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Freed American Journalists Return Home; Protests Continue in Iran; Seven-Way Kidney Transplant Performed; Obama Speaks in Indiana

Aired August 05, 2009 - 11:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It is Wednesday, August 5th. Here are some of the top stories right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Cheers and tears. Two American journalists return home after four and a half months as prisoners in North Korea.

Plus this...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beer drinking ability, A plus. The economy, B minus. Foreign policy, B minus. Health care, B.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. He's grading the president. The Obama presidency approaches the 200-day milestone. CNN iReporters help grade the president.

And a remarkable feat in the operation room. Doctors pull off a 14-way domino kidney transplant.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Tony Harris is off today.

And you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we start out this hour with a joyous homecoming. And if you haven't seen these pictures, sit down and take a look at them, because Laura Ling and Euna Lee were overcome with emotion when they arrived in the Los Angeles area just about two hours ago. They returned home for a tearful family reunion. Their freedom from North Korean custody secured by none other than former President Bill Clinton.

We have extensive coverage for you ahead. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California, and Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty is in Washington for us.

Thelma, let's start with you.

We have said emotional, and you can't say that enough, and you can't see these pictures enough.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Don. I mean, we've all covered reunions, but how often do you see the former president of the United States and vice president in a room with people who have not seen each other for 140 days? This thing was so well produced, it was so dramatic to watch the pictures unfold before our eyes.

We were standing in the hangar, which, Don, is the size of a football field. It was a huge thing, a private hangar. And to see the plane come in and the sun come up, and then to see Euna Lee and Laura Ling get off that plane, and to watch the family members have a reunion with them, a very emotional scene.

One thing that struck me was watching the husband, Iain Clayton, who is Laura Ling's husband. They have been married for 12 years, and he had said that they had never really spent much time apart. And he had really missed her. And so, as he walked up to the plane as she's getting off, he was wringing his hands, you could see, in anticipation of being able to hug her.

And then, also, Doug Ling, the father of Laura and Lisa. He has said that he thought this would be the happiest day of his life. And as he approached his daughter and held her, you could see the smile on his face and tears in his eyes. And very, very touching.

But, Don, I think the shot that really spoke to all of us, especially those of us who are parents, was watching that 4-year-old little Hannah, who is Euna Lee's daughter, run to her mother and hold her. She had not seen her mother in so many months, and to watch the interaction between the two of them really was something.

LEMON: And Thelma, I thought it was also very interesting to point out, sometimes it's just the little things. One of the husbands said he didn't realize how much he missed his wife until some new pillows that they had ordered arrived and she wasn't there to share the pillows with him.

GUTIERREZ: Yes, that's exactly right. You know, Don, this woman had gone off -- both of these journalists had gone off to cover a story about women who were trafficked from North Korea. So, they go off to cover this story, they say good-bye to their family members, think that they're going to see them in a couple of weeks, and then this happened.

So, March, they get arrested. June, they find out that they are sentenced to 12 years of hard labor.

And you are absolutely right, Iain Clayton had said that he knew that something was terribly wrong when, all of a sudden, they had ordered these pillows, the pillows show up at the home, and he said his wife wasn't there to share that moment with him. And to watch them reunite, really just a very touching scene.

LEMON: All right, Thelma. Thank you very much.

You know, emotion aside, there is some criticism happening here. John Bolton telling the French press agency it comes perilously close to negotiating with terrorists.

Let's go now to our Jill Dougherty in Washington for more on this.

Jill, it was a little bit surprising by some that Mr. Bolton would come out and say this, especially after it all ended up it, appears, as a good thing with these two journalists coming home, these two journalists.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think what Mr. Bolton is talking about is the criticism that some others are leveling, as well. And that is, do you use this, this president going to rescue or take away those journalists back home, for other situations that we have unfolding.

Now, should, in other words, Bill Clinton or somebody else high level go to Iran and take the three Americans who are being held there who happened to walk over the border, we understand? A similar situation. And the question is, is that the type of diplomacy that you want?

Now, the administration would say that's not diplomacy at all. That's humanitarianism, it is strictly personal. It's Bill Clinton going as an individual. The North Koreans wanted him. It has nothing to do with all the overall relationship.

