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Party Heavyweights Spar over GOP's Future Path; Gingrich Questions Pelosi's Truthfulness; Pakistani Government Claims Significant Progress in its Military Offensive; Obama Taunts His Critics, Mocks Himself; Tyson Beckford: Model, Actor, Inspiration

Aired May 10, 2009 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Infighting out in the open. A battle is brewing in the GOP. Dick Cheney takes on Colin Powell.

Comedian-in-chief. President Obama had the rolling in the isles last night. Tonight, we play his entire unedited comedy routine for you.

Stay tuned for that.

And body of work. The model who changed the fashion industry one sizzling photo at a time. Tyson Beckford tells us how he blazed a trail.

The news starts right now.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

It has become a high-profile, high-stakes game of airing dirty laundry in public, with the former vice president doing the instigating. What's worse is that they are former allies. Dick Cheney is calling into question Colin Powell's party loyalty and insinuating Rush Limbaugh has more political and party influence than Powell, the former secretary of state and joint chiefs chairman.

This is probably the last thing the GOP needs when the future of their party is at stake. More on that story in just seconds.

Another Republican is talking tough as well today. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich criticized current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, questioning her truthfulness. Gingrich says Pelosi knew the U.S. was waterboarding terrorist suspects.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: She's now changed her story again and said, well, she'd been reassured they were all legal. So, initially she didn't know about it, had not been briefed. Then she'd been brief but it wasn't clear. Now she'd been briefed and, in fact, had been told it was all legal so she didn't worry about it. I think she has, you know, a lot of explaining to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Speaker Pelosi said Friday she had received a CIA briefing on interrogation techniques only once and that she was never told that waterboarding was being used.

Our two political experts, Lynn Sweet of the "Chicago Sun-Times" and CNN's political editor Mark Preston weigh in on Washington this weekend and next in just a few minutes.

The Pakistani government claimed significant progress in its military offensive against the Taliban in the Swat Valley, but the fighting also has sent a half million civilians fleeing for their lives.

CNN's Reza Sayah is live for us tonight from Islamabad.

Reza, thank you for joining us tonight.

Tell us about the last 24 hours there.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have 15,000 Pakistani troops taking on about 4,000 to 5,000 Taliban fighters in the Swat Valley. This is day five of the operation. The military is calling a full-scale offensive against the militants in the Swat region.

On Sunday, the Pakistani army telling CNN they killed another 200 militants and took back from the Taliban what they're calling strategically important areas. What we should tell you, CNN cannot independently verify this information because reporters are banned from the region.

What we can also report is more civilian casualties based on witness accounts, based on what the army is telling us, but we're getting conflicting reports how those civilians are dying.

The citizens, who have been displaced from those areas, we've spoken to them, and they say the civilians are dying because of indiscriminate firing from the Pakistani army. But the Pakistani military is saying those civilians are dying at the hands of the militants who are planting explosives and using civilians as human shields.

Despite those difficulties, despite an emerging humanitarian crisis, the Pakistani army says this operation will continue. Over the past year and a half, they've launched military offensives in this region before. They haven't been successful. This time they insist things will be different. This time they say they're going to stay in the Swat Valley until the Pakistani Taliban is defeated.

LEMON: Reza Sayah joining us from Islamabad. Thank you very much for that.

U.S. forces have conducted air strikes against suspected Taliban positions in Pakistan recently. But on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JOHN KING" today, General David Petraeus insisted there are no plans to send U.S. ground troops into battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: I think we have been unequivocal in saying that this is not about us putting combat boots on the ground. This is about us providing assistance as we do numerous nations around the world. A bit more robust in this case certainly. But we provide some training assistance, we provide ammunition, we provide spare parts, help with maintenance system processes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Pope Benedict is on a historic visit to the Middle East today. Today in Amman, Jordan, he celebrated an open-air mass before 20,000 people and he used the historic moment to call for greater respect for women. But his central theme was a call for Middle East Christians to persevere, an acknowledgment that their numbers across the region have fallen into recent -- in recent decades. Pope Benedict is on an eight-day trip through the region with stops planned in both Israel and the Palestinian territories.

