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Supreme Court Overturns D.C. Gun Ban; North Korea Takes Steps To Rein in Nuclear Program; Opposition Supporters Attacked in Zimbabwe
Aired June 26, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: A blockbuster ruling on gun control: the Supreme Court shoots down D.C.'s ban on handguns. Now gun groups are taking aim at other laws.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And a major breakthrough for efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear program. North Korea hands over a long-awaited declaration, and President Bush responds.
LEMON: And just one day after he was convicted of murdering his wife and baby daughter, Richard Entwistle is sentenced for his crime.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Right off the top. This is a major ruling, everyone. For 217 years, Americans have wondered what the right to bear arms enshrined in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution really means. Well, now we have a pretty good idea of it.
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has overturned a near total ban on handgun ownership in Washington, D.C. The ruling holds gun ownership is an individual right, not reserved for state-run militias, but not unlimited either.
It is a huge day in the American legal history. And we've got it covered for you with CNN's Jeanne Meserve. She's at the high court. Our Josh Levs, here at the CNN center watching gun sales over the Internet. That is a very interesting part of this. And Brooke Baldwin at a gun shop in Smyrna, Georgia, that's been embroiled in a lawsuit over gun crimes in New York City. It is an unbelievable story. We're going to tell you about there, and it's still going on.
Now two other cities and two states urged the court to keep the D.C. ban. Siding with would-be gun owners were 31 states, the Bush administration and the National Rifle Association.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAYNE LAPIERRE, NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION: The Supreme Court today has gone on record saying the Founding Fathers intended this to be an individual right, we acknowledge that. So the Second Amendment as an individual right goes down as a real permanent part of American constitutional law. And that's a monumental victory. PAUL HELMKE, BRADY CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE: Justice Scalia specifically mentioned limitations on carrying concealed weapons; limits on who was able to acquire a gun, such as felons and the dangerously mentally ill; limits on where guns can be taken, such as schools and government buildings; limits on the conditions of sale; and limits on the types of weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Our Jeanne Meserve was in the gallery when portions of the high court opinion and dissent were read.
Jeanne Meserve, what is the reasoning behind the majority decision? I want to ask you really quickly, if you were in that gallery, what was the reaction like when this was read?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, very little reaction from the audience. It's a very staid environment there.
I can just tell you that Justice John Paul Stevens read a dissent from the bench, something that's not always done. And he was quite pointed and, at times, I think a little bit emotional in laying out his objections to the majority ruling today.
Let me step back for just a minute and talk for a minute about what was debated here. That was the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which reads, "A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."
The big debate was does this mean that gun ownership is key to militias? Or does it mean that individuals have a right to bear arms? And what the majority said today is that the individual has rights. It's the first time they've dealt with this issue since 1939.
The law in question in this particular case was an almost total ban on handguns here in the District of Columbia, which says that no resident of the city can lawfully have a handgun, even in their own homes, even for self-defense. That is out the window now.
The mayor of the city reacted quickly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ADRIAN FENTY, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: As mayor, although I am disappointed in the court's ruling, and believe, as I said for the past year, that more handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence, it is important to both respect the court's authority and then to act quickly.
And today, I have already directed the Metropolitan Police Department to implement an orderly process for allowing citizens to register handguns for lawful possession in their homes.
(END VIDEO CLIP) MESERVE: The old law will remain in effect, but only for the next 21 years -- 21 days, rather.
But the larger implication, of course, is for the nation. I can tell you that the National Rifle Association is seizing on this ruling today and saying that today they are going to court in San Francisco, Chicago, and some other localities to challenge restrictions on guns that they have in place. This is just the opening salvo in the gun control war in the courts.
Back to you.
LEMON: All right, Jeanne. Thank you.
KEILAR: Well, if guns weren't an issue in the presidential race already, they will be now. Here is where the candidates stand.
Barack Obama wants to permanently reinstate a nationwide ban on assault weapons. John McCain opposes restrictions on assault weapons and voted against a ten-year extension of that ban.
Obama voted for a 2005 amendment that would restrict rifle ammunition designed or marketed to be armor piercing, and McCain voted against it. Both men voted for a 2006 amendment banning confiscation of firearms from private citizens, especially in times of crisis or emergency.
Got to tell you, still ahead here in the CNN NEWSROOM, we're going to gauge the impact of this high-court ruling at a gun shop here in Georgia. And also our Josh Levs, he is watching gun sales on the Web.
LEMON: And after three years of talking, today action. North Korea makes good on a promise, a new openness, and a major move toward a much better relationship with the United States.
