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California Supreme Court Clears Way For Same-Sex Marriage; President Bush Blasts Democrats; Senator Biden Outraged by Bush's Comments

Aired May 15, 2008 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Every politician makes promises. John McCain makes predictions. As the Republican nominee-to-be looks ahead, we will look back at presidential aspirations and what actually came to pass.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Massachusetts and California, two different coasts, but joined together as of today in declaring same- sex marriage a basic right. We're live in Los Angeles with the fallout of a monumental ruling.

And almost two full weeks after the cyclone, Myanmar still in crisis, still in despair. And as you will see in our exclusive report, its people are still on their own.

Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Right off the top today, a developing and controversial story, a stunning victory for gay and lesbian rights in the nation's most populous state. The California Supreme Court today outlawed that state's ban on same-sex marriage.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is in Los Angeles with the very latest on this.

And, Ted, I'm hearing we heard from our Justice Department correspondent this was sort of unexpected.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of people thought that the state Supreme Court, which is typically fairly conservative, would not rule this way. But, in a 4-3 ruling, the state Supreme Court today basically said that it is unconstitutional to prohibit same-sex marriages.

It is a long 120-page-plus ruling. And it was met today with a lot of enthusiasm on both sides of this very emotional issue, which you talked about. Outside the state Supreme Court, up in San Francisco, a number of people gathered and they waited and waited. And when they heard the news, as you might expect, that's what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROWLANDS: Cheers went out as people realized what the ruling meant. They had to read the -- most of it to really pick up on it. It took a while.

But as they realized that they had won this fight, same-sex marriage proponents celebrated on the steps of the state Supreme Court up there in San Francisco today. And they are celebrating, are folks in favor of same-sex marriage still throughout the state.

On the other side of the coin, though...

LEMON: Apparently, we're having a little problem with the sound coming from Ted Rowlands, but Ted did a very good report there. And I believe in that we had a response from one of the gay alliance -- the Alliance Defense Fund.

And that response says, "The court's decision clearly demonstrates that marriage is not ultimately safe from tampering by activists and others in government until the voters have amended the Constitution."

Ted Rowlands, comment on that one.

ROWLANDS: Yes. This is the other side of the coin. As excited as the people on the pro-same-sex-marriage argument are, the other side is furious.

As you saw in that statement, the plan now on the other side is to try to get this amended at the constitutional level, state constitutional level. They are vowing that they will try to get something on the ballot as early as November. The governor chimed in today as well.

He said: "I respect the court's decision. And as governor, I will uphold its ruling. Also, as I have said in the past, I will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling."

But as we mentioned, that is coming next from the Alliance Defense Fund and others that are against this. For now, though, as part of this ruling, Don, counties are being instructed to facilitate same-sex marriages. We don't know where the first one will be or when it will be, but my bet is that it will be up in San Francisco, most likely, of course, the epicenter to -- of all of this, which we saw back in 2004.

LEMON: Yes. And you said -- we spoke to Gavin Newsom on the air. And you said a couple of big city mayors in California are preparing to speak about this, hold press conference?

ROWLANDS: Yes.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa down here in Los Angeles is holding a press conference. Each city is going to have to decide how and when they are going to facilitate this and work through this. But the court was very clear in the ruling today that it is up to separate counties in the state to make this happen.

So I'm sure that in the days and weeks to come, you're going to see a lot of folks lining up at city halls across the state getting married. California joining Massachusetts as now the second state in the country to allow same-sex marriages.

LEMON: In this political year, we will be following it. Thank you very much, Ted Rowlands.

ROWLANDS: You bet.

KEILAR: Well, actually all three major presidential candidates oppose same-sex marriage, but they do have some differences.

For instance, Republican John McCain, he opposes a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, saying that each state should decide. He also says if courts start overturning state laws, he might support a federal ban.

Well, Democrat Barack Obama opposes a constitutional ban. He supports instead civil unions. And Democrat Hillary Clinton also opposes a constitutional amendment and also supports civil unions, adding that each state should make its own decision.

LEMON: Well, John McCain is looking into the future. And he has a couple of predictions. He predicts a vibrant U.S. economy if he is elected president.

In a speech today, the presumptive Republican nominee predicted what things would look like, what it would look like after four years of a McCain presidency. On the economic front, he says that he predicts the United States will have seen several years of robust growth and Americans again will have confidence in their economic future. He said tax reform will help spur the economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A reduction in the corporate tax rate from the second highest in the world to one on par with our trading partners, the low rate on capital gains, allowing business to deduct in a single year investments in equipment and technology...

