Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Visitors Swept Out to Sea at Acadia; Malaysian Woman to be Caned for Drinking Alcohol; Obama Taking Time off; Clunkers Program to End on Monday; Iran Detainees Claim Rape
Aired August 23, 2009 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone.
Tonight, family vacation -- the first family heads to the vineyard for some R&R. Media in tow, of course, but there is no break in the debate over health care.
Model behavior for misbehavior: Why a young woman seen drinking a beer faces lashes and jail time. The outrage grows overseas and here at home.
Greece fires: Athens is burning with no sign of letting up. Thousands flee for their lives.
Unfair competition: Is she a man? The women competing against her say she is. It's an official investigation now.
And promises, promises. A lot of them made by candidate Obama, few of them kept to the gay community. They say, being left out -- they're being left out of health care legislation and it's a final straw.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.
We begin with a furious search underway right now off the coast of Maine. That's where officials say a rogue wave washed ashore and dragged Hurricane Bill sightseers right into the ocean. And we're told nine people have been rescued, but two are still missing. It happened about six hours ago at the Acadia National Park right near Portland.
And Acadia National Park superintendent Sheridan Steel joins us now live by phone.
Thank you, sir. Tell us the very latest on this. I understand that you had several thousand people at the park at the time?
SHERIDAN STEEL, SUPERINTENDENT, ACADIA NATL. PARK (via telephone): Right, Don, we had several thousand people lining what we call "ocean drive" inside Acadia National Park, watching the waves that were unusually big because of Hurricane Bill.
LEMON: And what about the people who were who -- were overcome by any of the waves. Tell us about that or the people who are -- are there people who are unaccounted for here, as well? STEEL: At one time, we had as many as five people in the water and needing rescue. And the coast guard was able to rescue two people safely. We're still looking for three others. And another five people were injured enough, requiring transport to the hospital.
LEMON: Yes, broken bones we hear?
STEEL: Yes, broken bones and back injuries.
LEMON: Oh my gosh. So, those are incredible waves. Now, you being the superintendent here, have you seen anything like this?
STEEL: I have. I've seen other storm surges like this. They're quite dramatic, but this one came at the height of our visitor season when the most people were in the park. And so, even though we try to warn people and try to get people to watch from a safe distance, we weren't able to contact everybody in time.
LEMON: Boy, oh, boy, back to normal now, though -- as normal as you can get?
STEEL: Well, we still have aircraft in the air and boats in the water looking for at least two other people, probably three.
LEMON: They're still -- I asked you about people who were unaccounted for. So, you're telling me now that there are three people who are unaccounted for, yes?
STEEL: There are three people that we're still looking for. That's correct.
LEMON: All right. Get back to us and let us know what happens with that. But it's very interesting that this is going on right now and you said when thousands of people are in the park. Thank you, Mr. Steel -- who is a superintendent of Acadia Park.
I want to go now to Jacqui Jeras.
Jacqui, I'm also being told by producers that we're working on getting some pictures there.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
LEMON: And also if you have an iReport. We'd like to get it, as well.
JERAS: Yes, please do, we'd like to see what the wave action is look like in that area. Found some stuff on YouTube, by the way, that shows what it looked like a couple of years ago. It kind of gives you an idea of the area.
But you know, what happens here, these are just very large swells coming in from Hurricane Bill. And a rogue wave is something that we would consider to be about twice the size of the regular wave action that's been taking place. We put some buoys here to give you some idea of what things are doing offshore. And we go ahead and query them. You can see this one right here, which is closest to the location, producing wave heights here around 12 feet. So, imagine that potentially doubled, very high, serious situation.
Let's check this one over there by the Portland area. There you can see wave height about seven feet, and the one that's closest to Bill over here off Nova Scotia -- excuse me -- wow, incredible, 21- foot wave height right there. So, some very dangerous waves.
Bill still remains a category one storm right now, pulling away from Nova Scotia, heading towards Newfoundland, and believe it or not, this thing is going to ultimately end up in the U.K.
LEMON: Jacqui, you were warning people yesterday to stay out of those waves and I'm sure the people -- the coast guard and life guards were saying stay out of the water. Is this typical in the back-half of a storm that it pulls that much water from the ocean that they create waves like that?
JERAS: It's very typical to get large waves, especially the larger the storm is, the greater swell that it will ultimately generate. And rip currents -- that was the other big thing, we talked a lot about that yesterday, those fast channels of water. So, people are out there swimming, they'll get caught up in that. It's very, very difficult to get out.
LEMON: Yes, I hate to harp on this. But how long? Because -- I mean, obviously, this is serious -- how long after the storm should things go back to normal?
