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Obama Plans National Security Speech; Four Arrested in Synagogue Bombing Plot; Senate Dems Want More Details on Guantanamo Closure; Violence Erupts in Iraq as Pullout Deadline Nears; Cancer Patient's Father Defends Alternative Treatment; Challenges for the Obama Administration; Protecting Your Skin as You Age; Insuring Your College Student; Dying Teen's Last Wish
Aired May 21, 2009 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Terror suspects in court today. Four men accused of plotting to strike a synagogue and military plane.
President Obama making what the White House calls a major speech on national security. Next hour, his plan to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Plus on the run and perhaps out of the country. A mother and her cancer-stricken son may have fled to Mexico for alternative therapy. It is Thursday, it is May 21st. I'm Don Lemon, in today for Heidi Collins. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
You safety and the nation's security. Our Jill Dougherty is at the White House and next hour, the president makes his case to close the terror prison at Guantanamo Bay. Dana Bash is on Capitol Hill where even democrats are balking at the president's call, seizing on that debate is former Vice President Dick Cheney as well who will deliver a speech that could rattle your nerves. So stay tuned for that.
And new terror arrests in New York. We have been reporting this. Our Susan Candiotti is on top of this story. She's going to tell us about the suspects and their alleged target.
But first, this morning, let's begin with the president's speech set to get started in just about an hour. CNN's Jill Dougherty is at the White House. Jill, why is the president making this speech today? Why is this so important?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's really important because he has to defend his policy on Guantanamo. It's under attack not only from Republicans but from Democrats. And by the way, we have no indication at this point that these two speeches by vice president, former Vice President Cheney and the president were aimed to fall on the same date, but they are. So, what are we expecting? Two very different speeches on fighting terrorism and, at the same time, protecting American values.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOUGHERTY (voice-over): Dick Cheney has been on the attack almost since leaving office. President Barack Obama, he thinks, has made Americans less safe.
DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I do. I think those programs were absolutely essential to the success we enjoyed of being able to collect the intelligence that led us to defeat all further attempts to launch attacks against the United States since 9/11.
DOUGHERTY: President Obama has outlawed those Bush-era enhanced interrogation techniques.
BARAK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We could have gotten this information in other ways. In ways that were consistent with our values.
DOUGHERTY: Mr. Cheney says closing the Guantanamo detention facility could free terrorists to attack the U.S. again. The president says Guantanamo Bay has become a rallying cry for terrorists and a black eye for America's image around the world. The sniping from both sides has turned personal.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I guess Rush Limbaugh was busy. So they trotted out the next most popular member of the Republican cabal.
DOUGHERTY: But one Cheney biographer says, Cheney is scoring points.
BART GELLMAN, AUTHOR "ANGLER: THE CHENEY VICE PRESIDENCY": What he's managed to do very effectively is frame a public debate and keep that debate focused on the things Cheney wants to talk about.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DOUGHERTY: Now, the previews that we're getting from both sides about the speeches, the aides to President Obama say that he was going to make the case that the Bush approach was basically cobbled together after 9/11. That it didn't work, it alienated allies and that also, in the case of Guantanamo, became a recruiting tool for terrorists.
Former Vice President Cheney is going to argue that look at the last eight years. Our policies kept you safe. This was not a recruitment tool and that they are misrepresenting the Bush policies -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much for that, Jill Dougherty.
We appreciate it.
Terror is definitely the theme today. An alleged terror plot foiled in New York. Some of the suspects are in court -- they're in court right now. Federal prosecutors say four men were involved in the plot to plant bombs at a synagogue and Jewish community center. They also allegedly wanted to shoot down military airplanes.
Our Susan Candiotti joins us now live from White Plains, New York, this morning with the very latest on that -- Susan. SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don. We're still waiting for that court hearing to begin. It hasn't started just yet.
Police say that all four of the suspects in this case have criminal records. We don't have all of the details yet, except that the alleged ring leader in this alleged plot supposedly had a drug conviction or convictions in the past. But, of course, this case far more serious.
The four men, according to the FBI, were getting ready to blow up two Jewish synagogues in the Riverdale a section of the Bronx, as well as targeting with a stinger missile. Some military planes belonging to the Air National Guard located at an airport in Newburg, New York. Of course, what the suspects did not know according to authorities that all of these things were fake. The C-4 explosives were inert, as was the stinger missile.
Now, we have video taken of a car that was being used allegedly by one of the suspects last night that was near one of the two synagogues that were supposed to be targeted. They were planning, police say, to use three bombs weighing 37 pounds each, two of them were being planted or -- two at one synagogue and another one at yet another.
