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Dissent in Iran; Why Men Need to See the Doctor; Cashing In On Mom's Death; Debate Over Legalizing Pot
Aired June 18, 2009 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
A.J. FABLE, STORM CHASER (voice-over): It is huge! Oh, we've got debris coming up. We've got structural damage. We've got damage off this building, it's tearing this building apart!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Heading into the heart of a tornado, we hear from a storm chaser in Nebraska and our severe weather center gives you warnings on where today's outbreaks could be.
Opposition supporters take to the streets of Tehran for what may be their biggest march yet. We'll have the very latest on the Iranian election dispute.
And a new snapshot of the economy. Weekly jobless claims just out. It is Thursday June 18, I'm Don Lemon, Heidi Collins is off today. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Let's turn now to Iran today. Opposition activists marching and mourning those killed in this week's protest. Here's how we're bringing you the story today. The Iranian government has put some limitations on international correspondents, telling them they cannot cover public rallies. Our reporter in Tehran is limited to filing one report. Just one report a day. But we will use the worldwide resources of CNN to keep you informed, including our Iran desk here in Atlanta and our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. She is in London.
Well, let's bring you up to speed on what we know right now in Iran. Leading opposition candidate Mir Hossein Moussavi says he will be there for today's ceremony of mourning. Thousands of marchers are dressing in black to mourn at least eight people killed in Tehran protests.
The Guardian Council, Iran's election authority, says it is looking into election complaints and has invited opposition candidates to attend an upcoming meeting. An Iranian TV reports the country's intelligence ministry has arrested a number of what it calls main agents behind protests and vandalism.
Our Christiane Amanpour covered the Iranian presidential campaign, the election and the post vote demonstrations in Tehran. She was in London this morning and spoke last hour on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" about what we can expect. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What's going to be interesting is to see whether these protests still have momentum, whether they will come out and as Moussavi has asked them to wear black in mourning for those who were killed over the last week.
That, as you know, was after they had attacked a military building and then they were responded to by machine gunfire. Now the other really interesting and signal event in terms of watching how this unfolds is going to be to monitor closely what the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, says at Friday press, which is tomorrow, and he is unusually going to be leading that.
And according to various reports and various information that we're getting, that he might call together opposition leaders and government leaders and bring them altogether for this Friday prayers and his speech in that process. So it's going to be very interesting to see what he says, how he describes what's going on, and whether or not that makes a difference on the ground.
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LEMON: Our Christiane Amanpour this morning in London.
The government crackdowns are making it tougher for journalists in Iran to do their job. At CNN, iReports and social networking sites are helping us bring you a big part of this story. Our Iran desk is tracking all that information for you.
Want to go now to Isha Sesay to tell us what's happening this morning. What are you learning, Isha?
ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we know for sure that that massive day of protests has started in Iran already. And here on the Iran desk, everyone is working flat out, really scouring those websites, trying to bring our viewers images of the very latest of what is actually taking place there on the ground in the country.
We know that the authorities are still clamping down on protesters and the use of the Web, trying to make it more difficult for them to get those images out. But throughout the morning, we have been monitoring Twitter very, very closely.
And in the run-up to the actual demonstration getting going, we saw a lot of Tweet from people rallying others to get out on the street, giving instructions about where to meet, what to wear, and of course, there was a lot of speculation about whether Moussavi himself would turn up.
As you were telling our viewers, now being confirmed that he will turn up at that rally. We will wait to see the pictures and see where that does indeed happen.
But we want to bring some Tweets for our viewers. Want to read them out. We're not going to show the Twitter feed, we're not going to reveal usernames. We don't want to put anyone in any kind of danger. But let's read some of what people are saying.
This first one, "Doctors will join rally today, some in white coats, so people can go to them for treatment if hurt." Don, that in some ways, hinting, pointing at -- you know the potential for violence in these gatherings. We know, of course, Monday's protest turned violent, some seven people losing their lives there.
Moving on to the second one that we got. Giving some insight into what people are talking about there in Iran. We believe these Tweets are coming from inside Iran. This one saying, "Very crowded in the streets, all talk about hero footballers."
Don, that's just a reference -- to our viewers in reference to those some soccer football players. Iranian soccer football players that played that qualifying match in South Korea wearing green arm bands. Some see that as some support for the demonstrations taking place.