But others look at it and say, ultimately, it does rub off on the relationship. So, is that how you conduct it? Could you encourage other countries to say we know how to get high-level diplomacy and get a president over here, let's grab some Americans?

So, there are legitimate questions that will be coming out. It's not to diminish what we just saw, which is very emotional and really very interesting, too, how this all unfolded, but it is a legitimate question.

LEMON: And you have to look at the players involved here, too, because it also adds another degree of interest here, if you look at a former president, a would-be president, a former vice president, as well, and then the current president involved in this. So -- and also hearing from people, the White House clearly knew about this, even though they didn't weigh in until after the journalists were freed.

DOUGHERTY: Oh, absolutely. In fact, there was a briefing late last night by senior administration officials who describe how this happened. And the way they describe it is, back in July, in mid-July, the North Koreans talked to the women who were being held and they said, essentially, look, if we can get a high-level diplomat, namely Bill Clinton, to come here, we are willing to free you and to have amnesty and let you go home.

So, we understand that what happened at that point was the women were allowed telephone calls periodically with their families. They conveyed that message, and it was eventually conveyed to the White House and National Security Council and they looked into it. They wanted to make sure, is this really legitimate?

And through various channels they determined that it was, presented it to Bill Clinton. The former president said, I'm willing, but it has to be strictly humanitarian, no negotiations about the overall relationship. And that the North Koreans had to agree to that. So, it's a fascinating back-story on how all this happened.

LEMON: Absolutely. Jill Dougherty, thank you very much.

And also our thanks to Thelma Gutierrez.

Let's get to now the people involved in this and hear from them. Four and a half scary months in the custody of a regime often called paranoid and really unpredictable. Laura Ling described the moments she and Euna Lee realized they would be going home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA LING, JOURNALIST: Then, suddenly, we were told that we were going to a meeting. We were taken to a location, and when we walked through the doors we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That happening just moments ago.

Former Vice President Al Gore is co-founder of Current TV, where Ling and Lee both work. He was instrumental in getting Bill Clinton to travel to North Korea.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We want to welcome Laura and Euna home. We want to thank President Bill Clinton for undertaking this mission and performing it so skillfully, and all the members of his team who played key roles in this.

Also, to President Obama. Laura mentioned this, but President Obama and countless members of his administration have been deeply involved in this humanitarian effort. To Secretary Clinton and the members of the State Department, several of whom are here, they have really put their hearts in this. It speaks well of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Former Vice President Al Gore.

And later in the CNN NEWSROOM, the political intrigue of former President Clinton's mission to North Korea. I'll talk live with "Washington Post" national security reporter Glenn Kessler, who has some very interesting information to tell us on the back-story on this. That's coming up in just a little bit.

All right. Let's turn to news now about the economy.

Two reports out today point to continued problems in the job market. Paycheck processor ADP says the economy shed 371,000 jobs in July -- 371,000. That's more than economists had predicted.

A separate report says employers announced more than 97,000 job cuts last month. That is 31 percent more than in June. A report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas say layoff announcements have totaled more than 994,000 this year.

And President Obama takes an economic road trip to the hard-hit area of Indiana. The president is scheduled to speak in Wakarusa, Indiana, within the hour. He is delivering grant money and a message -- the stimulus is working.

Our senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is traveling with the president today.

Ed, he's going to talk about the economy, but I expect health care will come up, and possibly the two journalists story. That may come up, as well.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No doubt. He could comment at some point. You heard him back at the White House do that before this trip.

Also, I can tell you, when our buses rolled in and the cars rolled in for this event, getting here before the president, there were a lot of people on both sides of the health care debate out in the parking lot shouting on each side. Some protesters, some reporters for the president. But really, the focus is the economy.

He's going to announce $2.4 billion in money for the next generation of electric vehicles, including the RVs, the recreational vehicles you see behind me. This is the RV capital of the world. It's been decimated in recent months because of the fact that people don't have money for vacation, let alone to spend tens of thousands of dollars on an RV right now.

Unemployment got as bad in recent months as 19, 20 percent in this general area around Elkhart, Indiana. You remember the president was here in the first 100 days. He made a commitment to come back. That's why he's coming back, just as we're about to mark his first 200 days in office.