Now, New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly talked about a possible motive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COMMISSIONER RAYMOND KELLY, NEW YORK CITY POLICE: They were disturbed about what was happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- that Muslims were being killed. They made the statement that they -- you know, if Jews were killed in this attack, it wouldn't, you know, that would be all right.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: It's sad that some of these things potentially happen. The good news is that the NYPD has prevented what could be a terrible event.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Three of the four suspects are inside the courthouse at this hour. The fourth one is being treated, we are told, for an unknown condition and that when he is well enough, he will also make his first appearance here in court. All of the suspects are charged with two conspiracy counts and if found guilty of these charges could spend the rest of their life behind bars.
Don, back to you.
LEMON: Susan, thank you very much for that.
A top al Qaeda suspect held at Guantanamo Bay will be sent to New York for trial. Attorney General Eric Holder made that announcement this morning. Ahmed Ghailani would be the first GITMO detainee brought to the U.S. And the first to face trial in civilian court. He is suspected of taking part in al Qaeda plot to bomb the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. 224 people died in those attacks, including 12 Americans.
President Barack Obama talking to the nation but also reaching out to his own party. Yesterday, Senate Democrats overwhelmingly denied him the money to close Guantanamo Bay. They're demanding more details on where the terror suspects will go.
Senior Congressional correspondent Dana Cash joins us now from capitol hill.
Dana, what do Democrats want to hear today?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They want to hear a plan, Don.
That is the whole reason why Democrats really push back and gave the president a political and really a substantive blow by effectively saying right now you can't close Guantanamo Bay because they did pass a measure to say you can't bring any of the detainees to the United States. Again, the whole point is they want to hear a plan from the president.
Now, many Democrats and Republicans are probably going to be a bit disappointed if they're looking for some details coming from the president today in this speech. We'll hear in about an hour. In fact, I talked to a senior Democratic leadership aide today who said that they are not expecting details. We do know he's going to talk generally about the idea that perhaps some prisoners could be tried in Federal courts, some could be tried in military commissions, some could be sent back to their country of origin.
But, you know, what these members of Congress want to know before they do anything is whether or not -- let's face it, whether or not it is likely or even a possibility that these detainees could come to their homes states or district.
LEMON: It's very interesting, Dana, because we've been doing a lot of talking about who speaks for the Republicans. I'm wondering what Republicans are feeling about the former vice president coming out today and being so vocal and so present here for these topics.
BASH: There is definitely a mixed reaction to that among Republicans, Don. Because he is a controversial vice president from a controversial administration that the Republicans simply want to move beyond.
Having said that, on the issue of national security and, specifically, this issue of Guantanamo Bay, Republicans have just scored a rare and very big political victory by -- because they raised this issue over and over again. They essentially goated Democrats into voting to block the president, or block funding for the president on this major national security priority for him.
So given that, I think the idea that Dick Cheney is coming out right now on national security may not be as bad, I think it's fair to say, politically, for Republicans as they might have thought maybe just two or three weeks ago because the national security argument, politically for them right, it's working.
LEMON: Thank you, Dana Bash.
Most Americans still don't like Dick Cheney, but they like him a little more now compared to when he and President Bush left office. According to the latest CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll the former vice president now has a favorable rating of 37 percent. That's compared to 29 percent in January. Former President Bush fared just a bit better. He has a favorable rating of 41percent, compared to 35 percent in January.
Make sure you stay with us because we're to going to carry those speeches live today. President Obama is due to speak at about 10:10 Eastern, about 10:10 Eastern, the president will speak. Former Vice President Dick Cheney follows later in the hour at about 10:45 Eastern.
Again, we'll carry both of those live for you right here on CNN.
A new outburst of violence in Iraq as U.S. troops prepare to pull back from the cities. What is going on?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN Severe Weather Center. That storm continues to pound Florida. Meanwhile the northeast is starting to heat up after temperatures only in the 50's a couple of days ago. Weather is coming up when the CNN NEWSROOM comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Violence erupting in Iraq this week as a deadline for a U.S. troop pullback gets closer. CNN's Cal Perry is in Baghdad with the story of today's attack on a U.S. military patrol. How did it go down, Cal?
CAL PERRY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, what we understand at this point is at least three U.S. troops were killed as they went on patrol in southern Baghdad in the Dora neighborhood. Now, 12 civilians as well were killed in this attack.
It's unclear how many U.S. troops were wounded. The U.S. military is literally trying to track them down as they were evacuated to various combat support hospitals around the Baghdad area. In addition to that, there were three other attacks across Iraq, all on either U.S. security officials or on Iraqi security forces.