And finally we want to bring this one. "Mullahs, you can't kill a hashtag." A hashtag, of course, the symbol used to start a thread on these social networking sites after which you put the topic heading and you can get a discussion going.
Now we're monitoring Twitter and we continue to monitor all the social networking sites to try and get you these latest images. We want to share this with our viewers. This is a Google Earth image, which we feel it's important that they see, to give them some sense, some perspective of where this demonstration is actually taking place right now.
It is starting in Imam Khomeini Square. That's in old downtown Tehran, Don. (INAUDIBLE) the traditional business district, all the (INAUDIBLE), which is how it's referred to in Persian.
One analyst that we're working with closely here on the Iran desk points out that this is significant. We want to spell it out for our viewers. This analyst feel that this is important, and this location has been chosen because this was that same location chosen some 30 years ago in the Islamic Revolution that people gathered to start those protests, which eventually brought down the Shah.
And this analyst that we're working with here on the Iran desk said he sees many similarities in what these protesters are doing today with what was done 30 years ago, Don.
LEMON: All right. Thanks for that update, Isha, we appreciate it.
OK. So imagine this. A monster tornado coming right at you. You'd probably take cover, right? Not this guy. Take a look.
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A.J. FABLE, TORNADO WITNESS: It is now a half mile wide, it is huge. We've got debris coming up! We got structural damage! We've got damage off this building and it's tearing this building apart! Debris in the air! It's tearing this building apart! Literally in front of our eyes! Look at this! It is tearing this building apart! I am literally 400 yards away from it! It just ripped a roof off this building! This is truly incredible! It is June 17th, 2009. Debris is everywhere! It is huge! Debris is in the air, you can see it swirling around! That's pieces of the building.
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LEMON: You know that's a lot closer than most of us would probably get. He is OK. That plant which makes pet food heavily damaged, though.
I want to turn now to our Rob Marciano.
Rob, good video, probably not a smart thing to do. What do you think?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think if I was that close, I'd be that excited, as well, and nervous, and scared. I mean that was a monster, monster storm, and he just continued to head right into the teeth of it. Luckily, he stopped before he got too close. But definitely a wide one.
And I'm glad he put the data in there. It reminds me of my uncle, always started every family video off with the date and time, although our family video is not nearly as exciting.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: We'll talk more about that in the half hour. Don, back over to you.
LEMON: Appreciate it. Thank you, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
LEMON: Covering the big story. Iran's government is limiting media coverage of the demonstrations, but that hasn't stopped one California TV station.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Christine Romans in New York. Your job and your money. We've got the latest jobless claims data. We're going to tell you what this picture means for the paycheck you bring home, your family, and your financial future.
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LEMON: New jobless figures just released this morning. Let's go to straight to CNN's Christine Romans in New York with the very latest.
What do they show, Christine?
ROMANS: Well, they're showing for the very first time last week more people filed for employment benefits, Don. 608,000 people lining up to get jobless benefits. That's a lot of people. But if you're looking for some good news or at least some not terrible news, it's that the number of people continuing to get jobless benefits is 6.687 million, and that is slightly below. That's a drop of about 148,000 people.
So slightly fewer people are the long-term kind of unemployed, getting unemployment benefits for six months or so. So on the front-end, still 600,000 people filing for the first time is not great. It shows that companies are still laying workers off, frankly.
But we're going to be looking within these numbers to see if there's any kind of slow down of the mass, mass layoffs and we're hoping maybe that's what that big continuing claims number is starting to suggest that and not that people are just like running out of benefits now. So that's why that number is going down.
LEMON: Yes, when the numbers are so big, it takes a lot to make it go down.
ROMANS: That's right.
LEMON: Taxpayers, though, they got some money back yesterday, correct? All of us.
ROMANS: Are you feeling richer? A little less poor as a taxpayer?
LEMON: Sure.
ROMANS: I don't know, maybe $222 maybe is your share that the banks returned?
LEMON: Every little bit helps, don't you think?
ROMANS: Right. Ten of those big banks, you know, this is the bank bailout recipients. They have turned $68 billion, Don, back into the treasury. And I can tell you that late at night on Tuesday night at the Treasury Department they were still working past midnight getting ready for the -- for those big paychecks that were coming back in.
So these are some of the big banks that paid the bailout money. $70 billion altogether has been returned when you include some of the smaller banks that have already returned some money back.
