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BP Appoints New Point Man; McChrystal Meeting with Obama

Aired June 23, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's check our top stories quickly. Hundreds of Arizona wildfire evacuees may be allowed back home today. That's the good news. Btu 14,000 acres have burned near Flagstaff. That's the bad news. Firefighters say that the three-day old blaze is now 20 percent contained.

It's day 65 of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. BP's Tony Hayward has handed over the reins of the gulf oil crisis to an American guy. Bob Dudley is the guy that's in now. Meantime, the Obama administration plans to issue a new deepwater drilling moratorium in the gulf. A New Orleans federal judge lifted the government's six-month ban yesterday

The course of the war in Afghanistan could be changing because of top brass with big mouths. General Stanley McChrystal meeting with President Obama at the White House right now, apparently ready to resign over controversial comments in the "Rolling Stone" magazine.

In the article, McChrystal's adviser calls VP Joe Biden "bite me" and another aide calls national security adviser Jim Jones, "a clown." Those loose lips may now sink the general leading the fight in Afghanistan. CNN international correspondent Nic Robertson and White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux are live with more on this stunner of a story.

Suzanne, let's start with you. The general, we saw just moments ago entering the White House, now meeting with the president. Do we know anything at this point?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, first of all, I want to apologize for all of the background noise here. There is a major construction project, as you know, that is taking place at the White House. So bear with us here but essentially, yes, I've talked to a White House official who said that that meeting has started in earnest. It was scheduled for 9:45 in the Oval Office.

We saw the general arrive here about 9:37 or so. This is a game- changing day, Kyra. We know that General McChrystal is very likely to learn his fate today, that this is not something that White House officials believe should be dragged on. I've also learned from a senior administration official this morning that the White House yesterday asked the pentagon for a list of possible replacements for General McChrystal in the event that President Obama does fire him or does accept his letter of resignation. Now, we don't know what is taking place yet inside that room between these two men, and we will have to wait and see. We expect that the White House is not going to do this in drip drab piecemeal fashion. Because they will get information to us about what has taken place, but we do know, Kyra, that today is going to be a deciding moment and it is going to be significant in the sense that it will either be this general who will move forward with the U.S. mission in Afghanistan or it will be somebody else.

But certainly the main focus White House officials say is whether or not General McChrystal has so damaged his credibility that he is not able to effectively implement or carry out the U.S.-Afghanistan policy that that is what the president is focusing on. We know that the general has apologized. We've heard how disappointed the White House is. That's the fundamental issue as these two men sit down, face to face, hash this out but we will know by the end of the day what his fate will be.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let us know as soon as you have word. Suzanne, thanks so much. And if you don't know, there are nearly 100,000 U.S. troops serving right now in Afghanistan under General McChrystal, and it was President Obama who green lit a surge late last year. But that surge came with a ticking clock.

The president says that he wants to start bringing troops home in July 2011. That's just one thing that's adding to political and military tension that's been simmering for years in that war zone.

Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joining us in Dubai. He's actually on the phone. And Nic, tension is nothing new when it comes to the president of the United States and General Stanley McChrystal. There is a lot that he has wanted for a period of time that he hasn't necessarily gotten from the president.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): And time being one of them and troops being another. If you think back a year ago when General McChrystal sent the defense secretary his review of the situation, he requested more troops. That was leaked to the press, and that was publicly embarrassing moment for everyone.

The underlying tension is that you hear about in Kabul, and I've heard several seen senior diplomats express this off the record is that the time line that General McChrystal is trying to work in Afghanistan is a very, very tight time line.

In fact, they say it's an impossible time line for him to get the sort of results that would allow a continued, full-scale operation to go on in Afghanistan. General McChrystal was preparing for review towards the end of this year, and that would have then head into a decision next summer on the level of draw down on troops.

The assessment is that the time frame that needs to be used in Afghanistan for their to be tangible results is three, four, five years at a minimum, not the next six months, and that's one of the underlying tensions that feeds into this disparity of ideas between the White House and between what you hear from soldiers in the field.

So, no, it's nothing new. It's something that we have seen before in this whole conflict in Afghanistan, but the tensions right now beneath the surface has to be some of the highest. General McChrystal, you see him in the field 150 percent committed. He can do everything that he needs to do with his troops, reorganize and restructure NATO command, but the piece that he can't do in quick time is affect the Afghan government. He spends a lot of time with President Karzai but it's the time limiting factor making those changes among (INAUDIBLE) very strong pressure on him. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You were in Kandahar earlier this month, and you did spend some time with McChrystal, also his press aide that just got fired. How much time did you get to spend with them, Nic, and was anything inappropriate ever said in your presence?

