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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Re-Elected in Iran: Tensions Running High; President Obama Talking Health Care This Weekend; Nuclear Warning From North Korea; Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavor Canceled Due to Hydrogen Leak
Aired June 13, 2009 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, hello to you all, folks. CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia for this Saturday June 13th. Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for starting you day with us.
We do have some breaking news out of Iran to tell you about, where incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has officially been declared the winner of the presidential election. Post-election tensions, well, they are running high at this hour.
A reformist challenger had been expected to do well in the presidential race. That was due to the outpouring of support in recent rallies. But just a short time ago, election officials declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner by nearly two to one. And the challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi says blatant violations have taken place.
CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour has been out on the streets of Tehran today where supporters of Mousavi are just outraged at the turn of events. We spoke with her just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIANE AMAPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There was a crowd of supporters outside, and we watched as they were dispersed, and we moved along with them, and how this sort of spontaneous protest kind of grew and more and more people came out to join and more and more -- they've got more and more walkers, and then the riot police and other security forces came out.
What we know, though, is that Mr. Mousavi has issued an open letter. It's on his website to the people of Iran, in which he, again congratulated them for coming out, but basically complained that the vote of the people has been manipulated by the establishment. He called it cheating.
And so this is adding to the very charged atmosphere here as people come out to say they we do not believe the results that we have been given officially.
Another of the candidates, one of the reformist candidates, the only cleric in race, also come out with a statement questioning, in his words, the strange election and the results.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: There was some thought and even some hope that a new leader in Iran might have helped calm relations with the U.S. But those hopes may be shot now, now that Ahmadinejad appears seems to have been the winner.
Elaine Quijano live for us this morning from the White House. Elaine, good morning. Are we getting reaction yet from the administration about what's happening in Iran?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning T.J. No reaction just yet. We are waiting to hear back from aides. So we should also mention that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is at Niagara Falls for an event, and she's expected to be giving remarks this hour. So we'll keep an ear on those, T.J., as well.
But President Obama himself was asked about the Iranian elections yesterday. He did make some comments. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are excited to see what appears to be a robust debate taking place in Iran. And obviously, after the speech that I made in Cairo, we tried to send a clear message that we think there is the possibility of change. And, you know, ultimately the election is for the Iranians to decide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, the president went on to say that regardless of outcome, he said the fact that there's even been a robust debate at all mean, at least he hopes it means that the United States is going to have an easier time, T.J., engaging with the Iranians in new ways -- T.J.?
HOLMES: All right. We'll keep an eye on international affairs. Still, a free, robust domestic agenda as well and talking health care, he will be, the president this weekend.
QUIJANO: That's exactly right. The president today, in fact, in his weekly web address announced a new proposal when it comes to health care. The president said that he wants to cut $313 billion from Medicare and Medicaid. Those are, of course, the two programs that are the government's two largest when it comes to health care. They cover millions of Americans, elderly and low-income American.
The president talking about this $313 billion savings over ten year, but not going into specifics. What the president did say is that he would like to look at cutting back on payments to prescription drug makers, hospitals, and health care providers.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: These savings will come from common sense changes. For example, if more Americans are insured, we can cut payments that help hospitals treat patients without health insurance. If the drug makers pay their fair share, we can cut government spending on prescription drugs.
And if doctors have incentives to provide the best care instead of more care, we can help Americans avoid the unnecessary hospital stays, treatments, and tests that drive up costs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: So as the White House looks to try and get a health care reform deal done this year, the White House is saying that this proposal. combined with some earlier proposed cuts means saving some $950 billion.
The problem, some outside experts say, is any kind of health care overhaul, T.J., will cost upwards of a trillion dollars. So the debate in Washington still going on.
HOLMES: As it often does there in Washington. Elaine Quijano for us from a White House. Thank you so much.
NGUYEN: We do have some other international news to tell you about. A nuclear warning now from North Korea, saying they are enriching uranium and planning to weaponize all of their plutonium. Now this morning comes in response to new sanctioned approved by the United Nations yesterday.
North Korea had said it would react strongly if it were punished for nuclear and missile tests. Well, of course, months ago we heard reports North Korea would start the enrichment process. We also have to remember that North Korea has no proven, effective way to deliver nuclear weapons now even if they do develop them.
HOLMES: The space shuttle Endeavour going nowhere today. A hydrogen leak forcing NASA to cancel this morning's planned launch. NASA management will meet tomorrow to decide what to do next. The earliest possible for them to try another launch would be on Wednesday.
