Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Obama Responds to Critics; More Flooding in the South; Bill Clinton Changes Mind on Gay Marriage

Aired September 26, 2009 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight on the news, the president calls out his political critics at a big political event in Washington -- his strongest response yet. You'll hear it. The south is underwater again, and more rain is in the forecast. President Clinton drops a bombshell about gay marriage after our Anderson Cooper asks a tough question.

The real story on a promising AIDS vaccine from the people who conducted the research. We investigate a possible serial killer in Louisiana, CNN, the only network where you'll see this story. Oprah's Dr. Oz sets the record and then joins us to talk health care and answers your questions. And all of the single babies -- a pint-size Internet sensation that Beyonce would be proud of.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. President Barack Obama is out of town tonight, addressing the Congressional Black Caucus in Washington. He spent -- I should say on the town. He spent a lot of time talking about his health care reform plans and his efforts to stabilize and revitalize the nation's economy. He also took note of his critics. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The key to progress for all Americans is not just healthy bodies, it's also a well educated mind. And we know that the African-American community will fall behind in the United States, and the United States will fall behind in the world unless we do a far better job than we've been doing of educating our sons and daughters, unless we close the achievement gap that sees black students and brown students lag behind their white classmates year after year, decade after decade, unless we reach all of the students who are dropping out of school and giving up on their future.

Today, almost a third of students drop out of high school -- a third. And a disproportionate number of them are African-American or Hispanic. That's not just a loss for the African-American community or the Hispanic community, that's a loss for all Americans. That's the future workforce in the 21st century, when a good education is a prerequisite for success, when the jobs of tomorrow require a bachelor's degree or more, when the countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow. We need the talents, the energy, the contributions of all of our children, not just some. We need to prepare every child in America to compete with any worker in the world. Now, there are a number of things government can do to offer our kids a 21st century education. It can increase Pell Grants and Perkins Loans and simplify financial aid forms. It can establish better standards and assessments in our schools. It can reward teachers who are doing a great job and move bad ones out of the classroom. It can -- it can improve quality in early learning initiatives. It can rebuild our crumbling schools. It can offer all of our children a complete and competitive education, from cradle to classroom, from college through a career.

That's what government can do. That's what government must do, and that's exactly what we've begun to do here in Washington, across this country. And I've said it before, and I know I may sound like a broken record, but I'm going to say it again -- government alone cannot get our children to the Promised Land. Government can't put away the PlayStation. Government can't put our kids to bed at a reasonable hour. Government can't attend those parent/teacher conferences. Government can't read a book to your child at night. Government can't help them with their homework. Government can't make sure they leave to school on time. These are things only a mother can do, and a father can do. These are things that a parent can do.

We need to accept our responsibilities as parents and community leaders. We need to be good role models and encourage excellence in all of our children, every last one of them. We need to let them know there are no excuses for not doing your best every day, all the time, in order to achieve your dreams. We have to push our kids to aim higher. I don't want all of our kids aspiring to be ballers or rappers. I want them aspiring to be teachers and doctors and scientists and engineers. I want them aspiring to be members of Congress and Supreme Court Justices. I want them aspiring to be the President of the United States of America.

A number of difficult tests and bitter trials as a people and as a nation. There have been dangers to peace security, there have been barriers to justice and equality, there have been threats to opportunity. So we are by no means the first generation of Americans to be tested, but tested we have been.

Most recently we've been tested by an economic crisis unlike any that we've seen since the Great Depression. Now, I have to say that some folks seem to have forgotten just how bad things were when I took office. They seemed to be exercising some selective memory, so let's just take a stroll down memory lane.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON: All right. The president there talking education, responsibility, success, and also you heard the economy. And when it comes to the economy, the president says we will still have a long way to go, but he said his recovery plans have kept the recession from becoming a depression.

We have some tragic news to tell you about tonight involving New York Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. Her husband, 71-year-old Clifton Maloney, has died during a Himalayan climbing expedition in Tibet. Clifton Maloney was a millionaire investment banker and an avid climber. A family spokesman told CNN that he died apparently of natural causes in his sleep. He was resting at a camp during his descent from the summit on the world's sixth highest mountain.

Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat, has served in Congress since 1993. She recently dropped out of the race for the senate in New York.