North Korea handed over documents listing details about its mysterious nuclear program. And tomorrow, the plan is to remove, dramatically, a most visible symbol of that program. The cooling tower at a nuclear reactor complex will be blown up.
This is not being done exactly for free; there's a pay-off here. Some U.S. sanctions against North Korea are being lifted, although many remain in place. Plus North Korea's place on America's list of terrorist states could change, as well.
KEILAR: President Bush ordered today some of those U.S. sanctions listed. He called it a symbolic gesture recognizing a first step. The first, he hopes of many.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This can be a moment of opportunity for North Korea. If North Korea continues to make the right choices, it can repair its relationship with the international community, much as Libya has done over the past few years.
If North Korea makes the wrong choices, the United States and our partners in the six-party talks will respond accordingly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now the president's orders take effect in 45 days. And during that time, the White House, Congress, and much of the world will be watching to see how all of the parties involved here, not just North Korea, respond to today's development.
CNN's State Department correspondent Zain Verjee has more on what lies ahead including that destruction tomorrow of the nuclear reactor cooling tower -- Zain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: We're with John Wolfsthal. He's been following North Korea since the 1980s.
This is Yongbyon. It's North Korea's main nuclear facility. Here is where they produce the plutonium to make nuclear weapons. And there it is, the cooling tower. Is the destruction meaningful?
JOHN WOLFSTHAL, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Well, this is a critical piece of equipment for the nuclear reactor. Without this facility, the reactor can't operate and can't produce more plutonium for weapons. You can see here that the facility's been cleaned out in preparation for the destruction. The equipment's been put someplace else for monitoring.
VERJEE: Verification is now the key process. The question is, is North Korea really committed to giving up the plutonium? And you need to get in there.
WOLFSTHAL: That's right. We don't trust North Korea. We don't take them at their word. We need to get people on the ground. We need to be taking samples. We need to put together, basically, a jigsaw puzzle from pieces of data without really seeing the cover of the box.
VERJEE: You were there. You took some pictures of the really bad stuff. This is what we want to get our hands on, right?
WOLFSTHAL: That's right. This is the spent fuel that came out of the reactor in the early 1990s. Under the Clinton administration, this was under monitoring. Under the Bush administration, it was actually turned into nuclear weapons. We're now trying to get it back under control.
VERJEE: What does this whole process -- North Korea does something, the U.S. does something -- what does it mean for a future administration, either Obama or McCain?
WOLFSTHAL: Well, it gives the future administration something to pick up on. If we were deadlocked as we were a couple of years ago, there'd be nothing to build on. Now at least we have something we can try and build on.
VERJEE: Thanks so much, John Wolfsthal.
WOLFSTHAL: My pleasure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: And Zain Verjee joining us now.
So it's not as if all sanctions against North Korea are out the window here, Zain. There's still some in effect.
VERJEE: No, some of them have been eased, but as President Bush said, those are really largely symbolic. They're designed to improve the overall tone between the United States and North Korea. North Korea, Brianna is sanctioned. Let's -- let's take a look at what is in place.
They're sanctioned for nuclear proliferation, for nuclear testing, as well as human rights violations. So basically, North Korea is not going to get any economic assistance except humanitarian. There's still a ban on weapon sales, a ban on luxury goods, a ban on North Korean imports. So it's going to be very difficult, Brianna, for any U.S. businesses to invest in North Korea. That's not going to happen any time soon.
And all of this comes under the different areas of U.S. law. That does not come, necessarily just under the Trading with Enemies Act.
KEILAR: All right. Zain Verjee for us at the State Department. Thanks for that.
And there's a whole lot more to discuss here as we learn more about what today means for relations between North Korea and the rest of the world. We've got a former presidential advisor on North Korea who will be joining us shortly.
Behind bars for the rest of his life. Neil Entwistle was sentenced this morning to two life terms without the chance for parole. He was found guilty yesterday of killing his wife and baby daughter while living in Massachusetts two years ago. Entwistle claimed that his wife, Rachel, killed their baby, then herself, and he tried to cover it up to protect her honor.
KEILAR: When and how did Specialist Megan Lynn Touma die? And why wasn't this pregnant soldier reported missing when she failed to show up for formation? North Carolina authorities hope an autopsy will tell them the first.
Now the Army is looking into the second question there. The body of this 23-year-old woman, who was found in a Fayetteville motel earlier this week. She arrived at Ft. Bragg from Germany less than two weeks ago, and she was seven months pregnant. You're going to hear from Touma's ex-husband next hour, here in the CNN NEWSROOM. LEMON: A knight in shining armor, no more. Queen Elizabeth takes a stand against Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, who is under growing pressure to cancel tomorrow's scheduled presidential runoff.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, refuses to postpone tomorrow's election, but he is offering to talk with opponents. The opposition party is boycotting tomorrow's vote, condemned as a sham by many international observers.