And as you know, the American people had been screaming about, hey, why are we bailing out the banks who got us in this trouble with our money? And the banks have been saying, wait a second, what are all of these restrictions? You're going to hurt our ability to fix the economy and get back to business if you put all these restrictions, Congress, on us?
So both parties, I think, are happy to see that this relationship is being severed. But Don, I will point out that some of the analysts, they're saying, it doesn't mean that the banks are healthy again and it doesn't mean that paying the money back keeps them out of the woods.
I mean there could be more losses ahead for some of the banks. Still a very tough situation, but at least in terms of that TARP money, $68 billion of it has been turned back to the treasury, Don.
LEMON: Yes. On the plus side, at least they're paying it back. Yes. Thank you, Christine Romans, in New York, we appreciate it.
ROMANS: Nice to see you.
LEMON: Good to see you as well.
We want to tell you about this, tonight 8:00 p.m., a primetime CNN special. Make sure you join Anderson Cooper, Ali Velshi for "Money Summit: Money and Main St." We'll chat live with our experts for advice on how to beat the downturn, RSVP now at Facebook.com/CNN.
We want to get back now to our big story we've been following all week here. The protests over the Iranian presidential results. They're not just happening in Tehran, but all around the world, really.
Here's a look at one rally yesterday in Southern California where there is a large Iranian-American population. Demonstrations are also taking place on college campuses like this one. This is Arizona State University. And college students from Iran and Iranian Americans protested the post election violence at a rally at a Philadelphia park. So protests going on all over.
In the meantime, broadcasting to the Persian community, one TV station in California reaches out to Iranians in America and overseas. So how are they viewing what's happening right now in the country?
We go live now to Kara Finnstrom. She's joining us from Tarzana, California.
What are you seeing there, Kara?
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we are coming to you from Pars TV station. This is a satellite station that broadcasts both in Farsi and English. We are in the control room right now. This is all of the activity you see behind me here.
Normally they broadcast a variety of programming, but right now, it's 24/7 on the events in Iran. If you'll look real quickly inside of the live -- at the live program underway. A talk show underway right now. They've been taking in calls from Iran throughout the morning.
And if we swing over to the closest door, this is where they've been bringing in a lot of images from Iran. As we've been reporting all morning, very difficult to get reports out of Iran right now.
I want to bring in someone who's been bringing in these images this morning. Talk to us a little bit about what we see here and how you're getting these pictures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we get these pictures from our sources and from, like, individuals. And this is a picture from -- I mean, Esfahan. It's one of the famous squares in Esfahan. And this picture shows the lot -- I mean lots of (INAUDIBLE) millions of people are gathering together. And this came, like, two or three minutes ago.
FINNSTROM: And we should say that none of these pictures have been by CNN, but you're bringing these in continuously. And we're looking at them live right now.
If we swing over here, I want to bring in the owner actually of the station, Amir Shadjareh.
I thank you so much for joining us. You are bringing in a lot of images. But you tell me that today you expect to bring in fewer than you did yesterday. And explain why to us.
AMIR SHADJAREH, OWNER, PARS TV: Yes. We have all reporters in Iran. The individual sources that are sending lots of picture images. And today, they called me just right, one of the reporters, just a very, very filtered they put on the Internet and also for the cell phone.
And they cannot send the live image and the video just sending the pictures. Because they don't have the bandwidth to send it. I don't know how long it will take. (INAUDIBLE) Every day getting harder and harder and harder.
FINNSTROM: As we continue to give you a look here at the control room and what's going on here, I also want to just ask. You stressed to me, you try to be very neutral in your coverage. You're very open, you make no secrets about the fact that you want a regime change and you also want to use your station to push for democracy.
How are you balancing those right now?
SHADJAREH: You know, right now, because of the, you know, the Iranian in the streets, you know, they are fighting for -- and you know, we just want to forget about, if you're just going to follow him and just, you know, stay neutral, and (INAUDIBLE) we will cause trouble for them, we don't want to do that. We're going to stay neutral. Do whatever they do, just broadcast.
FINNSTROM: All right, thanks for joining us this morning.
Don, some of the (INAUDIBLE) this station here this morning.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, Kara Finnstrom in Tarzana, California. We appreciate it.
Health insurance for all Americans. That's President Obama's plan, but it is complicated and it won't be easy. We're answering your questions right here in the NEWSROOM.