The White House says the U.S. will keep using air strikes against terrorist targets in Afghanistan even though the Afghan president has asked the U.S. to stop aerial bombings. That request followed a recent air strike in which dozens of civilians were killed. President Obama's national security adviser reportedly says all military tactics remain on the table because the U.S. will not fight with one hand tied behind its back.

Also in Afghanistan, U.S. soldiers showed their comrades their appreciation for Mother's Day today. These are service moms at a little non-champagne brunch with sparkling apple juice. A nice gesture to -- for the comforts away from home, so to speak.

We're learning tonight that the power -- that a power tool apparently sparked that massive wildfire that's burning in southern California. Here's what investigators are saying now. They need help identifying the person who may have been clearing brush last week near a trail where the so-called Jesusita fire started near Santa Barbara.

It's now more than half contained, but not before it damaged or destroyed about 80 homes and other structures there. Most of the thousands of evacuees have since returned to their homes, and that is good news.

CNN's Jacqui Jeras standing by checking all of today's weather news in the CNN severe weather center.

The fires may be coming to an end and hopefully the flooding as well, Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know, they're hoping by Wednesday that that fire will be put out. The marine layer came in, a nice shallow layer of fog which really increase the humidity and help those firefighters get a handle on it. That's going to be moving back in late tonight, but it's going to be a little patchier.

And we're concerned about winds changing direction by tomorrow afternoon, coming in from the north and increasing, bringing the temperatures up and looking for gusts maybe around 40 miles per hour. So critical conditions again tomorrow. We'll keep an eye on that.

Speaking of critical, look at these pictures out of West Virginia -- floodwaters here have damaged more than 300 homes. The National Guard has been called out to help the victims in southwestern parts of the state. This is coal country. Now there were some miners, about seven of them, that were trapped for more than 32 hours inside the mine because of the high waters. Thankfully, the water receded just enough that they were able to walk out themselves without being injured in that area.

You know, flooding really has been the rule as you can see across much of the south. And we've been seeing lots of showers and thundershowers all across the Deep South. And they really have been developing right in this area, which is where we had the watches in place at this hour. That is going to be pushing on off to the east. Isolated, severe weather can be expected with this, in addition to downpours of maybe, you know, two to three inches, and that area will be highlighted again tomorrow.

The best news I can tell you, high pressure settling in across the upper Midwest. And so they're going to be looking at some cool conditions, but certainly looking at some sunshine.

All right, if you like extreme weather, you will not want to miss tomorrow morning, Rob Marciano is going to be reporting live inside the Vortex2 research experiment. Make sure you watch him on "AMERICAN MORNING" and you can also catch his report on CNN.com.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much for that, Jacqui.

Health officials say a Washington State man is believed to have died from the H1N1 virus. He also had heart conditions and viral pneumonia. His death is the third in the U.S. to be blamed on the illness commonly called swine flu.

Here's the latest update for you from the CDC in their Web site. It shows 2,532 confirmed cases here in the U.S. It's now in 43 states and Washington, D.C. Mexico, the epicenter of the outbreak, has the greatest number of fatalities at 48.

Black ties, evening gowns, Hollywood celebrities and zingers. You could find all four in Washington at the annual White House correspondents' dinner last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Dick Cheney was supposed to be here but he is very busy working on his memoirs, tentatively titled "How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People."

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The president's entire comedy routine from last night unedited. We'll bring it to you.

And the countdown will begin soon. You're looking at a live picture of the space shuttle "Atlantis" sitting on the launch pad. Will it be ready for 2:00 p.m. tomorrow Eastern time? We'll tell you.

Also, we want you to be part of our show tonight. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com. Tell us what you're thinking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know, it has become a high-profile, high-stakes game of airing dirty laundry in public with the former vice president doing most of the instigating here. What's worse is that they are former allies. Dick Cheney is calling into question Colin Powell's party loyalty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON (voice-over): The former vice president took on a fellow Republican -- the former secretary of state and joint chiefs chairman Colin Powell, questioning Powell's loyalty to the GOP. Cheney says he trusts controversial talk show host Rush Limbaugh over Powell any day.

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, if I had to choose, in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh, I think.

LEMON: Cheney goes on to say he lost all hope for Powell as a Republican during last year's presidential campaign.