We saw a trash can inside Iraqi police station. Somebody placed a bomb inside a trash can inside an Iraqi police station, killing at least two police in that attack. A roadside bomb targeted the Iraqi army as they were on patrol today in Baghdad, wounding at least five people in that attack. And then in Kirkuk, about 150 miles to the north of Baghdad, seven people killed when a suicide bomber exploded themselves outside a Iraqi army headquarters -- Don. LEMON: And Cal, here's the interesting thing. They just don't want the military guys to be there looking, you know, like space guys in the middle of the area, so they wanted to get out, and they wanted to meet the people. But doesn't this expose them or put -- it puts more pressure on them and puts them in the spotlight more?
PERRY: Yes. Absolutely. I mean, it's a bit of a catch-22 situation. What they call this are dismounted patrols. So, literally, the U.S. troops get out of their vehicles, and then they'll walk down the streets, and they'll start talking to people. They'll stop in at shops. We see this all the time.
We were out with General Odierno two weeks ago, and I was amazed at how people were able to just sort of walk up to him, shake his hand. And it really does put them in a position where they are exposed. They're out on the street. They're out of their vehicles. So, a bomber can very easily walk up to them, explode their explosives.
Or, as this case may have been -- and again, we're going to have to wait to see what the investigation shows. It's quite possible somebody placed a bomb in the road somewhere, waited for those troops to pass by and then triggered it from afar, from a far distance. So, it is unclear exactly whether it was a roadside or suicide bomber, but as you allude to, when these soldiers get out of their vehicles, they are in far more danger than when they're in their vehicles -- Don.
LEMON: CNN's Cal Perry. Cal, we appreciate it.
Five Birmingham, Alabama police officers have been fired for the brutal beating of an unconscious suspect. It happened after a 50-mile high-speed police chase, and it was all caught on dash cam video. Now, during the chase, the drug suspect's car hit a police officer standing on a roadway. There you go. You see it right there.
Then the car flipped over, and he was ejected. Now, that's when the tape shows police hitting the man with their fists, their feet and a billy club. This all happened more than a year ago, but the tape was just released publicly. An internal investigation is under way here.
New Hampshire's House failed to pass a same-sex marriage bill by a slim margin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One hundred eighty-six. The House will be in order!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That was the reaction when it was announced that the measure fell two votes short, but it is not dead yet. The state House and Senate are expected to work on a compromise next week. The holdup is a demand by the governor, who says he'll only sign the bill if it includes language protecting churches if they refuse to marry same-sex couples.
Michael Vick is back home. He arrived in Hampton, Virginia just minutes ago. Now, here's what his spokesman says. Says he's happy to be reunited with his family. The former football star was released from the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, early yesterday after serving time for running a dogfighting ring.
It's taken that long to drive to Virginia. He will be confined largely to his home there for the next two months, and no -- and he'll be on probation for three years. Michael Vick back home in Virginia.
Doctors want to see a boy whose cancer has gotten worse. A judge wants his mother arrested, but the two may be heading south of the border.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The search for a Minnesota mother and her 13-year-old son with cancer has turned to southern California, but officials leading the search say the two may be planning to travel even further. Jason Carroll has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Daniel Hauser's father came out in defense of his wife, Colleen, explaining why she failed to show for a court hearing and took their cancer- stricken son Daniel into hiding.
ANTHONY HAUSER, DANIEL'S FATHER: I think it was kind of a spur of the moment thing, and she reacted, and that's what she did.
CARROLL: The court hearing ordered by a judge who wanted to review X-rays to see if Daniel's Hodgkin's lymphoma was getting worse. Doctors say chemotherapy and radiation treatments are the 13-year- old's best chance at survival. Anthony Hauser says he and his wife are not completely against chemo. They are opposed to doctors giving their son too much, which Hauser believes could make his son worse.
HAUSER: The problem was that they would not work with us, you know. They said this is what we follow and this is what we do, and there is no in between.
CARROLL: Hauser says his family should have the right to follow their religious beliefs and use alternative forms of treatment, such as herbal supplements and vitamins. The Hausers are Roman Catholic but also follow the Native American teachings of the Nemenhah Band. Phillip "Cloudpiler" Landis is that group's medicine chief.
PHILLIP "CLOUDPILER" LANDIS, NEMENHAH BAND: A basic premise and tenet that we adhere to is first do no harm.
CARROLL: Landis says he survived cancer using natural forms of treatment and has been advising the Hausers. Landis says the group does not oppose traditional medicine. LANDIS: If your child falls out of a tree, and his brain's hanging out, I'm not going to put plaster on there. You know, you want to go to the hospital and have the surgeon put the brain back in.
CARROLL: The Hausers' attorney released a 12-point statement saying treatment cannot be forced. Point one, "it is a violation of spiritual law to invade the consciousness of another without their consent." Their attorney calling it a, quote, "case of love versus power."
