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Campbell Brown

President Obama on World Stage; Libya Leader Addresses United Nations

Aired September 23, 2009 - 20:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tonight, here are the questions we want answered. Does President Obama have the muscle to get things done on the world stage?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone.

BROWN: Tough talk at the U.N. Will it translate into action?

Also, has Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi lost his mind?

MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): This white -- this white book.

BROWN: He says the military is behind the swine flu, compared the Taliban to the Vatican, and demanded a reinvestigation of the Kennedy investigation. Is this really what the United Nations is all about?

Plus, what's it really like to really have H1N1? Our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta hit by the swine flu. Tonight, he will tell you what you need to know if you get sick.

And tonight's newsmaker, a woman accidentally implanted with another couple's embryo.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We spoke with the doctor who performed the embryo transfer the day that we were informed that I was pregnant, but it was somebody else's genetic child.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is your only source for news. CNN prime time begins now. Here's Campbell Brown.

BROWN: Hi, everybody.

Those are the big questions tonight, but we start as always with the "Mash-Up," our look at all the stories making an impact right now and the moments you may have missed today. We are watching it all so you don't have to. And we begin with breaking news tonight and this is coming from the United Nations. Just minutes ago, diplomat after diplomat walking out in the middle of a blistering speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, among them, the Canadian delegation leaving their seats in protest, as Ahmadinejad railed against the United States, Israel, and Jews the world over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The time has passed for a group of people to believe that they alone can define concepts such as democracy and freedom and hold up the criteria for these definitions while simultaneously violating the very principles to which they aspire, to force the entire population of a country out of their homeland for more than 60 years by resorting to force and coercion.

It is unacceptable that a small minority should dominate the politics, economy and culture of vast parts of the world through a complicated network and establish a new form, in fact, of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the United States, to attain its racist ambitions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: No surprise, the Israeli delegation did not attend tonight's speech.

Ahmadinejad, of course a longtime Holocaust denier, recently calling it a lie, a mythical claim used by Jews to rally support for the creation of Israel. And Katie Couric pressed him on that matter today in an interview for the "CBS Evening News."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE COURIC, HOST, "CBS EVENING NEWS": Mr. President, is this photo fabricated? Is this photo a lie?

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): There are many historical events, similar historical events. Why is this one in particular so important to you?

COURIC: Because you're denying it happened.

AHMADINEJAD (through translator): But in World War 2, 60 million people were killed. Why are we just focusing on this special group alone? And we're sorry for all the 60 million people that lost their lives equally. All of them are human beings. And it doesn't matter whether they were Christians or Jews or Buddhists or Muslims. They were killed. So, we're sorry for everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: We are going to analyze President Ahmadinejad's speech tonight and its impact on U.S.-Iranian relations in just a few minutes. In the meantime, he was hardly the only incendiary speaker at today's General Assembly. We also witnessed the U.N. debut of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Gadhafi allotted 15 minutes to address the gathered crowd. He spoke for 96 minutes. The speech was rambling. It was bizarre and covered a lot of ground. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: I don't even know where to begin.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: A ranting, raving, nonsensical diatribe.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Colonel Gadhafi complained about the jet lag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He praised the election of Barack Obama.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: He called the U.S. president "my son."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He defended the Taliban and the Somali pirates.

PHILLIPS: At one point, he even suggested the U.N. Security Council be renamed the terror council.

BLITZER: He called for a new investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At times, Gadhafi held up and leafed through the U.N. Charter and even flipped aside another book.

BLITZER: Even said the Taliban, by the way, are not the enemy and should form their own territory, much like the Vatican.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Saying that swine flu, the H1N1 virus, probably a military tool or weapon of proliferation.

ROTH: By the end of the speech, the General Assembly hall was half-empty.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: If I were to try to begin to explain the actions of Mr. Gadhafi today, I might be busy for the better part of the remainder of the afternoon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Yes, a whole lot to digest there, but we should note Gadhafi he did not come close to shattering the record for the longest U.N. speech, actually, that title held by Fidel Castro, who droned on for four hours back in 1960.