ROBERTSON: I didn't think there was anything inappropriate said and obviously, if there was, we would have reported it. But what you can tell from the people around the general, the general has a reputation for rising early, eating one meal a day, running eight miles a day. This clearly after a year in the field is a huge strain built up on his stave. He just returned from a NATO trip to Brussels, and there were other outer theater operations going on that they were involved in as well.

These are people that have been working at full stretch for over a year and around the general, there is a belief that he is the best man for the job, and I think that's widely felt throughout the military and many others in Afghanistan, that he is perhaps the best person suited for the job.

However, having said that, it creates a sort of effect around him where people are striving to do what he wants under his command, believing what he's doing, frustrated perhaps with what they perceive as a lack of understanding coming from the White House and other political figures, and that feeds into when everyone's tired. Perhaps these times are inopportune and wrong things being said, and so one can see.

And certainly you can see that in the environment in Kandahar a week and a half ago where there's a very, very sort of high-tempo operation going on around General McChrystal. General McChrystal himself when you see him in the field, he seems very relaxed, very at ease in his environment, but the people around him are under a lot of pressure, too, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Nic Robertson, thanks.

Someone else that knows Stanley McChrystal very well, Retired General Russell Honore. He's joining us live from New Orleans today. General, and you pointed this out earlier. If indeed as he's meeting with the president right now, if he gets the word that he is either being ousted or he decides to resign, I mean, the plan in Afghanistan, what's happening there, is his plan.

GEN. RUSSELL HONORE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Absolutely, and, you know, the plan was collectively agreed on by the national security council, and everybody got behind this plan, but Stan McChrystal is the brains behind this plan and that being said, the plan is published. His chain of command knows that. So whether Stan makes it back. In my heart I hope he gets to stay in the fight for a while and we make a normal transition between him and whoever is going to replace him, because the big fight that's going to come up (INAUDIBLE) needs somebody with a hand on the wheel there to keep the small alliance we have as well as to keep pulling President Karzai across the line and say we need to go in there and control the Helmand province.

PHILLIPS: Now, you have written about this and you actually published a piece as soon as you got word what was happening with Stanley McChrystal. And you point out that you firmly believe you don't mix your personal opinions with your job, but you also well know because had you to deal with Katrina. You had to deal with bureaucracy. You had to deal with trying to get resources and trying to get funding and get everything you needed to try to save that region.

McChrystal is going through the same type of thing in Afghanistan. He's needing resources, support. He's needing support. He's needing a lot more than sometimes a lot more than sometimes he feels he isn't getting. It's normal and naturalizer to share personal comments in an environment when you're with your staff, right?

HONORE: Absolutely. Those conversations occur. In this case, it happened publicly and now the world knows about it. That being said, he has to focus on that mission, whoever follows him in command need to focus on the mission and that's why we have the secretary of defense and central command General Petraeus to do his bidding back here and his fighting.

Whoever goes they need to look down and focus on Afghanistan and the relationship with Pakistan as opposed to trying to shape policy back here. I know it's hard to do but those troops are depending on that general to lead them, and assure that they have the resources they need and that they have a focused mission. And whoever goes in behind him, if that does happen, has to focus on that and leave the policy making to the president and the national security team as well as General Petraeus to do his bidding and Secretary Gates to do his bidding back here. Over.

PHILLIPS: It could definitely have a huge impact on rank and file. General Russel Honore, thanks for your time.

So if General McChrystal steps down or is ousted, the White House has reportedly asked the Pentagon to put together a list of replacements. Here are some of the top contenders for his job. Marine General James Mattis is the commander of the U.S. joint forces in Norfolk, Virginia. He has command, combat experience in Iraq and Afghanistan, but just last week he was passed over as commandant of the Marine Corps.

Then there's Marine Lieutenant General John Allen. He is the deputy Centcom commander under General David Petraeus. Allen commanded the second marine expeditionary brigade in Iraq. Next, Army Lieutenant General David Rodriguez. He's McChrystal's number two. He was sent to Afghanistan with McChrystal to manage the war, day to day. Rodriguez earlier served as a top military aide to defense secretary Robert Gates.

