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H1N1 Virus Spread May Reach Epidemic Levels; Health Care Reform Continues in Congress; Pakistani Military Launches Offensive Against Taliban; Interracial Couple Denied Marriage License by Justice of the Peace Because of Race; Body Language Expert Discusses Balloon Rescue; The '89 Bay Bridge Collapse Brought Survivor, Rescuer Together; "CNN Hero" Helps Abused Girls
Aired October 17, 2009 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Today swine flu hits the U.S. early and hard, claiming the lives of more teens than the normal flu.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANNE SCHUCHAT, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL: It's unprecedented for this time of year to have the whole country seeing such high levels of activity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Also, love in Louisiana frowned on by one local justice of the peace. A couple was interracial and they weren't the first to be denied. Now the governor is weighing in.
And 20 years after a massive earthquake rocked San Francisco, the face of the quake, a hero firefighter, tells us how he's gotten along in the two decades since that disaster.
Hello everyone, I'm Don Lemon.
The swine flu is hitting sooner than expected and harder than many experts had feared. And we don't know exactly how bad the H1N1 outbreak is going to get this winter, but early reports are very troubling -- 86 U.S. children have already died of swine flu across 41 states, 11 died just this week, and it's prompting health experts to talk openly about an epidemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHUCHAT: We also track mortality around the country through something called the pneumonia and influenza mortality survey with 122 cities, and for the first week this fall we're seeing that the amount of pneumonia and influenza mortality is above the epidemic threshold.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK, so what about the swine flu vaccine? The jury is still out on that. And CNN's Kitty Pilgrim reports a delivery of the new vaccine hits a snag. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's week 41 of the swine flu epidemic and the delivery of the vaccine is still uncertain in many parts of the country. The injectable vaccine only shipped this week.
SCHUCHAT: Initially we only had the nasal spray available, but now it's about half and half that are available and will be coming out towards the states relatively soon.
PILGRIM: The CDC says they have now ordered enough to provide 251 million doses. But as of this past Monday, only a fraction of that order, 9.8 million vaccines, were available to be shipped.
Only one maker of the swine flu vaccine is Sanofi Pasteur, is manufacturing all of its swine flu vaccine for the U.S. market in the United States, some 75 million doses. The other three producers, CSL, MedImmune, Novartis, make their vaccines overseas.
The public health department of Suffolk County, New York, is the distribution center for 1.2 million people, and it only received 600 doses of the injectable vaccine today and 1,000 doses of the nasal spray last week. They say they will need 300,000 to 400,000 doses.
Steven Levy, county executive, says supplies are uncertain.
STEVE LEVY, SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK COMMISSIONER: We just got that shipment today of the 600 injectable form, and we're hoping for thousands more to come, we think sporadically, over the next several weeks and months.
PILGRIM: Dr. David Graham, chief deputy health commissioner of Suffolk County, says he only finds out day to day what they will receive.
DR. DAVID GRAHAM, CHIEF DEPUTY HEALTH COMMISSIONER, SUFFOLK COUNTY, NEW YORK: We certainly could use more, and sooner the better. But, you know, for the doses that we do receive incrementally, we're going to administer them as soon as they come in.
PILGRIM: Until then, the county is prioritizing high-risk people to receive their shots first.
Kitty Pilgrim, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: With all of the talk of vaccine shortages, it might surprise you that some prisoners in Massachusetts could get the swine flu vaccine first before it's available to law abiding citizens. There's fear the h1n1 virus could spread quickly behind bars.
So 21,000 vaccine doses will go to prison health care workers and high-risk inmates in the second week in November. The general public can get vaccinated at the end of next month. Healthy prison inmates are last in line. And for the latest on the H1N1 makes sure you click on to CNN.com/health.
Progress only means more work in the Washington debate over health care. The Senate Finance Committee passed a reform bill this week, but critics say it would raise costs for millions of Americans.
President Barack Obama today used his weekly address to blast the insurance industry for funding health care studies he says are misleading the American people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The history is clear -- for decades rising health care costs have unleashed havoc on families, businesses, and the economy. And for decades whenever we have tried to reform the system, the insurance companies have done everything in their considerable power to stop us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Let's bring in now CNN's Kate Bolduan. She is live in Washington tonight at the White House. So Kate, what is the Republican response to what President Obama is saying?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Don.