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ANNOUNCER: Breaking news, revealing developments, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.
LEMON: Senator Hillary Clinton is recovering from a broken elbow this morning. The State Department says Clinton fell on her way to the White House yesterday and fractured her right elbow. She was treated at George Washington University Hospital before going home. And Clinton will have surgery to repair the elbow in the coming weeks.
Well, fixing America's health care system. President Barack Obama and Congress have made reforming health care a top priority. Their proposals are getting a lot of buzz on the air waves and also on the blogs, and on social media, as well.
CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here to answer some questions for us.
Good morning to you, Elizabeth. I want to start with the first question. How do doctors feel about this health care reform that's proposed?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know what? Doctors, like everyone else these days, realize that things need to change. Things need to be reformed, things cannot stay the way they are.
However, they strongly disagree with the president on one important point. President Obama wants to have a basically Medicare for everybody. A government-sponsored health care program that anybody could get. Not just old people, but that anybody could get. Doctors aren't so crazies about that idea.
LEMON: They don't like it. What about the costs compared to -- how do we compare to other countries when it comes to health care costs?
COHEN: We do not fair well.
LEMON: Really?
COHEN: When you look at health care costs compared to other countries. Let's take a look at that because the numbers are pretty striking. In the United Kingdom they spend $2,760 per person on health care. In France, they spend $3,449 per person for health care. In Canada $3,678.
So take a look at those numbers, 2, 3,000 bucks per person. In the U.S., $6,714 per person. Now some people would say that to some extent we get our money's worth. Some people would say, hey, you know what, Europeans and Canadians come here when they need some kind of special procedure done.
Other people would say uh-uh, the infant mortality rate, it's higher here than in those other countries. Life expectancy is higher in the United States than in many other -- is lower, rather, in the United States than in many other developed countries. So some people say we're not getting our money's worth considering that we're double and nearly triple some of those numbers.
LEMON: Yes, that is a striking number when you look at it.
COHEN: Yes. It's huge.
LEMON: Wow. And it's interesting to go behind those numbers to see what makes a difference. But -- thank you so much. We appreciate it.
COHEN: Thanks.
LEMON: A way to find out exactly what is proposed and what we'll spent.
COHEN: And if you go to CNNHealth.com, you can see an entire column all that healthcare reform.
LEMON: There you go.
COHEN: CNNHealth.com. What you need to know. We're going to be talking about so much about this in the coming weeks and this is basically a primer so you can understand the discussion. It gets very complex.
LEMON: That's how you become an empowered patient.
COHEN: That's right, by learning the basics.
LEMON: Thank you, Elizabeth. We appreciate.
COHEN: Thanks.
LEMON: Writing a new history in Iran. Past protests saw students, demonstrators, but this time, the street marchers, well, they have decidedly a different look and a different feel, as well. We'll tell you about that.
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LEMON: All right. Don Lemon in today for Heidi Collins. I want to show you what we're talking about today. If you go on CNN NEWSROOM, CNN.com/newsroom, and you can click on Heidi and all the information will be there.
This is on Heidi's thing here. And then we're asking about Iran and media coverage. As we say what do you think of the coverage of the Iranian election and the aftermath? And you can post your thoughts here. One person has already commented, and we just put it up.
And also, we're taking you -- you can go to CNN.com or go to Twitter.com/donlemon CNN. And they are taking questions there as well, talking about media coverage, and there you go, some people -- a lot of people have already responded.
"Too much of our news is about celebrities. I think Americans need to start taking themselves more serious. Thanks to CNN social media is what drives the news. Twitter and Facebook are now dictating the stories."
So a lot of you are responding there. Go to our blog and also go to Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace or iReport. Back in a moment.
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LEMON: On Wall Street, new numbers out on the state of the labor market. And as our Christine Romans told us just a few minutes ago new jobless claims rose last week, but continuing claims tumbled, as well.
How will investors react? For that we head to Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. She's got a preview for us.
Hi, Susan.
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Don.
Well, it's certainly been a rough week for investors, but they could get some help this morning from the jobs report. As Christine was telling you, the number of people continuing to file unemployment claims falling for the first time since January. This as a string of 19 straight record highs.
Still, continuing claims remain at a high level, 6.7 million. It's tough to get work out there. But many Chrysler workers will soon be heading back to their factories. The automaker which recently emerged from bankruptcy plans to reopen seven of its 11 assembly plants later this month.
