Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Karzai Opponent Drops Out; White House Halloween; Corzine Campaign Push; Gay Rights and the Obama White House; Toyota and Lexus Recall

Aired November 01, 2009 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Straight ahead this hour in the NEWSROOM, a political bomb shell in Afghanistan. President Hamid Karzai's opponent withdraws from the runoff election.

And in this country, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner speaks out about the deficit. He says America faces hard choices, but not right now.

And four million Lexus and Toyota customers face a safety recall. We'll have details.

Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. And you're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Afghanistan's presidential runoff is now a one-man race. Hours ago the only opposition candidate dropped out. These pictures were taken earlier today in Kabul as candidate Abdullah Abdullah announced he was quitting. His withdrawal ensures the re-election of President Hamid Karzai if voting proceeds as scheduled next Saturday.

The runoff between Karzai and Abdullah was forced after complaints of widespread fraud surfaced in the August election. After his announcement, Abdullah talked one on one with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VOICE OF CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Dr. Abdullah, can you tell me, you are pulling out of the election, of the runoff on Saturday. Can you tell me precisely why?

ABDULLAH ABDULLAH, AFGHAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think, really, I took too many things in consideration. First of all, the electoral process in itself is under big question after what we went through in the last election. That was the main issue.

And apart from that, looking at the situation, security and many challenges which are ahead of us, so I felt that this was in the best interest of my supporters, the people of Afghanistan. For me not to participate in the November 7th elections.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's see what's coming out of the administration regarding Abdullah's withdrawal.

Elaine Quijano reports from the White House that it is downplaying today's developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, any reaction to Abdullah, sir?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As President Obama grapples with a high stakes decision on Afghanistan, his top advisers insist Abdullah Abdullah's withdrawal from Afghanistan's runoff election doesn't change the president's approach.

DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: Every poll that had been taken there suggested that he was likely to be defeated anyway. So we're going to deal with the government. There are obviously issues we need to discuss such as reducing the high level of corruption there. These are issues we'll take up with President Karzai.

QUIJANO: In a statement Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said "it is now a matter for the Afghan authorities to decide on a way ahead that brings this electoral process to a conclusion in line with the Afghan constitution. We will support the next president and the people of Afghanistan."

President Obama is considering whether to fulfill a request by top U.S. commander General Stanley McChrystal for 40,000 more U.S. troops in Afghanistan to reinforce the 68,000 already there.

AXELROD: I expect the president will make a decision within weeks. The goal here is not just to make an arithmetic judgment about the number of troops but to make that we have the right strategy to reach our goal.

QUIJANO: But on CNN's "State of the Union" with John King, House Republican leader John Boehner warned the president against further delay.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: The longer this decision hangs, the more jeopardy and the more danger our troops on the ground there are in the middle of.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Our Elaine Quijano now joins us from the White House. So Elaine, we know the president at the White House keeping tabs on what's going on in Afghanistan. But exactly how are they getting information?

QUIJANO: Well, you know, just this morning the White House says President Obama got an update on the situation in Afghanistan from his national security adviser, retired Marine Corps General Jim Jones. A spokesman says that General Jones has been in contact with the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and has also been in touch with officials from the military and the State Department on this. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Elaine Quijano, thanks so much, from the White House.

A U.S. State Department employee who recently resigned his post in Afghanistan over the war is speaking out about his decision. Matthew Hoh tells CNN's Fareed Zakaria the U.S. mission in Afghanistan is only fueling the insurgency. The former Marine Corps captain who was a civilian representative in Afghanistan says he does not support General Stanley McChrystal's request to send as many as 40,000 more troops to the region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN ANCHOR: The top military brass have all endorsed General McChrystal's report and request. Do you think that down on the ground there is a very different feeling?

MATTHEW HOH, FORMER U.S. STATE DEPT. OFFICIAL: Oh, yes. Yes, there is. I think on the ground the perspective is that what is the strategic value of what we're doing here? Why are we doing this? What are we getting out of it? It's not going to defeat Al Qaeda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Hoh says since quitting his job he has received an outpouring of support from Afghan-Americans and active duty military personnel.

All right. Palestinian leaders lashed out at U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today, accusing her of undermining efforts to jump start Middle East peace talks. Their main bone of contention? Clinton's praise of Israel for what she called its unprecedented offer on curbing settlement construction on the West Bank.

