Midmorning With Aundrea - July 11, 2019

Break away from your everyday with Aundrea Self!

Today, college graduates eager to pay off their student loans quickly often fall for scams. We'll take a look at the growing problem.

And all 21 beaches on the Mississippi Gulf Coast have now been closed due to a toxic algae bloom.

We'll see how the problem is affecting those on the coast.

And we meet Dan Smith, lead singer of the British band Bastille which now has released its third studio album.

Starts right now.

E avage the average student leaves college with more than 30- thousand dollars in loans.

The desire to get them paid off has many people falling for scams. kenneth craig reports.

Many of this year's college graduates now face the challenge of paying off thousands of dollars in student loans.

And that has con artists and dishonest companies trying to take advantage.

"i'm calling, um, i reference to your federal student loan.

Um, i need to discuss your repayment options with some new changes that have taken effect recently so if you could please be sure to give me a call back."

The better business bureau says there is an uptick in student loan scams right now.

"people are bein contacted by voicemail, by text, email, phone, and web ads and they are given this amazing opportunity, seemingly, 'we can get rid of your student loan debt."

Cbs news business analyst jill schlesinger says many of these offers charge a fee..

Then never deliver.

"anyone wh asks for money upfront that is your red flag."

Along with upfront fees other red flags include: promises for loan forgiveness requests for personal data or demands you act now.

It's also important not to share your f-s-a account i-d.

"the id number i very important because they can get into the federal student loan data base and get the details about your loan."

Students who want to try and consolodate their federal loans can visit the government's site studentaid.ed.go v.

"now you may b able to consolidate them, do an income based repayment plan."

Options that could help you better manage paying off those loans.

Kenneth craig, cbs news, new york.

Anyone who believes they've been scammed can file a complaint with the federal trade commission.

College students have been renting text books for years.

But when renting from on- line vendors, one student says you really need to read the fine print.

Sot 1 i'm majoring in cognitive science concentrating and speech language pathology.

There's a lot of options when it comes to college text books.

You can buy new, used or rent... for university of delaware rising sophomore amelia sanfilippo she turned to amazon for the biggest bang for her buck - so she áthoughtá sot 2 amelia sanfilippo / delaware university sophomore you just go and click on the button that says rent the book and they just send it as if you're receiving any other amazon package.

The only problem is - amelia missed the faded print.

If the text book she rented from amazon was not returned by june 4th - she would be charged 3-thousand- and-8-hundred-dollars to buy "cultural anthropology: toolkit for a global age - second edition" outright - eve though the book only costs 150-dollars online right now.

But amelia was quickly reminded 4 days past the due date that her amazon rental was late.

Sot 3 - reading email your rental was due june 24, 2019 we have not received it as a result we have charged you for the item and it is now yours to keep.

The text book was amelia's to keep for a whopping 3- thousand-and-800-dollars.

A charge - anthony won't soon forget.

Sot 4 to ramp that up to $3,800?

That to me seems like extortion.

It just really does whether it is or it isn't we can argue the semantics of the word but it just seems on face value that's what it's like.

After returning the text book and a nine hour phone call with customer service anthony finally got a refund - 5 days later... but is sending a strong warning to other college students.

Sot 5 i think amazon is taking advantage of college students, i do.

I don't think they're alone i think there are other companies that are probably doing the same thing.

Amazon sent this statement: this was an isolated error that we quickly resolved directly with the customer and have issued a refund.

We've apologized to the customer and are taking additional actions to ensure th sitti this situation does not happen again."

Kimberly davis, cbs3 eyewitness news it seems almost every day we hear about another corporation or government agency getting hacked.

How do these criminals do it?

Hilary lane sat down with a white hat hacker to find out.

Stephanie carruthers spends her days trying to infiltrate and crack into corporations.

But she's not a criminal& the security expert works for i-b-m and teaches companies how to keep the bad guys out.

"when i'm goin out and doing my research i look for things that people are posting online."

Carruthers says hackers often break into a company's network by targeting an employee.

"i was able t find information on you once i google searched you."

Using me as an example she did a quick search of my twitter feed and discovered i graduated from syracuse university and customized an email asking me to speak at an event.

And this email address looks so realistic, it's unbelievable."

She even bought the address alumni@syracus e.education& almost exactly the same as the real one.

"little trick like that often people will overlook.

It's how criminals get people to click on a link loaded with malware.

Hilary: "and if clicked a link or downloaded an attachment, what would happen?

