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A Positive Step in the Gulf; New Information on Times Square Bombing Suspect; Incumbents Face Tuesday Test; Lenny Kravitz Talks About Benefit Concert for the Gulf

Aired May 16, 2010 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, anticipation grows in the Gulf of Mexico. BP is claiming there's finally a reason for hope. We go live to the Gulf to find out if it's the real deal.

Some of your long-serving Democrats and Republicans could be out of a job come Tuesday, and until a short time ago, they never saw it coming. Who's out, who's in? The "Best Political Team on Television" weighs in.

The plot thickens in the murder-for-hire investigation. A network reality star, the prime suspect.

And the music industry comes to the rescue. Tonight, rocker Lenny Kravitz joins me. He and some of the world's biggest musicians are pulling together to help the Gulf of Mexico.

Hello, I'm Don Lemon.

BP says it's expecting the latest attempt to be the one that does the trick, capping off all that oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. Workers have managed to insert a four-inch tube down to the spill site, capturing some of the leaking oil and pumping it to a ship on the surface of the Gulf. After weeks of bad news, they're calling it a positive step forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUG SUTTLES, BP CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: We ran the -- they call it the riser insertion tube tool. And they ran it last night and started to get oil up to the surface into the drill ship. Then we had a small problem and the tool came out of the riser, but they got that reinserted this morning. And as we speak, there is oil going into the drill ship. So we need to get a bit more time with it to see how effective it can be, but it is working.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: CNN's David Mattingly covering this story from the very beginning.

David, is this the real deal or is it spin? What's going on here?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is the real deal in the sense that they're finally able to siphon some of that leaking oil up to the surface vessel and keep it out of the Gulf of Mexico.

But at this point, BP cannot tell us exactly how much oil they're going to be able to collect with this process. We've asked some very pointed questions about what sort of success they're going to have with this and they're not able to answer that yet because the system is so new. Every step has been an experiment and they're waiting to find out, perhaps another 24 hours, before they know just how much oil they're going to collect with this.

LEMON: All right. They're waiting for another 24 hours, but then what happens beyond this? What's next?

MATTINGLY: This is just the first step. They wanted to stem the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. They never said they'd be able to stop it with this tube, and they're not going to be able to.

What they're looking at now is the next step that will stop the flow of oil into the Gulf. And that's going to involve something that's going to happen about seven to 10 days from now and is something called kill mud, where they're going to be pouring that substance. It's not actually garden-variety mud. This is a substance that they use in the drilling process.

And they're going to be pumping massive amounts of that directly into the well to fill it up, to clog it up and to stop the flow of oil. But, again, that is seven to 10 days away and they're working on getting that ready right now.

LEMON: David Mattingly, thank you very much.

We talk now about the tensions in Thailand, where bullets are flying in the streets of Bangkok.

Nine people were killed in the last 24 hours in fighting between troops and anti-government protesters, bringing the death toll to 33 since Thursday. Bangkok is normally considered safe enough to attract tourists from all over the world, including thousands every year from America. But violence is radically changing the face of that city.

Our Dan Rivers has been following all of this and he's standing by tonight in Bangkok.

Dan, what's the very latest?

DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the death toll has gone up again, I'm afraid. It's now 35 people dead since Thursday, including one soldier. Eleven people were killed yesterday and overnight. That's Sunday and overnight. It's Monday morning here now.

And as I speak to you still now, there is smoke again billowing across the skyline of Bangkok. A very fierce firefight overnight, around 11:00 p.m. on Sunday night here, which was very intense. It went on for more than an hour and sounded like automatic gunfire being exchanged and very loud explosions, possibly grenades.

LEMON: So, Dan, listen, lots of Americans either travel there for vacation or they work there. The State Department is warning American tourists to stay out of Bangkok. How badly will this hurt tourism? Is there any way to know when this might be over?

RIVERS: Well, it's certainly not helping Thailand's international image around the world. That Thailand, as you say, is seen as a sort of paradise holiday destination, but those scenes we're seeing on the streets of Bangkok are anything but a paradise. It's a bit of a nightmare here in part.

Having said that, elsewhere in Thailand, things are completely peaceful. On the holiday islands like Phuket and Koh Samui, things are fine. So if people are heading to the islands, I think there's not a problem. If they're coming to Bangkok to do some shopping, I'd say forget it. All the shops are closed downtown and it's very dangerous in some parts of the city.