Another retailer, meanwhile, filing for bankruptcy, Eddie Bauer got buried by a mountain of debt. It plans to sell most of its assets to a private equity firm. But JM Smucker's is doing well in this recession. Its quarterly profits more than doubled, Smucker's says Folger's marketshare has been growing because more budget conscious Americans are foregoing the gourmet brews for lower-cost coffee.
Smucker's shares have been soaring -- yes, they are up 1.5 percent. They were up 9 percent in the pre-markets.
Right now the Dow is on the plus side, just modestly. The NASDAQ is flat. Investors are also awaiting testimony from treasury secretary Tim Geithner. He's expected to appear before separate House and Senate committees regarding the plan...
SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Smucker's shares have been soaring. Yes, they are up 1.5 percent. They were up nine percent in the pre-markets. Right now, the Dow is on the plus side just modestly. The NASDAQ is flat.
Investors were also awaiting testimony from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. He's expected to appear before separate House and Senate committees regarding the plan President Obama outlined yesterday to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system.
That's what's happening on Wall Street right now. Another busy day.
Don, back to you.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. I was going to say that is quite enough.
Thank you very much, Susan. We'll see you soon.
LISOVICZ: See you later.
LEMON: Yes.
New limits on CNN from inside Iran. We are not allowed to cover today's demonstrations there, but iReports and social networking sites are helping out in this.
We want to get now to our Isha Sesay. She's at CNN's Iran Desk, and she's gathering all that information.
What strikes you the most about what you're seeing, Isha?
ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, really right now as we see that this demonstration is already underway in Iran, what's striking me is that there's authorities as they clamp down on the social networking site. Facebook if you're inside Iran is really difficult to gain access to.
We're also hearing that people on the team are telling me that they're not seeing very much new video posted on YouTube. But, people do continue to use Twitter, the social networking tool. It's proven to be very, very important as our eyes and ears, in terms giving us insight into what is happening on the ground in Iran.
Now we have been monitoring it all day. And some of the things that have just come into us here at Iran Desk that we want to share with our viewers.
This first one, it says, "I have just come back for a few minutes to tell you that the number of marchers today are very high."
Of course, some of them predicting, Don, that this demonstration could be the largest one seen in Iran since that 1979 Islamic revolution. The second one that is also coming to us via Twitter, Iranian women are very strong. Their numbers are very strong. I see more of them in the rallies than men. Again, women emerging as a very, very strong voice in these protests.
We know Moussavi's wife has also taken part in the campaign. And finally, "I hope the Iranian revolution 2.0 teaches Ahmadinejad that there's no longer such a thing as a media blackout."
As we've been pointing out to our viewers, international media there in Iran has been clamped down. CNN can only give one report from the country on this day. But people continue to get this stuff out.
In case our viewers are wondering why we didn't show the Twitter feed or show any usernames, that's because CNN has taken that decision not to put anyone in any kind of danger. And that is why you saw those tweets posted as they were.
But here on the Iran desk, I want to point out that it's a team effort. Everyone's scouring through those social networking sites. We are fully on top of this story. As soon as we get fresh details, fresh pictures, we'll bring them to you.
Don?
LEMON: Yes. Through the social networking sites, and also people on the ground, our sources on the ground as well. We don't want to forget that. And we have lots of contacts in Iran. So we're bringing this story to you fully as we get it.
Thank you, Isha.
The street demonstrations we're seeing in Iran look a lot different from past protests. It's the age and influence of the gathering crowds. They aren't just student activists anymore.
CNN's Ivan Watson takes a look at that.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Protests in the streets of Tehran. Not today, but almost exactly ten years ago.
In July of 1999, Iranian students held mass demonstrations against the government. Iranian author and activist Behzad Yaghmaian was one of the protestors.
BEHZAD YAGHMAIAN, AUTHOR, "SOCIAL CHANGE IN IRAN": You have hundreds of thousands of students pouring through the streets, basically chanting the same things that you hear today. Then they were chanting "Death to the dictator." And the dictator they were talking about was Ayatollah Khamenei.
Today, again, in the streets of Tehran, you are hearing, "Death to the dictator."
WATSON: In 1999, it took the government barely a week to crush the demonstrations.
ABBAS MILANI, ANALYSTS, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: Ten years ago, it was localized to the students with various small signs of support from outside the campuses. The regime could easily isolate them.
