we're america's natural gas. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. all right. now to a story that is extremely disturbing. a woman abandoned her mentally challenged daughter outside of a bar in tennessee. she is 19 so by law an adult. when police found her, she couldn't tell them her address, phone number, not even her own name. in fact, they didn't know who she was until they got an anonymous tip. her mother is from illinois and refused to take her child back. >> when i didn't get the help i needed from illinois, somebody at the church said why don't you go down to tennessee. the mother cannot be charged because lynn is an adult. she is a ward of tennessee and is being taken care of. the fate of mississippi's only abortion clinic hangs in the balance. today a judge will decide whether the clinic should stay open while it challenges the constitutionality of a new law. the clinic says it hasn't been able to get those privileges for its out of state doctors. david mattingly is joining us right now from jackson. david, the primary issue is whether this clinic can comply with the new law but it goes a lot further than that, doesn't it? >> reporter: that's right. that's because there are ten states in the country now with a law that is similar to this that requires doctors who perform aborrowings to have admitting privileges at hospitals. mississippi is not alone. other states will be watching what is happening here but at issue here, the question is, is this law exactly what its proponents say that it is, that it's a measure to help women seeking abortions in the state of mississippi, or as its proponents say that it's making it harder for women to have an abortion. >> the most important thing is that the women of mississippi have access to all reproductive health care, including abortion. abortion is safe, highly regulated, and it's really time for lawmakers to do what planned parenthood does every day and that is to ensure that reproductive care is available to all women. >> reporter: we did some digging here in the state of mississippi. this one clinic performs over 2,000 abortions a year. it has been owned by the same owner for the last two years. so out of that 4 to 5,000 abortions that have been performed at that clinic in the last two years, the state tells us there was only one case where a woman had some minor complications after her abortion. so with those kinds of statistics, the opponents of this law are saying that this is politically driven and driven to the intent of limiting aborrowinabortions in the state of mississippi. the governor did say this was the first step towards what he hopes will be an abortion-free mississippi. fredricka? >> david, have there been safety issues involving that clinic? >> reporter: well, again, that clinic -- talking directly to the state health department, they say that has been operated very well. over the last two years they've performed about five inspections a year there, they have uncovered a couple of violations, there was a paperwork violation and there was a problem with the generator. two things that did not affect patient care there. but overall they are saying this clinic is doing a very good job of taking care of its patients and the owners of the clinic say in two years not a single patient has had an abortion there and then had to be taken to the hospital directly. >> david mattingly, you'll be bringing us more on this story. tomorrow, the head of the women organization will be joining us live and get her reaction to what might be coming out of the hearing today. our current dividend tax rate will expire this year, sending taxes through the roof and hindering economic recovery. the consequences? millions of americans will see their taxes on dividend income spike, slowing investment in u.s. companies and jeopardizing development in energy projects that create american jobs. ask congress to stop a dividend tax hike -- for all of us. for all of us. 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[ announcer ] beneful. play. it's good for you. health experts say they have solved the mystery illness that is killing dozens of children in cambodia. it's not just one thing but a series of causes. chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, is joining us from phnom penh. what are the causes of death? >> you know, it's been a mystery for some time, fredricka. early on they found a one particular virus but didn't find it in all of the samples. over the last few days we've now learned the world health organization officials, along with the ministry here, have isolated a couple of more pathogens. one is known as streptocaucis. why were the children dying so quickly? and one thing they figured out, and this is important, many of these patients also received steroids early on. and steroids, a common medication, can be anti-inflammatory but it can also knock down someone's immune system. when that happens, a dangerous infection can turn into a deadly one. different organisms that were causing infections and then steroids allowing them to run amuck. >> and it's happened so quickly, the death of these children, we're talking this 24-hour period in which they can die. it really is the touch and go period for them. should residents expect to hear more of these deaths in weeks to come? and are these -- is this contagious even? >> yeah. you know, the backop here is important as well. this is country where already this season you've had 11,000 some cases of the fever. there is a good chance that there will be more infections although they do seem to be dwindling. there hasn't seemed to be a confirmed case of this illness solved since saturday. the key point here, though, is if they don't give steroids, they are much more likely to survive. certainly many doctors thought it would be contagious but it just doesn't seem to be. children within the same household not getting it, people within the same community not clustering it. it could be that people are getting the infection but with some people it's so mild that they don't even recognize that they have it so they are not getting treatment and may not be getting sick. concerns about other people living in cambodia or people traveling to cambodia, the concern is pretty low, fredricka. >> thank you so much. the world health organization is expected to officially release their findings to the public later today or perhaps even tomorrow. this is new york state. we built the first railway, the first trade route to the west, the greatest empires. then, some said, we lost our edge. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. a place where innovation meets determination... and businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. ♪ i want to go ♪ i want to win [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow ♪ i want to try ♪ i can almost touch the sky [ male announcer ] even the planet has an olympic dream. dow is proud to support that dream by helping provide greener, more sustainable solutions from the olympic village to the stadium. solutionism. the new optimism.