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Pres. Obama at Notre Dame; Supreme Court Vacancy; Missing Child Found
Aired May 17, 2009 - ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone I'm Don Lemon.
President Barack Obama uses his speech at Notre Dame to dive into America's debate over abortion. The President acknowledges that opposing views on abortion cannot be reconciled, but he also says there are ways people on both sides of the issue can agree.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Maybe we won't agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for anyone is not made casually.
When we open up our hearts and our minds to those who may not think precisely like we do or believe precisely what we believe, that's when we discover at least the possibility of common ground. That's when we begin to say maybe we won't agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for anyone is not made casually.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, you can see there some of the protests. The President really got a mostly warm welcome today, but he was interrupted just a couple of times by an anti-abortion heckler. Notre Dame awarded him the honorary degree, a move that attracted protest on and off the campus and during the commencement.
Among those arrested was Norma McCorvey, the woman identified only as Roe in historic Roe versus Wade, a Supreme Court decision to legalize abortion. And she's now an abortion opponent.
Suzanne Malveaux we go to the ground there in South Bend. She attended the commencement, she is traveling with the President and she joins us now. It was very interesting to watch the President react or try not to react to those protesters today -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Don. And really when he went to the airport he was greeted with a lot of supporters and the limousine, the motorcade went to the back entrance here at in Notre Dame, so he didn't see a lot of what those protesters were showing but he certainly was aware of them. I mean, this has been a controversy that's been brewing over the last couple of weeks. There were hundreds of protesters outside of the gates.
Inside, however, he got a much warmer reception, several standing ovations. He tackled the issue, Don, head on, the whole idea about choice and abortion rights, very much aware of the controversy over expanding stem cell research, as well. And what he tried to do was appeal to people to say, look, there is some common ground here.
We can agree to disagree if you will. This is not a President, however, Don, that wants to take on these cultural wars if you will. He is very pragmatic and that is something that we heard as part of the speech. I want you to take a listen to this part.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I do not suggest that the debate surrounding abortion can or should go away. Because no matter how much we may want to fudge it, indeed while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory, the fact is at some level the views of the two camps are irreconcilable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: So, Don, he said irreconcilable. He acknowledges here that this is not something that is going to be resolved, but certainly he understands that this is a very hot and contentious debate. That we saw the reactions from the audience inside and for the most part and a lot of people applaud, of praising him for taking this on and for praising the university students, essentially, for acknowledging and inviting him on campus.
However, this is not somebody who wants to necessarily take this on head on here as we know. In the weeks to come, Don, what's going to be interesting to see how all this plays out when he picks his Supreme Court nominee.
Some of these conservative groups, they acknowledge, they're not going to be able necessarily to block the nomination with the vote and the whole Senate process -- the nominating process, confirmation process, but they are going to be able to drum up the kind of attention and perhaps resources and money over this very controversial issue as we've seen this weekend here at Notre Dame -- Don.
LEMON: And common ground, common ground, we're going to see those words written a lot in here, them coming from people like us over the next couple days a time. Thank you, Suzanne Malveaux who attended the commencement today.
The President of Notre Dame has taken a lot of criticism for inviting President Barack Obama and for the decision to honor him with an honorary degree. Some have even called for President John Jenkins to resign.
But today Jenkins said President Obama illustrated his willingness to discuss and listen to different views.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JOHN JENKINS, PRES. UNIV. OF NOTRE DAME: As we all know, a great deal of attention has surrounded President Obama's visit to Notre Dame. We honor all people of good will who have come to this discussion respectfully and out of deeply held conviction.
Most of the debate has centered on Notre Dame's decision to invite and honor the President. Less attention has been focused on the President's decision to accept.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, the President's appearance at Notre Dame has drawn protests and prayer vigils to South Bend and even beyond. People have been talking about it on the airwaves, as well. Not necessarily in South Bend.
Our Susan Candiotti is, by the way, in South Bend and she talks to us about those protesters. Hi Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.
You know, all week long we have heard that among the 1,800 or so graduating seniors that there was only believed to be a small group that was really vehemently opposed to the President's visit here and him receiving that honorary law degree.