And CNN's David McKenzie has the latest from our listening post in Johannesburg, South Africa.
David, I've got to ask you. You have some horrifying pictures to show us, I'm told?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don. I have to warn our viewers, these are disturbing pictures. But let's show you this.
This -- these are pictures coming out of Harare. These -- this is a family, four people, a family that was targeted in the rural areas of Zimbabwe. They were -- their faces were hacked. Their backs were burned with plastic. And then they hacked an "X" on the back of one of those people to show that they must vote on Friday. They must vote for President Mugabe.
You see a disturbing pattern, how families are getting targeted in the rural areas, their houses are being burnt. They're being pushed from their homes. There's been political indoctrination by Mugabe's thugs. This is a terrible situation for the ordinary Zimbabweans on the eve of this controversial vote, Don.
LEMON: What's the situation like, David, in Harare now? Can you tell us that?
MCKENZIE: Well, I just spoke to a Human Rights Watch researcher. They said in Harare the violence has been always in the rural areas that spread to Harare. People are being pulled off the street, put in all-night indoctrination camps. They are pulling the opponents' supporters up there, publicly beating them, humiliating them. And there are torture camps, apparently, ringing around Harare.
This is an awful scenario for the ordinary Zimbabweans. You know, they just wanted to vote for whichever candidate tomorrow. One candidate has pulled out. And despite this violence, the government is going ahead with this vote. And it's really the ordinary Zimbabweans that are being punished.
LEMON: CNN's David McKenzie at our listening post in Johannesburg, South Africa. We appreciate it, David.
KEILAR: Bombs shattered the relative calm in Iraq, where an unannounced number of coalition forces died west of Baghdad today. This was a suicide bombing at a meeting of forces opposed to al Qaeda. Several leading Sunni shakes -- pardon me, sheikhs, also were killed in that attack that left 20 people dead. And in Mosul a bombing at an Iraqi government compound killed 18 and wounded 60.
South Korean demonstrators will not be happy. Their country's leadership today formally lifted its ban on American beef imports. This move is seen by opponents as buckling to Washington.
U.S. beef has been banned in South Korea for most of the past four years, beginning with that case of mad cow disease in 2003. A deal to lift the ban triggered weeks of demonstrations. Now, these people clashed on Wednesday with riot police in Seoul.
LEMON: North Korea opens up the nuclear books and gets ready to blow up nuclear equipment. How did it happen? We'll talk it out just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Topping our political ticker, Republican presidential candidate John McCain out on the campaign and fundraising trail today in a key battleground state.
McCain wrapped up a town hall meeting last hour at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio, talking pocketbook politics and congressional help for cash-strapped homeowners.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American dream is many things: educate our children, have a better life. There's many things that are associated with the American dream: live in a safer world. But one of the fundamentals is the ability of Americans to own their own home. We see that continuously eroded. So we're going to have to act and act effectively.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: McCain's itinerary today includes a private meeting with area religious leaders and then a scheduled fundraiser in an upscale Cincinnati suburb.
Well, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama campaigning for votes and also financial support today. Obama spoke at an economic competitiveness forum at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, noting present-day challenges and what may lie ahead if the nation does not change course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Just as we have to provide relief to Americans who are struggling, we also have to recognize that we're failing to put ourselves in a position to compete effectively in the global economy.
Our country faces challenges to our leadership in this young century. Our children will grow up facing competition from their counter parts in Beijing and Bangalore. If we don't change course, there's no guarantee that the American dream will be there for my daughters or your sons as it was there for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, cue up the Beatles song "Come Together." The so- called Democratic dream team is still not a reality when it comes to the party's presidential ticket, but tonight Senator Hillary Clinton will join Obama as they make their first appearance together since she suspended her campaign, her presidential campaign. Now both reportedly doing some fundraising for one another before campaigning jointly tomorrow in Unity, New Hampshire.
Check out our political ticker for all the latest campaign news. Just log onto CNNpolitics.com. It's your source for all things politics.
KEILAR: We have got our eye on one of the worst stock sell-offs of the year. And Susan Lisovicz is on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to put it all in perspective.
Susan, what's going on?
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Brianna, there are no major bombshells today, but we still have a major sell- off. Check it out for yourself.
Right now the Dow industrials are down 239 points at 11,572. The blue chips haven't closed below 11.6 since September of 2006. The NASDAQ composite, meanwhile, is down 62 points. Three major averages down 2 percent, to put it simply.