Also, Army General Martin Dempsey, commander of Army training and doctrine command. And then last up, Navy Admiral James Stravirdis. He's the top NATO commander in Europe.

The death toll and the damage estimates getting higher and higher as flood wrecks part of China right now. We're going to take a closer look at the pounding water in just a moment.

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PHILLIPS: The weather has not been kind to eastern China. Flooding there has left at least 211 people dead, more than 100 missing, and an estimated $6.3 billion in damage right now. That's the word from China state run news outlet. Heavy rains in 10 provinces have unleashed the rising waters and they've reportedly affected more than 29 million people in some way.

Today may be homecoming day for hundreds of people forced out by a wildfire near Flagstaff, Arizona. The three-day old blaze has scorched 14,000 acres. Calmer winds and cooler temps yesterday may have helped the 800 firefighters taking on this beast. But so far, we're told it's only 20 percent contained. Many people are waiting it out at a middle school in Flagstaff.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rural residents really like our life-style. We like being out. We like roughing it a little bit. We like our animals a lot and we like our wide open spaces and love the forest. And the saddest thing about this fire is that the forest from this view will never be the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer says she will seek FEMA grants to help pay for the massive firefighting effort. You have been out there, Reynolds, you've covered these massive firefights, shall we say and weather plays such a huge part in whether they can contain it or not.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, I wish the news was better news. Only 20 percent contained but when you're fighting mother nature you have to pick your battles. 20 percent is also share of whatever victories you have, 20 percent, not great but better than the ones we had yesterday.

Unfortunately, weather conditions aren't going to be kind of, well, not really helpful today. We still expect the humidity to be very low and the winds in the afternoon increasing out of the southwest. 10 to 15 to 20 miles per hour, some wind gusts maybe approaching 35, and so that's going to help fan the flames in many locations up near Flagstaff.

Now, although things are relatively dry out there, just the opposite for parts of the Great Lakes. We've got another round of strong showers, heavy storms with the possibility of more, in terms of tornados in parts of the world especially up in the Great Lakes area.

Now, one thing you also notice is just over the last couple of days, we've seen a lot of the activity way up in parts of the great likes, the upper midwest and into portions of the Ohio Valley. There is reason for that, you got a big ridge of high pressure that's forming off the eastern coast, and with that forming off the east coast, it's bringing the storm track well to the north.

So we have one area of low pressure after another. This have been just riding, right up the jet stream like this. And just moving right across parts of the great lakes. With that in mind, that means we're going to be seeing more of that activity and at the same time, there's going to be the potential for not only strong storms but perhaps even some flash flooding. Not of the magnitude that we've see in China, no doubt, but still we might see some of that in places like Kalamazoo, perhaps over to Chicago, even (INAUDIBLE) Ft. Wayne, where you have poor drainage in low lying areas and where the rain begins to pile up. You might have some problems with that.

Another big problem we have been dealing with is going to be the extreme heat, plenty of that in parts of the southeast. When you combine that with the humidity, it's going to make a hot day just unbearable. But that being said, we can expect temperatures to be a little bit cooler in places like New Orleans with highs only into the 80s. But that in mind, again, with scattered showers that may develop into the afternoon. It's going to feel much warmer that that when the clouds move off and you got all the moisture in and the temperatures resumed, it's going to feel very muggy. No question.

That's the very latest in the forecast. Let's send it right back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Reynolds, thanks.

New home sales hit a record low. We're going to break down the numbers as soon as we come back.

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PHILLIPS: The housing market, that's what got us into this mess of a recession. Things had been getting better though, and the economy was recovering, but yesterday a weak report on the home sales just came out. And just a few minutes ago, another report was released. Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange with the details. So what does the report show, Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, downbeat number here for you, Kyra. The number of new homes sold may plunged by more than 30 percent. Those sales hit a record low, definitely far worse than expected and this comes after the government tax credit expired in April. It's because demand is drying up without having that incentive in place. What could wind up happening is you can see a ripple effect start throughout the economy. Having fewer newer homes doesn't create jobs, especially in construction. Also, we'll see less taxes will be collected by government. And the impact winds up hurting everybody. Retailers, lumber companies, manufacturers. This whole domino effect that you see created throughout a broader economy. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Alison. All right. Where are we going from here?