Of course, those small number of students were also backed by a large number of very vocal, thousands and thousands of Catholics around the country, as well as abortion, anti-abortion activists.
Well, today what we have seen really bears out those estimates on the Notre Dame campus. Student organizers who were behind the protest told us that they only printed out about 100 or so of those cardboard cutouts that they sit on top of their mortar boards featuring the cross. And we counted only about 30 students who were wearing them at an outdoor prayer vigil this afternoon.
There was also a mass that was said at which a priest told the student protesters there that they should proudly stand behind their convictions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. KEVIN ROUSSEAU, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME: I can't tell you the number of rosaries and masses and prayer meetings that have been intentional responses to what many feel is a concession to the culture of death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now, off campus there were a number of abortion protesters who were lining the streets and at least another 27 people today were arrested on the Notre Dame campus after they attempted to trespass here without having the permission of the university to come onboard the campus property.
But overall students who boycotted today's ceremony said they did the right thing. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMILY TOATES, VICE PRES. NOTRE DAME RIGHT TO LIFE: I want to be with some of them going in, marching in with the other engineers that I've been studying with for the last four years, but at that same time I feel a real kind of peace about my decision not to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: You know, in the end, the students who were the protesters here said that they learned from each other's position here and that there is, indeed, room for a dialogue -- Don.
LEMON: All right Susan, thank you very much for that.
And make sure you stay with us, we're going to bring you select and extended cuts on President Barack Obama's commencement address to Notre Dame grads this hour.
Well, he has yet to name his choice to replace retiring Supreme Court Justice, David Souter. We're talking about the President and he is counting on the lady that you're going to see in just a moment here over my shoulder. Her name is Stephanie Cutter.
Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry reports, that President Obama has tapped her to help shepherd his nominee through the often contentious confirmation process. Cutter who presently serves as an adviser in the Treasury Department is considered a skilled player in behind the scenes politics and negotiation.
Now, President Obama is expected to name his Supreme Court nominee before his trip to Egypt early next month.
Make sure you stick with us as we delve into the politics behind Supreme Court confirmations and how the topic of abortion will certainly play into this process. Our senior legal analyst correspondent here, Jeffrey Toobin joins us live for a primer and much, much more.
Here's what some of our viewers are saying about the topics we're putting on the air.
First one up was angelatbanks, she said, "Any fair-minded person would have been impressed. His respect for the protesters made them look small."
Bobbrooks1 says, "Arizona State should beg America's pardon and issue an honorary degree out of respect for the office of president. Kudos, Notre Dame."
AshaSomali says, "I did and I was very proud of our president. Talking about did she watch it or listen. "He is a man of rationality, even though I don't support abortion rights."
skincaregiver says, "I had to say amen to help for us ladies who have responsibly decided to have children. Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com; that's how your voice can be heard. Make sure your comments are good, we appreciate it.
A child kidnapped from his southern California home, but we do believe here in happy endings and so do the police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF ROD HOOPS, SAN BERNARDINO CO., CALIFORNIA: And the son reunited and he said that the last thing he saw was Briant touching clutching his mother's neck and that kind of says it all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Almost two weeks after police say he was kidnapped a 3-year- old boy from California has been found. He was wandering around a Mexican border town. KTLA, which is our affiliate there, Brandon Rudat has the latest from San Bernardino where the boy and his family were reunited just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRANDON RUDAT, KTLA, SAN BERNARDINO, CALIFORNIA: Three-year-old Briant Rodriguez is back at home in San Bernardino with his family in healthy condition.
His father Raul Rodriguez says he is so happy that his son was found safe and sound and happy to hold him and hug him again. The boy landed safely in San Bernardino high-fiving a sheriff investigator seemingly thrilled to be back in his mother's arms.
The young boy was kidnapped two weeks ago during a violent home invasion. His father feared he would never see his son again.
Rodriguez says he lost the will to live because he thought the worst, but was so happy when he got the phone call telling him that his son was alive. The boy was found wandering the streets of Mexicali, Mexico all by himself Thursday night.
