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At The Scene Of A Massacre; Interview with Barney Frank; George W. Bush's Portrait Revealed; Ireland in Debt Trouble; Live Feed: Obama, Bush Speak at Portrait Unveiling; Romney, Republicans Take Aim at Obama over Solyndra; 1 Out of 4 Homes on Market are in Foreclosure

Aired May 31, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Suzanne Malveaux, I want to get right down to it. Federal appeals court rules against the defense of marriage act and in favor of same sex couples. Just a short time ago, the court in Massachusetts ruled the act unconstitutional. Defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman and it bans federal recognition of same sex marriage. Now, the court says the act discriminates against gay couples. I'm going to ask Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank what he thinks about the decision when he joins us later in the hour.

And this dramatic escape from house arrest in China made headlines. Well, today, Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng is speaking out about the ordeal. Chen is currently studying in the United States after his escape from detention and the council in foreign relations, he talked about the danger faced by his family and what he calls the lawlessness in China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN GUANGCHENG: What I am most concerned about is also the most important question is the state of law in China, it is still very much being trampled on and more specifically after I left my home in Chandon, the local authorities have been having retaliating against my family in a frenzied way. Please think about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Just in to CNN a couple minutes ago, the Syrian government is denying any involvement in the massacre that left more than 100 people dead in the village of Houla. A government spokesman in Damascus today blames what he calls armed groups, not the Syrian military, for going house to house and slaughtering entire families, mostly women and children. That was last Friday. You're about to see an up close look inside the village where it happened. ITN's Alex Thompson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX THOMPSON, REPORTER, ITN (voice-over): The U.N. warned us, you're past the last Syrian army check point, then it is no man's land. Space out the vehicles as we go across and if shooting starts, do a u-turn and get the hell out, you're on your own. It is a chilling mile long straight drive through the broken empty buildings. Watch for the dead horse rotting in the street on the right, past that and the abandoned (INAUDIBLE) personnel carrier of the Syrian army and you are into rebel held Houla. We'll cut Assad's throat, they chant. They want to scream at us. They want to shout. They want to chant . They want to show us fragments of shells. I have scarcely seen people so desperate to tell their story. U.N. observers simply embraced before they can observe anything at all.

(on camera): They're chanting the release, the anger is palpable in this place. We've seen very few people from the Arab side and certainly never a journalist here since the Houla's overtook this town back on Friday.

(voice-over): From that moment, we were taken away, swept up, led from house to house where everyone has a story to tell. And when it comes to the men that carried out the massacre here on Friday, it is the same one. This man who didn't wish to give his name speaks for everyone here it seems.

(on camera): Hang on, this is important. You know where these militia came from.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

THOMPSON: Which villages did the militia come from, tell me that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kabul, yes, (INAUDIBLE) from dolowitz (ph) -- the dolowitz gang.

THOMPSON: So ,you think these are Alawites (INAUDIBLE) from nearby here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes ,yes, yes, 100 percent.

THOMPSON: How do you know that these men are sheer (INAUDIBLE) from this? How do you know?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They wear -- they wearing black clothes.

THOMPSON: Black clothes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And were writing on their forehead (INAUDIBLE.)

THOMPSON: Labeka Ali (ph) is a sheer slogan in this region.

(voice-over): Houla is on the plain, overwhelmingly sunny (ph). The killers came down from the hills to the west where the villages are sheer and Alawite. To the southwest, this is Kabul, named again and again as a village where the killers have come from. So, too, Houla to the northwest, again, named by different people at different times in different locations as being a place where the killers live. Time and again, they showed us the videos of the massacre aftermath. We can't show pictures of children decapitated by knives, women with faces shot away, tiny mutilated bodies of toddlers. Survivors scarred by all of this constantly brought to our attention like three-year-old Sadara (ph) who was wounded by shrapnel but her mother is dead.

For now, though, time is up for the red crescent and the U.N. We had to move out. South back across no man's land and away from this stricken place. Alex Thompson, Channel 4 News, Houla.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Barney Frank is about to become the first member of Congress in a same sex marriage. We'll talk to him about that and his plans to retire from Congress.