We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Now, to the oil disaster in the gulf. It's day 65, and BP's operation to stop the gusher is under new management. Tony Hayward is out, BP's Bob Dudley is in. Meantime, the U.S. government wages its own battle to keep a six-month moratorium on deep water drilling in place.

The White House is vowing to appeal a federal judge's ruling overturning that moratorium.

Quick to the White House, talk about quick - that was a pretty quick meeting. It was just about 20 minutes ago that General Stanley McChrystal came to the White House to meet with President Obama face to face about his fate, and it looks like that meeting didn't take very long.

Suzanne Malveaux is there at the White House. We're going to try and get word to find out if, indeed, the general is still going to keep his job or not. He said he was ready to resign. We heard from Robert Gibbs saying that the decision as to whether President Obama was going to ask him to leave his post or not was still in question. The president made it clear he wanted to meet face to face with Stanley McChrystal.

If you're new to this story, a "Rolling Stone" magazine article which will be coming out Friday - this is the copy that we got. We got an early release of it. "The Runaway General." This freelance reporter, Michael Hastings had quoted a number of the general's close advisers making derogatory comments about lead members of the president's national security team, pretty scathing article.

We want to point out, though, that in that article, that General Stanley McChrystal does not directly criticize Obama, but the comments made by members of his staff are pretty outrageous. Jim Jones being called a "clown" and also other comments about key leaders, including Joe Biden as well, being called "bite me," all by close aides to General Stanley McChrystal.

Not good for the general who is leading the fight in Afghanistan. But as you saw, not a long meeting with the president of the United States and the head general in Afghanistan. Don't know his fate. Don't know if he was fired or if he resigned. We will try to find out from the White House. Suzanne Malveaux working it for us right now. It's 10:25 Eastern time. Quick break. We'll be right back.

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PHILLIPS: That meeting only lasted about 30 minutes, and then he left. You are looking at General Stanley McChrystal right there leaving the White House after meeting face to face with the president of the United States about his fate. What we want to know now, is he going to keep his job or has he been fired? Has he resigned? Ultimately, that's the question.

We don't know. What we do know is that there was a scheduled national security meeting, basically a war planning meeting at 11:30 Eastern time. That's about an hour from now. That is something that Stanley McChrystal is usually attending, usually leading with all his key advisers there, the president's key advisers in the situation room, and obviously he has not stayed for that.

Don't know how to read into that. We have not gotten word yet if General Stanley McChrystal has resigned as the head of the Afghan war in Afghanistan or if the president has fired him from that job.

If you're just tuning in to this story, here's the bottom line. A freelance reporter for the "Rolling Stone" magazine was embedded with General Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan, and an early release of that article came out yesterday.

The president saw it, and he was angry. Why was he angry? A number of disparaging remarks made about the president and about members of the president's high level staff by very close aides to General Stanley McChrystal. I want to point out McChrystal in the article never directly criticized President Obama but a number of his staff members have said comments. For example, calling Joe Biden "bite me." That was one quote in the article. Another one calling Jim Jones a clown.

Just getting word now -- could you tell me, did you say the secretary of defense arriving at the White House?

OK. I'm just being told that the secretary of defense, Bob Gates, arrived there at the White House. It was just previous to that meeting with the president that General Stanley McChrystal went to the Pentagon to meet with Bob Gates, secretary of defense. Also, Admiral Mike Mullen, the chair of the joint chiefs. Don't know exactly what happened at that meeting, but he left from there, went to the White House, arrived there about 9:51 Eastern time, and in less than 30 minutes, General Stanley McChrystal seen leaving the White House and not staying for his war planning meeting there in the Situation room.

Trying to find out if indeed he is still the top man in Afghanistan or not. We're working the story for you as it's breaking. More from the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Being gay and being parents is not new, but it's still a controversial topic. Just ask Gary and Tony. They're the focus of our special CNN documentary set to debut tomorrow night, 8:00 Eastern.

And just as we get ready to air our special report, a new study has just been released showing how successful lesbian parents are. Researchers from UCLA tracked lesbian couples and their children for 24 years. This is what it reveals: that the kids from lesbian mothers actually rated higher than their peers in social, academic and overall competence with fewer behavior problems.

Helena Andrews can definitely relate to that study. She was raised by a lesbian mother and is out with a new book, not only talking about that, but are you ready for this? The title of the new book: "Bitch Is The New Black." I got to say it. The only time I get to say the b word.