Mexican authorities found the boy and realized he was the missing child involved in the International Amber Alert case. Two suspects raided the San Bernardino home, tied up the Rodriguez family and ransacked the home 13 days ago. Rodriguez was kidnapped and taken across the border to Mexico.
Authorities say the men in this surveillance photo are the men who kidnapped the boy. Authorities also say they know the motive. This was not a random abduction but they won't release the details.
Sheriff investigators handling the case were emotional as the boy was reunited with the family.
HOOPS: And the son reunited and he said that the last thing he saw was Briant clutching his mother's neck and that kind of says it all. RUDAT: Police are confident the two suspects will be caught, but are concerned for the safety of the other Rodriguez children. The father says he has seen the suspects in the surveillance photo, but has no clue who they are.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: KTLA's Brandon Rudat reporting there.
In New York City, five more schools are closing for a few days. It's just a precaution, though. Students from those schools and six others had symptoms similar to the H1N1 virus commonly called swine flu.
The city's first outbreak of the virus happened about three weeks ago when hundreds of students at a Catholic high school became ill after several classmates returned from Mexico.
It has been a soggy weekend all up and down the East Coast. I was inside all weekend, Jacqui Jeras. I had to run outside -- I had to get the paper and to get an umbrella just to grab the paper this morning.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know.
LEMON: And with bare feet.
JERAS: Good thing your weekend starts tomorrow, compared to most other people.
LEMON: It's going to be sunny, right.
JERAS: That's right. Soggy turns to sunny for many across parts of the east, plus, we're going to check in on the tropics.
Yes, the tropics, that's coming up in the forecast.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Ok. Am I reading this right? Jacqui, mid-May and temperatures are in the 20s? Big chill in store for the upper Midwest? Jacqui, It's almost June, Memorial Day weekend next weekend.
JERAS: I know.
LEMON: What in the world is going on?
JERAS: Good thing is this weekend and not next.
LEMON: I'm sorry.
JERAS: Good thing it's this weekend and not next.
LEMON: I know, but then that doesn't bode well. It means it could be cold.
JERAS: Yes. We really have a lot of temperature extremes. It's too cold in the Great Lakes north east and too hot across parts of the southwest. And, of course, Mother Nature always tries to balance those things out and eventually, you know that they will as we're approaching summer, right?
Memorial Day weekend -- the unofficial start. It feels a lot more like early spring or maybe even late winter across much of the east; rain and cloud cover conditions just keeping things very cool here. Showers and thundershowers have been the rule up and down the Eastern Seaboard; the rain heaviest here across South Georgia on to the coastal Carolinas.
Some flood watches in effect because we've been looking at two to three inches of rainfall in a very short period of time. For you early holiday travelers, it has been rough going at the airports; a ground stop now already into the Atlanta area.
Why is it that we have such cool air across parts of the east? Well, high pressure is building in. We have a trough, as we call it, in the upper atmosphere which is tipped on down here. There you can see the freeze warnings. If you've planted your garden and you have those tomatoes or anything else, cover those up tonight because they will get damaged.
Here is the heat in the southwest, 100 in Vegas right now and 104 in the Fresno area and temperatures tomorrow remaining extremely warm. It will be really nice here across parts of the east.
And a quick peak at the tropics, hurricane season doesn't start until June 1, but take a look at this little flair up here near Jamaica. Models are bringing it up towards Florida by the middle of the week. Not necessarily anything we need to worry about in terms of wind, Don, but bringing some nice rain to south Florida Tuesday and Wednesday.
LEMON: Nice rain and not 20s, though.
JERAS: Not 20s in Florida.
LEMON: I'm not going south.
JERAS: That's not going to happen.
LEMON: Thank you, Jacqui, I will be watching. Let me get back to you on that.
Okay, so, listen up. Because this was a controversial story, but, you know, there's a new part of it, as well. In his first swimming contest since being photographed with a bong, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps, well, quite frankly he tanked last night.