Brown County District Judge John Rodenberg saying it's a case of the boy's best interest, which Brown says is medical care. Hauser's father says he is looking out for his son's best interest.
HAUSER: I'm not saying alternative medicine is going to cure you every time. If he isn't being treated, I'd say return home.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Our Jason Carroll joins us now from New York this morning. Good morning to you, Jason. My first question is, did investigators say where they are getting this information leading them to believe that the mother and son may be heading to Mexico?
CARROLL: Well, you know, Don, they're not saying who tipped them off. What they would say is that whatever tip that they did receive led them to believe that this couple was spotted somewhere in southern California near Los Angeles, and at this point, Don, authorities are not saying if the pair is still in the state or if they made it into Mexico. So, still a lot of questions that we have about where this pair might be located right now at this moment.
LEMON: I'm sure you'll keep following it. Jason, thank you for that.
All right. So, listen. We already know it happens every time there is a storm, but we never get tired of seeing it. Take a look at this. It is lightning striking the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington. I can't really see it here on my monitor that well, but as you can see, it finds the lightning rod more than once there.
Those images from our affiliate KOMO. There you go. Is that a still picture, Rob Marciano, that I'm looking at?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We like to call that a freeze frame.
LEMON: It's just the monitor is a little fuzzy in here, so I can't really see it, but that, you know, like we said, it happens every time there's a storm, but you can't get enough lightning on tape.
MARCIANO: No, and actually, you know, it does happen in most places whenever you get a thunderstorm. But you don't get thunderstorms in Seattle or the Pacific Northwest that often. So, we are -- it looks like we're slowing this down, freezing the frame and kind of zooming it in.
There are several lightning rods, about a dozen or a couple dozen of them or so -- boom -- up there on the Space Needle that kind of transfers the energy down to the ground. That's cool stuff. All right, guys, thanks for that fancy editing. I like that. Sweet.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: A new law on the books designed to keep homeowners out of foreclosure, but is it a little too late? We'll check it out. Our Money Team will examine it for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: President Barack Obama says a new anti-foreclosure law will give troubled homeowners a second chance. The president signed the measure into law. He did it yesterday. It encourages banks to spare homeowners from foreclosure and cracks down on predatory lending.
Boy, we sure hope that works. A lot of people are suffering these days. Our Christine Romans, she's with our CNN Money Team. She joins us here at CNN on the NEWSROOM to break it down for us.
OK, so the administration's efforts to help struggling homeowners have been disappointing so far. So, can they expect to make anything different and help with this?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, for almost a year now, we've been talking about all these different programs to try to help homeowners. And frankly, Don, they have been disappointing. A lot of the consumer advocates say that they've been frustrated that more homeowners haven't been helped earlier.
So, the president trying to fix some of the problems with a program called Hope for Homeowners in this bill that he signed yesterday. And here is what it tries to do, some of the deficiencies it's trying to help.
It wants to get better terms for lenders so they'll more likely to help write down the principal of a home for a struggling homeowner so they can try to be helped. It has looser eligibility requirements. There have been concerns about just bureaucracy and red tape and very difficult eligibility requirements.
Renter protections, you've heard a lot about this, I'm sure, Don. The people who don't even own a home are being hurt by foreclosures because they're getting tossed out of the property when the bank takes it over. This bill would make it so the banks must honor a lease, and if somebody is living in a home and has a month-to-month lease but the real homeowner forecloses on it, the bank has to give them 90 days to move out.
And one thing that was a disappointment to some people who are in the housing advocacy field, judges won't be able to lower the principal on a mortgage in bankruptcy. That's something that the lenders had been against and in the end, won. So, there was some disappointment about that part of the provision, but some of these other measures are designed to sort of fix some of the things that were wrong with the original efforts to try to help homeowners in this particular program -- Don.
LEMON: Yes, and you're right about renters. I did a story on a woman whose car was repossessed. And on top of that, the home that she was renting was in foreclosure, so she was kicked out. So, homeless and no car.
All right, so, you know, we hear that the Fed saying that unemployment, the rates will rise, and this feeds into the foreclosure problem that we've been talking about, right?
ROMANS: It does. And the Fed, the Federal Reserve, the nation's central bank, released its minutes from its April meeting and showed that they're actually expecting the rate of unemployment to be 9.2 percent to 9.6 percent. They're expecting the hit to GDP, America's economic growth, to be deeper than we thought, and maybe sustained economic growth won't come until a little bit later.
So, this is the latest read on the economy from the Federal Reserve, although it is a few weeks old, I will point out. But it just feeds into this whole thing. If people are losing their jobs, Don, and the economy is weak, then that only feeds into the foreclosure crisis.
LEMON: OK, so I've been, you know, I hadn't done this show since you have started this new thing. What is this thing I'm seeing, "Romans' Numeral"? What is that?