Financial stocks under particular pressure. There are a few downgrades. Nothing new: deteriorating consumer credit, concerns about the slowing economy. So they're getting hammered. There are five financial stocks in the Dow 30.
Citigroup, for instance, is trading at decade lows. Also there's been a downgrade on GM, General Motors, talking about maybe its need to raise capital. That was from Goldman Sachs, its concerns about that. GM shares right now are trading at around $11.50. We've never seen shares trade that low for GM.
Finally, one more thing to mention. One thing that's going higher, you guessed it, oil prices. They're up $3.60 right now. There is a report that OPEC's president says he says $150 to $170 a barrel in coming months. So we have a little ways to go if that is true -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Yes, but Susan, there's a little good news today, right? A big headline that the economy grew more than expected?
LISOVICZ: That's right. Perhaps on a different day we would have a different response. Not so far. That's right, GDP grew 1 percent. That's hardly robust. Growth was a little bit better than expected. Exports did particularly well with the weak dollar, but more telling is that consumer spending was revised a little bit higher -- Brianna.
KEILAR: All right. And there's also a better -than-expected report from the housing sector. See, good news here, right?
LISOVICZ: Right, and it's existing home sales.
LEMON: Finally.
LISOVICZ: Which is the broadest -- applause, applause -- the broadest part of the housing market. Yes, it inched up a little bit higher than expected. Apparently, buyers responding to those declining home prices.
But like I said, not really propping the bulls into -- spurring the bulls into action. We'll continue to watch the numbers for you, and we'll be back the next hour at the latest.
Brianna, Don, back to you.
KEILAR: OK. And I'll play Susie Sunshine to your Debbie Downer.
LISOVICZ: Thank you.
KEILAR: Susan Lisovicz for us there at the New York Stock Exchange. Thanks.
LEMON: We've been talking about the Supreme Court ruling in Washington, D.C. Don't think it just affects Washington, D.C. It affects a whole lot of people. You and gun sellers, as well, had a lot riding on today's landmark court ruling on the Second Amendment. We'll see what the outcome means for you and for them.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: All right. Time to tell you about some of the stories we're working on for you today in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The U.S. Supreme Court hands gun groups a huge victory. In a 5-4 ruling with national implications, the court says Washington, D.C.'s ban on handguns is unconstitutional. Is it going to start a ripple effect around the country? We'll explore that.
North Korea today turned over a long-awaited declaration, a detailed statement about its nuclear program. President Bush says he'll start the process to remove North Korea from the U.S. terrorism blacklist.
And Neil Entwistle has been sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison without parole. He was convicted just yesterday of killing his wife and baby daughter.
KEILAR: A planeload of journalists from all over the world, including our Christiane Amanpour, arrived in North Korea. And that means news is coming from there, of course, and that news today is positive. North Korea has taken the first steps towards shutting down its very controversial nuclear program.
And joining us now in Washington is former ambassador Wendy Sherman, who served a presidential advisor on North Korea during the Clinton administration.
Ambassador, thank you so much for being with us.
WENDY SHERMAN, FORMER AMBASSADOR: Good to be with you.
KEILAR: How significant is this agreement? I mean, we really want to keep an eye on how big of a deal is this and if it's being overstated.
SHERMAN: I think this is an important step, but it is just a step. We've now gotten 60 pages of a declaration. That needs to be verified, not only by looking through the data but an actual physical inspection of the facilities to see the amount of plutonium that might have been produced there. We then have to finally hear from North Korea how many nuclear weapons it has and whether it's going to destroy those nuclear weapons.
So, we have to secure the physical material, the plutonium that's needed for those weapons and then get rid of those weapons. There is a long way to go. The Bush administration could have had this deal some years ago, instead they allowed North Korea to keep producing plutonium and to conduct a nuclear test.
So, good step, needs to be verified. More to come.
KEILAR: An important step, Kim Jong-Il here at least displaying what would be considered a positive intent from the U.S. perspective, but how does the U.S. know that he isn't just being duplicitous, putting this declaration out there but really perhaps pursuing a nuclear program, anyways.
SHERMAN: That's why verification is so absolutely crucial. Secretary Rice said today in Kyoto where she is meeting with other foreign ministers, getting ready for the G-8 Summit that we will be able to verify. It'll be interesting to see how we're going to do that beyond physical inspection.
So, verification's crucial, the United States Congress has a role to play here over the next 45 days until North Korea's taken off the terrorism list. They should hold oversight hearings, we all need to look at this very, very closely to make sure we are headed in the right direction.