So, what does Mom thing about that? Well, she's joining us, too. Frances and Helena Andrews, welcome.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Yes, I think you are going to have to explain the title, because when it was mentioned in the meeting, everybody said, "What? What did you say?"

"Bitch Is The New Black." What does that mean?

HELENA ANDREWS, AUTHOR: You know, it means a lot of things. Tina Fey said it on SNL during the 2008 elections in reference to Hillary Clinton. And it was about the fact that, you know, bitch is in vogue. It's something that the modern woman is doing. And as I was writing the memoir, I thought, "That's a great title, just to talk about modern feminism, and are modern women bitches? Is that how we're seen in the workplace? Is that how we're seen in our professional lives?"

And then, obviously, I'm a black woman, so it's a little bit of a double entendre. But I thought, it's a great title. It's a great title. It will grab your attention really quickly.

PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly, got our attention right now. Mom, would you refer to your daughter as the b word?

(LAUGHTER)

FRANCES ANDREWS, MOTHER OF HELENA ANDREWS: The b word. And even in just telling her grandmother and the older aunts, just telling hem the name of the book is b-i-t-c-h.

PHILLIPS: They just don't feel comfortable saying that word, right?

F. ANDREWS: (INAUDIBLE) But yes. And they say, "What is that?". And I say, well, it's a spoof to the Tina Fey article, I mean, play -- on it as well. As well as, you know, the fact that women go about their lives, they set their bars, they set their goals, and they get there and say, this is what I want from my life. What? Am I being a bitch about it. I worked hard for my money, you know? This is where I'm going.

PHILLIPS: It's hard to be bitches! Let's just lay it out there, okay?

Exactly. Well, obviously, that is the title of the book. And you talk so much about being a successful black woman, how difficult it is, finding love. It's the cross between "Bridget Jones' Diary" and "Sex and the City," right?

You touch on sexuality, which is why we have you and mom. And this is a fabulous part of the book and is a great story to tell.

So, let's just get right to it. You write in the book that you found love letters from your dad to your mom. You said in one he said he loved and missed her. In another, he said he hoped she hadn't been taking too many showers with white girls. After that, I knew she was just more than wonderfully different but she was gay. Now, how old were you when you found these letters, and how did you handle the revelation that mom was gay?

H. ANDREWS: I think I was about seven then. The fact of the matter is, she'd lived with a woman before. We lived with a woman and her son. Before that, we were going to move to Spain at one point, and my grandmother had a problem with it, and we didn't. And we actually moved to Catalina at the time. I knew she had relationships with women, but I didn't know that that was different. I didn't know that that's what every mother didn't do.

Or I knew I had some friends who had a mother and a father, some friends who just had dads or just had moms. I didn't think it was strange or different that she had relationships with women. I didn't know the word gay necessarily. And when I was seven, I don't know if she remembers this, I came to her with the Bible, with a verse in Leviticus --

PHILLIPS: Oh, okay. The Leviticus verse. How many times have you heard that, Mom?

F. ANDREWS: Over and over again. It's a constant throw in the face, you know, but at that time I even told her, I said, "Lena, you have to understand, the Bible is a book about a culture of people at a time, and this is how the government ruled and this is how things were laid down" you know? It's a culture of people.

PHILLIPS: Were you ready for that moment, though? You knew at some point, your daughter was going to come to you and say, "Mom, something's different here. I have two mommies, not a mom and dad. What does this mean?" Were you ready for that moment, and how did you prepare for that moment?

F. ANDREWS: Well, the thing is, I had her as a lesbian woman. And it was a decision on my part to have a child. Because her father, we knew each other since, what? Seventh, eighth, sixth grade. We grew up in the neighborhood together.

So, you know, it was definitely a decision that I had made. And I wanted a child. Helena -- her name was on her baby shower cake. Helena, we're waiting for you. What can I say?

But it wasn't even an issue in terms of being a lesbian and parenting. Because I had been parented. My mother raised eight kids. And we were all very well-adjusted and coming out and doing life as we saw it. I didn't see any difference in the household.

I know that even in the article, they are saying there is sometimes lack or not so much the play between, you know, power struggles. But lesbian women, women themselves, they have more effeminate lesbians and more masculine lesbians, some with more manly, testosterone energy.