(APPLAUSE)

MCCAIN: ... while eliminating tax loopholes and ending corporate welfare, have spurred innovation and productivity and encouraged companies to keep their operations and jobs in the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And on the international front, well, McCain said the war in Iraq will be won by the end of his first term and most American troops will be home.

KEILAR: President Bush is still helping Israelis celebrate the Jewish state's 60th anniversary. But election-year politics casting a shadow on the trip.

Let's head now to Jerusalem and CNN's Ed Henry. Ed is with the president.

Tell us what he said.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, without naming names, the president suggested there are some who want to appease terrorists in much the same manner as other U.S. leaders appeased the Nazis in the run-up to World War II.

White House spokesman Dana Perino is insisting the president was not taking direct aim at Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential front-runner. But I can tell you other officials here are saying that the president was talking about various Democrats, including Obama, for suggesting he would sit down with the leader of Iran, but also former President Jimmy Carter, who has said there should be direct talks with the terror group Hamas.

So, take a listen to how the president put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along. We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: "Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided." We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: As you can imagine, Senator Barack Obama took offense to that, calling it a false political attack. Other Democrats on Capitol Hill now rushing to his defense, including -- take a listen to this audio, where there was some colorful language that we got from Senator Joe Biden because of the hustle of our congressional producer, Ted Barrett.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: This is bull (EXPLETIVE DELETED). This is malarkey. This is outrageous, outrageous, for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, sit in the Knesset, and -- well, that's what I'm told. Now, I have got to make sure my facts are right, in the Knesset, and make this kind of ridiculous statement.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HENRY: Now, Democrats are pouncing on the fact that this speech was delivered at the Israeli Knesset in a speech in which the president touted his own ties to Israel, certainly could raise some concerns about Senator Obama among Jewish American voters in this very tight election year.

Those concerns you will remember were first stoked by Senator John McCain, who recently suggested that Obama is the favored candidate of Hamas, the terror group. You will remember as well that Senator Obama appearing on "THE SITUATION ROOM" fired back that that was a smear -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Ed Henry for us in Jerusalem.

Thanks for your report.

LEMON: Rescue efforts in China are giving way to grim reality. The odds that anyone could survive more than three days in the rubble of this week's catastrophic earthquake are fading fast.

The government has raised its projected death toll to more than 50,000 people. More than four million homes are said to be damaged or destroyed -- 130,000 troops have been sent to help with rescue and recovery efforts. About 10 million people are said to be directly affected by that quake.

Well, the individual stories of pain and survival tell the real story of what's happening in the disaster zone.

CNN's John Vause in southwest China.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This city was once home to 20,000 people. Now there is only utter devastation.

It's not confirmed, but word here is, only 5,000 residents have survived. This man and his sister are looking for their mother. The neighbors called out for her yesterday, and she answered, he says. But today, there is only silence. So, they sit there on the sidewalk.

At the end of their street, there's a pile of rubble three stories high, all that's left of an apartment block on one side, an office building on the other. From a distance, the entire city looks as if the next aftershock might bring it all crashing down. Almost every building here has either been destroyed or is badly damaged.

The injured are stretched out through the hills. No vehicles can make it in. When the quake hit, this woman was shopping. She says the ground started to shake. She ran and fell. That's all she remembers before being pulled from the rubble more than three days later.

At the local middle school, there is a steady stream of tragedy. Parents wait, hoping each dead body is not their child. They're just teenagers on the stretchers. The frozen expression on their face is of pain and fear.

Chen Ying (ph) has been here since the earthquake destroyed this five-story building. She watches and waits for her daughter.

"I just want to see her," she told me. "If she's dead, I just want to see her body."

VAUSE (on-camera): No one knows how many students are still buried beneath this the rubble, how many are alive and how many are dead. Some of the bodies were found embracing each other. Others were huddled underneath desks with their hands over their heads, as if they were protecting themselves from the falling debris.

(voice-over): With each stretcher, the quake's death toll grows ever higher. Authorities believe it could reach 50,000 -- 50,000 times, there will be anguish like this. She just saw her daughter's body being carried away.

John Vause, CNN, Beichuan City, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Tough to look at that, and -- but it's something that we need to learn about. And perhaps next time we will warn you a little bit before those gruesome pictures come up on your screen there.