As soon as the floodwaters receded in metro Atlanta, well, we have a new flash flood for our news flash for you. There are flood warnings tonight that popped up across parts of North Georgia. Heavy rains rolled across the Atlanta metro area which is still reeling from torrential rains earlier in the week. That caused some of the worst flooding in recent memory. At least 9 people have died and state insurance officials estimate a half billion dollars in damage to about 20,000 homes and buildings.

I want to go now to CNN's Jacqui Jeras in the CNN Severe Weather Center. She's working on all of this. Jacqui, the last thing that much of the south needed.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know, and we got about one to three inches of rain across the area earlier -- this late afternoon, the early evening hours. The good news is that a strong cold front has pushed off to the east, but we're still seeing heavy rain and some flooded areas across the Carolinas on up into West Virginia and Virginia as well.

The flash flood watches have all been canceled now with the exception of into the Central Appalachians here across the Virginias, a couple of flood warnings still in effect across parts of North Georgia, that one to three inches did aggravate a couple of the smaller creeks and streams and we did have some new roads which were reclosed today because of some of that high water. But overall we'll watch for things to start to recede again now in the upcoming hours and there you can see that heavy rain that pushed through the Atlanta metro area, especially on the western side of town.

Now take a look at these pictures that we have here. This is a situation that occurred this afternoon in Gwinnett County. This car actually didn't fall down as it was driving through a sinkhole, it actually drove into it. Apparently some of the barricades had been moved so the driver thought it was safe to move on through and unfortunately went right into that hole. Some minor injuries did occur, but that person is okay at this time. So just a big reminder to tell people, be really cautious when you're driving and never, never go past any of those barricades.

Sunday's forecast couldn't look better across the east. We'll see showers and thundershowers across Florida and into New England here, but the Southeast and the Mid-Atlantic dries out. A secondary shot of cold air with another cold front is going to drop on through -- through the day on Monday and it is going to be an absolutely fantastic week ahead. In fact, let me go ahead and show you the five- day forecast, for Atlanta in particular. It is nothing but sunshine all the way across, my friend, and temperatures dropping down into the 70s, so that's some good news, and already dropping down into the 60s and 70s for the Upper Midwest tomorrow.

LEMON: Finally, some good news. Jacqui, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

A month's worth of rain in six hours. Our flooding worries may be over here, but look at this. This is what you get when that happens. People in the Philippines were forced to walk through waist- high water as tropical storm Ketsana hammered the islands today with high winds and more than a foot of rain. At least 51 people died and more than 20 are missing. Thousands had to be rescued. The government declared a state of calamity, which is no exaggeration when you see all of the water there.

Iran is saying it has nothing to hide, one day after the bombshell news it has been building a secret uranium enrichment plant. Still, President Obama wants to see what's inside that factory in Qom because intelligence officials say it could be capable of manufacturing nuclear fuel. The White House and five allies plan to demand unrestricted access to the plant when they hold key nuclear talks on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We join with the United Kingdom and France in presenting evidence that Iran has been building a secret nuclear facility to enrich uranium. This is a serious challenge to the global nonproliferation regime and continues a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion. That's why international negotiations with Iran scheduled for October 1st now take on added urgency.

My offer of a serious, meaningful dialogue to resolve this issue remains open, but Iran must now cooperate fully with the international atomic energy agency and take action to demonstrate its peaceful intentions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Iran's nuclear chief says his country will allow UN inspectors to check the plant, but he didn't say when that visit could happen.

Friends and family come together to say a final good-bye to Annie Le. Also, eight women killed in rural South Louisiana. Now, authorities fear there is a serial killer at work. We're going to dig deeper and speak to one of the victim's brothers.

And you know him as Oprah's favorite doctor. Talking about Dr. Oz. But today he's in Houston. He and hundreds of volunteers were working, offering free checkups for the uninsured.

Join us tonight on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com. You can be a part of our conversation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Two weeks after her body was discovered crammed into a wall in a Yale University lab, Annie Le was laid to rest today. The 24-year-old doctoral student was found murdered on what was supposed to be her wedding day. Loved ones gathered at the funeral mass at the family's church in California.