™ ♪ this dream all right. this is a question that parents and doctors wrestle with all the time. if he or she is in pain, should they be given pain pills? a study has been conducted to test the prescription oxycontin on children. >> reporter: the powerful painkiller has brought relief to millions but it's also made headlines for its abuse. rush limbaugh, courtney love whose addiction became public. the latest controversy, a study under way to test the effects of oxycontin on children. >> my concern is the reason they are interested in this research is they want to get approval to market the drug for use in children. >> reporter: doctors have been prescribing oxycontin to children for years, doing it off label. in other words, prescribing it even though it's only approved for adults, often improvising dosage because there's no research on how much to give children. the fda asked the maker to conduct a study, offering the company to extend the patent on oxycontin that would translate to millions. the child must be between 6 and 16 years old, must be suffering from moderate to severe pain, must already be receiving treatment with opioates. one of the lead trial investigators -- >> it's not fair to the child to withhold a treatment that can help them recover and feel better and be productive. >> well, i have complete compassion -- >> reporter: her child has rheumatoid arthritis. his chronic condition is managed without oxycontin but the study would help parents and doctors make more informed decisions. >> worrying about the teens getting addicted to oxycontin because of the clinical trials in children, it's so silly because one thing has nothing to do with each other. >> reporter: this recovering oxycontin addict disagrees, worried that the study could lead to more addiction. he was addicted following a baseball injury when he was 18. >> it's a fine line between, is this going to help or create more chaos in the future. >> reporter: first introduced in the late '90s, oxycontin was promoted as nearly addiction-proof. purdue farmer pled guilty and reformulated oxycontin. as for the study, purdue says it's not trying advertise the drug for children. to clinicians that may consider using the product in children with moderate to severe chronic pain. >> jason, how long is this study being conducted? >> well, we're told that the study lasts for four weeks. doctors have the option to extend it outside of that study. we're lls told from doctors who have been participating in the study that so far the patients who have been participating in the four-week study, they have all been weaned off the oxycontin within weeks after taking it it. >> and so it's not just oxycontin, right? there are other addictive drugs being prescribed to children? >> that's what we found surprising in doing some of the research on this story. there are a lot of medications out there, it's not just oxycontin that we're talking about here. painkillers, other types of medication approved for adults routinely prescribed off label. some 50% of drugs that, once again, are approved for adults are often times prescribed to children. and so i think what parents have to do, fredricka, is when you take your child in and whether it's pain management or any other type of medication, be sure to ask your doctor, is this approved for children in if not, how much experience do you have in prescribing it it to children in. >> great question to ask. thank you so much, jason carroll. visit nlm.gov for more information. ♪ how are things on the west coast? 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[ female announcer ] new ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. twenty-one vitamins and minerals. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach. refreshing nutrition in charge! first it was stockton, california, the largest city in the nation to file for bankruptcy. but the bankruptcy hits just keep coming. another california city, a third in less than one month is seeking bankruptcy protection. this time, it's san bernardino. its leaders voted to approve bankruptcy. there is a shortfall of nearly $46 billion. city leaders say was he is exacerbated by the recession. and it's a dark day for sponge bob fans who watch tv. nickelodeon, mtv, comedy central, and all of the other viacom networks went dark at midnight for the most popular satellite service. the issue, as always, is money. and each side blames the other for the blackout. our alison kosik is watching, so to speak. somebody needs to blink here. we need that daily show, don't we? >> it's kind of a game of chicken, isn't it? viacom stations on directv went dark minutes before reaching a deadline deal. directv had said it was willing to continue carrying the channels while they duked it out. viacom said they are not up for that. a big part of the situation is over what is known as bundling m directv wants to let subscribers to pick and choose what channels they want instead of taking all of viacom's channels in a big mandatory bundle. you have to think, all of those hundreds of channels that you have on your dial that you don't watch, that you barely know exist. cable programmers are used to bundling, used to giving you sort of everything at once and they don't want this al a carte situation. >> what is happening on the stocks? we're four days now and counting with the losing streak. >> yes. it could be yet one more tacked on to that. stocks are a bit lower. dow down 31 points. investors are looking ahead in about three hours when the fed minutes are going to come out. that's the latest federal reserve meeting. we can get the fly on the wall perspective of what they discussed on that meeting. investors want to see if there's any indication that the central bank is considering stepping in with more stimulus to try to give a jump-start to the economy. calls for the stimulus are getting much louder after the weaker than expected jobs report came out last week showing that only 80,000 jobs were added to the economy in june. fredricka? >> thank you so much, alison. folks don't believe how nasty it is getting between directv and viacom? its website tells viewers where to go online to watch viacom for free. lance armstrong faces doping charges. two doctors and a trainer involved and slapped with lifetime sports bans by the u.s. anti--doping agency. armstrong and the three staffers all maintain their innocence, though armstrong is the only one to enter a legal proceeding with the agency. as the violence in skier yeah escalates, the main opposition group is pushing for a solution, too. the counsel's leader is meeting with russia's foreign minister seen here. the council is laying out a series of proposals of how to resolve the crisis. the meeting is key since russia and china have vetoed resolutions to condemn the regime. at the same time, u.s. officials are watching russia's ship to make their way to tartous. they say it's part of resupply. kofi annan is debriefing the u.n. so for many syrians, this is a reality. extreme violence, explosions, death daily. in fact, the u.n. estimates that more than 10,000 people have been killed over the past 16 months of carnage. but there's another side to the reality of syria. one of the syrian elite, largely unseen by the outside world. but newsweek is taking a revealing look and what this reporter finds behind this backdrop of violence of protests behind bashar al assad is revealing. you spent a good amount of time there and you were able to explore the lives of what turned out to be syria's elite. they were going about their business per usual. describe what you saw and under what circumstances did you see this? >> well, i first have to point out that this is a very small portion of the population and i think in any regime, like assad or saddam before he fell, you always will find a certain sector that had money, that had the ability to party, in a sense, while the country is collapsing. and there's also a sense of delusion that this isn't going to happen to them. i think that for many people in syria, there's a great fear. more than anything there's a fear of what will happen. and so even while this elite continue or try to continue with their lives, most are questioning what will come after this if assad goes, when he does go, what will become of us? will we have to go into exile? will we have to flee