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Prison Inmates Get $9.1M from IRS; Change of Command in Afghanistan; Containment Cap Reattached; Witnesses Report Iran Snatched American Hikers; Containment Cap Reattached; School Offers Condoms to all Kids; iPhone 4 on Sale Today

Aired June 24, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, guys. And good morning, everybody. I'm Kyra Phillips.

Hundreds of prison inmates locked up in their prison cells milking the government for millions of dollars. I'll put this gently. Are you kidding me?

And explosive twist to the story of three American hikers. Witnesses say the trio never stumbled into Iran. But that Iran came to them.

Plus, would you be cool with a school giving a brand spanking new condom to your first grader? Yes. We're definitely going to talk about this one.

We're going to begin, though, with more than a thousand prison inmates. Some of them lifers, getting more than $9 million from the government. People who are supposed to be paying their debt to society, getting paid by society.

How does that even happen?

Christine Romans, this is an outrage.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is. And how does it happen? It happens because the tax preparer helps them get the first- time homebuyer tax credit.

In fact, an inspector general report from the Treasury Department, Kyra, shows that thousands of these tax credits, your taxpayer dollars in the stimulus, were erroneously given away to people like prisoners, totaling $26.7 million. More than 14 thousand times.

In fact, this -- inspector general found that 67 people used the very same house to get that taxpayer credit. And 1200 prisoners got $9.1 million of your dollars, 241 of them serving life sentences. There's no way they're living in that house.

$17.6 million were spent on homes that were bought even before the first time homebuyer tax credit was even in effect. Hey, and 34 people were IRS employees, Kyra, who got the tax credit and didn't deserve it. PHILLIPS: OK. I have to laugh. But actually it's not funny. So what the heck is the government going to do about it?

ROMANS: They're going to reach back and try to get this money back. The inspector general says the Treasury Department has to do a better job of making sure it doesn't go out the door in the first place.

Treasury also points out that look, this is a very small percentage of the billions of dollars that have gone for this first- time homebuyer tax credit that helps so many people buy a home.

This is a small percentage of fraud but they're going to -- they're going to try to reach back and get that money back for you -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Good. That's the good news. Christine, thanks.

ROMANS: Sure.

PHILLIPS: U.S. troops in Afghanistan could soon be getting their marching orders from a new man. General David Petraeus. The leader of U.S. Central Command is the president's choice to replace General Stanley McChrystal after some locker room talk from his camp made its way into print.

But still General McChrystal had some powerful people advocating for him to stay in command.

Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr following these developments for us.

So, Barbara, who wanted him to stay?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, what we now know from two senior Pentagon officials, Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Gates, by all accounts, advocated for McChrystal to stay on the job when this scandal initially broke, feeling that the war in Afghanistan was at such a critical point he simply couldn't afford to lose McChrystal.

Now as the -- it unfolded, then Gates comes to realize, we are told, that this scandal, "The Rolling Stone" article, everything said in there, simply isn't going to fade, that there's not a lot of support for McChrystal at the White House, not perhaps a lot of support on Capitol Hill.

And when the president finally made the decision to replace General McChrystal, Secretary Gates was onboard with it. But initially advocated for him to keep his job -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So, Barbara, how soon could General David Petraeus be in this new role?

STARR: Well, we now expect to have Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearings early next week. But we're already getting signals that there will be a lot of tough questions for General Petraeus. Senator John McCain already signaling some of his concerns.

PHILLIPS: All right, Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon. Barbara, thanks.

And General McChrystal was --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: And is -- and the issue that will be raised in General Petraeus' confirmation hearings is exactly what is meant by withdrawal in the middle of 2011.

Whether that is, quote, "etched in stone," as the president's spokesperson, Mr. Gibbs, stated, or whether it will be condition based. Obviously we feel very strongly that it needs to be condition based because if you tell the enemy when you are leaving, then obviously it has an adverse effect on your ability to succeed.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Kyra, there's no question General Petraeus is going to get confirmed. But Senator McCain is putting something out there that's going to get a lot of attention, that July 2011 withdrawal date, how far will General Petraeus go in publicly talking about it and how many troops he might bring home from Afghanistan at that time -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Barbara, thanks.

General McChrystal was toppled from a freelance writer from "Rolling Stone." And even that journalist says that he's surprised by the power of his written words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": When you finish the article and you knew I was going to be published, did you know that an uproar was coming?