But we want to tell you just what our reporters are going through in order to bring you this story.

Our very own John Vause sent us an e-mail. And a lot of our reporters are going leaps and bounds and going beyond the call of duty here. He had to walk six hours to get to the village where he just filed this report from.

And in his e-mail to our international desk, where he was telling them where he was and exactly what he was going through, I will just read a little bit of it, he said: "Today, we stopped at a checkpoint about 30 kilometers from the county where they needed to go. The road was reserved for emergency vehicles. We set out on foot. Our photographer took a motorbike with gear, and I continued to walk."

And then they walked in. And he talks about the dump trucks on the road and running into people. He had to flag down a motorcycle cab. And it took -- that took him another kilometer. Then they jumped onto another pickup that was crowded with refugees.

He said when they reached the outskirts of the city, they caught up with their photographer finally. And remember that school where we had been reporting and you saw the mothers wailing over their children. They said: "Once inside, we stayed at the school, on the outskirts for a while. Then we went to the city. The road had been closed by massive landslide, which is also preventing earth from moving -- earth-moving equipment from getting in."

So, they had to march through the hills. It was tough going for about an hour-and-a half. "And we reached -- finally reached that town."

I'm going on a little bit long with this. But it's just amazing to see those pictures, just so you know what we're going through and what people are seeing there. So, what you're seeing on your screen, tough to watch. But it's also probably tougher to experience it and be one of those people who have lost their children and their families and also to be a reporter on the ground there.

And of course CNN is pouring huge resources into our coverage of this disastrous China quake, also Myanmar as well. Plus, we're using all the resources of our Beijing and Hong Kong bureaus. Our teams are in the field night and day chasing the stories to bring you the latest on the rescue and recovery efforts. And here at the CNN Center, that's what you're looking at now. It's our international desk. They are monitoring the latest developments for you around the clock.

KEILAR: And in Myanmar, the official death toll from Cyclone Nargis jumped today to more than 43,000. The Red Cross believes the true figure may actually be three times even that.

Now, also, two weeks after the storm, the scope of the disaster is still unclear.

But our correspondent there has come across new footage showing the grim plight facing some survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER (voice-over): A boat ride through the cyclone-ravaged area of the Irrawaddy River delta reveals the despair of those affected. This is exclusive CNN video.

A man suddenly appears on the shore and frantically swims to the vessel. He says he's been walking for four days, that his village was destroyed by the storm, and seven of his family members killed. The man also says, at one point, he signaled a Myanmar navy boat for help.

"A Navy boat passed," he says. "I waved, but it didn't stop. It didn't come near the shore."

This man's ordeal is over. But while he enjoys his first decent meal in days, others in the worst affected area wonder when they will get their next meal. We found Wen Wen Chi (ph) in a monastery, now giving refuge to about 300 people.

"If new food doesn't arrive soon, I am afraid we will starve here," Wen tells me. Wen Wen Chi is sick. She has a fever. She was given two painkiller tablets. She says that's all the medicine she's been able to get at the camp. And she's not the only one suffering.

This woman says she has a respiratory illness and a three-month- old baby to take care of.

Too little food, too little water and almost no medical supplies -- the abbot here at the monastery camp says he's doing the best he can to help the displaced and can hardly conceal his anger at Myanmar's military rulers, who have restricted international aid.

"I am very sorry that we have received no help from the authorities," he says. "Only some private people are giving us donations."

Donations that are urgently needed for people like Wen Wen Chi and her family. Right now, she says, it's all about survival one day at a time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: And that exclusive report from our correspondent in Myanmar.

We know that seeing some of these images, you realize how difficult things are in Myanmar. You may want to help. And at CNN.com, we have a special page on the devastation there. It is complete with links to reputable aid agencies that are organizing help for the region. This is a chance for you to impact your world. Let us be your guide.

LEMON: John McCain's vision. He has a clear idea of what he wants America and the world to be like if he's elected president. But can he deliver? We will check in with a presidential historian, who will tell us about some past promises.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Got an update for you now on a cyber-bullying case that we have been covering for some time here, many months, in the CNN NEWSROOM -- an indictment just in.

And according to the Associated Press, federal prosecutors are seeking this indictment. It's against a Missouri mother for her alleged role in an online hoax played on this 13-year-old girl. This is Megan Meier. She committed suicide.