The Republicans today really taking on really the overall health care plan and the proposals that are right now making their way through congress.
Republicans really continue to raise concerns about the health care reform effort, saying that the reform plans taking shape in Congress right now, they simply are moving in the wrong direction, that they're moving towards what they consider more government interference which will only serve to drive up costs throughout the health care system.
Listen here to Congressman Kevin Brady of Texas speaking for the Republicans this week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. KEVIN BRADY, (R) TEXAS: The Democrats' plans are loaded with new federal mandates and higher taxes on insurance plans, treatments, and equipment, all of which will be passed down to patients.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Now, early on in this health care debate, the White House called for a bipartisan solution -- a bipartisan solution to the health care reform debate, but as you can see and as know, there's very little bipartisan support and bipartisan consensus on Capitol Hill right now. LEMON: It looks like, Kate, that if we can bring that graphic back up, I think it was $829 billion or something -- $829 billion over the next ten years. That's what the Congressional Budget Office estimates what the cost will be. Can you tell us what you're hearing about that, if anything at all?
BOLDUAN: This is the Senate Finance Committee version that you had mentioned. This is the latest -- actually the last committee on Capitol Hill to really approve a plan, a health care reform plan. This passed just Tuesday in the Senate finance committee.
The estimated cost is $829 billion. That's over ten years. And this plan would make it mandatory for most Americans to have insurance, but it would offer subsidies for people who can't -- who simply can't afford it.
And it prevents insurance companies from denying coverage based on preexisting conditions. And the so-called public option, well, that's not included in this plan, but it is in another Senate proposal, and that -- these are the types of details that Senate Democrats and White House negotiators are really in the middle of hashing out right now.
They're set to resume closed door deliberations this week as they really try to finally reach consensus around one plan -- Don?
LEMON: Kate Bolduan at the White House. Good to see you on a Saturday. Thank you very much, Kate.
BOLDUAN: Thank you, Don.
LEMON: And this programming note, Sunday morning on CNN's "State of the Union," a rare interview with White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. John King will talk with him about health care, the economy, foreign policy, and much, much more. That's 9:00 eastern only on CNN, the worldwide leader in news.
We want to turn now to the war in Afghanistan. A roadside bomb killed two U.S. soldiers yesterday in eastern Afghanistan. Another soldier died in a bombing in the southern part of the country. That brings to 28 the number of American combat fatalities this month.
In neighboring Pakistan, three suicide bombers attacked a police station in Peshawar, killing at least 13 people. CNN's Reza Sayah says the escalating violence has prompted Pakistan to take the fight to the militants where they live.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Showdown in Pakistan -- 28,000 troops move into South Waziristan to take on the Taliban on their turf. Soldiers now locking horns with Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and up to 15,000 of the region's most hardened Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters.
PERVEZ HOODBHOY, PAKISTAN DEFENSE ANALYST: At this point, I don't believe that the Pakistani state has a choice.
SAYAH: Defense analyst Pervez Hoodbhoy and military officials call south Waziristan "the headquarters of the Taliban and Al Qaeda," a safe haven where they are free to train and plan deadly suicide and guerilla attacks.
HOODBHOY: Waziristan is very important in the assertion of Pakistan's sovereignty. Furthermore, this is where the Taliban have their nerve centers.
Hoodbhoy says the Taliban know the severe and unforgiving terrain here well and will use it to their advantage.
The much anticipated ground offense follow a recent wave of militant attacks in Pakistan that killed more than 150 security personnel and civilians. In several brazen assaults, armed militants humiliated security forces by penetrating the most sensitive police and military compounds.
HOODBHOY: What we have seen is suicide bombings have spread into all our cities. We have seen the extremists become stronger and stronger day after day. And that nerve center lies in Waziristan. We have to go for it now.
SAYAH: With troops moving in, tens of thousands of local residents are packing up and moving out. For weeks they have seen Pakistani jet fighters bomb militant hideouts in preparation for the ground offensive. The U.N. says 80,000 people have already registered for relief aid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): There's war, and we have to take care of our children. That is why we left the area.