WATSON: Analysts like Stanford University's Abbas Milani says today's uprising is very different. Because it's not just the students against the government.
MILANI: There are tensions within the regime. Serious fissures within the regime.
WATSON: Today, the opposition includes men who were once some of the most powerful pictures in the Islamic Republic. People like Mir Hossein Moussavi. In the 1980s, he was a hard line prime minister in Iran's revolutionary government. Today, he's the face of the opposition.
He is supported by Hashemi Rafsanjani, a conservative cleric and former president who has long been a pillar of the Iranian regime.
YAGHMAIAN: The conservative block is totally broken. There is a war, a very serious war within the conservative block.
WATSON: On the other side of this power struggle, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
He controls the security forces and has the support of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard. They definitely got the upper hand. But as the last week has shown, brute force alone may not win this contest.
Ivan Watson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: President Barack Obama has a busy schedule today. He's got a lot of private meetings planned.
This afternoon, he is set to meet with special Mid-East Peace Envoy George Mitchell, who recently visited the region. Mitchell has said the U.S. could within weeks present a plan for Mid-East peace talks.
The president will also meet with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
A true Norman Bates moment. The Brooklyn D.A. makes the comparison when talking about his new case. And a man who allegedly took his mother's place for six years.
Well, men just aren't in the habit of going to the doctor whenever it is, you know, an annual check-up or to check out an unusual condition. But especially as men age, those doctors visits can be a matter of life and death.
Here's CNN's Melissa Long.
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MELISSA LONG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Detective Paul Ciepiela has been with the Baltimore County police department for 24 years. As a gang specialist with the youth division, he's seen his share of dangerous situations. So why in his younger years was he afraid to go to the doctor?
DET. PAUL CIEPIELA, CANCER SURVIVOR: I think there's a level of embarrassment, that's associated to that.
LONG: In his early 40s, Paul began to have problems with his prostate. Reluctant to see a specialist, his wife urged him to go to a urologist who ordered a biopsy. It came back as cancerous.
CIEPIELA: At 43, I thought I was going to die. Very emotional time when you hear that word "cancer."
LONG: Treated at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Paul choose prostate seeding in order to keep his prostate intact. And, today, he is in remission.
CIEPIELA: Five years later, things are looking great.
LONG: Doctors say it's not unusual for men to put off seeing a doctor until they get older.
DR. MICHAEL NASLUND, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL SCHOOL: Men usually don't see a doctor until they get into their 40s or 50s so it's not engrained in their yearly life as much. I think it's just difficult for them to want to come in.
LONG: In a man's 30s, testicular cancer is more common. Traditionally known as a young man's disease, testicular cancer is treatable, but can be fatal if it goes undetected.
NASLUND: The hallmark of it is a man will just notice at one testicle feels fuller or heavier or just feels different than the other one. And if you sees that, he should go see a doctor for that.
LONG: In a man's 40s and 50s, having prostate checkup is important. Although the risk of prostate cancer increases as a man gets older, African-American men and men with prostate cancer in their family are more susceptible to the disease and should be tested in their 40s.
NASLUND: There's a subset of prostate cancer that is inherited, yes. It's probably 13 percent to 15 percent of the cases.
FORTIN: In their 50s, all other men should have a Prostate-Specific Antigen test known as a PSA, every year, along with a rectal exam. As many men get older, erectile dysfunction or ED becomes an issue because of weak valves and vascular disease.
Men with diabetes can also suffer from ED unless a man's on nitroglycerin for his heart, ED medications can help.
NASLUND: There's a lot of other side effects from those medicines like dizziness, headaches, flushing, a little nausea, and they're relatively short-lived.
LONG: Men in their 50s also should schedule a colonoscopy to prevent the spread of colon cancer.
Detective Ciepiela says deciding to go to the doctor saved his life. Now, cancer-free, he talks to fellow officers about the importance of having checkups, so they, too, can stay healthy and strong for their families, as well as their livelihoods.
Melissa Long, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The federal government is taking an unprecedented step by declaring a public health emergency in one Montana town. The EPA will spend $125 million to help with the clean-up of asbestos in Libby, Montana.
The contamination has been blamed for more than 200 deaths. Another $6 million will go to pay for medical expenses of the remaining residents. Around 2,600 people still live there. The asbestos came from a mine that closed nearly 20 years ago.