LEMON: CNN's Dan Rivers.

Thank you very much, Dan.

And tonight, we're learning more about the man accused in the Times Square bombing and what he was thinking. Tonight, for the first time, we get a look at him and his own words in two e-mails obtained by CNN's Susan Candiotti. Susan joins us now from New York.

So, Susan, where are these e-mails from and what do they tell us?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, what helped propel terror suspect Faisal Shahzad? What led him to set off a car bomb in a crowded Times Square?

CNN has indeed obtained two e-mails written by Shahzad, written in 2006 and just last year. In the first e-mail written four years ago, Shahzad refers to attacks on Muslims overseas and a controversy when a Danish newspaper published a cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad.

Quoting here, "It is with no doubt that we today Muslim followers of Islam are attacked and occupied by foreign infidel forces. The crusade has already started against Islam and Muslims with cartoons of our beloved prophet as war drums."

And in another part of the e-mail viewed by CNN, Shahzad appears to express frustration about those he perceives are attacking his he religion.

Quote, "Can you tell me a way to save the oppressed and a way to fight back when rockets are fired at us and Muslim blood flows in Palestine, Afghan, Iraq, Chechnya and elsewhere? We don't know the realities on ground as to what the mujahideen goes through, but you would have to agree to the fact that there is a force out there that is fighting the West and is defeating them, and fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression."

LEMON: So, Susan, who handed these e-mails over to us and why did they do it? CANDIOTTI: First of all, Shahzad sent them to friends of his and we obtained them from a doctor Saud Anwar. He is a physician who works in Connecticut and he's very active with a group called the Muslim Peace Initiative. And he also serves on an FBI multicultural diversity council and has for years, in fact, was honored by the FBI.

And so, he wanted to make them public because he wants the public to also try to understand, as everyone is trying to understand, of course, what led to this attempted attack on Times Square.

LEMON: So has the FBI had a chance to look at these e-mails? Have they commented about them yet?

CANDIOTTI: Yes, they have. As a matter of fact, when they became available to Dr. Anwar, he, in turn, took them to the FBI and said, this is something that you have to look at. And the FBI also had a chance to speak with the person to whom the e-mails were sent. And so they are currently analyzing this new information to help put a portrait together of Faisal Shahzad.

LEMON: Interesting story. Good information, Susan. Thank you very much for that.

London's two busiest airports are shut down tonight because of an enormous ash cloud. No flights are going in or out of either Heathrow or Gatwick airports. The ash is from the same volcano in Iceland that halted air travel overseas last month and affected 10 million passengers. Both airports are scheduled to reopen overnight, but other airports in Ireland and Scotland may stay closed even longer.

In a few minutes, we'll give you a full forecast on how bad the travel delays could get this time around.

But first, candidates are in the home stretch for three big primaries on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to win because the working families are the ones that win when we do win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The voting could provide early answers about the midterm elections in the fall.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The new week will bring some major political showdowns that could cause aftershocks all the way to November. On Tuesday, we're going to get an early test of voter attitudes toward incumbents and so-called establishment candidates.

So let's talk about three huge Senate races and why they're important with our political editor, Mark Preston, he's at the National Constitution Center in Pennsylvania; our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, is in Kentucky; and our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, is in Arkansas for us tonight. We've got the A-team joining us. We'll start with Mark.

Senator Arlen Specter is being challenged by Congressman Joe Sestak there in Pennsylvania. What's the story there? Why is Arlen Specter in trouble?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know something, Don, about a month ago, Arlen Specter wasn't in trouble. He has been the favorite candidate of the Democratic establishment. President Obama has come up here and has campaigned on his behalf. Big labor is behind Arlen Specter.

However, Don, Arlen Specter is a Republican-turned-Democrat. As our viewers will remember, last year, Arlen Specter switched parties and basically gave President Obama the 60th vote he needed to try to get his legislation through Congress.

However, what we've seen in the past couple of weeks is that there has been a turn. Mr. Sestak has put an ad out, Don, that has linked Arlen Specter back to the previous Bush administration when President Bush endorsed him in a previous campaign.