to lebanon or paris? what will come next. >> one viewer said i don't completely agree with bashar al assad but i don't believe now is the time for change? >> one of the things i wanted to accomplish by going on the al assad side, i had a government visa which is a very rare thing to get, i wanted to get into the heads of the pro assad heads, what are they thinking? what are they feeling? do they believe massacres are happening? how do they view him as a leader? and you should remember that this is a country that is monitored heavily by the secret. they're followed. the secret police are everywhere. so people live in a state of fear. i think the people i spoke to, which range from christian nuns to musicians to playwrites to writers all seemed to have a fear of if the opposition wins will there be a radical fundamentalist change? now, this is not completely accurate. but many of them say saudi and qatar are backing the opposition. >> they weren't necessarily government supporters meaning they don't necessarily work for the government. they don't have special interests in the government, but they are private enterprise. they are independent workers? >> businessmen, people that have made money and live an extravagant or even just a wealthy life. and they're wondering what will happen to them. and they've done well in some ways under the assad regime. if a new regime comes in or whoever does come in they're worried about what will happen to their lives. but most people are worried what will happen to them in an ordinary way. >> right. yeah. >> to their children, how they'll continue to educate people. >> you're right about a couple things. you say they see assad as a real garntor of civility and you also write that, quote, there is a deep sense of dread kept at bay by distraction and perhaps even delusion, so is it an issue of delusion or denial or is this kind of like a survival mechanism for some who say, you know, who actually said to you, one gentleman or one woman actually saying to you, you know, we can either choose to live or we can choose to live in fear. >> well, frederica, i've covered many wars and have been in situations just before wars break out and what i've observed is that people try to survive whatever way they can. some people pick up their passports, their children, and they flee. they take their money out of the bank if not too late already and they go. there are other people who do not believe this could happen to their country. i interviewed many people who said, intelligent, educated people, who did not believe that assad was killing his own people, that it was not committed by government troops. so i think in a way many people do live in delusion. >> yes. >> but most of it is backed up by fear. a fear of change, a fear of what could happen, a fear of the unknown. >> well, it is a fascinating read. thanks so much for your time. you can read more of janine's reporting on syria's elite in "newsweek" the july 16th edition. the medicare debate continues in washington... ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org. did you know honey nut cheerios is america's favorite cereal? oh, you're good! hey, did you know that honey nut cheerios is... oh you too! ooh, hey america's favorite cereal is... honey nut cheerios ok then off to iceland! we'd all like to think only good happens to good people. we know it's not always the case. in this week's human factor chief medical correspondent sanjay gupta talks to a social worker whose dream of helping cancer patients was postponed when he had to face his own diagnosis. >> i'm going to ask you first to just take three deep breaths. >> reporter: richard dickins is a social worker who works exclusively with cancer patients. here he's using meditation to help patients cope. >> it really is just calming the body and quieting the mind. >> reporter: dickins knows all too well the emotional struggle of these sick. as he was looking forward to graduate school to become a social worker he got devastating news. >> i got the inhave i education to columbia university and then my number one choice on a monday and a cancer diagnosis the next day. >> reporter: at 37 he was diagnosed with advanced, nonhodgkins lymphoma. he underwent six months aggressive chemo and a bone marrow transplant, but he didn't give up his dream of helping others. >> without ever anticipating i'd get cancer i wanted to work with cancer/aids patients. >> reporter: during his illness he stumbled across cancer care, an organization that helps people through the emotional and financial maze that comes with cancer. >> riding the new york city subway to my doctor's appointment i'm looking up at the advertisements and there was one for cancer care. got into a young adult group during that time and learned a lot from a lot of other people and felt safe sharing that. >> reporter: once in remission he was able to start grad school at columbia. >> well, we do have a very small grant. >> reporter: after graduating, he began working for cancer care. he started to run the very support group he had previously participated in as a patient. today he's cancer care's mind-body project coordinator. >> my life is definitely very rich, very rewarding, and i feel i'm where i'm supposed to be. people keep coming back, so i am confident that they're getting a lot from me and i hope so. >> reporter: dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, reporting. >> richard dickens shares personal thoughts and journey on his blog which you can read at cnn health.com. thanks so much for watching. much more of the newsroom straight ahead with suzanne malveaux with the newsroom international. skyscrapers, the greatest empires. we pushed the country forward. then, some said, we lost our edge. we couldn't match the pace of the new business world. well today, there's a new new york state. one that's working to attract businesses and create jobs. build energy highways and high-tech centers. nurture start-ups and small businesses. reduce tax burdens and provide the lowest middle class tax rate in 58 years. once again, new york state is a place where innovation meets determination and where businesses lead the world. the new new york works for business. find out how it can work for yours at thenewny.com. 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[ female announcer ] only from aveeno. welcome to newsroom international. i'm suzanne malveaux. we're taking you around the world in 60 minutes. going on now, dozens of children 2 and 3 years old died horribly of a mysterious disease that had doctors racing to find a cure. they had no idea what was happening until today. they know. i am talking about cambodia. a deadly outbreak sprang up this year killing children. 