JERAS: Well, you know, things are already starting to calm down quite a bit in the southeast coast like Florida into the Carolinas. But we still have those high surf advisories, which remain in effect across the Northeast. We think the waves will be greatly reduced by tomorrow. This is storm is moving really, really fast. It'll still be above normal, but we don't think the danger tomorrow will be quite what it is today.
LEMON: Yes, big vacation time. That's why I asked you so many questions, because people should know if they're watching. Be careful -- at least for the next day or so getting out there in the water.
Appreciate it, Jacqui. Thank you.
It is already early Monday morning in Malaysia where Islamic justice is about to be served on a beautiful female model. The court has ordered this woman, Kartika Shukarno, taken into custody and lashed six times with a cane. It will be the first caning of a woman in the history of the Muslim country.
As if that weren't punishing enough, she'll have to spend a week in jail away from her two special needs children. Her offense: sipping a beer at a hotel nightclub.
CNN's Anna Coren met with the young woman as she tearfully accepted her fate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All the children of the Shukarno household celebrate the end of the second day of Ramadan. This will be the last meal they share together as a family for a while. Thirty-two-year-old Kartika Shukarno is heading to prison. The mother of two is being punished for drinking beer in public in a Malaysian hotel, an offense for Muslims under Sharia law.
KARTIKA SHUKARNO, MODEL: When I drink alcohol, I didn't disturb people. I dint make noise. I didn't like do -- damage anything (ph), you know, stuff or what. I just sit and talk with friends.
COREN: Arrested in December of 2007, Shukarno's case has dragged on for more than 18 months. She's lost her health care job in Singapore where she lives with her husband and children. She's taken on part-time modeling to make ends meet. Her son has cerebral palsy, her daughter a heart condition.
SHUKARNO: I can't explain to my first son -- I mean, my first kid because he didn't know. Only my daughter, but she can understand, 5 years old.
COREN: A few days ago, the court finally handed down her sentence: six lashes of the cane and a week in prison, making her the first woman in Malaysia to be caned.
SHUKARNO: Even if I repent (ph), but I believe they have a reason.
COREN (on camera): While Malaysia tries to present itself as a moderate Muslim nation, there is a political and religious push underway to have Sharia law extended throughout the country. Analysts believe Kartika's sentence is not just setting an example to other Muslims but is a sign of things to come.
(voice-over): The sentence has sparked heated debate in Malaysia and around the world.
LAILA BALAKRISHNAN, RESIDENT: I think it's totally ridiculous. It's not very uncommon here in Malaysia for people to drink beer.
KAJENDRAM ARUNIUGAM, RESIDENT: It's not too much. Six is OK, because I feel in other Muslim countries, they are giving harsh punishments like strokes under 25, 50 strokes, 30 strokes and every thing.
COREN: On Monday, authorities will pick Shukarno from her father's home and drive her 250 kilometers to prison in Kuala Lumpur. Her request to be caned in public so as to set an example to others was denied. She understands she will be hit across the buttocks while fully clothed with a bamboo cane, claiming the pain she's caused her family is far greater than her punishment.
SHUKARNO: I've already punished my family, you know? It's more painful to compare six lashes.
COREN: Anna Coren, CNN, Sungai Siput, Malaysia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Ten thousand American dollars, that's what the alleged mastermind in Wednesday's Baghdad attack said it cost in bribes to get a truck loaded with explosives to pass the city's traffic checkpoints to one of six sites targeted by insurgents. The suspect's alleged confession was broadcast across Iraq today. He's described as a 57- year-old former member of the Saddam Hussein's Baath party. He claims the attack was ordered by another Baath party member in Syria. Nearly 100 people were killed and more than 500 hurt in Wednesday's bombings.
A 59-year-old soldier from Washington state has become the oldest U.S. service member to die in Afghanistan. First Sergeant Jose San Nicolas Crisostomo was killed by a roadside bomb in Kabul on Tuesday. The military reported his death on Friday. Crisostomo was a Vietnam veteran and twice received the Bronze Star for combat valor. His death underscores what the top U.S. military commander says is an increasingly dangerous situation Afghanistan eight years after the war started.
Joint Chiefs chairman, Admiral Mike Mullen, had this to say today on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. MIKE MULLEN, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I think it is serious and it is deteriorating, and I've said that over the last couple of years that the Taliban insurgency has gotten better, more sophisticated. Their tactics -- just in my recent visits out there and talking with our troops certainly -- indicate that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Meanwhile, Thursday's presidential election in Afghanistan is being marred by allegations of fraud and abuse. An election commission charged with overseeing the voting results says it has received 225 complaints of voting irregularities, including stuffed ballot boxes and voter intimidation.
And right back here in the United States, the first family has swept into Martha's Vineyard just as Hurricane Bill blew past town. The island itself is abuzz over excitement over the visit. Rows of well wishers greeted the Obamas' motorcade and there are cup cakes and ice creams named for the first family.
