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Single Mother of 13 Becomes College Valedictorian; A Close Look at Extremism

Aired June 13, 2009 - 17:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Lone wolves, their crimes may seem isolated, but as we find out, extremists like this week's holocaust museum killer are not alone.

And head of a class. And a head of a huge household, too, we're told. A mother of 13 is a college valedictorian, and did we mention that she has grandchildren and foster children as well. We will right now in the news.

Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon. Iran's president has won re- election. It is a simple headline but it has sent his country into turmoil. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's main rival bitterly announced the results saying the vote count was tainted by blatant violations. He accused the government of becoming a dictatorship. It seems to have stuck - or struck a raw nerve there. Large groups of protesters have taken to the street, some clashing with riot police. Cell phone and Internet communications and other communications appear to have been cut or severely disrupted throughout much of the country, but at the top, it has been business as usual.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad went on national TV just a few hours ago to say the election was a political triumph for the Iranian people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The elections in Iran are really important. Election means consensus of all people's resolve and their crystallization of their demands and their wants and it's a leap towards high peaks of aspiration and progress. Elections in Iran are totally popular-based move. It belongs to the people with a look at the future aimed at constructing the future.

CNN's chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour has been monitoring the volatile situation on the ground and she joins us now by phone from Tehran. What's going on, Christiane?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): We've been covering the protests in Tehran all day. They started shortly after midday and they went on all afternoon and evening. We've just come back. It's about 2:30 in the morning now and we've just been driving around town. We've seen garbage cans set alight. There have been various buses, motorcycle or so, various spots around the capital have seen a lot of protesting, a lot of clashing with the riot police and also the thugs of the regime, if you like, the so-called volunteer force, that comes out whenever they need to have law and order and not in uniform. They're on motor bikes. They're yielding batons and they are wielding metal rods and sticks as well.

And this is sending quite a lot of fear through people. But also, the protesters are now out in their cars and the same thing that we've seen over the last several nights, a lot of traffic, honking, people waving the V for victory sign, which is aligned with Mousavi's campaign. We know that the official results have been given to President Ahmadinejad and they are disputing it. Mousavi is disputing it. He has written to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini and actually an open letter to the people as well, saying that there has been cheating. Ayatollah Khomeini himself said that the election is all right and he congratulates the people and also says that yes you've elected a president for all Iranians but clearly a lot of division right now. Don.

LEMON: So Christiane, the Ayatollah says it's all right. Are there any other repercussions from here. I guess it can be contested. It goes on as Ahmadinejad is the winner now?

AMANPOUR: That's right. There doesn't seem to be any avenue to contest this. We've looked back through experience. We've looked at the various laws. There doesn't seem to be any way to contest this now once the supreme leader has come out and basically stamped his approval on it. Somebody said to me, it will probably take a miracle to reverse this. There are many, many people who had believed according to the heavy turnout and according to exit polling, which is not scientific here, but many of the campaigns do have their own ways of knowing what happens coming out of the polls.

That Mousavi had been heading for a victory or at least that Mousavi had been heading to a victory or at least via a much tighter race and it would have gone to a runoff. In the last week of the election campaign, nobody had expected Ahmadinejad to win, although before he had been considered a front-runner, before people started getting energized by the campaign, started coming out and saying they would vote once the Mousavi grassroots campaign started to gain huge momentum.

LEMON: Our CNN international correspondent Christiane Amanpour on the ground for us in Tehran, monitoring this election. Thank you, Christiane.

Now even though Internet communications in Iran have been disrupted, we've received these i-reports. I-reporter Neda Panah got them from here cousin's friend's Facebook page. She actually took the photos today as protesters fill the streets Tehran. Look at that, you can see the emotion in their faces, you can see that there was a major police presence there as well. And a lot of raw emotions. As young Iranians expressed their shock over the election results.

Iranians around the world have also been reacting to the election. Well check out this scene. This is in London, outside the Iranian embassy there. Many Iranians had expected challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi to win and his campaign had been highly optimistic that it would win. So the re-election of President Ahmadinejad has invoked a highly vocal backlash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a long, long time I've been this angry about anything. And I really cannot understand how could they do this? We fought for the revolution. We wanted the change. We wanted fair for everyone. We told you about freedom, not this. I don't want this. We should have another one, a fair one where there are representatives or all candidates in there when they're counting the ballots so we know it's a true vote is counted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the White House says it is watching developments in Iran and for that, we go live now to our Elaine Quijano who is watching developments from there. Elaine?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House response there is noticeably no mention of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Certainly no congratulatory wishes or anything of the kind. Instead, the Obama administration is making clear there is skepticism surrounding the results of the Iranian election. In a written statement, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said "like the rest of the world, we were impressed by the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians. We continue to monitor the entire situation closely, including reports of irregularities.?

