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President Obama Visits Buchenwald; Search for Missing Air France Flight; Role Reversal in Sotomayor Review; Arkansas Shooting Suspect's Attorney Says His Client Was Brainwashed; Comparisons Between Youth in Egypt and America; Some Afraid Terrorists Can Benefit from U.S. Nuclear Plant Satellite Imagery

Aired June 05, 2009 - 11:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It is Friday, June 5, and here are the top stories in the CNN NEWSROOM.

More Americans staying on the job and out of the unemployment line. A dramatic drop in the pace of layoffs, but the unemployment rate ticks up.

A setback in the search for answers about Air France Flight 447. Debris pulled from the ocean was not -- was not from the plane, and what that means for the investigation.

Nuclear plants and sensitive sites, detailed images on the Internet. Is technology making it easier for terrorists?

Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Remembering the horror of the Holocaust and honoring the memory of those who died, solemn moments for President Obama in Germany today. The president visiting the site of the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins us now from Buchenwald.

And Fred, a personal connection to this location for this president.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Tony. It was a very personal connection to this place here for the president.

Of course, as you know, his grand uncle, Charlie Payne, helped liberate one of the subcamps of Buchenwald on April 11th in 1945. And it was a camp called Wardrof (ph), which was about 30 miles away here from Buchenwald.

And throughout the day, the president told people here about how -- what an emotional moment it was for his grand uncle, the horrible things that he saw, inmates who were starved to the bone. Many of them actually didn't survive very long after their liberation because they were simply too exhausted.

Now, today, he was the first American president to actually visit a concentration camp on German soil. And that, of course, a very, very emotional thing for him. Let's listen in to what the president had to say after he took that tour today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A reminder where people were deemed inhuman because of their differences, of the mark that we all share. Now, these sites have not lost their horror with the passage of time. As we were walking up, Elie said, "If these trees could talk." And there's a certain irony about the beauty of the landscape and the horror that took place here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Now, he mentioned it there, the president did, next to Chancellor Angela Merkel. Elie Wiesel was also with him here touring the camp. And that, of course, also a very important connection in all of that. Elie Wiesel was an inmate here at Buchenwald until this camp was liberated by American soldiers in 1945 -- Tony.

HARRIS: Fred Pleitgen for us.

Fred, appreciate it so much.

As Fred just mentioned, Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel accompanied President Obama to Buchenwald. The Nobel Peace Prize winner spoke about watching his father die at Buchenwald, where they were both imprisoned. We will bring you his moving statements about the world then and now in about 45 minutes.

Chrysler's fight to sell off the bulk of its assets to Italian carmaker Fiat heads to a federal appeals court today. Three Indiana pension funds are trying to stop the deal. They argue it unfairly favors unsecured creditors. The proposed sale is part of Chrysler's plan to emerge from bankruptcy protection. Chrysler says the Fiat deal is the only hope of avoiding a piece-by-piece selloff of the company.

CNN has learned General Motors will sell its Saturn unit to the Penske Automotive Group. That company is owned by former racecar driver Roger Penske. That Saturn selloff is part of GM's strategy to shed its four non-core U.S. brands as it restructures. GM, as you know, filed for bankruptcy on Monday, the fourth largest bankruptcy filing in U.S. history.

That deal is expected to save 13,000 jobs. And news about jobs is in the spotlight again today.

A new government report shows 345,000 jobs were lost last month, and the unemployment rate rocketed from 8.9 percent in April to 9.4 percent.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

HARRIS: You know, it turns out a debris field believed to be from that missing Air France flight is not from the plane at all. The Brazilian Air Force has been searching since the plane disappeared Monday on a flight between Rio to Paris. Two hundred twenty-eight people were aboard.

Our John Zarrella is in Rio.

And John, there were two debris fields that we've been talking about. If you would, what's the view of the second debris field? And is there anything more on the oil slick searchers found?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Tony. Well, this is what the air force is telling us today, that they do believe some of the debris from those other debris fields is from Air France Flight 447. And they are going to be out there today hopefully recovering some of that.