Ok. That is Phelps on the isolation shot from our affiliate WSOC in Charlotte, North Carolina, there you go, you see him right there with the goatee. He suffered his first defeat in almost a year, losing the 100-meter backstroke to Aaron Peirsol.
He still has this, you may recall he won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Summer Olympics. We shall see how this all plays out for Michael Phelps.
It was one of the most anticipated political moments of the week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Maybe we won't agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The commander-in-chief meets the abortion issue head on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: President Obama is calling for understanding and civility in America's debate over abortion. He used today's commencement speech at Notre Dame to speak to his critics who say he should not be given an honorary degree by that prominent Catholic university.
The president acknowledged their criticism, but he also said there are ways Americans can find common ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: As I consider the controversy surrounding my visit here, I was reminded of an encounter I had during my senate campaign, one I described in the book I wrote called "The Audacity of Hope."
In a few days after the Democratic nomination, I received an e-mail from a doctor who told me that while he voted for me in the Illinois primary, he had a serious concern that might prevent him from voting for me in the general election.
He described himself as a Christian who was strongly pro-life, but that was not what was preventing him potentially for voting for me. What bothered the doctor was an entry that my campaign staff had posted on my Web site. An entry that said I would fight "right-wing ideologues who want to take away a woman's right to choose."
The doctor said he had assumed I was a reasonable person. He supported my policy initiatives to help the poor and to lift up our educational system, but that if I truly believed that every pro-life individual was simply an ideologue who wanted to inflict suffering on women than I was not very reasonable.
He wrote, "I do not ask at this point that you oppose abortion, only that you speak about this issue in fair-minded words;" fair-minded words.
After I read the doctor's letter I wrote back to him and I thanked him. I didn't change my underlying position but I did tell my staff to change the words on my Web site. And I said a prayer that night that I might extend the same presumption of good faith to others that the doctor had extended to me. Because when we do that, when we open up our hearts and our mind to those who may not think precisely like we do or believe precisely what we believe, that's when we discover at least the possibility of common ground.
That's when we begin to say maybe we won't agree on abortion, but we can still agree that this heart-wrenching decision for any woman is not made casually, it has both moral and spiritual dimensions. So let us work together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The president speaking at Notre Dame giving the commencement speech there.
I want to get the perspective now the president's speech from our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. He joins us now from New York by telephone. Jeffrey, we heard a lot about the possibility of common ground, but it's not likely that any side is going to move on this issue, is it?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): It really isn't and there something almost poignant about Obama's attempt to find common ground. But this is a fundamental choice in American life about whether abortion should be legal or illegal. And Obama is clearly on the side of abortions being legal, but he is clearly also trying to lower the emotional temperature and recognize the good faith of his opponents without actually changing his mind on the issue.
LEMON: We have been hearing a lot about Justice Souter, of course, is stepping down and then the president will have to replace him. There is no doubt -- the president really -- he doesn't like to talk about these issues that we call cultural war issues. He really doesn't like to, but he can't avoid it especially since he has to make his choice and some time soon.
TOOBIN: That is really the case. He doesn't, he has often said that he feels that issues like abortion are very '90s, as he said. He doesn't want to think of himself as a '90s-style politician.
But when it comes to the Supreme Court no more important issue than whether Roe v. Wade the 1973 decision that legalized abortion should be overturned. There are five votes to keep it on the courts. Souter was one of them. I think we can be certain that anyone Obama appoints will also vote to uphold abortion rights. And certainly there will be a lot of questioning about that during the confirmation hearings of whoever the nominee is. But the fact is Obama is a pro-choice politician and he is going to pick a pro-choice or pro-abortion rights nominee and he's likely going to get confirmed.
LEMON: Here's the question that I have for you. Is it all of the circumstances surrounding this controversy and the speech here might this accelerate the talk about who the next Supreme Court justice will be? Will it mean anything next week to speed up the process in any way?
TOOBIN: I think the process is very speeded up anyway. I've been talking to people in the White House and they say the nominee will be announced this week before Memorial Day or right after.
LEMON: A woman?