She was remembered as a brilliant woman who wanted to change the world through her medical research, but her brother and cousins said she'll always be just Annie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Annie's academic achievement, while significant, was truly inconsequential. That is not to say that it was not impressive, but it's the silly girl that she always was, and we just all loved her. Every time -- after she left for college, I cannot help but smile when I saw her engaging in the most amusing and puerile activities, such as playing with stuffed animals, watching cartoons with my younger brother and laughing along with him, and talking to me as if I was still a 5-year-old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Lab technician Raymond Clark has been charged with killing Le and hiding her body in the research lab where they both worked.

Jennings, Louisiana -- pay close attention to this. It is a town of about 11,000 people. Could there be a serial killer among them?

Over the past four years, the bodies of eight women have been found. They were dumped in places like drainage ditches and lonely roadsides just outside of town. The most recent victim was found last month.

Detectives in Jefferson Davis Parish say it appears some of the women were targets of the same person. So far, there have been no arrests here. "America's Most Wanted" and a website called jeffdaviscrimes.net are spotlighting the case, hoping a tipster will come forward here.

Well, the families would like to hear something -- anything. They want some answers here. You can imagine what they're going through right now. Michael Dubois joins me now on the phone. His 24- year-old sister Whitney was the fourth victim found. Her body was discovered in May of 2007.

Thanks for joining us, Michael. She's your sister but you raised her, so feels like your child?

MICHAEL DUBOIS, BROTHER OF MURDER VICTIM: Yes, sir. Thank you very much for having us.

LEMON: What's going on here? This has not been talked about much, if at all, in the national media, and really -- I'm from Louisiana. I haven't heard a lot about it even down there. So what is going on with this case? Why isn't it being deemed a serial killer? I understand the sheriff is saying it's a serial dumper? DUBOIS: Yes. He's coined quite a few phrases, serial dumper and things like that, and we wonder why it hasn't gained national attention ourselves. And mainly what it is is we have an arrogant sheriff who refuses to declare a serial murder so he won't have an outside agency to come in and take over who has the technology and the resources to be able to solve this.

LEMON: And you -- you know, we reached out to the sheriff's department a number of times tonight. We invited the sheriff. He did not call us back, did not return our phone call, so -- We invited him to be on the air to give a response to that.

Not only are there eight women missing, but you say there are a total of 13 unsolved murders in Jefferson Davis Parish and people there fear that they may be connected?

DUBOIS: Correct.

LEMON: So what -- what are you doing about it? We understand that you have put up a website, "America's Most Wanted" has done it, but you have hired -- and a number of -- a couple of the other families, you've hired a private investigator? Tell me about that.

DUBOIS: Yes. We've -- We've had to reach out to other outside sources, and we had to hire Kirk Menard, a private investigator locally, to help us in trying to find who did these -- these murders and trying to find and get justice for our -- not only for our eight girls but the other five victims that are -- that are unheard of until we finally brought that out.

Also, they seemed to be collecting dust on -- in the files somewhere.

LEMON: Hey, real quickly, because I want to move on and talk to you about two more topics here. You said that -- that has -- there had been videotape of the women going into the same home, at least the private investigator said, going into the same home and there's videotape and he taped one of the victims a couple of months before she died visiting the same spot that many of the victims visited?

DUBOIS: Yes, sir. That was Nicole Jean Guillory. She was the one found August 19th. He filmed her coming out of a local crack house, which seems to be the Walmart for our serial killers to pick up women. They seemed to frequent these places that these girls hang out and they seem to do their shopping there.

LEMON: OK. You know, we're going to keep on the story to find out exactly what's happening. We know some of the women had issues, as you mentioned there, some of the women with drugs. But, still, if eight women go missing and there are a number of unsolved crimes, there should be some attention focused on it.

So thank you, Michael Dubois, for joining us. We wish you the best. If you have any information, please give me a call back and -- and let me know, OK?

DUBOIS: Thank you very much for airing it for us.

LEMON: OK. Thank you very much. And I want to say again, we did reach out to the sheriff in Jefferson Davis Parish. He did not return our phone calls. We reached out to him several times here at CNN.

Meantime, an abrupt about-face for Former President Bill Clinton, now coming out in favor of gay marriage. You'll hear what he had to say. And a potential major breakthrough in the fight against the HIV virus.

And move over single ladies -- we've got the single baby.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. A political flip-flop, a change of heart -- call it what you will, but Former President Bill Clinton says now he personally supports same-sex marriage. That's a big shift from his time in the White House when he signed the Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA. That reinforced the federal definition of marriage as one man, one woman.