And the official portrait of George Bush will be unveiled this hour at the White House. We're going to take a look at his legacy plus my tour of the White House art collection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Monroe was painted by Samuel Morris who invented the telegraph.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Here is what we're working on for this hour.

(voice-over): Barney Frank is about to become the first member of Congress in a same sex marriage. I will talk to him about it, and his plans to retire from Congress.

And the official portrait of George W. Bush will be unveiled this hour at the White House. We'll go there live and take a look at George W.'s legacy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank leaves the office next year after 32 years in the House. Congressman Frank, he's joining us to talk about his political legacy. Congressman, thank you for joining is. First of all, I do want to get your thoughts on a story that broke regarding the defense of marriage act. Today, a federal appeals court in Massachusetts ruled the defense of marriage act unconstitutional. It defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman and the court says the act discriminates against same sex couples. Is this part of a sea change, do you think, that is taking place in this country? When you look at that are you heartened to see that?

REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Yes. I was pleased but not surprised. It does not say that anybody anywhere has a right in America to marry someone of the same sex. It says very carefully done by excellent lawyers at the gay and lesbian advocates independents in Boston where a state has recognized marriage, whether it is between people of the opposite sex or the same sex, the federal government cannot discriminate.

In America, marriage is always been defined at the state level. What the defense of marriage act said, in part, and that's the only part that was up in the decision was that the federal government will say, yes, if you're a man and a woman married, you'll get social security, joint taxes, et cetera. But if you're two women married, you don't.

And what the district court judge said and now the three judges unanimous at the circuit court said, no, that's not right. You have to treat people equally and it's a denial of a fundamental federal doctrine of equal protection and the laws. It's the argument that President Obama made when he said earlier that he wasn't going to defend the law and it's a vindication of his position.

MALVEAUX: Right. So, Congressman, what do you make of what's happened here? Because there does seem to be a sea change regarding same sex marriage. President Obama coming out in support of it. You were really a pioneer as openly gay in Congress. Did you ever imagine that it would gain so much support that you'd be still in Congress and you'd see this kind of change happening?

FRANK: I was hoping it would happen. It's happening more quickly than I wanted it to, not as quickly as it should. We're talking about a prejudice that never had any rational basis in the first place. And I think what's happening, Suzanne, is, very simply, reality defeats prejudice. For many years, those of us who were gay and lesbian, I was in the category until 25 years ago when I volunteered that I was gay when it came up, we were hiding and so these inaccurate vicious stereotypes about us were all people knew.

As we have become honest about our sexuality, you know, we don't discuss our sexuality any more than straight people do but there was this difference. When we talk honestly about our sexuality, it's called coming out. When the heterosexual majority does it, it is called talking. You know, we all talk about our sexuality, and that's helped defeat the prejudice. Marriage is an example.

MALVEAUX: Do you --

FRANK: (INAUDIBLE) referenda on marriage when it was prospective. But wherever marriage has been in effect for any period of time, the opposition to it dies away, same sex marriage, because it's clear it doesn't hurt anybody.

MALVEAUX: Do you fear there will be a back lash? We've heard from several pastors of churches throughout the country, really some fiery rhetoric, some of them even threatening to kill gay people in the community. Is that a concern at all that you might -- we might see something like that?

FRANK: Well, I'm not in fear with that. Yes, there's a backlash, there always has been, whether it was African-Americans, women, any group that has decided that they're no longer going to accept second class or third class treatment and that fights for its rights will excite some opposition. As long as you're willing to be supined, people will be much nicer to you. What we found, however, is that this one, those who express those views are clearly in the minority and especially generationally. What gives me the most optimism is this. If you ask people under 30, it is clear that they don't understand what this is all about. They don't understand why we're two other people who happen to be in love should be of any negative concern to them and that's why this thing is changing. That is, as I said, the reality. Look, let's take Don't Ask Don't Tell. A year ago, we had predictions from my conservative friends that if we allowed gay and lesbian people to serve in the militarily openly, they have been serving for years, --

MALVEAUX: Right.