MICHAEL HASTINGS, CONTRIBUTOR, ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE: I knew that there would probably be some sort of response. My sort of thinking was that maybe there will be, you know, one or two or three days, maybe it'll create somewhat a headache for General McChrystal's staff.

But they'd -- in the past had had much worse or at least had seemed to have gone through much worse sort of cycles in the media. But I had no expectation that General McChrystal would lose his job after the piece.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, coming up next hour, I'm going to give you a closer look at General David Petraeus, the man behind the four stars, the successful troop surge in Iraq. And now the man picked by the president to lead the fight in Afghanistan.

I spent a lot of time in the battlefield with General Petraeus. I'll take you into Iraq with us next hour.

Turning now to the Gulf oil disaster. It's day 66. And the largest invasion of oil on Florida's Gulf has come ashore on Pensacola Beach. More than nine miles of white sandy beaches have been soiled by the thick, gooey oil. A swimming ban and a beach health advisory in place now.

BP crews were even out last night shoveling the muck. Oil also washed up on nearby Perdido Key.

Now as the ruptured well, a containment cap is in place again and siphoning oil to a ship on the surface. The underwater gusher was shooting out full throttle most of yesterday after an accident with an undersea robot.

CNN's Chris Lawrence is covering the story from New Orleans.

Chris, walk us through exactly what happened.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, right about this time yesterday, the -- some of the officials noticed that sort of a burp in the system and they were afraid that some oil or gas had gotten into that.

What they did was they took the containment cap off and they started to examine it and then it took about 11 hours for them to finally check that out and then reposition the cap. Nobody's going to forget those images of that oil just freely gushing into the Gulf.

Just the day before this happened, that containment cap that captured more oil than it had at any other time before, about three- quarters of a million gallons. Just in the 24 hours leading up to this.

Now, big picture, those who want the moratorium to stay in place, who were very concerned for the environment, will take a look at this and say, you know, look at what this spill has done. They will say this is the third time that there's been some sort of malfunction in the last few weeks.

There is still not a completely reliable system. Others will -- on the other side will look at it and say they were able to reattach the cap within 12 hours. And there was a second smaller system in place that was still capturing some of the oil -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now there's a critical court decision expected today regarding the drilling moratorium. Right? You've been following this for quite a while.

LAWRENCE: Yes, exactly. Basically the government -- the federal government is going back to the courts and saying, you know, we want you to -- you, the judge -- to hold off on your order of lifting that ban while we file this appeal. The appeal may not be heard until later in the summer. So basically the government is saying keep the ban in place while we file the appeal.

Again, there are bigger picture elements to this. You know those who want to keep the ban point to the environmental damage, saying we cannot afford to have another disaster like this. And the regulations are still too weak.

Others say every day this ban is in place is causing thousands and thousands of jobs lost and maybe pushing us closer and closer to where some of these oil companies will say look, you know, this is too much. We are going to leave and we're going to take our business to South America.

Ken Salazar, the Interior secretary, seemed to indicate that the government will push ahead with instituting a new moratorium to try to get around this ruling. But he also kind of left a crack in the door open to possibly a compromise and maybe ending this moratorium just a little bit sooner than the six months we heard about.

PHILLIPS: Chris Lawrence, live from New Orleans. Chris, thanks.

For nearly a year, Iran had said that those three American hikers crossed its border illegally. Now some witnesses say that's not what happened at all. They say Iran crossed the line and snatched that trio right out of Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, you've heard the story. Three young American hikers in Iraq crossing into Iran. Arrested and accused of spying. That's the story of the Iranian government has told.

But what if the hikers never crossed that border? What if Iranian police are the ones who crossed the border and snatched the three hikers? That's the thrust of a piece in the "Nation" magazine.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is following the story for us.

So, Susan, what's this new information?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kyra, all along, the families of the hikers have said, you'll recall, that their children were far too careful to have wandered across even an unmarked border from Iraq into Iran.

And so now the "Nation" says that it has come up with some new information. New information involving two witnesses that they found who said that they were watching these hikers because they were curious. They were westerners. They looked different.