H. ANDREWS: Right. There can be aggression in a lesbian household just like any other household.

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you because you also write in the book -- talk about watching "The Cosby Show." And you write, "I longed to live like the Huxtables, but I would have settled for living next door to them. I wanted to fit in on the block, over town, somewhere in the life that we floated away from." Why did you feel that way?

H. ANDREWS: I think, you know, it's funny. I felt that way. We lived in Catalina. We were the only black people who lived there.

F. ANDREWS: At the time.

PHILLIPS: I grew up in the area, so I know what you're saying.

H. ANDREWS: So, that was one thing. Not only was I the only black child who lived on the island, but I'm pretty sure I was the only child of a lesbian who lived on the island.

PHILLIPS: You have a lot of things going on.

H. ANDREWS: Exactly. So, it was doubly different for a lot of people. And "The Cosby Show" was a great escape for me. As people are reading the book, I've go tweets. We're all on Twitter now. I've gotten tweets from tons of girls saying it was the same thing for me. And they weren't raised by lesbian mothers. But when you feel like an outsider as a child, especially in the 80s, and you can watch the Cosbys up there, just like I'm sure children now watch the Obamas in the White House, you feel like, I want that. You know what I mean?

And part of it was making me feel kind safe. Yes, there are other black people that do exist. There are other black people out there. Kids don't want to feel different, and sometimes it's really hard. At the end of the day, I really knew.

And my mom and I were talking, especially about the study that came out in terms of lesbian children being more well-adjusted. I think a lot of that comes from the fact in that she said earlier, she really wanted a child. She fought for it. She was 29 when she had me. She likes to point out that is the same age I am today.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: C'mon. Cut her a break. She wrote a book.

(CROSSTALK)

H. ANDREWS: She wanted a child. She was invested in my life. She was at every recital and made costumes --

F. ANDREWS: Well, we lived in Catalina. When we got there, there was no organization for kids so that they can just explore life and do things, art. And Helena had a lot of artistic ability. I could see it in her. So, I started a nonprofit organization, Catalina Youth (INAUDIBLE), which still exists today. I have a little plaque and the whole thing, you know.

But what I really wanted at that time was to exchange the Catalina culture with the inner-city culture of Los Angeles, which I was really involved in before leaving Los Angeles. So, we did this exchange. I had a woman that worked in Culver City, (INAUDIBLE) Patterson, and she had a cultural arts center. We exchanged kids, and we did performances on different islands. And Helena -- it was the best life for her because as a child growing up, I grew up in a small community in Compton, California. We knew everyone in the neighborhood. We played, and everyone was gathered, and you knew where your child was.

PHILLIPS: The point that you're making is, whether gay, straight, it doesn't matter. You can have a loving family dynamic.

F. ANDREWS: And extended family is important.

PHILLIPS: You can have a gay Huxtable family, OK? Let's just lay it out there.

F. ANDREWS: Oh, and they do exist.

PHILLIPS: Yes, they do. Let me ask you this, because you joke. You say you had your daughter at 29 and you are pointing out, "Come on, girlfriend. You're 29. Let's go. I want some grandkids."

F. ANDREWS: Why do you think I had you?

PHILLIPS: And you're looking for love. But let me ask you, what did you learn from your mom and your mom's relationships about love? I know you learned something special about that, even though you haven't found your love yet, you have learned a lot about it from Mom.

H. ANDREWS: Well, especially just her love for me as her child, I think that has been unconditional. And she has sacrificed so much.

PHILLIPS: Just from her parenting.

H. ANDREWS: Exactly. Just to make sure I have everything I wanted, and I know I want that in whoever I end up with. If we decide to have children, I want to make sure that I am really invested. I think that's the biggest lesson from her as a mother teaching me is that when you have a child, you really invest. And if you work hard at that -- I think I turned out pretty great.

F. ANDREWS: I say to people all the time, I don't have a 401(c)(3), you know, but I've got a major investment here.

PHILLIPS: And, you know what? She has a pretty powerful book. OK? Go beyond the title and see what it is all about. It's fantastic. A great read.

H. ANDREWS: Thank you!

PHILLIPS: Thank you for your time. I appreciate it.

F. ANDREWS: Thank you for having us.

PHILLIPS: And we will take this opportunity to talk about the concept of family can mean one thing to you and another to someone else. We just discussed that here with the Andrews'. Soledad O'Brien is going to follow a same-sex couple and their struggle against the legal and personal obstacles to becoming parents. Can these men achieve a life as mainstream as their parents? Watch "GARY AND TONY HAVE A BABY" Thursday 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

We'll be back in just a moment.