Palestinians say nothing about that offer is unprecedented. And they're demanding Israel freeze all settlement construction before resuming peace talks. Clinton arrived in Morocco today for meetings with Arab leaders after wrapping up talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In Iraq now, at least seven people are dead after a trio of bombings today. The Interior Ministry says five people were killed in a motorcycle bomb attack south of Baghdad. 37 more were wounded. And in Anbar's province capital of Ramadi, a pair of car bombs detonated near a police precinct, killing two and wounding eight others.

All right. In this country, President Barack Obama is in New Jersey today trying to boost support for Governor John Corzine. The Democrat is in a tight race with Republican Chris Christi, and independent Chris Daggett.

Our Susan Candiotti is at a rally in Newark. So what kind of turnout are we seeing?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. In fact, it just wrapped up. And you know, the president had a lot of competition here today. He was up from a challenge of let's see two football games, the New York City marathon, and it must be tough, but about 11,000 people showed up for this rally. And it just round up a few minutes ago. Turnout is especially key for both parties in the state.

The incumbent, John Corzine is up against a stiff challenge from Republican challenger Chris Christie. Corzine has fought back. He's now running neck and neck with Christie at this time. Now, they're also, of course, both facing a challenge from independent Chris Daggett, as you mentioned.

Daggett is not expected to win but he could be siphoning out votes, analysts say, from Republican voters going who normally would be going for Christie. Of course, throughout this race Christie has been slamming Corzine over the economy, over job losses, over property taxes. But President Obama's message here today was to say, hey, don't blame the Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: I don't think it's right for those who helped get us into this mess to be somehow standing back and saying, well, why haven't you fixed it? I don't mind grabbing a mop and cleaning up somebody else's mess. That's fine.

John Corzine doesn't mind cleaning up somebody else's mess. But don't stand there and say, how come you're not - how come you're not holding the mop the right way? How come you're not mopping fast enough? Why are you using a socialist mop? Why don't you grab a mop?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now, how well Democrats do in both New Jersey and Virginia is being watched very, very closely. This is the third time President Obama has campaigned here for Governor Corzine. Former President Bill Clinton has been here. Vice President Biden has been here. And if all of that doesn't help, Governor Corzine, a lot of analysts are saying, watch out. This will not bode well for Democrats more likely than not for the mid-term elections coming up.

Remember, every off year, the elections here where you have one president of one party in the White House, the opposing party has generally won. So everyone is really watching this race very, very closely. Fred?

WHITFIELD: So with all those names, that leads me to this. Which means a lot of money probably has been spent on these candidates for this race.

CANDIOTTI: That's right. That's right. Well, Governor Corzine has spent more than $28 million. Most of that coming out of his own pocket. And that's twice as much as his Republican challenger, Chris Christie.

WHITFIELD: All right. Susan Candiotti, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

All right. President Obama still has a very busy week ahead. Tomorrow the president meets with his economic recovery advisory board and then Tuesday he's attending a summit between the U.S. and the European Union. And then Wednesday, he's visiting a middle school in Wisconsin to talk about education.

Thursday, the president is hosting the White House Tribal Nations Conference with leaders from more than 560 recognized American Indian tribes.

All right. They held the New York marathon today. And something happened there that hasn't happened in 27 years. We'll tell you all about it.

And also ahead, a safety recall involving four million cars. Is yours included? You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Still so much outrage over the apathy of onlookers during an alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old girl outside a high school's homecoming dance. We brought together a panel of experts in a special hour-long program yesterday. Here now is an excerpt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: We've been asking questions to help provoke this conversation about "Silent Witnesses." Now where do we go from here? We've heard some incredible information from our guests we've had with us. Clinical psychologist, Dr. Jeff Gardere, we've also had from Temple University Phil Harris as well as Drew Carberry with the National Crime Prevention Council and of course, our Josh Levs who have been fielding so many of your e-mails or questions.

So taking all of this information now about what's at the root of this kind of complacency, this apathy that we saw just a few days ago, where do we go from here now, doctor?

DR. JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think there are a couple of things we have to do. Number one, parents need to be involved. They need to model behaviors. Secondly, there has to be more school programs looking at bullying and sexuality and sexual harassment. We need mental health programs that can identify kids who are at risk, kids who are violent, who come from violent backgrounds.

We have to look at community policing so we can switch around this whole mindset about snitching as a bad thing, especially not trusting the police and not trusting parents. And finally we have something called CNN Heroes. We need to have that in our own homes where we can actually have parents teach our kids that you can't be just a bystander. You have to be involved. You've got to do the right thing. You have to be a hero each and every day.