NGUYEN: The weather didn't play a role in that not taking off today, but it did play a role in a lot of folks having to clean up in the southeast.
Reynolds Wolfe has been watching for us. Reynolds, have those storms just blown through or is there more to come?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You, my friend, are talking about Memphis. You're talking about the rough stuff they had. It looks like Memphis will get a break right now, but into the afternoon they could see more storms develop.
Let's go right into our video that we have from the Memphis area, where they just got pummeled, especially yesterday afternoon. They had the torrential rain, they had the strong winds. They had the tree damage was everywhere.
Over 120,000 people without power this morning. Some of them may not get power back on for weeks. So certainly rough times from, say, Memphis all the way over to Mud Island back over to Pickwick Dam near Shiloh National Military Park, it's going to be a rough time there.
But now the roughest weather in the nation actually occurring through parts of Mississippi and Alabama. We are going to drop away a little bit and show you what's happening here in Alabama.
Here's I-65, you've got part of I-20, from Meridian back to Birmingham, we've got some strong storms developing, some about to go into green county to Chilton County before the morning's out.
Back into central Mississippi has been awfully rough. Birmingham has been pummeled by two large cells that have gone right past red mountain. So certainly some rough times for downtown Birmingham. You'll have rough times there with the strong storms.
Now, rough weather also expected later on today for the central, southern plains, also into the foothills of the Rocky Mountains,mainly between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00. We're talking late afternoon, early evening hours.
Scattered showers possible also for you in parts of the northeast with high temperatures in Boston and New York, mainly to the low 70s, 89 in Miami, 93 in Tampa, 57 in San Francisco, 68 in L.A.
And Betty, take a look that. Mercy me, going up into the 90s once again in Dallas with the high humidity. You know exactly what that means. It's going to be just brutal.
NGUYEN: My goodness.
WOLF: Exactly.
NGUYEN: You know where you can cool off? Niagara Falls.
WOLF: Yes.
NGUYEN: That was first on your mind, wasn't it?
WOLF: Always is.
NGUYEN: I mentioned that because we are going to give you live pictures right now taking you straight to Niagara Falls for the 100th anniversary of the Boundary Waters Treaty and at rainbow ridge.
And T.J. has got a lot of information on this one.
HOLMES: Actually, we have both heard this. And you may think what is the world is that? This is recognized, this treaty you are talking about, 100 years old, recognized the world's first environmental agreement and a model of bi-national government. It's really an agreement between Canada and the U.S. and their joint stewardship of the boundary of waters. There we see, you get a live picture now of the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. We are actually going to stand by. We're actually going to keep an eye on this, I should tell you.
We just wanted to bring you the live picture, expecting maybe, maybe, she might make some comments about what we've been seeing develop in Iran with the president there, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seemingly winning reelection. But now some issues about possibly whether or not that vote was legit by the challenger.
So we'll key an eye on all things. Of course, if she says something, we'll bring it to you.
NGUYEN: But a really nice ceremony taking place there. The 100th anniversary of Niagara Fall. The Boundary Water Treaty, I should say, specifically.
As we move on, it's not just your imagination. Yes, the gas prices, they are accelerating. Find out why straight ahead.
HOLMES: Also, being president has a perk or, two. But are the Obamas going too far with their date nights? Going here and there, some of the jet setting.
We've got two people who want to debate this issue that a lot of people are actually talking about. If you have an opinion, which I know you do, we'd like to hear that. Here's how you can get a hold of us and possibly get your comment on air. Get a hold of Betty now. The debate goes on, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Folks are driving less and filling up less. So why are gas prices going up? CNN's Christine Romans tells us now. It has a lot to do with the programs that have put in place to help the economy recover. And that can mean more pain down the road.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you fill up the gas tank, you buy more than just gasoline. You're buying expectations about the economy and anxiety over all the bailouts.
KEVIN KERR, COMMODITY ANALYST: It's absolutely vital to understand that this weak dollar that we've been seeing, not only from the fear of future inflation, but, of course, all the money that the Fed has been printing, that has weakened the dollar further.
And as the dollar continues to drop, you'll see all commodities, especially energy and metals climb.
ROMANS: That's right. You can blame at least partly government bailouts.
Here's why -- investors are nervous about all the money the U.S. is borrowing to pay for the auto bailouts, bank rescues, stimulus efforts, and tax cuts. All of those debts can hurt the value of the dollar and spark inflation or higher prices down the road.
That makes oil and commodity more expensive even though demand for gas is down. Yet gas prices are rising anyway. Barely a month ago, the government said $2.30 would be the peak for the summer. Wrong. Gas prices raced through there with barely a look back.