TOOBIN: That much I have not gotten. I think it is widely believed. I certainly believe it's likely to be a woman. The legal profession is nearly half women now and the Supreme Court is one-ninth women. That does seem like a disproportionate ratio and I think Obama will certainly make a strong effort. And he's got a lot of qualified women to choose from, so I think it's very likely he will pick a woman.
LEMON: Jeffrey Toobin is our senior legal analyst and the book is called -- Jeffrey it's...
TOOBIN: "The Nine."
LEMON: "The Nine" which is about the Supreme Court.
TOOBIN: Thanks Don.
LEMON: Jeffrey Toobin, thank you very much. Have a great rest of your weekend.
Let's go to Washington now. The capital is still buzzing this weekend about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and so is the rest of the nation tonight. It is the issue that won't go away any time soon -- her efforts to explain what she knew about the government's use of harsh interrogation techniques. Yesterday on the National Mall one of her republican predecessors, a former speaker accused her of lying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: I think that the fact that Leon Panetta, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, a former democratic member of Congress and President Clinton's chief of staff issued such a strong, clear statement yesterday puts enormous pressure on the house to open a formal investigation. It seems to me that on her press conference on Thursday that Speaker Pelosi lied on two counts.
She lied first about the specific meeting and then she defamed every person in the intelligence community by asserting that the CIA routinely misinformed Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Also the leading House republican is echoing Newt Gingrich's remarks. On CNN's "State of the Union" today, he said Speaker Pelosi still has some explaining to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: Lying to the Congress of the United States is a crime. And if the speaker is accusing the CIA and other intelligence officials of lying or misleading the congress, then she should come forward with evidence and turn that over to the Justice Department so that they be prosecuted. And if that's not the case, I think she ought to apologize.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: House Minority leader John Boehner. Well, Nancy Pelosi's remarks have prompted the CIA director to get involved and CNN's Tom Foreman picks up the story from here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Someone is not telling the whole truth, but who? Trying to track that down starts with a briefing the CIA gave to Representative Pelosi in the fall of 2002. As a leader of the intelligence committee she insists she was mislead in that meeting about when or even if harsh interrogation techniques were used against suspected terrorists, including Al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah.
REP. NANCY PELOSI, HOUSE SPEAKER: Those briefings made in September 2002 gave me inaccurate and incomplete information. The only mention of waterboarding at that briefing was that it was not being employed.
FOREMAN: No way. That is the sentiment from President Obama's own CIA director and Pelosi's fellow California democrat, Leon Panetta. A note to his staff obtained by CNN, "let me be clear, it is not our policy or practice to mislead congress. That is against our laws and our values. Our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing the enhanced techniques that had been employed."
Pelosi has admitted for the first time this week that she was told about the so-called techniques back in 2003, but said nothing because of secrecy rules. It is all feeding a republican frenzy. They see Pelosi tarring Bush officials over the interrogations but ducking her own culpability. The latest to pile on former speaker Newt Gingrich on ABC Radio.
GINGRICH: I think this is the most despicable, dishonest and vicious political effort I've seen in my lifetime.
FOREMAN: At once trying to do damage control and turn up the heat on others, the speaker issued a late statement saying in part, my criticism of the manner in which the Bush administration did not appropriately inform Congress is separate from my respect for those in the intelligence community who work to keep our country safe.
(on camera): Still, she remains caught between republicans who are accusing her of hypocrisy and some of her own democrats who are wondering why, if Nancy Pelosi believed for six years that America was torturing prisoners she did not sound the alarm. Who's not telling the truth? We still don't know for sure, but it feels like we're getting closer. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Appreciate that, Tom.
A Nobel peace prize winner goes on trial Monday for an uninvited American guest's visit. Democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi Has been held in prison or confined to her home for the past 19 years by Myanmar's military rulers.
(inaudible) trials stems from an incident where an American John Yetta swam across a lake into Suu Kyi's detention compound and stayed overnight. Suu Kyi was blamed and now goes on trail for his unsanctioned visit. Her supporters say the trial is simply an excuse to extend her house arrest.