KEILAR: And Ambassador, Korea took the rare move of inviting some journalists to see this cooling tower basically be demolished tomorrow. That includes our Christiane Amanpour. How significant is the destruction of this cooling tower because it was verifiably disabled, I think it was last year.
SHERMAN: Indeed, I think this is a great public relations feat for the Chairman Kim Jong-Il and North Korea. It gives a good visual for all the stories that you all tell about what's going on. And, in fact, it would probably take a year or so to rebuild such a tower. But as you pointed out, the facility has already been disabled, ultimately it is supposed to be dismantled.
So, good public relations, a piece of the process, but probably not the most important thing that needs to happen over the next days, weeks, months, and years.
KEILAR: What about the timing of this? Why now? We've seen North Korea be so defiant now for years.
SHERMAN: Well, the Six-Party Talks, which are chaired by China have been working step-by-step to try to move forward. And finally, after not wanting to talk directly to North Korea, President Bush finally allowed Ambassador Christopher Hill to have those direct talks and over the months those talks have taken place, North Korea has made clear what it needs to be able to move into the international community. We have made clear what we need, and today, we are seeing an important step toward that process.
KEILAR: Former Ambassador Wendy Sherman, thank you so much for joining us today.
SHERMAN: Thank you.
LEMON: And for the first time since the Bill of Rights was passed in 1791, we've been telling you about this story. The highest court in the land has explained the right to bear arms. As we've been reporting, a 5-4 decision today overturns a long standing ban on handgun ownership in the District of Columbia. Appropriate to show the capital there and the court.
By the way -- by way of reaction, we've gone to a gun shop in Smyrna, Georgia that just lost a federal lawsuit alleging liability for gun crimes in New York City.
CNN's Brooke Baldwin is there. And Brooke, it is a busy day there today. Is that a result of today's decision?
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Don, I think probably the answer is 50/50, yes, I think this place was packed just about half an hour ago. Some of those people were here because they simply wanted to purchase a handgun. I did meet with a couple of others who said you know what, hey, this is a huge victory for me, philosophically, constitutionally. They wanted to exercise that individual right to come out and buy a gun. And they did that this morning here in Atlanta.
Take a look down here and you can see all the different handguns they have out here in the cases. This is what this whole Supreme Court controversy's centered around, the issue of handguns in the District of Columbia. But this -- this ruling could trickle down and affect all of us nationwide.
This is Jay Wallace, he's been helpful with us all day long, he has owned Adventure Outdoors for some 32 years. You said you had a handgun, or some kind of a gun since you were five-years-old?
JAY WALLACE, ADVENTURE OUTDOORS OWNER: Well, my father had a rifle that he allowed me to shoot under his supervision when I was five-years-old, that's the first time that I had ever shot a firearm.
BALDWIN: And you heard this decision this morning, you clapped.
WALLACE: Yes, oh absolutely.
BALDWIN: Explain your reaction. Why is this a victory?
WALLACE: This is a victory for everybody in the country. I mean because, you know, the Supreme Court has spoken. That's the highest court in the land, and they've said something that we all know to be true. We've known to be true for many years. Now, the ones that want to disarm this country, they know that it's the law of the land and that they can't go down that avenue any longer.
BALDWIN: OK, Jay, appreciate it.
So you heard it, Jay says this is the law of the land. Not everyone agrees, as you've probably heard all morning long. So, we'll just have to wait and see what kind of national affect this ruling will have -- Don.
LEMON: Hey, Brooke, can you ask him a question. You said -- in my lead into you, I said it was a busy day. Has he seen an increase? What kind of increase in traffic has he seen since this ruling came down?
BALDWIN: They're asking what kind of increase in traffic in the store have you seen since the ruling came down this morning?
WALLACE: Well, you know, we're a busy store. And I would say that this is an average day that we have. I haven't seen a large increase in traffic.
LEMON: So, there's -- yes, there's no --
WALLACE: This is an average day. Of course, the people talking back and forth have had quite a good subject to talk about. And they're real happy, so.
BALDWIN: Sure, sure.
WALLACE: That might have influenced them.
BALDWIN: So, I think, Don, he was saying they're a pretty popular store here in Atlanta , I think a number of people come in and buy guns on a daily basis, fair to say?
WALLACE: Yes. BALDWIN: Yes, so I did speak with someone earlier who said they came in because of the ruling. But I don't know if that's all necessarily because of what happened.
LEMON: There's no run on guns, we can say thatm at least not yet. But it's also happening online.
Brooke Baldwin, we thank you very much. And it's important to point out this gun store was involved in a lawsuit in New York City and has since lost. And then, we'll get back, we'll talk to Brooke about that a little bit later on. Brooke, we appreciate your reporting.