On to the third must-see speech of today's U.N. extravaganza, President Obama. His main message familiar to anyone who has been watching him on the international stage, that the Bush era is over, and the United States is ready to work with the world again. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I took office at a time when many around the world had come to view America with skepticism and distrust.

Now, like all of you, my responsibility is to act in the interests of my nation and my people. And I will never apologize for defending those interests.

Democracy cannot be imposed on any nation from the outside. Each society much search for its own path. And no path is perfect.

Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The president did have strong words for Iran and North Korea, saying their nuclear ambitions threaten to take us down a dangerous slope, in his words. Much more on the president's speech and its ramifications coming up a little bit later tonight.

So, this time last year, Sarah Palin was the unofficial star of the U.N. General Assembly. Do you remember that, when the campaign took her around to meet all those world leaders? Those were good times.

Well, today, Palin was on the other side of the globe in Hong Kong delivering her first paid speech to a group of investors, no press allowed. But some info did slip out. One thing for sure, over there, she's not the celebrity she is over here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: On the streets of Hong Kong, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is no celebrity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This woman?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have never seen her before?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, never.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you ever seen her before?

SARAH PALIN (R), FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: ... diversity of ideas.

YELLIN: There were no cameras inside, but someone snuck out this cell phone video. Now, "The Wall Street Journal" reports, Palin had governments from East to West in her sights, telling the audience of business leaders that China "rightfully makes a lot of people nervous." And, according to Bloomberg News, she said Japan, not China, "must continue to be the linchpin of U.S. foreign policy in the region."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Palin also charged, the U.S. government caused the financial collapse, reportedly saying we are not interested in government fixes; we are interested in freedom.

On the south side of the planet, some pretty incredible pictures out of Sydney, Australia, tonight, where this freak dust storm brought a red dawn. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sydney Harbor with its opera house and bridge is one of the greatest sights in the world, when you can see it. The dust clouds are massive, the scale of the problem difficult to comprehend.

The dust has come from the arid outback near Lake Eyre whipped up by strong winds and carried hundreds of miles. The particles are rich in iron, giving them a reddish color. And when they're bombarded with light, it throws off this orange glow -- Sydney's inhabitants living in the middle of a natural phenomenon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Health officials in Sydney issued a measure asthma alert, too, warning everybody there to stay indoors.

Now for a sordid story of Hollywood excess and family tragedy involving Mackenzie Phillips. You will remember her as one of the stars of that '80s sitcom "One Day at a Time." She was also the daughter of the late musician John Phillips of the Mommas and the Papas.

Well, today, Mackenzie Phillips revealed a long-term incestuous affair with her father that she says began as a rape and evolved into a consensual relationship. She says it lasted for years and on Oprah Winfrey's couch described how she finally brought it to an end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACKENZIE PHILLIPS, ACTRESS: I came up pregnant. And I did not know who the father was. The implications, the reality of that...

OPRAH WINFREY, HOST, "THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW": Yes.

PHILLIPS: I had an abortion, and I never let him touch me again.

WINFREY: You never let your father touch you?

PHILLIPS: Never.

WINFREY: Because you didn't know if your father was your father?

PHILLIPS: That's correct. I didn't know.

WINFREY: Did you tell your father, I became pregnant and I...

PHILLIPS: He paid for the abortion?

WINFREY: But did you tell him that this might be your child?

PHILLIPS: Well, he knew. He knew it might be his child.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And we should note here lots of drugs involved in this whole scenario. Mackenzie Phillips has long battled an array of addictions. She says her father taught her how to roll joints as a 10-year-old, adding that even after all she's been through, she still loves him.

And let's take a minute to process all that before we turn to the "Punchline." OK? Ready now? Tonight's treat comes courtesy of Jimmy Fallon, with his own take with the shenanigans at the U.N. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY FALLON, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH JIMMY FALLON": Over 150 world leaders in town for the conference. As a result, there's also 150 mistresses in town. So, it's just a nightmare, a traffic nightmare.

(LAUGHTER)

FALLON: Several heads of state are staying at the Ritz-Carlton over on 59th. And most check in under an alias for security reasons, although I'm pretty sure that I know who Joe Scmiden is.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FALLON: Jimmy Fallon, everybody. And that is the "Mash-Up."