WHITFIELD: Phil Harris, where do we go from here?

PHIL HARRIS, TEMPLE UNIVERSITY: Well, I thought Kami pointed out one of the most critical things. That is that the adults weren't doing their job. We had security people there. We had a vice principal who observed them not doing their job and didn't respond. Sure, we can put blame on the bystanders and say they shouldn't have been silent.

But again, we're talking about adolescents who are in turmoil themselves. And I'm not sure intervening with them specifically would help. There is - I agree with the doctor about the effort of developing a greater sense of community in dealing with values within the educational setting. We often are afraid to deal with values in an educational setting. But we really need to.

WHITFIELD: Drew Carberry - sorry. I though - you have another thought?

HARRIS: You know, adults have a responsibility to monitor what's going on in the lives of kids. And to intervene when it's appropriate. And to respond with sanctions. I'm talking about minor sanctions, too, when it's appropriate.

WHITFIELD: OK. Drew Carberry, where do we go from here?

DREW CARBERRY, NATIONAL CRIME PREVENTION council: I think this case presents an opportunity for us. It's a costly and horrible opportunity when you consider the health of this woman and the lengthy incarcerations these men are facing. But it's an opportunity to have a lot of conversations.

Conversations with our co-workers, with our classmates, with our families and maybe even with ourselves. What would I do? What should I do in that kind of situation? We all have a moral compass. And we have to answer the question, where does it point me?

WHITFIELD: All right. Josh, our viewers, are they commenting on that moral compass or where we go from here?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are. Let me go to the screen we have here. I think this is an interesting idea. It comes to us from Catherine. And we'll get our panelists response to this. She is suggesting if the witnesses who were allegedly standing there while this happened can't be charged, she says publish their pictures for all to see. Shame on them. Is that a possibility, Drew?

CARBERRY: I'm sort of reluctant to endorse that. I mean, I'd rather report that the men who were arraigned wore bullet proof vests to the arraignment. That was shocking and scary to me on a couple levels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And there are other comments on my blog as well as Facebook. Cathy says, "why don't our legislators actually pass laws to punish those who witness crimes and do nothing to stop them?" Farim writes this, "School officials, police and bystanders should all be prosecuted. It's just sickening. I just hope all those directly and indirectly involved will be held responsible." And Liz has this comment, saying "maybe the witnesses thought that they would be next. No excuse. But at least worth a discussion. A pack of wild criminal animals are scary, and I hope they all find their humanity and courage they seem to be lacking both."

Thanks so much for your comments on that blog and Facebook on what was a very spirited and thought-provoking discussion yesterday.

All right. Philadelphia's transit agency and its largest union return to the bargaining table tonight to avoid a possible walk out. Transit workers are demanding better wages, pensions and health care. Union leaders agreed not to strike this weekend because of the World Series game being played in that city.

All right. The 40th annual New York City marathon is in the books. And for the first time in 27 years, an American man was the first to cross the finish line. 34-year-old Meb Keflizghi won the 26.2 mile race in a time of two hours, nine minutes, 15 seconds.

Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia was the women's winner, crossing the finish line in two hours 28 minutes and 52 seconds. Congratulations to them.

All right. The weather for the marathon, it was in the mid-50s. Some say that's pretty good weather for an endurance race of that caliber.

Jacqui Jeras although you noticed the winner had the gloves all the way up to the bicep.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

WHITFIELD: That was pretty fancy smancy (ph).

JERAS: It was a little damp to start off. A little misty.

WHITFIELD: That always seems to be the case in New York.

JERAS: I know. For November 1, weather wasn't bad. You run.

WHITFIELD: I do. But I'm not a marathon runner.

JERAS: Ever?

WHITFIELD: No.

JERAS: Not even once? Half.

WHITFIELD: no. I'm more mid-distance. I've done a 5-K and then some like sprint triathlons. So I'm kind of lightweight in the running department.

JERAS: All right. We'll have to work on you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. JERAS: We'll see what happens. You know, New York was a little misty this morning as was parts of the northeast and the mid-Atlantic states. Our weather system still kind of hanging out here. Stationary front parked offshore. So we're going to continue to see moisture throughout parts of the region. It's not heavy. It's just kind of making for a little bit of a dreary day. It also keeps those temperatures down.

New York City, we are still in those mid-50s as you can see. 55 degrees there down into Philadelphia. The rain is moving out there. We're also looking at about 54, 55 degrees as well. As we take a look a little farther down to the south into the D.C. area, there you can see some occasional fine mist in your area, too.