They believe that wiring that they saw on the surface of the water and some plastic pieces and some other metal debris, as well as a seat that they noticed very early on several days ago are from Air France Flight 447. They have to get to that debris now and physically pluck it out of the water and bring it back on to the navy ship, and to make sure, in fact, that it is from the flight.

And as far as the oil goes, they're saying that some of what they've seen out there, the oil, they don't believe is from the flight. They believe it may have come from a ship. But they're not saying that all of the oil or kerosene that they found out there isn't from the plane. So there's still discrepancy on what -- where the oil came from.

They did tell us, again, that yesterday was the first day that they actually physically went out, Tony, to try and recover debris. They've been seeing a lot of it on radar as they've been flying over the last several days. They've been seeing it, eyeballing it from the air with their planes, and marking the spots where it is. And, of course, drift comes into play, and some of that is still drifting, but they never physically, Tony, went out to recover any of it until yesterday because their priority was to try and find survivors first and then bodies second.

Now that all of that has not panned out, they went ahead to try and start recovering the debris, and those first pieces were not. They saw what they brought aboard yesterday was a pallet. A wooden pallet was what they brought up, and that was determined not to have come from the plane, as well as an orange flotation device which was not from the plane -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. John Zarrella for us in Rio de Janeiro.

John, appreciate it. Thank you.

Let's do this -- let's turn to Europe now for more on this mystery. Our Paula Newton is in London.

And Paula, listening to John there, it sounds like we are at least not back at square one.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It sounds that, though, that we may be. I have to tell you, Tony, from being in Paris earlier in the week -- and they are the authorities that will be in charge of this investigation -- they were much more cautious than Brazilian authorities all the way along. And you start to talk about ruling things in and ruling things out, you know, they warned us against speculation from the beginning. And when you -- when they're saying that what they really need is a good look at the debris to be able to test it, so that's crucial, and obviously those black boxes that we always talk about.

HARRIS: Yes.

NEWTON: Still no sign of those, Tony. It will be until at least late this weekend before the French ship with those deep sea submarines can actually get involved in this investigation -- Tony.

HARRIS: Well, Paula, that brings up another point here. I'm just sort of curious, from the French perspective, are French officials unhappy with the way Brazilian officials are handling the investigation thus far?

NEWTON: I wouldn't say that they're unhappy. Certainly they understand the task at hand and the fact that they had to scramble so many planes, so many ships.

I think what they're saying is any information that's being released -- and they warned me of this three or four days ago, Tony. They said, look, it's just too early to say. They have so little to go on, and when we were at a press conference two days ago with the head of the French investigation, you know, he's saying himself, look, we may never know what happened to this flight.

And what he was trying to do was really prepare the groundwork so that the families and the friends of those on board could prepare themselves in case that worst-case scenario. That's what happened.

HARRIS: Paula, help us with some information we're still sort of -- I guess sorting out here. What do we know about a bomb threat targeting an Air France flight recently, Argentina to France?

NEWTON: OK. Now, that bomb threat happened last Wednesday. It was on an Air France flight from Buenos Aires to Paris.

It was checked out; it was a Boeing 777, about an hour and a half delay. No bomb, the plane went on its way.

Since then, both Brazilian and French officials say, look, we have no reason to believe there was a bomb on board, we haven't received any threats. And certainly, Tony, I can tell you that there's no one been claiming responsibility or anything like that.

On the other hand, you know that oil slick that John Zarrella was just talking about? One of the things that led them to believe that there wasn't a catastrophic explosion was looking at things like an oil slick. If that turns out to be from the plane, well, perhaps they begin to rule it in once more. And they at least begin that line of an inquiry. Again, those pieces of debris so important, Tony, because even retrieving those from the water, they may be able to tell if there are traces of explosives. I have to caution though right now, no one is saying that is any way, shape or form likely that it was some type of terrorist attack.