At $60 a barrel, few worried about oil prices hurting those delicate green shoots of economic growth. Now crude oil prices have topped $71 a barrel, the highest in eight months.
Goldman Sachs raised its target to $85 by the end of the year. And there are real fears about what higher energy prices will do to battered consumers.
PETER BEUTEL, CAMERON HANOVER: As prices rise they do take money out of consumers' pockets. They raise the specter of inflation, which makes interest rates higher, and that hurts the economy.
ROMANS: He says every ten cents in gas price increases is $40 million a day out of consumers' wallets.
Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. We want to get you a quick update right now on a breaking news story that we have been following for you all morning long -- supporters of an Iranian opposition candidate in an uproar right now over official voting results.
HOLMES: Yes. The Iranian government declared this morning that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won reelection by a nearly two to one margin.
But even before those results were announced, presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi said they were blatant violations of the voting process. Mousavi's supporters took to the streets in Tehran today, you see some of the video here, chanting "We want our votes back."
There have been no reports, however, of violence this morning.
NGUYEN: We'll continue to follow that for you throughout the day, because it is breaking at this moment. And there is more to come.
HOLMES: And our CNN hero, we love those CNN heroes, and another one, they all have some kind of commitment to talk about. But listen to this one, a woman sold her home. She drastically cut her budget, gave up her tips so children a world away to get a decent education. That is this morning's hero. She is coming up.
NGUYEN: And desperate times call for desperate measures. So house hunters, they are turning to safaris. We're going to show you how they're shopping for deals Vegas-style. HOLMES: Also, the Obamas are the most glamorous first family that we have seen in some time. Many would say that is not necessarily a good thing in a recession. The great Obama date-night debate is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: For many immigrants, a car and a home symbolize the American dream, a sign of accomplishment after years of hard work.
So when Lidia Schaefer chose to give it all up, she puzzled a lot of people. But what she did with her money is what make herself a CNN "hero."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN News.
LIDIA SCHAEFER, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN: See you next month.
Understand. I love my job. I get to talk to different people. I work out of Washington, D.C., but I'm from Ethiopia.
When I go home to visit, it's so different. These children, they are really hungry to learn. They have to walk three hours to go to school. One of the schoolgirls was walking the last child. She got killed by a hyena. I know I have to do something.
My name is Lidia Schaefer. I built a school for my village in Ethiopia. I was working two days for the school, four days for me, saving my tips.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She made huge sacrifices. She sold her home. All of those just are not important.
SCHAEFER: 2006, the school was finished. We have 16 classrooms, library, laboratory.
It is not beautiful, but it's good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because of Lidia, now I am continuing my education, which is a good chance for me. I am grateful to Lydia.
SCHAEFER: Seeing them learn feels really good. I don't feel like I give up a lot. I really work with my heart.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Betty loves this song. We are talking about the first family now, some say living a glamorous life, living the life. They had a romantic night in Paris not long ago. They had dinner at one of D.C.'s four star restaurants. The world's most expensive helicopter ride, a lot of people would say to Broadway in New York. "Vogue" cover shots.
But all that glamour, is it over the top, or just fine as long as the president takes care of more pressing matters out there, you know, like the economy.
We put the go two giants of talk radio, Lars Larson, conservative talk show host of the "Lars Larson Show," and Stephanie Miller, the liberal syndicated host of "The Stephanie Miller Show."
Good morning to you both. I know you are quite familiar with each other, so this ought to be good.
So tell us here, and again, nobody's suggesting here, Lars that this taking away from his day job, necessarily. So what is your problem with this man having the commitment to his wife and to his family and still enjoying his life?
LARS LARSON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, we all know this isn't the most serious issue in the world, but I have no problem with him taking his wife out on the date. I think he should pay the cost.
And I think it's symbolism more than anything else. In all seriousness, we all saw those idiot auto executives show up in private jets hat in hand to say we need to borrow money, which is kind of a dumb thing to do. And we agreed on that at the tile.
It's also dumb for a president who is leaving us trillions of dollars into new debt to use the company jet to take his wife on a date. He's a millionaire.
HOLMES: Good lord -- Stephanie, please, I hear you laughing. You want to go ahead and get in there. But, I mean, he doesn't have the option. He can't just say I'm going fly jet blue somewhere. This stuff ...
LARSON: He can get a cab.
STEPHANIE MILLER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: You're right, Lars. He absolutely should have taken a greyhound. I wouldn't worry about security or anything.