We also see back that there is Democratic voters here that are not tied to the labor community that still view Arlen Specter as Republican. And basically, it comes down to this, Don. This anti- incumbent mood right now seems to be sweeping here through Pennsylvania. The question for Arlen Specter is, Don, is it strong enough to sweep him out of office? A question that will be answered on Tuesday evening.

LEMON: When we're talking about this, guys, and Sestak, is this going to come down to, Mark, who's the real Democrat here? Is that what it is?

PRESTON: And that's what we're hearing right now, Don. Just a few hours ago, earlier this morning, we saw Mr. Specter and Mr. Sestak both attend church services all around Philadelphia here, where I'm located. Black churches, specifically. And in fact, we heard Mr. Specter make his pitch to one congregation.

About an hour later, we saw the same congregation welcome Mr. Sestak in. The fact of the matter is, Mr. Specter thinks that, bottom line, it's going to be the black vote. If he can get the black vote out behind him, he thinks he's going to win this primary on Tuesday.

LEMON: It's becoming a real get-out-the-vote campaign. Let's go now to Kentucky now.

Paul Steinhauser, two battling for the nomination, an outsider and an insider.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You were just talking about that anti-incumbent fever. There is no incumbent here. The current senator, Jim Bunning, he's retiring, he's a Republican. But you're right, there's an outsider in this race and that is Rand Paul.

Name sounds familiar at all, Don?

It should. He's the son of Ron Paul, the Republican congressman who ran for the presidential nomination in 2008.

Rand Paul, he's an eye surgeon, first-time candidate. He's become a tea party favorite. He was even been endorsed by Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor.

The other major candidate here on the Republican side is a guy called Trey Grayson. He's the secretary of state here in Kentucky. Also a very conservative candidate. But he's considered the establishment candidate or the mainstream Republican. He was handpicked by Mitch McConnell, Republican Kentucky senior senator and also the top Republican in the Senate.

So, you've got an outsider. You've a mainstream Republican. And polls suggest now that Rand Paul has taken the lead in this race by about 10 to 12 points. We are two days away from a primary everybody's keeping their eyes on, Don.

Remember, there's also a Democratic primary here that's been overshadowed. You've got the lieutenant governor and the secretary of state. We're going to keep an eye on this race, Don.

LEMON: It's going to be a very busy Tuesday. And of course, that means our Dana Bash is going to be seen a lot here on CNN and working very hard.

So, Dana -- we go off to Arkansas now. Incumbent Blanche Lincoln is also facing a challenge from within the Democratic Party. How is she handling that?

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's very interesting because her challenger is the lieutenant governor, Bill Halter, and he is somebody who on a national level, if you look at his politics, he's not considered a progressive, but he is challenging her with the help of national progressive movements, like MoveOn.org and also the labor union.

They have come in here in a big, big way. They have made Blanche Lincoln the poster child for a Democrat who doesn't go their way and they're going to try to get rid of her. They're spending millions and millions of dollars here.

But what is so interesting is that Blanche Lincoln's challenge is really just the anti-incumbent fervor that we are seeing across the country. Her opponent is really challenging what he calls over and over again the anti-incumbent problems in Washington and he says that she needs to be ousted because she is a creature of Washington.

So the way she's handling that, Don, is by talking about her record, talking about what she has done for the people of Arkansas over and over again. And she's trying to position herself as somebody who is there in Washington but using her perch to fight Wall Street, the big bad Wall Street, because she's chairman of the agriculture committee.

She has a bill to deal with that. Listen to how she addressed her constituents, campaigning here today. We were with her earlier today and she touched on this issue. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BLANCHE LINCOLN (D), ARKANSAS: So I introduced the toughest bill of anybody in Washington, tougher than the administration's bill, tougher than the other bills in Congress, and you know what? It's real simple. It just simply says, if you're going to participate in that risky activity, take it away from my house. Get it out of my bank.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So there you hear her saying that she's trying. She's in Washington, she's a senator, but she's at least trying to fight all of the forces that people here in Arkansas and across the country say that they're so fed up, which is why there's so much anger.

But it's really unclear as of now whether or not people are going -- that's really going to penetrate and get through what sometimes is frankly not necessarily targeted or logical anger, just anger, and she's a sitting senator, so she is their target.