Now, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed those comments at a news conference, she said the "United States is continuing to keep a close eye on the situation."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) * HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We watched closely the enthusiasm and the very vigorous debate and dialogue that occurred in the lead-up to the Iranian elections. We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran. But we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide. The United States has refrained from commenting on the election in Iran. We obviously hope that the outcome reflects the genuine will and desire of the Iranian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, yesterday, ahead of the results, President Obama had said that regardless of the outcome, the United States would still try to engage with the Iranian government. But, of course, analysts say with Ahmadinejad remaining in power, it's not clear what new opportunities the U.S. will have to try do that. John.

ROBERTS: So Elaine, by the White House not really saying anything about the situation going on over there, might that add to the outrage from people who believe that Mr. Mousavi was the person who should have won this election.

QUIJANO: Absolutely. Because what is going to happen now or what would likely happen as this move moves forward, the Obama administration will find itself in the position of basically having to do business with a leader whose legitimacy is in question. That in of itself will create certainly are a host of complications, obviously we are seeing the public criticism, we heard some of it that you played there. But what the Obama administration and this is something the president himself suggested, what the Obama administration is focusing on now is the robust debate that took place.

The president saying yesterday, look, the fact their there was even a robust debate at all perhaps maybe suggests that it might be a little bit easier for the U.S. to engage with the Iranians but of course there's still a lot of skepticism out there. Don.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much. Elaine Quijano at the White House.

We want to talk to someone who knows a lot about this situation. His name is a Karim Sadjadpour. He is an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the leading expert on Iran. He joins us tonight from Washington. Thank you very much. You have been quoted as saying that this is not an election but a selection. Why so?

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT ASSOCIATE: I think this was a fraud, Don. I think election was unfair and we saw people participate overwhelmingly. The turnout was very high, upwards of 75 percent. And I covered the 2005 elections in Tehran very closely and everyone whom I spoke to who voted for Ahmadinejad said the reason why they voted for him was he was going to improve the state of the economy, to put the oil money on people's dinner tables.

And in the last four year, Iran's economy has been profoundly mismanaged, record inflation, 30 percent inflation, profound unemployment, underemployment. So there's no reason why people would go out overwhelmingly in droves to renew the mandate of someone who essentially wrecked the country's economy.

LEMON: So we heard from our White House correspondent, Karim, might the White House, is there anything the White House can do or should be doing, do you feel as you watch this, in order to at least bring some sort of peace or semblance of peace to this region right now that is in protest?

SADJADPOUR: It's a good question, Don. What I would advise the Obama administration to do now is certainly refrain from affirming the results of this election because I think the results are not yet clear. The opposition camp, former Prime Minister Mousavi's camp is still contesting these results. So certainly before the dust has settled in Tehran, the Obama administration should not affirm the results. And I think that it's worthwhile for them to say that they're watching this with concern.

LEMON: And I know that you've been listening. I don't know if you heard our Christiane Amanpour's report. I asked her the same question, I asked her, you know, if the grand Ayatollah has signed off on this, is there any way that these results can be contested or there may be a change in the results here? She said barring a miracle, she doesn't believe it, hearing it from her people on the ground. What do you say to that?

SADJADPOUR: Well, I think Christiane's doing great reporting from Tehran. And I fear the same. I would add one caveat though, and that is that this revolutionary elite, the political elite in Tehran, have never been more divided now. And Ayatollah Khomeini, the supreme leader is the most powerful individual in Iran but historically not been a dictator like Saddam Hussein was in Iraq. He has ruled by consensus. And you actually have a very narrow consensus behind President Ahmadinejad now. So I think that in the coming days and weeks it will be more clear whether or not they're able to get away with this fraud. That's exactly what this was, this was a fraud.

LEMON: If we look at this as maybe without optimism, at least some positives out of this, is that there were at least, there were protests there and there was not room for protests there in the past. So at least they're having that now. Is that some sign that the region, that Iran is moving forward?