ROMANS: Don, let me just tell you about it. "Romans' Numeral," OK, it's a number every day that's driving the story, giving it either more clarity or maybe a little clever look on it. Today, the number is 1, Don.
And, you know, since it's your first time, I won't make you guess, but it has to do with the housing help and rescue. It's the number of families, Don, helped by Hope for Homeowners in the first five months. One family. When this thing was launched late last year, Congress signed it.
LEMON: Christine, we're watching the opening...
ROMANS: They wanted to help 400,000.
LEMON: We're watching the opening bell. Sorry to cut you off there. Just wanted to get that in as you were speaking. I'm going to finish up with you here, but I just want to say that the opening bell happening right now.
The Dow of course closed down yesterday, sadly. Averaged 52, it was down 52, and so it closed at trading at 8.422. So, there we go. I just wanted to get the opening bell in today.
ROMANS: Sure. LEMON: We're going to keep watching the stock market all day. So, that's what the "Romans Numeral" is? You said one family...
ROMANS: It is.
LEMON: ... one family helped by all of this?
ROMANS: By the Hope for Homeowners. And that's just one program in the package that this administration, the Obama administration is pushing forward. Another thing that they have called Making Home Affordable, that has helped about 55,000 families avoid foreclosure. So think of that. Fifty-five thousand families in one program, one family in another program. And by some estimates, you could see 3 million more foreclosures.
It just tells you, Don, that it's very difficult situation out there in terms of people losing their jobs and not being able to pay for their mortgage, and this is not something that's letting up here.
LEMON: Christine Romans with some advice and the "Romans' Numeral."
ROMANS: Do you like it or not? Come on, be honest.
LEMON: You want me to tell you the truth?
ROMANS: Yes.
LEMON: I'm not sure about it.
ROMANS: OK.
LEMON: It's a little, you know? Someone asked me to do a thing like a segment at one station I worked for called "Lemon's Law," where I would do like -- and it's just, you know -- I'm not sure about it.
ROMANS: But, you know, it's one of those TV things. It's supposed to be something to make you think about a number rather than just throwing out a number out there randomly.
I don't know.
LEMON: We're saying the same thing. Yes, I'm not. Anyway.
I don't know. We'll have to talk about it. I'm not sure. I'm not sold on it, but, you know, I do like you and I like the name so thank you.
ROMANS: Well, I like you, too.
LEMON: Thank you very much, Christine.
ROMANS: All right. OK.
LEMON: So let's talk about the weekly jobless numbers. They are just out now, and the news is mixed. Now the number of people filing for first-time unemployment benefits last week fell slightly. 631,000 people filed for new claims here. That's down 12,000 from the upwardly revised previous week of 643,000. But the number of people filing claims on an ongoing basis rose to 6.66 million. That's a record high for the 16th straight week and the highest since 1967.
National security -- the topic of the day here for both President Barack Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney. The president will try to rally support next hour for his plan to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay which holds suspected terrorists. That decision getting a thumb's down from Democrats as well as Republicans.
Expect more opposing arguments from Cheney four months out of office and one of the most outspoken critics of President Obama's policies.
Is Cheney becoming the leading voice of the Republican Party? That's the question. And what's at stake for the president?
Jim Vanderhei, executive editor of "Politico." He's joining us now from Arlington, Virginia.
Thank you very much, sir.
JIM VANDERHEI, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "POLITICO": Sure.
LEMON: Always good to see you.
I saw a very good article by you. But, you know, and I want to talk to you about this. It's very interesting because Vice President Dick Cheney is saying that the president is going to make the country less safe here. But by the Senate going against the president are they proving that Dick Cheney is right in all of this?
VANDERHEI: Certainly not, though, I do think that the debate between this two I think is one of the more important moments we've had of the Obama presidency, because you're going to have two people who are really articulate and passionate advocates of different world views on terrorism.
I think both of these guys in their speech are going to hit on how do we interrogate suspects, how do we detain terror suspects, and then how do we try them. And they have very different views on those. And I think the American public is going to get a nice introduction to both of those viewpoints.
There's no way that Obama is going to say, yes, I agree with Cheney or because the Senate rejected my plan to shut down Gitmo that, therefore, Cheney is right.
What Democrats will tell you is that they agree on the substance with the president that you need to shut down Guantanamo Bay. They think he botched the politics. They think he needed to spend a lot more time educating people on where these terror suspects will go. Think about how easy it is to demagogue this issue. Nobody wants to have the threat of a terror suspect in a jail, in their backyard who could get released. And because there was not a proper education.