The White House says Obama is planning to relax and have a good time during his first vacation since taking office. So that -- what's the media doing then? Why is Dan Lothian in Martha's Vineyard if he's taking time off?
Apparently he's not going to be making news, Dan Lothian. So, what is this? It isn't like a vacation -- working vacation for you? DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It is. You know, we will always find something to cover, Don. Whether the president says something or if he's very quiet out on the golf course, somewhere we're staying behind the long driveway of that secluded farm.
LEMON: And that's part of it, too. He's not expected to be out and about that much, is he?
LOTHIAN: That's right. You might recall that President Clinton loved to walk around Martha's Vineyard, mingle with the folks. We probably won't see that.
You know, I'm sure they'll go into Oak Bluff at some point, that's sort of the entertainment hub here. And so, they have to take the girls out to some of these attractions like the flying horses, a carousel in Oak Bluff. But they will spend a lot of time we're told on that farm. So, we won't have a lot of sort of daily sightings of the president, Don.
LEMON: But people can certainly get a, you know, piece of the president and the Obamas as they were talking about the soaps and all of that and the ice cream.
LOTHIAN: Right.
LEMON: And by the way, if you can bring a lobster roll, I would appreciate it. If you can send it right here.
LOTHIAN: I'm not a lobster -- yes, I'm not a lobster guy, you know? I would go for, you know, some of the other dishes.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: "Barack my world" I'm looking at. What is that?
LOTHIAN: Rock my world. That's right. There's "Barack my world" ice cream. We have a picture of that. And what -- what it is, it's espresso ice cream. It also has caramel, we're told, and also macadamia nuts. So, that's just one way to get a piece of the first family. Let me take up a couple of other things.
There's Mexican restaurant. There's an Obama-ritos and Barack-o- tacos. There's also an adult drink, hail to the chief. There is a "yes we candy," which is the fudge candy.
So, you know, everywhere you go, you can -- you can definitely get a piece of the first family here and I do want to show you this. I had a couple of t-shirts. Now, you know, I'm sure you've been here before. You know, those black dog t-shirt, even if you haven't been here, it doesn't matter where you travel, either around the country or across the world, people have those dogs, you know, those black dog t- shirts.
LEMON: Yes.
LOTHIAN: Well, here's another one. It's not the black lab that you normally see on the t-shirts. You know who that is?
LEMON: Oh, it's the Obama dog. Is that Bo?
LOTHIAN: Exactly, it's Bo. You turn it around and it says, "Bobama, the first dog." So, that's -- I do want to show one other one here. Here's another t-shirt. "Summer White House, Martha's Vineyard, 2009." You turn it around. It has kind of a checklist on the back here. Vacation plans, bailout, again, question mark, that's crossed off. Health care still a question mark there. Martha's Vineyard checked off and then things to do, flying horses and some other restaurants to go visit.
You know, we at CNN had a chance to catch up with this young woman who said she had some ideas for what the first children can do here on the island. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADELEINE HARRIS BENGSTON, 5-YEAR-OLD: The flying horses.
LOTHIAN: What's with the flying horses?
BENGSTON: You know, it goes around and around and these horses, they can ride them.
LOTHIAN: Like a merry-go-round?
BENGSTON: Yes.
LOTHIAN: Wow.
BENGSTON: Try to catch the golden ring.
MARGE HARRIS, GRANDMOTHER: Oh, I'm very excited. I think it's wonderful. I think anything to share our island and to see -- what a compliment it is to us that he wants to come here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: So, Don, you know, on that carousel, I have a couple of kids, we've been here many times. It's a huge hit. Essentially, if you grab one of the golden rings, there are like three golden rings as you go around those horses, you win a free ride. So, every kid out there, you know, trying to grab that ring and hoping that they can get another ride and ride free all day.
LEMON: All right. Dan Lothian, joining us in Martha's Vineyard, a little fun, it's vacation time. A lot of American families are on vacation, as well.
LOTHIAN: Yes.
LEMON: So is the first family.
Dan is going to be back at 7:00 to talk more about whether or not the president might see Ted Kennedy, if they will visit and talk about a special connection between Martha's Vineyard and African-Americans. We'll see you at 7:00. Thank you, Dan.
Raging wildfires in Greece, burning out of control, forcing mass evacuations and threatening ancient ruins.
Plus, this for you...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIO HARDIMAN, CEASEFIRE ILLINOIS: If you're coming up to do (ph) Killer Town here and people don't know who you are, we can get shot right now, for filming (ph) in this car riding down the street.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We will head right into the middle of Chicago's deadly streets where people are desperate to curb the violence that's taking over many neighborhoods.
And, of course, we always appreciate your feedback.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: "Cash for clunkers," a new car incentive is nearly out of gas. The government's cash-strapped program ends tomorrow creating a last-minute sales rush for some car dealers. Let's head out now to Silver Spring, Maryland, and our Kate Bolduan.