64 children died in all. i want to take you live to cambodia right now. dr. sanjay gupta is there and he is finding out what is causing the sickness is one thing. curing it is another. what do we know today? >> reporter: the number 64, that was out of 66 cases. so what we were hearing was a nearly 100% lethal illness here. what we're learning now just over the last day, suzanne, is that in addition to enterovirus 71, we talked about that yesterday, that's the pathogen that causes hand, foot, and mouth disease there were two other pathogens found. this includes the pathogen that causes denge fever something quite common in this country. they have 11,000 cases. the questions they were trying to answer, why were these pathogens so aggressive and leading to the death of these children as you mentioned 24 hours after admission? and one thing the world health organization is pointing to is the use, inappropriate use of steroids in these children. steroids as you may know is a medication that is an antiinflammatory but in someone who has an inif he goes it suppresses the immune system allowing that infection to be more deadly. so it can take a dangerous infection and turn it into a deadly one. that's the simplest and best way i can sort of put this together. that's how this mystery illness gets solved. >> what is next in terms of doctors dealing with this? >> well, you know, the big thing is a message from the world health organization to doctors to health care teams all around cambodia saying reframe from using steroids. i think that's going to be a message that is going to be heard loud and clear. you know, with regard to the infections themselves, this is a part of a world where we saw avian flu originate, we saw sars originate. there are going to be infectious diseases but how deadly they are and how much impact they make is obviously the name of the game here. in addition to not using steroids, they're going to try and prevent the spread of the infection as much as possible. some of this is just simple messages, things you and i have talked about a lot. even after all the reporting reminding people to wash hands because hand and mouth transmission is one of the ways these pathogens are spread. so important, simple reminders. >> is this something that could happen in another country if the conditions were right? >> yeah, it absolutely could. we've been talking to a lot of doctors who have looked at these sorts of things in other countries. in fact, they've seen enterovirus 71 outbreaks in other countries. they've seen them even cause deaths. again, what was different here was just how quickly and how much destruction of the lungs for example we were seeing with this particular pathogen. it can happen but from a contagious standpoint i think you can walk back some of the concerns that we heard early on. this is the good news. does not appear to be contagious or clustering. does not appear to be a necessity for travel warnings for people visiting cambodia so it's little good news in there as well. >> thank you, sanjay. appreciate it. also in cambodia right now for a different reason secretary of state hillary clinton is there. she landed in cambodia just a little while ago. this is her arrival in neighboring laos earlier in the day. she is the first u.s. secretary of state to visit laos. that is in 57 years. she was only there for four hours. she met with the communist country's prime minister. clinton is touring the part of the world once known as indochina. laos, cambodia, vietnam. she is attending an economic and cultural summit in cambodia. followup to a story we first told you about yesterday. police have charged this egyptian couple with putting their child at risk. this is an unbelievable story here. they are accused of trying to smuggle their baby in a carry on bag through airport security at united arab emirates. people say the parents didn't want to wait for visa papers for this infant so they put him in the security and we understand the baby is in good condition. syria's ambassador to iraq has defected according to two members of the opposition syrian national council. he is actually the highest ranking diplomat to defect since the uprising against the regime of president assad. meanwhile, the bloodshed continues. opposition group says 34 people have been killed already today in syria. 16 months into the carnage and all of the diplomatic dealings in the world have failed to end the government's attack on its own people. new efforts are now under way by the u.n. arab league special envoy kofi annan fresh from peace talks in syria, iran, and iraq. he is now briefing the security council about what he thinks is the way to end the syrian crisis. we want to bring in richard roth of the u.n. there. so tell us a little about this. the u.n. security council wants to hear what he has to say. they have to make a decision. what are the options right now? >> well, for assures who may not be familiar with how the u.n. works the secretary general of the u.n. makes recommendations to his bosses. the u.n. security council. and then the council decides. they have until approximately july 20th or so to decide what to do with this in effect failed mission in syria -- 300 unarmed observers who were unable to quell the violence by moving around and trying to keep tabs on who was doing what to who. so there are three options the secretary general of the u.n. has proposed to the security council and kofi annan the former secretary general is briefing the council now on the situation on the ground and peace talk opportunities. according to the current u.n. secretary general the recommendations the council will consider three options. number one the most likely shifting the focus of this mission deployed in syria to a consolidation, move people from around the country of syria into damascus to have a central office and then focus on political transition talks. not totally transition but talking with all factions of syrian society. it really won't stop the violence in any way. option number two of course, more observers and increasing arm protectioprotection, rated by various diplomats. number three would be dismantling the mission and bringing everyone home. that doesn't appear likely. they are not ready to give up yet on this mission. so three major options that the security council is considering. >> richard, there was also a meeting that took place in moscow today between russia and the opposition leaders who want mr. assad to go. how did that go? >> well, that's a little unique, the opposition which wants president assad out and has never agreed to any kind of talks and russia which has been all about let's talk in moscow and have several meetings between assad representatives and the opposition. it's never happened. it doesn't appear according to diplomats and would happen and the opposition told the russians, look, assad's got to go. everyone's got to go before we sit down and talk. the russians said, yes, this is all part of a process but only through diplomacy can you achieve some solutions. of course, russia is still a major arms supplier to syria. it said yesterday through some government officials it will stop any new sales and delivery to syria, but certainly the connection between moscow and damascus is strong and strong enough here at the u.n. to block any new resolutions which some countries want to have along with those three options on what to do in syria. they'll all agree to new considerations, but various countries want more pressure put on. >> still a lot to work through there. all right. thank you. appreciate it. many world leaders are condemning syrian president bashar al assad the embattled dictator. he has found an ally in venezuela, president chavez has recently sent three large diesel shipments to syria despite international sanctions and "the wall street journal" is reporting a fourth shipment is now in the works. critics warn there could be military material hidden inside those ships. here is more of what we're working on for this hour in newsroom international. a woman is found dead in london. her husband is in custody. he is the son of one of the wealthiest men in the world. i was teaching a martial arts class and having a heart attack. my brother doesn't look like a heart attack patient. i'm on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. i'm a fighter and now i don't have that fear. ...more talk on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org. try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. everyone in the united kingdom is talking about this mystery today. the death of a woman and what might have happened to her and how much one of the world's richest