Here's what Mr. Clinton told CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You said you recently changed your mind on same-sex marriage. I -- I'm wondering what you mean by that. Do you now believe that gay people should have full rights to civil marriage nationwide?

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do. I think that -- well, let me get back to the last point, your last word. I believe, historically, for 200 and something years, marriage has been a question left to the state and in religious institutions. I still think that's where it belongs, that is, I -- I was against the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage nationwide, and I still think that the American people should be able to play this out in debates and just telling (ph) --

But me, Bill Clinton, personally, I changed my position. I -- I am no longer opposed to that. I think if people want to make commitments that last a lifetime, they ought to be able to do it.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON: All right. Well, Former President Clinton also signed the military's "Don't ask, don't tell" policy which instructs gay troops to stay in the closet.

Former Lieutenant Daniel Choi joins me by phone from San Jose, California. He was discharged in April for coming out and he'll be participating in the National Equality March next month.

Daniel, thank you so much for joining us. What do you make of this? DANIEL CHOI, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: Thanks for having me, Don. One thing that I hung up on that President Clinton was talking about was essentially the definition of marriage not being a -- a federal right for everybody. As a soldier that has deployed, and as gay soldiers and lesbian soldiers raise their right hand to protect America, I didn't say that I was just going to protect a certain state in America, like only the Californians or the New Yorkers. I didn't say that I was just going to protect the gay people in America or I just want to protect the straight people or the Korean people.

You protect all of America, particularly as a soldier, and why should I come back home and be less than equal in certain states, and why should me and my boyfriend be equal in certain states and not equal in other states to everyone else?

LEMON: Well -- Well, Daniel, let me ask you this, because, you know, we mentioned President Clinton, DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, and also "Don't ask, don't tell." And during his time in office, you know, he got -- he got flak because he said he would tackle that issue and then he came up with "Don't ask, don't tell," but do you think that by the former president speaking out on this, and even if he's changing his mind, that it -- it will help?

CHOI: Certainly. I think that there's a hope that all people, when they realize what it does mean to be American and to respect and to -- if the full dignity of citizenship to all people, when they realize that that's the American value, then I think all people will realize that it's time to change our views, if we had them, if we got hung up over certain words or definitions.

The real word and definition that we need to focus on now today is equality. Do we want to confer full human dignity and full citizenship and all of the rights thereof to everybody in America?

LEMON: All right. Former Lieutenant Daniel Choi. Daniel, thank you so much.

CHOI: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Fresh hope in the fight against AIDS and HIV -- the medicine that could potentially cut the new infection rate by a third. Then sick, uninsured and often broke, thousands get on the road to health thanks to Dr. Oz's free clinic. He weighs in on health care crisis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, so does this put us closer to a cure for the AIDS virus? Because for the first time, a trial vaccine is showing some success. Scientists say it protected one in three people -- one in three people -- from getting HIV in a large study in Thailand, and researchers used two vaccines that work in different ways in the study. There will be more tests of course, but the news of course is encouraging.

Meantime in Washington, actor Blair Underwood opened an HIV/AIDS clinic bearing his name. The Blair Underwood Healthcare Center will provide advanced medical care specifically for HIV-positive clients. I'll be talking with Blair Underwood 10:00 P.M. Eastern hour. That's tomorrow night, right here on CNN. Make sure you stick around for that. It's going to be very interesting. Tomorrow night, 10:00 P.M. here on CNN.

Well, the new clinic couldn't have come at a better time. A CDC study says -- reveal a staggering number of new HIV/AIDS cases in the nation's capital, especially in the African-American community. And Mitchell Warren is with the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition. He is in New York. And Dr. Nelson Michael is with the US Military HIV Research Program. He joins us tonight from Washington.

Thank you so much to both of you for joining us tonight. We talked about the staggering HIV numbers in the nation's capital, and really around the country as well, any time someone dies from this disease. So, doctor, I have to say when you're doing this research, it was done by the military and also in conjunction with Walter Reed, reason to be optimistic, but not a vaccine yet?

DR. NELSON MICHAEL, COLONEL, M.C., US ARMY: Yes. I think that's -- that's perfectly put. What we have after 26 years of trying to develop a vaccine for HIV, we finally have hope that one day we're going to have one that we can use globally to prevent the scourge of HIV/AIDS. This -- this vaccine showed that we have a small degree of -- of efficacy, it gives us hope, but we can't relax our fight with other measures we're using to control the disease at the moment.