Kate, it's Sunday. The car dealership is open and I can hear people around you and I can actually see people. What -- how's business today?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it actually is really quite busy. And they were busy from the moment they opened this morning. We were here. They opened at 10:30, Don. And people were here, ready to look for their cars and ready to make a deal. As you can see, they're still busy right now.
But as you said, "cash for clunkers" is quickly coming to an end, but there is still a long way to go for dealers like this dealer who are waiting for millions of dollars in payback from the government. Now, as you can see, the deals all the while continue to drive off the lot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN (voice-over): With a fast-approaching deadline, customers flock to car dealerships over the weekend, looking, hoping to be one of the last to drive home a deal.
DAVID BARROZO, CUSTOMER: I came here, and there was so many people here.
BOLDUAN: David Barrozo is trading in his van with more than 150,000 miles on it for a new Toyota.
BARROZO: Say thank you. BOLDUAN: Thanks to a $3,500 "cash for clunkers" rebate.
BARROZO: For me, basically, more on motivation, you know? And of course, the new car is always good.
BOLDUAN: As of Thursday, the Transportation Department reported more than 450,000 clunker deals nationwide, worth nearly 2/3 of the $3 billion set aside for the program.
But dealers say the paperwork and the payback is a major concern.
(on camera): So, 15 to 20 documents like this for every deal?
TAMMY DARVISH, VICE PRES., DARCARS AUTO GROUP: Right. We have...
BOLDUAN (voice-over): Tammy Darvish is the vice president of DARCARS auto chain in greater Washington. She has people working around the clock to meet the deadline. They've made 1,400 clunker deals so far, fronting as much as $4,500 for each rebate. To date, they've only been reimbursed for nine.
DARVISH: I mean, you know, especially coming out of the times that we've just come out of and then to have this kind of cash flow hanging out there, it's very unnerving. It's hard to sleep at night knowing that you have, you know, $6 million outstanding.
BOLDUAN: The National Automobile Dealers Association is urging the government to give them an additional week to process all of the deals they expect in the twilight hours. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood assures the money is on the way.
RAY LAHOOD, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: They're going to get their money, we have the money to provide to them.
BOLDUAN: As for customers, like Sarah Nesbitt, she's rushing to cash in on a deal that she just couldn't pass up.
SARAH NESBITT, CUSTOMER: From this, with all its dings and dents and scratches and dog hair and all that into one of those.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: So, what are people buying? Well, this dealer says nearly 80 percent of all their clunker customers are buying foreign brands, Don, and about 80 percent of what people are bringing in to trade-in are domestic vehicles.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, Kate. I've seen you at a lot of these dealerships, but so far, I have gotten no e-mails about what kind of car you're buying. So, I'm waiting.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: I'm keeping it a secret. I'm testing them all out.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, Kate.
Reports are surfacing of a brutal crackdown on Iranian women arrested after this summer's anti-government protest. We'll dig deeper into those allegations.
Also, is she a he? A track superstar, a gold-winning champion now accused of lying about her gender. The latest on this growing controversy -- ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We're watching what may be a Greek tragedy in the making. On the mountains surrounding the capital of Greece, just look at the wind those flames sending firefighters scrambling for safety. More than 50 wildfires have ignited over the past three days in Greece. The fires are being fuelled by gale-force winds. More than 20,000 people -- 20,000 people -- have been evacuated ahead of the flames. Luckily, no fatalities have been reported in Greece.
Turning now to Iran -- this is a disturbing story. The country has been stunned by horrific rape allegations by people detained in the aftermath of this summer's bloody political crackdown. Many of the 1,000 people who were arrested in the crackdown insist they were brutalized and even raped while in custody.
Iran's parliament leader calls the allegations sheer lies, but that has not silenced the issue.
Elise Auerbach is with Amnesty International, which has been looking into these allegations in recent weeks. She joins us from Chicago. You're asking for an investigation from the Iranian government.
ELISE AUERBACH, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Exactly. Amnesty International has called for an investigation into these very serious allegations of torture and rape in custody. We've asked the Iranian government to invite international experts, such as the United Nations repertoire on torture, to assist in the investigation, to make sure that the investigation is credible and that it's completely impartial.
LEMON: What evidence -- what is the evidence that this -- this is happening? What are the allegations specifically? We're hearing about beatings and rapes. Are there witnesses? What's -- what's the evidence that it's happening?
AUERBACH: Well, there have certainly been a very large number of reports that have been in the media. They've been broadcast via Internet. They've been reported to human rights organizations.