It was a parade of the absurd as you saw a moment ago at the U.N. today, starring Iran's Holocaust-denying president and a man who wants the Taliban treated like the Vatican. But there are also some very critical issues on the table, the stakes extremely high.

CNN's Fareed Zakaria joining us next to help break it all down.

Plus, tonight's newsmaker -- a woman accidentally implanted with another couple's embryo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought he was joking, even though there was absolutely nothing about his physicality that would indicate he was joking. In fact, he was about -- he was white as a sheet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Breaking news tonight: a walkout at the U.N., as delegates turn their backs on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his speech a firestorm of attacks, slamming the United States for its policy in the Middle East, assailing Israel for its treatment of the Palestinians, defiant throughout, giving not an inch.

And joining me now to talk more about this is Jamie Rubin, who was President Bill Clinton's assistant secretary of state for public affairs, now an adjunct professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: That's a mouthful.

And Fareed Zakaria, our own Fareed Zakaria, who is host of CNN's "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS."

Welcome to both of you.

Fareed, let me get your reaction, generally. You heard him condemn the West, America, and especially Israel, not anything new, per se. But what do you make of it? What does it mean?

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: Oh, it's completely the same old, same old.

But what's interesting here is that Ahmadinejad has been on a campaign over the last few weeks to change the subject. His great fear that he would come to New York and the subject would be the Iranian regime and his massive repression of the democracy movement in Iran, of street protests, all the allegations being made by Iranians about what is happening in Iran, rape, torture, abuse, et cetera.

So, what he wanted to do was to talk about anything but that. And so, he fell back on the familiar themes. He hadn't talk about the Holocaust for two years. He mentioned it last week. The usual anti- Israeli rants. Even the nuclear issue is great for him, just as long as he doesn't -- he doesn't want to talk about the most important news story coming out of Iran in the last 30 years.

BROWN: Which is what's happening in Iran.

ZAKARIA: Exactly.

BROWN: So, was he effective? He raised the Holocaust, denying the Holocaust again in this interview with Katie Couric we showed earlier. That does seem to get everyone's attention off of what has happened over the last few months?

ZAKARIA: Which is why I'm trying to remind people that this is a conscious strategy on his part.

BROWN: We also just quickly saw several delegates walk out, quite a repudiation. But is -- were you surprised? I guess was it more forceful in terms of the sort of response to him or sending him a message?

ZAKARIA: It was actually, yes. I was more -- I was surprised that there were more than you would have expected.

And I think, at this point, it's very difficult to take Ahmadinejad seriously in the sense of being anything other than a spokesman for what has become a pretty brutal military dictatorship. Even the theocratic facade of this regime has been stripped away. It is very clearly a regime run by the Revolutionary Guards. And this guy is perhaps even just a mouthpiece.

BROWN: Jamie, from the U.S. perspective, so much -- and from Israel's perspective, for that matter, this is all really about the nuclear issue. Just explain to us where things stand now, you know, a conversation that is pretty much not taking place anytime soon. What happens?

JAMIE RUBIN, FORMER U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, it will begin to be taking place when the Iranians sit down with the European countries, the Russians, and the United States over the coming weeks and months. And I think there are some clocks ticking.

And this situation is getting more and more troublesome. The United States has made clear that it's going to try to crack down on the Iranian regime through additional sanctions. Perhaps the Russians said in the last 24 hours that they might be open to that.

I think President Obama's entire speech today was built around the premise that we have done our part. We have shown our willingness to talk. We have shown our willingness engage with the international community on climate change, law, prisoners, do all the things the world wants. Now, if you want to believe in law and believe in an international commitments, then you need to be with us when a country like North Korea, as he said, or a country like Iran violates its commitments.

So, we're building to a head here. And in the coming weeks and months, we're going to see increasing confrontation between the West and Iran. And, as you know, the Israelis are constantly pumping up the idea that there may be a need at some point for a military operation.

BROWN: So, what are the chances, though, of a breakthrough? You talk about maybe this signal from Russia. You need China on board. How likely is that?