FRANK: -- it would cause chaos. It's been in effect for months now and nobody noticed. So, this is what we see. The reality, people get to see what gay people are like and lesbians are like and that the prejudice then is shown to be baseless.

MALVEAUX: Let's talk a little about your record and your legacy. Thirty-two years in Congress. What are you most proud of? What do you hope people remember you by?

FRANK: Well, I guess -- I hope that it's -- that's the same question, I am not sure it is. I can't be sure that what I am most proud of is what people will remember me by. But obviously, the financial foreign bill was very important. I worked very hard to try and promote affordable rental housing. I think it was misunderstood. I -- for most of my career, I focused on trying to build rental housing for low income people, and we got sidetrack and too many others were pushing them into homeownership which was inappropriate. I feel good about having helped to diminish, not unfortunately abolish altogether, the prejudice against us. I am proud, frankly, the role I played in 1998. I was on the judiciary committee then when Newt Gingrich tried to impeach Bill Clinton in one of the great acts of hypocrisy in American history for his sex life, and we were able to defeat that and I think it was a great success for democracy. And I am most recently proud now that finally the country is focusing on the need to reduce excessive military expenditures, basically, to tell our European allies that they should defend themselves and not expect us to restrict Medicare or Social Security or programs in the quality of life at home so we can subsidize the defense budgets.

MALVEAUX: When you look at the election, you look at the campaign season here, what do you think President Obama has done right, that he has gotten right and what do you think he really needs to work on?

FRANK: Well, I -- what he's clearly has done right is to help turn around the mess of the economy. He inherited the worst economy since the great depression. Interestingly, because he was trying to be somewhat bipartisan, he did himself a little political damage by not stressing how bad things were. And I think that's part of the reason people said, oh, well, he didn't move quick enough. In fact, the American economy today of all the economies in the advanced nations in the world, Japan, Europe, we're doing the best. And we're doing the best because we're mixing policies. Now, we've been retarded by conservative opposition. We have created, in the United States since the beginning of the turnaround late in 2009, maybe about 4 million private sector jobs. Unfortunately, we've lost over 600,000 jobs from state and local government -- teachers, firefighters, police officers -- because the right wing has sort of cut back on that. But I think he's dealt with the economy well. I think the financial --

MALVEAUX: Do you think that Mitt Romney has a good record? Do you think that he has an adequate regard as the governor of Massachusetts and also a businessman to lead forward?

FRANK: No, no, he was -- he was a terrible governor of Massachusetts. I represented, among other areas, southeastern Massachusetts. A working class area where there had been national economic trends and he left us behind. We had a number of things we were trying to do to help the fishing industry, to get commuter rail built from the cities of Forward (ph), New Bedford to Boston and to support other institutions there. It was as if that area didn't exist. But Mitt Romney became governor for one reason, to run for president. And he was seriously neglectful of the area of the state that I represented that most needed his help.

We also, of course, got a little bit of whiplash because Mitt Romney, the liberal, was running against Ted Kennedy in 1994 and then Mitt Romney, the moderate, ran for governor. But by the time his term was ending, he was Mitt Romney, the conservative, running for president. And you get a little bit dizzy watching the road runner go through those paces.

MALVEAUX: Will you actually campaign? Will you help President Obama this go round?

FRANK: Oh, very much so. You know, I'm not a great fan of campaigning for myself, but campaigning for others is important. Yes, I will work very hard for the president.

You ask -- let me be honest. There is one area where I disagree with him. I think he is staying in Afghanistan longer than we should and is for a higher level of military expenditure. But even here, the contrast with the Republicans is extraordinary.

We have Republicans who say, we have to reduce the deficit but not raise taxes by a penny and significantly increase military expenditures. People want to invade Syria or support an invasion of Syria. People who want to stay in Afghanistan longer, who didn't want him to get out of Iraq. To the contrast, yes, I think the president should be doing less in terms of making America the world's military helper, but the Republicans and Romney, in particular, are just totally wrong on this.

MALVEAUX: Do you think he should do more in Syria, very quickly?