Most of the significant rainfall is over, but we could even see some of this kind of lingering into tomorrow, believe it or not as well. Much of the country today dealing with pretty pleasant conditions. The weather, of course, affecting the series last night. Today, we think we're going to see cloudy skies for that first pitch. Winds north at five miles per hour. Temperature about 48 degrees.

Behind our front, temperatures are a little bit on the coolish side as that cold air continues to spill on in. We are going to see some advisories. High temperatures for tomorrow pretty seasonable overall. Everybody's pretty much within about five degrees of where we should be for this time of the year with the exception of the southwest where we're going to see temperatures about five to 10 degrees above average.

It is November 1st, and we had a month of many records, Fredricka, for October. Here's a list of some record cold cities for the month. The year average temperature in Rapid City, South Dakota, less than 40 degrees. So that's when you split the difference between the high and low. And North Platte not only had a record low, they also had a record wettest month and record snow days month. They shattered the snowiest month record by double.

WHITFIELD: So should they be proud they have shattered all these records?

JERAS: Well, if you're going to be extreme, why not go whole hog.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, poor trick-or-treaters last night though, huh? I guess they were die hards.

JERAS: For a lot of people. They had the umbrellas.

WHITFIELD: Were you out there, too?

JERAS: I was out there.

WHITFIELD: And you were.

JERAS: Yes. WHITFIELD: I was, too. The umbrella. You know, little galoshas. Not really. But you know, shoes I didn't mind getting wet. How about that?

JERAS: Had to stay dry.

WHITFIELD: But nobody had a trick-or-treat night anything like the kids who were invited to the White House last night, Jacqui. Look, the first couple. There's the first lady. There's the spokesperson for the White House as Darth Vader. First lady was a leopard. And look, there's Susan Rice as we think Goofy, right? So cute. Well, we're going to talk about all this in the chat room, Jacqui, about the 2,600 people who were lucky enough to be at the White House for Halloween.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at the top stories right now. Chrysler is trimming its work force again. It sent buyout offers to 23,000 more U.S. production workers who have until November 13th to actually make a decision. With sales still anemic, the automaker is scheduled to unveil a new five-year business plan later on in the week.

And there's been a surprise announcement in Afghanistan. Abdullah Abdullah has dropped out of the November 7th presidential runoff election leaving President Hamid Karzai with no opposition. Abdullah says the runoff would have been as fraudulent as the original election, he says. But he stopped short of calling on his supporters to actually boycott the vote.

And thousands of miles from home, some U.S. troops in Iraq celebrated Halloween. Getting into the spirit there. They held a costume party at Camp Prosperity in Baghdad dressing up, among other things, like pirates, zombies, characters. Is that the wicked witch of the west, possibly, from "The Wizard of Oz"? Oh, they had a lot of fun. And oh, Dorothy. Don't forget Dorothy.

All right. Trick or treat at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as well. We'll talk about the White House Halloween party next in the chat room. You're going to wish you had a ticket.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. So it was Halloween last night. And wait till you see how the White House celebrated Halloween. I mean, they had a huge getup. They had live performers, incredible decorations. And so we thought that in and of itself is fascinating to have as part of our chat room. Jacqui Jeras, good to see you.

JERAS: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: These pictures were very fun. Don't you wish you were a kid again? At least one of the kids who attended, the 11 schools in the D.C. metropolitan area who were invited to the White House for Halloween?

JERAS: 2,500 kids showed up right in full costume.

WHITFIELD: I know and these were live performers. Because they had incredible entertainment too. These kids that were invited.

Yes, I love that whole butterfly in the bubble thing.

JERAS: That is cool.

WHITFIELD: Look at that tree, blending in.

JERAS: That's like at Disney. They have stuff like that at Disney.

WHITFIELD: Have you seen that? At the Animal Kingdom.

JERAS: Amazing.

WHITFIELD: Everything was incredible. So you've got kids and, of course, their parents. They all dressed up. Is that like from "Ghostbusters" type thing?

JERAS: I have no idea. It's been a while since the White House has done a celebration like this.

WHITFIELD: I don't remember seeing anything like this. But not that I have studied all the Halloween celebrations of White Houses. But they turned the White House orange. They had these great orange - this great orange glow on the White House.

JERAS: Right. They (INAUDIBLE) light.