SAYAH: Washington will watch the battle closely. The Obama administration says insurgent attacks in Afghanistan are often planned and launched from South Waziristan. They have long pressured Pakistan to get tough on militants here.
Three times the Pakistani army has launched military offensives in South Waziristan. All three times, they failed.
The Pakistani army, now with a fourth opportunity, one it can ill afford to lose.
SAYAH (on camera): The Taliban has vowed to launch more suicide attacks as payback, but the Pakistani military says they won't back down from carrying out the mission.
Reza Sayah, CNN, Islamabad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: As President Barack Obama weighs a new war strategy for Afghanistan, watch "Fareed Zakaria" GPS tomorrow afternoon on CNN for top notch analysis on all of it, 1:00 p.m. eastern only here on CNN. You know, the leaves are turning, Halloween is coming, but it looks and feels like winter in the northeast, even where we are now. Check this out. This is New Jersey. It's used to this kind of thing, just not in mid-October. Unseasonably cold with several inches of snow in some areas.
And some towns in Pennsylvania are reporting their earliest snowfalls on record.
(WEATHER BREAK)
LEMON: You know it was billed as a big announcement from the father of the balloon boy, but it fell really flat. This morning Richard Heene said he would shed some light on the new infamous balloon flight, now infamous, I should say, balloon flight.
The world watched breathlessly Thursday thinking six-year-old Falcon Heene was on board. Turns out the boy was hiding in his attic. So was it a hoax, was it a publicity stunt? A lot of people are asking. So dad had only this to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD HEENE, FALCON'S FATHER: I want your questions in the box. I'll get right back to you, OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. So question -- put the questions in the box. This story, I don't know, it's just really bizarre. We want answers.
And coming up in about 15 minutes a body language expert will help us dissect his bizarre behavior gesture by gesture by gesture. We'll try to figure it out for you until we have answers for sure.
Well, love it blind, right? Well, not for one justice of the peace. He refuses to marry one couple because of their race. It's not the first time the justice of the peace has turned away interracial couples.
Hundreds of people gather to find out ways the Internet can improve our lives, social media. Find out how the web can help you live longer, put extra money in your pocket, and much, much more.
Also, we want to know what's on your mind tonight log on to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and iReport.com and tell us what you're speaking.
Speaking of social media, just back from the big blog world convention in Las Vegas. We're going to fill you in on all of it.
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LEMON: OK. So what does it take for a couple to walk down the aisle and get married? Well, for one justice of the peace in Louisiana, apparently they have to have the same color skin. Well, he said no way to a black groom marrying a white bride. Where is the calendar? Is this 2009? What year is this?
So now Governor Bobby Jindal wants to yanks the official's license. And CNN's Sean Callebs talks to the frustrated newlyweds.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Are you OK?
BETH MCKAY, DENIED MARRIAGE LICENSE OVER RACE: It's just so hurtful.
CALLEBS: Hurtful because she never could have expected what she heard from Justice of the Peace Keith Bardwell when she called Bardwell's office a week ago to handle her marriage ceremony.
BETH MCKAY: He was the first one I called, Keith Bardwell. And when I called we were setting up a time for us to come over. And at the end of the conversation she said she had to ask me a question, and she asked if this was an interracial marriage.
CALLEBS: The answer is yes. She's white, her then fiancee Terrence is black.
BETH MCKAY: She said "We don't do interracial weddings or marriages."
CALLEBS: Beth said her jaw hit the floor.
CALLEBS (on camera): Is this something you feel is or was overt racism or was there any other reason behind this?
BETH MCKAY: It's overt racism. And we are used to the closet racism, but we are not going to tolerate the overt racism from an elected official.
CALLEBS: Well, they found Keith Bardwell, the justice of the peace, tucked away in a rural part of his parish. He's been a public official, a justice of the peace more than 30 years. We want to hear what he has to say about this entire controversy.
CALLEBS (voice-over): So about a mile down Bardwell road, we found the Bardwell house that doubles as his office. This woman identified herself as Keith Bardwell's wife. She said he wouldn't talk and she demanded we not take any pictures.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have nothing to say to anybody because all of our words have twisted and turned.
CALLEBS: We asked but never got an answer about what exactly she meant. So we left.