FRANK: No. I don't think every problem in the world is subject to American salvation (ph). Look, if we were to go in, in a military way, directly or indirectly or to another Muslim country, it would be damaging. And this notion that if there's a problem anywhere, it has to be the American taxpayer and the American military to bail them out is a great mistake. The Arab League should be involved. The Europeans should be involved. We are doing a great deal. We're carrying the brunt in Afghanistan. This notion that it's always America's job and everybody else can slack off, one, it's unfair to us and it's unfair to think that with all that's gone on, America can now go on and take on frankly a third or fourth military intervention in a Muslim country and be fairly judged. Yes, there are terrible things going on in Syria and the man's a thug, but there are a lot of other countries in the world and my colleagues who act as if everything that goes wrong, it's America's fault and we've got to be the ones to solve it and if we don't solve it it's our fault. They're doing our country a terrible disservice.

MALVEAUX: OK. And finally, congressman, I do want to ask you about the remark that you made. It created a little bit of a dust up about a hoodie at the graduation ceremony recently. You later apologized. I want to play that for our viewers, if you can explain.

FRANK: No, I didn't apologize. I didn't -- I didn't -- excuse me, but I didn't apologize.

MALVEAUX: Oh, OK. Well, let's play -- let's play the bit here and then maybe you can explain on the other end.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK: Get an honorary degree, they give you one of these and, Hubie (ph), I think you now have a hoodie you can wear and no one will shoot at you. So I think you'll feel, I hope, pretty protected by that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: If you can explain your remark. I'm sorry if you did not -- if I misspoke.

FRANK: Yes, I think one of the worst issues we have in America is being racial prejudice. And I think the incident in Florida, where this young man was murdered, who was simply innocently walking home to where he had a place to be or walking to the place where he was staying and part of the reason he was murdered, he was wearing a hoodie and looked suspicious, that's the kind of terrible attitude. That's the (ph) attack. And I think that kind of humor is a way to attack it.

Actually, it was the third time I used the line. The first two times I got an honorary degree myself and said, yes, I wonder if this is a hoodie I can wear on the floor of the House. But that commencement, I wouldn't (INAUDIBLE) a good friend of mine was. And, yes, I think efforts to show how damaging that prejudice is, and I think this anti- hoodie thing, you know, I suppose some people might say the anti- hoodie sentiment is from people who got burned on the FaceBook IPO. But, in fact, it's more of a -- kind of part of a conflict of sort of racial profiling. And, yes, I was trying to -- here was a very distinguished guy getting an academic honorary degree, which comes with a hood, and I am not apologizing at all for trying to make fun of and ridicule and hopefully diminish this attitude that says, oh, my God, the man's got a hoodie, he must be suspicious.

MALVEAUX: So there were some people who thought you were making light of that, but that -- that was a misunderstanding.

FRANK: Oh, I think -- no, no, it's -- humor is an effective political tool. The notion that you can't make a hood joke -- now, maybe it wasn't the funniest joke in the world, but making light of me, I was ridiculing that attitude and the notion that I guess you could say that satire is making light of things. I don't think so. I think it as an honorable tradition in debate and I, as I said, it was the third time I've said it. Frankly, nobody I've talked to in my own district or elsewhere has said anything about it. It's largely a media creation.

MALVEAUX: And, congressman, I understand your -- you've got a wedding planned as well. You're going to be married soon. Is that right?

FRANK: Yes. Jim and I, my husband to be, Jim Ready, and I will be ready and we're going to be married during the summer and that means that I will spend the last few months of my congressional career as a married gay man. And I will have the great pleasure of my spouse, Jim, whose very popular with my colleagues and he's already well known to them, but I think it's -- you know, I said, reality defeats prejudice. I think Jim and I, as a married couple, interacting as we will, going to the White House ball in December and as another married couple, I think that's one more fight in the effort to diminish prejudice and give people an alternative reality to the silly stereotypes that they sometimes see.

MALVEAUX: All right, congressman, thank you very much. Thirty-two years. Quite a legacy. Thank you once again. Congressman Barney Frank.