RUBIN: Well, to be frank, I think we are not likely to get a breakthrough on the nuclear issues any time soon.

And the reason is, if you look at Ahmadinejad, the things he said, what they were willing to do, as Fareed was talking, in this terrible, brutal crackdown of innocent Iranians on the streets in Tehran, the idea that some economic sanctions are going to make this regime cry uncle, no matter how strong they are, short of perhaps a complete blockade of the country, which is never going to happen, the idea that this regime, of all Iranian regimes, is going to capitulate on the nuclear issue, I think, is extremely unlikely.

So, we have to go through this process. We have to try diplomacy. We have to try incentives and disincentives. But fear we're heading towards a point in the coming months where some decisions are going to be made either to have to live with an inherent capability or to do something else.

BROWN: We're going to talk more about the president's speech, President Obama speeches. But I have got to ask you about Moammar Gadhafi, who spoke for over an hour and, frankly, sounded like a lunatic. What was that about?

(LAUGHTER)

ZAKARIA: Well, people who have heard Colonel Gadhafi at other forums over the years have already been exposed to Gadhafi's rather strange both style and substance.

Jamie and I were talking maybe -- I think it his first address to the U.N. General Assembly. And he had been saving up all this stuff for...

(LAUGHTER)

ZAKARIA: I mean, maybe in 1963, he decided he needed to talk about the Kennedy assassination. And he's been waiting to have this moment.

BROWN: To have the opportunity?

ZAKARIA: This is the ultimate 15 minutes of fame. Well, it turned into one hour, 45 minutes. But there it is.

BROWN: All right. I know you're going to be looking at this more over the next couple of days, but appreciate your time.

Fareed, you're going to stick around.

Jamie, as always, good to see you. Thanks so much.

RUBIN: Nice to be with you.

BROWN: Today was President Obama's big debut at the U.N. as well, of course. He's very popular with world leaders. But does he actually have the muscle to make them compromise on the big issues that Jamie was talking about a moment ago? We're going to dig a little bit deeper on that big question.

Plus, John Travolta testifies about the night his son died and the people who tried to blackmailed him. That's coming up in the download. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: President Obama making his big debut at the United Nations today. We are covering all the angles.

(NEWS BREAK)

BROWN: Does President Obama have the muscle to get things done on the world stage? There was a whole lot of tough talk at the U.N. today, but will it actually translate into action? We will talk about that.

Plus, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta on his own bout of H1N1 flu. He got it. What you need to know about it, he's going to tell us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I was lightheaded and freezing cold. That's what I remember the most, freezing cold, even though it was over 100 degrees outside at that early hour of the morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Our next big question tonight: Does President Obama have the muscle to get things done on the world stage?

Listen to some of his tough talk today at the U.N.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone. We have sought in word and deed a new era of engagement with the world, and now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The president seems to be saying all the right things right now, but when will this actually translate into action? When will the U.S. see some results here?

And Fareed Zakaria is back with us, along with senior political analyst Jeff Toobin, and, down in Washington, senior political correspondent Candy Crowley joining us as well tonight.

Fareed, what do you think of the message, a vastly different message than the one we heard from the last president?

ZAKARIA: A vastly different message. And I think Obama struck exactly the right tone, which is to say, look, we have changed policy on a number of areas, and these were issues which -- which the rest of the world thought the United States was dragging its feet on, not signing U.N. treaties, not being part of various international processes and protocols.

Now -- now you don't have the United States to blame anymore. So, are you going to now cooperate?

It's exactly the right message. And he's already get some results. The Russians are being more...

BROWN: Like what? More...

ZAKARIA: The Russians are being more helpful on Iran. The Security Council's permanent five have now issued a declaration to the Iranians that they have to -- demanding a serious response to the international community's request. So, it's ratcheting up the pressure. This had -- this had been impossible to do previously.

So, yes, we're going to need to see more substance. But, look, his -- this is precisely the right thing to do, which is to tell the world, you know, in Richard Nixon's famous words, you don't have the United States to kick around anymore. You need to get serious, because we have gotten serious.