CALLEBS (on camera): He's done this before. You said he's referred people to you before. TERRI CROSBY, TANGIPAHOA PARISH JUSTICE OF THE PEACE: He has referred people, interracial couples to me on one or two occasions. And then, of course, I have married interracial couples on my own.
CALLEBS (voice-over): Turned away by Bardwell, the couple turned to Terri Crosby, also a justice of the peace. Last week she married Beth and Terrence under this archway. She calls them a wonderful couple.
It's also personal for Crosby. She has a granddaughter who is from a mixed marriage.
CALLEBS (on camera): Is this a racist area? What would you say?
CROSBY: Absolutely not, absolutely not. I could never believe that this area is racist, no. I think that this is the most fair, loving people.
CALLEBS: Beth works in marketing and wants to go back to college. Terrence is a welder, and it took four months for him to find work here. To them this parish that's about 70 percent white sometimes feels like it's the 19th century.
TERENCE MCKAY, DENIED MARRIAGE LICENSE OVER RACE: It's disheartening, seriously. It's 2009 and we still dealing with a form of racism.
CALLEBS: Beth says they have received amazing support from friends and family. They see it as an opportunity.
BETH MCKAY: I just think that god put you in the right positions at the right time in order to stand up to people who choose to live their lives with hate.
CALLEBS: Sean Callebs, CNN, Tangipahoa, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: I just -- I cannot believe that story. I can't believe that in this day and age I'm actually sitting here introducing that story. Amazing.
A milestone justice this week for -- we're talking about Tom Joyner. Remember that interview I did with him last week? The justice came for two African-American men. They were officially exonerated by the South Carolina pardon board. That was 94 years after they were executed to are a murder they did not commit.
Radio talk show host Tom Joyner first learned those men were his great uncles back in 2007 in the PBS series "African-American Lives II." Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to show you their death certificates. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Richmond county, male, colored. No date of birth. Date of death, 1915. September 29.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does it say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Legal electrocution. Cause of death, legal electrocution. They electrocuted my...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We discovered in 1913 your great uncles along with three other men were charged with killing a confederate Civil War veteran, a white man named John Lewis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So after learning about Meeks and Tom Griffin, Joyner and his family began the long and difficult task of trying to clear their names. Last week I spoke with Tom Joyner about what they had discovered about the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM JOYNER, HOST, "THE TOM JOYNER SHOW": It's an amazing story. What the story doesn't -- what it doesn't say is that John Lewis, the confederate soldier that was killed, was killed by a pimp. And so they framed my two uncles. My uncles had one day to prepare for a murder trial, and they were found guilty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, the pardon board unanimously cleared the names of Tom and Meeks Griffin. I talked with Tom Joyner immediately after the decision. He told me there's still much, much more to this story that remains to be told.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOYNER (via telephone): Everyone has similar experiences either in their family or they know somebody in their community. You just don't know how deep it goes.
And, you know, racism is alive and well in this country, and until we can repair some of the deeds of the past, we cannot really look forward to going to the future.
The researchers we had on this case were very amazed that here was an injustice that a lot of white people, prominent white people, were behind the Griffin brothers.
And I understand this is 1913. There was no CNN. There was no media like we have today. And this was 1913 in segregated South Carolina. You had so many white people came to their defense and petitioned the governor.
So there's a lot more to this story, and I'm going to be looking into it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Tom Joyner. He also says he knows the outcome can't bring back his uncles, but it does bring a measure of closure to the family.
Thank you, Tom, for doing those interviews with me.
A family torn apart by war, reunited through Facebook.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll never leave you again. I'm here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We'll tell you more about a father's search to find his family.
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LEMON: The power of social media. That's what we're going to talk about right now.
A father and son ripped apart during war, reunited through Facebook. When Pete McKibben left Vietnam 30 years ago, the marine also left behind a girlfriend five months pregnant with his son. After years of searching from his home in Florida, he never found them.
They found him though, through Facebook, confirming it with a few teary-eyed questions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE MCKIBBEN, SON FOUND HIM ON FACEBOOK: If you're who we're looking for, you were in Phnom Penh in 1972. While assigned to the U.S. embassy you met a young lady named Ko Kim Lin. Four months after you left, a baby was born, your baby.