LEMON: OK, then, before we talk broadly about this speech today, I think Dick Cheney -- he's been out front. This is the most visible he's been since he was vice president. I think his favorability rating now is at 37 percent. It was at 29 percent. It seems to be ticking up just within the next -- you know, just within the last couple of weeks.
So it's very interesting that he is out front here and it's very interesting. Does he really have any political power? The power to change anything here as far as not closing Guantanamo Bay? Does he have power with lawmakers on Capitol Hill where he can make a difference, or is it just a big megaphone.
VANDERHEI: I think it's a huge megaphone. My understanding is people on Cheney are very frustrated that former President Bush and other folks have not been out there making the case. And he feels that he is the only person who can make this case, and who can sort of grab the public's attention to say, hey, we actually think that the Bush policies worked.
I don't think he cares about the politics. And I don't think he really cares what people on Capitol Hill think of him. He really believes in these issues. And every time he speaks about it, you cover it, I write about it, and so he is effective in getting that message out there.
I think there is a divide inside the Republican Party. If you're a national security Republican, meaning that that's what you care most about, I think they like the fact that Cheney is making this argument. If you want change, but they don't like the fact that Cheney is the face of the party on this one.
LEMON: OK. We've got to run real quick. You said today they're going to talk about how to detain suspects, how to try them and what else? We're going to hear some broad topics talking about terrorism, not just Guantanamo Bay?
VANDERHEI: Yes.
LEMON: I just have a few seconds here.
VANDERHEI: Correct. I think it's going to be about the broader issue of national security, but specifically on terrorism. And I think you're going to see a much more black and white speech by Cheney where he feels very strongly that the Bush policies worked. I think you're going to see a little more nuance from Obama saying I'm trying to balance the two, trying to keep us safe and trying to adhere to the rule of law.
LEMON: Jim Vanderhei, it's very interesting. I know that it was coincidence, but it almost seems like, you know, the Republicans responds to, you know, the state of the union or something. VANDERHEI: Right.
LEMON: Jim Vanderhei from "Politico." Thank you very much.
VANDERHEI: Take care.
LEMON: Make sure you keep it right here for both of those speeches. We're going to bring them to you. President Barack Obama set to begin at 10:10 this morning at Georgetown University. And Cheney is scheduled to address Conservative American Enterprise Institute about a half-hour later. CNN, again, will carry both of them for you.
Joints Chief Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen is on Capitol Hill today. He's appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to talk about strategy in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Mullen -- well, he may be asked to elaborate on comments he made earlier this week when he said setbacks in Afghanistan could be turned around in 12 to 24 months.
Afghanistan is seen as one of the top foreign policy challenges facing the Obama administration. Tonight, our Anderson Cooper talks with CNN correspondents and analysts about what needs to happen going forward.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: We're on the verge of an offensive in Afghanistan, that there's going to be a three- or four-week effort to really bomb and go in heavily and -- and try to get the -- the Taliban on the run, and then come in with a counterinsurgency strategy that General Petraeus is bringing to the area.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: If you look at all the polls right now from Afghanistan. First of all, almost nobody supports the Taliban. It's one percent in the latest poll, but the majority of people say that our key concern is the economy, is jobs.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're talking about in Pakistan or Afghanistan?
AMANPOUR: In Afghanistan and also in Pakistan.
COOPER: OK. OK.
AMANPOUR: They need...
(CROSSTALK)
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN WORLD AFFAIRS ANALYST: But we have limited ability...
AMANPOUR: Yes, I know. I was there. (CROSSTALK)
ZAKARIA: But Christiane, I agree with this. But you're talking about Afghanistan. It's the third poorest country in the world.
AMANPOUR: It's doesn't matter. We're not talking about making it Manhattan in the desert. We're talking about giving these people a better standard of living...
GERGEN: And how would you do this?
ZAKARIA: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
AMANPOUR: So that, it's easy, it's easy.
(CROSSTALK)
GERGEN: How? How? I'm not sure.
AMANPOUR: You build schools, you build roads, you bring electricity. No, but you haven't been doing it right.
COOPER: But at the same time, are we also trying to eliminate a large source of income, which is the poppy fields, which supplies 95 percent of the world's heroine.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it's not going to happen. I mean, especially in the south and through much of the country. The entire social and political order is built upon opium poppies. Those crops are what few, not just Taliban insurgents where large sums of money are being funneled off as they tax the supply, but it also feeds and supports the war lords. The war lords who are, in fact, in the government, who are the local police chiefs. This is a fundamental part of the structure of Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You know, that is just a little taste of it. Two wars, broken economy and the historic plan that the president says just cannot wait. Anderson Cooper looks at how the administration plans to tackle such extreme challenges. That's tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.
One last wish for a dying teenager. He wants his parents to be by his bedside, but that request may be tangled in red tape.