On my side i would be able to have access to your information, to anything on your machine, and possibly even get on your network.

Experts say employees should also be careful what they post online - photos taken at work may have proprietary info in the background.

And you can't even trust the phone.

Carruthers downloaded a spoofing app.

She was able to enter my mother's phone number and then call me.

"oh my gosh i says mom.

And i would answer this because i would think it is my mom."

Even a flower delivery without a card can lead to a hack.

The person who got them may scan the qr code to find out who sent them and unknowingly let a hacker in their phone.

"and this is on of the ways that we really would like to show the organizations that we work with that there's more than one way attackers can come in."

Whether it's a delivery, email or phone call& carruthers says employees have to always before of potential dangers to keep their company and their own information safe.

Hilary lane, cbs news, new york.

Water warnings across the coast.

And these come at the worst possible time - the height of vacation and seafood season.

The latest on mid morning by n you by now you have probably heard that a toxic algae bloom may put the health and economy of communities along the coast at risk.

Right now, áallá 21 beaches there are closed to swimmers.

People and pets are warned to stay áoutá of the water.

Manuel bojorquez reports from biloxi.

The calm beaches along the gulf coast are practically empty because of a toxic algae.

We're scared actually so we're staying by the pool.

We were headed her to stick our toes in the water// but getting your toes in the water, his toes in the water is off limits now off limits now the problem started up the mississippi river, where heavy rains caused flooding this spring.

Officials were forced to open a spillway to relieve the pressure on levees.

The surge of fresh water, which also carried agricultural runoff like fertiziler from farms, causes the algae to thrive.

The algae blooms can trigger health problems like rashes, stomach cramps, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.

Scientists are busy testing water samples.

But alison robertson of the dauphin island sea lab says the advisory is precautionary.

There's a very very low chance of any human health effects associated with being in the water.

Some visitors aren't convinced of the dangers.

Are we going out mouth deep or chin deep or anything like that, no.

We'll go out here and we'll wade in it, go around.

No issues.

But many vacationers have cancelled their plans.

That's not helping business owners like barney foster who was expecting a busy summer season.

Bought 28 brand new jet skis, and the month of july, which is supposed to pretty much pay notes off and that's not gonna happen now.

As his rental customers disappear, foster has decided to sell much his new equipment.

And that's what we're doing with all these skis .

We're fixing on hauling to georgia to sell them.

Last year, tourism along the coast accounted for more than 2 billion dollars..and more than 28,000 jobs.

I've been in business 38 years, i don't think i'll be back next year.

I think i'm done.

Officials were hoping to close the spillway sending all the water this way next week, but a tropical storm system could dump more rain, possibly forcing officials to keep it flowing.

That means there's no telling how long the algae could stick around.

You can still enjoy the sandy beaches, but it's recommended people avoid contact with the water.

There's even a warning against eating local seafood during the outbreak.

And now a storm warning is expected to be in effect for the weekend.

When we come back, putting one foot in front of the other.

Sometimes it just means more.

That story ahead on mid a vere a severe drought has cost south africa an estimated áhalf a billioná dollars, and it's forced an áunprecedentedá rescue mission.

Thousands of flamingos were forced to abandon their eggs áandá newborn chicks earlier this year because of the lack of water.

But human intervention helped to nurse the newborns back to health.

Debora patta reports from london.

Under a warming red light these baby flamingoes are hand fed and cared for.

Without this human intervention they have no hope of one day growing into the iconic pink birds "so a lot of the cannot feed themselves, especially when they were brought in.

There were some eggs that were brought in as well, so we hatched them out and started hand rearing them."

Sprina liu is the bird curator at dallas zoo - flown in as part of a team of us bird experts to assist with one of the largest rescue operations of it's kind.

Normally home to 20,000 flamingos the kampfer dam waters had completely dried up after extended periods of the worst drought on record across south africa.

Unable to feed their newborn chicks - their parents left them to perish in the elements in order to save themselves.

Eggs were abandoned, three to four day old chicks left behind severely dehydrated - struggling to survive.

Rescuers scoured the area - saving as many baby flamingos as they could.

Then they watched as the tiny birds wriggled out of their eggs - some so weak that they had to be helped.

Hand rearing them was a delicate science - they had to be careful not to let them get too attached.

"so we do han rear them, but we try our best to not coddle them too much.

So we feed them, leave them with their friends, so they can learn to be flamingos."

But clearly being a flamingo - is hard wired into their dna - they soon adopt their unmistakeable posture.