FRANK: You're welcome.

MALVEAUX: Mitt Romney is in California to talk to the voters there. We're going to go live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: People of Ireland are voting today. It's not an election, but it's a national referendum. Voters are deciding whether Ireland should join an economic treaty within the euro zone, those countries that use the euro, that supporters hope will prevent a crisis like the one that is hammering Greece and Spain right now. Richard Quest, he is joining us from London to talk a little bit about this.

So, Richard, first of all, help us understand this a little bit. What are the Irish voting for today?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is called the fiscal compact. That's what we know it at. It is a 20-page treaty. And what it does, it's new rules of the road. It is setting out the ways in which the members of the euro zone will relate to each other -- budgets, sanctions, deficits, structural deficits. In fact, some would say this is what they should have been doing for the last 10 years. But, anyway, better late than never.

The problem is, Ireland is the only euro zone country that is actually putting it to a referendum. The rest are all doing it through national parliaments or ratification processes. And Ireland needs the money because if Ireland says no today, then effectively it's lifeline will be cut off. I mean it's a bit like, vote how you like, but we know how you'll vote. You get the idea. Ireland is expected to vote for the referendum today.

MALVEAUX: So what's taking place in Ireland? I mean, are we seeing this as a banking and debt problem or has it really reached a crisis yet?

QUEST: Ireland is the poster boy and poster child for austerity. They took their medicine like a good patient and they've taken it and taken it and taken it. And, in fact, in some cases, they're pretty angry that other countries are getting wiggle room like Greece, while Ireland continues to really suffer. But what they did is, they got rid of all the bad debts from the banks and hired them off. They've made major cutbacks. Large sways (ph) of the economy is in trouble.

But things are turning around. I was talking to the Irish minister only yesterday. They say things are getting better. The situation is definitely looking up. However, however, they are terrified that a Spanish problem, at worse Greek problem, will eventually hit everybody, just as you and I were talking yesterday. Because if you're on the other side of the Atlantic about to feel the wash of the waves, imagine poor Ireland and how that will get hit.

MALVEAUX: All right. Richard Quest, got to let you go there, because we've got to straight to the White House.

QUEST: All right. Absolutely.

MALVEAUX: We are seeing President Obama there and they're just starting this ceremony here. This is the official unveiling of the portrait of former President George W. Bush.

FRED RYAN, CHMN., WHITE HOUSE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION: Good afternoon. I'm Fred Ryan, chairman of the board of the White House Historical Association. The association is honored to be part of today's historic ceremony and to have played a role in arranging for the magnificent portraits that are about to be unveiled.

The White House Historical Association was founded 50 years ago by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy with two specific missions. The first is to educate and inform the public about the history of the White House and the distinguished group of Americans that have inhabited it. In this regard, it is an exciting time for us as we mark our 50th anniversary campaign for White House history.

To the north of the White House, at historic Decatur House, we have just launched the new David Rubenstein National Center for White House History. And next year to the south of the White House, we will open a newly redesigned White House visitors center. It will give the millions of visitors to Washington each year a chance to gain a broader understanding of life in the White House. If we can just acquire something on the east and west, we'll have the place surrounded. The other mission of the association is to provide funds to preserve the White House public rooms and enhance its incomparable collection of decorative and fine arts. Over the five decades and 10 presidents since our founding, the association is proud to have provided nearly $40 million in financial support for refurbishing and making important acquisitions for the White House.

Through the portraits of our presidents and first ladies, it's a wonderful tradition that here, in America's house --

MALVEAUX: We're going to take a quick break. And on the other end, we'll take the event live. Watching the president, the official unveiling of the George W. Bush portrait at the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: To President Obama at the White House. The official portrait being unveiled right now.

(BEGIN LIVE FEED)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- President George H.W. Bush and Barbara, to all the members of the Bush family who are here, it is a great privilege to have you here today.

And to President and Mrs. Bush, welcome back to the house that you called home for eight years.