And the unemployment numbers are getting a little better here. There is some good news.

I spoke to an RV owner in the last 24 hours. I sat down with the mayor of Elkhart. And they say unemployment is now just over 16 percent, and they think the stimulus money is making a difference. But, as you know, you've got Republicans back in Washington insisting, look, maybe the stimulus money being sprinkled around is helping on the margins, but 16 percent unemployment, while better than 19 or 20 percent, is still far worse than the national average of 9.5 percent -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Ed Henry, we will be watching. Thank you very much for that. And we will bring you President Obama's speech on the economy, live, right here in the NEWSROOM. It is scheduled for 11:55 a.m. Eastern, 8:55 Pacific, right here on CNN.

President Obama marks his 200th day in office this week. Now is your chance to grade the job he has done so far by logging on to CNN.com/reportcard. You can see the results from CNN's "National Report Card." It's tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN.

Let's talk now about a horrific story -- gunned down at the gym. Police say a man opened fire on an aerobics class at an L.A. Fitness near Pittsburgh last night.

Witnesses say he turned off the lights and fired 50 rounds, killing three women and injuring at least 10 others before killing himself. Now, a source tells us that the man was a member of the gym identified as 48-year-old George Sodini. Witnesses described what they saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody started running from the gym bleeding, and we hit the door. And a lady was shot in the leg, a lady was shot in the shoulder. We started picking her up and dragging her out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, a law enforcement source tells CNN the gunman had a gym bag with a note in it in which he describes his hatred of women.

It has never been done before. Doctors in Washington have just successfully completed the largest domino kidney transplant ever, involving seven donors and seven recipients.

We're expecting to hear more from the doctors at any minute now. There you see them live there on those pictures. And senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is standing by to help us with that story. We'll talk to her in just a little bit here on CNN.

U.S. senators could decide later today to keep the Cash for Clunkers program, but personal finance editor Gerri Willis says you may want to keep that clunker. Her "Top Tips" straight ahead.

First, here is the latest on the Dow. Check it out. You can see the Dow is down almost 74 points.

Details -- more details coming up right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Well, it looks like the Cash for Clunkers auto rebate program will live on. The Senate plans to vote late today or tomorrow on a measure that would put another $2 billion in the clunker kitty.

Now, the Democratic leadership says it has the votes to pass it. Senate Republicans say they won't be a roadblock for the popular program. The House has already approved more money for it.

Some dealers are betting on a Cash for Clunkers extension and kept right on wheeling and dealing throughout the weekend, and even throughout this week, but others got nervous and put the brakes on the government rebates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE RAYMAN, OWNS 13 ATLANTA-AREA DEALERSHIPS: So, we're going to make a business decision for all of our dealerships to right now stop the program as of tonight, and until we hear further word that the Senate is going to approve this thing, we'll go forward. No, I'm not happy about it at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, Cash for Clunkers originally had $1 billion to spend, but the program was so popular, the cash ran out within days.

So, a lot of you have been asking this question, and you haven't gotten involved in the Cash for Clunkers program. So, if your car doesn't meet the government definition of "clunker," how can you keep it on the road longer?

Your personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here.

Gerri, you know, you have been turned down -- not you. I mean, the understood "you," the viewer, possibly, turned down for Cash for Clunkers. Maybe you have, I'm not sure.

So, what are some good investments to make in your current car so that you can keep it on the road a little bit longer?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Right, exactly. I mean, there are a lot of people who want to participate and they simply can't because they don't meet the guidelines. If that's the case, you want to maintain things that could cause your old car to lose control and possibly have an accident, like your tires, your battery, your brakes.

Make sure the tread on your tires isn't worn. You can check your tire pressure as much as every month on all four tires. And the number they're supposed to hit is actually inside that car door.

Check the pressure when it's cooler out. If you have too much air in those tires, your tires will wear in the center.

And when it comes to your battery, make sure you have it checked in an auto parts store or service station. Look, a battery can die with absolutely no warning.

And, of course, make sure you check for wear on all those little rubber bits that are on your car, including windshield wiper blades, because they always go out at the worst time.