RICHARD NABINEAUX, SON (via translator): My reaction was to cry. It was a shock. I didn't know it would be that easy to find him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Amazing story. So Pete McKibben, he didn't just gain a son, he gained a daughter-in-law and also two grand kids. They live in Paris and they are now planning a family reunion. We should follow up on that. That's a great story.
For the past several days I have been immersed in the world of social networking, even more so than usual. It was the annual blog world expo in Las Vegas, and I shot this, so pardon if you get dizzy by the video.
It was, again, the Blogworld Expo in Las Vegas. It's billed as the largest single gathering of its kind, and these are the people who spend all their creative energies figuring out how to use networking tools like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and others to make the world a better place and to make us more connected.
We covered everything that you can imagine -- big business, journalism, health care, security, and law enforcement, you name it. and we're going to get into specifics in our 7:00 hour. This is going to be fascinating for you to go into this world and to figure out where the next level, where we're going next -- unbelievable.
All I can tell you is this much. We haven't seen anything yet, right?
So I want to give you a quick example of how networking is transforming all aspects of society, including charity fundraising. So this was me at Blogworld explaining to iReporter Chris Morrow (ph) about pound beat cancer or hash mark beat cancer which went from an idea to a reality in just days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It's a huge initiative to set a record and raise money to stamp out cancer in the world. It is -- it shows the power of an idea, an idea just sitting over dinner talking about, hey, let's try to set a record.
And I think that social media takes the power of an idea to a new level. One minute you're sitting around hashing out an idea. The next minute it actually has a possibility to make a change for good in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So, you know, those of you on Twitter or whatever are very savvy about social networking. When you say hash mark beat cancer or pound beat cancer, it is still the number one trending topic on Twitter.
The Web site is beatcancereverywhere.com. In just 24 hours it logged more than 200,000 mentions of pound beat cancer, each one representing one penny for cancer research and much, much more money on top of that. We'll tell you how much money we raised in the 7:00 hour.
So again, at the 7:00 hour, we're going it take a closer look at the future of the social media. We'll talk to Rick Calvert, the founder of Blogworld; music producer, Jermaine Dupree; Scott Monty from Ford Motor Company; and Frank Aliason (ph) from Comcast about how they see us using it in the future. Comcast uses it to -- customer service. If you tweet or blog or write about Comcast and he sees it, you'll see a truck outside your door within minutes sometimes.
We want to hear from you. Make sure you join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or iReport.com. Again, it's going to be a special show coming up at 7:00.
And this is a very special and interesting story I want to talk to you about soon, in a couple minutes. Some are calling it a hoax. While others believe it was a real emergency. Everyone is talking about the little boy who was believed to be in the helium balloon. Now questions about the parents' credibility. What does their body language say? Our experts weigh in.
And when it comes to college, how casual is too casual? We'll talk to a college that's about to -- tell you about a college that's about to crack down on baggy pants, pajamas, and other sloppy duds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A pair of bomb blasts have killed three American troops in Afghanistan. NATO says two U.S. soldiers were killed in a roadside explosion in eastern Afghanistan yesterday. Another soldier was killed in a bombing in the southern part of the country. The coalition hasn't released any names yet.
The same week President Obama visited New Orleans, the city's mayor hopped a jet to Cuba to study how the communist nation copes with natural disasters. Ray Nagin's city was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and many deaths were blamed on people deciding to ride out the storm. Cuba uses mandatory evacuations with authorities going door to door to get everyone out.
The artist who created the famous Barack Obama hope poster appears to be on the verge of losing his legal battle with the Associated Press. Artist Shepherd Farrely (ph) now admits he based his poster, shown on the right, on a similar A.P. photo, shown on the left. The A.P. says Farrely -- that's his name -- used its photograph without permission. And Farrely's attorney says he misled them, and they plan to withdraw from that case.
First, a nail-biting balloon fight, then a frantic search for a 6-year-old believed to have been on board. Now, believe it or not, things are getting even stranger at the Heene household. The father, Richard Heene, promised a big announcement today after his son, Falcon, said something on CNN suggesting the whole thing may have been a hoax. But there was no revelation. The dad just left out a box for written questions. So what the heck is going on here?