Here's some of your comments right now. Socaljules says he is always on target. He reminds me to keep my mind open. He is truly my president, what a lovely change. Easternstar25. President Obama gives me high hopes, he thinks with such logic and a steady mind. He thinks on all levels. He makes it sound easy. Jandrew1 said I did not vote for him, I will give him an A plus. One from twitter board her Doug Wagoner says president's words were not poignant to him but were political and vacuous. Blame the staff for wording? Where does buck stop?
We appreciate your comment, just go to twitter, Facebook, myspace, I- report.com and yours too can be on the air.
A month ago, this little actor was a toast of tinsel town along with the "Slumdog Millionaire" co-stars. Now she's gone from riches back to rags.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: One of the longest running civil wars in modern day age may be drawing to an end. Well, despite all that gunfire you hear Sri Lanka 26-year-old civil war appears to be at it waning days but government surrounding key Tamil Tigers strongholds. The reels have opted to "silence their guns," but they've made similar overtures in the past when backed into a corner. As many as 70,000 people have perished in the conflict that started back in the summer of 1983.
Persecution against Christians. That's the claim of an American women who is being tried with her husband on charges of child trafficking in Egypt. Well they've been jailed since March, but attorneys will argue their case in Cairo this week. The couple was arrested after trying to adopt twin orphans. Islamic law forbids adoption. Friends of the couple say they did not know adoption was illegal in Egypt.
The hit film "Slumdog Millionaire" turned some ordinary kids from the slums of Mumbai into stars, for a while. It also highlighted a level of poverty most Americans have never seen. So how has fame changed the lives of the children who appeared in that film?
CNN's Sara Sidner visited them just to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rubina Ali sings the words of her favorite song. It's the theme from the movie "Slumdog Millionaire." She knows it well because she also starred in the Oscar-winning movie and has been in the spotlight ever since.
RUBINA ALI, ACTOR (through translator): This movie went to the Oscars and I was called everywhere. We couldn't even imagine that we would go to America. We had heard so much about America before, what happens there and what kind of people are there. But the movie's soaring success has yet to lift her and her family out of the slums.
RAFIQ QURESHI, FATHER (through translator): Life is like what it used to be before.
SIDNER: Her father says.
QURESHI: We don't have any big dreams of getting a fancy home, but if it's in our destiny, than we will surely get it.
SIDNER: Not the same sentiment of the family of Rubina's co-star Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail who lives in the slums across the street.
(on camera): How difficult is it living here?
AZHARUDDIN MOHAMMED ISMAIL, ACTOR (through translator): It's not nice here. Not good.
SIDNER (voice-over): He says. Both families have been offered better housing by a foundation set up by the film's producers. But Azharuddin's family says they won't move until they're offered a house fit for a star. The two actor's life stories are becoming as dramatic as the movie's plot. Azharuddin's illegal hut was crushed by city bulldozers and has since been rebuilt and Rubina's father was targeted by a British tabloid that accused him of trying to sell his now famous daughter.
Some even wrote that Rubina was being sold in front of her sister, none of it is true. Through every twist and turn the media is constantly swarming.
(on camera): The truth is the families are getting sick and tired of people like me peering into their lives because they know inevitably when we leave nothing will change.
(voice-over): But the child actors have the option of leaving unlike millions of slum dwellers in Mumbai live with trash and open sewage drains. Amidst all the turmoil it's them Rubina is concerned about.
ALI (through translator): I want to help everyone.
SIDNER: She says. A dream much larger than just becoming a "Slumdog Millionaire."
Sara Sidner, CNN, Mumbai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: A real life lesson on the perils of fame.
She is a spunky and determined 75-year-old, also a cancer survivor and she is definitely not afraid of the gold.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARBARA HILLARY, FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN TO REACH THE NORTH POLE: I had doubts at times. I had frustrations, I'm human. But never, no. I was determined to stand on the top of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, I don't know many people who would want to go to the North Pole. She did. Some folks do. She did as well. The first African-American woman to reach the North Pole, you're going to meet her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So, when you think about retirement, a few things come to mind. Relaxing, maybe picking up a hobby, maybe, you know, even a second career, but how many 75-year-old cancer survivors do you know who would attempt to reach the North Pole? 75 years old, cancer survivor.