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PHILLIPS: Breaking news that we're following for you right now. The fate of General Stanley McChrystal, the main man leading the war in Afghanistan. Will he keep his job or not? We still don't know. This is him actually leaving the White House after meeting with the president for just shy of 30 minutes. He actually didn't even stay for his war planning meeting there in the Situation Room. Doesn't look too good. That's something that obviously he is a major part of.

So, we're trying to read through the tea leaves, but apparently the president is going to make an announcement any minute now. We are waiting for him to step up to the mike. We will take that live. And hopefully we will know soon, possibly within the next five minutes or so, if General Stanley McChrystal will keep his job or not.

It's been three months since the historic health care reform act was passed, and now we're seeing new rules take effect. President Obama is not letting insurers off the hook. Take a listen to what he said yesterday.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, I'm announcing that the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury are issuing new regulations under the Affordable Care Act to put an end to some of the worst practices in the insurance industry and put in place the strongest consumer protections in our history. Finally what amounts to a true patients' bill of rights. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has been following the updates. Now, the president mentions getting rid of the worst practices, right?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Practices that you and I talked a lot about during health care reform.

PHILLIPS: Day in and out.

COHEN: Day in and day out, right. Things people considered really egregious, and he highlighted those when he made his announcement yesterday.

Let's take a look at practices that are supposed to end under health care refrom. Children are supposed to get coverage for pre- existing conditions. There's supposed to be no lifetime coverage limits. Cancer patients especially used to fall victim to this. You would get treated for cancer, and they would say, all right. You spent your million dollars. That's it, you're done.

Also, there's supposed to be no cancellation of policies when you get sick. This has been a big problem. Your insurance takes your premiums for years and years, and then they say, oh, you're sick, forget it. We don't want to insure you anymore. These are among the first things that are going to happen under health care reform is getting rid of these practices, and they are supposed to be -- these changes are supposed to be made on September 23rd. That's when we are expected to see the first health care reform measures being put into place.

PHILLIPS: But how will they make sure the insurance companies do what they're supposed to do?

COHEN: It was very interesting. We were on this call yesterday with Kathleen Sebelius and people from HHS. And they didn't really spend a lot of time talking about that. I mean, how do you know if an insurance company says no to someone who they are not supposed to say no to? What is that person supposed to do?

It is not entirely clear how there is going to be enforcement of all these rules. It's not entirely clear what the consequences are going to be if an insurance breaks them. Everybody has a story about a struggle with an insurance company, and we all know when they do something they are not supposed to do, it can be really tough to hold them accountable.

PHILLIPS: We also know there was a lot of resistance - still a lot of resistance. How strong is it?

COHEN: You know, it's still out there but you don't see anyone trying to go back to Congress in a big way and trying to get it reversed. But certainly when Obama came out and made this announcement yesterday, Michael Steele, who's the head of the RNC called it "taxpayer funded propaganda campaign." That's what he called it.

So, there are still people who don't like it, but not a huge effort to get it reversed from what we can see.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Thanks, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: You know what? When a life is on a line, the stinking red light can wait, don't you think? Thankfully, the Chattanooga Police Department seems to agree. Going to update you on a heck of a "What The...?" in just a few minutes and talk with a husband who broke the law to save a life.

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PHILLIPS: A big shoutout to the Chattanooga PD, snatching a commonsense victory from the jaws of defeat. The department has dropped all of the charges against a man who ran a couple of red lights driving his sick wife to the ER. He thought she might be having a stroke.

Jesse Wright also has his job back. The hospital where he works suspended him because of the charges. The cop who stopped him? Still on paid leave.

Jesse's on the phone with me right now. So, Jesse, first of all, how is your wife doing?

JESSE WRIGHT, RAN RED LIGHTS DUE TO MEDICAL EMERGENCY (via telephone): She's doing much better. Most of the symptoms have resolved. She still has a little residual left-sided weakness.

PHILLIPS: All right. As we monitor her condition, tell us about that night. You're a paramedic. You knew this didn't look good. You knew something was up. Why didn't you just call a ambulance?