Let's bring in now Janine Driver from the Body Language Institute. She live she lives in D.C.
Janine, this is very odd. There was supposed to be a big announcement, then he sends out a box saying if you have questions, put the questions in the box and I will answer them. I don't know what the media is saying because I don't have cable. Yet, he's pitched shows and been on reality shows. Obviously, he has the Internet because he's an iReporter for CNN. So I don't know what gives here. I don't know what the truth is. We're trying to figure it out.
The only thing we know is, just from judging from seeing, you know, Larry King and the family and the dad on television, that really the body language is saying a lot. Let's start with what happened on Larry King and then we'll talk about it. JANINE DRIVER, THE BODY LANGUAGE INSTITUTE: Yeah.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, GUEST HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: And Falcon was really in the garage this whole time. I don't know if Falcon can hear me. I know at some point, he fell asleep in the garage but he was hiding out because he thought you were going to punish him for something that happened earlier in the day. Did he hear anything? Did he hear you screaming out Falcon, Falcon?
RICHARD HEENE, FATHER OF MISSING BOY: He's asking Falcon, did you hear us calling your name at any time?
FALCON HEENE: Uh-huh?
HEENE: You did?
MAYUMI HEENE, MOTHER OF MISSING BOY: You didn't?
HEENE: Why didn't you come out?
FALCON HEENE: You said that we did this for the show.
HEENE: Yeah.
MAYUMI HEENE: No.
HEENE: You didn't come out?
FALCON HEENE: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Oh-oh.
(LAUGHTER)
I mean, this is a little kid, but I actually saw that live. I was like, what did that kid just say? So you're watching the body language there, Janine, and you're hearing him. What do you think?
DRIVER: The first thing is the father takes this really deep breath. It's actually the only real deep exasperated breath that we see him take throughout the whole interviews, all the interviews he's done. Unfortunately, this is a breath that we often see when evidence is stacked up against a bad guy. My background, I'm a retired ATF federal law enforcement officer. I've trained the CIA, the FBI, how to tell if people are lying, ATF. We see this in criminal prosecution and in interviews with criminals when the evidence is stacked up in front of them, it's like, I'm busted. So that, in and of itself, was a big spot for me.
LEMON: Isn't also sometimes, too, when you can't make heads or tails of -- I have gone, like, wait a minute. DRIVER: Why not just say to your son, what do you mean by that? I would say to him, I'm the mother of a 4-year-old, I would say, Angus, what do you mean by that? Tell me more about that. You don't just say, yeah. If it doesn't make sense to the father, he should be asking additional questions. This is a huge hot spot. For me, I think there's definitely more going on with this family. I don't know if they were involved with the actual -- the parents were involved with the whole scam of it all, but maybe they wrote up a screenplay or screen show and the kids overheard them talking about it or got a hold of some notes.
LEMON: This is advice that you would give when you would advise the ATF, right? So the same thing....
DRIVER: My big thing is this, you notice what's called hot spots. We notice tons of them. The mother, when she begins to speak, starts rubbing her leg nonstop. These are called manipulators, it's OK, I'll get through it, it's OK, I'll get through it. They increase in high moments of stress. Are they under stress? Absolutely. I would ask powerful questions here.
LEMON: OK. Hang on. There's another clip at the end. Wolf Blitzer was doing the interview.
Do we have time to show the second part?
We're going to show the second part where Wolf confronts him and says, what do you mean boy that? People have been calling and we notice the kid said this.
Let's listen and we'll talk about it, Janine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: He said, at least he said we did this for the show in explaining why he didn't come out of the attic.
HEENE: Yeah. Let me interrupt this real quick, because I think I can see the direction you guys are hedging on this. Because earlier you had asked the police officers some questions. The media out front -- we weren't even going to do this interview. And I'm kind of appalled after all of the feelings that I went through, up and down, that you guys are trying to suggest something else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. Usually if someone gets that angry, there's something going on.