BALDWIN: Sure.
KEILAR: An update for you now on those hikers that everyone was looking for in the rugged Sierra Nevada. Well, it turns out they hiked to safety and thankfully, they are all OK. The nine teenagers and their two adult guides turned up at a remote store late yesterday afternoon. It is a few miles from where dozen of rescuers, volunteer mountaineers and parents were searching for them. This group was on a two-week Outward Bound adventure and was set to return tomorrow. The search was launched when the hikers became separated from their senior guide.
LEMON: Race and politics, we'll tell you about the war of words between Ralph Nader and Barack Obama.
KEILAR: A little extra cash, plus the bonus of taking part in the ongoing march of medicine. Just be careful about volunteering your body for clinical trials. We're going to take a look at some of the pitfalls.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A new war of words between Barack Obama and a presidential opponent. It's not John McCain this time, it's Ralph Nader. Remember him? Well, the independent candidate made some controversial remarks about Obama and the senator fired right back.
Here's CNN's Mary Snow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ralph Nader takes aim at presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama. He tells the "Rocky Mountain News," Obama is, in his words, "trying to talk white" and not doing enough to tackle poverty.
RALPH NADER (I), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I haven't heard him have a strong crackdown on economic exploitation in the ghettos. Payday loans, predatory lending, asbestos, lead, you know, what's keeping him from doing that? Is it because he wants to talk white?
SNOW: We asked Nader what he meant by talking white. NADER: I see him basically being very careful about not challenging the white oligarchic structure, the white-dominated corporate structure, and doing almost everything he can to avoid being seen or associated with some of the earlier African-American civil rights leaders like Jesse Jackson.
SNOW: We also asked Nader what he meant by saying Obama is trying to appeal to white guilt.
NADER: I think a lot of liberals have wanted an African-American to be the nominee, but a lot of these liberals are not demanding much of Barack Obama. And he is reciprocating.
SNOW: Obama says Nader is just trying to get attention for his bid as an independent presidential candidate.
OBAMA: It's a shame because if you look at his legacy in terms of consumer protections, it's an extraordinary one. But at this point, he's somebody who's trying to get attention and whose campaign hasn't gotten any traction. And so, what better way to get some traction than to make an inflammatory statement like the one that he made.
SNOW: Obama says he has addressed the issues Nader is talking about. CNN political analyst Roland Martin calls Nader's comments ridiculous.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Who is Ralph Nader to define what is deemed a black issue? I think when you talk about No Child Left Behind and black kids not learn -- reading, that's a black issue. When you talk about unemployment, that's a black issue.
SNOW (on camera): The issue that Nader did raise is the issue of race, with some saying that Nader is holding Obama to a different standard. Nader says he is holding Obama to a higher standard when it comes to issues affecting blacks and Latinos.
Mary Snow, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Coming up, President Bush is going to be making a statement at the White House prodding Congress to go forward with some of his priorities before the July 4th recess. He'll be talking war funding, he'll be talking relief from the housing crisis, and we will be following it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM close to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Aiming to get every adult in the Bronx tested for HIV. It's part of an ambitious plan being announced by the New York City Health Department. Tests will be offered on a voluntary basis over three years, they will given at designated sites, that includes emergency rooms, clinics, and community centers. Health officials say the Bronx has the highest rate of AIDS-related death among New York's five boroughs.
LEMON: Ready for this?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I am.
LEMON: This one is very interesting because I saw what you were going to talk about today and I see these things that -- it's like these billboards and these ads when you talk about trials. And basically, people are renting their bodies, which is usually illegal, but ...
COHEN: In this case, it's encouraged, right.
LEMON: ...because -- yes, because of these medical trials and stuff. Why would anybody want to do that? Tell us about it.
COHEN: Well, you might want to do a clinical trial because you want to help humanity ...
LEMON: OK.
COHEN: ...you want to help find ...
LEMON: All right, all right.
COHEN: ...cures for diseases, you might want to do it because you, yourself are ill and you're hoping that an experimental treatment might help you. And you might actually want to do it for money because they pay you.
LEMON: All right, hang on.
COHEN: OK.
LEMON: That's really the crux of it. Most of the time people do it because they want money, right. How much do they pay you to do these things?
COHEN: You know, they pay you a fair amount. If you take a look a this, this is one site where they have trials. So, this one here, you get $50 in Babies 'R Us certificates, it's one for pregnant women. Another one here is $330, $200.
LEMON: Oh, that one's -- yes, stipend $200 for a completion of -- OK.