SADJADPOUR: You know what they do, Don? Is that ahead of the elections, they ease political and social restrictions to project a democratic face to the world.

LEMON: Right.

SADJADPOUR: But then after the elections is when they really clamp down. They have repression down to a science in Tehran.

LEMON: All right. Karim Sadjapourd, an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a leading expert on Iran. We appreciate you. Thank you very much for joining us.

SADJADPOUR: Any time, buddy.

LEMON: Tomorrow on "GPS Fareed Zakaria," on the fight for the future of Iran what is at stake? "GPS," Sunday 1:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

Time now to read what some of you are saying. A lot of feedback especially about the Iranian election. One person said looking like 1979 all over again. The Ayatollahs used religion to stifle freedom and equality. Freedom has no alternative. MrRecord said not surprised. Stolen election. Clerics know full well their Achilles heel are the Iranian youth. And diamondsandrubys says I think it was fixed because I think that's the only way this man could have won. Fderron says don't think it's rigged just think he's spoke to the emotions and not logic and people vote based on emotion. Aeroladyny says fixed. I hope protests continue. Maybe truth will come out of it.

Make sure you logon to twitter, Facebook, myspace or ireport.com. That's how we get you involved and that's really how we say thank you for watching because your opinion is valued and counted here on CNN.

Held in Guantanamo Bay prison for seven years. Now they're free men in Bermuda. I met with two former detainees face to face, my exclusive interview with men who have lived in secrecy and isolation until now. You want to see this one.

Plus, tracking hate in America. What makes domestic extremists tick? What fuels their rage and what makes them snap? We're digging deeper for that.

And she's a single mom of 13, a foster mom and a grandmother. She's also the top of her class. Think you can top that? We'll see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Former Guantanamo Bay detainees, will they speak out? Tonight, we're bringing you a rare and exclusive interview with people who have lived under a virtual shroud for years. We're taking you to Hamilton, Bermuda, where the Obama administration has relocated four detainees from Guantanamo Bay.

I just returned from the Caribbean island where I spoke with the two - two of the four men, I should say. Now, these men are Chinese (inaudible). They are Muslim separatists who say they went to Afghanistan because they were oppressed by the Chinese government. Now, I asked one of them what he would say to people who calls them terrorists. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (on camera): When people say that you're a terrorist, how do you respond to that?

KHALIL ABDUL NASSER, FORMER GITMO DETAINEE: I am not terrorist. I had not been terrorist. I will never be terrorist. I am peaceful person.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Well, the second former Guantanamo Bay detainee spoke with me through a translator and I asked him what they were doing in Afghanistan and if he got any training in a terrorist camp. This is had his translated response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NASSER (through translator): This is not true because I have never been any kind of training camp. I have never been through training and the U.S. courts confirmed this, that I have never been a terrorist or trained for a terrorist. So this just accusation against me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I also asked him about his thoughts on the Bush administration and about President Obama's promise to shut down Guantanamo Bay for good

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NASSER (through translator): We were in a jail, innocently for more than seven years during the President Bush administration. Now the new President Obama became elected, he tried really hard to bring justice and he has been trying very hard to find other countries to resettle us and finally, he freed us.

President Obama promised that he will shut down Guantanamo Bay, Cuba within one year and signed an executive order. I would like President Obama to honor that word and to free my 13 brothers who were left behind and all the rest of the people who deserve to be free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And you know, what's on many people's minds is what exactly were the conditions inside of Guantanamo Bay? How were they treated? How were other people treated? Did they see any sort of torture or abuse going on inside? I also talked with him about his firsthand account of being inside and listen to what he had to say. He didn't want to talk about it much but it's very interesting what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NASSER (through translator): It is a jail. So it would be different difficulties in the jail. Now I am a free man today (inaudible).

LEMON: Much, much, more with both men, both former detainees from Guantanamo Bay who are in Bermuda now, living as free me, much, much more throughout this newscast as well as throughout the evening here on CNN. But we're going to stick with this subject now because mean time there is mixed reaction from people in Bermuda to the former Gitmo detainees living among them. Some wish they have been given a say as to whether to accept the four Chinese (inaudible). Others say the men weren't convicted of anything and should fit in to Bermuda's diverse population. The four men were flown in by jet from Cuba to Bermuda on Wednesday night. They are living together in an apartment and are free to roam about the island.