Dp what are these two doing?

Sprina the little one is begging from the older one and this is so this is how the parents might feed them in the wild& here the birds are in that awkward teenage phase - with their dull grey feathers , self-absorbed squawking and constant demand for attention.

Dp upsound....leave me i don't want you that chick is getting attached to me.

Dp: look that one's about to& sprina: yea he's gonna, you got to watch your step in here, somebody might be underfoot flamingoes are not born with pink feathers - they turn this colour because of the algae and shrimp they eat in their natural habitat.

So the teams have to replicate this in the food they provide.

A few months later it's their coming out party - some of the birds are finally ready to be released back into the wild.

Nats sound of briefing - sound from dam release it's an emotional day.

This flamingo was so ill she was named zero as they didn't think she'd make it.

"she's my baby although she hates us, because of all the treatment she got, and all the injections &" veterinarian donovan smith&.

Chokes up i am sad&&.

Happy she is being released.

Just under half of the baby birds that were rescued have made it, and already over 500 have been released into the wild.

They've been fitted with trackers, and one bird has been traced as far as neighboring namibia, a country over 600 miles away from the dam.

Dp, cbs news, london this month marks 25 years since the release of the iconic movie "forrest gump.

It follows an army veteran played by tom hanks who runs across the country.

The latest in stallmant of " more perfect union," isth story of a 95- year- old world war two vet who is attempting a similar feat.

Ernie andrus is running from coast to coast to raise money to preserve a ship involved in the d-day invasion.

He started in saint simons island, georgia and is headed to san diego, nearly 24-hundred miles away.

Steve hartman caught up with ernie when he started in march.

"yeah, it's all been fun so far through pouring rain& "it's getting ho and humid" or sweltering heat...ernie andrus can be faithfully found "running" alo busy streets and highways.

At 6:30 in the morning, three days a week, ernie runs about four and a half miles on his cross country journey&an impressive feat for any 95 year old& but this is his ásecondá time doing it.

Back in 2016, then 93 year old ernie andrus became the oldest person ever to run across america.

"you got this you got this!"

A huge crowd joined him at the end, as this world war 2 sailor stormed the beach one last time to fervent chants and flying colors, it was pure joy.

But in the months after his celebrated run, ernie says he started to feel like old news.

Ernie andrus: i was running three days a week, but it's the same old thing.

And i just got a little bored.

Eventually ernie decided that even at 95 --especially at 95.

There's no time to bask in old glory.

You need to keep doing what makes your life worth living.

Which in his case means returning here to the ga beach where his run ended.

To start a new run back across the entire country again.

We ask you to bless ernie this day as he begins this journey in earnest.

His last run took three years.

But now his run is more like a mosey... so ernie expects this one to take a bit longer.

He hopes to reach san diego sometime after his 100th birthday.

The man is nothing if not an optimist.

41:21:19sh: when most people think of retirement, they don't think of this.

41:28:23ea: well, i've did more since i've retired.

I accomplished more, i did more, made more money.

48:03:14 sh: and now people are saying a 95 year old guy can't run across the country.

48:07:26 ea: and maybe they're right.

álaughsá but, i'm gonna do my best.

I'm gonna enjoy it anyhow.

Ea: i've got all the runs planned clear up to 2025.

Sh: so you plan to get there one way or the other?

Wheelchair, gurney, whatever it takes?

Ea: just not in a coffin i hope .

Just like last time, ernie is dedicating his run to the lst.

That's the same kind of ship ernie served on in the war.

There's just one left in its original configuration, and it's open for tours in evansville, indiana.

He's running to raise money and awareness.

Ea: this shouldn't be forgotten.

A ship's like a person, you know, we call it the grey lady.

Sh: it sounds like you're in love with this lady.

Ea: oh yea, it's part of my soul.

Honoring his naval past by steaming ahead toward the pacific.

And in his wake, ernie leaves behind all the proof you'll ever need that there's no fun in fading into the sunset, at least, not when you can run into it.

For cbs this morning, steve hartman in saint simons island georgia.

Sometimes it just takes one song to make a band an "overnigh success."

Talking with the front man for in2013he in 2013 the band - bastille - was nominated for best new artist following their debut album.

Last month, bastille released its third studio album, ádoom daysá.

Anthony mason recently sat down with lead singer and songwriter, dan smith in brooklyn, mason / bastille /kleaveland nat sot "these are th things, the "these are th things, the things we lost, the things we lost in the fire fire fire" narr: on the main stage at england's iconic glastonbury music festival last month, a field of fans rocked to the music of bastille..