LEMON: Yes, and you're stuck with the leaves and everything on there.

All right. So, aren't there other ways to improve your car's efficiency, even though if it is sold (ph)?

WILLIS: Well, if you use conventional motor oil, you can switch to synthetic oil, Don. Your engine runs more efficiently with synthetic oil. Of course, it costs about five bucks more than conventional oil, but with synthetic oil, you can go longer between oil changes, every 7,500 miles instead of every 5,000 miles.

And if you don't know the last time your oil was checked, hey, use your senses. Look at the quality of the fluid. If it's dirty or it smells burnt, you should think about replacing it -- Don.

LEMON: There's some things, though, you don't have to buy. I mean, air, usually it's free for your tires and things like that. There are some things you don't have to buy.

WILLIS: That's right. It doesn't always cost money.

And if you do take your car in for an oil change, you may be persuaded to buy a more expensive part, have a service performed that's really not necessary. Some examples include changing out your air filter. Surely, changing the air filter will give you better fuel efficiency, you think, but it won't jeopardize the life of your car.

Have your rotors on your tires turned is often a service that's not needed, but commonly recommended that people pay up for it. It's not cheap. It could run 50 bucks a tire. So, watch out what you're getting sold on, because it could really hurt you.

LEMON: Yes. And especially now the dealerships. If you take it there, business was not like it was before, so they're going to sell you. It's business.

All right. So, let's just say besides your car just dying on the side of the road, or kicking the bucket, how do you know that your clunker is finally at the end of the road?

WILLIS: Well, you know, you don't sell just because you're recently been forced to make some kind of major repair. That doesn't make sense. But you do want to get a sense of what other major repairs are on the horizon, around the corner.

Since specific models tend to suffer identical problems, you can simply talk to other owners or a mechanic that you know and you trust. In the meantime, figure out what vehicle you would like to buy and figure out the cost of monthly payments. Try to squirrel away a little bit of that each and every month, because it's got to fit your budget, of course.

And if you have any questions, send them to us at gerri@cnn.com. We love to hear from you and we answer those questions right here every Friday.

LEMON: And common sense. Sleep on it. No rash decisions; right, Gerri?

WILLIS: That's right.

LEMON: Thank you, Gerri Willis.

WILLIS: My pleasure.

LEMON: All right. Signs of economic recovery are really starting to emerge. At least that's what some say. So, does that mean the recession is ending? And, if so, does President Barack Obama get the credit?

That is a topic of discussion for Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi. He is on his radio show right now, today. There he is.

Ali joins us now from New York.

OK. Are we...

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Don, we never get to talk anymore. Good to see you, my friend.

LEMON: You don't bring me flowers anymore. So, hey, listen...

VELSHI: I will bring you flowers. I love working with you.

LEMON: Let me ask you this...

(CROSSTALK)

VELSHI: So many calls.

LEMON: Yes. I want to ask you, people are saying, who gets the credit? But, really, I mean, how do we know? Are we out of the recession? Is this really a turnaround?

VELSHI: Right. Before you start giving credit, let's find out where we are.

And I've asked two questions today to my viewers. I've said, are we out of this recession or is this recession ending? And if it is ending, if you believe it's ending, who gets credit for it? Can the Obama administration get credit?

We're still confused about the first one. People are saying maybe, maybe not. Maybe we're coming out of it. Somebody wrote, "Come to Las Vegas and see for yourself. It's not ending."

And for those who think it is ending, some people are saying -- I mean, I've got one here. It says, "I give Obama and his administration 100 percent credit for looking carefully at the economic issues and doing something to help fix the problems."

But I've got others who say this administration can only take a little bit of the credit because, really, what happened under the last administration, toward the end in October, all of that, there was more than $1 trillion that got thrown at the economy that brought us out of the abyss that we were in and back into a "normal recession." And now we're seeing the ends of the normal recession.

LEMON: All right. So, then, you know, we're saying who would get credit. If the current administration doesn't get credit, then who's going to get it, the former administration, or an administration in the future?

VELSHI: Well, you know, some people say, well, you have to blame the last administration for putting us into this mess. A lot of economists I talk to say economic cycles are economic cycles.