The White House is many things at once. It is a working office. It is a living museum. It is an enduring symbol of our democracy. At the end of the day, when the visitors go home and the lights go down, a few of us are blessed with the tremendous honor to actually live here. I think it is fair to say that every president is acutely aware that we are just temporary residence. We're renters here. We're charged with the upkeep until our lease runs out. We also leave a piece of ourselves in this place. And today, with the unveiling of the portraits next to me, President and Mrs. Bush will take their place alongside men and women who built this country and those who worked to perfect it.

It has been said that no one could ever truly understand what it is like being president until they sit behind the desk and feel the weight and the responsibility for the first time. That is true. After three and a half years in office and much more gray hair, I have a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by the presidents that came before me, including my immediate predecessor, President Bush. In this job, no decision that reaches your desk is easy. No choice you make is without costs. No matter how hard you try you're not going to make everybody happy. I think that's something President Bush and I both learned pretty quickly.

And that's why from time to time, those of us who have had the privilege to hold this office, find ourselves turning to the only people on earth who know the feeling. We may have our differences politically, but the presidency transcends those differences. We all love this country. We all want America to succeed. We all believe that when it comes to moving this country forward we have an obligation to pull together. And we all follow the humble heroic example of our first president, George Washington, who knew that a true test of patriotism is to willingly and graciously pass the reigns of power on to somebody else. That has certainly true of President Bush.

The months before I took the oath of office were a chaotic time. We knew our economy was in trouble, our fellow Americans were in pain, but we wouldn't know until later just how breathtaking the financial crisis had been. And still, over those two and a half months, in the midst of that crisis, President Bush, his cabinet, his staff -- many of you who are here today -- went out of your ways -- George, you went out of your way -- to make sure that the transition to a new administration was as seamless as possible. President Bush understood that rescuing our economy was not just a Democratic or Republican issue. It was an American priority. I will always be grateful for that.

The same is true for our national security. None of us will ever forget where we were on that terrible September day when our country was attacked. All of us will always remember the image of President Bush standing on that pile of rubble, bullhorn in hand, conveying extraordinary strength and resolve to the American people but also representing the strength and resolve of the American people. And last year, whether we delivered justice to Osama Bin Laden, I made it clear that our success was due to many people in many organizations working together over many years, across two administrations. That is why my first call, once American forces were safely out of harm's way, was to President Bush, because protecting our country is neither the work of one person nor the task of one period of time. It is an on- going obligation that we all share.

Finally, on a personal note, Michelle and I are grateful to the entire Bush family for their guidance and example during our own transition.

George, I will always remember the gathering you hosted for all of the living former presidents before I took office and your kind words of encouragement. Plus, you also left me a really good TV sports package.

(LAUGHTER)

I use it.

(LAUGHTER)

Laura, you reminded us that the most rewarding thing isn't the title or the power but the chance to shine a spotlight on the issues that is matter most. And the fact that you and George raised two, smart, beautiful daughters, first, as girls visiting their grandparents and then as teenagers preparing to head out into the world, that obviously gives Michelle and I tremendous hope as we try to do the right thing by our own daughters in this slightly odd atmosphere that we have created.

Jenna and Barbara, we will never forget the advice you gave Sasha and Malia as they began their lives in Washington.

They told them to surround themselves with loyal friends and never stop doing what they love and to slide down the banisters occasionally, to play sardines on the lawn and meet new people and try new things and to try to absorb everything and enjoy all of it. And I can tell you that Malia and Sasha took that advice to heart. It really meant a lot to them.

One of the greatest strengths of our democracy is our ability to peacefully and routinely go through transitions of power. It speaks to the fact that we have always had leaders who believe in America and everything it stands for, above all else, leaders and their families who are willing to devote their lives to the country they love. This is what we'll think about every time we pass these portraits, just as millions of other visitors will do in the decades and perhaps the centuries to come.

I want to thank John Howard Sanden, the artist behind the beautiful works, and for his efforts.

And on behalf of the American people, I want to thank most sincerely President and Mrs. Bush for their extraordinary service to our country.

And now I would like to invite them on stage to take part in the presentation.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you. Sit down. Sit down.