WRIGHT: Because we both work at the hospital and live very close by. I knew there was nothing that an ambulance crew could do, that getting her to the hospital was an immediate need and I could drive her their far more quickly than waiting on an ambulance would take.

PHILLIPS: So, were you able to explain that to the cop when you were pulled over to running the red lights?

WRIGHT: Well, I never had a chance. When we stopped at the hospital, the police officer approached me and never asked about my wife's condition, never really paid attention to her at all. He just stated I was going to jail.

PHILLIPS: So, the cop states in his report that you pushed him, scraped his arm, yelled at him, told him you were an EMT, you had an emergency. What was his response when you did that?

WRIGHT: Well, we never had any physical contact at all, to my remembrance. When I got out of the car, I scooped my wife up in my arms. She's a left-leg amputee due to cancer. And turned to go in the hospital, and that's when he confronted me.

I was really shocked when he approached me in that manner and didn't seem to express concern or understanding of the situation at all.

PHILLIPS: The police say they want to meet with you now. What do you make of that? Do you want to do that? Do you think it's a good idea?

WRIGHT: I'm amiable to meeting with the chief of police and with the officer involved. The main purpose was to come up with ways to prevent this from ever happening again, and that is a certain concern in this situation.

PHILLIPS: Bottom line, we've had interesting response to the story. Our first reaction is oh my God, he's a vet, worried about his wife, he did everything as safely as he could. Honking your horn, had your blinkers on, you were alerting people what you were trying to do. You're basically operating as an ambulance driver.

Others say, no matter what, you shouldn't break the law. What do you say to those that think you didn't do the right thing, Jesse?

WRIGHT: Well, beyond doing everything I could to be as safe as possible including stopping at the red lights (ph) before proceeding, when it comes down to it, when a life is on the line, that takes precedence. And I believe many laws in states even reflect that in writing that when an emergency situation is taking place, that trumps other traffic laws and various other ordinances.

PHILLIPS: Jesse Wright, we're glad the charges are dropped, and we're glad that your wife is in your arms safely. Jesse Wright, appreciate you calling in.

WRIGHT: Thank you very much. Have a good day.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

As we start to wrap up the hour here, breaking news we have been following for the past couple of hours. What is going to happen to General Stanley McChrystal, the main man leading the war in Afghanistan? He met with the president just about less than 30 minutes ago.

Suzanne Malveaux was there when he arrived. She was there when he left. Suzanne Malveaux, do we know anything that happened? We know the president is going to step up to the mike soon, but do we know if the general still has a job?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, we don't know yet whether or not the general still has a job. We know there is it a meeting scheduled in the Situation Room at 11:45. I spoken to top White House officials who do not know whether or not he will return to that meeting, but we know he did leave the White House about 10:23 after a meeting that lasted about 22 minutes inside. We know that the president -- that they were making arrangements for the president to make some sort of public statement today regarding his meeting with General McChrystal. They are working out those details as we speak. There have been times, Kyra, as you can imagine, when you are camping outside Robert Gibbs' office and waiting for some sort of read out or reading the tea leaves. We know he is not going back into his office for about 30 minutes or so. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes planning as we speak to try to figure out how to unfold and brief all of us together on just what transpired during that meeting but.

But it is very clear, Kyra, that today is a game changer. Today is decision day. And this is the day we find out not only what the fate of General McChrystal is but also where the U.S. mission in Afghanistan will go forward.

PHILLIPS: And we should point out in about 30 minutes is supposed to be a key meeting in the Situation Room, national security meeting, a war planning meeting. Aomething that Stanley McChrystal, of course, would be involved of with, and he's left the White House, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: That's absolutely right, and some people would look at that and think, perhaps he's no longer the commander of that mission, but we're not clear yet, Kyra, whether or not he will come back to the White House and attend that meeting. At the very least, to make some sort of statement to those who have been insulted, to talk about the process or talk about something.

We do know that General McChrystal has reached out individually to a lot of those folks in the meeting, Secretaries Clinton, Gates, the national security adviser, Jim Jones, for instance, people who were impacted by that "Rolling Stone" article.

So, we don't yet know whether or not he still has his job. We know the president is going to talk about that. He's going to explain his position, why he took that position, and that is going to unfold as this day goes on. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Suzanne Malveaux, live from the White House for us, waiting for the fate of General Stanley McChrystal.

That does it for us. We'll be back here tomorrow morning. Tony Harris will pick up our breaking news coverage after a quick break.

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