And they watched from a distance as they said the hikers were along the trail when some Iranian police went after them. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD KIM, NATIONAL EDITOR, THE NATION: They fired a round into the air. They used threatening and menacing gestures to beckon the hike over into Iran. And when the hikers hesitated that's when they crossed the border and picked up the Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: And so these witnesses are saying that it was the Iranian officers who illegally crossed the border into Iraq and arrested the American hikers there.

And this was a five-month long investigation in which they also learned that they said that an Iranian police officer with the Revolutionary Guard, who likely was the one who detained these hikers, actually also ran a criminal gang, and subsequently has been arrested on charges of kidnapping and of murder and even of rape -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: So what exactly are the hikers' moms saying about this?

CANDIOTTI: They are fascinated by this information, because, as you recall, when they met with their children just last month, for the very first time since their incarceration in prison, they did not have any time alone with them. They were closely monitored. So they never got to say, hey, what really happened over there?

So they said finally hearing this information is helping them sort of try to piece things together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY HICKEY, DETAINED HIKER'S MOTHER: It is with what I was feeling. I just didn't feel like something was right. Again, hearing the story kind of terrifies me.

NORA SHOURD, DETAINED HIKER'S MOTHER: This is fresh news to us. And to hear some of this stuff, we have to focus and assimilate this. But it is shocking.

(END VIDEO CLIP

CANDIOTTI: And so naturally, it is the hope of these parents that the Iranian government will look at this new information, at the very least, and at least spur some discussion, get them to get this case moving.

Of course, they have not had a trial yet, and that is what the families are saying, look, do something. Bring them to trial, and we think that this is information that is good enough to have them released. If you say they crossed the border, then you are going to have to prove it.

PHILLIPS: Susan Candiotti, thanks.

The American who had, "find the globe's most wanted man" on his to-do list is back in the U.S. and talking. Pakistan sent Gary Faulkner home and didn't charge him.

Police there found him near the Afghan border packing a pistol, sword and night vision equipment; looking for Osama bin Laden; yes, all by himself. So, what was he thinking?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP

GARY FAULKNER, HUNTED OSAMA BIN LADEN: I got off my butt, and I put my life on the line to go out there. I know there is a -- I mean, my life is a story that you won't believe. But you know what, it doesn't matter. What does matter is I stood up for what I believed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: A doctor in Pakistan says that Faulkner has psychological problems. Faulkner's family, they say he is fine mentally. He just doesn't think the government is doing enough to try and find Bin Laden.

A masseuse points a finger at the former VP; allegations of unwanted sexual contact. Details in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, let me start out by saying the Portland police found no proof, and they never filed charges. But a woman claims that Al Gore made unwanted sexual contact with her back in 2006. Portland PD say that the alleged encounter happened at a hotel.

The accuser, a licensed massage therapist. She went to police more than two years later. Gore's camp is not commenting. He and his wife, Tipper, recently separated after 40 years of marriage.

Checking top stories now, day 66 of the oil disaster. The containment cap back on the damaged well and siphoning oil to the surface. The cap was removed yesterday after an undersea robot accident. Meantime, the government plans to appeal a judge's decision to toss out the temporary deepwater drilling ban.

Senate confirmation hearings begin next week for General David Petraeus to become the top commander in Afghanistan. Petraeus would take over for General Stanley McChrystal, relieved of duty yesterday. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was overruled in his bid to keep McChrystal on the job.

Five Americans have been sentenced in Pakistan of terror charges. Each face at least ten years in prison. They were arrested in December after their parents back home reported them missing.

A marathon at Wimbledon; ten hours and counting. The longest match in Wimbledon history and no winner yet.

We are going to go across the pond to the all England club where an American and a Frenchman are knotted in an epic battle. American, John Isner, and Frenchman, Nicolas Mahut, played and played and played for ten hours straight at Wimbledon. By the way, that is more than enough time to fly from New York to London. Still, in a little more than an hour from now, Isner and Mahut will play again to finally decide the winner of the longest match in Wimbledon history.

Play was suspended for the second day in a row yesterday when darkness fell. The fifth and final match stands tied, 59-59.

Meanwhile, on center court at the all England club, Queen Elizabeth, II took her seat in the royal box. It was her majesty's first visit to Wimbledon in 33 years. She was greeted by a lineup of past Wimbledon champs, including Serena Williams, Billy Jean King and Martina Navratilova. The Queen is watching Englishman, Andy Murray in a second-round match.

