CNN NEWSROOM
CNN NEWSROOM
Armored Car Robbery Turns Deadly; SoCal Homes Fall into Landslide; South African Gold Mine Evacuated
Aired October 4, 2007 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Got to get myself together here. Good morning again, everyone. You're with CNN. You're informed. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Developments keep coming in to CNN NEWSROOM now, on Thursday, the fourth day of October. Here is what we're talking about.
An urgent manhunt in Philadelphia right now. Two armored car guards shot and killed.
HARRIS: They woke up landslide evacuees, but many families in the crumpled San Diego neighborhood get to go home today.
COLLINS: And thousands of babies wait for their new families. American parents held up by allegations of child abductions, adoptions in limbo in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: A lot of news to get to this morning. In fact, breaking news out of Philadelphia. A fatal armored car robbery. Two guards shot and killed in a brazen daylight attack. The search for the suspect under way right now. Police say it happened near a Wachovia Bank branch in northeastern Pennsylvania. Earlier -- make that northeastern Philadelphia. Earlier authorities said four suspects were on the loose, but just a short time ago the Philadelphia police commissioner said it appears only one suspect fired the shots that killed the guards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMM. SYLVESTER JOHNSON, PHILADELPHIA POLICE: At about 8:05 this morning, armored car pulls up with three guards inside of the armored car. Two get out, start taking money out of the ATM machine. As one guard is taking money out of the ATM machine, an unidentified black male comes up around the side of him on the left-hand side, (INAUDIBLE) shooting the male, and fatally wounding him, fatally killing him actually. He then goes around the pole, shoots the other guard. He is also fatally wounded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A third guard was hurt apparently by shattered glass. Police say they recovered a black duffel bag filled with cash. What a scene, and Philadelphia schools are under lockdown. And of course, we will bring you any additional information as it comes into the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Also on the move after the earth moved. Some residents of a California neighborhood evacuated because of a landslide. Some of them are returning home today. Kara Finnstrom is live from La Jolla, California, now with an update.
Kara, good morning to you.
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. Well, right now 75 families here are in the process of going back into their homes. That was the good news delivered to this community this morning. One hundred and eleven homes had to be evacuated yesterday when this massive sinkhole just opened up, swallowing up the street, and then triggered a large landslide.
Now four homes we know were immediately destroyed in that landslide. That's by way of the city engineers who have gone out and been able to check out these four homes. Thirty-six homes now remain as of this morning that are tagged, and they are going to be taking a closer look at these homes to determine if it's safe for those families to return to them yet.
But here is what fire officials say they did overnight to try and make as many of these homes safe so that some of these families can start getting back to their normal lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEPUTY CHIEF GERRY BREWSTER, SAN DIEGO FIRE-RESCUE: The life safety hazard has been greatly reduced overnight in the incident area. As the mayor has said that personnel worked throughout the night in a unified fashion, both public and private sector, to mitigate most of these hazards. Currently we're going to begin transitioning from an emergency response mode into a recovery mode. We are going to start opening up 75 homes this morning after 8:00 for reoccupation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FINNSTROM: Now, two geological firms have also now been hired by the city to come in here and try and figure out exactly what happened. City engineers say that some of the building practices that were used 45 years ago when these homes were built are partly to blame because these homes simply would not be built the same way today, but they also say there are clearly some underlying challenging geological conditions at play here.
They want to know more about those before anyone tries to come back and rebuild in that immediate area where those four homes were destroyed -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes. A very good idea, obviously. Kara Finnstrom from La Jolla, California, this morning. Kara, thank you.
HARRIS: A devastating plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo. At least 30 people are dead. A Russian-made plane crashed in a heavily populated suburb of the capital, Kinshasa. Congolese They say the plane went down near a crowded marketplace shortly after take off. It struck at least one house, 22 people on board died and eight others on the ground. The Democratic Republic of Congo has a dismal aviation record with at least 24 plane crashes since last year.
Underground rescue under way in South Africa. Hundreds of workers still trapped in a gold mine there. Some 2,000 other miners make it out OK.
CNN's Robyn Curnow on the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The miners you see behind me have just emerged from the shaft over here, bringing them from their subterranean prison. There's a look of joy and excitement on many of their faces. A lot of them are exhausted, hungry, and tired. They get a sandwich and some water when they come out but many say they just want to go home and sleep.