It is part of our special series, "Up From the Past: African-American Firsts." I spent the day with Barbara Hillary who did just that, she is a first.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (on camera): What were you thinking?
HILLARY: Your brain is just too frozen to think. No, I was thinking what am I doing here? Why am I here? Do I really need this in my life? Plus, the real excitement of being there and being able to consume and enjoy this rare occasion that fulfilled my life.
LEMON: Did you ever think it was a colossal mistake?
HILLARY: No. I had doubts at times. I had frustrations. I'm human. But never, no, I was determined to stand on the top of the world.
LEMON: Then why did you do it?
HILLARY: When I retired I was looking for something to do and I looked around and I saw take a cruise. And, to me, to be stuck on a ship with boring married people, I could think of nothing worse. Therefore, I suddenly found that there were polar bears that you could photograph.
So, I immediately went north up to Manitoba, photographed polar bears and I fell in love with the north and after that I went on to learn to operate a snowmobile and learned to drive a dog team. And as a natural progression, I kept hearing about Matt Henson and Admiral Perry and, yet, there was no mention of a black woman. And that's how I sort of backed into this.
LEMON: You thought, you mean there's never been a black woman to do this and was that a shock to you? A surprise? HILLARY: It's a mixture. Because we have to be honest, when is the last time you've seen a black person frozen in the side of Mt. Everest? It isn't going to happen. And if you see and take a picture, because you won't see it again.
LEMON: We don't like to be cold.
HILLARY: No.
LEMON: Because you didn't look at the things that were, you know, you being ill, having lung cancer, any of those things. You didn't look at that as - like most people would say oh, I can't do it because of this. Oh, I had cancer, I can't go out there. You took it and you flipped it in your head.
HILLARY: Yes and the high point of being negative and I heard you're going to die out there. And my position is, death is inevitable, so, therefore, if I'm going to clock out of this world, Barbara Hillary is going to go out doing something she likes.
LEMON: Have you always lived your life that way?
HILLARY: I've tried. It's been a series of progressions.
LEMON: Tell me what that means.
HILLARY: It means that one should - the basic tenants of your life, the fiber, should come from you, you should live in terms of what is meaningful in your life. Because this is all you know. You don't live for people, you must carry something of meaning and merit into your own sunset years.
LEMON: I want to stick with your trip. You dedicate it to your mom.
HILLARY: My father died when I was a year and a half and my mother, this was the height of the depression, raised my sister and I by herself. And when I stood on the pole, it was firmly reinforced that the fiber, the substance, the way she raised me, that was the engine that got me to the pole.
LEMON: Is there a moment where you dedicated, stand on the mountain, or a base camp, once you reached, did you say anything to her?
HILLARY: When my guide said to me, Barbara, you are now standing on top of the world. After the explosion of emotion, I said I would like for everyone to please respect that I would want to dedicate this moment to the memory of my mother.
LEMON: Emotional?
HILLARY: Emotional. Yes.
LEMON: A lot of people told you no you couldn't do this, which is one reason you did it. A lot of people said you can't do this. You had no support basically?
HILLARY: None. At times it did hurt. Especially from the black community. It did hurt. But you lick your wounds and you go forward.
LEMON: You have lived to see the first African-American president, you accomplished what you did as a first black woman not long after the first black president.
HILLARY: I think that we, in my lifetime, that I have seen the first black president is a great honor. However, realistically, this is a - this is an occasion that will last for hopefully eight years.
LEMON: Where is Barbara Hillary in 10 years?
HILLARY: I guarantee one thing I will be alive.
(LAUGHTER)
HILLARY: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Thank you, Barbara Hillary. She is a sage. Isn't she? Well next week my conversation with dancer/choreographer, and artistic director of the world famous Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Miss Judith Jamison. She's also part of "Time" Magazine's 100 most influential people. "Up from the Past: African-American Firsts" airs every Sunday at 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
Here's what you are saying - Ja_daprince, I am wondering if I can handle the elements of Wisconsin let alone the North Pole. Big props to Ms. Hillary.