A New York man is in jail for allegedly impersonating his dead mother for the past six years. A judge set bail at $1 million after the man pled not guilty to a series of charges in that case.
CNN's Susan Candiotti has the very latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For putting on a wig, lipstick, dress and painted fingernails to allegedly pose as his dead mother, Brooklyn's D.A. gives Thomas Parken first prize in the scam department.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For creativity, this comes out number one.
CANDIOTTI: Creativity apparently motivated by greed. Parken is charged with multiple counts of fraud and forgery. He allegedly began dressing in drag following his mother's death six years ago allowing him to live rent free as her in her million dollar town home.
Authorities say Parken pocketed more than $100,000 in her social security and housing assistance benefits. He allegedly faked her death certificate by giving a funeral home a phony social security number and even used her monthly benefits to buy a fancy tombstone. An inscription reads, "Everyone is talking about the lady in red."
Parken chose a red dress last April to renew his mom's driver's license at the DMV. The man next to him is also charged in the scam posing as the old woman's nephew. In an amazing display of nerve, prosecutors claim Parken went to them last month to file a fraud claim against a man who bought his mom's home at a foreclosure auction.
CHARLES HYNES, KINGS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: (INAUDIBLE). The chase went from strange to truly bizarre.
CANDIOTTI: Bizarre because Parken, dressed as his mom, agreed to a meeting with investigators about that fraud claim.
HYNES: A scene even too absurd for Hollywood movies. Investigators met someone dressed as a 77-year-old woman, complete with lipstick, painted nails, because the impostor was Thomas Parken.
CANDIOTTI: Investigators say they can't help but compare him to Norman Bates who dressed up like his dead mom in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho." But with Parken, authorities say it was all about money. His defense attorney had no comment.
(on camera): In court papers, prosecutors say Parken told them he held his dying mother in his arms, and in his words, her spirit went in me.
If so, an investigator said he had an odd way of showing it.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Brooklyn, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Arguing for the legalization of marijuana. One advocate has made it his life's work. He said making pot legal could be a major money-maker for states.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: And I'm Rob Marciano in the CNN severe weather center. More severe weather in the central part of the country. More wet weather in the east. And record-breaking dry out west.
We run it down in just a few minutes in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.
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LEMON: Boy, Rob, some bad weather overnight, and it's not over yet, I'm hearing.
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LEMON: Good for Seattle.
Thank you very much for that, Rob.
MARCIANO: All right.
LEMON: You know, there's a lot going on this morning, and CNN crews are in place to bring it all to you.
We want to start now with what we're bringing to you. First up, Isha Sesay at our international desk with what's happening in Iran.
Isha?
SESAY: Hi, there. We are closely following what's happening on the ground there in Iran. We have all angles covered here at Iran desk. I'll bring you the very latest at the top of the hour.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Elizabeth Cohen here in Atlanta. If you're confused about all this talk about health care reform, well, you are not alone. We had a primer for you of sorts for the "Empowered Patient" segment today. I'll have that at the top of the hour.
LISOVICZ: And I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange, where there is some hope on the labor front. Continuing jobless claims finally fell by the biggest amount in seven years.
Don, I'll have more on that in the next hour.
LEMON: Thanks, Susan, and everyone.
Also from the U.S. open, Phil Mickelson talks about his family's biggest challenge right now. His wife's challenge with breast cancer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Well, the debate over legalizing marijuana. Supporters say it could bring in billions of dollars in tax revenue. But opponents say the cost of doing business is just too high.
CNN's Joe Johns has more for you.
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JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If marijuana has a future as a legitimate business in this country, Paul Stanford of Portland is a true pot pioneer.
PAUL STANFORD, MARIJUANA ADVOCATE: I feel a little bit more relaxed, I can feel that I have had a couple of little puffs here.
JOHNS: Call it his Oregon Trail. For 25 years he's pushed to legalize marijuana. In fact for the last decade, he's hosted a cable access show on it.
STANFORD: Our infamous dancing cannabis leaves.
He founded what he says was the fist medical marijuana consultation and referral service in Oregon. The company has amassed files on 64,000 patients in eight states where medical marijuana is legal, matching people who want it to doctor who is can provide it.
Stanford says it's a $3 million a year business. These plants are also Stanford's. He's licensed by the state to grow them for medical marijuana. He gives it away in closed door meetings like this.