Governments can help them be worse or shallower, but in the end, the money that was put in by TARP and the Federal Reserve last year probably got us back on track. The economic cycle burned its way through.

Now, here's the important thing. This administration, if they have done the right things, might get credit for a very robust recovery, but that might be something we see several months from now, or a year from now, if we start to see jobs turning around. Of course, if we don't, and we start seeing higher taxes and things like that, Don, no one is getting credit for anything.

LEMON: You brought up a very good point, because you hear all the numbers people saying, hey, we're in a turnaround, possibly, it happened in July, whatever. But to the average American, unless you have a job and you have got some money in your pocket, and there's a prospect of a future, you're not feeling it right now.

VELSHI: That's right. It's the same way going into a recession. You feel a recession when it hits you generally.

When you hear of other people losing jobs or getting jobs, if you are -- look, we know that jobs are what we call a lagging indicator; right? So, the stock market is doing fairly well right now, home prices are starting to stabilize, home sales are going up. But these jobs, we're going to be losing jobs for several more months, and that really hits people at home. If you don't have an income, it doesn't really matter that other people say the recession is over.

So, we just need to start building that confidence, and that's the role that this administration can play, making people think that the future is going to look better than it looks right now. And maybe they can get some credit for that.

LEMON: All right.

Ali Velshi on TV and the radio at the same time. He is multitasking today.

VELSHI: If you want to call -- can I give out my number?

LEMON: You're always giving out your number.

VELSHI: Can I give the number?

LEMON: You're always -- go ahead, though.

(LAUGHTER)

VELSHI: Personal number -- 877-266-4189. This is such a great conversation. So, anybody who wants to join us for it, please join us.

Don, good to see you. We'll do this more often.

LEMON: Always good to see you. Have a great day, Ali. Thank you very much.

And President Barack Obama marks his 200th day in office this week. You can see how the economy has fared during the last seven months by logging on to CNNMoney.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. It is report card time once again for President Barack Obama as he closes in on his 200th day in office.

Producer Tyson Wheatley from CNN.com's iReport Desk joins us with the grades.

Our iReporters are giving the commander in chief -- they've got their red pens out.

TYSON WHEATLEY, CNN.COM PRODUCER: They do. Hey, Don.

Well, tomorrow marks President Obama's 200th day in office. We asked iReporters to grade the president in the following key areas: economy, foreign policy, health care, and leadership of the nation.

Let's go ahead and take a look at what you said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SEAMAN, IREPORTER: On the one hand, I think he's doing a great job overall, but he has had some slipups. Foreign policy-wise I would like to see him come down much harder on Iran during the protesting.

In terms of the economy, I don't have any money right now, it's hard for me to find work. Millions of other Americans are in the same boat, or in a much worse boat. So, in that regard, he has to do more. He is not finished yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH WHITLEY, IREPORTER: We all know that President Obama did not cause the recession. As a matter of fact, from the first day that he came into office he was expected to stop the free-fall of the decline of the economy, a freight train, if you will. Not an easy thing to do. And to be very honest, I'm not sure that any other president who had come into office would have done things much differently and gotten a better result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIANA MAXWELL, IREPORTER: The Obama administration hasn't been able to effectively explain how changing our current health system will actually help save us money. And then, secondly, still provide the best medical care that everyone expects.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EGBERTO WILLIEA, IREPORTER: The part that I don't like is that he's still giving bankers too much of a leeway with our economy. And the economy does not belong to bankers, it belongs to us all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESIRE GROVER, CNN IREPORTER: If he had spoken too quickly, he could have thrown our nation in direct conflict with Iran, and we already have enough problems with Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHEATLEY: And, of course, we invite you to weigh in on this, as well. You can do so by just going to ireport.com, uploading your video. And be sure to tune in tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, for the "NATIONAL REPORT CARD," Obama's second 100 days. That's going to be live on CNN.

LEMON: Absolutely, Tyson. Thank you very much. We can't say it enough because we want our viewers to tune in. It's going to be important. President Barack Obama, as Tyson says, marks his 200th day in office this week. Now is your chance to grade the job he has done so far by logging on to CNN.com/reportcard. And you can see the results from CNN's "NATIONAL REPORT CARD" tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Our thanks again to Tyson Wheatley.