CHENEY: I just noted he endorsed the Democratic candidate for president this time, Barack Obama. I assume that that's some indication of his loyalty and his interests.

LEMON: And when it comes to regrets for the eight years he spent as vice president, the war on terror and controversial interrogation techniques, Cheney says...

CHENEY: No regrets. I think it was absolutely the right thing to do. I'm convinced, absolutely convinced, that we saved thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. Lynn Sweet, Washington bureau chief for the "Chicago Sun-Times" and a columnist for PoliticsDaily.com, she joins us live from Washington along with CNN's political editor Mark Preston.

Thank you both for joining us.

So, Mark, I'll start with you. Neither Powell nor Cheney is mincing words here.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: No, they're not. And, you know, Don, this really goes down to the heart and soul of the Republican Party. What's the direction that Republicans are going to take? Are they going to really turn back and really embrace social conservative views or they're going to try to moderate their stance a little bit?

I will tell you this, though. I'm not too surprised that Vice President Cheney went after Colin Powell. Yes, they did work together, but you know something? They also seemed to split, especially on the Iraq war. So they weren't best of friends. They were certainly allies in the Bush administration when they had to be but they split apart.

LEMON: And, Lynn, when everyone is wondering, who is actually leading the Republican Party, this is the last thing the party needs.

LYNN SWEET, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "CHICAGO SUN-TIMES": Well, I don't think it's as divisive as you may think. The moderates are -- first of all, Colin Powell endorsed the president. So listen to what Dick Cheney said, that it almost prima facie disqualifies him as being a true Republican.

And, you know, therefore, anyone who would -- any Republican who would have endorsed a Democrat would have been in the -- on the outs with former Vice President Cheney. So, that doesn't seem to be significant.

The bigger problem that the Republicans have is that the moderates are leaving or staying at home or switching to independent in the party. You saw that Arlen Specter, and I know people have their views as to why he did that jump.

LEMON: Yes.

SWEET: You see a bunch of moderates in the northeast part of the United States who were members of Congress, they're not there now. Far bigger problem than whether or not Dick Cheney wants to have a war of words with Colin Powell because he endorsed a Democrat.

LEMON: The question is now when it comes to their -- you know, there's another Republican who's speaking out. I'm talking about Newt Gingrich. And the question -- he is questioning, saying, you know, what did she know, when did she know it, saying that the speaker of the House, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Mark, knew there was waterboarding going on. In fact, she got memos and she is saying she didn't know that.

PRESTON: Well, you know, Don, and I think this is certainly a story that we're learning more and more as each day goes by, but it's not something that the Democratic Party can be very happy about. You know, they've been very critical of the Bush administration and the interrogation techniques. And if the House speaker did, in fact, know privately what was going on and in turn publicly was being critical of the Bush administration, you know, that's not a good thing she has to deal with.

LEMON: Are there -- I thought that there possibly would be more fireworks about the president's, you know, comedy routine last night. Is this -- are people there just well aware in Washington, D.C.? Mark, I'll ask you something and I want to ask Lynn. This is just tongue-in-cheek or do you think the outrage has yet to come because most people haven't heard about it?

PRESTON: No. You know, Don -- look, for a speech like this to be successful, you have to be very vicious and you can spare nobody including yourself. And I think that's what we saw from President Obama last night. Look, he went after Hillary Clinton, he went after Joe Biden, he went after Larry Summers, and he went after himself. And I got to tell you, very biting at times but certainly very funny. I have to give him some credit.

LEMON: Yes. Listen to this because, you know, he had a, you know, very funny speech where he really went after everyone, including himself, his own administration, but then also talked about the trouble that's happening with journalism now and especially newspapers. It was a very serious moment and I want you to listen and we'll talk about it, Lynn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: A government without newspapers, a government without a tough and vibrant media of all sorts is not an option for the United States of America. So...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And, you know, people say the president -- you know, he's a little bit touchy when it comes to the media because he'll call certain media members out, Lynn. But this speech shows that there is a healthy respect for what we do as journalists at the White House?

SWEET: Well, it was a tip of the hat. He was at the journalists' dinner.

LEMON: Right. It was the right audience, right?