HARRIS: Yes. That's good additional information on this story.

Paula Newton for us in London.

Paula, as always, great to talk to you.

A role reversal. The top Senate Republican considering Judge Sonia Sotomayor's nomination was himself caught up in questions of racism 23 years ago.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Twenty-three years ago today, the Senate Judiciary Committee took the rare step of voting to keep a Reagan judicial nominee off the federal bench. Now that same committee considers President Obama's first Supreme Court pick. And the man it blocked in 1986, Jeff Sessions, is back. And I mean big time.

Here's our Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Listen in to what Republican Jeff Sessions told the Democratic president's Supreme Court nominee.

SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: And you will get a fair hearing before this committee.

BASH: He is so emphatic because of his own experience. Twenty-three years ago, Sessions was nominated by Ronald Reagan to be a federal judge but was rejected.

SESSIONS: I'm sorry that the Senate Judiciary Committee did not see fit to find me qualified for it.

BASH: He's now the top Republican on that very committee.

SESSIONS: That is a very odd thing. Somebody says it gives new meaning to the word "irony."

BASH: Irony bringing back memories he tries to forget.

SESSIONS: It was not a pleasant event, I've got to tell you. It was really so heartbreaking to me. BASH: Then a 39-year-old Alabama U.S. attorney, Sessions was accused of racial insensitivity, calling a black lawyer "boy," a white lawyer "a disgrace to his race" and civil rights groups like the NAACP un- American.

He was pounded by Democrats like Joe Biden.

SESSIONS: They may have taken positions that I consider to be adverse to the security interests of the United States.

SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: Does that make them un-American?

SESSIONS: No, sir, it does not.

BIDEN: No. Does that make the positions un-American?

SESSIONS No.

BASH: Some Democratic senators Sessions now serves with called him racist.

SESSIONS: That was not fair. That was not accurate. Those were false charges and distortions of anything that I did, and it really was not. I never had those kind of views and I was caricatured in a way that was not me.

BASH: Sessions went on to win a Senate seat in 1996, but the allegations still sting.

SESSIONS: I think it was hard on me.

BASH: The parallel to today, some Republicans charging Sotomayor is a racist, is eerie.

(on camera): When you hear that, do you hear Ted Kennedy and other Democrats going through your head saying Jeff Sessions is a racist?

SESSIONS: You know, that's such a loaded word and I don't think it's appropriate.

BASH (voice-over): Sessions will ask tough questions about deep differences with Sotomayor on judicial philosophy, but also hopes to use her hearing to close the door on a painful part of his past.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Wow, what a story.

Dana joining us now from Washington, D.C.

And Dana, Senator Sessions was not only rejected by the same committee he now sits on, but he is still serving, am I correct, with the senators who blocked him?

BASH: Many of them, including the chairman of the committee, Patrick Leahy. So he is now working side by side, hand in hand, with Patrick Leahy, and they, by all accounts, do have a very good relationship.

Well, Patrick Leahy was one of the Democrats who voted to make sure that Jeff Sessions did not become a federal judge. So that is just one of the many ironies, as Jeff Sessions said, in the story.

One other interesting note. I asked the senator if when he met with Sonia Sotomayor, whether he gave her any advice given the fact they have such -- they have some similar experiences. And he said he did. He said that he told her he knows what it's like to be in the pit -- that's what he called it, the pit -- and he said just, "Be yourself."

HARRIS: Hey, Dana, with so much tension focused right now on the president's trip, particularly over the last couple of days, is Judge Sotomayor still talking to senators? What is she doing?

BASH: She is free. She is free of her courtesy calls.

You know, in Washington, most times the Senate isn't around very much on Fridays. So Sonia Sotomayor was able to leave Washington. I think she had her fair share of meetings, you know, probably a couple dozen, all told, this week. And she's back in New York.

HARRIS: All right.

Your senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash.

Dana, appreciate it. Thank you.

BASH: Thanks, Tony.