What is interesting, this is quite a mixed group. Many women have been trapped down beneath me in that mining accident for the last day-and-a-half. Many of them come out and cry. They say they've been scared, but these women and the men have had a lucky escape, according to the mine and to many of the mining authorities here. There were no fatalities and no injuries.
Robin Curnow, CNN, Carltonville, South Africa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: A formal end to the Korean War? South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun voicing optimism after returning from a summit in North Korea. He and reclusive President Kim Jong-il reaching a wide-ranging reconciliation deal. They're pledging to seek a peace treaty that would officially end the Korean War 54 years after a cease-fire. They have also agreed to boost economic ties and help separated families exchange correspondence. It was the first summit between the divided countries in seven years.
Severe interrogation, some of the harshest techniques ever used by the CIA endorsed by the Justice Department according to a report out today. The New York Times citing secret documents. They show a shift in opinion at Justice soon after Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez arrived in February of 2005. The approved techniques included head slapping, simulated drownings, and exposure to frigid temperatures.
The New York Times says the Justice Department declared none of the interrogation tactics violated standards set by Congress outlawing "cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment." Again, according to The Times, the secret opinion was issued after the department had publicly declared torture abhorrent.
HARRIS: Swastikas and KKK scrawled on an African-American student's body with a marker. Police say it happened at a high school for the deaf on the campus of Gallaudet University in Washington. Seven students, six white and one black accused in the attack. Police are investigating it as a hate crime. The provost of Gallaudet says the school will not tolerate this behavior.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN WEINDER, GALLAUDET PROVOST: We have notified parents via written communication regarding the activities that we are now -- that we now have in place, and we have counselors involved in this program, consultants. We have been doing this, this is ongoing, an educational program. This incident is intolerable. That's why the metropolitan police department is involved. That's how serious we are about this incident.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The seven students involved have been sent home. The young man who was attacked is also home with his family. More on the hate crime investigation later on CNN. The president of Gallaudet University live in the NEWSROOM, 1:00 p.m. Eastern time.
COLLINS: An intense search still going on in Florida right now for a registered sex offender. He is accused of luring a 15-year-old girl from her home after the two met on the Internet. Authorities hope this newly released surveillance video will help them find William Joe Mitchell. Police say the girl was found safe after Mitchell dropped her off at this Florida Wal-Mart. Mitchell is believed to be traveling in a 2,000 Black Chevy Lumina, Florida tag G02-5EL.
HARRIS: Global adoptions. For childless Americans, an answer to their prayers. But for some, the dream has become an absolute nightmare. An agency under investigation for trafficking babies for kids conceived for cash. Stick around for our own investigation.
COLLINS: Medicine beyond the mainstream. Alternative treatments that experts say really work. Find out which ones so you can be an empowered patient.
HARRIS: And big haul for Ron Paul. A presidential candidate behind in the polls gains ground in the money race.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Not much bigger than a beach ball, but what an impact.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even something this small can cause such a huge fervor that remains with us to this very day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The race to space and an anniversary to remember.
HARRIS: And good morning again everyone, I'm Tony Harris. She may be tiny, but she's top dog. Booboo's (ph) big day. Booboo in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Looking for alternative treatments for your medical maladies? Hi, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
HARRIS: That is the focus of this morning's segment, the empowered patient. Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here. All right. So what are some of the alternative treatments, Elizabeth, that actually work?
COHEN: Well, we put that question to a panel of experts. These guys are really interesting because these are MDs who work at places like Harvard and Stanford and Duke, but who are really into integrative medicine, in fact, have started entire departments that deal with how to integrate traditional medicine with alternative medicine.
And they say there's a lot of garbage out there, you want to avoid it. But there's some really good stuff. There are actually alternative medicine practices where there have been a lot of studies, and studies that show that they work. So there are five that we talk about in my column that's up on cnn.com/health right now. And I'm going to tell you about two of them now. You can learn about two without even having to click.
The first one is acupuncture for knee pain. There are lots of good studies that show that acupuncture works for pain, especially for knee pain due to osteoarthritis. And also St. John's wort for mild to moderate depression. Now you have to be careful with St. John's wort that you don't mix it with certain drugs, but some people have found a lot of relief.
So what these doctors said to me is, look, sometimes traditional medicine can help out with these problems, but sometimes alternative medicine is even better, and sometimes you can combine the two.