COHEN: Yes, that's not bad, you know, that's not bad. You come in, you get some blood taken, you see the doctor a couple of times. Other ones, you can get $1,000 or more if they really have to do extensive work on you.
LEMON: Well, this one says six study visits, five -- study, 300 -- it's OK, it's not bad.
COHEN: So, you head to the doctor six times (ph), it all depends how hard up you are on cash, I guess right? LEMON: All right, all right, so you want some money. But really, I mean seriously, you got to think about what you're putting into your body. You got to be careful with this. And how do you figure that out?
COHEN: Absolutely. Before you join a clinical trial, what you want to do is ask yourself certain questions.
LEMON: OK.
COHEN: For example, you want to ask this drug they're going to have me take, how dangerous is it? What are the possible side effects? And see if you can sit down and ask them that and figure it out.
Second of all, you want to say other folks who've been in this study, what happened to them? Did they do OK, because chances are you're not the first one who's been enrolled. And if you are the very first human being, well, that's certainly an issue right there. You want to ask what happened to the animals they tried it out on.
LEMON: All right, all right. Still, it's a little scary to me. I mean, you don't know what you're putting in your body. As you said, you don't know, but it's good. Do your research.
COHEN: Right, do your research.
LEMON: Talk to someone, can we call Elizabeth Cohen? Is that possible?
COHEN: Well, no, but you can go to your own doctor. So, because what you're hearing from the people who are in the study, they're trying to encourage you to join. So, they may put a certain turn-on thing. But go to your own doctor and say, what do you think about this?
LEMON: OK, but it does help.
COHEN: Right.
LEMON: I mean, you said help mankind.
All right, hey, I think we've got to tell you how -- there's more, our Web site, right, what is it -- CNN.com/health.
COHEN: CNN.com/health.
LEMON: It's not "Empowered Patient," but you know.
COHEN: It is, CNN.com/health, you'll see the "Empowered Patient" article. It has even more things you need to consider before you become as we put it, a guinea pig.
LEMON: All right, this is something I've wondered about a lot, and you've explained it to us and our viewers. So, we appreciate it. Thank you. COHEN: Good, thanks.
LEMON: Brianna?
KEILAR: Well Don, ever since the quake, they have been waiting for word. Well, they've got pictures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. She's so beautiful. Look at Sophie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Laughter replaces worry after the adoption.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, today the military tells us that for the first time ever, a ground base anti-missile rocket has killed a dummy warhead that split from its booster. The interceptor rocket fired from Hawaii had to distinguish between the target and its booster rocket, which were fired from a plane before separating. The ground-based system and the sea-based ages (ph) system are being tested as defensives against enemy missiles.
KEILAR: You may know that families wishing to adopt, they go through these really long waiting periods. But the wait was excruciating for one American couple after the earthquake in China.
CNN's Kyung Lah reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When disaster struck China, it hit home for Michele and Rick Houston of Washington state. At the center of last month's earthquake was an orphanage. Inside was Sophie We (ph), a little girl the Houstons had waited nearly three years to adopt.
RICK HOUSTON, FATHER: Within two weeks, you know, we were supposed to go get Sophie and boom, there it is.
LAH: The Houstons feared the worst.
MICHELE HOUSTON, MOTHER: My friends that have been pregnant, they can feel their baby inside of them, and for me, it's just -- I hold on to that photo. I put it everywhere, and I just -- I just love her. That's just -- that's all I know.
LAH (on camera): Information about adoption slowed to a crawl after the earthquake. For families waiting to adopt, all they can do is wait some more.
(voice-over): But we were in China in the days after the quake. And were able to track little Sophie down safe and sound. She knows her American parents and her sister also adopted from China, but only from pictures. After a short visit, we called Rick and Michele in Washington state over the Internet.
(on camera): Hello.
R. HOUSTON: Hello.
M. HOUSTON: Hi, can you see us?
LAH: The place that I'm sitting is a hotel in Chengdu. I'm going to send you the video file.
M. HOUSTON: Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. She's so beautiful. Look at Sophie. Oh, my God, there's our picture album. Look.
R. HOUSTON: OK, we've got to hurry up and get packing.
LAH (voice-over): A week later, the wait was finally over. The Chinese government gave their adoption the green light.
R. HOUSTON: Where are we going? Chengdu?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chengdu.
LAH: They landed at the airport and drove straight to the orphanage.
M. HOUSTON: Oh, I can't believe it.
LAH: Sophie is among the lucky. There are so many more in need of families. In addition to those already awaiting adoption is estimated 2,000 children were orphaned in the quake. But for now, the Houstons are thankful for their little girl, who for years had been an image in a photograph, but is now real, a child in their arms.