Now over in the Pacific on the island of Palau there. They're saying that they are possibly going to take 13 of the remaining (inaudible) detainees from Gitmo but it is not a done deal yet. That's not a done deal yet. Palau's president says the likelihood that the Muslim separatists will arrive in the tiny island nation is about 50-50 and even if they do, it wouldn't happen for two to three months. Again, the Uighurs *say they cannot return to China because they are considered violent separatists there and would likely be arrested and they're afraid of torture as well in their own country.

Again, more of my exclusive conversation with former Guantanamo Bay detainees in just a few minutes. More question, more of their responses in the NEWSROOM.

Plus severe weather across the plains tonight. Our Jacqui Jeras watching it all for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Scrubbed, NASA canceled today's planned launch of the space shuttle "Endeavour." The reason is a hydrogen leak on the shuttle. It won't be ready to lift off until Wednesday at the earliest, but there is another problem. That's the same day NASA wants to launch an unmanned spacecraft to the moon. Mission control is planning to meet tomorrow to talk about their next step on this.

In the meantime, we want to go over now to CNN's severe weather center and talk to our Jacqui Jeras. Because Jacqui, are there tornado warnings still?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we got a couple of tornadoes. Things are really just getting started here, Don. We've got watches in the last hour, we're starting to get warnings now. No report of damage just yet. The big area that we're watching for the greatest threat of severe weather is right here across the plains states. You see that dark red, where we have a slightly higher risk than the rest of the plains. I want to show you some pictures of the Memphis area from these storms yesterday as they blew on through.

We had wind reports between 70 and 100 miles an hour causing many traffic accidents, lots of trees down, all over Shelby County and there you can see a tree down across a power line. 95,000 people still today without power and now we're getting word that it could take up to a week for it to be restored for all these people.

And unfortunately, the weather this week, not looking all that great for those of you that don't have air conditioning. Take a look at this five-day forecast, we're going to stay a little coolish tomorrow and Monday just because of the thunderstorms that we're expecting but look at those 90s by the middle of the week. So you're going to have to find some alternate plans or get an air generator because really it is looking dangerously hot.

All right. Back to the severe weather and where things are popping at this hour. I want to point out two thunderstorm cells right there that kind of split across northern parts of Texas, several gustnadoes have been reported. This is in Motley County near Roaring Springs, a gustnado is like a tornado but it happens from the winds and the downdraft of the storm. It will kind of spin out a tornado out ahead of it, so it tends to be a lot weaker than typical types of tornadoes that form but just to let you know, there's some rotation out there and these kinds of storms can cause damage as well.

We also have a tornado watch up to the north here, across parts of Colorado from the springs extending on up to parts of Wyoming. This includes you in the Denver area where you've already been seeing some occasionally storms on and off. Now, we don't have any watches here across parts of Florida but a real nasty cluster of thunderstorms driving down here across the eastern part of the state. We do have a tornado warning in Marian County at this time and the northeastern quarter socked in with storms, very difficult for a lot of travelers by air today. Don? LEMON: I've been doing this for a long time. I never heard of a gustnado.

JERAS: It's a gustnado.

LEMON: Yes.

JERAS: Think of dust front ahead of a main storm.

LEMON: Is it gust or dust?

JERAS: Gust. G-U-S-T -

LEMON: OK. Gust. OK.

JERAS: Gustnado.

LEMON: Got it. OK. Great. Learning something everyday. Thank you, Jacqui. Very much.

If you were fleeing your country would you go to war-torn Afghanistan? That's what I asked two former Gitmo detainees when I met them face to face just yesterday. More of my exclusive conversation straight ahead. And tracking hate in America and the people who commit hate-filled crimes. We often call them lone wolves, but they're not acting alone and we're digging much deeper for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I want to tell you what's happening right now. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is celebrating an election victory while street protests are getting even more heated. The government says Ahmadinejad won Friday's presidential election with over 60 percent of the vote but his opposition said there were blatant violations in the ballot counting.

U.N. security council vote to sanction North Korea and North Korea's response. The country has announced plans to step up its nuclear capabilities. North Korea said it plans to make all its plutonium weapons ready.

In Afghanistan, a suicide bomber blew himself near a gas station in southern Afghanistan in the Helmand province -- 70 people died, including a British soldier. Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for the attack, along with a string of others this year.