HARRIS: Your money, your retirement, IRAs and credit scores. You've got questions, and Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis has your answers next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, you've got questions about your money, your mortgage, your retirement, and our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, has answers. It is Friday, and Gerri joins us to tackle some of your e- mail questions.

Gerri, great to see you. Good Friday to you.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Good to see you.

HARRIS: Ready to get started?

WILLIS: Let's get right to them, yes.

HARRIS: Yes. You want to start with Suzi's question. She writes, "Will using the government home loan modification program, Gerri, have an impact on one's credit score?"

WILLIS: Well, Tony, she's referring to the Making Home Affordable program that was unveiled by the president and the administration, and looks to see if you qualify for the loan modification program. It's true, it can hurt your credit score temporarily since you're not paying back your mortgage as you originally agreed to. But this all depends on exactly what the lender reports to the credit bureau. You should ask them what they're reporting to the bureau.

Remember, the bigger issue here is that you're taking advantage of a program that's likely to help you get back on your feet again. And in the long term, that's going to be good for your credit score. So it's the better choice. Go to makinghomeaffordable.gov for more info.

HARRIS: Hey, I've got another question from Alan, who writes, "Please give me any info you have on qualified credit counseling organizations. I am considering bankruptcy, but my situation has a few unique possibilities."

Gerri?

WILLIS: OK, Alan. Well, as we mentioned, before you file either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you're required to consult a nonprofit credit counseling agency. Go to the U.S. Trustees Web site at USDOJ.gov/ust to see which agencies have been approved to give you counseling.

Keep in mind that bankruptcy law requires that you only participate in that counseling. Look, you don't have to go along with what they say, and the counseling can be provided by telephone or online, so you have a couple options there.

HARRIS: Hey, Gerri, I love this next question. The first two have been terrific, but this is my favorite question in the bunch this week.

It comes from Kenneth. He's in Washington, and he writes, "I am 57 years old. I have two investment properties and a couple thousand bucks in an IRA. I have neglected this important time of my life, retirement. I honestly have never known what to do."

"My question, is it too late for a guy like me? Please, Gerri, say no."

WILLIS: Well, Kenneth, you are late getting started, but it's not too late.

First of all, the good news here, you have two investment properties. It would be a good time to figure out what they're worth. If it's a substantial amount, then those properties are part of your retirement plan.

Consider the real estate market is in a bad shape right now. You may want to hold on to them a while and then figure out what they're worth. Sell them, that is.

The bottom line is you may need to continue working for longer than you anticipated. Try to put off taking all of your Social Security benefits for as long as possible, because that increases your benefits for the long term. In the meantime, you need to be saving some money and have a balanced portfolio. Even at your age, in stocks, CDs, all kinds of investments.

And of course you can find more about that at money@cnn.com.

And of course if you have any questions, e-mail me at gerri@cnn.com.

HARRIS: Hey, and give us a quick preview of "YOUR BOTTOM LINE," coming up this weekend, for everyone, Gerri.

WILLIS: Well, you know, we had the big jobless numbers today, and we're going to be talking all about the job market. We're going to give you your survival guide to the job market, what you need to know if you're unemployed. Maybe you're just worried about losing your job. You want to know what that job market is shaping up to be.

9:30 a.m., right here on CNN, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE."

Join me. And I think Tony will be tuning in too, right?

HARRIS: Yes, absolutely. One of my favorite programs. Absolutely.

Gerri, have a great weekend. Thank you.

WILLIS: My pleasure. Thank you.

HARRIS: You know, there is a lot of economic jargon flying around -- TARP, bailout, recession. Forget how it's used in Congress, or even how it's used on this program. How would you like a chance to define these words?

Josh, help the people out.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm so into this, Tony. We're psyched for this.

HARRIS: We've been try to get this on all week, but...

(CROSSTALK)

LEVS: You've been teasing it every day.

HARRIS: Right.

LEVS: "After the break." Well, it is after the break. It's after Tuesday's break.

Let's just tell everyone what happened. We got this great Facebook message.