LEMON: Yes and she's very colorful, as you saw her in her outfit there and her choice of words as well.

I want to go to Paul again because, Paul, you usually crunch the numbers here. You've covered the tea party a lot, right, so how is it influencing all these races we're talking about on Tuesday, where Dana is, where Mark is, where you are?

STEINHAUSER: On the Republican side, listen, they've had an impact this year. There is so much energy, enthusiasm among tea party activists and it is playing out in the primaries.

Just two weeks ago in the Indiana primary, the candidate they backed, he didn't win but he came in second and did much better than expected. And it was just last weekend that Senator Bob Bennett of Utah, who is fighting for reelection, he's been ousted in a party convention in Utah, partly because tea party activists were dead set against him.

So they've definitely had an impact. They're backing Rand Paul here. If he wins, they'll claim it as another victory on their belt -- Don.

LEMON: Paul Steinhauser, Mark Preston, Dana Bash, thank you all very much. Of course, this is a precursor, everyone is saying, to what's going to happen in November. Thank you, guys.

Every parent's worst nightmare as well as every police officer's when a raid goes terribly wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was asleep and they came through the door shooting, throwing flash grenades...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the wrong house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...at the wrong house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A 7-year-old girl, an innocent victim. We'll tell you what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: No flights are getting in or out of London's two busiest airports tonight because of a giant volcanic ash cloud. Heathrow and Gatwick airports are shut down for the next few hours. The ash is from the same volcano in Iceland that halted air travel overseas last month and affected 10 million passengers. Both airports are scheduled to reopen tomorrow, but other airports in Ireland and Scotland may stay closed longer.

Let's go now to the person who knows all about this, Karen Maginnis.

What a mess. I've heard from people who have been traveling overseas and they have to take these really crazy routes to get back.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Manchester is going to open back up, but Gatwick and Heathrow both are closed, they're saying for six hours total. And we are looking at the possibility that that may be extended. That is just a conjecture on my part, but that would wreak havoc as far as the flying world is concerned.

All right. I want to show you an area of low pressure here, not that that really makes a whole lot of difference when you're stuck with the ash, but what we're seeing is the ash cloud coming all the way down into southern UK. It's also moved in across Belfast and Dublin. So they've shut those airports down there as well. They were shut early on.

But what we're also anticipating is that maybe a little bit later on, we could see some of that ash make its way all the way down towards the coast of France and then it will start to move further over towards the east.

So we'll have this shift from a southerly flow to a more easterly flow and so that could wreak some havoc in the next several days. But we think the bulk of this ash cloud, Don, is going to -- the effects of this are going to be felt in Gatwick and Heathrow for at least the next day or so, and you have...

LEMON: Yes, I've got some new information.

MAGINNIS: You do? All right. LEMON: Don't go anywhere because I'm going to tell you. This is just coming in to CNN here. We're hearing that Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport will stop all flights on Monday due to an ash cloud from a volcano in Iceland. An airport information spokesman said -- and this just came in moments ago as you were speaking, Karen Maginnis -- the closure starts at 6:00 a.m., which is midnight Sunday Eastern Time, and extends to 2:00 p.m., which is 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. All this through a spokesman, and the spokesman said he doesn't know -- doesn't have a definitive information on when the flights will resume.

So, Karen, stand by, it's going to be a mess.

MAGINNIS: Don, the ash cloud -- the ash now is being thrown into the atmosphere to around 29,000 feet. Pilots doing those international crossings are between 30,000 to 37,000 feet. So they'd have to go right through that. And that would wreak havoc on the engines too much.

LEMON: Boy, oh, boy. Stay tuned. Thank you, Karen.

A murder-for-hire plot involving a celebrity chef. You won't believe who he asked to be the hit man.