Back to my exclusive interview from Hamilton, Bermuda, where four Gitmo detainees have been relocated. Two of them spoke to me face-to- face.

Now, this is a rare interview with men who have been living in isolation since being detained Guantanamo Bay almost seven years ago.

One of the men told me he was not a terrorist, both of them told me, as a matter of fact, they're not terrorists. And they also said through a translator that they did not receive any training at a terrorist camp.

The men and I talked, I spoke with, I should say, our Chinese Uighurs. Who are exactly are they? We want to tell you who they are. They are from China's far western province of Qinjiang, and they are Muslims.

The former detainees were capture in 2001 in Afghanistan and Pakistan. But the Pentagon determined last year they were not enemy combatants. Nonetheless, the Uighurs are considered violent separatists by Chinese authorities, so they will not be returning to China because of persecution fears there.

During my exclusive conversation with the former detainee, his name is Khalil Abdul Nasser, I asked him how he and some of the other Uighurs ended up in Afghanistan. And I want you to listen to their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHALIL ABDUL NASSER, FORMER GITMO DETAINEE (via translator): Like I have said earlier, because of the suppression of the brutal Chinese government dictatorship, I had to leave my family, I had to leave my country, because I wanted to live a peaceful life somewhere.

It was difficult to go any other places because of the visa issues and the passports. At that time, Afghanistan was an easy place to go without those issues. And that's why I ended up there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And again, both men said they received no training in Afghanistan, no training to be terrorists. And that part of the claim. That's part of the reason they were in Guantanamo Bay.

After seven years in Guantanamo Bay, the whole time claiming his innocence, all of them claiming their innocence, the Uighurs, I asked Nasser, this one former Gitmo detainee, what it felt like to finally, finally, be free.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NASSER (via translator): It is a beautiful time for me. I had been in jail for so many years. I feel that it took so long to be free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Again, he said it took so long to be free. And both of the men say, when I asked them, I said to tell me about the conditions there. They said they simply wanted to move on. They said there's a proverb in their language that says what's done is done, and what's done cannot be undone.

Again, more of my interview with these two men throughout the evening here on CNN. Hears what some of you saying about this story as well as others on the air here. Ace London says "So why did Bermuda get dumped with the detainees? It will be so bad for their tourism." "It's just beyond belief that we have done this. I am very ashamed of this country."

"I'm curious, are the detainees able to file civil lawsuits against the U.S. government?" "I am sure you believed everything they told you that they are innocent."

Log on twitter, MySpace, Facebook, tell us what you're thinking. We'll get your responses on the air.

Working for years to achieve the American dream only to trade it all to help children in her homeland. She is our hero.

And speaking of heroes, she's a single mom of 13, a foster mom, and a grandmother. She's also the valedictorian of her college class. Think you can top that one?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The recession is freezing markets around the world. But one company is heating up the edge of the arctic circle. Our Richard Lui takes a look at a hot fashion in cold temps in tonight's "Small and Global."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD LUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Inspired by the beauty of her native Iceland, U.S.-educated designer Steinunn is trying to set the fashion world on fire.

STEINUNN SIGURO, DESIGNER: Nature inspires me more than anything else.

LUI: After working in New York and Europe for designers such as Calvin Klein, Steinunn returned home to start her own clothing line.

SIGURO: One of the components that I cannot find other than in Iceland is the intimacy with the art, with the music, and with other designers. I needed to find my roots.

LUI: She is now considered part of the fabric of Iceland, designing uniforms for Iceland Air and opening a store in Reykjavik that's a cross between art gallery and boutique.

SIGURO: To actually have a store in this environment that's going on right now, and Iceland is going probably through the worst financial crisis ever, is an extra challenge. You scale down tremendously.

LUI: Steinunn is succeeding by promoting her label online and showing in Paris, Copenhagen, and New York. But she is staying true to her understated Nordic style. SIGURO: I don't want to make Steinunn a huge commercial collection. I would like it keep it more focused and intimate, because that's kind of who I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Richard Lui in tonight's "Small and Global."

You may think your life is busy, right? But consider this. Tamara Slagle is a mom, a foster mom, and she's a grandmother. She's also the valedictorian. We'll tell you how she did it.