(LAUGHTER)

Behave yourself.

(LAUGHTER)

Mr. President, thank you for your warm hospitality.

And Madam First Lady, thank you so much for inviting our rowdy friends --

(LAUGHTER)

-- to my hanging.

(LAUGHTER)

Laura and I are honored to be here.

Mr. Vice President, thank you for coming. We are overwhelmed by your hospitality. And thank you for feeding --

(LAUGHTER)

-- the Bush family, all 14 members of us here.

(LAUGHTER)

I want to thank our girls for coming. And I thank mom and dad, brothers, sister, in-laws, aunts and uncles. And I appreciate you taking your time. I know you are as excited as Laura and me to be able to come back here and particularly thank the people who helped make this house a home for us for eight years, the White House staff.

I want to thank Fred Ryan and the White House Historical Association, and Bill Almond, the White House curator.

I am pleased that my portrait brings an interesting symmetry to the White House collection.

(LAUGHTER)

It now starts and ends with a George W.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: When the British burned the White House, as Fred mentioned, in 1814, Dolly Madison famously saved this portrait of the first George W.

(LAUGHTER)

Now, Michelle --

(LAUGHTER)

-- if anything happens --

(LAUGHTER)

-- there is your man.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: I am also pleased, Mr. President, that when you are wandering these halls after you wrestle with tough decisions, you will now be able to gaze at this portrait and ask, what would George do?

(LAUGHTER)

I am honored to be hanging near a man that gave me the greatest gift possible, unconditional love. And that would be number 41.

(APPLAUSE)

BUSH: I want to thank John Howard Sanden for agreeing to use his considerable talents to paint my likeness. You have done a fine job with a challenging subject.

(LAUGHTER)

In the portrait there is a painting, by H.D. Kerner, called "A Charge to Keep." It hung in the Oval Office for eight years of my presidency. I asked John to include it because it reminds me of the wonderful people with whom I was privileged to serve. Whether they served in the cabinet, on the presidential staff, these men and women, many of whom are here, worked hard and served with honor. We had a charge to keep and we kept the charge.

It is my privilege to introduce the greatest first lady ever.

(LAUGHTER)

Sorry, mom.

(LAUGHTER)

Would you agree to a tie?

(LAUGHTER)

A woman who brought such grace and dignity and love in this house.

(APPLAUSE)

LAURA BUSH, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you, all.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you, everybody. Thanks, everybody. Thanks, everyone.

(APPLAUSE)

LAURA BUSH: Thank you, all.

(APPLAUSE)

LAURA BUSH: OK. That's enough. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Darling.

Thank you, President and Mrs. Obama. Thank you for your kindness and your consideration today. And it was really gracious of you to invite us back to the White House to hang a few family pictures.

(LAUGHTER) And I am sure you know nothing makes a house a home like having portraits of its former occupants staring down at you from the walls.

(LAUGHTER)

This is not the first time I have had the opportunity to confront an artistic likeness of myself. A few years ago, just after the 2008 election, a friend sent me something he found in the gift shop of the National Constitutional Center in Philadelphia. It was a Laura Bush Bobblehead doll.

(LAUGHTER)

He said he found it on a clearance shelf.

(LAUGHTER)

But I am flattered and grateful to know that this particular work has a permanent home.

And thanks to the masterful talent of John Howard Sanden. I like it a whole lot better than I do that Bobblehead doll.

(LAUGHTER)

Thank you very much, John Howard Sanden. You're terrific to work with. And thanks to Elizabeth and your family, who have joined you today. Thank you very, very much, John.

(APPLAUSE)

LAURA BUSH: Of course, it is meaningful to me, as a private person, to know that these portraits will be on view at the White House, that my portrait will hang just down the hall from my mother- in-law. And that George's portrait will hang very close to his dad's.

But what's more meaningful is that it is meaningful to me as a citizen. This was our family's home for eight years. It was our home, but it wasn't our house. This house belongs to the people whose portraits will never hang here, the ordinary and not-so-ordinary people whose lives inspired us and whose expectations guided us during the years that we lived here.