WHITFIELD: Yes. They had big giant spiders that were kind of dangling from, I guess, that portico area. Really beautiful. Can we see inside now and see what it looks like when these kids -

JERAS: You can see the kids showing up.

WHITFIELD: 2,600. They lined up outside.

JERAS: There's the president, who did not wear a costume, by the way. What did you think about that?

WHITFIELD: It depends.

JERAS: I think it's a difficult thing.

WHITFIELD: I think it would be difficult. But a lovely way "The Washington Post" described it. They said "the president was dressed as a middle-aged dad with a black cardigan, checkered shirt and sensible brown slacks." So if you go by "The Washington Post," he did have a costume based on that description.

JERAS: Well, there you go.

WHITFIELD: We still haven't been able to figure out who is in costume. Might that be Secret Service? JERAS: There's Michelle Obama as Catwoman.

WHITFIELD: That was kind of cute. I really liked her outfit.

JERAS: I know. President Obama was quoted as saying "as adorable as the children were, by the way, my wife was a very nice looking Catwoman."

WHITFIELD: Isn't he sweet?

JERAS: He is.

WHITFIELD: And there's the White House. All orange aglow.

JERAS: Doesn't it look spiffy. There a lot of ghost stories, by the way, at the White House. Have you heard about that? They tell some ghost tales.

WHITFIELD: Really?

JERAS: Quite a few involving Abraham Lincoln, I understand.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. Yes, there have to be some ghosts there.

JERAS: Of course.

WHITFIELD: If there are going to be ghosts in other historic buildings, the White House, come on. There have to be.

JERAS: Always.

WHITFIELD: That's neat. So you went trick-or-treating as well.

JERAS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: There's Susan Rice as Goofy. Very cute.

JERAS: That is cute.

WHITFIELD: Some of the White House staff actually brought their kids. We saw Robert Gibbs in one of the shots earlier. I think he is Darth Vader. Is that right? And his son looked like he was a character at "Star Wars" as well and you see the affinity between the two.

JERAS: Sasha and Malia were not there. They were undercover. They went somewhere else and they didn't want to discuss where they were going to be.

WHITFIELD: That's hilarious. Who's that?

JERAS: We know where you were.

WHITFIELD: I know. That's my little boy. He went as a lion. He refused to wear the mane because he said it was itchy. Of course, my dog giving you the backside there. She likes to be in the action.

And look Dorothy.

JERAS: Yes, Dorothy, quote, unquote an Army guy.

WHITFIELD: I love it. That's fun. How long did you all trick- or-treat? Did it go on and on?

JERAS: Well we had a neighborhood party at the clubhouse or whatever. And then -- there's my husband who's also "army guy." Then I handed out the candy and they went around. That was fun. It was rainy. I can't remember rain on Halloween.

WHITFIELD: Oh gosh, I do as a kid.

JERAS: Snow, but not rain.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I remember the rain. Well that was fun. Thanks for the chat room, chat room gossip on the day after Halloween.

All right. Much more of the NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner admits that the federal deficit is too high, but he insists it's too early to focus on the possibility of a tax increase.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY GEITHNER, TREASURY SECRETARY: Right now we're focused on getting growth back on track. OK? We're not at the point yet where we have to decide exactly what it's going to take. I just want to say this very clearly. He was committed in the campaign -- he said in the campaign and he is committed to make sure we do this in a way that's not going to add to the burden on people making less than $250,000 a year. Now, it's going to be hard to do that, but he's committed to doing that. And we can do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Despite new statistics showing the economy growing again, Geithner warned that unemployment will get worse before better.

All right, it's now a federal hate crime to assault someone who's gay, lesbian or transgender. President Barack Obama signed legislation last week expanding the federal law, offering more protections for the gay community. But some question whether that's still enough. Jarrett Barrios is the president of GLADD, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation. He joins us now from Boston. Good to see you.

JARRETT BARRIOS, GLAAD PRESIDENT: Thanks for having me back, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, well when we talk about, now, one year since the election of President Obama, do you feel as though he's made great strides in fulfilling some promises to directly impact the gay community?

BARRIOS: Well, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Act was a very important law for the gay community. I think a lot of times we talk about affirmative rights. But criminal protections are important. This is the first time that gay and transgender people are protected by federal criminal laws in the way that race, national origin, gender, and religion have been protected since 1969. The passage and the signing by the president of this law is very significant for the gay and transgender community.

WHITFIELD: There were other things that he did too last week, talking about lifting HIV/AIDS travel bans. How significant was that?