DRIVER: Exactly. With anger, I want the brows down. I'm appalled about what you guys are saying. Do you know what I've been through here? I'm an emotional mess. We see no emotional activity on his face, which is indicative of somebody being deceptive or holding something back. Again, I think they know more than they're revealing and... LEMON: Here is my thing, Janine, it's like, you know, let's hope that it's all true, because for the family and the kids that would be terrible. But a couple hours after I thought my son might be in a balloon and possibly dead or falling, why would I be on national television with my kids and my entire family doing this?
DRIVER: You wouldn't. And you'd be embarrassed. You wouldn't be doing interview after interview until your kid gets sick. This, to me, says there's more to the story, and it's devastating. I'm embarrassed for these parents. As a mother, I think this is atrocious.
LEMON: Again, as I said, I hope it's all true, for the kid's sake at least, because honesty is a big thing. When you're growing up, you should learn it.
DRIVER: One last thing. The father is doing what's called stalling techniques. We stall when we're trying to create an answer. This is a huge hot spot, pausing when you shouldn't be pausing. That's a big hot spot for deception.
LEMON: Janine Driver. Janine Driver, good stuff. Janine Driver is at the Body Language Institute and she used to, as she said, she used to consult the ATF.
Thank you so much.
DRIVER: Thank you.
LEMON: This is a live look at the Bay Bridge in San Francisco right now. 20 years ago today, a devastating quake rocked the region, and we'll tell you how the quake, well, it brought some strangers closer together.
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LEMON: There is a new rule at Morehouse College in Atlanta. If you're going to be a Morehouse man, you have to dress like one. The all-male, historically black college has created a new dress code, banning caps, hoods, and do-rags in classrooms or other indoor venues. Why would you wear a do-rag to class? Sagging pants are also out along with purses, makeup -- makeup? -- and clothing usually worn by women. At Morehouse -- a Morehouse administrator tells the "Atlanta Journal Constitution" that he knows clothing has nothing to do with what's in a person's head, but, in his words, "first impressions mean everything."
A live look now at the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, 20 years to the day after the big Loma Prieta earthquake hit in San Francisco. Part of the bridge collapsed in that quake and dozens of people were killed and thousands of homes were damaged.
CNN's Dan Simon looks back at the destruction.
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BASEBALL ANNOUNCER: Downtown San Francisco in the background and we zoom into Candlestick Park.
DAN SIMON, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's often been called the World Series earthquake. The quake rattled the Bay Area just before game three between the Giants and Oakland A's. The screen went black as Al Michaels was previewing the match-up. It had a magnitude of 7.1 and lasted only 10 to 15 seconds, long enough and powerful enough to collapse a major freeway and a section of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge. 63 people died.
But this is a story about a survivor and the man who saved her life.
(on camera): What was it like when she finally came out?
GERRY SHANNON, RETIRED FIREFIGHTER: It was exhilarating. It was just a tremendous feeling of accomplishment.
SIMON (voice-over): Gerry Shannon is a retired San Francisco firefighter. He brought us back to the place that made him an instant hero.
(on camera): What goes through your mind when you know there's a woman trapped there and you're the only person really who can get her out?
SHANNON: I didn't know if I could get her out. I mean, it really didn't look very promising at the time.
SIMON: The quake struck just after 5:00 p.m. on October 17th, 1989. The damage was widespread, but things here in the Marina District were particularly bad. Many buildings caught fire or collapsed.
(voice-over): Caught in the rubble of her four-story apartment building, Sherra Cox was unable to move and flames had started to engulf the upper floors, which had pancaked on top of her. This is how Gerry explained it 20 years ago not knowing if trying to save Sherra would cost his own life.
SHANNON: All of a sudden, it was this dead silence, and all I could think of was gee I wonder how they will approach my family to let them know something happened. All the corner buildings were collapsed.
SIMON: Gerry is a little grayer now, but the memory is just as avid, describing how he used a chain saw to carve a tunnel to pull Sherra out.
CNN caught up with her as well all those years ago.
SHERRA COX, EARTHQUAKE VICTIM: He's, to me, the epitome of what firemen heroes, everything is supposed to be.
SIMON: The story could have ended there, but didn't. It was the beginning of what would become a beautiful friendship. Sherra was single with no family. Gerry and his family were practically all she had. They celebrated Thanksgivings and Christmases together. He'd stop by regularly to check on her. And he was with her every day this summer when Sherra was in the hospital. Her circulation, as a result of her injuries was poor, and Sherra died nearly 20 years after the quake.