Now, law enforcement officials tell the "A.P." that they're seeking four charge -- actually, we have the indictment in our hands now. Law enforcement officials seeking four charges against Lori Drew. Lori Drew is a mother whose daughter was feuding with this victim, Megan Meier. And Drew allegedly helped create a false MySpace account to contact this 13-year-old girl. And the 13-year-old girl thought that she was talking with a 16-year-old boy.

Megan ultimately hanged herself in October of 2006. The mother, Lori Drew, denying that she created this account or sent messages to Megan. But this is an indictment being sought against this -- because of this case. And it's being sought actually in California because MySpace is based in California.

But this just in to the CNN NEWSROOM, in fact, this indictment right here in my hand, again, an update on this cyber-bullying case, federal prosecutors seeking an indictment against a Missouri mother for her alleged role in this -- Don. LEMON: Also, a ruling that we received earlier, also got an e- mail on it, actually this very large ruling. It's from the California Supreme Court here, hundreds of pages. It's our bombshell ruling from the California Supreme Court, overturning that state's ban on same-sex marriages.

CNN's legal analyst, Sunny Hostin is on the phone with us. And, Sunny, I don't know if you can see the video, if you can see air, but this is a huge indictment. We had to go through it for a decision, and very confusing at first. Talk to us about the impact of this decision.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: This is significant.

And you're right. It's a very confusing case. When we first saw this, and we first only saw pieces of it, and it almost appeared as if the Supreme Court had upheld the ban on same-sex marriages in California.

But it's a 120-page decision. It was a 4-3 ruling. And the Supreme Court very, very clearly, succinctly, forcefully struck down that state's ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. And really what it has done is, it's just absolutely cleared the way for the state to become this nation's second to legalize same-sex marriage. We know that Massachusetts (AUDIO GAP)

And I think what is very striking, Don, about this case is if you look at the very bottom, the judges say that the plaintiffs are entitled to the issuance of a writ of mandate directing the appropriate state officials to take all actions necessary to effectuate our ruling.

And that means that they want this ruling to be put in place forthwith. And so, county clerks, other local officials throughout the state, they will be performing their duty to enforce the marriage statute as it is now applied.

LEMON: OK. And lets get -- I think we have some of the sound and the video of the people who were just as this was announced. There you go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Yes. And so that was...

(CROSSTALK)

HOSTIN: We have some very happy people.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Yes. Some very happy people, but I don't know if it's -- if we can get what was in the system for Ted Rowlands, because there's another side to this as well. We are understanding now exactly what this ruling is and we know the quotes are saying that same-sex couples should have the -- enjoy all of the constitutionally based incidents of marriage here.

HOSTIN: That's right.

LEMON: Yes.

Let me read this, and if we can get what Ted Rowlands had in the system, because I want Sunny to respond to that.

It says: "In light of the fundamental nature of the substantive rights embodied in the right to marry and in their central importance." And then it goes on to basically say that individuals and couples without regard to their sexual orientation should be granted the right to marry.

And then also the defense -- I'm not exactly sure of the organization there -- we don't have it -- not happy about this, saying that that is a reason that we need to have conservatives in office, so that we have judges in place, so that people don't tamper with the sanctity of marriage, Sunny.

HOSTIN: Well, that's right.

And of course there is a huge group of people -- I know that our presidential presumptive nominee, John McCain, is saying that he supports traditional marriage, but he opposes a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages, saying that individual states should decide the issue.

And, so, there are certainly a large group of people that are very distressed by this. They're saying that this is really, you know, just completely destroying marriage and the sanctity of marriage and going to screw up, ruin children's lives and that sort of thing. But I think that the Supreme Court in California made it very clear that this is now the law of California.

LEMON: They're saying that this is about the Constitution, Sunny.

And it's often been said, what happens in New York spreads across the country. What happens in California spreads across the country. But this happened in Massachusetts, didn't spread across the country. At least we haven't seen that.

HOSTIN: We haven't seen that. I think what we have seen is that a lot of the people that were very, very concerned about the effects of the Massachusetts ruling...

LEMON: Right.

HOSTIN: We haven't seen that happen in Massachusetts. We see Massachusetts doing fine.

I think we will probably see California doing fine. But I will say this. I think that this is something that we're going to be seeing more and more of in other states. If states are allowed to do this, we may really be seeing a trend here. I don't think that this is necessarily confined to California. We're going to be seeing more of this, Don.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: All right, Sunny Hostin is our legal analyst.