SWEET: It was the right audience. And, you know, a lot of people are at newspapers. You know, I worked for a paper that's in bankruptcy court right now, and the whole industry is hurting. And there is a news prior to this. You know, the Senate had a hearing on the future of journalism, you know, and dealing with newspapers that Senator Kerry had earlier in the week.

But one of the things that President Obama does so well at these speeches, and I've heard a few of these speeches he's made before press groups before, is that he knows how to use the news of the day and to use that with very heavy doses of self-deprecating humor. You know, he had a -- he just had jokes that worked.

And I do think that when people hear more of it, you know, this tape is on, as you said, you're going to play it. It's all over the Web. When people hear it, they'll think, I think it's pretty funny in a lot of ways, though, he's been funnier. I was at the speech in May once where he sang. He didn't last night. LEMON: So, we shall see, we shall see in all of this. And again, thank you very much, Lynn and Mark. We're going to run now the President's entire comedy routine unedited so that our viewers who may have missed it and/or who want to see it again can watch it.

Thank you both. Have a good rest of the week

SWEET: OK. Thank you.

PRESTON: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: A train derailment in Florida with toxic chemicals aboard and hazmat officials called to the scene.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A derailment, a fire and chemicals onboard. All things that could make for a disastrous situation. But a hazmat crew made it to the scene of this freight train derailment in Flagler County, Florida yesterday in time to prevent hydrochloric acid from leaking. The train jumped the tracks on its way from Jacksonville to Miami. Two people suffered minor injuries. The derailment also sparked a small brush fire.

In Chicago, a woman who allegedly tried to use a stolen credit card at a luxury store ended up being shot by police. Police say she had tried to grab an officer's weapon when they confronted her. The alleged accomplice was also arrested.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The gentleman walking with that crowd, all of a sudden, undercover cops come from nowhere and just grab him and shove him against like one of those posts and frisk him, put him in handcuffs, put him in the cop car where he was. We don't see anything like this in Scottsdale.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That woman is still in the hospital tonight.

Boston transit officials say a trolley operator will likely be fired this week for apparently causing Friday's collision with another trolley. About 50 people were hurt. The driver allegedly told investigators he was texting his girlfriend at the time, a violation of transit rules. And transit officials say the accident caused more than $9 million in damage. The operator could also face criminal charges.

Let's take you live now to Florida's Kennedy Space Center, where we're counting down to the launch of the shuttle Atlantis. You see it right there on the launch pad, Pad Number 39A. NASA says the weather looks ideal so far. The Atlantis crew has an 11-day mission to the Hubble telescope which is in some serious need of repair.

Of course, you can watch it all, watch it live, right here on CNN.

The president's remarks from last night's correspondents' dinner. You'll hear them, next.

Also, on the streets of Manhattan with Tyson Beckford. Do I need to say more?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, some of you may have seen the clips of President Obama's routine at last night's White House Correspondents' Dinner. But, you know, a lot of you may have been out or away from your TVs this weekend. So, we want to give you a chance to see the entire part of his comedy routine. The president got a lot of laughs last night. Here's how it started.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OBAMA: You know, I had an entire speech prepared for this wonderful occasion, but now that I'm here, I think I'm going to try something a little different. Tonight, I want to speak from the heart. I want to speak off the cuff.

(TELEPROMPTERS RISE)

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

Good evening.

(LAUGHTER)

Pause for laughter.

(LAUGHTER)

Wait a minute, this may not be working as well. Let me try that again.

Good evening, everybody.

(APPLAUSE)

I would like to welcome you all to the 10-day anniversary of my first 100 days.

(LAUGHTER)

I am Barack Obama. Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me.

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

Apologies to the Fox table.

(LAUGHTER) They're -- where are they? I have to confess, I really did not want to be here tonight, but I knew I had to come -- just one more problem that I've inherited from George W. Bush.

(LAUGHTER)

But now that I'm here, it's great to be here. It's great to see all of you. Michelle Obama is here, the first lady of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

Hasn't she been an outstanding first lady?

(APPLAUSE)

She's even begun to bridge the differences that have divided us for so long, because no matter which party you belong to, we can all agree that Michelle has the right to bare arms.