You know, every week we honor a "CNN Hero" here, and this week it is civilian contractor Brad Blosser. Now, when he went to Iraq to boost morale among American troops, he knew nothing of the one in seven Iraqi children living with a disability. Now, as U.S. troops withdraw from the region, he is staying there to offer hope to hundreds of desperate children and their families.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is "CNN Heroes."

BRAD BLAUSER, HELPING DISABLED IRAQI CHILDREN: Disabled children, they're really the forgotten ones in this war. They're in the back rooms, often not seen in society. I came to Iraq as a civilian contractor. There were a lot of children that either dragged themselves on the ground, or they have to be carried. There was so many kids out there with a need and so many people willing to reach out and touch the lives of these kids. In 30 days we had 31 pediatric wheelchairs that had hit ground.

My name is Brad Blauser. I bring pediatric wheelchairs to Iraqi children in need. People donate on my Web site. The wheelchairs are brought over, and I distribute them to the different military units and help fit these children into the wheelchairs. The experience for me in the first distribution was awesome, to see the smile come across their face and look over at the mothers and fathers. They've definitely been changed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's all about humanity. He wanted Iraqis to feel that there is humanity in America. It makes us happy to see such a thing.

BLAUSER: There's no paycheck. It's not really safe here, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity knowing that you've done something for someone that nobody else has done before. I made the difference in the life of these families. Definitely, the sacrifice has been worth it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Congratulations to Brad Blauser. And for more stories on "CNN Heroes," just log on to CNN.com/heroes.

OK, seven people needing kidney transplants, seven others willing to donate. A news conference happening right now, and our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen standing by for us, and she is tracking this historic transplant.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Four more years. Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad begins his second term as president today. Protesters are lining the streets, continuing to claim his re-election was a fraud. And international correspondent Reza Sayah is following the developments for us at the Iran desk. Take us to, I guess would it be called an inauguration there?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, this was a swearing-in ceremony. His opponents don't like this, but indeed, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will serve a second term. It became official this morning, 9:00 a.m. local time in Tehran with the swearing-in ceremony. Let's go ahead and take a look at video there at the ceremony. The speaker of the parliament, Ali Larijani. Also there the head of the judiciary, Ayatollah Shahroudi. The president taking an oath, calling the vote on June 12th, who many people dispute, an unprecedented epic.

There have been a number of countries who have yet to congratulate the president. Here's what President Ahmadinejad had to say to them.

Do we have that? OK, we do not have that bite. To paraphrase, the president said, we don't need your congratulations. Among the countries who didn't send a congratulatory note, the U.S., the UK, Germany and France, I think we have that sound bite now. Let's go ahead and take it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, PRESIDENT OF IRAN (through translator): Nobody in Iran is waiting for anyone's congratulation. The people of Iran do not care about their frowning foreheads. Neither do they care about their smiles and congratulations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAYAH: There you see some of the defiance from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that we've become accustomed to over the past four years. A lot of empty seats in the parliament, dozens of them. These are hardliners and other reformist lawmakers who have criticized Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Also no-shows, opposition leaders, among them opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karoubi and a couple of former presidents -- Don.

LEMON: Speaking of those reformists, let's talk about what happened on the streets in Iran. I mean, we know what happened during that disputed presidential election, and even now, Reza, have been hearing that there are some protesters lining up, but the siege in the government, they've been cracking down on these protesters. Tell us what is going on now there with them.

SAYAH: They're back again today, not in large numbers. And there you see video coming into the Iran desk. According to sources, hundreds of people tried to gather outside of parliament, but that's where they were met with a huge security presence. Thousands of Basijis, riot police, in large part managed to disperse them.

We're talking to sources for the past hour, and at this point, the streets are clear. So it appears as if the crackdown was, in large part, successful.

But the opposition movement showed today that the despite the crackdown, they're going to be continuing to come back. And it's an indication of one of the many challenges this president faces. He has this opposition movement to worry about. Domestically, he has an economy that's on the verge of shambles, soaring unemployment. This is a president that's under pressure and facing challenges on multiple fronts -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. Reza, we will be following this story for quite some time. We appreciate your update. Thank you very much.