Plus this -- raising money and awareness and voices to help the Gulf Coast in the wake of an environmental disaster. Lenny Kravitz joined me live and I'll show you the highlights from that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We've been telling you, Lenny Kravitz joined me live for an interview earlier down in New Orleans. This is called Gulf Aid. Just took to the stage. Let's listen in and then we'll play our interview after that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGER LENNY KRAVITZ PERFORMING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was Lenny Kravitz taking to the stage a little bit early -- or taking to the stage live and he joined us a little bit earlier tonight. It wasn't just him. It was also John Legend, Mos Def, Ani DiFranco, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and on and on and on. 100 percent of the ticket sales go towards the wetlands fishermen and families affected by the leaking oil rig. Kravitz told me, before his performance that you see there live right now on CNN, why he was compelled to do Gulf Aid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LENNY KRAVITZ, PERFORMER AT GULF AID: I went down and spoke with some of the fishermen and, you know, some of the captains, the deck hands, and these people are locked down now. They're out of business. They don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, next year. And it's a tragic situation for them. And you know, a lot of them are having to go and work for BP now and for pennies on the dollar and try to survive, you know.

But these people are shut down, man. And you know, as you know, it trickles down. It's not just the people that are catching the fish and the shrimp, but the drivers and the packing houses and everything. It's just the whole industry. And, you know, I believe, you know, down in St. Bernard where I was yesterday, they provide like, you know, 80 percent of the seafood for -- you know, oysters and so forth -- for America. And it's big numbers.

LEMON: You know, a lot of people have been talking about it. BP has been saying, well, this person did it and it's because of this particular part and what have you. I know that you're an entertainer, but you do speak politically sometimes and you're obviously out here helping these folks.

RIVERS: What do you say -- what do you think of the companies responsible for this? Should they pay? What would you like to see from them?

KRAVITZ: I mean, I think that, first of all, they need to get every genius they can get together and figure out how to stop this thing. First and, you know, foremost, I think that they need to compensate these people. I mean, the amount of money that they're making, you know, is tremendous. And it wouldn't cost them anything to take care of these people, to, you know, support them. And, you know, they're not doing that at the level that I feel that they should. That's the least they could do. Right now, we've got to stop this oil. We've got to take care of the people.

LEMON: That's what I was going to say, here's the most important thing, stopping the oil. But you're here because you want help for folks. So how can people help, if they're watching this broadcast right now, how can they help?

KRAVITZ: Well, they can go to lennykravitz.com and they can get the information. They can see how to text in and send, you know, whatever donation that they can. You know, that's really it right now. We're trying to just get money together so that these fisherman can do what they have to do and, you know, we'll see where it goes from today. This is just the beginning. It's going to grow. We're going to -- we're going to see where this goes and what's happening over the next few weeks and we'll figure out how we can do things in a better way perhaps. But right now, we're here today to begin this.

LEMON: Do you have anything special planned for your performance tonight? Any special song?

KRAVITZ: You know, we're just going to get up there, we're going to play, you know, I'll see who's around the stage. We're going to try and get some locals to come up and play with us and do a big finale of "Let Love Rule," which is my statement, you know, it's all about that.

LEMON: Lenny Kravitz, thank you very much.

Lenny is going to perform in just a little bit down on the Gulf Coast. Also performing today, John Legend, Mos Def, Ani DiFranco, as well as our Lenny Kravitz. We appreciate you dropping by and thank you so much for what you're doing for the people down in the Gulf, OK?

KRAVITZ: It's my -- it's my pleasure. I watch you all the time. You're a gentleman.

LEMON: Thank you very much, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Thanks again to Lenny Kravitz. And all the Gulf Aid action wasn't in New Orleans.

Gulf Shores, Alabama, hosted its own benefit concert this weekend. The Hangout Music Festival also raised money for relief efforts for the oil spill. It featured Alison Krauss, Black Crowes and many others.

You know, the music may soon be over, but not the chance to make a difference. So to donate, go to gulfaid.org. Again, gulfaid.org.

There's a new twist to the story of a teacher who went way too far with a student.

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Now the teacher behind these disturbing pictures is speaking out.

And a plane crashes into a house and everyone lives to tell the tale. It's a story you're not going to want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Want to check your top stories right now. Police in Detroit are expressing profound sorrow after a 7-year-old girl was accidentally shot and killed during a raid early this morning. Aiyanna Jones died after police looking for a murder suspect stormed a home on the city's east side. Investigators say an officer discharged his gun during a struggle with a woman inside the home, hitting the young girl in the neck and in the head.