But the actual -- the issue actually came to a head when one of the presidential candidates in the recent elections, Mehdi Karoubi, made some very serious allegations that rapes in custody of both men and women had occurred. He made these allegations in a letter to Rafsanjani, a letter in late July. And the letter became public in early August. And in this letter... LEMON: In the letter, I understand about the letter, about the allegations and men and women. You answered my question. I was going to ask you about men. But finally here, I want -- I want to ask if you've heard anything from the Iranian government, Elise?
AUERBACH: Well, Amnesty International has not received any answers from the Iranian government. Amnesty International actually wrote the Iranian government two letters. In one, Amnesty International asked that we be allowed to send an observer to the mass trial that's being taking place right now of people who are accused of instigating the protests. And in another letter, we actually asked the speaker of the parliament, Larijani, for some particulars about the investigation that he claims...
LEMON: But still...
AUERBACH: ... had been carried out.
LEMON: But still you've heard nothing...
AUERBACH: He claims...
LEMON: You've heard nothing from them.
Keep us updated and we -- you know, these allegations are very disturbing, especially seeing the video and the pictures of what happened in Iran after that disputed election.
Elise Auerbach, Amnesty International, we appreciate it.
Chicago's deadly streets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARDIMAN: Chances are I know most of the people in the area. If I was to get out of the truck and say, it's Tio, I'm doing something with CNN, they'll give us a pass.
LEMON: But just from riding here, we're taking our lives in our hands.
HARDIMAN: You're taking a chance right now, Don, I have to be honest with you, because people shoot and they ask questions later.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: We went to Chicago to see firsthand what's going on and what the police in the community are doing to stop the violence.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: This story is really impossible to ignore. Nearly 300 people have died in Chicago just this year alone. Many of them are teenagers. Some of them were innocent bystanders caught in the cross fire. They are someone's sons or daughters.
I went to Chicago to try to find out what is really going on here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): Tio Hardiman knows Chicago's deadly streets and takes us for a ride in a neighborhood so dangerous it's been dubbed killer town.
TIO HARDIMAN, CEASEFIRE ILLINOIS: If you come up through killer town here and people don't know who you are, we can get shot right now for filming in this car riding down the street. We can get shot.
LEMON: Hardiman grew up out here but now runs CeaseFire Illinois, a non-profit that tries to get troubled youths out of the neighborhood.
HARDIMAN: Chances are I know most the people in the area. If I were to get out of the truck and say, this is T.O., I'm doing something with CNN, they'll give us a pass.
LEMON (on camera): So just riding here, we're taking our lives in our hands.
HARDIMAN: You're taking a chance right now, don. I have to be honest with you, because people shoot and ask questions later. There's no method to the madness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: While I was in Chicago, I spoke with parents who had lost a child to the gun violence. Ironically all of their children were taken to the same hospital. And they all mentioned this place called "the room." I asked them to explain that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You said not "the room."
MICHELE LINTON-DELASHMENT, MOTHER OF VICTIM: We were all at the same hospital.
LEMON: Where was that room?
LINTON-DELASHMENT: I refused the room. It's the family room. And it's the room that they take you in when they know that your loved one is already gone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You will hear more of my conversation with the parents next hour. We will discuss solutions and what needs to be done about violence in Chicago at a national level.
The situation on the streets is something CNN iReporter Zach Isaacs is very familiar with. He's lived on Chicago's south side his entire life. And in this iReport, he talks to an elementary schoolteacher in his neighborhood about how to stop the violence. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZACH ISAACS, IREPORTER: Teachers like Alma Sokoya teach life lessons along with the required curriculum.
ALMA SOKOYA, 3RD GRADE TEACHER: You can't win the fight with more violence. Only more people get shot and get killed.
ISAACS: Ms. Sokoya teaches third graders, hoping to reach them before gangs do, but she wants communities to join the effort.
SOKOYA: We need to stop dehumanizing the gang members and start humanizing them. And what I mean by that, we need to start actually taking an active and proactive approach to these people. And that's who they are. They are our brothers, our sisters, our uncles, our aunts, and we need to treat them as such. and we need to be able to go to them and say, you know what? What you're doing is affecting all of us. It's bringing down our community. And it's truly affecting the children.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That was from our iReporter Zach Isaacs.
If you have a story about how gang violence has affected you, send it to iRreport.com. We want to hear it.
And next hour, we're taking an in-depth look at all of these stories from "Chicago's Deadly Streets." We'll take you to the neighborhoods where the killings are happening. We'll question the police. And we'll look at what one local group is doing to stop the violence.
Plus, we'll go one-on-one with Chicago's former superintendent Arne Duncan, now president Obama's secretary of education.
Make sure you join us next hour for this special report, "Chicago's Deadly Streets," only here on CNN.
Plus, you can see more of my reporting from Chicago as well as my producer's Anika Young's (ph) blog about her personal connection to this story. It's all on our web site, CNN.com/newsroom, and click on Don.