BARRIOS: Well, it's important to note that that doesn't just affect -- the HIV travel ban didn't just impact the gay and transgender communities. That impacted all swaths of America as the epidemic of AIDS impacts all of us. And so it was very significant, particularly for those who travel. But -- and for those who are gay and transgender. But also for African-Americans, Latinos, others, immigrants who are impacted by that.

WHITFIELD: There was some interesting things that took place even within the past month. The president meeting -- meeting at the White House with human rights groups, talking about the things that do impact everyone, whether it's the gay community, minorities in general.

Do you think he's making a concerted effort in your view? There was a lot of criticism less than two months ago that he wasn't doing enough. Is he responding to that criticism? Or do you believe he, perhaps, it's taken this amount of time in order to address these issues?

BARRIOS: You know, there's a lot of comments about the president. I would say that as the president with the Congress, as well as in the states and those state legislatures and governors where the rights, the responsibilities and the hopes and aspirations of gay and transgender Americans are determined.

So whether it's marriage and in 44 states, it's still not legal. We as gay people don't have the basic rights that we need to take care of our families, our kids and our spouses. In 37 states, transgender Americans don't have employment protections. In 29 states, gay people don't have employment protection. So it's not just Obama. And I think that we need to keep focused on talking to America about the aspirations of the gay community, the hopes as well as the real concrete barriers that we face, Fredricka.

Because in many real ways, whether it's crimes that are addressed with the Matthew Shepard Act or whether it's the employment nondiscrimination act and protecting us so that we can work and pay taxes like every other American or Don't Ask, Don't Tell, what we're really asking is we work hard, we play by the rules. And we just want to be part of the American mosaic, too. And that story, I think we're going to persuade people, one by one, person by person, not only in Washington, D.C., but around America.

WHITFIELD: Talk to me about how significant or how closely you're watching what could be happening in Maine this week. Maine becoming the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Lawmakers agreed on it, the governor agreed on, but now voters will be deciding come Tuesday whether to repeal it. How concerned about that are you?

BARRIOS: I think a lot of us are concerned because a lot of these ballot initiatives have failed. I would also note that it's not just in Maine. There's a ballot initiative called referendum 71 in Washington State. That one's happening all by mail. But if you're in Washington watching this, you've got to have your ballots in with a yes vote by Tuesday as well.

These are both states that we are watching closely. Gay and transgender people are affected by the ballot box. And as offensive as that is in some way to have somebody else vote on your rights, on your ability to take care of your family, that's the reality, unfortunately. And in Maine and in Washington, they'll be going to the ballot on Tuesday. We're watching that closely.

WHITFIELD: Jarrett Barrios, thank you so much, of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, GLADD, thanks for joining us from Boston today.

All right, workers at one of the big three automakers say no to more concessions. We'll tell you why and who said that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, taking a look at top stories right now. They've given up hope at finding any survivors from Thursday's military aircraft collision off the southern California coast. A Coast Guard plane searching for a missing boater collided with a marine helicopter. The Coast Guard says the search for the nine military personnel involved in the accident has turned into a recovery mission. The search for the missing boater has been called off.

Still no word on whether the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge will reopen in time for rush hour tomorrow morning. The bridge was closed Tuesday following the failure of two rods and a cross bar installed during Labor Day repairs. It is normally a vital link for Bay Area commuters.

And game four of the World Series is set for tonight in Philadelphia. The New York Yankees won last night's game 8-5 and now lead the best of seven series two games to one. Last night's game featured the first instant replay review in World Series history. After reviewing the tape, umpires credited the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez with the home run instead of a double.

All right. There's a huge recall involving one of the world's most highly-rated cars. We'll tell you about a deadly accident and why it has safety experts now very worried.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Ford workers say no more concessions. The "Associated Press" says they voted to reject contract changes that would have put Ford on an equal footing with GM and Chrysler. Ford claimed it needs to keep costs down to be competitive with its rivals. But Ford workers argue that their company is in better financial shape and doesn't need the same concessions as GM and Chrysler.

All right. Lexus, one of the world's top-rated cars, well, now concern that gas pedals on some Lexus and Toyota models could get stuck causing the vehicle to accelerate. And that has triggered a massive recall of some four million vehicles. Our Brian Todd takes a test drive in a Lexus to take a closer look at the problem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LASTRELLE, LEXUS PASSENGER: We're going north 125 and our accelerator is stuck.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): A Lexus ES350 sedan out of control on a highway near San Diego at over 100 miles an hour. Moments before impact, a desperate call to 911.