LEMON: While other people, you know, may be excited about it, the people who are not in the medical community or the advocacy community, really they should be still as cautious, but for the medical community, there's hope at least in science and research now. What do these numbers show you? Because at 30 percent, I think its efficacy rate, it's not terribly high. And especially if you look at HIV, I think -- you know, circumcision even has like a 60 percent efficacy rate or something like that?

MICHAEL: Yes. No, that's exactly right. So in that sense, I think you put it very nicely by already referring to another prevention modality that frankly works better than this. So -- but circumcision in certain parts of the world where it's already very highly used, doing more circumcision is not going to help that much. You're going to need a vaccine.

LEMON: OK. So we're stressing caution here, and you hear the doctors stressing caution there as well. Mitchell Warren, as an advocate, how are you feeling about this?

MITCHELL WARREN, AIDS VACCINE ADVOCACY COALITION: Well, this is a phenomenal scientific achievement, and it represents a real first breakthrough in -- in the search for an aids vaccine that has gone on for such a long time. But I think -- and you described it very well -- at the end of the day, we're not going to have a magic bullet against this epidemic. It's not going to be one single intervention, even with the vaccine. We need a whole comprehensive approach and -- and we have condoms, both male and female condoms, we have the advent of male circumcision, we have clean needles for injecting drug users. We have a package of prevention tools...

LEMON: But Mitchell...

WARREN: ... and we need more.

LEMON: But -- when people hear things like this, they may get it into their head, like, oh, this is over, or, you know, I don't have to be as careful. There's something that's coming down the line. This isn't imminent, is it, doctor? It's not -- it's not going to happen right away. It's going to take some time?

MICHAEL: No...

WARREN: No -- Oh. Go ahead.

MICHAEL: Thanks, Mitch. No, this is definitely going to take a large number of years before we actually have a vaccine that will be globally effective.

LEMON: OK. We have to run, guys. Thank you so much. We appreciate you joining us on a Saturday night, taking time out. Mitchell Warren and also Dr. Nelson Michael, who was with the military part of our state, that's conducted this survey and this study. We appreciate it.

WARREN: Great. Thanks so much.

MICHAEL: Thanks so much.

LEMON: Dr. Oz, you know, the one Oprah Winfrey made famous, is working this weekend offering free checkups to Houston's uninsured and talking to us about what he hopes to see happen with health care reform.

And lost in combat but never forgotten, the families of fallen troops gather at the capital for a somber gold star salute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. The doctor is in. He'll see you now. And nearly 2,000 uninsured Texans today got their bill of health without the bill. The famous Dr. Oz and an army of volunteers offered a free day of medical care in Houston -- checkups, tests and minor procedures all performed in a long row of makeshift exam rooms. Texas has more uninsured residents that any other state in the country and some patients say today's checkup may have been a lifesaver.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he sent me to that doctor and they took a sample, and they tell me it's cancer. I didn't know nothing about it. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So, you know, that he had -- he had lip cancer, doctor, and he didn't know. Dr. Oz is joining us now live from Houston.

Doctor, you know, I saw you all today and we talked about the importance of this and what you're doing -- a record number of people. When you see people like that gentleman who has lip cancer and didn't even know, didn't know what's going on, does that make you wonder about the urgency or at least think that there should be more urgency in getting health care reform in the country?

DR. MEHMET OZ, HOST, THE DR. OZ SHOW: Oh, without question. You know, when we started this idea of having a free clinic in Houston, we did it with the show with the mind that we would shine a spotlight on the need for free clinics in America. We had no idea that we would break the record for the most number of patients seen in a free clinic outside of a disaster. And by the way, no one ever wants to break that record, but it was overwhelming to see this many people in this short period of time, but it reflects the crying need that so many Americans have to get any kind of health care coverage.

And so, yes, we're fighting battles in Washington -- that health care finance, but what people are desperately needing is care of health. And that gentleman you just saw, Steve, there are so many out there like him. Steve, by the way, hitchhiked here -- believe it or not.

LEMON: Wow.

DR. OZ: Can you imagine that?