Are you kidding me? You know, T.J. this family values Republicans that have been lecturing us for years, I think they're startled to see actual family values, people that actually want to spend time with their first wife and their kids. That's what this is.
HOLMES: Lars, wouldn't you agree there that part of the job of the president and first lady is to set an example, and part of that is to set a good example at home. Isn't that what he's doing?
LARSON: It's a great example to take your wife out on a date. And if he'd have taken her over to the, say, the Kennedy center, that would have been fine.
But taking a private jet to New York just to do this. If he done it in connection with an official function, no big deal. But in this case, $25,000, $50,000, whatever the cost to the taxpayers, seems a bit extravagant, unless he's paying for it himself.
And as I said, Barack Obama is a millionaire. He can pay the tab himself. Why shouldn't he?
HOLMES: Stephanie ...
MILLER: Oh, please.
HOLMES: Go ahead. I don't have to ask a question.
MILLER: Please. Come on. Is this all you guys got, Lars, on the right? And I don't know if you guys are married guys, but you try breaking a promise like that to your wife. That's a campaign promise he couldn't ...
LARSON: I take my wife out on dates all the time, but I don't expect the radio station to pay for it.
HOLMES: But in that regard, Stephanie ...
MILLER: He's the president of the United States. Seriously, is this the kind of small ball you guys are going to play for four years?
(CROSSTALK)
MILLER: He can walk and chew gum. He can -- just because we had a president who couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time ...
HOLMES: Oh, now, that's mean.
MILLER: Actually can solve problems.
HOLMES: Listen, I will tell you what, Stephanie, if I ask Compass Media to fly my wife and I in a private jet to New York City for a date, I can tell exactly what you Peter Kosein would tell me.
HOLMES: OK. On that point there, guys.
MILLER: You're not president.
HOLMES: Yes, you're not president. But on that point there, Lars and Stephanie, if he takes however much you said it cost him to take this trip to New York, isn't he single-handedly stimulating the economy in a lot of ways by going to this play a lot of people have interest in? And he goes to a restaurant, and the place has to expand almost. Isn't he still being a goodwill ambassador in a lot of ways and stimulating the economy all on his own?
MILLER: Yes. I've said we could get out of this entire recession just by selling Obama chochkys. The Obama chochky business is the only one that is still doing well.
HOLMES: Lars, are you buying that?
LARSON: No. And I guess we can put more czars in until he has more than the Romanovs. And if we check all their background taxes, we can get them to pay up and we'll solve the federal deficit tomorrow.
HOLMES: All right. Well, Stephanie, let me, to this point, does it at least, whether you agree with it or not, does it at least look bad to see -- I mean a lot of people are hurting and hurtle vitally at this time. But just to see the image of their president jet setting, a night in Paris, to be seemingly giving a glamorous life. Does it at least send kind of a questionable signal?
MILLER: Oh, T.J., first of all, I love this. People said he was vacationing. He was sightseeing in Paris. He was there for the D- Day. He was working. He was not on vacation. You're going to begrudge a man taking his wife and kids to see some things in Paris when he's there working, representing the United States of America? And, by the way, making great strides.
LARSON: Think of all the money he save by avoiding that side trip to Israel, too? He saved all that cash as well.
MILLER: You're really going to begrudge a guy sight-seeing with his wife and kids while -- George Bush took more vacations than any president in recent memory. He was not on vacation. He was working.
HOLMES: All right. Well, I'm glad we could reach a consensus this morning. We've got that all worked out, guys.
Stephanie Miller, Lars Larsen, good to see you all, as always. I'm glad you all are familiar with each other as you are. You might have been taking some of that stuff personally, but, thank you for being here this morning and the debate will go on.
MILLER: We're not.
HOLMES: You guys have a good one.
LARSON: You bet,
HOLMES: Take care.
NGUYEN: That's some good stuff. In fact, you weighing in as well.
And no consensus here on our Twitter, Facebook site either. Let me take you to my Twitter site first. It says, "Maybe Obama could tone it down a little bit, but the media stalks their dates. And how many vacations did Bush take? Please."
Quickly, at my Facebook site, Mike Ringgold says "Date night? Not sure I can even do that. Taxes eat up my date money."
And then Vicky Rudgear says "I think it's great that the president and first lady have a date night. Why do people have to make a big deal out of it? Aren't there more important things people can talk about and debate?"
It seems like a lot of people are definitely talking about this. Depending on what side you're on, it seems like people definitely want to weigh in.
HOLMES: Everybody has questions, even when they say, isn't there something else to talk about? But let me give my opinion.