Here in the U.S., a last-minute win by Team USA over Algeria at the World Cup in South Africa. That is a reason to celebrate.

Star player, Landon Donovan, knocked in a deflected ball in the 91st minute to push the U.S. to a 1-0 win. Donovan tells CNN's "American Morning", that the victory should help boost soccer in the U.S.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANDON DONOVAN, TEAM USA SOCCER PLAYER: I have been at this a while. I understand very clearly that every four years we have an opportunity to gain some fans and to put ourselves on the map a little bit more.

We keep it in perspective because we are competitors, and now Saturday is the most important thing. But when all is said and done, when I look back on that moment, I think I will be proud of what we accomplished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Donovan and Team USA will now face Ghana on Saturday, 2 p.m., Eastern.

Camping out all night, standing in line for hours; no it was not a concert for Justin Bieber. Guess what? They wanted to get their hands on Apple's new iPhone. Let the frenzy begin.

All right, flashback to a joyous day in American history; the end of World War II. If you could sum up that day in a picture, this would be it. Alfred Eisenstaedt's iconic photo from Times Square. The nurse who claimed to be on the receiving end of that impromptu kiss, in shame, has passed away at the age of 92. She was at home in L.A., and Jeanne Moos interviewed her about that kiss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you think it was a romantic kiss, or you just thought, get this guy off of me?

EDITH SHAIN, NURSE IN PHOTO: I didn't think that. At a time like that, you kiss everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: You kissed everybody at a time like that. The sailor who planted the V-J Day kiss on her is still alive; said that that kiss left him breathless.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: New home sales slumped to a record low, and the Federal Reserve issued a cautious forecast for the economy. Those two things spelled trouble for the markets yesterday. Today, investors have a new round of economic reports. Alison Kosik with the New York Stock Exchange with all the details --

ALISON KOSIK, NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE: Good morning, Kyra. Get ready for stocks to fall at the open. Just about an hour ago we learned that new jobless claims, they dropped by 19,000 last week. That is actually better than expected.

But everybody is also focusing on the level of jobless claims. They are sitting at around 457,000. And when you look at it that way, it is still a very high number. And it is reminding investors why the Fed turned more cautious with its outlook that it came out with yesterday for the economy.

In its policy statement yesterday, the Central Bank said the problems in Europe have affected the U.S. economy, slowing down our recovery. Policymakers do not think we are going to be falling back into another recession, but that is not much consolation; as the Fed also warned that financial conditions are not supporting growth at this point.

As for later today, we are going to be keeping an eye on Apple's shares, and so is Wall Street. They are watching to see how the iPhone 4 does today, because it has big implications for Apple's bottom line. This is the first day the phone is being sold in stores. The company took 600,000 pre-orders; and then said we can not handle any more. We can not take anymore orders.

But as expected, Kyra, there are thousands of people standing in line right now all over the country, and the world, sweating it out in the heat. They have been there since the wee hours of the morning. They want to be some of the first to get their hands on this iPhone.

As for Dow futures, they are down 30 right now. We are waiting on the opening bell ringing in about 15 seconds. Kyra --

PHILLIPS: We will do a little soft shoe for about 15 seconds. They are clapping. That is good enough. There we go.

KOSIK: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Perfect timing. Alison, thanks so much. KOSIK: You got it.

PHILLIPS: BP says that its oil collection system is working again at the ruptured wellhead. The containment cap was off for most of yesterday. An undersea robot accidentally bumped into a vent on the device; but by last night, the cap was reattached and siphoning oil to a ship on the surface.

So, we're dealing with the largest environmental disaster America has ever known. But is it big enough to get us to change the way that we live our lives? CNN's Carol Costello has this environmental "gut check."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's called hands across the sand. Back in February, it drew 10,000 Floridians in protests of offshore drilling. This weekend, Hands (ph) says it goes international. 599 American cities will take part as will 20 countries.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe this is a huge opportunity for us, and it's time that we take control of our energy future.

COSTELLO: David Rushgold (ph) hopes Hands (ph) will be the catalyst earth day was back in 1970. It was born after an oil spill in California and is credited for strengthening the clean air act and helping President Nixon create the environmental protection agency.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep standing up to big oil.