LEMON: I can't imagine that. And, you know, luckily, both you and I and many people watching us and all of my colleagues, and I'm sure yours, we have health care coverage and are not put in those positions. But, you know, you can certainly empathize with folks. And there are people who have written in to us, Dr. Oz, who want to know what -- about -- you know, what you're doing about the health care, and I just want to pull some of them up here.

One woman says -- and we'll get to you, you know, some of the common things that you saw. But one woman says, "I'm from Jamaica where we have free health care. Why is the US afraid of free health care?" In your estimation -- and that's a pretty valid question, Dr. Oz. How do you answer her?

DR. OZ: I think it's a very valid concern, but here's the reality. Health care is so precious to us. It's so sacred that we're worried that touching it in any way could destroy this precious covenant we have with our doctor. I'm speaking to you as a physician. I would like nothing better than not have to worry about whether someone has the kind of coverage I can take or not.

The medical community has firmly gotten behind the idea of getting all Americans some appropriate level of care. And, Don, just to highlight something you said earlier, 83 percent of the people that we see in this free clinic have a job and are working. These people have lived their lives contributing to society. They're just not quite making enough money to maintain health care insurance.

LEMON: Hey, this is a great idea from Carly Robin (ph), too, that was on Twitter, says, "You know, Dr. Oz, should we create a call to our national service, like National Guard one weekend -- one weekend a month for health care until the government gets it right? Should there be a national call of service for doctors and for citizens to get involved?"

DR. OZ: Don, I love that idea. This whole service nation concept where we actually owe our country a weekend, a month, a year of service is something I think we should make commonplace. I think what kids ought to be discussing as they get ready to graduate from high school is how am I going to serve?

Here, we hosted 700 people -- doctors, nurses, other health care providers, so they could take care of 1,600 plus people already. It's not going to happen by a few people chipping in here and there. It could happen if all of us pull the oars together.

LEMON: Hey, doctor, we have a very short time left and we're going to -- we're going to talk to you a little bit more. But I want to ask you this, if you can answer it shortly. Missy Kibble (ph) says, "What system does he think we should have? Not an evasive or neutral-type answer from him. I want details."

DR. OZ: Well, the -- the systems that I like the most are actually the kind of systems they have in Germany or Switzerland, where they actually afford patients the opportunity to -- to get insurance from many different companies, but they have to buy one type of insurance or another. You know, so we don't have the option as consumers to not have coverage, but the government has the obligation and so does the insurance companies providing coverage to us. I think we can make this happen in America.

But let me just say one thing that's big and important, I don't care what system you pick, none of them will work in America unless we reduce the amount of money we spend on health. And the way to do that is for us to take health into our communities, into our living rooms. By the way, that's been the entire intent of the show the whole time.

LEMON: All right. And for more free health advice from Dr. Oz, check out our website -- his website, dr.oz.com, and then make sure you head over to freeclinic.us as well. And for more of our conversation, just go to our blog, cnn.com/newsroom, click on our blog and the entire conversation with Dr. Oz will be there for you.

Could tough Republicans already be working to take back the White House? Well, some of the GOP's most powerful names are meeting in Michigan. So what's the plan?

And Beyonce's inspired everyone from Justin Timberlake to football players and the TV show "Greed." But who knew the "Single Lady's" video would get the toddler in motion? One very special toddler. You're going to -- you're going to see him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's talk politics now and a big gathering of Republicans in Michigan. The Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference brings together more than 1,500 activists, candidates and would-be candidates from across the country. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty spoke earlier today and former presidential hopeful Mitt Romney just finished speaking.

CNN All Platform Journalist Chris Welch is there. Hello, Chris. So, you were in the room as Mitt Romney was speaking. He just wrapped it up. What was his message?

CHRIS WELCH, CNN ALL PLATFORM JOURNALIST: Well, tonight -- he just finished up a couple of minutes ago and his message today, Don, was simply Barack Obama is not the savior that a lot of people thought he was. From Mitt Romney's perspective, Barack Obama has really failed, Romney says most in terms of foreign policy. He said when it comes to foreign policy, dealing with world leaders and dealing with world leaders that most people would consider to be not good -- say evil, for lack of a better word, he said Barack Obama has been dealing with them too nicely and it's making us look weak. That was his primary message.

But we've been hearing from a few people this weekend here on Mackinac Island for the -- this is the -- the Republican Leadership Conference that happens every two years, non-election years, years where -- the year before big election years, this is a pretty big deal. We had all of the Republican candidates here just a couple of years ago. This weekend's a little slower, but we still had some interesting moments.