HARRIS: Yes, yes, yes, yea. Elizabeth, with so many of these alternatives out there, how do you know if they're really going to be effective and really work here?
COHEN: It's true, because a lot of people are just trying to sell you things.
HARRIS: Right.
COHEN: Yes. Either they're trying to sell themselves, their services, or they're trying to sell you a product. So there are certain questions that you can ask to find out if it's the real thing or not.
First of all, if you're doing something like, let's say, acupuncture or massage, ask to see a license. Often folks who do these alternative practices are licensed. Also, another route you might want to take is go to someone who is at one of these academic consortiums.
In other words, go to an MD who is at a real academic medical center, but who really believes in alternative medicine, has studied it. And right there, there's a Web site that you can go to, and you can also go to our cnn.com/health and we have it there, too.
HARRIS: You have this in your fancy column online?
COHEN: My fancy column, I do.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: All right. Elizabeth, appreciate it. Great information.
COHEN: OK. Thanks.
HARRIS: Thank you. And to get your "Daily Dose" of health news online and more stories that can empower you, what you do is you log on to our Web site there. You will find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address cnn.com/health.
Manhunt in Philadelphia. Two armored car guards killed this morning in an attempted robbery. The latest on this breaking story coming up for you after the break in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Been trying to get to this story all morning long for you. Living their dreams and lifting spirits. Amy Montalvo from affiliate KLBK reports on a pretty special cheerleading squad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMY MONTALVO, KLBK REPORTER (voice-over): It's true that in some situations disabled children are held back from the normal activities which others may get to enjoy. But for Frenship special ed. teacher and cheerleading sponsor Kayci Ketchersid that simply wasn't an option.
KETCHERSID: If anybody in a school deserves a chance, I feel it is these girls.
MONTALVO: She decided that for seven disabled students at the middle school, it was time to shine.
KETCHERSID: I had one of them the other day tell us that this was her dream her whole life.
SAMANTHA HUDSON, FRENSHIP MIDDLE SCHOOL; I always prayed, I always wanted to be a cheerleader. Now look at me.
MONTALVO: Samantha Hudson has a special honor, leading the squad, a dream come true. HUDSON: I'm a team captain, and also I take care of my team and make sure they have fun. I feel like I can go out there and just be myself.
KETCHERSID: They don't think that they're different, and that's what I love about them. And they're ready to go out there and cheer for the Tigers, and they don't even think that they have disabilities.
MONTALVO: And for these girls, it's a chance not only to achieve their dreams, but to be a part of that Tiger spirit.
KETCHERSID: I think the whole school as a whole is starting to see these girls as being part of the heart of Frenship Middle School.
MONTALVO: Ketchersid says it's amazing to know that something so simple could provide the girls with the experience of a lifetime.
KETCHERSID: It's just a heartwarming feeling to know that these girls may not ever have this opportunity again, so it's really important to all of us.
COLLINS: Love that story.
On to another one now though, Americans often look overseas for a child to fill their lives. There are countless stories of successful global adoptions, but for some families who relied on a Guatemalan agency, a dream has been deferred and possibly lost.
CNN's Harris Whitbeck reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shawn (ph) and Ellen Darcy wanted a family, so like thousands of other Americans, they traveled to Guatemala. Their adopted son Dillon (ph) thrived in suburban Boston. So they decided to go back for a girl.
Guatemala's government says the country provides more babies per capita than any other country in the world, an average of 17 a day to the United States.
ELLEN DARCY, ADOPTIVE MOTHER: We contacted them probably early March, end of February, and within two weeks, Carolina was born and we were told that we could proceed with this adoption.
These were before we went to visit her.
WHITBECK: An American agency named Casa Quivira told the Darcys they could visit baby Carolina and have her home within six months. But without warning one night in August, police raided Casa Quivira and seized 46 babies, including Carolina.
They arrested the agency's lawyers and charged them with child abduction. No plea has yet been entered, but the agency's owners deny doing anything illegal. Prosecutors allege that some babies were conceived simply for adoptions, and that other mothers were coerced into giving up their children.
Now Guatemala's chief prosecutor plans to investigate allegations several other U.S. agencies trafficked in babies. And the Guatemalan government says it won't allow any more American adoptions under the current system after the first of the year.
But what will happen to the 46 babies seized from Casa Quivira?