Hey, Sunny, thank you very much.

An interesting read. I don't know if you saw it, Sunny. Just a couple weeks ago, "The New York Times" magazine had a huge layout on people who were able to marry and how they're doing, same-sex couples, how they're doing just a few years later.

Sunny, thanks again.

We want to remind you that Sunny is our legal analyst, Sunny Hostin. She's regularly on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

KEILAR: Well, John McCain's vision, he has a clear idea of what he wants America and the world to be like if he is elected president. But can he deliver? We will check in with a presidential historian, who will tell us about some past promises.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(BUSINESS REPORT)

KEILAR: Well, it is Star Wars technology in use today. And in this case, we get to see a better, more useful prosthetic arm.

Here is CNN Miles O'Brien with "The Next Big Thing."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CHIEF TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chuck Hildreth has never let a little thing like losing both arms slow him down. He drives with his feet, is a world class ski racer and he routinely kicks down seemingly insurmountable barriers -- that is, until he craves a grape.

CHUCK HILDRETH, AMPUTEE: It's not a very delicate piece of machinery.

O'BRIEN: But his grape eating woes are terminated by a high tech arm that looks like it came from Hollywood.

(on-camera): Oh, wow! You've got a firm grip there. (voice-over): But we are in Manchester Center, New Hampshire at Decca Labs (ph), the invention incubator run by Dean Kamen of Segway fame.

DEAN KAMEN, INVENTOR: We got involved with this problem because we were asked by our government.

O'BRIEN: It was the Pentagon, hoping to improve life for soldiers who have lost arms in Iraq and Afghanistan. This foot-powered marvel called Luke -- as in Skywalker -- looks like it could do just that.

HILDRETH: Here's my right toe down to go down and the other to come up.

O'BRIEN (on-camera): So your feet are doing most of the driving here?

HILDRETH: Your feet do all the driving.

O'BRIEN: Oh, it is.

(voice-over): It's a long way from the hooks, pulleys and rubber band prosthetic arms used since the Civil War.

HILDRETH: I didn't even think I would see something this functional in my lifetime that I could wear.

O'BRIEN: It will be a few years before Luke is widely available. Chuck says it's well worth the wait to savor some of life's sweet, small pleasures.

Miles O'Brien, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Let's talk now about John McCain's vision. He has a clear idea of what he wants America and the world to be like if he is elected president.

But here's the question -- can he deliver?

We'll check in with a presidential historian who will tell us about some past promises.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Presidential promises -- all of the candidates make them, but can they deliver?

Presumptive Republican nominee, John McCain, predicted today what America and the world will be like after his first term if he's elected. And among other things, he says the war in Iraq will be won.

Well, let's get a Reality Check now.

Joining us now from Houston, presidential historian and recent editor of "The Reagan Diaries," Douglas Brinkley.

Douglas, thank you so much for joining us.

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN, EDITOR, "REAGAN DIARIES": Thanks for having me.

I appreciate it.

KEILAR: And so many promises over the years, I know one of the ones that you brought up that a presidential candidate was unable to deliver on was Nixon in 1968 saying victory in Vietnam.

Well, we heard John McCain today say that Al Qaeda in Iraq will be defeated by 2013, after his first term.

Are there any parallels, possibly, here or not?

BRINKLEY: First off, I think it's a very important speech by John McCain. It will be known as his 2013 Speech. That's a novelty item to put a bunch of benchmarks out like that.

But, look, we're talking about it and that's what he needed to do. He needed to give a speech that got rid of this notion of John McCain's 100 year war. It had been taken out of context, but nevertheless, the media had been running with it and certainly the Obama campaign was hammering him with it.

Now we know that John McCain thinks four more years it will be victory in the Iraq, al Qaeda will be defeated and bin Laden will be done away with.

I see two models in history of speeches like this. Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 said, elect me president and I'll get us out of the Korean War, which had become unpopular. I will go to Korea and I will get us out. And he did.

So that's the model to follow. The mistaken model for McCain to follow would be Richard Nixon in '68, who said peace with honor, I'm going to get us out quickly. And, of course, the war went on all the way to 1974, including incursions into Laos and Cambodia and illegal bombings, etc.

So he's got to turn to sticking by what he says today. He can make a speech like this, but four years from now, if he was president, we're going to hold him accountable for it.