And no matter what your age, excessive exposure to sun can lead to cancer. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has some tips on protecting your skin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Armed with SPF 70 sunblock and a hat, Stephanie White is going outside to walk her dog. She's not taking chances anymore. For years, Stephanie lived in the sun. Growing up in Florida, she was always at the beach where she was outdoors.
STEPHANIE WHITE, PATIENT: I was actually 40 hours a week out in the sun, Monday through Friday.
GUPTA: As she got older her years of sun exposure caught up with her. Now in her 40s she has been diagnosed with all three types of skin cancer, including a melanoma spot she found on her arm.
WHITE: I thought I was too young to have melanoma skin cancer. I didn't know anything about melanoma. I knew that it was malignant. I knew that it could be very serious.
GUPTA: Skin cancer actually begins to develop in our younger years. Too much sun exposure can cause burning, which destroys our skin cells. And that damage can lead to skin cancer as we get older.
DR. GEORGE VERGHESE, DERMATOLOGIST: In your 20s going through 30s, you're accumulating all these sunburns, all these mutations in your skin cells. And a lot of these changes don't start to express themselves until you're 30, 40, 50.
GUPTA: First step toward cancer free skin? Never go outside without sunblock, no matter what season of the year it is.
VERGHESE: At least SPF 15, and make sure it has like a broadband UVA and UVB protection.
GUPTA: And if you love the outdoors, try to avoid certain hours of the day.
VERGHESE: The times that you should actually avoid the sun is almost like from 12:00 to like 3:00 p.m., especially if you're going out on beach.
GUPTA: If you think you're too tasty to hit the beach, try the new tanning products instead of a tanning bed. Studies have shown tanning beds can cause cancer in younger people.
VERGHESE: It's concentrated ultraviolet radiation. Almost like the skin cancer effect and some have a combination, so it almost accelerates that total UV radiation that you're getting so people, you know, manifest these skin cancers at much younger age.
GUPTA: And as you get older, continue these habits but add one more. Know your body. The only way to catch skin cancer early is to look for abnormal moles or spots.
Stephanie White knows every mark on her body. And when they begin to change, she sees her dermatologist. Knowing her skin, she says, is what saved her life. For 30, 40, 50, I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Oh, it's that time of year. It is school graduation time. Yes. It's exciting, but for parents, there's more to worry about now. And that is how you're going to insure your kids with they head off to college this fall. There is renter's insurance, medical insurance and even life insurance to consider.
So here to help us out in all of that is our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis. She's got some tips for us.
So, Gerri, aren't they -- they're not under your regular policy that you have with your insurance company?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, sure, sometimes. But we're going to give you these details.
LEMON: OK.
WILLIS: Hey, there, Don.
Generally, your homeowners policy will cover 10 percent of property that's outside the home. If you have 74,000 worth of content coverage at your house, that will cover about 7,500 worth of stuff in the dorm room. And just think about all the higher ticket items like the stereo, the TV, the laptop that tend to follow kids when they go off to college. We're not even taking into consideration all the wear and tear that's likely to happen on the college campus so devil is in the details here - Don.
LEMON: I don't even know if my dorm room was worth everything with $7,500.
WILLIS: Exactly. Well, me, too. But, you know, it's a different world out there now. They carry so much stuff with them.
LEMON: Yes. I know. We have the little refrigerator that was handed down from sister to me and whatever, and it was little, tiny, probably cost five bucks.
OK, so listen. How about a separate policy then? I remember having to have renter's insurance, too, when you rent off-campus.
What about a separate policy for parents on their children.
WILLIS: Well, look, Don, if your kid is renting off campus, like you said, in an apartment, it will not be covered under your homeowners policy for contents or liability. That means if someone gets hurt on the property, the renter or the parent could get sued and it doesn't matter who sign the lease.
Look, renter's insurance generally runs about $250 a year for contents of about $15,000. Let your agent know if your kid takes the car to college, the insurance premium may increase or go down depending on the location. And if your child decides not to take the car and lives more than a hundred miles away, you may be eligible for a reduced rate. Also check into health plans as well. Full-time students between the ages of 18 and 23 can usually be covered under their parent's health plan. But keep in mind that some plans have younger age cutoffs. If your health plan has a network, you'll want to scout out a doctor near where your child is going to be living. Then you'll need a referral from your local physician.
And if your child is no longer on your plan, most colleges offer limited health insurance plans for students - Don.
LEMON: All right. Good information. Especially I've been going to a lot of graduations, but for those who are just starting, here we go.
Right?
WILLIS: There you go.
LEMON: Gerri Willis, we appreciate it.
WILLIS: Thank you.
LEMON: International manhunt is on today for a pair of accidental millionaires. Police say the owners of this New Zealand's service station ran off after a bank mistakenly paid them $10 million.