President Obama promised to champion gay rights. But has he? And how long will the gay community be patient?
And in Texas, the Dallas Cowboys learn the hard way that bigger isn't necessarily better.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Is President Obama living up to his campaign promise to be a fierce advocate for gays and lesbians? Gay activists think Mr. Obama is backtracking on promises both on the campaign trail and in the White House. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think that it is no secret that I am a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans. It is something that I have been consistent on, and something that I intend to continue to be consistent on during my presidency.
We must continue to do our part to make progress, step by step, law by law, mind by changing mind. And I want you to know that in this task I will not only be your friend, I will continue to be an ally and a champion, and a president who fights with you and for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: But the Justice Department is fighting a lawsuit that challenges the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. Well, some say that adds hypocrisy.
Joining us is Sirius-XM host, Michelangelo Signorile, an author. He's in New York; and from New York, Charles Moran, spokesman for the Log Cabin Republicans.
Thank you very much, both of you.
You heard a couple of times, the president and once-candidate Obama says I'm a fierce advocate for gay rights.
Has that so far, do you feel, it's been the case, Charles?
CHARLES MORAN, SPOKESMAN, LOG CABIN REPUBLICAN SPOKESMAN: Well, the issue of being an advocate means you actually have to do something. And unfortunately all we've seen from the White House in the Obama administration is more rhetoric and not a lot of action. In fact, the most we've gotten is a little bit of a circuit party with a Madonna remix in the East Room of the White House. And unfortunately that just doesn't cut it.
LEMON: OK, that's an interesting way to put it.
And listen, I'm looking at the filings here. It says, "The administration says it supports the repeal of the law." But in the same filing, "The Justice Department will defend the statute in that case, because a reasonable argument can be made that the law is constitutional," Michelangelo?
MICHAELANGELO SIGNORILE, SIRIUS XM RADIO HOST: Look, the president has spoken very, very supportively of rights for gay and lesbian Americans. He has certainly showed a passion in the past, much more than Republicans. What he has lacked since taking office is courage. Courage to really move forward, move forward on repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, move forward on repeal of DOMA.
And he can do things right now even before repealing, he can stop the discharges under federal law of those people being discharged under Don't Ask Don't Tell. He can also decide not to fight the Defensive Marriage, not to fight the challenge. He can actually -- there's nothing in the Constitution that says you have to defend current law. George H.W. Bush actually did not defend current law when he was president, because he didn't believe in it, and his Justice Department made the argument that they weren't going to defend it. And the lawyer making the argument in the Justice Department was John Roberts, who is now the Supreme Court justice.
MORAN: You know, Michelangelo, I want to follow-up with you.
Log Cabin Republicans is the only organization right now that has a federal lawsuit filed against the Justice Department to block the -- to turn over Don't Ask Don't Tell on constitutional -- on an unconstitutional basis. We're calling on behalf of the Obama administration to instruct the Justice Department not to fight this law.
LEMON: Charles and Mike, this maybe the one area where conservatives and liberals might actually work together, because it seems that you two agree in tandem on this issue.
You mentioned something, Michael, you mentioned the former administration. And there's a bit of irony in that the former vice president supports gay marriage, and he has left President Obama's stance on gay marriage.
SIGNORILE: Yeah, absolutely. Dick Cheney has come out now in favor of marriage, equality. Of course, he didn't do that very specifically when he was vice president. He didn't have the courage himself at that time. Now that he's out of office, he has a lesbian daughter, he's speaking out.
Ted Olson, who was George Bush's solicitor general, is now arguing before the federal courts that Proposition 8 in California should be overturned, that gays and lesbians should be allowed to marry.
LEMON: Charles, then, why then do you think that the gay community feels that the president is not doing as much as they should? Why do you think he's not doing what he promised on the campaign trail?
MORAN: There is so much double speak coming out of the White House. And this is the problem. We have seen evidence where Rahm Emanuel's office has instructed their allies and the Congress to hold off on the introduction of legislation that would repeal DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell. They are looking for political cover and they're doing it at the expense of the gay and lesbian community. That's awful, given the fact that 70 percent of gays and lesbians voted for President Obama on the issue of change.
In some cases, you can argue that we sacrificed Proposition 8 out in California for the election of President Obama, and this is what we get, is putting on the brakes, not really taking any action where, you know, action is due.
LEMON: Charles, I want to let Michelangelo get in this. Mike, I'll give you the last word. We're out of time.
SERNORILE: I agree with Charles completely on what's happening around Barack Obama. The big difference, from the campaign to now, are the people around Barack Obama who are making him move very cautiously on a variety of issues where he needs to forge ahead and be the man with passion who spoke so fervently about these issues during the campaign.