A Houston teacher caught on cell phone video beating one of her students has apologized. Sherrilynn Davis attacked a 13-year-old charter school student last month after the boy apparently made fun of another student. Davis was fired this week and now faces a civil lawsuit for the boy's mother -- from the boy's mother. No criminal charges have been filed yet. Here's the science teacher's mea culpa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERRILYNN DAVIS, FORMER TEACHER: I am without excuse for my actions because I know this has been a painful situation and an incident that I truly regret. If I could go back again, I would do things much, much differently.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: A single-engine Piper crash-landed this morning into a Florida backyard. Witnesses say the aircraft, which took off from Clearwater Airpark, began wobbling, flew into some power lines, grazed the roof of a house and split in two before hitting the ground. Amazingly no one in the three people on the plane or the six in the house at the time was seriously injured.

A 22-year-old who poses as a high school student and basketball star in West Texas now faces a sexual assault charge. The man surrendered to police after a 16-year-old girl reported she had sex with him last summer when she thought he was 15. He posed as a sophomore and helped lead his high school to the state basketball playoffs, despite graduating from a Florida high school three years ago.

And it's official. We now have a new Miss U.S.A. and she's an Arab-American Muslim from Dearborn, Michigan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first runner-up is Oklahoma, which means Miss U.S.A. 2010 is Michigan!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: 24-year-old Rima Fakih of Michigan won the title tonight in Las Vegas, beating out 50 other contestants for the crown. She is believed to be the first Arab-American to win the crown. An incredible story. I'm sure we'll be hearing much, much more about her in the coming weeks. She will represent the United States in the Miss Universe pageant later this year.

Innovative ways to boost the economy from mortgages to men's magazines, just two of the things that our Stephanie Elam covers in this week's "Getting Down to Business."

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you're out of work and owe more on your mortgage than your house is actually worth, you may qualify for some free cash. Homeowners could get money to help avoid foreclosures in four states -- Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan. It's part of the Obama administration's $1.4 billion hardest-hit fund initiative to help stabilize the housing market. Watch for the status of new home construction on Tuesday.

And if you're in the market for a job, things are looking up. The number of U.S. workers filing initial unemployment claims dropped for the fourth week in a row, but the total number of people getting unemployment has gone up. Look for another jobless report on Thursday to see if the trends continue.

And finally, 3-D glasses aren't just for blue aliens and flying dragons anymore. On Friday, "Playboy" fans caught their first glimpse of the June centerfold literally jumping off the page in 3-D. The men's magazine is hoping the gimmick will boost sales after seeing a drop in circulation over the past several years.

And that's this week's "Getting Down to Business." Stephanie Elam, CNN, New York.

LEMON: Passing the buck when it comes to the national budget. Republicans are now letting you vote on where some cuts should be made.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Tomorrow Republicans will see the first results of their new venture called YouCut. It is a website that lets people vote on which government programs should get the ax. You can go online or send a text, but critics ask, is this helping the government save a buck or is it a clever way for politicians to pass the buck? Tonight, we speak to the man behind that YouCut, that's Republican House Whip Eric Cantor.

He wouldn't spill the final tally but he did talk about the people's response to the cut.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), MINORITY WHIP: The success of this program has been unbelievable, unexpectedly. I mean, we have been experiencing over 3,000 votes per hour over the period of almost a week now. We are just about at 250,000 votes of Americans who want to speak up.

LEMON: There are doubters who call this -- who are saying this is a gimmick, it is a distraction from what we should really be doing, which is to address the biggest budget -- the biggest debt problem that we've had, Medicare and social security. What do you say to that?

CANTOR: Well, first of all, I would say, if you look, Don, at the number, the total of savings that are being proposed, either options, there's almost $15 billion of saving right here. And if it's such a gimmick and if it's so easy for the other party to criticize, then let them come ahead and vote with us or let them bring a bill to the floor that actually begins to cut government spending.

LEMON: But the budget is $4 trillion.

CANTOR: Again, Don, I would say that there's no question, how do we go about trying to, as they say, bend the curve in terms of our budget deficits? We've got to start somewhere. Washington's been unable to trim the fat, to tighten the belt.

And just look at what the American families across this country are doing, small business people are doing. They're having to live within their means so they can keep the lights on and keep paying the bills and get through the month. Washington is doing nothing of the kind. This is just an attempt for us to begin that process.