(APPLAUSE)

Sasha and Malia aren't here tonight because they're grounded. You can't just take Air Force One on a joy ride to Manhattan.

(LAUGHTER)

I don't care whose kids you are. We've been setting some ground rules here. They're starting to get a little carried away.

Now, speaking -- when think about children, obviously I think about Michelle, and it reminds me that tomorrow is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in the audience.

(APPLAUSE)

I do have to say, though, that this is a tough holiday for Rahm Emanuel because he's not used to saying the word "day" after "mother."

(LAUGHTER)

That's true.

(LAUGHTER)

David Axelrod is here. You know, David and I have been together for a long time. I can still remember -- I got to sort of -- I tear up a little bit when I think back to that day that I called Ax so many years ago and said, you and I can do wonderful things together. And he said to me the same thing that partners all across America are saying to one another right now. Let's go to Iowa and make it official.

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

Michael Steele is in the house tonight. Or as he would say, "in the heezie."

(LAUGHTER)

What's up?

(LAUGHTER)

Where's Michael? Michael, for the last time, the Republican Party does not qualify for a bailout.

(LAUGHTER)

Rush Limbaugh does not count as a troubled asset, I'm sorry.

(LAUGHTER)

Dick Cheney was supposed to be here, but he is very busy working on his memoirs, tentatively titled, "How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People."

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

You know, it's been a whirlwind of activity, these first 100 days. We've enacted major economic recovery package, we passed a budget, we forged a new path in Iraq, and no president in history has ever named three Commerce secretaries this quickly.

(LAUGHTER)

Which reminds me, if Judd Gregg is here, your business cards are ready now.

(LAUGHTER)

On top of that, I've also reversed the ban on stem cell research, signed an expansion...

(APPLAUSE)

... signed an expansion to the children's health insurance. Just last week, "Car and Driver" named me auto executive of the year.

(LAUGHTER)

Something I'm very proud of.

We've also begun to change the culture in Washington. We've even made the White House a place where people can learn and can grow. Just recently, Larry Summers asked if he could chair the White House Council on Women and Girls.

(LAUGHTER)

And I do appreciate that Larry is here tonight, because it is seven hours past his bedtime.

(LAUGHTER)

Gibbs liked that one.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Sorry to have to do that, but we have to take a break. But stick around, because we're going to have the rest of the president's remarks.

If you have to go to the restroom or whatever, go and then come back.

Also, supermodel, Tyson Beckford and I, take on the big apple. I'll tell you why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We continue now with the next half of the president's remarks last night at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: In the last 100 days, we've also grown the Democratic Party by infusing it with new energy and bringing in fresh young faces like Arlen Specter.

(LAUGHTER)

Joe Biden rightly deserves a lot of credit for convincing Arlen to make the switch. But Secretary Clinton actually had a lot to do with it, too. One day she just pulled him aside and she said Arlen, you know what I always say, if you can't beat them, join them.

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

Which brings me to another thing that has changed in this new, warmer, fuzzier White House, and that's my relationship with Hillary. You know, we had been rivals during the campaign. But these days we could not be closer. In fact, the second she got back from Mexico, she pulled me into a hug and gave me a big kiss. Told me I better get down there myself, which I really appreciated. I mean, it was nice.

(LAUGHTER)

And, of course, we've also begun to change America's image in the world. We talked about this during this campaign. And we are starting to execute. We've renewed alliances with important partners and friends.

If you look on the screen there, there I am with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso. There I am with Gordon Brown. But as I said during the campaign, we can't just talk to our friends. As hard as it is, we also have to talk to our enemies. And I've begun to do exactly that. Take a look at the monitor there.

(LAUGHTER)

Now, let me be clear, just because he handed me a copy of "Peter Pan" does not mean that I'm going to read it. But it's good diplomatic practice to just accept these gifts.

All this change hasn't been easy. Change never is. So I've cut the tension by bringing a new friend to the White House. He's warm, he's cuddly, loyal, enthusiastic. You just have to keep him on a tight leash. Every once in a while, he goes charging off in the wrong direction and gets himself into trouble, but enough about Joe Biden.