NGUYEN: Right, exactly. Who cares, but this is how I feel.
HOLMES: This is how I feel. And that is understandable. We appreciate the opinions. And, again, it's not the end the world there, but there is still the debate that is out there. We thought it was worth at least sharing people's ...
NGUYEN: And I have a feeling there will be more date nights ...
HOLMES: Of course, and there should be. There should be.
NGUYEN: All right. We also want your thoughts, though, about Sarah Palin's battle with David Letterman. I'm sure you've heard about this. Did his joke about her daughter go too far, or is the governor too thin-skinned? First you'll want to hear what she had to say to our own Wolf Blitzer.
HOLMES: Also, what did former President Bush have to say before falling to earth? We'll talk with a woman who took the plunge with him yesterday, that HLN's Robin Meade.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, we do have some breaking news today. The elections have been announced in Iran, and it appears Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the newly elected, reelected, I should say, president of Iran.
HOLMES: Yes. This has come as a surprise, certainly to those who were supporting one of his opponents who thought they had pretty good steam heading into Election Day.
But when the vote comes out, it turns, at least according to Iranian officials, that he has won in a landslide. Our Christiane Amanpour is there for us. Christiane, you have been seeing a lot today.
Give us an update. You were down there with a lot of people who were upset about the election results. Give us the status there. What are people doing right about now?
AMANPOUR: Well, they're still demonstrating and protesting this election result downtown. We were right in the thick of it, when it looked like spontaneously young people came out on to the streets, both girls and boys, men and women, and started to protest, to march, to wave the "V" for victory sign that has been meaning emblematic of the Mousavi campaign, because their frustration now has boiled over and it is running through the street.
They say they do not accept the election results that have given the president, Ahmadinejad, a two to one victory over their candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. Back to you. HOLMES: And Christiane, tell us, I guess, what's next? I guess what options do they have if they are upset about the election results? Can these election results be challenged?
AMANPOUR: Well, it's been very interesting, because for a long, long time the official -- election officials at the Interior Ministry did not come out and give actually the official, final result until about an hour or so ago, just over an hour or so ago, in which they finally confirmed that Ahmadinejad, they said, won 24 million votes to 13 million for Mousavi.
And then from the letter from the supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, who congratulated the people of Iran on their historic turnout and on reelecting of the president with 24 million votes. And that is taken here amongst officials as the final word on it.
It remains to be seen whether the people will accept that as the final word. Already, Mousavi and one of the other rivals of Ahmadinejad, the cleric, also running as a reformer, has written open letters saying that they do not accept the legitimacy of this result. They call it cheating, manipulation by the establishment, said, Mousavi, and, again, they don't accept it.
The people came out. It was, as far as being spontaneous. There were scores and scores of riot police deployed. They charged the people. The people charged back. They charged again. We didn't see too much violence. But we did see them then gather and march and go all the way down one of the main archeries of Tehran, which was the scene of a pre-election rally where they formed a human chain along 17 kilometers.
In any event, there carrying all sorts of Mousavie campaign posters, the green bandannas, the green attached to their fingers, and shouting, "Down with the dictatorship. Long live democracy. Mousavi, get back our vote for me." And they were saying that they, again, questioned and did not accept this election result.
So this is going to be very interesting to see how these young people and what they have for the stomach for in the next several days with those riot police out on the streets in force.
NGUYEN: Very quickly, Christiane. Despite the protests in the streets, despite the election results, any word at all this morning from Mousavi? Is he going to be coming out to speak to the people?
AMANPOUR: Well, you know, this is where it all started. We were told that there was going to be a Mousavi press conference very early this afternoon. And that's where we all turned up. There was a crowd of supporters, only for all of us to be disbursed, saying that this wasn't going to happen and that it had been cancelled.
So everybody started walking away. And as people started walking away through traffic and on a thoroughfare, on a highway, they reached part of the town, the crossroads, and that's where more and more people started to join.
And it just looked like spontaneously people were coming out, and they joined the demonstration. And as the demonstration then started to move down the main avenue and the main artery, the marchers recording on all these other hundreds and thousands people who were lining the roads, looking out from their balconies, their roofs, and shouting and cheering.
And the marchers were saying, come join us, come join us. So we're not sure, because Mousavi has not addressed the people, even though the marchers have been shouting for him to get their vote back. And we also know that the police have issued a proclamation saying that people cannot be on the streets gathering in any kind of numbers, or anything like that. So, it is a tense moment. We'll wait and see how it's played out.