BROWN: Candy, are they, the administration, are they satisfied with the results because it's not a new message that previous (ph) laying out? I mean, this is essentially what he said during the cam. Did they think that they are -- that it's yielding enough in terms of results from the countries, they're trying to put pressure on?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think you heard some of the frustration actually in that speech to the U.N. and certainly, there is some frustration within the administration. However, as a campaign, and now in the White House, this is a group that's usually pretty patient. I mean, they understand that things come up that are tough, that you run into a blockade and you keep moving.

And look, this is -- this is the foreign policies that this president articulated as a candidate. Has it shown big old results yet? Absolutely not. And sure, you know, that's frustrating to them. But, you know, he's not even a year into his presidency. They've got three years. And even nothing shows up this year, if it shows in the next two years, no one will remember. But I think you also have to sort of look at the problem.

I mean, I agree that Russia now looks as though it might go along with some sort of sanction against Iran down the line. But it never said it would. So we have to sort of wait a little and see if this new approach which is basically a new tone in foreign policy actually does yield results. He's got a lot on the line.

BROWN: Jeff? JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think, you know, countries act out of interest more than idealism. And, you know, he has got not only to persuade other countries, but, you know, his third big priority was the environment.

Can he even get the United States to change the United States to change anything on global warming? I mean, he has got -- the House passed a bill that it will modestly restrict carbon emissions. It's not even clear that he can get that passed in the Senate. So, I think, you know, his problems are not just other countries, but in his priorities, he can't even get the United States in line yet.

ZAKARIA: In a sense, this is an experiment. Obama's foreign policy is an experiment on two fronts -- international and domestic. On the international front, it is to see if the United States is more cooperative and tries to go out of its way to find issues of common agreement, can you get other countries to move forward and try to solve some of these? But on the domestic side, equally important, I think it is, to see if the United States and the president of the United States presents a more cooperative face to the world, does that work domestically? Does he get painted as naive and weak and an appeaser? Or do people say, you know what, this is a guy who can work with the rest of the world. We like him.

So far for the Democrats, it has always been very dangerous to appear to be cooperative. If people of the U.N. like you, it probably means you're doing -- you know, Americans are going to be suspicious.

Obama is taking a very bold step where he's trying to say, no, I'm going to try and show the world -- show Americans that being cooperative with the world gets us results both in the world and at home. But it's an experiment.

BROWN: How much are domestic issues playing a role in all of this? I mean, some have said that many people, and Candy, you jump in here as well, that around the world, are sort of waiting to see how he manages these issues at home, huge issues on his plate, with regard to the economy and health care reform. And that they don't think he's really going to focus on them or really turn up the heat at the same time that he's dealing with this.

CROWLEY: Well, I think that was actually one of the messages, one of the overriding messages of this week. Of all of these one-on- ones that he did, these unilateral meetings with the Chinese and the Russians and the Japanese, the Palestinian Authority president, the Israeli prime minister, and then going to the G-20 in Pittsburgh, I think the overriding message here is, as he used to say in the campaign, presidents can pay attention to more than one thing at a time. And I think they felt the need.

Obviously, the general assembly at the U.N. was convening and it's a perfect way to do it. But I think that why you see the sort of full court press, a variety of global issues because I think it's a message. I'm paying attention. I am here. And don't think exactly what you just outlined that because we're busy with health care, because we're busy with energy policy, that I'm not paying attention to what's going on in the world, and that I don't know that the United States is still a world leader.

TOOBIN: It's a go-for-broke presidency. He wants to try to do everything. Now, that usually doesn't work. But, I mean, look what he did to the Middle East this week. He said I'm not going to have these little conversations about settlements. I want to have the whole issue on the table and reach a resolution. Lots of presidents have tried that and Jimmy Carter was the last one to make much progress.

BROWN: For better or worse. Fareed Zakaria, Jeff Toobin and Candy Crowley, guys, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

And remember, of course, you can see Fareed's show, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" Sundays on CNN at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

Our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta got the swine flu, and he's lived to tell about it. We have the story when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been at the forefront of reporting on the H1N1 flu virus traveling the world to bring home the story. Well, now, ironically, Sanjay has gone from reporting on the swine flu to being a victim of it. He got sick, and of all places, a war zone.