Salvatore Paradise (ph) wrote me that we should take a look at urbandictionary.com and how people out there are defining these terms for themselves.

HARRIS: That's good. LEVS: So we have some graphics for you. It's great stuff. Let's go to this first one right now.

TARP, according to people who signed up, TARP is now a verb, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes.

LEVS: A verb implying action void of accountability, as in, "I don't feel like working. So I'm just gong to go to the beach and TARP."

HARRIS: That's good.

LEVS: But Tony, let's go to the next one, because TARP can also mean to borrow without returning, as in, "Can I TARP a piece of paper for you?"

HARRIS: Nice.

LEVS: Yes, it is nice. And it would be even better if we could show it. There you go. We've even got pictures for each one.

All right. Go to the third one, because now I want to give you the definition of bailout.

HARRIS: I love that one.

LEVS: Well, check this out for bailout: "Broke people giving away their money so rich people don't go broke."

HARRIS: Oh, that's good.

LEVS: You know, it's sad, but you totally see where these definitions are coming from.

We've got time for a couple more. Let's go to recession, because we all like this one a lot.

HARRIS: Yes.

LEVS: Number four, recession here, now an adjective describing anything stingy, as in, "Look at this recession cookie. It's only got three chocolate chips."

HARRIS: Oh, that's good.

LEVS: But if you choose to use "recession" as a noun, we'll see on the next screen, that is officially defined now as the cause of everything bad, as in, "Why is this stool wobbly? The recession."

HARRIS: Yes, using it that way. Yes.

LEVS: You know, at this point, anything you're talking about, blame on the recession.

HARRIS: Absolutely.

LEVS: And it's the same thing for economic downturn. We can end on that one.

The cause of everything bad is now the economic downturn. "I've got a flat tire," it says, and then, "What are you going to do? It's an economic downturn."

Now, as you were just saying, Tony, we want to invite people to send in your definitions, as well.

So go ahead, join the Facebook discussions that this guy Salvatore (ph) already started. We've got a screen here. You can send it to me twitter.com/joshlevscnn; facebook.com -- graphic, guys. It's facebook.com/joshlevscnn. There you go.

Also, you can send it to us at the NEWSROOM. We'd love to see it there.

Tony, we're going to have a lot of fun with this. Tell us what these terms -- you know, we use them all the time -- what do they really mean to you? We'll have a little fun.

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: That's good stuff. Yes, nice pop to the program for a Friday.

LEVS: Nice little pop.

HARRIS: Yes. Thank you, Josh. I appreciate it.

LEVS: You got it.

HARRIS: President Obama continues his travels overseas encouraging young people to get involved. We will talk to one man who is already laying down the framework for the future.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: His attorney says he was brainwashed in a Yemene prison. A court appearance today for a man accused of killing one soldier and wounding another at an army recruiting center in Little Rock, Arkansas. Muhammad pleaded not guilty in Monday's shootings. Abdulhakim Muhammad is a convert to Islam. He traveled to Yemen a couple of years ago. His attorney said he was tortured by radical Islamic fundamentalists while in prison on a visa violation.

Four men charged on a terror plot are in court this morning. They were arrested in an elaborate FBI sting. They are accused of plotting to bomb two synagogues and to fire surface-to-air missiles at U.S. military planes. New York's police commissioner describes it as homegrown with no known foreign or domestic links. A lawyer for one of the suspects says his client is schizophrenic and bipolar. A prosecutor says he is well enough to understand court proceedings.

What if terrorists wanted to attack a nuclear power plant? Some say increasingly detailed information available on the Internet is making it easier. CNN's Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SCOTT PORTSLINE: These are the old satellite images. And you can see this nuclear plant. It's quite blurry. This is the newest quality. It's a high-quality resolution with different angle where we can see more of the 3-D layout of the plant.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scott Portsline is taking us on a tour of U.S. nuclear power plants on the Internet where high-resolution satellite imagery is conveniently linked with even higher-resolution aerial photography. It's a tour he's afraid terrorists are taking right now.