SAYAH: All right.

LEMON: Seven people needing kidney transplants, seven others willing to donate. A news conference happening right now.

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LEMON: Two freed American journalists are back with their families this hour. Take a look. That was Laura Ling and Euna Lee returning from North Korea to a tearful reunion with loved ones in southern California just a few hours ago. They spent four and a half months in North Korean custody. For Lee, seeing her 4-year-old daughter, Hannah, caused her to weep with joy, and she didn't speak to reporters. But Laura Ling did speak to reporters.

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LAURA LING, JOURNALIST FREED BY NORTH KOREA: To our loved ones, friends, colleagues and to the complete strangers with the kindest of hearts who showed us so much love and sent us so many positive thoughts and energy, we thank you. We could feel your love all the way in North Korea. It is what kept us going in the darkest of hours. It is what sustained our faith that we would come home.

The past 140 days have been the most difficult, heartwrenching time of our lives. We are very grateful that we were granted amnesty by the government of North Korea, and we are so happy to be home. And we are just so anxious right now to be able to spend some quiet, private time getting reacquainted with our families.

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LEMON: And even with all the emotion, this was very carefully played out. You know, the theater and the intrigue that came with Bill Clinton's mission to North Korea. I want to bring in Glenn Kessler. He's a national security reporter for "The Washington Post."

And before we -- I talk to you, I want to read President -- this is President Bill Clinton's response. And notice in all this, I said it was very carefully played out, Mr. Kessler, because Bill Clinton didn't say anything in front of the cameras.

He says, "I am very happy that after this long ordeal, Laura Ling and Euna Lee are now home and reunited with their loved ones. When their families, Vice President Gore and the White House asked that I undertake this humanitarian mission, I agreed. I share a deep sense of relief with Laura and Euna and their families that they are safely home."

And then just after that statement was released, the president had this to say. Take a listen.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reunion that we've all seen on television, I think, is a source of happiness, not only for the families, but for the entire country. I want to thank President Bill Clinton -- I had a chance to talk to him -- for the extraordinary humanitarian effort that resulted in the release of the two journalists. I want to thank Vice President Al Gore, who worked tirelessly in order to achieve a positive outcome.

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LEMON: This had to be very carefully handled. You have a current president, a former president, a current secretary of state and a former vice president all in on this. It was obvious from the president's remarks that he knew about it, but some are considering this may be diplomacy at arm's length instead of direct talks and diplomacy from the president of the United States.

GLENN KESSLER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Right. That's exactly right. I mean, what you have here is a private humanitarian mission that was fully coordinated with the White House and the State Department. I mean, they had back-channel conversations to the North Koreans to ensure that if Bill Clinton got on a plane and flew there, he could come back with the journalists.

LEMON: How did all of this come about, though, Mr. Kessler? Who started this?

KESSLER: Well, it started with the American administration, the Obama administration, reaching out in various ways through cutouts, you know, back-channel conversations, trying to figure out a way to get those journalists home. And, you know, and you could see, you know, the public statements of, for instance, the secretary of state changed over the last few weeks from being very strong and condemning the whole trial process of the journalists to coming out and saying, well, they made a mistake. We apologize, sending signals publicly that were reinforced through the back channel contacts.

LEMON: OK. There are people who are saying, you know, John Bolton said that, you know, this is negotiating with terrorists. And there are people who are saying, who knows what the U.S. gave up by allowing President Clinton to go over and meet with Kim Jong-il. What possibly did the U.S. give up besides maybe giving a little bit of credibility, as we spoke about, to Kim Jong-il?

KESSLER: That was the main thing. They gave some credibility to a dictator who, after all, did, you know, allow at least 2 million of his people to starve to death and rules over a very horrific regime. But at the same time, this is the country that is, you know, it has just a few months ago detonated a nuclear device. Talks to stem their nuclear programs have been stymied and stalled, and the Obama administration has been looking for ways to engage and discuss these issues with them and at the same time, maintain tough sanctions.

So, by interjecting this humanitarian mission and giving some face to Kim Jong-il in the form of meeting with a former president, that may pay diplomatic benefits down the road. It may not. It may not work out. And in the end, all you got were two journalists being freed, which was good enough.