Also, a CNN hero who sold her home to help kids in her homeland. Her story will certainly inspire you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: For many immigrants, a car and a home symbolize the American dream, a sign of accomplishment after years of hard work.

So why would anyone choose to give it all up? The answer is what makes Lydia Schaefer tonight's "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 Lydia, 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)

LEMON: If you would like to help Lydia Schafer or if you know someone who deserves to be a CNN Hero, go to CNN.com/heroes.

Graduating college with the top. Top grades, well, that's tough enough. I didn't do it. Earning the distinction of valedictorian, that is even tough.

But doing it as a single mother of 13, a grandmother of six, and a foster mother of countless more, that is just really inspirational. And she is only 45 years old, only 45, because that's young. Tamara Slagle joins us live from San Diego.

How are you?

TAMARA SLAGLE, VALEDICTORIAN CUYAMACA COLLEGE: I'm good. Hello?

LEMON: Are you doing well?

SLAGLE: I'm doing well.

LEMON: I just had to look at you there for a second, because it's amazing what you've accomplished. And I just wanted to get a good look at you. I've heard your story -- 13 children and became the valedictorian.

How do you have time to devote to your children, and then devote to school, and then devote to foster kids, and to grandkids? Where do you find the time?

SLAGLE: Well, you have to make the time. And I only have ten at home still. So when I started school, there weren't 13. There were only 10.

LEMON: Only 10.

SLAGLE: Only 10, you know. And after this summer, I think we'll be down to eight left at home. Some are going off to college.

But having a various range of ages -- I have those in college and high school, junior high, and my youngest is nine. They've learned to help out a lot. And there's a lot expected from each of them. We work together. We help each other with our homework and we just get it done.

LEMON: You do it right there with them.

So you, I think I read that you said you didn't have the letters behind nor in front of your name.

SLAGLE: No. My kids thought I was crazy to go to college, and they wanted to know why I was doing it. And I told them, to find a job these days, you need a degree. I said the alphabet. You needed alphabet behind your name -- AA, BA, PhD -- you need letters. And I didn't have them.

So they would laugh at me because I was going to school to get an alphabet.

LEMON: Did that help you, you think, and did it give you more confidence?

SLAGLE: It gave me more confidence. And I have actually found a job. I started last summer working for the Navy at the CDC at Point Loma working in the infant room. And it has been wonderful. And that job came as a direct result of going to the child development classes at college.

LEMON: Were you working during the process when you were going to school as well?

SLAGLE: Yes -- not at first. And then I realized that I needed to go to work. I needed to help support my family. So I did. I did an overnight job at Linsky (ph) Children's Center for a year. And then I took a little time, and then I've been working Navy since last August.

LEMON: Here's what I don't understand, because I didn't finish school and went back when I worked here, when I worked in news, not necessarily for CNN. Everyone said you didn't need a college degree, and I felt the same way you did. So I went back to get my college degree.

But it was the hardest thing I ever did. I went to school full- time and worked full-time. I had no kids. It was just me. And I was exhausted and could barely focus on one thing, let alone two.

So that's why I really don't get it. I think you're an extraordinary person to be able to focus on all of these things at once. What gives you that sort of drive?

SLAGLE: When I set my mind on something, I just do it. And a lot of things I've done, I've had people tell me, I don't know how you did it. And I guess I don't think about that at the time. I just see what I want, I go for it, I do it. And then when I look back, I don't know how I did it -- just sheer determination.

LEMON: All right, listen, I have tons of respect for women who have children who become -- and have careers, and what have you.

So what's your message it them? Maybe a better question is, what's your message to men about women who are trying to juggle all these balls in the air at once, or to anyone really?

SLAGLE: Don't criticize. Support. We need support. We all need support. Men or women, we need to be encouraged, we need to be told we can do it.

I needed to have people come alongside me, and when I didn't have an answer, to be able to go and ask somebody for help or a direction. And I didn't feel I had that before. And that's something I found going to college, was the support that I needed from the teachers, from the counselors, from everybody. LEMON: You are extraordinary. And you know what? We have a CNN Hero. I think you're a hero, you're just an American hero. So Tamara Slagle, thank you so much. Best of luck to you, OK?

SLAGLE: Thank you.

LEMON: Say hi to your kids for us.

SLAGLE: Hi, kids.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: "The Situation Room" is straight ahead here on CNN, and Wolf Blitzer is in charge of that show. What do you have, Wolf?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Thanks very much.