LEMON: OK, Mr. Cantor, I'm sure you've heard -- seen the Democrats' response. They put out their own list. Steny Hoyer's web page. It's called YouCut More Like GOPSpent. They also point out if all the programs were approved, it would make up less than 1 percent of the federal budget.

CANTOR: Well, Don, here's the -- here's the very facts of this program. We intend every week to have a vote among the American people. They'll cast their votes. Monday, we're going to announce the winner and which is the top vote-getter. And then this week on the House floor, we are going to bring to the floor an up or down vote on the winning cut.

We'll do the same next week and the week thereafter and the week thereafter. We are intending to try and change the culture in Washington so that Washington stops spending money we don't have and to begin starting to focus on savings, not spending.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Our thanks to Eric Cantor.

New details about a former chef from the Food Network accused in an alleged murder-for-hire plot. You won't believe who police say he asked to be the hit man.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Now for the stories you'll be hearing a lot about in the week ahead from the Pentagon to Wall Street to the world of entertainment. But we start tonight at the White House.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian at the White House.

They're not calling it a White House to Main Street tour, but on Tuesday, President Obama heads to Youngstown, Ohio. He'll tour a steel manufacturing company, then talk jobs and the economy.

Then on Wednesday, Mexico's president and first lady will visit the White House for a state dinner. There will be a welcoming ceremony. Then President Obama and President Felipe Calderon will hold a joint news conference.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. This week, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to meet with a number of wounded and ill troops. He wants to find out firsthand if the Army is taking care of its soldiers the way it's supposed to. And commanders in Afghanistan will start taking a very close look at progress and whether enough progress is being made.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM ANCHOR: Well, a big week ahead on Wall Street. Lawmakers will continue to debate financial regulatory reform, an increasingly contentious issue.

And investors are awaiting a lot of big earnings reports. We'll hear from major companies like Hewlett-Packard, Wal-Mart, Target and Dell. Investors hoping for any sign that consumer spending is picking up. We'll see how the market responds to all of that. We'll be tracking it for you all week on "CNNMoney". A.J.HAMMER, ANCHOR, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": I'm "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer. Here's what we're watching this week. We are expecting some possible new fallout from the Miss U.S.A. pageant this weekend after all those racy photos of the contestants were posted.

And we expect to learn by Wednesday whether Charlie Sheen might actually be coming back to TV's biggest sitcom, "Two and a Half Men."

That's big news breaking on "Showbiz Tonight." We're live at 5:00 p.m. Eastern and we are still TV's most provocative entertainment news show at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

LEMON: All right. Let's get a look ahead at what's happening international.

Azadeh Ansari joining us with that. We're going to start, where, in Bangkok, where we've been seeing lots and lots of violent protests.

AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL DESK: Well, Don, you know, the clashes over the past week have really -- between the Red Shirt protesters and the government troops -- have really paralyzed the city center. So moving into next week, this is a story we're going to be following. I mean, right now, nine international embassies have been closed, have declared that they're closed and then 35 people have been killed, over 244 injured. So this story is not going away.

LEMON: A lot of Americans go there, as we've been talking to our Dan Rivers, vacation there and they work there as well. And the State Department warning people about -- they've got a travel warning in effect.

Let's talk about Athens, Greece, because the violence there, some say it really sparked the markets to plunge here over the last couple of weeks.

ANSARI: Absolutely. So that's another story that we're going to be watching carefully, too, to see if they can actually pay back the $10.5 billion in bond redemptions that they have. And so if they can do that, it's really going to look favorable on the euro. So, we'll see.

LEMON: Things are not looking good in London as well.

ANSARI: No, no.

LEMON: With air travel. My gosh, Azadeh, what's up?

ANSARI: Well, this ash cloud, I mean, just seems like it goes away, comes back, you know, it's just that it's always there. But the reality is that BA, you know, British Airways workers are scheduled to strike on Tuesday. So we'll see what happens. It's the first of four strikes that are planned to stretch into June. And British Airways is looking to put in place a court order to see if they, you know, can stop them, so.

LEMON: You can see that, right, what that says as well. ANSARI: Look at that.

LEMON: That's in Schiphol. So that's going to happen -- that's happening in the Netherlands as well. A closure there. So we'll be watching this, Azadeh.

Thank you for my international desk, taking us forward, making us smarter about what's happening around the world. We certainly appreciate it.