LEMON: What -- earlier Tim Pawlenty and Charlie Crist of Florida spoke, and you were -- you were in the room for those speeches, right? You were in the room for those speeches?

WELCH: Yes.

LEMON: OK. Let's take -- let's take a listen to it a little bit.

WELCH: That's right.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

GOVERNOR TIM PAWLENTY (R), MINNESOTA: On health care, President Obama said in his joint session of Congress he's going to call people out, so we want to call him out back and say quit bankrupting the country and stop spending money we don't have, stop taxing us into oblivion. And the next time you have a chance to talk to young people, maybe you should apologize for the bucket loads of debt that he's dumping onto their head and shoulders.

GOVERNOR CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: I think the people wanted a change. I think it was that simple. They wanted a change back in 1976 -- you remember? Richard Nixon had been president. That ended. Gerald Ford took over. The people decided they wanted a change. They got one, Jimmy Carter. Four years later, they took care of business -- Ronald Reagan. It may happen again.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON: All right. Tough words, Crist, for the president. They believe it's going to be, as he said, a Jimmy Carter-esque re-election or non-reelection of President Barack Obama.

WELCH: Yes, and that's a very interesting way to put it. I mean, he's already -- I don't know if you want to call it a prediction -- a serious prediction at this point, but he's saying this is something that could happen. Obviously -- he probably hopes this will happen. And a lot of people in the room probably do as well. I think that's safe to say.

But, you know, in that first clip, we saw Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty hitting the president as he -- as he's been doing in previous weeks, previous months really, over the health care issue. Tim Pawlenty's been verbal on a national campaign. He's been on cable shows quite frequently and he's been sort of taking his message to various states around the country as well and he's been criticized for Democrats in Minnesota and also now the Democratic National Committee for not paying enough attention to his home state of Minnesota. And now many people believe this is because why -- or -- excuse me, Pawlenty could be setting up a potential bid for the presidency in 2012 and it's also been announced that he's setting up his own Political Action Committee. Democratic National Committee attacking him on that as well.

So this is -- this is sort of a weekend with some potential, down the road, you know, maybe a year from now, we'll see -- we'll know more about what's going on.

LEMON: And, Chris...

WELCH: This is a pretty good speech (INAUDIBLE) what could be going on.

LEMON: Yes, and we can see that. It's still going on, some of it wrapping up. And as we said, Mitt Romney just spoke. We're going to get video of that and bring it to you on CNN. So make sure you stay tuned.

Thank you, Chris. Have a good evening.

Who do you turn to if you're a victim of domestic violence and afraid to reach out to your family and community? One woman has made helping those women her mission. She's a CNN hero, and she will inspire you.

And the patriotic but somber salute to the loved ones of fallen troops as the nation's capital pauses to comfort gold star families.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Gold star families from around the country gathered in Washington for the Annual Time of Remembrance Ceremony. This event brings together the families of America's fallen in Iraq and Afghanistan to honor those who died in service to their country and to acknowledge the sacrifice of the families they left behind. Actor Kevin Bacon was there to say thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN BACON, ACTOR: Each of you has lost someone special in your life. There are no words that anyone, least of all me, can say that will heal your terrible hurt. But I want you to know that my thought and the thoughts of our country are with you. I'm left thinking of a quote that I heard once which surely applies to each and every one of you here. To the world, he was one, but to me, he was my world. Thank you. Thank you for your sacrifice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: About 2,500 people attended today's ceremony.

Now time for our hero of the week. Nearly one in four women will become a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime. Women of all backgrounds are at risk, but Muslim women can be more reluctant to seek help.

Robina Niaz is raising awareness in New York Islamic community to prevent women from suffering in silence.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN HEROES.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ROBINA NIAZ, PROTECTING THE POWERLESS: Abuse cuts across race, religion, culture. I'm a Muslim, born and raised in Pakistan and migrated to New York in 1990.

Within the Muslim community, there's a lot of denials about the issue. Koran condemns abusive behavior of women. If we witness injustice, we're required to speak up.

I'm Robina Niaz and I'm helping Muslim women end abuse in their lives. We do a lot of community outreach. A lot of our sisters are abused. This affects all of us. We need to talk about it.