families is involved. this is eva rousing and her billionaire husband hance. she was found dead this week in her home in london. the same day he was arrested on drug charges. now we're hearing details about the couple's past run-ins with police also involving drugs. we want to go live to london. first of all, tell us why everybody is so interested in this mystery. >> reporter: well the rausing family is one of the richest in the world. you know those liquid containers? this was invented by the grandfather hans rausing jr. and his father is actually worth $10 billion. it is a staggering amount of wealth. that is one reason why they're all interested but also there are these reports of hard core drug use by the couple. in about 2008 they were both arrested for possession of heroin and crack cocaine when eva rausing attempted to smuggle drugs into a party at the u.s. embassy. this is a couple known both for their wealth but also their hard partying. that's why there is a lot of interest in this. >> what do they believe happened to this woman? >> well, they don't really know yet. her death is classified as unexplained. an inquest is ongoing. we should know in a few days' time. hopefully. we don't even know how long the body was in the house. what we know is the circumstances around it that hans rausing jr. was apparently driving err at cli, stopped by police, arrested for suspicion of drug possession, and that's when police went into the home and discovered the body of eva rausing in an upstairs room. we understand that now hans rausing has been rearrested and questioned in connection with her death but is currently receiving medical treatment. so we probably won't get any answers on exactly what caused her death until at least a few more days. >> this is kind of a weird report. some media reporting that inside the uk hans rausing might have lived in the house for a week or more with his wife's body. are police commenting about that? >> they are not. they say they simply do not know how long the body was in the house. it is something that they are hoping the inquest will be able to tell them. at this point it's pure speculation. we just don't know. >> and what about the rest of the rausing family? are they actually influential in how this is being handled? >> they are. the rausing family is very well known here for their efforts at philanthropy and academia. for example hans and eva rausing were known by prince charles because they were big donors to the prince's trust. so they were very well known here. they weren't directly involved in the business which earned all of this money for them. their father had divested his shares in the business a long time ago in 1995. but they're very well known in london for their philanthropy work especially and sadly eva rausing gave almost a million dollars to a charity that tried to prevent young people from getting hooked on drugs. >> the irony. well, thank you. it's really a very interesting and mysterious story there. appreciate it. what do you do if the government starts making cuts and it hits you where you work? if you're a minor in spain you take your grievances to the street. by the looks of it, we're going to take you there live to see how that's turning out. many of us have experienced cuts in salaries, christmas bonuses gone. earlier today spain's prime minister announced similar measures in his speech and thousands of minors marched to madrid. they had been walking for hundreds of miles to protest cuts already made to the coal industry. as the miners arrived they were welcomed by supporters, all gather nerd the streets. as you can see, violence broke out between the protesters and police. al goodman is in madrid. the miners say you cut the subsidies it puts them out of work so they're taking to the streets. do you think when you see those scenes unfold it is going to make any difference? >> reporter: hi, suzanne. those scenes unfolded right here where we're standing because the miners were bringing their protests to the industry ministry behind me trying to get the government to reverse course and the clashes left 76 people injured, 43 protesters and 33 police officers among them. now, some of the miners say it does appear the government is not going to change course but they are going to keep fighting anyway. all of this happening by the way as the government, as the prime minister in parliament this morning announced a new round of austerity cutbacks and new round of tax hikes because the spanish banks need a bailout from europe and europe has said you will get the money but there are conditions. we want more budget austerity. >> where does this go here? you've already got 25% unemployment, new cuts announced by the prime minister. so you're talking families, businesses, people who are obviously going to be impacted. where do they go from here? >> well, if you listen to the prime minister, the hard times have to come now and later, later there will be the good times but if you talk to the families not just the miners but so many other people across the board among the cuts today reducing the length of the unemployment benefits the prime minister saying people have to get back to work and go out and look for a job but there aren't jobs to be had. basically people are suffering and what we're hearing from experts is right now the only safety net is to extended families and that is under extreme pressure f that breaks things could get a lot worse. >> it may seem like a political question but a lot of people are asking this and warning the new financial package could put spain into a deeper recession. so do you think they're talking about they need more growth over cuts to get out of the economic decline? >> well, that has been a very vibrant debate by some of the world's leading economists not just in spain but outside the opposition to the prime minister, remember he has a commanding majority in parliament. doesn't have to listen to anybody else and his critics say he doesn't. he could be making cuts to the wealthiest. tax increases on the wealthiest people like is happening next door in france where the socialist president is taxing the wealthiest people and not putting these critics here saying all of the problems on the workers' backs. >> people are facing hard times in spain but when you visit a spanish flea market ask them how they're doing, well, it might surprise you. at shell, we believe the world needs a broader mix of energies. that's why we're supplying natural gas to generate cleaner electricity... that has around 50% fewer co2 emissions than coal. and it's also why, with our partner in brazil, shell is producing ethanol - a biofuel made from renewable sugarcane. >>a minute, mom! let's broaden the world's energy mix. let's go. sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering sfx: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering so, i'm walking down the street, x: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering just you know walking, sfx: sounds of marching bandnd and crowd cheering and i found myself in the middle of this paradeeet, x: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering honoring america's troops. sfx: sounds of marching bandnd and crowd cheering which is actually in tquite fitting becauseadeeet, x: sounds of marching band and crowd cheering geico has been serving e military for over 75 years. aawh no, look, i know this is about the troops and not about me. right, but i don't look like that. who can i write a letter to about this? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. spain's government is slashing budgets, raising taxes. it means that everybody is cutting back. looking for a bargain and trying to stretch savings as much as possible. richard quest visited a flea market in madrid where shoppers and sellers are feeling the pinch. >> reporter: at madrid's flea market there are bargains to be had. not much else to sing about. >> after three years of recession we are trying to struggle as hard as we can to at least survive. so now after a difficult three years the only thing we are thinking of is how to manage ourselves with food and college for the small little boys and we are waiting for this recession to finish. >> reporter: at every stall there are economic tales of hardship. >> well, right now there is not consumption at all because the economy has slowed down. it's worse day by day. we believe that it will be worse for at least one or two years. we have problems paying expenses. >> reporter: people rummaging for that bargain, even sellers struggling to make a sale. are people buying less or bargaining the price down? >> only tourists. spanish people are not buying. less and less. >> reporter: do they fear it is going to get worse? yes, yes, definitely. >> reporter: in a country where the young persons unemployment rate is at least 50%, the economic picture is even bleeker. >> well i just think the real problem here is unemployment especially among young people because there is a lack of opportunity for people that are just coming out of the university. but the life is still pretty good. >> reporter: it just hasn't hit home yet. people haven't realized what is about to come their way? >> well, i think that they don't worry much because at the same time what can they do to stop it? at the end of the day the country is going to belong to imaf anyway. like greece right? i don't think we need to be rescued. i just think it is going to take some discipline. >> reporter: so people are not going around as if it's the end of the world? >> look around you. look around you. i don't think so. >> reporter: looking around, there are many stories of struggle and the odd glimpse of optimism. >> look around you. richard quest, joining us from london, love that piece. you had a chance to get a good look there. we saw today that spain's prime minister says he is now going to raise taxes. a big surprise. it was against one of his campaign promises that a politician is actually reversing himself here. how are people reacting to this? >> yes. the only thing, the moment i heard of the raising taxes the first thing i'm old enough to remember, read my lips. no new taxes. now, in that case it took about three years before we got the no new taxes pren ees pledge broke. in this case it's been less than three months give or take. so from that point, obviously he took a stand and had to go back on it. in spain the interesting thing is this. it's definitely the people who are still in work, have still got money and will pay higher taxes but are not affected as much. it is this vast and growing under belly of society that is being badly hit and will continue to be hit. and, suzanne, one of the things you saw in that report which perhaps wasn't as obvious is the biggest and busiest stalls there were those selling -- one piece of clothing for five euros, two pieces for three. so one for three, two for five. and those bargain basement stalls were absolutely crammed by the first day of the january sales. >> everybody is looking for a good bargain. richard you mentioned that some people were optimistic. why? >> very good question. and i think it's false optimism. it comes back to this idea the same as in the uk, the same as in the u.s. if you are in work and have not lost your job you've not lost your benefits, yes, the recession and hard times have hit. you may be paying more for gasoline. you may be paying more in some taxes, but fundamentally you're okay and maybe even better off as price pressure has pushed things down. it is the people who have lost benefits who are out of work, those people who are now really struggling. if you look at spain, there is this, very much now, this, well, what will be will be attitude. but the bars were still busy. the restaurants were still packed. and the cafes were still doing brisk business. >> kind of similar to here. all right. richard, thank you. good to see you as always. war crimes against humanity happened across the globe. court that is supposed to prosecute people who engage in the atrocities has been around for years but handed down only one sentence. we'll talk about the court's record with a holocaust survivor. to win ♪ [ breathes deeply ] ♪ this is where the dream begins ♪ ♪ i want to grow ♪ i want to try ♪ i can almost touch the sky [ male announcer ] even the planet has an olympic dream. dow is proud to support that dream by helping provide greener, more sustainable solutions from the olympic village to the stadium. solutionism. the new optimism.™ ♪ this dream a new trend among the wealthy as they try to escape their tax burden, give up u.s. citizenship. grammy nominated songwriter denise rich is the latest. she has lived in london almost a year and has renounce td her u.s. citizenship. her ex-husband mark rich fled to switzerland after bei ining convicted of tax evasion and racketeering. president clinton granted a controversial pardon. the cholera outbreak in cuba is now under control. authorities haven't updated the official death toll but earlier this month confirmed three deaths had occurred. 85 cases are confirmed. 346 cases suspected. the outbreak has been centered in the eastern part of cuba. ♪ one love one love >> got to love it. the love of bob marley continues in the caribbean. a u.s. marine biologist has named a new species of coral crustaceans after him. that's right. the small creatures hide on coral reefs and are unique to the caribbean as the legendary reggae singer. way to go. now it is supposed to be the world court that administers justice in cases of war crimes including genocide but now at 10 years old the international criminal court in the netherlands is being harshly criticized for being selective in its prosecutions. just yesterday it sentenced a congo militia leader to prison for forcing children under 15 to become soldiers. his case was the first sentencing since the court was established in 2002. lately critics say it is unfairly choosing who it goes after and that the court is targeting africans and bypassing abuses in countries like afghanistan and iraq. we'll talk to someone who knows about genocide and war tribunals. our next guest is a holocaust survivor and professor at boston university. professor, thank you for joining us. you might not remember, you taught me as a visiting professor at harvard. your class was one of the most amazing, impactful courses i've taken, the history of genocide. i want to talk a little about what we are seeing with the icc. ten years now to wait for the first sentencing for these crimes. why does it take so long do you think? >> suzanne, first of all, i congratulate you to be your teacher is my pride. >> thank you. >> as for the international court they are not so proud of it because the idea was to -- i remember how it came about -- 1992 already a secretary of state at the state department discussed the creation of that court. it took a long time for the court to come into being. why it takes long, who knows why? the judicial process is so long always. it is not only that. but because it is international it takes more time. the idea is good and it should be better. when anyone is involved in crimes against humanity that person should know that person will be judged. >> let's talk about the criticism about these cases and where they've been launched. we look at the scene set up. you have the former liberian president charles taylor who goes to