KEILAR: Yes. And, also, there may be some things out of his control, for instance.

Is he going to be hoisting himself on his own petard, so to speak, if he doesn't make good on these promises?

BRINKLEY: Yes is the answer to that because by putting that year out there, 2013, here's what the world is going to look like. Now he has caveats, I can't guarantee this. Nevertheless, there's going to be an accountability factor. But he's playing to win this election. He's less worried four years from now, I think. He obviously believes some of these goals can be -- or most of them or all of them can be achieved.

But the big news item here is that John McCain is saying within four years, the war in Iraq will be over and we can declare victory and the majority of our men and women in the armed forces will be home. Obama has been saying he wanted withdrawal within about 16 months or so. So we're getting closer between their positions on getting out of Iraq. McCain is using the word victory, where Obama is using the word mistake, of the Bush administration. And that's the difference.

KEILAR: So that is the headline, that Iraq will be -- the U.S. will be out of Iraq by 2013. He also said that Osama bin Laden will be dead at that time. But he made other promises in the political realm, as well.

Let's listen to one that he made and we'll talk afterwards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCAIN: If I'm elected president, the era of the permanent campaign will end. The era of problem solving will begin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So the era of the permanent campaign will end. And I should also mention, Douglas, that one of the things he said in four years, after his term, that there would be -- I guess childhood obesity would be stabilized and on the decline. Looking at these I guess you could say maybe lesser promises compared to the Iraq War being over, are these going to be difficult to deliver on?

BRINKLEY: Well, it's difficult because the language isn't precise. When you're talking about a date of withdraw, he's saying by January of 2013 we will be out of Iraq. That's very clear cut.

What do you mean by getting, you know, permanent campaigns out of politics?

It's language that has a lot of flexibility to it. He's trying to get across the point, though that he's not politics as usual. He's trying to play on the fact that he's a maverick. This is the second part of a strategy here. The first part was John McCain on global warming. Now it's John McCain saying out of Iraq by 2013. He's clearly trying to win centrist people, the undecided, the Independents, who want a victory in Iraq, but don't want to be there too long. And then people that are worried that that the Republican Party is sort of indifferent to environmental concerns.

So I think he's done well with this speech, although I think the obesity thing, now he's starting to get, probably, a little too far- fetched in what he thinks he can accomplish.

KEILAR: Yes. OK. So he's given himself a little wiggle room, but not on Iraq. We will be watching this, as I know that will be.

Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian as well as a professor at Tulane University.

Thanks for being with us.

BRINKLEY: Thank you.

LEMON: The City of San Francisco was one of the plaintiffs trying to overturn California's gay marriage law. We talked to the city's mayor, Gavin Newsom, to get his take on today's momentous court ruling.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. It's a very busy day here. We keep getting information coming across the wires regarding rulings or how people are voting here. This one concerns the House. And the House, we are told, just rejected $163 billion -- the bill to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan into the next year.

The first one -- there were three different bills here -- three different amendments that were voted on. One, the first one was defeated. The second one passed, which was to get the troops out within 18 months. But the first one, the Department of Defense funding bill, voted down. The second one was passed, when it comes to deployment and those sorts of things. And there's a third one that's still being voted on. But, again, the House rejected a $163 billion bill to fund military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq into the next year.

Of course, Republicans are saying that -- OK, I'm getting information now that the third one was just approved. And the third one expands the G.I. benefits for veterans' education, it extends unemployment compensation and what have you, and a number of other issues that has to do with funding.

But essentially -- this is a headline here, a $163 billion bill to continue to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan rejected by the House. The Republicans are saying they did it because of the tactics that the Democrats were using in this bill. And that's coming from the GOP leader, John Boehner.

More information on this, no doubt, in "THE SITUATION ROOM." And also a little later on in prime, as we get more information on this. Live pictures now of the House vote right there.

Meantime, let's move to another developing story that we talked about earlier here in CNN NEWSROOM. Advocates of same-sex marriage -- they are jubilant today. In a 4-3 ruling, the California Supreme Court has overturned that state's same-sex marriage ban. San Francisco was one of the parties that sued to overturn the ban.

And Mayor Gavin Newsom calls it a victory.

And we spoke with him just a little bit earlier. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: What happens in California, sir, many times spreads across the country.

GAVIN NEWSOM, SAN FRANCISCO MAYOR: Yes.

LEMON: What do you think?