Meantime, President Ahmadinejad is about to apparently in the next several hours address the nation, since he has been delivered a victory by the election officials. He also plans to have a celebration, we're told. And, of course, some of his main support were in the provinces and in the rural areas, the less affluent amongst the more religious and the traditional -- Betty?
NGUYEN: CNN's Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour joining us live today. We'll be checking in with her throughout the morning. Thank you, Christiane.
HOLMES: Well, another major story this morning with international implications, North Korea. North Korea, that country promised a strong reaction to new U.N. sanctions over their nuclear and missile tests. So here is that reaction. North Korea now says they will weaponize all their plutonium. That's pretty serious, and we've heard it before.
But something we didn't hear before that we are not used to hearing from them is that they'll also enrich uranium, giving them another option for possibly developing a nuclear weapon.
Earlier today I talked on the phone with CNN Senior International Correspondent John Vause, who put the threat in the perspective.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Back in January, the North Koreans made it known that they are weaponizing their stockpile plutonium. In April this year they let it be known that they actually had this uranium enrichment program. We've always known about the plutonium program at the Pyongyang.
In April, they said in response to a condemnation by the U.N. Security Council after that rocket launches, they would begin a uranium enrichment program. And also, there have been threats of acts of war f their vessels are intercepted by U.S. or Chinese ships that inspect material which could be used for their missile or nuclear program.
So the key point in all this, though, T.J., just because North Korea says they are going to do something, it doesn't actually mean they're going to be doing or that they are even capable of doing it.
In 2006 they said their rocket launch was a complete and total success. Well, the reality is, it went straight back down to ground 40 seconds after liftoff. It was another disaster.
And even in April this year, the rocket launch, which they said was a satellite being put in space, once again, claimed it as being a complete success. Well, U.S. intelligence never detected another orbit, another satellite, rather, in orbit.
So the North Koreans tend to gild the lily about these things, tend to over-exaggerate their capability. This is what intelligence officials will look at now. What they're saying, what they're capable of, and what it actually all really means in the long run.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: It was a busy weekend at Guantanamo Bay prison. Nine detainees transferred from the facility this week, part of a drive by the White House who shut the facility down by next year.
But finding a home for the inmates, well, that's not going to be easy. A secret deal that relocated four Chinese Muslims to Bermuda coming under heavy some criticism. China calls the men terrorists and is demanding their extradition.
Two of them denied that accusation in an exclusive interview with CNN's Don Lemon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When people say that you're a terrorist, how do you respond to that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am no terrorist. I have not been a terrorist. I will never be a terrorist. I am a peaceful person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The United Kingdom says the U.S. crossed the line by not informing them, because Bermuda is a British territory. You can watch the rest of the exclusive interview with Don Lemon on CNN NEWSROOM. That is at 10:00 p.m. Eastern tonight.
HOLMES: All right. Sarah Palin, she got used to being the butt of a lot of jokes during campaign time. But don't mess with her daughters. Our Wolf Blitzer gets her take on the feud with late show host David Letterman.
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NGUYEN: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin still hung up on a few things funnyman David Letterman said. Should she be?
HOLMES: Well -- the kids are off limits, a lot of people would say here. Letterman cracked what she called "sexually suggestive jokes" about one of her daughters on his show Tuesday night. Now she is demanding an apology for young women across the country.
Governor explained her irritation to CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. SARAH PALIN, (R-AK) FORMER VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It goes beyond, though, David Letterman crude, sexist, perverted joke about a 14-year-old girl being quote/unquote "knocked up by Alex Rodriguez." I think he's like 30 some years old. That's pretty perverted. But it goes beyond that. Not just that joke, but this insinuation that it's OK, it's acceptable to talk like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, Letterman, again, made that joke. He was joking about the younger daughter, not talking about the older one we saw during the campaign who had the baby.
NGUYEN: He said he was talking about the older one, but the one at the game that night with her was the younger one. So that is the 14-year-old, Willow. And that's the one Sarah Palin really, I mean, she is going to take issue with both of her daughters, but especially with that daughter, because she is a minor.
HOLMES: And the joke essentially was she was knocked up by ...
NGUYEN: A-Rod.
HOLMES: A-Rod during the game. So, he admitted the following night that the joke was in poor taste, insisted, again, insisted he was trying to make a joke about the 18-year-old, not the 14. Like that makes it a lot better.
NGUYEN: Exactly. And Sarah Palin says, either way, he should apologize to all young women. We want to find out what you think about this. You've been weighing in, really, as soon as it happened. Starting to get stuff on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
Let me take you quickly to my page. And Kimberly says, "I think it was a low blow and a stupid joke. It was far from being funny at all. It was just outright mean and distasteful."