prison in a special separate court for civil wars and fighting in liberia and sierra leone. now you have lubonga here yesterday. do you think there is bias about who is prosecuted and tried for these crimes? >> i don't think so. the very first leaders actually were those who were involved in the war of bosnia and yugoslavia. many of them were sentenced, condemned, and some are still in prison. so there is no bias. no racial bias. i don't think so. >> when you look at the arab spring uprisings you have some of these dictators held accountable and some seem to be protected. if you look at yemen's president, he is an ally of the u.s. and he is seen as turning his security forces on unarmed protesters, but he is still living very comfortably in yemen. you have syria's assad who has powerful friends like russia and china. how do you hold those dictators accountable if their backers are permanent members of the u.n. security council. >> well, what can we do? they have the legal power and that is one of the basic principles of the united nations. it doesn't always please me but the fact is they have it. but then i really believe these people that you mentioned, they will be arrested one day. i'm sure they will be. and they will be brought to justice. >> what gives you that optimism? what gives you that hope? >> i believe in justice. i believe in truth. and when the two are combined then they are powerful. it takes time. at times we have to be patient. being patiently patient. >> wise words, professor wiesel, thank you so much for joining us. really appreciate it. >> thank you, suzanne. hosting the olympics. nothing new for london but did you know that the first modern games weren't even supposed to be held in england? 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[ female announcer ] purina cat chow complete. always there for you. in just two weeks london is going to kick off the 2012 olympic games. the city is going to welcome hundreds of thousands of athletes and spectators. going to be pretty cool. for london it is a tradition. dates back to more than a century. becky anderson takes a look. >> reporter: 1908, 1948, 2012. spanning the course of the century. perhaps no city has been more influential in shaping the future of the modern olympic games than london. it was only by chance that the olympics were held here. the games were originally scheduled for rome but even a century ago the event could be an economic burden. the italian government feared the games could bankrupt them and when in 1906 mount vesuvius erupted they beat a hasty commit. with no budget and only 18 months to go the olympic committee cast around for another venue and in the summer of 1906 they found one. >> so the red empire map is covering most of the globe. in 1908 they are trying to show the world how sport is played. having taken on the olympics, the british set about organizing it. >> this seat of royal majesty is where the race began under the windows and the story was princess mary the princess of wales wanted it to start so the children could see it from the nursery. and that is the distance from here down to the stadium that brings you to 26 miles 385 yards. this marathon runner captured the public's imagination that year. in gold medal position he fell just meters before the finish. the crown, desperate to see him beat the american johnny hayes encouraged the officials to help him across the line. he was later disqualified. >> queen alexandra was so moved by this wonderfully tragic heroic tale that she goes in her cupboard overnight and comes out with a special silver cup. she says, where is deandro? and he comes up with the ak la mafgs the crowd and is given a special silver cup. the london games of 1908 could not have been in starker contrast to those of 1948. the city like much of europe had been ravaged by war. the local pop lulation was stil under rationing and coming to terms with life in peace time. london was a broken city. >> a flight of birds was released into the skies. a message to the world that strife must cease. >> reporter: despite the times charles mcilvainy remembers the games for very different reasons. >> i was very, very fortunate to run a leg of the relay to bring the flame to wembley and that was the torch which i've still kept. it's got my name and everything. this one here was at the actual change over and each runner had their own torch. exhausted? >> well, i was young and fit then. >> reporter: and so to london. 64 years on. what can we expect from this next olympic chapter? >> we have every race, every nationality. it's going to be a festival that is going -- no one who comes will ever forget it as long as they live. >> hugo chavez claims he has been cured of cancer. we'll look at how people in venezuela are reacting. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ today is world population day. in case you haven't counted lately there are about 7 billion of us here on earth. china continues to have the largest population with more than 1.3 billion people. india not too far behind with almost 1.2 billion. the u.s. ranks third with a little more than 330 million people. indonesia fourth. brazil rounds out the top five. in london today the british government and united nations are hosting a summit on family planning. hoping to ease the population problem, they want to provide contraceptives to millions of women and girls in the world's poorest countries who don't have access to them. the man in charge of the u.n. effort heads the u.n. population fund. doctor, very good to see you here. we have gone from what, a little more than 2 billion folks in 1950 and now we're at 7 billion. is this a good growth rate? is this the way it should be? >> quite frankly the world population growth rate is slowed down in the last decade or two but what we are doing today in london is really not about controlling population. it's about giving access to women so that they can make choices about their lives to have the number of children they can afford and the spacing between them that is convenient and healthy. so it's about choice. it's about rights. it's about women's health. >> understandably so. is there an issue? is there a problem with how many people are on our planet now in terms of the resources that we have to sustain them as families? >> at this point in time of course where you look at specific regions of the world there are pressures on the ecosystem. but going forward we need to take steps of course to assure that we can provide for everybody and that's why we want to be able to make those choices in their lives and have just the number of children they can afford and they want. and it actually not only empowers them in terms of child bearing but also economically. >> we understand your boss, secretary ban-ki moon issued a statement. he says in his statement investing in universal access to health is a crucial investment in healthy societies and a more sustainable future and also advocates birth control. i suspect there has been some pushback from the vatican and perhaps other religious organizations who do not leave birth control is a good idea. >> well, listening to you and talking about it we don't talk about birth control. we talk about empowering women to make choices. i think there are two different things. this is the right of every woman to make this choice. it's the right of every girl, adolescent growing to be able to make choices about her life, to decide when and how many and what. of course we know in places in the world where that has been applied appropriate ly the population growth has slowed considerably and there has been better growth in terms of the economy and quality of life for people. >> very