Sanjay has written a blog about his ordeal saying it is the sickest he has ever been. And tonight, he shares with me just how he got the swine flu, how he dealt with it.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Campbell, as you know, I recently returned from spending a couple of weeks in Afghanistan. Now you wouldn't think that the latest news about H1N1 would have affected me as much while I was over there. But as I learned, as you now know, you can get H1N1 anywhere, even in Afghanistan.

For me, it started off as a cough. This is the kind of cough that hurts. You wince, you guard, you hope you don't have to cough again anytime soon.

Next day, I wasn't feeling any better. In fact, I felt worse. I was light-headed and I was freezing cold. That's what I remember the most. Freezing cold, even though it was over 100 degrees outside, even in the early hours of the morning.

I was nauseated and my entire body just ached. I tried to explain away my symptoms like so many people do. Lots of different excuses. Could it be lack of sleep? Could be an ill-fitting bulletproof vest? Could it be all that dust and dirt?

They call it the Kandahar crud out there, but it wasn't any of those things. As a physician reporter in a war zone, I decided I was going to get some medical care and that prompted a visit to a battlefield hospital. Not as a reporter this time, but as a patient.

Now, it's worth pointing out that there's a certain irony as you mentioned in a medical reporter getting influenza-type A, which was then ultimately confirmed as H1N1. Incidentally, the term swine flu which a lot of people use is a misnomer. The strain is made up of several different components including swine, but also avian and human parts.

I also noted it really didn't matter if I got tested. As my doctors told me, it was the only flu strain circulating and I had it.

Part of the reason I wrote the blog, part of the reason I wanted to talk to you is because I am here and I am doing fine. I felt better each day after that and continue to feel well today.

And for most people, that's exactly what it's going to be like. They're going to have a lot of symptoms that I just described, but eventually, they're going to get better. Just a couple of miserable days, hopefully spent in the comfort of their own home with the pity of their family, as opposed to in a war zone like I was.

Campbell, back to you.

BROWN: Sanjay, we are glad you are feeling better. And you can read Sanjay's full account of his battle with swine flu on our Web site, CNN.com/Campbell.

And I want to tell you about a special investigation that's starting here tomorrow night called "Poisoned Patriots." You are going to meet some Marines who are willing to give their lives to protect our country, and yet the greatest danger they face may have come from right here on U.S. soil. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We come from all walks of life. Some of us went to college. Some of us blue collar jobs. We're all over the country and we're not -- what is our commonality? Our commonality is that we all at some point in our lives drank the water at Camp Lejeune.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Join us for this very important story. This is beginning tomorrow night right here 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, only on CNN.

And tonight's "newsmaker," a woman accidentally implanted with another couple's embryo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROLYN SAVAGE, PREGNANT WITH WRONG EMBRYO: We are going to celebrate this little boy's entrance into the world. And we're going to focus on the miracle that I think all of us have had a hand in.

(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Imagine this. After years of trying to conceive, an Ohio woman named Carolyn Savage gets pregnant through in vitro fertilization. Then she is told of a shocking error. Her fertility clinic admits the embryo they implanted actually belongs to another couple.

Savage and her husband are devastated, but they decide to go through with the pregnancy, promising to return the baby to his biological parents after the baby is born. This evening, I spoke with Carolyn Savage and her husband, Sean, from their home in Sylvania, Ohio.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Carolyn, I know you're set to deliver very shortly, probably in the next couple of weeks. How are you feeling?

CAROLYN SAVAGE, PREGNANT WITH WRONG EMBRYO: We're -- we're hanging in there. I'm sure, as most people know, the end of the pregnancy can be somewhat challenging physically. And combined with the emotional toll that this has taken on us, I think we're -- we're managing it about as well as could be expected.

BROWN: Sean, I understand that -- that you're the one who first heard from the clinic about the mix-up.

Tell us what happened, what they said to you.