(LAUGHTER)

All in all, we're proud of the change we brought to Washington in these first 100 days, but we've got a lot of work left to do as all of you know. So I would like to talk a little bit about what my administration plans to achieve in the next 100 days.

During the second hundred days, we will design, build and open a library dedicated to my first 100 days.

(LAUGHTER)

It's going to be big, folks.

In the next 100 days, I will learn to go off the prompter and Joe Biden will learn to stay on the prompter.

(LAUGHTER)

In the next 100 days, our bipartisan outreach will be so successful that even John Boehner will consider becoming a Democrat. After all, we have a lot of in common. He is a person of color. Although, not a color that appears in the natural world.

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

What's up, John?

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

In the next 100 days, I will meet with a leader who rules over millions with an iron fist, who owns the airwaves and uses his power to crush all who would challenge his authority at the ballot box. It's good to see you, Mayor Bloomberg.

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

In the next 100 days, we will house train our dog, Bo. Because the last thing Tim Geithner needs is someone else treating him like a fire hydrant.

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE) In the next 100 days, I will strongly consider losing my cool.

(LAUGHTER)

Finally, I believe that my next 100 days will be so successful, I will be able to complete them in 72 days.

(LAUGHTER)

And on the 73rd day, I will rest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The president went on after that to talk about the journalism business and the trouble now with newspapers and journalists, and thanked the press for actually giving him a hard time, saying without the press, there is no America.

So, what's your reaction to that? And what are these guys' reaction?

Warren Ballentine, Chris Plante, will join me in a moment to break it down.

Also, not these two guys.

This guy. He is one of the sexiest men in the world, and an African-American first. We'll take a closer look at the inspirational career of supermodel Tyson Beckford.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Welcome back, everyone.

You know, before the break we played, really, the entire remarks of the president. At least the comedy routine part from the White House Correspondents' Dinner last night.

Warren Ballentine and Chris Plante are both here.

Chris is a conservative commentator. Warren, our liberal voice. He host the nationally syndicated "Warren Ballentine Show."

So guys, tell me what you think of this.

I'm going to start with you, Chris.

Chris, did he push the envelope too far or even Wanda Sykes last night?

CHRIS PLANTE, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: You know, I don't know about too far. It's hard to gauge what goes too far these days. He did in listening to it in its entirety. He took shots at Hillary. He took shots at Joe Biden. He made fun of some things.

I think the joke about Air Force One was not particularly -- in particularly good taste. It was a waste of $350,000 taxpayer. A man lost his job over it. The former secretary of the army. And a couple of the shots at Cheney and later on Rush Limbaugh with Wanda Sykes, maybe -- maybe a little more malicious than good-spirited. And it could have been a little more good-spirited, but he was funny. The 100 days stuff was funny. And he delivered his lines well off of the teleprompters.

LEMON: You know what, real quickly -- you know, I want to show this, because I was actually in New York when that Air Force One thing happened. And you can see the "New York Post" the next day, they call it, the cover said, "Scare Force One."

And yes, a lot of people -- I was there. And I thought it was outrageous once I found out what it was. I happened to be in a park with a park, and it scared a lot of people half to death.

But he did joke about it last night, Warren, and he joked about that and other things. But the firing of that person, or at least the person stepping down, that news came out on Friday. And when, you know, you release something on Friday, you want it to go away.

WARREN BALLENTINE, RADIO HOST, "WARREN BALLENTINE SHOW": Well, I think the person did the right thing by stepping down. I think this was a huge mistake on the part of the administration. I think the president stepped out and said that. But I don't think he went too far with joking with it. In fact, even with the Rush Limbaugh and the Cheney comments, I think, you know, any comic would tell you the funniest joke is the truth.

And when you put the truth out there, sometimes it's the funniest reaction. And what they said about Rush Limbaugh was warranted, what they said about Dick Cheney was warranted, what he said about Biden and Hillary, that was warranted. And he came out and made a comment about Sasha and Malia with this plane flying over New York. It was distasteful. It was distasteful, but I don't think he went too far.

LEMON: What about what the former vice president said about Colin Powell, though? Do you think that was too far? Do you think that was tasteful?