In this room are many of the people who stood by us as we faced the tragedy of September 11th and who worked with us in the years after. Thanks to each and every one of you for your service to our country.

(APPLAUSE)

LAURA BUSH: I hope others will see in this portrait what I see, a woman who was honored and humbled to live in the White House during a period of great challenge and who will never forget the countless American faces who make up the true portrait of that time.

Thank you all very much. Thanks so much.

And thank you, Michelle. If you want to come up?

(APPLAUSE)

(END LIVE FEED)

MALVEAUX: We're watching former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, the official unveiling of the portraits at the White House.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Looking at live pictures there still in the east room of the White House. Former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush there for the official unveiling of the portraits that will hang in the White House. There are 14 Bush family members who are back at the White House joining the Obama family there for the festivities and the celebration.

Meanwhile, Romney and Republicans, taking aim at President Obama over a failed energy company that got millions in loans backed by tax dollars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's also a symbol of gross waste. We look at this building behind us. This is not the kind of building that's built by private enterprise. This is the kind of enterprise -- the kind of building that's built with a half a billion dollars of taxpayer money. It's not just the Taj Mahal of corporate headquarters. You probably also heard inside there are showers that have LCD displays that tell you what the temperature is of the shower water. And --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Jim Acosta is joining us on the phone. He's with the Romney campaign event that just ended.

So, Jim, obviously, this is meant to show kind of a black eye, if you will, on the Obama administration, posing in front of this particular place, the Solyndra plant that went bankrupt. Lots of taxpayer dollars here. Do you think, first of all, it's effective? And secondly, why all the mystery around it? There was no advance warning where you guys were going to go.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Right, exactly. This trip was steeped in mystery and secrecy, Suzanne. Let's talk about that first because it was very interesting to be a fly on the wall for all of this. I was riding on the Romney press bus while we were en route and Romney aides came on board the bus -- and this was after a good 12 to 24 hours of not telling the press where this event was going to be held today. And then the aids came on the bus and said, "OK, guys, off the record, we're heading to Solyndra. And, oh, by the way, off the record, Mitt Romney is going to be getting on the bus in a few moments where he will be taking the drive with us out to Solyndra." Mitt Romney got on the bus. Didn't say very much, just sort of exchanged pleasantries with the reporters. When we all got off the bus, he walked up to the mic and gave some brief remarks and took some questions.

But I think the Romney campaign is trying to make a point here, Suzanne, and that is the president's stimulus plan, they say, did not deliver the robust recovery that the White House had promised. And that is what they want to highlight time and again, and that was why they came out to Solyndra today.

MALVEAUX: All right.

Jim, got to leave it there.

Thank you, Jim. Appreciate it.

One out of four homes selling right now is a foreclosure. We're going to tell you if it's a good sign or a bad sign for the economy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It's a dream-come true for a former high school football star who was falsely accused of rape. Brian Banks will get to try out for the NFL's Seattle Seahawks. The news comes a week after a judge threw out the rape conviction. California Innocence Project had presented new evidence showing that banks' accuser lied. He served five years in prison.

Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stephens is taking aim at his former conservative colleagues. During a speech at the University of Utah, he blasted the five conservative justices who backed a controversial ruling allowing corporations to spend unlimited amounts on federal elections. He says the court will eventually have to decide if the ruling applies to foreign groups. And he predicts that will cause the law's foundation to crack.

A quarter of all homes selling right now, in foreclosure. We're going to tell you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: More and more people are buying houses in some stage of foreclosure.

Alison Kosik, at the New York Stock Exchange.

Tell us what's going on, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know why? Because price has a lot to do with it, Suzanne. Those depressed homes are cheaper. RealtyTrac says homes in some state of foreclosure, that they have accounted for more than one in four sales in the first three months of this year. Look at this. The average foreclosure sold for $161,000 last year -- this year, actually, in the first quarter. The average price of a home not in foreclosure, about $220,000. It's like getting a house on sale, more than 25 percent off -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right, Alison. Thank you very much.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Kate Bolduan.

Good to see you, Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, Suzanne. Thank you.