PORTSLINE: What we're seeing here is a guard shack, this is a communication device for the nuclear plant. This particular building is the air intake for the control room. I look at this and just say, "Wow."

MESERVE (on camera): How hard is it to find this image online?

PORTSLINE: I found it in five minute's time.

MESERVE (voice-over): Some of the images are of the Three Mile Island nuclear plants. But officials there say much of their security is not visible, and they say they're not concerned.

RALPH DESANTIS, SPOKESMAN, THREE MILE ISLAND: Our security programs are designed and tested to defend against a threat that has insider information, even more information that's available on the internet.

MESERVE (voice-over): The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says old low- resolution images were not a concern, but it is reviewing the new, more detailed imagery. We are taking another look because the security of nuclear power plants is something we take very seriously.

BRIAN JENKINS, TERROR EXPERT: I looked at these. They were extraordinarily impressive.

MESERVE: Terror expert Brian Jenkins does not believe Portsline or CNN is telling terrorists anything they don't already know. They have used online satellite imagery to plane the Mumbai attacks last November, for example. Although the nuclear industry has spent $2 billion improving security since 9/11, Jenkins believes the images of the plants should be blurred.

JENKINS : Mystery is an important component of security. This takes away that uncertainty. If I were on the defending side, I certainly would not want to see anything that detailed available to anyone.

MESERVE (on-camera): Chemical plants, national monuments, all kinds of potential targets are also captured on satellite and aerial imagery and can be called up on a computer with just a few clicks of a mouse. And every case raises the question, how do you balance public information against security?

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: The return to Buchenwald. Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Weisel was rescued from the concentration camp. Today he examines whether the world has really changed.

(COMMERCIAL BERAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I want to particularly say this to young people of every faith in every country. You, more than anyone, have the ability to reimagine the world. To remake this world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, that was President Obama yesterday challenging young people during his speech from Cairo, Egypt. You know, Nicole Lapin, she's with us just about every day. And you help me stay dialled in.

NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I try. It's a tough task.

HARRIS: It is a tough task. To what young people are saying and what they're doing. You took a trip to Egypt recently. And you took a camera...

LAPIN: I did.

HARRIS: ... best of all. So, I'm curious as to what you expected before taking the trip and what you heard from young people in Egypt.

LAPIN: It's so interesting. I didn't know what to expect. As a young American, I didn't know if young Arabs would hate me, how they would treat me. And I brought that camera and we talked about this before I went. And you told me, "Don't plan for this story."

HARRIS: Right.

LAPIN: And I hate to say this, but you were right. You were absolutely right. A group of young Egyptians invited me to their house for some tea and for some cake, and all of a sudden they just started talking about stereo types in the Middle East. So I started rolling.

HARRIS: Terrific.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HAZEM HUSSEIN HELAL, EGYPTIAN: Honestly, there is a guy who said to me, "Everyone of you have a camel? And does each one of you have your own permits?" And then I said, "How does we each one have an Internet connection? I said, it's something magical, sorcery."

(END VIDEO TAPE) LAPIN: They were saying, yes, they don't ride camels, they wear bikinis, they're not terrorists, and they like Americans. And a lot of them wanted to come here and live here. So, I thought we'd continue this conversation with a buddy of mine who has written extensively about this in a book called "Children of Jihad." He's also one of the youngest members of the planning staff at the State Department.

HARRIS: OK.

LAPIN: So, he's a big deal. Jerry Cohen joins us live from Washington. Good to see you.

JERRY COHEN, AUTHOR, "CHILDREN OF JIHAD": Good to see you, Nicole.

LAPIN: You have traveled extensively to the Middle East. Before you were in government, I know you spent a lot of time with all sorts of young people, even extremist groups, as a nice, young Jewish boy from Connecticut. I know you had a similar reaction that I did. What surprised you most?