And despite what you think about Sarah Palin a lot of the comments especially on my site, Facebook and Twitter say, he shouldn't have said it. But some people even agree that they thought it was funny even though it was distasteful. So people were weighing in on all sides of this.
But let us know what you think. She is obviously still responding to that. The joke was said a little bit earlier, this week, and it is still making news.
HOLMES: And it continues. He said it was in poor taste, so that was a bit of an apology there.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
HOLMES: So, unfortunate.
NGUYEN: All right, well, let's move on to this. Let's talk about your money, because Las Vegas bets on a new kind of house hunt to save it's dismal real-estate market.
HOLMES: Also, a lot of people pay hundreds of thousands for their home, and they park their car at that home. Well, someone just paid $300,000 to park the car, but there's no home attached to it. We are talking about a parking spot, folks, that somebody paid $300,000 for.
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NGUYEN: All right. So Las Vegas has one of the worst housing markets in the nation. Foreclosures are up while home prices are down. And some say you can even get a house for the price of a car.
So to find out, I took a trip to Vegas to see if these deals really exist. Take a look.
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NGUYEN: This is no ordinary tour bus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was originally listed at ...
NGUYEN: These perspective home buyers are looking for some of the best deals in the country. Realtor Jennifer Martin is their tour guide.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been on the market for 142 days.
NGUYEN: Martin calls this her foreclosure safari. It's a hunt through one of the nation's worst housing markets, Las Vegas. First stop, an 1800 square foot home in a gated community now priced at $93,000.
NIKKI CORDA, PROSPECTIVE BUYER: I really love the high ceilings. It's amazing that places are going for such deals right now. It's really amazing.
NGUYEN: Better be, or Jessica Thomas isn't interested. Check out her price change.
JESSICA THOMAS, PROSPECTIVE BUYER: Cheap. Car cheap.
NGUYEN (on camera): Car cheap? What does that mean?
THOMAS: It means I'm not going to pay more for a house than I would pay for a car right now.
NGUYEN (voice-over): By that, she's talking $25,000 or less. Might be difficult.
Next stop, a home that was once listed for $255,000. House hunter Ciara Byrne is impressed by today's price.
CIARA BYRNE, PROSPECTIVE BUYER: This place here is $109,000, and, you know, it's almost 1,400 square feet. There is no way you could get that, I don't think, anywhere in America, certainly not in a big city.
NGUYEN: There are a lot of reports saying that Vegas is the best market, the cheapest market to buy a home. Is that a reality?
JENNIFER MARTIN, REALTOR: It is, yes, because we're number one in the nation for foreclosures. Banks are in competition with themselves, so they've got to reducing and reducing until somebody buys it.
NGUYEN: And that's made some places dirt cheap, even car cheap. Remember Jessica? Well, this is what she can get for $25,000.
THOMAS: I wasn't sure what we going to find, but this is a pretty big place.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. This place is huge.
NGUYEN (on camera): Is it better than you imagined it would look like?
THOMAS: Yes. As far -- and especially as far as size goes. This is like double what I thought it would be.
NGUYEN: Do you think you could see yourself in a place like this?
THOMAS: Oh, for sure, yes.
NGUYEN (voice-over): It needs work, but Martin says with a 7,000 square foot lot, you could even tear down the house and eventually make money on just the land.
Still, when it comes to real estate, location is key. Last stop, a condo complex near the Vegas strip called the Meridian.
MARTIN: From $400,000 to $700,000 down to $60,000 to $90,000 two blocks from the strip. Now, this is it. This is the best value in Vegas by far right now.
NGUYEN: Martin says these condos are selling faster than she can write offers. But there is a catch.
MARTIN: Cash only.
NGUYEN: So if you want a good deal, it's best to come to Vegas fully prepared to put your money on the table.
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NGUYEN: And I can't stress that enough, because while you can get a real steal in Vegas, Martin says she thinks the housing market is starting to bottom out. She is seeing multiple offers on properties. And when you get multiple offers, that creates a bidding war, and that obviously drives up the prices.
HOLMES: Prices back up. So maybe, just maybe, we're coming out of this thing.
NGUYEN: Perhaps.
HOLMES: Perhaps.
Obviously, some in Boston aren't struggling too bad in this economy.
NGUYEN: Yes. Listen to this.
HOLMES: Because they paid $300,000 for a piece of property. I'm not talking about a house. The property was a parking spot, folks. This is in Boston -- there it is. It set a new record. Now, why would somebody pay this? Somebody was moving out. This is a brownstone that has these condos in it. They are typically a few million dollars.