SHANNON: I miss her, and I'm grateful for the things that I have. I didn't realize, until this happened and I got to know her, how grateful I am for my family, where I live, how I live. I just took it all for granted. And she never did. I learned a lot from her.
SIMON: It's often been called the World Series earthquake. Indeed, for Sherra Cox and Jerry Shannon, it created a grand slam of memories.
Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.
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LEMON: Shielding young girls from sexual abuse, a "CNN Hero" tells us how she provides a safe haven for young victims.
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LEMON: "The Situation Room" straight ahead.
Wolf Blitzer, what do you have for us?
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Thanks, Don.
Lots coming up at the top of the hour right here in "The Situation Room," including Olympia Snowe, the only Republican, so far, to vote for health care reform in the Senate. My interview with her.
Also, Max Cleland, the former U.S. Senator from Georgia, he's here to talk about his new book. He'll also talk about what's going on in Afghanistan.
And Eva Longoria Parker, she's got a lot on her mind, especially what's going on for American Latinos.
All that, and a lot more coming up right here in "The Situation Room."
Don, back to you.
LEMON: Sounds like a great show. Thank you, Wolf.
After experiencing sexual abuse as a child in Zimbabwe, Betty Makoni vowed to protect other girls from the same fate. She founded the Girl Child Network ten years ago to give young victims a safe haven. And she was recently named one of our 2009 top-ten "CNN Heroes." Betty joins us now live from London.
Hello, Betty. Good to see you. BETTY MAKONI, CNN HERO: Good to see you, Don.
LEMON: Are you excited about being a hero? I mean, that is, you know, that's quite an accomplishment.
MAKONI: It's quite an accomplishment, Don, and I'm very excited to be a top-ten "CNN Hero."
LEMON: So what was your reaction when you found out? You found out -- I think you got a phone call from someone here at CNN. What was your reaction?
MAKONI: My reaction was, wow! To be a hero for young girls was so invisible. It means I'm going to be their face. So I got excited because this was the first time when such a huge network for news called me a hero.
LEMON: So listen. Now, you know, I know this helps you at least with visibility and profile and probably gives you a little bit more power, and it also probably, you know, is forcing you to even, to go even higher. So what are you going to do with this next?
MAKONI: Straightaway, I have launched a Girl Child Network worldwide network for young girls, because all over the world, young girls have been calling me for help. And now, this is going to boost my confidence to get into different situations, compare that with situations back home. So I'm actually the official spokesperson for all abused girls in the world.
LEMON: Mm-hmm. How many girls have the network helped rescue so far?
MAKONI: From 2001, I have rescued up to 45,000 girls from situations of abuse, poverty, neglect and all forms of harm for cultural practices.
LEMON: And this came as a result of your own experience as a child?
MAKONI: Yes. At age 6, myself and other ten girls in my neighborhood, we were all raped by one man, who thought that raping young girls would actually make him be lucky and get more money for his pack (ph) shop.
LEMON: Oh, my gosh. And so now you are trying to change all that. You know, Betty, we're very proud of you, that you're a hero. We hope that you -- as we hope that all of our heroes -- we wish all of you could be the hero of the year. But I think it's great you're taking it worldwide and that you have chosen to be the face of this.
Best of luck to you and congratulations, OK?
MAKONI: Thank you, Don.
LEMON: Thank you. Betty Makoni doing great, great stuff, joining us from London tonight. And you go to CNN.com/heroes to vote for the "CNN Hero" who inspires you the most. We plan to talk with all ten of the heroes in coming weeks before the voting closes for hero of the year. They'll all be honored at an all-star tribute hosted by our own Anderson Cooper on Thanksgiving night here on CNN.
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LEMON: Going outside for the U.S. for surgery -- outside of the U.S. for surgery, it can save you money, but is it safe? Is it safe? Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes a look at this in this edition of "Fit Nation."
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LEMON: And don't miss the primetime debut of Sanjay's special series, "Another Day Cheating Death" tonight and tomorrow, 8:00 p.m. eastern only here on CNN.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN Center in Atlanta.
"THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer begins right now.
See you at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.