Coming up right at the top of the hour, our interview with the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin. She has a lot to say on all sorts of subjects, including David Letterman. Stand by for that, the interview in full, that's coming up.

Also, a major debate on health care reform. We're going to be hearing from all sides, from the president's budget director Peter Orszag, Republican Senator Judd Gregg, and independent Senator Bernie Sanders. All that and lot more coming up right here in "The Situation Room"

LEMON: Wolf, we'll be watching. Thank you.

The battle over California's gay marriage ban heats up, and a major political player joins the fight.

Also, tracking hate and hate-filled crimes across America. We found out that the so-called lone gunmen are not alone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SLAGLE: The fight over same-sex marriage in California just keeps on growing. And more people are joining the fray.

The latest California attorney general, Jerry Brown. He's filed papers in federal court supporting a challenge to Proposition 8, that is the measure that bans gay marriage in the state, the one that California Supreme Court refused to lift. Brown calls the proposition unconstitutional.

But as can you imagine, a lot of people disagree with him. Why is he getting into this fight, and what is the future of Prop 8? We'll ask California attorney general Jerry Brown those questions live on our 7:00 p.m. eastern hour right here on CNN.

The white supremacist accused of killing a guard at the U.S. Holocaust Museum is described as a lone wolf. But as CNN's Tom Foreman explains, lone wolves tend to travel in virtual packs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: James Von Brunn has been charged with murder, and federal agents are considering hate crime charges as well.

JOSEPH PERSICHINI, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI WASHINGTON FIELD OFFICE: And he is known as an anti-Semite and a white supremacist who had had an established Web site that espoused hatred against African- Americans, Jewish, and others.

FOREMAN: Criminologists are already comparing Von Brunn to so- called lone wolf domestic terrorists, like Olympic Park bomber Eric Rudolph, the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, and Oklahoma City's Timothy McVeigh, all violent men whose anger was fuelled by radical ideologies.

But that's not much help for law enforcement. Fran Townsend a former White House Homeland Security adviser.

FRANCES FRAGOS TOWNSEND, NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR, CNN: 99 percent of the people who engage in hateful speech never do anything about it. And so what -- it's the needle in the hay stack problem. How do you identify that fraction of 1 percent that, for some sort of set of circumstances, tip from hateful speech to doing violent acts.

FOREMAN: Investigators say Von Brunn left a broad trail, a notebook in the car filled with bitter words against Jews and President Obama, a long arrest record, trouble with shop keepers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He got very angry.

FOREMAN: Even this woman, who says she divorced him 30 years ago over his anti-Semitic views, and has a message for him now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm terribly sorry that you killed the young man.

FOREMAN (on camera): But hate crime watch dogs warn that many more lone wolves might be at a boiling point, fed by furious postings on the Internet about the economy, the first black president, gay marriage, and immigration.

FOREMAN (voice-over): It's just a theory, but they point to the shootings of that abortion doctor and those army recruiters. Police say those, too, were the work of angry men who struck without warning and who acted alone.

Tom foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, time now for us to show you how we thank you, or appreciate you as a viewer, because we want your feedback. These are from twitter.

Here's what bored college kid says -- "the incident combined with other recent attacks, Tiller, Pittsburgh shooting, shows hate is simmering in this country."

The True DZ says, "I think it is a sign of a much deeper problem we insist upon big. Time alone revealed truth in some hearts."

We'll have much more on hate in America tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern. What provokes the violent attacks? Warnings from the Department of Homeland Security about domestic terrorism, and the fine line between free speech and hate crimes.

Make sure you join us tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern. Be a part of our discussion as well -- Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, IReport.com. If you send us your questions, we'll ask them to some of our experts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, we want to get some of your responses on the air. Let's go right to them right now.

Here's what someone is sending to me. I'm not sure of the name. It says "Blindly assuming the prior administration was right and these were bad people, why are three in Bermuda? Why are they free in Bermuda? Were they really bad people?"

Well, we're trying to answer that for you, so we want them to -- want you to hear them speak. We asked them questions, we let them speak, and we don't assume innocence or guilt. We just let you hear what they have to say, and you make up your mind, OK?

We'll have more for you tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern on that, and including "Hate in America." Make sure you join us then.

I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you back here at 7:00 p.m.