BALLENTINE: Well, that's what I think about that. I think the Republican Party is in shambles right now. You have two different sets of Republicans right now. And honestly, I think what Cheney is doing is trying to divert the attention off of him and Bush and Rice, and (INAUDIBLE) should be in charge with war crimes.

LEMON: Let's let Chris get in here.

Go ahead, Chris.

PLANTE: Well, as Warren said sometimes the best jokes are the ones that get to the truth. And one of the first jokes that President Obama had was to thank the White House Correspondents' Association for all voting for him, which is awfully close to the truth, too.

Now on to Vice President Cheney. Look, Vice President Cheney and the Bush administration have been under relentless attack by the Obama administration and they're proxies from day one in this post-partisan era. And Vice President Cheney has every right to insist that the documents, for example, on interrogations be release and made public so, we, the public have the entire story and not just the bad news part of the story. And Vice President Cheney has every right to defend his record and his administration. Don't think that they should just go away when they're under attack on a daily basis, including last night, by the way.

LEMON: Here's the interesting thing. And I want to let -- you got to just answer for me really quickly, Chris, because I want to get to another subject.

But you know what? The criticism of Vice President Cheney was that he didn't talk to anyone. That it was so secretive. And now all of a sudden, after the fact he's coming out, and I haven't seen this much of him in eight years. And I don't think the American public has as well. I mean, you have to agree that that's true.

PLANTE: He was not the most public presence. But he briefly briefed members...

LEMON: So, why now?

PLANTE: Well, he's under withering attack on a daily basis, and he feels that his record is being misrepresented. I'll tell you somebody that he did sit down with, and that's Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat political leadership, who were brief on all of this.

LEMON: I've got to go, Chris. I've got to go, Warren. But just real quickly -- yes or no, if you can tell me this.

Do you believe that Nancy Pelosi knew that, about the waterboarding that she got memos according to Newt Gingrich she did know.

Warren, did she know or not? Do you think so?

BALLENTINE: I do believe that she did have knowledge of this. I believe everybody had knowledge of this.

LEMON: OK. Chris?

PLANTE: And the disturbing part is that she has apparently not told the truth.

LEMON: All right. Chris Plante, Warren Ballentine, thank you both very much. I appreciate you joining us tonight.

Great conversation, guys.

PLANTE: Thanks.

LEMON: An actor and an inspiration. One-on-one with Tyson Beckford, the first male African-American supermodel to rule the runway in tonight's "Up From the Past: African-American First." (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, his is the iconic face of Ralph Lauren and actor and entrepreneur. In our continuing serious, "Up From the Past: African-American Firsts," I spent the day with the first African- American male supermodel Tyson Beckford. And he is much more than just a cover boy."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice-over): Polo model Tyson Beckford is not just a pretty face. There is also the rest of him, 6'2" and one of "People" magazine's sexiest men alive.

Women love him.

TYSON BECKFORD, MODEL: Hi. Here you go, ladies.

LEMON: Men secretly or openly want to be him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, thanks a lot.

BECKFORD: Hi. Nice to meet you.

LEMON: Not a bad thing, considering what Tyson has accomplished at just 38 years old, one of the most recognizable faces and bodies on the planet.

LEMON: He can sell anything from Polo to Sprite. Tyson has done it all.

BECKFORD: I've been around the world pretty much from Africa to Asia to even the Middle East.

LEMON: Breaking barriers and making history along the way. Tyson Beckford is the first black male supermodel ever.

(on camera): I mean, you were out at a time when it was Naomi and Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista...

(CROSSTALK)

Yes, Cindy Crawford.

BECKFORD: I'd be on set with these women, and there was no man around. It was myself, Marcus Schenkenberg, Mark Vanderloo and, you know, it was only a few of us. But they're all the white guys, and here I was, the one black guy.

LEMON (voice-over): Not bad for a poor kid of American, Jamaican and Asian descent who grew up in Rochester, New York, and never thought he was attractive. Neither did his young classmates.

BECKFORD: Coming from Jamaica, my parents came up from Jamaica. I had a Jamaican accent. I had this huge Afro. I had these Asian eyes, because my grandmother is Chinese. LEMON (on camera): So, they would make fun of you.

BECKFORD: Yes, they would make fun of me.

LEMON: What would they call you?