We have other news to tell you about. We have new details tonight in an alleged murder-for-hire plot by a former TV chef. The people he's accused of trying to hire are talking to police now.

And a tough crowd in Canada as hockey fans take to the streets to celebrate a big win. Does that look like a win? Makes you wonder what would have happened if they lost.

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LEMON: There's some crazy, weird details coming out tonight about the former Food Network chef accused of murder from $100 bills cut in half to paying for bus fare. It's crazy.

Juan-Carlos Cruz hosted "Calorie Commando," which went off the air four years ago. Cruz is supposed to be in court tomorrow. Santa Monica police have accused him of murder and CNN's Alan Duke gave me the details on this developing story tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAN DUKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems that there are three homeless individuals who live on the streets of Santa Monica who are involved in this, central to this, and were used by the Santa Monica police to make this case against this celebrity chef.

They say that they were asked to kill his wife. Now, we've confirmed with the Santa Monica police that these three gentlemen, who were interviewed yesterday by the celebrity news and gossip website TMZ, that these are, in fact, the three chief witnesses against Cruz, that one of them, Little John, was approached about 10 days ago by Cruz on the streets of Santa Monica and offered $1,000.

He was given just $50 or just half of those $1,000 bills -- ten $100 bills that were cut in half. Cruz, according to this man, would hold the other half. When the deed was done, he would get the other half in payment.

Well, it seems that Little John was picked up shortly thereafter by Santa Monica police on a loitering charge. And in the midst of that, Little John told the police about this alleged plot.

And that's when the undercover investigation began, which ended on Thursday in a dog park in Los Angeles with the arrest of Cruz.

LEMON: You said -- did you say $1,000? DUKE: $1,000.

LEMON: For a murder?

DUKE: Actually, $1,001, because one of the three men, Big John, not to be confused with Little John, was also given a $1 to pay for his bus fare to the crime scene.

LEMON: OK. And you say there's tape out there from TMZ of these guys. Are they talking about exactly what Mr. Cruz allegedly asked of them?

DUKE: Well, the Santa Monica police did confirm that these are the guys that we see on TMZ, and that is the story that they told police.

Now, we're in court tomorrow for an arraignment, the first appearance by Cruz. We are unlikely, really, to hear any of the details and the police aren't saying a whole lot, but the homeless men, these three -- Little John, Big John and Shane -- talked profusely yesterday to the TMZ cameras.

LEMON: Did he -- do they say why, at all, in this, are you learning why? Why would he want his wife to be killed? Why would he allegedly be hiring someone to kill his wife?

DUKE: I don't know that these guys really knew because they were relating what they alleged they were told by Cruz and there were some conflicting details as far as that. But we are told that the police have undercover video, at least the homeless men tell us that they set up this undercover sting with the police at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, where video and audio recordings were made. So we will find out in court.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Alan Duke, thanks a lot.

Suicide statistics reveal a disturbing sign of these tough economic times. That's next.

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LEMON: You know, on the weekend, we always want to try and catch you up on some of the news you may have missed this past week.

More suicides in the U.S. are now occurring in a younger age group. At least that's what a new study from the Centers for Disease Control is showing. People 34 to 55 years old now have the highest rate. It has typically been persons over the age of 80. Researchers say loss of jobs and financial problems may be the reason. The study looked at deaths in 2007 when the economy started to go bad.

In Florida, police are asking for the public's help in a possible hate crime. Take a look at this. They're looking for the man seen on this surveillance video. He's suspected of firebombing the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida in Jacksonville. No one was hurt in the blast, but there was minor damage to the building and shrapnel was found 100 yards away.

Take a look at this. This is what it looks like when Montreal's hockey team wins. The Canadians knocked the defending Stanley Cup champion out of the playoffs Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.

So back on to Montreal. Jubilant fans hit the streets to celebrate. Police joined them. And by the time it was all over, 41 people have been arrested and two police officers were injured.

Makes you wonder what would have happened if Montreal had lost or what could happen if they go on to win the Stanley Cup. It's going to be interesting.

Boy, what a great show we've had tonight. Learned a lot. I hope you did, too. Thank you for joining us.

I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you back here next weekend. Have a great week everyone. Good night.