SEAN SAVAGE, HUSBAND OF WOMAN GIVEN WRONG EMBRYO: I received a call from the physician. He actually thought that he was calling Carolyn, but he did reach me on my cell phone, and immediately told me that he had very bad news and not the kind of bad news that we would expect to receive. Carolyn had a pregnancy test earlier that morning and so we're just awaiting the results of that test. And he was calling me to let me know that Carolyn was pregnant, but they had thought (ph) and transferred another couple's embryo.

And that initially was just something that didn't register that well. It was something very shocking. And I immediately turned my thoughts to Carolyn and -- and how I would deliver that type of news, because it was surreal. It was just unbelievable.

BROWN: Well, how did you?

I mean, how do you tell her that?

S. SAVAGE: I came in the door and just her let know that I had terrible news that I just received a call that -- that she was pregnant but they had transferred the wrong embryos and that she was pregnant with another couple's genetic child. I never imagined those words ever coming out of my mouth or anybody's. It was -- it was just terrible news to have to deliver to your spouse.

BROWN: Carolyn, you must have been stunned. How did you react?

C. SAVAGE: I thought he was joking, even though there was absolutely nothing about his physicality that would indicate he was joking. In fact, he was about -- he was white as a sheet. And I -- I -- but I know I just yelled at him. I said, "You're joking," thinking, OK, not funny.

And he kept shaking his head no. And I -- I know I kept yelling at him, "You're joking," "You're joking." At one point I think he came towards me to comfort me physically and I know I -- I even kind of flew out of bed and was like oh, no, no, no. And kind of take it back, that this cannot be happening. It just shocked.

BROWN: So -- so how did you come to the decision -- and -- to go through with the pregnancy, to carry this baby for another couple and to hand them this child after you give birth?

S. SAVAGE: We were in our bedroom and within minutes we certainly just concluded together very quickly that termination of the pregnancy wasn't an option. And that's really just based on our belief system, our background, our ethic. And we knew that we needed to move on from there and deal with whatever would happen as a result.

BROWN: Carolyn, the biological parents of the baby spoke out for the first time this morning on "The Today Show."

And let's listen for a moment to Shannon Morell (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE TODAY SHOW," COURTESY NBC)

SHANNON MORELL: All the emotions that a woman feels throughout their pregnancy to bond with their child, I haven't had. It's been a very empty feeling. And so I think, all of the emotions for nine months will be packed into that one day when I actually get to hold my baby. I've never felt the baby kick, not -- none of that.

So it will be amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: When you hear, Carolyn, sort of this bittersweet excitement that she is expressing, how do you feel?

C. SAVAGE: What we're trying to do is -- is walk -- is turn away temporarily from that loss for Sean and I and -- and focus on exactly what Shannon said this morning. This is -- this is a gift for them and their family and we are going to celebrate this little boy's entrance into the world. And we're going to focus on the miracle that -- that I think all of us have had a hand in. And we're going to try to frame this as positively as possible, for Sean and I, for Shannon and Paul, and for -- our -- our children. And for -- for Ellie and Megan, Paul and Shannon's twin girls.

They get a little brother and -- and we're going to celebrate that -- that addition to their family with them. BROWN: I know that both you and the Morells have talked about what -- what kind of relationship, if any, you will have after the baby is born.

What are your thoughts about that?

C. SAVAGE: Well, you know, after nurturing this little boy for the last eight months, we -- he's part of our -- our hearts. He's -- I said earlier today, when -- when he is born, he's going to take a piece of me and Sean with him -- just a piece of my heart. And he'll have that forever.

And, however, as much as we have hopes and dreams for him, and -- but we also understand that the Morells are his parents and whatever they think is appropriate to meet his best needs in terms of contact with us or learning the story of how he came to be in this world, we are definitely going to defer to the judgment of -- of his mom and dad.

BROWN: Well, let me say, Carolyn and Sean, I'm -- I'm so sorry you guys are going through this, but I think what you're doing is so brave and such a gift to this couple.

I really appreciate you sharing your story with us.

Good luck to you.

S. SAVAGE: Thank you very much, Campbell.

C. SAVAGE: Thanks, Campbell.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And you can see much more on the mistaken embryo story and find details and information about infertility on CNN.com. From our main page just click on the "health" tab.