LEMON: Political insiders say the issues you're talking about, especially when it comes to gay rights, that those are second-term issues. They want to make sure he gets a second term, and then he will do that. In the meantime, a lot of people are waiting for him to overturn or do some things when it comes to the campaign, the promises he made.
Thank you, Charles Moran.
MORAN: Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you, Michelangelo Signorile. We appreciate it.
I want to update our viewers now on something that happened. We're talking about Portland, Maine. This information is just in. That huge wave, that rogue wave that came in up 20 feet and it tossed some people, and some people were missing and had to be rescued. They had broken bones. We're told that everyone is accounted for. At one point, when we had the superintendent of the park on, he said there were three people missing. They were out looking. Everyone has been accounted for in that situation. That's our update on that story.
In the meantime, they are out of a job and now they're running out of time. What's next for people at risk of losing the only helping hand they've had?
Also, she's fast, but is she a woman? Is she a female? The gender question swirling around this gold medal runner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Unemployment is high, credit is tight, but recovery is just around the corner, so says a guy who should know. That's Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at a conference Friday in Wyoming. Bernanke says the prospects for growth in the near term appear good.
But despite those encouraging words from the Fed chair, more than 650,000 Americans will lose their unemployment benefits next month. And millions more will see their benefits expire by the end of the year.
CNNmoney.com's Poppy Harlow spent a day with two people experiencing this reality firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM HOST: Rachel Gold and Anthony Barberio don't have much in common. Rachel is 28 and worked in recruiting after graduating from college. Anthony is 46, worked on Wall Street for 20 years, but never went to college. The thing they do have in common, a $430 weekly check from the government. Like six million other Americans, it's life of unemployment after losing a job.
RACHEL GOLD, RECEIVING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: I definitely didn't think I would be sitting here, you know, nine months later, you know without employment.
HARLOW: Rachel lost her job in November. For Anthony, it's been more than a year.
ANTHONY BARBERIO, RECEIVING UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: When I first was let go, I figured maybe a month, two months, and I didn't think it would last this long.
HARLOW: But it has, and each day brings more work to find work.
GOLD: This afternoon at 2:30, I have a recruiting meeting with somebody that I was networking with.
HARLOW: But the responses are few and far between.
(on camera): So you've applied for more than 650 jobs.
GOLD: Correct.
HARLOW: How many interviews have you had out of that?
GOLD: Maybe 10.
HARLOW (voice-over): Anthony has applied for hundreds of jobs too. If it were up to him, he'd extend unemployment benefits.
BARBERIO: I think they should just keep continuing it until the job picture gets better.
HARLOW: Unemployment benefits have already been extended, but the Labor Department forecasts 4.4 million Americans may lose their benefits before finding jobs.
For Anthony, that will happen by the end of this year. And Rachel expects to lose her benefits in January.
GOLD: I would go out and get a waitressing job. I would have to.
BARBERIO: I'm going to put a deadline as to when I'm, you know, going to have to really seriously, you know, look for something. You know, whether it be a department store or something like that.
HARLOW: So why don't Rachel and Anthony find temporary low- paying jobs right now? Here's why, the $1,700 a month they receive through unemployment is more than they would make at most entry-level jobs.
GOLD: There are people that I...
HARLOW: So for now, unemployment is their best bet.
Gold: It is not that I don't want to work but it's kind of like I could not survive working at a store making minimum wage. I wouldn't be able to pay my rent.
BARBERIO: I'm anxious to get back to work. Almost a year in the house could drive somebody crazy.
HARLOW: In New York, Poppy Harlow, CNNmoney.com.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You know the old saying, everything is bigger in Texas? But is the big screen at the Dallas Cowboy's new stadium a little too big?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The images you see here didn't come from a bulky underwater camera. They came from this.
KENT PERSON, LIQUID IMAGE: The camera mask has a picture taking ability as well as video taking ability.
TUCHMAN: Just strap on this $250 Liquid Image scuba mask and what you see is what you shoot. Users can film up to two hours worth of footage from a single charge. It has lights to eliminate murky waters and can go 115 feet deep. With this mask anyone can feel like Jacques Cousteau.
PEARSON: We have children who love it in the pool and we have divers who love to go down and just capture the experience of being under water.
TUCHMAN: Pearson says the mask is being used by the military and scientists.
PEARSON: In Thailand, they are using our camera mask to do research on a reef.
TUCHMAN: There is one catch, however for fishermen who like to embellish tales of hooking the big one.
PEARSON: It is going to be a little bit more difficult for people to say it was that big. You can always put a wide angle on it, make the fish look bigger.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: She recently set a world record in a women's 800-meter race and, last week, she won gold at the world championships in Berlin. Is Caster Semenya really a he? The 18-year-old South African runner is at the center of an international controversy.