DARCY: We want to know. We do not want to complete an adoption that is anything but completely legal and where this little girl has been relinquished willingly.
WHITBECK (on camera): Just a few weeks ago, this room was teeming with Guatemalan babies, all destined for adoption in the United States. This is the crib where baby Carolina spent her entire life. Now it is considered part of a criminal investigation.
(voice-over): More than a decade ago, the Guatemalan president gave Casa Quivira permission to operate a nonprofit association for children. But Guatemala's department of social services refused a license to foster children for adoption. Claiming presidential permission, Casa Quivira did it anyway.
So far the agency claims they have sent about a thousand children to the U.S. for a fee of $30,000 each.
(on camera): Casa Quivira, in your eyes wasn't an orphanage, wasn't a home for children. What was it?
CARMEN WENNIER, GUATEMALAN MINISTER OF SOCIAL WELFARE: It was the end of the assembly line. They had the final product and they had to sell it at the best price.
WHITBECK (voice-over): Guatemala has had a simple adoption process. Lawyers can solicit birth mothers and process adoptions with little oversight. We wanted to see what kind of oversight there had been in the case of baby Carolina. We started by interviewing the midwife whose name appeared on the birth certificate.
As for Carolina's mother, Casa Quivira gave authorities an address just across town. But after searching for more than an hour, we found the address doesn't exist. It's not just the Guatemalan government that's concerned about shady adoptions from here. The U.S. is so dubious that in August it began demanding double DNA tests to prove children had not been stolen.
SANDRA GONZALEZ, CASA QUIVIRA: This is just the first DNA...
WHITBECK: But Guatemalan officials say that won't stop mothers who give birth just to sell their babies. So with a suspect birth record and no viable address, we pressed Casa Quivira to produce Carolina's mother. We were introduced to this woman, who asked us not to show her face. She came accompanied by another woman she called her translator. We showed her a picture of Carolina.
(on camera): Is this your baby? (END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: In just a moment we are going to be back with part two of Harris Whitbeck's story. You will definitely want to stick around for that as well as a guest who is going to be talking to us more about the situation with adopting children from overseas and here in the United States.
But first, manhunt in Philadelphia. Two armored car guards killed this morning in an attempted robbery. We'll have the very latest on this breaking story.
HARRIS: And life on the edge. Dozens of homes fall victim to shifting earth. San Diego landslide in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. Good morning, I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. We want to get straight to this breaking news out of Philadelphia this morning. A fatal armed car robbery. Two guards shot and killed in a brazen daylight attack. The search is on for the suspect right now. Police say it happened near a Wachovia Bank branch in northeastern Philadelphia.
Earlier authorities said four suspects were on the loose. But just a short time ago the Philadelphia police commissioner said it appears only one suspect fired the shots that killed the guards.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: At about 8:05 this morning, armored car pulls up with three guards inside of the armored car. Two get out, start taking money out of the ATM machine. As one guard is taking money out of the ATM machine, an unidentified black male comes up around the side of him on the left-hand side, (INAUDIBLE) shooting the male, and fatally wounding him, fatally killing him actually. He then goes around the pole, shoots the other guard. He is also fatally wounded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A third guard was hurt apparently by shattered glass. Police say they recovered a black duffel bag filled with cash. Schools are under lockdown right now as a precaution. Of course, we will bring you any additional information just as soon as it comes into the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Also in the headlines this hour, they felt the earth move under their feet literally, but this morning some California residents evacuated because of a landslide are being allowed to go home. The slide caused a section of a four-lane street to collapse. Take a look at that view. Officials say some homes are still too unstable to let folks back in, but most of the 100-plus evacuees can return. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BREWSTER: The life safety hazard has been greatly reduced overnight in the incident area. As the mayor has said that personnel worked throughout the night in a unified fashion, both public and private sector, to mitigate most of these hazards. Currently we're going to begin transitioning from an emergency response mode into a recovery mode. We are going to start opening up 75 homes this morning after 8:00 for reoccupation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, the mayor of San Diego says the city has hired a forensic geology firm to investigate the cause of the landslide.
COLLINS: Now back to our story about an adoption agency under investigation for trafficking babies from Guatemala.
Here now, CNN's Harris Whitbeck.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITBECK (voice-over): Our search for the truth about why baby Carolina's mother had given her up for adoption had taken us so far to a suspect birth record and a nonexistent address. But Casa Quivira produced this woman, whose first DNA test matched baby Carolina's. She spoke to us in a Mayan dialect through someone she called her translator. We showed her a picture of Carolina.