NEWSOM: Well, I do think -- I mean it's a throwaway line, but I do think it's true -- as California goes, so goes the rest of the nation. And I don't think people should be paranoid about that. I don't think people should stop and pause and go this is the end of civilization as we know it, as some have already asserted. Look what happened in Massachusetts a number of years ago. Massachusetts is doing just fine. The state is doing wonderfully.

The fact is that marriage as an institution in Massachusetts has not come to an end. People are doing OK. And that is exactly what's going to happen in California. And that's inevitable that, I think, as other states adopt similar strategies to do the right thing, that will happen in those respective states.

LEMON: Well, and you know -- this is no secret to you, San Francisco has a reputation as being one of the most liberal places in the country. And people are going to say, you know what, this is just going to happen in San Francisco and California because you're very liberal there, that, in fact, the country is a little too conservative and the country believes that marriage should be between a man and a woman and it's not going to happen elsewhere.

NEWSOM: Well, here's the problem. The Constitution, then, is the real problem. And that is why I think the president of the United States wanted to write discrimination into the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution, since the Bill of Rights, that's only been amended 17 times to extend people's rights, to abolish slavery, to allow women the right to vote.

The problem is -- and this is why six out of seven Republican judges that were appointed on our California Supreme Court, at least four of them concurred, the point is that there's nothing in that Constitution, that document -- forget politics. Let's just talk principles, the foundation of our Constitution -- that allows people to discriminate based on sexual orientation.

So unless you amend the Constitution of the United States -- and this is where I agree with the president -- there is no foundation, no justification for discrimination. That's not a liberal or conservative problem. That's just, I think, fundamentally and factually constitutionally protected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: That was the mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, on our air just moments ago. And San Francisco, by the way, briefly allowed same sex couples to marry. That was back in 2004. It sued after a court order forced it to stop.

The news keeps coming. We keep bringing it to you. You're watching CNN -- the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: This is a very sad story that we first told you about last week in the CNN NEWSROOM. At least, now, though, there could be some resolution. It is now in the hands of the Atlanta police. This man, Tacoma Jawara, turned himself into police this afternoon. He is accused of stealing a woman's engagement and wedding rings from her fingers as she laid dead in the emergency room. Katherine Armstrong died after a car crash last month. Emergency room cameras allegedly show Tacoma Jawara, a social worker, handling the dead woman's personal effects.

LEMON: And we didn't -- I was waiting to see if we saw the ring on that video there. We'll give it a second and then we'll move on. I don't think we see the ring. Obviously not. But no, don't see it.

OK. The closing bell and a wrap of all the action on Wall Street straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: And for today's installment of crazy European dudes in the news -- oh, I guess it would be this camera.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Oops.

KEILAR: Crazy anchors on the news.

LEMON: Crazy African-American dudes in the news who read at the wrong camera.

OK, so crazy European dudes in the news. We take you to Switzerland. So watch carefully. That is a crazy European dude jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. But watch. He's strapped to some folding wings. He fires up some jets and goes all Buzz Lightyear on us. There he is.

He's not crazy, he is Fusionman.

KEILAR: Crazy Fusionman.

LEMON: Yes, that's what he calls himself -- demonstrating for the press...

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: ...for the press his team's one man flying invention, he says. He zooms along for five minutes at more than 180 miles per hour and lands by parachute. Wow! KEILAR: Really amazing. It really is what he does. I mean it just makes you think that one, you know, if one thing went wrong -- but it's kind of beautiful in a way, isn't it?

LEMON: Yes. It's a little wacky to me, but who knows, it could be the future and a good way to get through traffic. You know how much traffic we have to deal with here in Atlanta.

Oh, there's the landing. Let's look at this.

KEILAR: By parachute.

LEMON: Yes. I feel like we're watching like the shuttle landing or something. That is...

KEILAR: Not quite as cool as that.

LEMON: It is pretty cool, though. It is pretty cool. All right.

KEILAR: And next?

LEMON: So let's leave this up while we go to Susan. Let's watch him on the ground.

Can we put it up somewhere?

So, Susan Lisovicz, you have very hairy days like this sometimes on Wall Street, where you need a parachute to deal with everything that's going on, I'm sure.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I would prefer a golden parachute like the CEOs that I cover often get.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Good segue. You're the queen of segues.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

LEMON: All right.

Hey, thanks, Susan. See you.

Wolf Blitzer, take it away.