The next frontier for this pioneer?
STANFORD: We need to take this market out of the hands of the kids and substance abusers who control it today and put it in the hands of the state where the age limit is strictly enforced and where we can get tax revenue.
JOHNS: He's trying to get an initiative on the ballot here in Oregon that would allow for state taxation and regulation of marijuana. But he's failed in past efforts to legalize it here.
(on camera): It doesn't cost much to raise these plants. The whole operation runs on a shoe string basically. But if this were scaled out so that marijuana was being sold all over the country and it were legalized, there are some people who say the costs to society would be much greater than the benefits.
(voice-over): It's a guessing game, but a moderate estimate says if marijuana were decriminalized, it would save about $13 billion from not having to enforce marijuana laws. And if pot were taxed like alcohol and cigarettes, it would mean about $7 billion, a net gain for government of $20 billion.
(on camera): But that's not a complete pictures. Comparing alcohol to pot, one professor at USC said alcohol taxes only cover about 10 percent of alcohol-related costs like drunk driving. And tobacco taxes only cover about 20 percent of tobacco-related medical costs.
(voice-over): So what about marijuana? If legalized, would we see more accidents or lower worker productivity? And what about health effects, higher insurance rates? In Paul Stanford's garden, it's all blue skies.
STANFORD: That's assuming that marijuana is like alcohol and tobacco and it isn't. Marijuana is a healthy alternative and much safer than alcohol and tobacco.
JOHNS (on camera): But what about the cartels and the brutal international drug trade? Those who support legalization say it will stem the violence. But critics say the cartels will simply slash their prices or ramp up trade in other drugs, like cocaine or methamphetamine.
(voice-over) Stanford says there's no proof that would happen, and he remains confident in the mantra of legalization.
STANFORD: Marijuana is a lot safer than alcohol, has a lot of medicinal benefits. And so if we look at the science, we're going to win.
JOHNS: But given the national experience with legalized recreational drugs, who knows where this Oregon Trail will lead.
Joe Johns, CNN, Portland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. So, can the U.S. afford to make marijuana legal. That's a question all this week on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."
Looking at both sides of this debate. Catch more of "AMERICA'S HIGH: THE CASE FOR AND AGAINST POT," tonight, 10:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.
We want to update you on some of the stories we're watching for you here on CNN. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is on Capitol Hill right now. He's talking about the Obama administration's plan to change financial regulatory rules and increase oversight. He's appearing in front of the Senate Banking Committee right now. He's a house hearing that will start this afternoon.
We have new jobless numbers just out this morning. 608,000 people filed new unemployment claims last week. That is up 3,000 over the week before. But continuing claims by people who have been unemployed for more than a week dropped for the first time since January.
NASA is set to launch a new mission to the moon today. They are sending up a pair of probes. One will orbit the moon while the other will slam into it, hoping to kick up evidence of ice.
Well, this mission was supposed to launch Wednesday but was delayed because of NASA's attempt to launch the space shuttle. Thousands of Iranians marching in Tehran right now in a ceremony of mourning for those killed in this week's election protests. Now here's how we are bringing you the story today.
Iranian government authorities have placed restrictions or limitations, I should say, on all international media reporting from Iran. Prohibiting reporters from going out and covering opposition rallies.
CNN's reporter -- has a reporter, Reza Sayah is limited to filing only one report from Tehran each day, and for that reason, we're not able to bring you a live report from Tehran at this time either on camera or by telephone. One report per day from Reza Sayah.
But we are still using the worldwide resources of CNN to keep you informed. And this hour, live reports from Isha Sesay and our Octavia Nasr. She's here in the NEWSROOM. And Kara Finnstrom, also in Los Angeles. She's been covering reaction in television that's also sends reports out of Iran.
Well, because of the Iranian government's restrictions on international media, we are getting information from Iranian citizens through social networking sites, especially through Twitter. And also we have been getting a lot on Facebook, as well.
Our Isha Sesay at the international desk, or Iran desk where the staff is working on the Web.
What are you finding, Isha?
SESAY: Well, we know for sure, Don, that the protestors are out on the street. They are wearing black; a sign of mourning to mourn those who are injured or killed in clashes with security forces.
Here on the Iran Desk, we are combing through Iranian media TV as well as radio, as well as, you know, really sifting through those social networking sites to get a sense of what is being posted.