COHEN: I think my reaction was very similar to yours, Nicole, in that I'm a Jewish kid from Connecticut. I traveled all throughout the Middle East, didn't know exactly what to expect. But I went in openminded, and I engaged with young people based on their youth identity, not based on their religion, not based on their ethnicity, not based on their nationality, but a common denominator that we're basically the same age, we like doing the same things, we enjoy the same recreational indulgences. And because of that, we were able to build a real trust.

LAPIN: Like girls?

HARRIS: Did you say girls?

LAPIN: I -- It's in his book. Young people, Jerry, make up 60 percent of this reason. This could, let's get real, this could be the biggest opportunity for peace in the region, right?

COHEN: I think it's absolutely the biggest opportunity. As you mentioned, youth are 60 percent of Muslim communities around the world. Not only is this the world's largest demographic, but they're the ones who are the most similar to us, they're the ones who are the most connected through new technology, and also on that last point, this is an unbelievably important moment in time in that this is the first generation that has connected digitally through Internet and satellite TV and mobile phones the way that they are.

LAPIN: Yes. Once you get Tony into that, then we can work on the Middle East. We have seen select images, let's be honest, from Iran. But you were there, you have a different image of that country. What did you see when you were there?

COHEN: This was before I was in government. But one of the things that I found is that young Iranians are more similar to us as young Americans than most people would imagine. Again, the easiest way for me to engage in a conversation about -- with young Iranians to basically find the many things we do in common, whether it's sports, music, common set of issues we like to talk about.

But it's also very important when I was there that I realized a lot of young Iranians feel like we have certain stereotypes of them in America, but likewise in America we have certain stereotypes that we assume they have of us. And the best solution you can possibly imagine for this is the same kind of people that people exchange that you engage with in Egypt and I experienced before I was in government and now that I'm in government, it's an experience that we need to bring to as many Americans and as many different people throughout the world as possible. And today we have the opportunity to do that.

LAPIN: You know, Jerry, I want to bring up this poll really quickly. Tony, you've seen this. It shows the number of Americans with an unfavorable view of Islamic countries is up. It's now 46 percent unfavorable, compared to 41 percent after the 9/11 attacks. So how do you and I, how does our generation change that?

COHEN: Well, I think it is all of our responsibilities as youth. Nobody understands youth better than they understand themselves. But in order to understand youth outside of your comfort zone, you need to be willing to click the mouse, tap the keyboard, and engage with a young person outside the usual set of individuals that you interact with.

And again, with things like Facebook and Skype and cell phones and the variety of other different digital media outlets, you have the opportunity to engage at your fingertips. That was something that was not the case five years ago or even two years ago. And we need young Americans to take on the responsibility to engage. To be openminded and to click that mouse and to tap that keyboard.

LAPIN: There you go. Live from Washington. Tony, you have to do that, as well, just underscoring what we heard from the president there that the under-30 generation in the Islamic world is the best hope for us.

HARRIS: Thanks for bringing him to us.

LAPIN: You're welcome.

HARRIS: He's one of the young people --

LAPIN: He was, he was featured last year. And we'll put it on the blog, as well.

HARRIS: Awesome. Thanks, Nicole.

You know, dozens of worshippers, killed, wounded when a suicide bomber strikes during Friday prayers. We will bring you a live report on the attack in Pakistan. That's next hour.

Plus, picture this, Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor hanging like a pinata. A sombrero-clad President Obama handing out bats for Republicans to take a swing at her. That's the cartoon image that's got many pretty fired up. I-reporter looks at all sides of the controversy.

And find out why and what Anita Hill has to say about the first Latino nominated to the Supreme Court. He'll talk to "Essense" magazine. The magazine's editor will join us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: The wounds of war and the scars of history. Right now, President Obama is on his way to the Ramstein Air Base and a visit with wounded U.S. troops at Lanshuel (ph) medical center in Germany.