BECKFORD: They would call me Chiney (ph) boy...

LEMON: Squinty eyes.

BECKFORD: Squinty eyes -- yes, just everything, you know.

LEMON (voice-over): But the exotic mixture would eventually pay off when two people from a fashion magazine spotted him in a New York City park.

BECKFORD: I notice this guy and this girl kept staring at me, you know. Then they finally came over. And I'm thinking in my head, what do these two want? You know?

But -- we got to talking, and they explained what they were doing, and next thing you know, I'm in the business of fashion.

LEMON (on camera): That fast?

BECKFORD: Well, pretty much that fast.

LEMON (voice-over): The next day, he modeled for a magazine and a year later, he became the face of Ralph Lauren's iconic polo line.

BECKFORD: Never did I think of fashion.

LEMON: But the fashion industry was mesmerized by Tyson's powerful, dark, masculine image, and so was the rest of the world. For the first time, black men saw themselves as part of an industry where they had once been almost invisible.

BECKFORD: It seemed like I was be myself, and then the next minute, I had an army of young black men saying, hey, you made that look good. I want to do that, you know. And you didn't have the guy say, I want to be in the NFL. Man, I want to be a model. It just started building and building and building. And then it was like, you know, I was creating, you know, my own army. You know? Of young, black men with a positive image. You know? And it was great.

LEMON: Tyson parlayed fashion into acting on the big screen in "Biker Boys" and "Zoolander."

In videos with Britney and 50 Cent.

(VIDEO CLIP)

And now on the small screen with his own show on Bravo called "Make Me a Supermodel."

BECKFORD: Laurie and Karen, we cannot make you supermodels. LEMON: The model, actor, reality host and even racecar driver is aiming even higher, modeling himself after those who inspired him as a child. Sidney Poitier, Redd Foxx, Richard Roundtree.

BECKFORD: And that's what I felt by watching them. That's what I eventually wanted to do. I wanted to come on screen and come alive.

LEMON: From cover boy to leading man, Tyson Beckford, an African-American First.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A lot of you have send in our Twitter page. You like this story. So if you want to see it again, check out our blog at cnn.com/newsroom and click on, Don.

"Up From the Past: African-American First," our special look at African-Americans who were trailblazers in their fields. It airs every Sunday night, 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Suspended for going to a prom? A senior takes on his high school.

Remember "Footloose?"

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Yesterday was graduation day for many college students in New Orleans. But it's not your typical commencement exercise. That's because these Dillard Xavier graduates are known as the Katrina class.

They began college just days before Katrina devastated the city. While the storm disrupted life on campus, it didn't stop these students from pursuing their degrees.

Well, this next story may bring to mind the '80s movie "Footloose." A northern Ohio teenager will likely be suspended for the remainder of the school year for attending his girlfriend's prom last night. Well, the reason, he goes to a Christian school that forbids dancing and rock music, also holding hands and kissing. His girlfriend goes to a public school. Seventeen-year-old Tyler Frost said he told his principal about his plans earlier in the week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYLER FROST, HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: I kind of expected maybe he'd say something to me about him not approving of it, but I didn't think it would be anything this serious.

TIM ENGLAND, PRINCIPAL, HERITAGE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL: At a prom they'll be many young ladies who will be dressed in the current styles, which would be low-cut dresses and things like that. They will be dancing. How does a young man protect his mind and not have wrong thoughts or lustful thoughts in a situation like that?

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Tyler also won't be graduating with his class. He says he can't take his final exams until the week after his classmates receive their diplomas.

Your viewer feedback in just minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I'm going to tell you about a developing story happening now in Toronto, and a potentially major headache tomorrow. Tamil activists have shut down the Gardner Expressway. A major highway. Riot police have been called in to calm down the protesters there who are reportedly angry over reports that Sri Lanka's government opened fire and killed nearly 400 civilians in an artillery bombardment.

We'll have more on that story on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Some of your comments. One person said, "Thank you for playing it again. I missed it yesterday. Enjoyed it right now."

And another said, "I watch every chance I get. There needs to be a DVD talking about the president's remarks last night."

I'm Don Lemon. Thank you for watching tonight.

We'll see you back here next weekend.

Good night, everybody.