(on camera): Is this your baby?
(voice-over): She didn't seem to recognize the picture and she stumbled on Carolina's birth date, initially saying she was born in April, not March. I asked if money problems motivated her to give up her baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I would love to raise my child, but I can't afford to. I have other children and I'm too poor.
WHITBECK: But then the so-called translator jumped in. "Tell them you took no money for the baby," she told her in her Mayan dialect. "Say that you want her back with Casa Quivira."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): My child is not a chicken to sell.
WHITBECK: Skeptical of our interview, we challenged one of Casa Quivira's owners, Sandra Gonzalez, who insisted the mother gave up her baby because she could not afford to keep her.
(on camera): Are you confident that every baby that has passed through Casa Quivira was a legitimate baby, a child that had a legitimate need to be adopted?
GONZALEZ: Yes. Some of them, they are very bad stories like rapes, they come from persecution. They are mothers that have a bunch of kids and they can't support this kid anymore. Some of them have come very ill. They got it (INAUDIBLE) at the hospital.
WHITBECK: But are these documents enough to prove that there is no baby-stealing going on, no coercion going on, no baby-trafficking going on? Is this enough?
GONZALEZ: Yes, yes, for us it is.
WHITBECK (voice-over): Casa Quivira says it is fighting to get adoptions back on track.
Meanwhile, of the 46 babies seized by the government, 38 remain in foster care.
(on camera): Many of the children from Casa Quivira were placed in foster homes like this one, run by Shyrel and Steve Osborne in Guatemala City. And even here, there are questions about the origins of these children. Cheryl believes that these two little girls are identical twins, but they will be separated today. One of them will be turned over to American adoptive parents as part of an adoption that was run by Casa Quivira.
And then there is the question about little Carolina.
You're living the milestones in a baby's life that the parents should be living.
SHYREL OSBORNE, FOSTER MOTHER: That the parents should be living, absolutely. They should be being smiled at and touched by their -- by their mothers, right?
WHITBECK: But, in this case, there's a couple up in Boston who is just as willing to do that.
OSBORNE: Yes, absolutely.
WHITBECK: It's kind of a tough dilemma, isn't it?
OSBORNE: Because there's corruption in the system, which birth mothers were really in dire straits and really needed to -- they really couldn't care for their child.
WHITBECK (voice-over): This week, the U.S. government urged Americans to stop adopting from Guatemala until the country can answer those questions. But American couples still fill the hotels, hoping to take home children they believe desperately need new parents.
JAMES M. DERHAM, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO GUATEMALA: The amount of money that is involved in this process, in a country that's very poor, almost all the babies come from the indigenous regions here in Guatemala, in many cases, people who are very unsophisticated. And do they really understand what kind of decisions they are making?
WHITBECK: But for baby Carolina and hundreds of others, the decisions were made. And parents like the Darcys sit in the U.S., hoping an adopted baby boy or girl will soon make their families complete.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, Antigua, Guatemala.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Whether you are considering adopting overseas or just want to know more about this particular issue, we have the man for you. Mark Eckman is an attorney specializing in international adoptions. He is also the director of an adoption agency, the Datz Foundation.
Mark, thanks for being here. There are so many issues to talk about with this particular story. It seems like there are a lot of losers in this one, but so many fantastic adoptions that happen as well. What is the overall situation in your mind about international adoptions at this point?
MARK ECKMAN, ADOPTION ATTY.: I find that international adoptions are becoming more and more complicated for American citizens. For one reason or another countries have slowed down the process, and although there are many children in need of permanent homes, it's by no means as simple as it once was to adopt from abroad.
COLLINS: Why do you think that is?
ECKMAN: I think that no country, no matter how poor they might be, likes to see their children leave. No country likes to gain the reputation of being an exporter of human beings, if I could use a fairly crass expression.
COLLINS: Let me then just ask why people in the United States are going overseas in the first place. I mean, there has to be a benefit for that. And usually, at least from what I have heard and people that I know, the process is little bit faster. When we're talking about Guatemala, our report indicated something like six months. But then when you look at China, my understanding is something more like possibly three years. So I'm just trying to figure out why we look overseas in the first place.