LASTRELLE: Hold on! Pray! Pray!

TODD: The crash in August killed four members of one family. Preliminary reports from investigators say a floor mat -- the wrong kind, improperly installed -- could have pushed over the gas pedal and pinned it down. Toyota has told drivers of several Toyota and Lexus models to remove their floor mats until further notice.

But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, NHTSA, also lists other factors in that crash -- one of them, on the accelerator pedal. Beyond the main pivot, the lever is not hinged and has no means for relieving forces caused by interferences. NHTSA officials make clear they're not saying this feature caused that crash, but they've documented more than 100 incidents where accelerator pedals on Lexus and Toyota vehicles got stuck.

Experts we spoke to, including Omar Panjshiri, a certified Lexus technician at the Chantilly Repair Center in Northern Virginia, say the lack of a hinge in the middle of the pedal is not a design flaw, that it's a common feature in most new vehicles and that the pedals are safe.

But Panjshiri says tweaks could be made.

OMAR PANJSHIRI, CERTIFIED LEXUS TECHNICIAN: They can certainly drop the floor pad a few inches on a -- a different design, either raise this up a little so you have a lot more clearance on the -- between the floor and the accelerator pedal.

TODD: (on camera): Another item in this NHTSA report has to do with the push button ignition on the ES350. It's got a feature that a lot of drivers may not know about. We've got to go on the road to show you how that works.

(voice-over): Panjshiri and I head out on a highway.

(on camera): I'm going about 60 miles an hour. And if I need to kill the engine, what do I have to do?

PANJSHIRI: You just push the -- push and hold the start button for more than three seconds and that will disable the engine.

TODD: OK. You see the lights are dead, the engine is killed. I'm pulling over here to the right, slowing down.

Do most drivers know that feature?

PANJSHIRI: No, most people don't. They would literally have to study the whole manual in order for them to know this feature.

TODD: (voice-over): The NHTSA report simply calls attention to that lack of labeling. Panjshiri says Toyota/Lexus may want to put stickers on dashboards telling drivers how to cut power.

It's not clear if the driver in the August crash tried to do that. Overall, Panjshiri says, this is a very safe vehicle.

But is the manufacturer going to redesign this gas pedal or that push button ignition switch? Toyota and Lexus officials tell us they're working on what they call a "vehicle-based remedy" to make sure this problem never happens again. They're not being specific on what that remedy is or is going to be, but they say once they have it, they'll going to send notices out to nearly four million Toyota and Lexus drivers for the largest recall they've ever launched in North America. Brian Todd, CNN, Chantilly, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, the game of football, we know it's tough. It's a very physical game. But there's growing evidence now those hard tackles are a terrible toll on players years after their playing days are actually over. We'll take a closer look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The crime shocked many. A 15-year-old girl allegedly gang raped outside her high school's homecoming dance while a crowd of teens watched. The school is in Richmond, California. We brought together a student who was a friend of the victim and a school board member in a special hour of a long examination of exactly what needs to be done to keep students safe on school grounds. Here's a small sample of our program, "Silent Witnesses."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: How do you comfort the parents? Did you hear anything in this hour that gives you any new ideas about this day forward?

CHARLES RAMSEY, WEST CONTRA COSTA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT: This was an excellent panel discussion. And I learned a lot from listening to the speakers. And we will take this information and utilize it in our school. I would hope and encourage that we could have this conversation a year from now and really look at what we've done to implement the suggestions that have been brought forward today.

I can tell you that our board has heard and listened and will act upon these suggestions and make sure that we do everything so that all of you will be proud, that every child will be safe in that school. We've listened. We learned. And we will execute so that we make sure that everything that has come out of this nationwide discussion and debate will ensure that we take the next steps forward.

So, Fredricka, I really would value us looking at this 12 months from now and saying, did West Contra Costra United learn something from in? Did the school board take these suggestions and really value them and show good faith and implement them?

WHITFIELD: And what do you do? Because you remind us in this hour that there is the victim. There's the 15-year-old girl and her family members who now have to deal with this and try to cope. So what can you as a school district do to help her, you know, try to heal?

RAMSEY: We've set up programs right now. We've had an outpour in support. There's a fund to help her. We've offered to services to ensure that the family knows that we're here. We even had a letter that the family read today at the community forum. So we're in contact and we're here to make sure that they know we value them, we respect them.

WHITFIELD: And what do they say?