In tonight's "Breakout," world leader antics. It is the wilder side of the U.N. caught on tape. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: World diplomacy, very serious stuff. You don't want to laugh, but with a cast of colorful characters today at the U.N. General assembly, sometimes, you just can't help it. In tonight's "Breakout," we break down some of the more bizarre moments. The perfect job for our own Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the U.N. version of the red carpet. But instead of Brad and Angelina, it's Barack and Michelle.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Michelle. Good morning! MOOS: Entering separately. And the biggest commotion -- comes when a rogue leader makes an entrance. Libya's Moammar Gadhafi had the press foaming at the mouth.

(on camera): But our number one entrance is really a lesson in how not to enter.

(voice-over): We can all learn from a gentleman faced the wrong way on the escalator as he arrives with his delegation. At least at the U.N., they're diplomatic enough to pick him up.

(on camera): Now, we think we've detected a retro trend flashing the peace sign.

(voice-over): Iran's president did it, and so did Libya's leader. But the kind of peace Gadhafi offered in his speech was a piece of his mind. Banging on the podium, though some managed to snooze through the harangue. In the hour and a half speech, the Libyan leader took four drinks of water, went through two different interpreters and tugged at his robe countless times.

At one point, someone from his delegation passed up a note that people may have hoped said hurry up, which Gadhafi ignored. He symbolically ripped a copy of the U.N. charter, then dumped it. He seemed fond of tossing things around.

And you can bet President Obama was thrilled to learn that Gadhafi called Obama "our son."

MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): Congratulations to our son, Obama.

MOOS: And we offer congratulations to the U.N. secretary-general and Argentina's female president, the longest handshake, 15 vigorous seconds. As diplomats streamed into the world leader's luncheon, U.N. security had its hands full.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get this people out of here.

MOOS: But if anything got manhandled at the U.N., it was Libyan leader Gadhafi's notes. He took an hour and a half of abuse, shuffled, reshuffled, fumbled. Finally used to gavel his own speech to a close. Note to aide, don't forget to pick up his notes.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: "LARRY KING LIVE" starts in just a few minutes. His special guest tonight, Michael Moore.

Coming up next, though, of course, we've got the "Guilty Pleasure." The video we just can't resist. Stay with us for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BROWN: "LARRY KING LIVE" starts in just a few minutes but first Mike Galanos has tonight's "Guilty Pleasure," the story we just couldn't resist.

Mike, what do you have?

MIKE GALANOS, HLN PRIME NEWS: Again, the "Guilty Pleasure." Don't cite it. Just enjoy it.

Tonight is a YouTube sensation. It's the marshmallow test for 4- year-olds. Let's let the researchers lay the ground rules out for us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Sit in that chair.

All right. Here's the deal. Marshmallow for you. You can either wait. I'll give you another one if you wait, or you can eat it now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALANOS: All right, Campbell. These kids struggled. About 3:45 total, we cut it down to a minute.

They touch it. They smell it. They battle it. Most kids last a little less than three minutes. But actually this is old research done late '60s in Stanford and the researcher checked up on the kids. And trouble for the kids who were impatient, finding out they had behavioral problems, lower SAT scores.

But you got the little ones, by the way, saying in the middle of instructions eating away. But the kids who had the willpower, their SAT scores 210 points higher. Hopefully, we've got time for the payoff here.

I mean, the kids who were patient had the willpower, better behaved. They could keep friends. They could concentrate.

BROWN: Really.

GALANOS: So, we're going to get the payoff. He puts both in his mouth, I'll tell you.

There we go.

BROWN: Oh, there you go.

GALANOS: They're paying off.

BROWN: All right.

GALANOS: Round of applause.

BROWN: Oh, gosh, my kids are so impatient.

GALANOS: I know. Imagine how nervous you'd be if they took it.

BROWN: Not getting into any preschools? OK, we'll see what happens.

Mike Galanos -- Mike, that was good stuff. Thank you.

GALANOS: Thanks, Campbell.

BROWN: Good to see you. See you tomorrow night.

GALANOS: OK.

BROWN: That's all for us. "LARRY KING LIVE" starts right now.