RABIA, FORMER VICTIM OF ABUSE: I was afraid for my life. I didn't have a place to go. My family would disown me. My father even said to me that you're lucky you live in America because if you lived back home you would have been dead by now. Robina understood the cultural nuances and all of their religious issues.

NIAZ: Islam says our first duty is to protect ourselves. The important thing, we tell them how to get into a shelter, what their rights are.

RABIA: She really made me understand that I'm not alone. NIAZ: We are here whenever you want to come to us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told my friend about you.

NIAZ: Well, Inshallah, when it's the right time.

There have been threats to my safety, but I know that God is protecting me because I'm doing the right thing.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON: And to find out more about Robina's work or any of our heroes, go to our website at cnn.com/heroes.

Well, a one-take wonder you have to see to believe. Now, it is a viral sensation. I have a feeling that it is. And Beyonce started this craze, but now she's got a little competition. Why don't you check it out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know, for millions of Americans, unemployment has become a painful fact of life. First there's the trauma of being laid off, then comes the realization that finding a job is a full-time job in this economy. So how are people coping?

Poppy Harlow has this week's MONEY & MAIN STREET report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM (voice-over): Rachel Gold and Anthony Barberio don't have much in common. Rachel is 28 and worked in recruiting after graduating from college. Anthony is 46. He worked on Wall Street for 20 years, but he never went to college. The thing they do have in common -- a long job search after being laid off. Rachel lost her job back in November.

RACHEL GOLD, JOB SEEKER: I definitely didn't think that I would be sitting here, you know, nine months later, you know, without employment.

ANTHONY BARBERIO, JOB SEEKER: When I first was let go, I figured maybe a month, two months, you know, and I didn't think it would last this long.

HARLOW: For Anthony, it's been more than a year since he was laid off, and each day brings more work to find work.

GOLD: This afternoon at 2:30, I have a recruiting meeting with somebody that I was networking with. Tomorrow morning at 10:00, I have another meeting with a recruiter. I'm not sure if they have positions, but, you know, just to do some networking.

HARLOW: Rachel spends a lot of her time making business connections using social networking sites, and she also applies for job online everyday. So you've applied for more than 650 jobs?

GOLD: Correct.

HARLOW: How many interviews have you had out of all that?

GOLD: Maybe 10.

HARLOW: Anthony has applied for hundreds of jobs too and he's using employment agencies in his search, but when his unemployment benefits run out, he'll be forced to stop looking on Wall Street and take any job he can find.

BARBERIO: Well, I'm going to put like a deadline as to when I'm -- you know, going to have to really seriously, you know, would -- you know, look for something, you know, whether it be a department store or something like that.

GOLD: These are people that I've e-mailed.

HARLOW: Until a job comes along, Rachel has started a blog, kickedforward.com, based on the quote, "When life kicks you, let it kick you forward."

GOLD: It's difficult but, you know, I think I'm just trying to be as optimistic as possible that I'll find a position soon.

HARLOW: Rachel says she started to get more interviews since we first talked with her in August, and despite the tough job market, Anthony said he's hearing about more openings and hoping one of them is for him.

BARBERIO: I'm anxious to get back to work, you know. I mean, hey, almost a year in the house, you know, it could drive somebody crazy.

HARLOW: Poppy Harlow, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Poppy, thanks.

Check this out. All right, so we dare you not to sing along or try to do it yourself this weekend. And if you think you've seen all of the possible single ladies dancing -- I thought we were way beyond that. You've got to think again. Calling all the single babies right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Even if you have seen it before, you're going to love it when you see it again. You know, his timing may have been way off, but Kanye West -- he may have been on to something when he said Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time. Even the babies dig it.

I could watch that video all night. It's so cute. It is a YouTube favorite and it's all over Facebook and all the social networking sites. See that cute little dancer. Look at him kicking his legs out.

All right. If you think making a music video takes a professional crew, lots of time and lots of money, you haven't been to the University of Quebec in Montreal. One hundred and seventy-two students participated. Listen.

One hundred seventy-two students. It took about a month of planning, two hours to set it up. The filmmaker shot it twice. The second one without any edits.

So all of the -- video extraordinaires. But I think the kid's the cutest, though. I'm sure you'll agree.

I'm Don Lemon at Atlanta. I'll see you back here tomorrow night. CAMPBELL BROWN begins right now. Good night everybody.