ECKMAN: Well, the number of people in the United States who would like to form a family through adoption is large, and there are not enough children in the United States whom they can adopt. There are, of course, children in the foster care system, but many times people wanting to adopt want to replicate the biological birth experience and raise a child practically from infancy, and this is one reason why many Americans turn abroad and adopt. Another reason is these are people of goodwill who'd like to help a child.
COLLINS: So there are, at least according to your estimations, more infants available when we look to the international situation.
ECKMAN: Well, especially in Guatemala, because almost all the adoptions from Guatemala have been infant adoptions.
COLLINS: Yes, and in that story, just to point out once again, something like 17 babies a day going from Guatemala to the United States. That is just an incredible statistic. What about the issues that people face when they look to countries like Guatemala in trying to make these adoptions complete, as we heard in the story?
ECKMAN: I would say that they, first of all, have to comply with American immigration law to embark upon an adoption, and then they have to find a source in the so-called sending country, such as Guatemala, that has a reputation for being honest.
COLLINS: But how do you do that? I mean, that seems like a really tough challenge.
ECKMAN: I think it's a tough challenge, but certainly in this era of information, it's possible to certainly speak to people who have adopted previously from the country that you're interested in, and certainly go from one agency to another and make a reasonable decision.
COLLINS: And research, research, research.
ECKMAN: Right.
COLLINS: Should you go to the country? Should you meet the people face to face?
ECKMAN: Well, I think it's a good idea if you're adopting from a country to go to that country at some point. There are a few countries where it's not required that the adoptive family travel, such as Korea, but in Guatemala, in most cases the adoptive family has traveled there.
COLLINS: It can be such a heartwarming story and a tragic one sometimes at the same time. We appreciate your thoughts. Mark Eckman, adoption attorney coming out of our D.C. bureau today. Thank you, Mark.
ECKMAN: Thank you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, next stop for Britney Spears,? You will find out in minutes. The latest buzz after the big custody battle.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, some of us may think of movie stars and musicians as heroes, but we would like to introduce you to the people who they think of as heroes.
Award-winning actor and producer Robert Duvall tells us how two women are changing lives throughout Latin America.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT DUVALL, ACTOR & PRODUCER: So many of the Hero stories are people that aren't famous, individual heroes like these two women that started Pro Mujer, Pro for Women, and they should be greatly commended in the work they've done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Latin America, women are really second- class citizens. They work in their communities. They raise children. They keep home. They're not given credit for everything they do.
DUVALL: Women are so downtrodden in some of these societies, so we try to help in any way we can. I'm Robert Duvall, and my heroes give credit to the women of Latin America.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pro Mujer is so much more than just a microfinance organization. We're able to offer credit to first-time borrowers because of the peer group guarantee. Women form groups with people they know. If one of the group is not able to repay her loan, the rest are responsible for helping her make that payment.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't repay only because they want to repay. They don't want to fail their neighbors. They don't want to fail their friends.
DUVALL: And as they begin to progress, even the husbands would hit them sometimes, so jealous and envious. But if they don't have a mate that's responsible, they have to step up, to bring the family up to a certain level of dignity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These women show they can bring income to the family. We see women's partners giving them more respect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we invest in women, we're investing in the future of the families. We're investing in social development. We can show investors that if they put their money in Pro Mujer, they are making a difference in the life of very poor population in Latin America.
DUVALL: These two ladies are true heroes to everybody who comes in contact with them. Because of Pro Mujer, those women helped their families and help their own self esteem. They started something wonderful, and it's working.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: You can go to CNN.com/heroes and vote for the CNN Hero who has most inspired you. The viewers' choice will be honored during a live global broadcast on December 6th, hosted by our own Anderson Cooper.
For Democrats, the fight is far from finished. The president vetoes an expanded children's health care program, and now a new strategy on Capitol Hill. We'll tell you all about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" coming up in just 14 minutes from the top of the hour right here on CNN. Hala Gorani standing by with a preview.
Hala, good morning. HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Tony and Heidi.
Well, we're going to take you around the world on "YOUR WORLD TODAY," in about 15 minutes. First we're going to take you to North Korea. Is it a resolution? Look at these two leaders holding hands there, a resolution to the word's last Cold War conflict? Just as North Korea says it will dismantle its nuclear reactors, even allowing a team from the United States into the country to witness that process. We're going to bring you the latest on that story, potentially a very big development there.