R. HOUSTON: We got our family's complete now.
LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Chengdu, China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You OK?
KEILAR: Oh, I'm fine. I was almost getting teary.
LEMON: At full transparency (ph). You know Kyung very well.
KEILAR: Yes, I was -- I know Kyung and I actually did know that she had done the story. But it's -- oh, you know, an amazing story. What a beautiful child. Just a fantastic story.
LEMON: I saw you tearing up, so I just wanted to know if you were OK.
KEILAR: Well, so many -- you know, tragic stories have come out of the earthquake in Sichuan, so it's great. LEMON: Yes, all right, I'm glad you're OK.
KEILAR: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: Life guards to the rescue. It doesn't matter if you've got two legs or four, you won't want to miss this one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, so you know your cell phone, your BlackBerry, your computer, it's like your lifeline, right.
KEILAR: Oh yes.
LEMON: I left mine in the car this morning during the meeting, I'm like, BlackBerry.
KEILAR: My mouse, I couldn't -- I couldn't make the mouse go down, I nearly had a caniption.
LEMON: Right, yes, well, you know it's you're lifeline to the outside world, but not so we're told for John McCain and Jeanne Moos explains why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We don't expect the president to be the Liberace of the keyboard, but still.
(on camera): Should the next president of the United States know how to work a computer?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, yes, I guess so, it would be helpful. Why not?
MOOS (voice-over): Ask John McCain, here's how he describes his computer skills.
MCCAIN: I am an illiterate that has to rely on my wife for all of the assistance that I can get.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, that's absolutely ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the 21st century and he should know how to do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has people to do that, he's got to be thinking of more important things.
MOOS: While Cindy McCain's been spotted scrolling her BlackBerry, John McCain tends to be handed a BlackBerry to talk on.
Barack Obama, on the other hand, is one of those guys so intent on reading his BlackBerry that he could run into something. "He is a BlackBerry fiend," says his spokesperson, "has a laptop on the road and sometimes uses it to talk to his daughters and surf the Web when he is in need of important information such as sports scores."
A far cry from this guy.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hear there's rumors on the Internets.
And one of the things I've used on the Google.
MOOS: Just the other day, President Bush did it again.
BUSH: They can go on their computers and dial up volunteer.org.
MOOS: At least John McCain isn't still dialing up and he knows to leave off the "the."
MCCAIN: I guess you could do on Google.
MOOS: But McCain's admission that he's computer illiterate was fodder for debate at something called the Personal Democracy Forum. The online expert who had worked for John Edwards got into it with the Internet expert from the McCain campaign.
MARK SOOHOO, MCCAIN DEPUTY INTERNET DIR.: Yes, yes, but you don't necessarily have to use a computer to understand how it shapes the country and I think he has a ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the point, though, you do.
MOOS: But when McCain's guy said this.
SOOHOO: John McCain is aware of the Internet.
MOOS: "John McCain is aware of the Internet" became a joke on the Internet.
(on camera): But do we really want a president who sits around the Oval Office googling all day?
(voice-over): This 74-year-old likes to Google.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, this is such an easy thing to learn. I taught myself how to use the computer.
MOOS: At least John McCain knows the difference between a laptop and a lap dance. Even if jokesters made a mock-up of McCain's real Web site with "how does this thing work?" and "should I double click here?"
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: You know that summer in Southern California can get really hot. So, a dip in the ocean isn't a bad idea unless like this young deer, you cannot get back to shore. The life guards with the L.A. County Fire Department were called in to help herd him back to the sandy beach. It did take them a while, but they finally made it. And the deer is OK. Wildlife officials plan to return him to the Santa Monica Mountains.
And on the Atlantic side, it took more than a couple of people to save this animal, this 900-pound melon-head whale washed ashore on Playlinda Beach, which is near NASA, NASA station there. Now, rescue crews from SeaWorld came armed with a large sling, a whole lot of wet towels and spray bottles. This whale now at Gulf World in Panama City.
And the next hour of the NEWSROOM starts right now.
LEMON: Big city mayors scramble for cover after a landmark Supreme Court ruling on gun control. The high court threw out Washington, D.C.'s handgun ban. Now, gun groups have other cities in their sights.
KEILAR: President Bush moves to drop North Korea from a U.S. blacklist after it finally issues a long-awaited nuclear declaration. Did the North Koreans really come clean? Some members of the president's own party aren't so sure.
LEMON: And nine missing teenagers and two adults found safe in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. We spoke with the father of one of the teens while the search was going on yesterday. Well, what does he think now? He had some very serious questions for Outward Bound. We're going to talk to him in just a little bit.