The couple had applied for a $10,000 loan. Authorities say an employee at the Westpac Bank mistakenly deposited millions of dollars into their account. Police say they think the pair has probably left the country. That's probably a good bet.
So what do you think if a bank mistakenly deposits millions into your account? Would you take the money and run or do the right thing?
Just go to cnn.com/newsroom to get to our blog. You can post a comment. We want to hear from you.
Boy, that's a tough question -- $10 million.
Well, your safety. The nation security and the power of the pulpit. Minutes from now, President Obama speaks. Minutes later, former Vice President Dick Cheney responds and you are at the center of their argument.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, we certainly have a lot going on for you this morning. National security, a big time topic today. Both President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney are making speeches next hour.
Let's check in first with our senior political correspondent, Ms. Candy Crowley.
Hi, Candy. CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Don. I'm at the American Enterprise Institute. That's where the former Vice President Cheney will be giving this speech. We're told that it's going to be first of all a broad strategic look at how the Bush administration conducted the war on terror. But there are some specifics, and we've been hearing Dick Cheney talk about this for a very long time over at least the last month in various forums.
This is the first time that we have seen this big a speech. It does, as you mention, come on the same day as President Obama is giving a speech on the same topic. Needless to say, they do not agree on a lot of things. What we know from the previous appearances of the former vice president is that he totally defends the use of what the Bush administration has called enhanced interrogation techniques. What others call torture. He continues to insist that very valuable information has gotten from that. We will hear more of that today. And again, a broader picture on the Bush administration approach to war. We're going to have more on this, Don, at the top of the hour.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jill Dougherty at the White House. The president and the former vice president, two men, two speeches, two very different views of how to fight terrorism. I'll have that story at the top of the hour.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange, where the latest labor report shows a record number of Americans continue to draw unemployment benefits. But there is some improvement within that report. And Don, I will tell you about it in the next hour.
LEMON: All right. Ladies, thanks to all of you.
We'll also be tackling your questions about various insurance for college graduates. More tips coming your way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You're about to meet a teenager who has one last wish. He wants his parents to be by his bedside in a Georgia hospital where he lies dying. But that wish is all caught up in some red tape. You see, the boy is an illegal immigrant and his parents are back home in Guatemala.
CNN's Brooke Baldwin has his remarkable story for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Doctors and nurses at this small north Georgia hospital treat dozens of sick patients every day. But they say this boy's story is different.
His name Juan Gonzalez. He doesn't speak English. He is all alone. He is dying. Juan's wish, to see his parents one last time.
JUAN OXLAJ-GONZALES, PATIENT (through translator): I adore them and love them so much. I would tell them how much I need them by my side during this difficult time.
BALDWIN: Juan's mother, father and three siblings live more than 2,300 miles away in a small impoverish village in Guatemala where they work on a farm. Last fall, Juan joined the nearly 12 million unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. He traveled 15 days by train, bus and boat, sleeping in the desert to come to Georgia to work so he could send money home to his family.
GONZALES (through translator): I did it so they could get out of poverty. To be honest, we don't have a lot of money. I did it so they won't have to work in the fields anymore. They don't have much.
BALDWIN: Juan found work as a dishwasher, taking home $250 every week. But suddenly last November, his heart nearly failed him.
Juan's heart pumps about 1/5 or 20 percent of what a normal heart would do.
BALDWIN: Dr. Frank Stegal at the Redmond Regional Medical Center in Rome says Juan suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy, which means his heart muscle is very weak.
With no money or family nearby, this cardiology says it isn't likely this teenager will receive a transplant.
He is a young man that has just grabbed our hearts.
BALDWIN: For the last seven months, he's been in and out of this hospital. And in that time, Juan's character and contagious faith have truly touched this medical team. They've reached out to Georgia Congressman Phil Gingrey to help.
He released this statement to CNN. "My office began facilitating communication between the Guatemalan Embassy and the State Department, who are working to get Juan's parents to their son's bedside as soon as possible. My thoughts and prayers are with this family as they face this difficult time."
We contacted Juan's parents in Guatemala. His father, Pascual, says it's been tough not being able to be by his son's side, but he understands why Juan wanted a life in America.
PASCUAL OXLAJ-GONZALES, JUAN'S FATHER (via telephone) (through translator): When he first got there, we were happy because, I mean, to be honest, how we lived, we had a lot of failures in life. Now after he got sick, we're so sad.
BALDWIN: Thousands of miles away, Juan sits in this hospital bed, reading the bible, drawing to communicate and praying for a miracle so he can continue helping his family back home.
GONZALES (through translator): I'll fight to the very end. I will not be defeated by this sickness.
BALDWIN: Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Rome, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