LEMON: Yes. That's what I was going to say. The good thing is that they are home now. What kind of diplomacy this was, what we gave up, what we accomplished, that will all be debated for the days and weeks to come and possibly years.

Thank you very much, George (sic) Kessler, the national security reporter for "The Washington Post." We appreciate it.

And we're waiting to hear from President Barack Obama. He is at an RV plant in Indiana this morning, and we'll bring you his comments live right here on CNN.

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LEMON: OK. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with me now to talk about a groundbreaking kidney transplant just successfully performed in Washington. Elizabeth, 14 people, seven donors, seven recipients taking part in a so-called domino transplant. Maybe it's just me. I'd never heard of it. But it certainly is intriguing.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly has happened, but this one is certainly a huge number of people. You have seven people. That's the people right down here. These seven people all needed a kidney transplant. And they were seven of the 80,000 people waiting for someone to die so that they could get their kidneys, 80,000 people on that list.

These seven people were going to have to wait five years and they couldn't wait that long. So, now, most of these people went and found what's called a living donor. That's a husband, a wife, a cousin, a friend, whoever is willing to give up one of their kidneys while they're still alive. But then they hit another roadblock: None of them matched their donors. So, for example, someone might have a husband or a wife who's willing to donate, but they didn't match. So, these people were really in a pickle.

LEMON: OK. So, what did they do?

COHEN: Well, they did sort of this domino kind of thing. I like to think of it as a matching game. What they did is that they put all of these people together and found they didn't match the person they came in with, but they matched someone else.

So, let's take a look. Larry and Elizabeth are a great example. Larry and Elizabeth are a husband and a wife. Elizabeth needed a kidney, but she did not match Larry. But she did match Jordan. Now, Jordan's interesting. Jordan's what's called an altruistic donor, Don. Jordan didn't have a dog in this fight, so to speak. He didn't have anyone who needed a kidney transplant. He just wanted to give a kidney to somebody.

So, he stepped in and said, I'm going to give my kidney to Elizabeth. So, then what happened is, that freed up Larry's kidney. Larry said, well, I was going to give my kidney to Elizabeth. I'll give it to somebody else. So, Larry ended up donating to Dachia. So, and then you multiply this out, and so on and so on, and that's how 14 people were involved in this huge match.

LEMON: And it just snowballed, domino, as you said.

COHEN: There you go.

LEMON: You said he's an altruistic donator? Is that right?

COHEN: That's right. There were two altruistic donors.

LEMON: Altruistic.

COHEN: One was a student. One is a pastoral counselor who said, I don't know anyone who needs a kidney, but just take my kidney. Give it to whoever needs it.

LEMON: Giving away a kidney, that is true altruism there.

COHEN: Yes.

LEMON: So, I notice that most of these kidney recipients, when you were showing them, are African American. Is that a coincident that I -- coincidence that I noticed that?

COHEN: You know what, Don, it's not a coincidence what you noticed there. African Americans have a much harder time getting kidneys. And there are a couple of reasons why. One of them is that just for biological reasons, African Americans seem to have very strong and active immune systems that makes them more likely to reject the kidney.

And then if they go on dialysis, as people do when they need a kidney, the dialysis makes them even more likely to reject the kidney. So, those are just a couple of the reasons why African Americans just have a harder time getting a kidney.

LEMON: Boy, oh, boy. OK, so this obviously, Elizabeth, is a happy day for these recipients. But does anyone have any concerns about this kind of arrangement? There are always people who are on the other side here.

COHEN: Well, there are people who definitely have worries, Don. And the reason why is that these donors, they were perfectly healthy. They walked into the hospital perfectly healthy, and they underwent surgery not for themselves but to help someone else. And so these people had to undergo the risks of the surgery and also the risk of living -- and you see some people hugging each other right there. That's a donor and a recipient.

The donor had to undergo a risky surgery and also has to live the rest of their life with just one kidney. So, it's very important that these hospitals screen people to make sure they're not coerced into giving a kidney, that they really want to do it. LEMON: All right, Elizabeth, thank you very much.

We're going to get now to Wakarusa, Indiana and the president speaking now, talking about the economy. Let's listen in to President Barack Obama.