Within the past hour, the president paid a solemn visit to the former Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald. He said the site had not lost their horror with the passage of time. Frederick Pleitgen takes us inside the memorial.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PLEITGEN(voice-over): More than 250,000 prisoners were held here at Buchenwald under appalling conditions. Used as slave workers by the Nazis, finally freed by advancing U.S. forces in 1945.

ZEEV FACTOR, BUCHENWALD SURVIVOR: American Army arrived to the camp, it was around 12:00 midday, and we didn't have even the power to bring up our joy at the moment that we were looking for since many years.

PLEITGEN(voice-over): Among those troops, president Obama's grand- uncle, Charlie Pane, an infantryman.

JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: On a spring day, that great-uncle helped liberate one of the concentration camps at Buchenwald. Ladies and gentlemen, Barack Obama's uncle is here tonight. Please join me in saluting this American hero, Charlie Payne.

PLEITGEN: It was the first major camp liberated by Allied forces as they swept across the remnants of Nazi Germany. In interviews, Panye says he was shocked to see inmates starved to the bone, barely clinging to life.

More than 50,000 died here, Jew, gypsies, communists and others. Most of the bodies were burned in the ovens that you see here. This is the crematorium at Buchenwald. Experts say it was usually in operation day and night.

The president's visit to the camp is special for the survivors, says the director of the Buchenwald memorial.

VOLKHARDT KNIGGE, DIRECTOR, BUCHENWALD MEMORIAL: They see him, in a way, as a grandson as far as politics are concerned. They hope that he has the chance to go on with it. For them, Buchenwald is a place where democracy has been reborn.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): A special day for the president, as well, as he walks in the foot steps of his grand-uncle to a place that now serves both as a memorial and a warning that such persecution must never happen again. (END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: One of the most moving moments during President Obama's visit to Buchenwald was the remarks from Holocaust survivors Elie Wiesel. The Nobel Peace Prize winner spoke about watching his father die at that concentration camp.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIE WIESEL, BUCHENWALD SURVIVOR: These were some of the darkest in my life. Became sick, weak, and I was there. I was there when he suffered, I was there when he asked for help, for water. I was there to receive his last words. But I was not there when he called for me, although we were in the same block. He on the upper bed and I on the lower bed. He called my name, and I was too afraid to move. All of us were.

And then he died. I was there, but I was not there. And I thought one day we'd come back and speak to him and tell him of the world that has become mine. Strangely enough, times at which memory has become a sacred beauty of all people, of goodwill in America, where I live or in Germany, where you, Chancellor Merkel, are a leader with great courage and moral aspirations.

What I can tell him, that the world has learned? I am not so sure. Mr. President, we have such high hopes for you because with your model vision of history, you will be able and compelled to change this world into a better place. That people will stop waging war. Every war is absurd and meaningless. That people will stop hating one another, that people will hate the otherness of the other rather than respect it. But the world hasn't learned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Let's talk about our CNN Hero this week. Reported chases of child rape have certainly surged in the nation of Zimbabwe, prompting the U.N. to launch an awareness campaign to stop it. But one woman has taken matters quite literally into her own hands. Her name is Betty McCone (ph) and she is today's CNN Hero.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN news.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He shoved me to the ground and covered my mouth with his hand. When the rape ordeal was over, he wiped me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Zimbabwe, young girls are raped because of the myth that virgins cure HIV and AIDS.

BETTY MCCONE (ph): Ten girls a day, they are raped. They are needing advocates to help them break silence

I formed this organization that rescues girls from abuse. I was sexually abused (INAUDIBLE) and also lost my mother (INAUDIBLE). After my mother died from domestic violence, I told myself that no girl or woman would suffer the same again.

I started religious group provide a safe place for girls there from abuse. When a girl gets to the villages, she's provided with emergency medication, reinstated in the schooling, as well as counseling. This gives them the confidence to transform from the guilt to leader.

This is (INAUDIBLE) always something I wanted to do. This gives me fulfillment in myself every day.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: And of course, if you would like more information on Betty McCone's Girl Child Network or if you'd like to nominate your own CNN hero, just logon to CNN.com/heroes.