quickly, you see a situation in china that is occurring here where you have this policy reported cases of forced abortion because of the country's one child policy. how do you strike that balance between providing birth control in the right number of the population that our planet can sustain and these kinds of countries that promote these policies? >> we promote the policy to be sure we have a rights based approach to family planning and to rearing children. that's what we do all over the world equally including china. >> all right. appreciate your time. venezuela's hugo chavez says he is totally free now of cancer. he said this before. it's not the first time he has made the claim. so why do you suppose he is saying this now? is this political in some way? >> it is very political. we're a few months from presidential elections, which is october 7. he is positioning himself as a candidate who is viable to win re-election. this will be his third re-election for another six-year term. he came to power in the late '90s for the first time. so positioning himself as somebody who is healthy and capable of running the government is very, very important. now he said the same thing last year in june when he disappeared for a number of weeks, went to cuba to get treated. had surgery to remove some sort of cancer. he has not released what kind of cancer he has. then he went back to venezuela and said, i'm cancer free. now a little bit of a time line here. that was the first time we heard that there was a problem. last year in june. >> right. >> then over the fall he underwent several chemotherapy treatments in cuba and then again in february of this year he had another surgery. so nobody really knows first of all what kind of cancer he has. >> right. have we seen him? we haven't really actually seen him. is there any way to verify whether or not any of this is true? >> there is really no way to verify it. it is a state secret when it comes to his condition. we don't really know what kind of cancer he's had. we know it's something in the pelvic area. we don't know if it's bone cancer or affecting any other organs. >> he would have to make an appearance i imagine if he is going to be running again. >> exactly. the last few times he has been in public he appears -- his face is a little bit swollen, so doctors and those who know would say that's what happens when you're taking steroids, which is part of treatment for some kinds of cancer. but the reality is, what his real status is, we don't even know. >> you've got a separate report coming out, violence against women in mexico. can you expound on that a little bit? i know you're working on something else. >> embassy international is publishing a report about violence against women in mexico and it's embargoed until 7:00 tonight. but the report comes at a very timely time because we can talk about for example the hundreds of murders that have happened against women. all of the victims are women. >> sure. >> and this is across the border from el paso, texas. and the murders have yet to be solved. we can talk about women as collateral damage when it comes to the drug war. more than 50,000 people who have died, many of them women, many of them collateral damage. and last but not least, and this is something that i've been also working on, trafficking of women within mexico for the purposes of sexual exploitation. that is very, very dramatic because we're not only talking about adults. we're also talking about minors. when you put all of that together it is a very alarming situation indeed. >> we'll be looking more for your report. 7:00 you said. >> thank you. >> thanks, rafael. all this week we're tabing you inside the world of high fashion through our cnn back stage pass. today the ultra high end of high fashion. carl lagerfeld's pricey collection at channel not for everybody. ♪ [ male announcer ] this is our beach. ♪ this is our pool. ♪ our fireworks. ♪ and our slip and slide. you have your idea of summer fun, and we have ours. now during the summer event get an exceptionally engineered mercedes-benz for an exceptional price. but hurry, this offer ends july 31st. like chanel and the runway show debuting its latest collection. the driving force designer carl lagerfeld one of the superstars. there is more to him than just fashion. all these week we look at the clothes women like to wear. here is your fashion back stage pass. >> reporter: as the only cameras allowed inside chanel's paris design studio -- we get a glimpse of carl lagerfeld few see. the chanel maestro at work. just hours before he unveils his latest couture collection to the international press. the clothes you see here will soon be on the runway, but never in a department store, because couture dresses are custom made. >> something made by hand, impeccably made, fits like a glove. >> reporter: with the most expensive fabrics and details, so intricate a single dress can take hundreds of hours to make. >> couture is the moment when it all starts. it is the place where you hear and you see it first. >> reporter: couture elevates a brand like chanel even though many fashion houses lose money or break even doing it. at chanel, lagerfeld says couture makes money. on average what is the cost of a couture dress? >> it depends, you know, it goes from $30,000 to $200,000 or $300,000. >> reporter: for one piece of clothing. a lot of people don't understand why couture costs so much money. the work that you'll see on the runways here in paris is like no other. this is museum quality. >> reporter: so who is buying couture? >> you see? they all have model sized bodies. >> younger these days. >> second wives. average is 30, 35. >> reporter: and more international. >> completely different. the japanese, chinese, russians, the middle east, india, and brazil. >> reporter: and these clients are discriminating. >> you put a dress on an actress for the red carpet, she sees a photo, she cancels the dress. >> no. >> reporter: yes. because for all that money, lagerfeld says the cuouture client wants a dress nobody else has. >> reporter: for chanel and you what does couture represent? >> it's the top of the pyramid. >> reporte krcreme de la creme. >> this is the week the major fashion houses show off spectacular clothes many of which sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. we'll have more with some of the world's top fashion designers the rest of the week on cnn. look for alina's special back stage pass from paris this saturday, july 14th, at 2:30 eastern. this hour in the cnn newsroom we are focusing on the congressional vote on the affordable health care act also known as obama health care. we'll take you to a city where the mayor is cutting workers pay to minimum wage. if you're missing some channels on your directv don't worry. cnn is working of course but we want to talk about that as well. we'll get right down to it. we're hearing that it could get a statement today on the health of congressman jesse jackson jr. of illinois. one of his top aids says that jackson's condition is not life threatening. last week jackson's office issued a statement saying he is struggling with physical and emotional problems that will require extensive medical treatment. the 47-year-old took a medical leave of absence last month which his office attributed to exhaustion. he has been under growing pressure to explain his disappearance from capitol hill. we'll have more details and a live report from chicago in just 30 minutes. a man charged with planning to bomb the pentagon and u.s. capital. he is going to plead guilty. this is rezwan farduz a u.s. citizen accused of plotting to fly airplanes loaded with

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