And there was a parking spot somebody needed to get rid of. Parking is scarce in the area apparently. This is a prime spot. Bidding started at $250,000 and went up to $300,000. Somebody paid for it. We do not know who.
NGUYEN: See, we're gone back to that bidding war, you know, when you get multiple offers on something it drives up the price. But $300,000 for a parking spot?
HOLMES: For a parking spot. Give me break. And as our producer just reminded us, it's not a cover spot, there is nothing special. There are no people standing there feeding you grapes when you get out. There's nothing. Just a piece of concrete.
NGUYEN: Just a parking spot, folks. All right, we'll be right back.
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HOLMES: All right. Where else can you find one of Michael Jordan's jerseys, in the same exhibit as the Emancipation Proclamation? This are just two of the items coming together among the 300 artifacts in the new exhibit that opened here in Atlanta just this week.
Tavis Smiley, the TV and radio host, is behind this exhibit called "America I Am." I caught up with him on opening day.
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HOLMES: Frederic Douglas, WEB Dobois, would be disappointed in how this generation, our generation, young black people today have continued or taken that torch and carried it maybe not as far as we should have? Would they be disappointed on this day, do you think? TAVIS SMILEY, EXHIBIT CREATOR, "AMERICA I AM": I'm always careful not to put myself in a position of speaking for these great icons. They were much brighter than I am, much deeper than I am. And yet I think that there was a level of expectation.
I always make the distinction, T.J. between hope and optimism. Optimism suggests there is a particular set of facts or circumstances or conditions that gives you reason to believe that things are going to get better.
There's something you see, feel, or touch that says things are going to get better. And so you say, I'm optimistic. That's not what these icons you just referenced ever lived. They didn't live on "optimism boulevard."
Rather, hope, the bible that I read says that faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. They lived on the street called "hope," and they were not optimistic.
Harriet Tubman didn't go back 19 times to free slaves because she was optimistic. Dr. King didn't put his life on the line because he was optimistic. These folks weren't optimistic, because there was nothing to be optimistic about. They were hopeful that what they did would one day make it better for us.
I would hope then that they'd be appreciative of the progress that we have made. But I would also fully expect some chastisement about some of the travails and troubles black America has to wrestle with that we need to get better about, quite frankly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. The opening was just yesterday. A lot of kids showed up. And I encourage you to go. Reynolds, everybody needs to go see this thing. You can't help but be moved.
But can you imagine being a 12-year-old kid going through and seeing some of this stuff. Just listen to one little girl, her reaction, after going through the exhibit.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you look around at the museum, would you see that it's really a lot of things that the slaves did to help slaves and everybody else they did to help us right now. They were treated really brutal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like, the way they were treated really didn't make sense, because colored, black and white. They aren't colors. So, and they should never been separated, because they're all people, no matter what color they are, what their skin tone is. They're all people. They should be treated the same way. We're all brothers and sisters in God's hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: She really seemed moved by it.
HOLMES: You can't help but be. Really, I encourage everybody to go see this thing. It is remarkable to see all these things come together. Ten cities over four years. It will be traveling through here until September, going to L.A. after this. So if it's coming to a city near you, I encourage you to see it.
NGUYEN: Yes, be sure to catch that.
HOLMES: Along this theme, Reynolds, of making a difference in your community and people helping people, our Betty Nguyen here, she's being quiet and a little shy right now. But Betty was given a huge honor. There she is. She's holding that award in her hand. What that is, is the high school award given for humanitarian, for community service work by Time-Warner employees.
We are, of course, here at CNN fall under the larger Time-Warner umbrella. Betty got this for her work, Reynolds, of course, as we know, Help the Hungry, that she goes every year to Vietnam, a two week trip. She takes school supplies, food, clothing for the people there, and some of those ...
NGUYEN: Hygienic supplies, medicine. We've been doing it nine years. And that award was really special. You know, we don't do it for the awards. We have been doing it many, many years now. But the importance of it is just, I can't express it enough, because we go into these villages, many of them -- all poverty stricken. This is a third world country.
But when you have the monsoon season, the floodwaters just inundate the area. So essentially you have people that literally live in grass huts or dirt floors. They are standing waist deep inside their homes just filled with water, and there's no one to help them.
So we have load in boats and go from one flooded hut to another, providing what is essentially a lifeline, that's food, clothing, hygienic supplies, and medicine. And we have done it nine years now. And we couldn't have done it without the support of people like you.