Also, Myanmar, our exclusive pictures of monks and democracy protesters. The crackdown from the military there. Well, military leaders are now saying they may be willing to meet with the democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi. So we'll bring you the latest on that as well.
And if you're a single guy, well, you might not want to go to East Germany. Apparently, Tony and Heidi, there aren't that many women left there. They're all choosing to go somewhere else. Perhaps...
HARRIS: Where?
GORANI: We're going to have that story so tune in. I can't tell you where to go if your single. I can tell you where not to go.
HARRIS: Exactly.
GORANI: It's a process of elimination. Scratch East Germany.
COLLINS: Heck of a tease there, Hala. That was good.
GORANI: Thank you.
HARRIS: Hala, thank you.
Well, the battle over expanding a children's health care program. Democrats and their allies try to figure out a strategy to override a presidential veto.
CNN's Dana Bash reports.
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DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Within minutes of the president's veto, battle-ready Democrats unleashed a barrage of criticism.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: This is probably the most inexplicable veto in the history of the country.
REP. EDOLPHUS TOWNS (D), NEW YORK: It is a shame and a national disgrace.
REP. JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D), ILLINOIS: The president is refusing to spend $7 billion a year on children's health, while insisting on $10 billion a month in Iraq.
BASH: But some of the most stinging swipes at the president came from fellow Republicans who support expanding the children's health program.
SEN. CHARLES GRASSLEY (R), IOWA: From their position, it was either my way or the highway. Well, that's not how the legislative process works.
BASH: In the House, Democrats immediately began a mad scramble for votes to override the president's veto, voting to delay taking up the veto override for two weeks to give Democrats time to pressure Republicans for votes.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Many of them are very, very uncomfortable about having to make this choice of sticking with the obstinance of the president on this issue or voting for America's children.
BASH: To successfully override the president's veto, Democratic leaders say they need 15 Republicans who opposed expanding SCHIP to change their votes. They're already running radio ads against eight vulnerable eight GOP congressmen, like Randy Kuhl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AD)
NARRATOR: Congressman Kuhl has a simple choice, give 10 million children the health care they need or turn his back on those children.
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BASH: Congressman Kuhl calls that crass politics and thinks his constituents won't buy it.
REP. RANDY KUHL (R), NEW YORK: It's not affecting me at this point and I don't expect it will. I believe in basic things and one of them is a private health care plan that people have a choice and that's what this bill does not do.
BASH (on camera): Some Republicans privately admit it is hard to compete with the Democrats' mantra that they're turning their backs on children, but House GOP leaders insist no matter how hard Democrats try, Republicans will have enough votes to uphold the president's veto.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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HARRIS: You know what, maybe losing her children was a wake-up call for Britney Spears. Maybe. "OK" magazine reports she may be checking into rehab in Antigua as early as this weekend. She'll reportedly be treated for depression and alcohol abuse. Spears completed two other stints in rehab earlier this year. She was a no- show at a custody hearing yesterday. A judge ruled she gets supervised visits, but ex-husband, Kevin Federline, keeps primary custody of the two young boys, at least for now.
COLLINS: Well, she my be tiny, but she's top dog. Her name is Boo Boo. We will show you the big debut for this itty-bitty little doggy doo, in just a moment.
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COLLINS: That what does during every break. I just want you all to know.
HARRIS: We're podcasting, Heidi. Just a couple minutes from now we get going. All right. And the podcast is going to be extra special. I told you we would been flirting with the idea of adding some music to the podcast, so that Amy Winehouse song, that "Rehab" song, that I've been singing all morning. It's been in my head and I can't -- we're going to link that up with a little Britney Spears, and see if we can do something different.
COLLINS: I'm sure she'll love that.
HARRIS: OK, so 24-7, go to CNN.com, download the podcast today. Something special for you. Don't miss it.
COLLINS: Speaking of special, look at this. Little Boo Boo making it big. We're talking about this petite pooch. According to the folks at Guinness, Boo Boo is the world's smallest dog, four inches tall. That's one inch smaller than the previous recordholder.
HARRIS: OK.
COLLINS: Booboo was about the size of a thumb when she was born. She had to be fed with an eye dropper. She's pretty darn cute, isn't she?
CNN NEWSROOM continues in just one hour from now.
HARRIS: "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: I'm Heidi Collins. Have a great day, everybody.
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