But as CNN's Gary Tuchman discovered, it is not the first time a female athlete's gender has been questioned.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TUCHMAN (voice-over): She is fast. She is overwhelming. She wiped out the field but is she is she? Her performance, physique and voice comes questions.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: With that, there comes rumors. I heard one that you were born a man. What do you have to say about stuff like that?
CASTER SEMENYA, RUNNING CHAMPION: I have no idea about that. I don't know who said it. I don't know. I don't give a damn about it.
TUCHMAN: Caster Semenya pulled off the huge win at the world championships in Berlin on Wednesday. Three weeks ago, the South African received attention after recording the world's best time at the African Junior Championships.
Now the 18-year-old is receiving scrutiny. Track's governing body, confirming her gender, is being investigated.
Pierre Weis is the secretary of the International Association of Athletics Federations.
PIERRE WEIS, SECRETARY, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION ATHLETICS FEDERATIONS: If at the end of this investigation, it is proven that Semenya is not a female, we will withdraw her name for the reserves of the competition.
TUCHMAN: Caster Semenya's family is outraged by what's happening. Her father, Jacob, telling a newspaper in Suetto (ph), "She is my little girl. I have raised her and never doubted her gender. She is a woman and I can repeat that a million times."
Gender testing is extremely complicated. But it's happened before in track and field. Indian runner, Sathi Senderrajan (ph), had her silver medal in the 2008 Asian games stripped after failing a gender test. She reportedly showed a male chromosome. Sprinter, Ava Korbakovska (ph), of Poland, won two medals in the 1964 Olympics, but failed the gender test three years later and was banned from professional sports. Then there was Polish-American runner, Stella Walsh, who won a gold medal in 1932. After she died, a postmortem showed she had female and male chromosomes, as well as ambiguous genitalia.
It's an unpleasant situation. The rules for determining gender are not always clear.
WEISS: I am not a doctor. I am a specialist of genetics.
TUCHMAN: But the IAAF general secretary says there are experts on the case. In a matter of days and weeks, we will know if Caster Semenya, raised as a girl, will be able to run as a woman.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: OK. Man, a lot of people have been talking about this. It is the buzz on talk radio. The sports world is waiting with baited breath for -- get this -- the gender test results on South African runner Caster Semenya.
Joining me now to discuss this, CNN sports business analyst, Rick Harrow. He is also the new host of "Sports Take" with "Sports Professor," which debuts this week on the Versus Network.
Congratulations, sir, by the way.
RICK HARROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Thank you, sir.
LEMON: A lot of people are following this. Some people are snickering. This is a very serious story when you think about what is at stake -- titles, winnings, earnings, all of that stuff. It is going to come down to this test. Maybe it is more about what is on the inside rather than what's on the outside, what he or she looks like on the outside.
HARROW: Quite clearly. But it is about process. Not all women have standard female chromosomes. There is the issue of sexual ambiguity. I'm not a doctor, I'm barely a lawyer. The bottom line is the testing has to be clear and convincing, because the stakes are so incredibly high. Her case and her family's case is -- and they say, look, god made her look like that, so we can't pass judgment just on how she looks. This is not an open-and-shut case. And it's not an easy one.
LEMON: She could have been raised as a woman and is a woman, but have a male chromosome. Or she may have a deep voice and she's in great shape. We will find out.
Let's turn to Usain Bolt. Bolt is the perfect last name for him. Is he the new "it" guy? Is he going to be seeing earnings up there with some of the biggest athletes here, like here in the U.S.?
HARROW: Lightning Bolt. Insane Bolt.
(LAUGHTER)
That's what they've been calling him. He runs the 100 in 9.5 seconds and he runs the 200 19 seconds. It is amazing. But, don, the issue in America is that track and field isn't as well known as in some other countries. And that's why he may never get to the level of a Michael Phelps, certainly a Michael Jordan or a Tiger Woods. It's unfortunate, but probably correct.
LEMON: Man, the camera had trouble keeping up with him, he was so fast. Listen, real quickly, let's talk about the Dallas stadium. There's some unintended consequences there. Not everything bigger is better.
HARROW: Here is the thing. It is the biggest stadium in the world. It's the most expensive, at $1.2 billion. Jerry Jones, HKS, did a fantastic job. The biggest roof in the world. This scoreboard, you lay it out there, 5,000, 52-inch TVs, 30 million bulbs to light it. It is bigger than anything anyone else the world. The bottom line is it bigger than anything else in the world. It is not as high as it should be. It is over NFL minimums though. Punters hit it. You do the play over. The rules have to catch up.
Jerry Jones, the owner, says it doesn't matter if they are watching the board or the game live, just as important that they come back and have a great experience. It is all about the fans. It is fantastic...
Uh-oh. There you go. He never looked better, by the way.
(LAUGHTER)
That was our Rick Harrow joining us. We appreciate that from Rick Harrow. Having a little problem there with the satellite.