JessicaRbowman says, the weather is ridiculous. I'm going on vacation to Virginia Beach next month. Hope it warms up by then. And certainly hope it does for you as well.
Khar73 says, President Obama is awesome for taking these controversies head on. People over hyped this thing. The school was 99.999% supportive. Dougwagner says Phelps tanked? By finishing second. Man, I'm glad I'm not your kid, tough grader.
OK. I'll take that. You're right.
We want to know what's on your minds, Twitter, Facebook, myspace or I- report.com. Tell us what you're thinking.
One small step for man, mankind. Words that helped ignite the race to space almost 40 years ago. But before that, there was this -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man in his quest for knowledge and progress is determined and cannot be deterred.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A president's legacy. We'll go from the White House to the moon. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Want to go to the moon? Remember that, to the moon, Alice. Now a string of bad luck hound astronauts trying to repair the Hubble space telescope today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wearing out that bit, trying to get one bit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go back later.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. We're home on 22.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Shuttle Atlantis astronauts had to remove 111 tiny screws during today's space walk. Hard to do when wearing bulky space gloves. But that task paled in comparison to other unexpected difficulties such as a stripped bolt that delayed them for two hours.
And after that, a battery for one of their power tools, went kaput. Setting them back another half-hour. The delays mean astronauts may not be able to complete all planned repairs of their fifth and final space walk tomorrow. Let's hope they can complete them. But they may not be able to.
June 20th, marks the 40th anniversary of the first landing, first moon landing. And to mark the occasion, the John F. Kennedy presidential library in Boston has opened a new exhibit dedicated to the lunar quest. Here is a look as the exhibit opened yesterday to the public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man in his quest for knowledge and progress is determined and cannot be deterred.
The exploration of space will go ahead whether we join in it or not. And it is one of the great adventures of all time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're here getting ready for the opening of special exhibit "Moon shot, JFK and Space exploration."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We always connect to JFK with the space program.
STACEY BREDHOFF, MUSEUM CURATOR: Well we couldn't have any rockets in here. We are hoping people will get a flavor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: JFK was an inspiration really.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That time in history changed our whole country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was an exciting time to see the young men go up and just hope that they succeeded.
BREDHOFF: We are hoping for people to revisit those memories in some cases and we're hoping for younger people to hear the message, to hear what President Kennedy was saying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things. Not because they're easy, but because they are hard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Kennedy set this challenge in 1961. It seemed impossible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And its opportunity for peaceful cooperation may never come again.
BREDHOFF: By the time he finishes speaking you just want to get on board with this project. There is a certain nobility in reaching for something that is so difficult. It speaks to something in the human spirit that we want to reach that high.
JOHN F. KENNEDY, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: As we set sail, we ask god's blessing on the most hazardous and dangerous and greatest adventure on which man has ever embarked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. I want few look at some of your comments here. Just getting them right now. Let's look over here, here is what jessicarbowman says. Jessica says love the joke about being cold, lol, great sense of humor. She's talking about Barbara Hillary in our African-American firsts segment.
Where did you find Miss Barbara. How awesome is she? It hit me when she said you can't live your life for other people. Wow. Apollo says, the president was incredible at Notre Dame. And musicalqt says, love the story of Barbara Hillary. Makes any accomplishment seem possible.
We appreciate your comments coming in to us here at CNN. Do we have some more? Can we back that up to the top of this one and get some more of the comments. Here we go. Right here. Here is what Scottyj says, 34, Barbara Hillary was so amazing. Everyone should applaud her and what she said. Easternstar25 said tenacious woman and brave. Such an inspiration and someone to inspire to. I love being told no and then making it happen.
Thank you so much for joining us tonight. We're going to see you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Meantime, I want you to stay tuned for this. "Money and Main Street, the special summit," it is hosted by our very own Ali Velshi and Anderson Cooper. I'm Don Lemon. See you at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