The british band founded by front man, dan smith.

Mason: "ho woulwould you describe your voice?"

Smith: "annoying this strained, whiny, annoying tone."

// "it's ju one of those things.

It's the only voice i've got."

Narr: but in 2014, it helped the narr: but in 2014, it helped the song pompeii crack the top ten in more than a dozen countries, including the us.

That epic success was the band's breakthrough: smith: "but guess because we'd never dreamed that big, everything that's happened to us has felt like a happy accident."

Mason: "what di you dream then?"

Smith: "didn't.

Mason: "yo didn't?"

Smith: "no, i thin i've always been a bit of pessimistic realist."

Narr: with its catchy hooks, bastille's music can seem deceptively simple.

Pompeii is about the ancient roman city buried by a volcanic eruption: smith: i guess i was at a point in my life where i was doing a lot of jobs that i really hated // 16:37:20 i could sort of relate to that feeling of being stuck.

Narr: smith, the band's primary songwriter, grew up in london.

Mason: "how ol were you when you started writing songs?"

Smith: "i mus have been about 14, but i was a very self- conscious kid.

And i was just writing for myself.

I never imagined playing for anyone else."

&it took a lot for me to want to get on stage.

It wasn't very natural for me.

I was quite introverted and still am, but&making friends with the guys, starting the band.

If it's a shared experience, it's way easier and more fun.

Mason: and it's a form of protection, as well.

Smith: yeah, totally narr: but he quickly drew attention when we walked with him to rough trade in brooklyn& nat: oh joy, when you call me& narr: where the band was signing copies of it's new album, doom days.

And the line snaked all the way up the street and through the store.

Mason: "yo weren't particularly comfortable with being - a pop star."

Smith: "yeah, no that's putting it lightly."//"actu ly when we first started playing shows i was - will, our bass player, always laughs at me, cause i was so shy i'd be at the back of the stage, kind of turned sideways, hunched over the piano."

/ mason: "so yo felt safe looking at the keys."

Smith: "i felt - i was like, 'just pretend they're not there.

Pretend they're not there."

/ mason: "how di you coax yourself to the front of the stage?"

Smith: " remember a conversation where i was like, 'oh, guys, do you think maybe i should stand up for this song?'

And they're like, 'yes!

Of course.

That's what being a front man is, you idiot.'" narr: another of bastille's big hits, happier, recorded with american dj marshmello came to smith as he was about to step into the shower... mason: "d melodies typically come to you like that, just drop into your head?"

Smith: "yeah.

A the most annoying times.

Like the shower.

That's at least a private situation.

The cinema is annoying one cause you're like... mason: "what d you do?"

Smith: "sing int the phone.

So either i have to judge how loud the film is.

If the film is loud, i can get away with if it's a quiet, like dramatic moment i've got to shuffle out."

Narr: smith, who spends a lot of time in movie theatres, has brought his passion for film to his music... mason: "you'r songs are very cinematic."

Smith: thank you.

&part of being involved in every little detail is tryin' to paint this picture, tryin' to, like, get across what we see in our heads.

And i think, you know-- so there's always this slightly fantastical element to our music& nat sot: "it's quarter past midnight..."

Narr: the songs on doom days& all take place during a single night.

Smith: "w basically wanted to make this kind of quite personal feeling album, but set during this night during an apocalypse" nat sot - "you keep o running / running through a red light/ like we're trying to burn the night away."

Narr: smith himself has done a bit of running recently ...in the london marathon.

He ran to raise money for breast cancer research..after his mother was diagnosed.

Smith: "...wen through treatment and luckily is okay."

Mason: "you did i for her."

Smith: "i did it fo her.

Yeah, i did it for her."

Smith: "everyon was like, 'you're gonna cry, you're gonna get emotional."

//"t night before the marathon i got a message from bim, who's one of the gospel singers that sing on our record&.

Saying, you know, 'good luck tomorrow.

You know, this is from someone whose mother wasn't as lucky as yours.

You know you're running for us and for all our mums as well.

And i just, like, lost it."

Narr: but he finished the marathon... mason: "in lik three hours and forty minutes?"

Smith: "39.

Give m that minute."

Mason: "that' really good."

Smith: "than you."

Mason: "yo gonna do it again?"

Smith: "no.

Mason: "no that's it?"

Smith: "it's stil too close.

The memories are too fresh.

" th andor that and more on