RAMSEY: Well, it said to move forward that all of us need to work together. Let's turn our anger into positive action. Let's try to learn something from this. Let's take something from this. I wish I could have had that statement to read it here. It was so uplifting to see that they want all of us to do better. But all of us want to do it together.

WHITFIELD: OK, Mr. Ramsey. And you know Kami, you seem a little frustrated by what you were hearing. Why is that?

RAMSEY: Who? I wasn't frustrated.

WHITFIELD: Kami.

KAMI BAKER, RAPE VICTIM'S FRIEND: Because a year ago, something has happened in that area before. And yet the implications were not taken then. I don't expect them to be taken at all now. You say that you've learned, but did you learn the last time? Did you learn previously? We weren't safe when our safety was breached. And it will be breached again unless you take affirmative action. And it took blood to be shed for affirmative action to take place?

WHITFIELD: How do you respond to her? RAMSEY: I agree. I think Kami's bringing good points. And we have to be able to show that the community and the country can have confidence in us. And so I am not sitting here not saying that we have failed. We have not done what we should have done. And I'm telling everyone moving forward that we're going to have to take steps to make sure that we get it done and we will do what we need to do to make sure that the steps that weren't taken in the past are taken in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And thanks to Charles Ramsey there and Kami Baker for their participation. So we've been getting a lot of feedback from you on this topic on my blog as well as Facebook. So much so that we wanted to share some more with you.

Maria says this. "What we must get back to is how we, as a nation, should all come together and save the future generations of our children. We must realize that inner-city communities need help."

And Elizabeth writes this. "One healthy action would be for the mature young men of this school to stand up and say this is not the way we treat our ladies and for the mature members of the student body to stand up and say this is not how we treat each other. Peer pressure can be a good thing when it is positive."

Of course, you can join us in the conversation every weekend. Just go straight to CNN.com/Fredricka or my Facebook at Fredricka Whitfield CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Football players know they're risking injuries every time they strap on a helmet. But are those helmets enough to stop permanent brain damage? Here now is CNN's Kate Bolduan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Head-rattling tackles -- hard hits are what many sports fans say football is all about. But from high school to the NFL, concussions and potential long-lasting effects was the focus on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

DICK BENSON, SON DIED OF FOOTBALL INJURY: Don't let it happen again, please.

BOLDUAN: Dick Benson's son died of a head injury he sustained on a high school football field. Merril Hodge played eight years in the NFL and said he had to retire because repeated brain injuries.

MERRIL HOGE, FORMER NFL PLAYER: After my second concussion, I was escorted into the training room where I flat lined. As they started to resuscitate me, I popped back up and they rushed me into the emergency room where I laid in ICU for two days. BOLDUAN: A recent study commissioned by the NFL suggested retired players may face a higher risk of dementia and other memory related problems, five times higher in players 50 and over, 19 times higher in players age 30 to 49. The NFL has resisted making a connection.

REP. JOHN CONYERS JR. (D), MICHIGAN: Is there a link between playing professional football and the likelihood of contracting a brain-related injury?

ROGER GOODELL, NFL COMMISSIONER: You're obviously seeing a lot of data and a lot of information that our committees and others have presented with respect to the linkage. And the medical experts should be the one to be able to continue that debate.

CONYERS: I just asked you a simple question. What's the answer?

GOODELL: The answer is the medical experts would know better than I would with respect to that.

BOLDUAN: But the NFL Players Union is demanding the league start paying attention.

DEMAURICE SMITH, EXEC. DIR., NFL PLAYERS ASSN: What I see is the need to embrace almost a decade of medical literature and then move forward.

BOLDUAN: A point echoed by Congresswoman Maxine Waters, herself married to a former player.

REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: it is a dangerous sport. People are going to be injured. The only question is what are you going to do? Are you going to pay for it?

BOLDUAN: The author of that most recent study testified the findings while important don't prove a link. The Players Union stressed they're not looking to Congress to legislate hitting on the field. But Chairman Conyers says he'll now seek records on players' head injuries to conduct an independent examination of the health risk, something the Players Union would like as well. Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And the CNN NEWSROOM continues at 6:00 Eastern Time. Don Lemon will have the follow-up to a real-life Halloween horror. Cleveland is reacting to charges that a convicted rapist is also a serial killer.

And Brett Favre returns to Green Bay as a Minnesota Viking. We'll look at how the hometown fans are reacting. That's coming up one hour from now here in the NEWSROOM.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield, have a great day, or evening.