COSTELLO: The clean energy works campaign has hopes, too. It launched an ad campaign pushing for clean energy legislation. Green peace is actively using the spill as a catalyst, too. Its members so intent to do something, a contest to design a new BP logo has attracted half a million visitors to its website. The Sierra Club's Site is hot, too. When Rush Limbaugh blamed environmentalists for forcing onshore drilling offshore.

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO HOST: When do we ask the Sierra Club to pick up the tab for this leak?

COSTELLO: The Sierra Club used Limbaugh's comments to raise $120,000 and 110,000 signatures for climate legislation.

MICHAEL BRUNE, SIERRA CLUB: This is our chance to actually move beyond oil and the outstanding question, the question that remains is whether or not President Obama will seize this opportunity and get us off oil once and for all.

COSTELLO: While all the passion sounds good for what critics would call tree huggers, is it real? Psychologist, Jeff Gardere (ph) says while oiled birds, dirty beaches, black tides will raise awareness, it may not last. After all, there are government regulators already in place who were supposed to prevent disasters like this and didn't. So, why bother? Environmentalists get that but say this disaster will cut through the cynicism.

BRUNE: We've set the ocean on fire. We put thousands of fishermen and women out of work. The coastal tourism economy is collapsing and all of this is happening in slow motion.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Carol Costello joining us from New York now. So, Carol, the judge's decision to overrule the president's deepwater drilling ban, is that a defeat for environmentalists?

COSTELLO (on-camera): Pretty much. They saw President Obama's moratorium on offshore drilling, new offshore drilling as a victory and common sense. Why not declare a moratorium until we can determine if those drills can drill safely and we can prevent another disaster like this? I think what it really shows, Kyra, is America's complicated relationship with oil and its well demonstrated in Louisiana. As you know, people are upset at BP for dirtying the beaches and killing their livelihoods, but that doesn't mean they want the oil industry to go away.

PHILLIPS: Yes. It's amazing. And you know this well also going all throughout the region. No matter what part of the state that that you're in, there's always an area that has the -- I saw a grim reaper with BP on a sign in one area there in Louisiana. I mean, there's massive amounts of hatred there.

COSTELLO: The question -- but the question remains as does this disaster continues and it will, at least through august, right? When those relief wells go in and we still don't know, you know, with any certainty that they'll work. I mean, will this finally get Americans to wean off oil? The past seven presidents, Kyra, have said, you know, we have to change our ways with oil. We have to not depend on foreign oil.

PHILLIPS: But you and I well know, there's a lot of money to be made in that industry.

COSTELLO: Yes. I think that's the root of it all, isn't it?

PHILLIPS: The root of all evil. Carol, thanks.

COSTELLO: Sure.

PHILLIPS: All right. Quick "what the" for you. We got to mention the tasteless skies. Have you seen Spirit Airline's ad? It says check out the oil on our beaches. It shows a woman in a bikini, listening, and sun tan oil. We assume she's in the part of Florida that's tar ball-free. Nice. Turning a national catastrophe into a snarky money-making opportunity. You stay classy spear (ph) there.

More outrage to come. Thanks to a school that's giving out condoms to everybody who asks, and I mean everybody.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: Take a look at this mess in Northwestern Ohio. Going to be some serious cleaning up going on here today. Heavy rains, high winds, snapped trees, ripped off the roofs there, and damaged several buildings. Northern Iowa dealing with way too much water thanks to the flash floods. Check out the roads. They totally got washed out. Basements flooded. Homes damaged. Some places got up to five inches of rain. Bonnie Schneider, when we're going to see some relief?

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We're going to see relief from the heat which I know a lot of folks in the northeast are waiting for especially in Philadelphia. It's been oppressive there (ph). We have an excessive heat warning in effect. So, the storms that are rolling through right now and they will fire up even more this afternoon, eventually, they'll bring slightly cooler temperatures for areas into the northeast like New York City where highs today will be in the 90s and then tomorrow into the mid 80s. So, looking at severe weather at a whole, we really are expecting quite a widespread area.

All the way from Virginia up to Northern Maine, we could see severe storms. Now, this means we even run the risk for an isolated tornado possibly with these storms as this powerful thunderstorms roll throughout, mostly the afternoon hours. Behind it, we do have some drier air, slightly drier. It's still going to be very, very much like it is right now, the summertime feeling that we have across the area. I've been talking about the heat and that's going to be a big story for today.

We have heat advisories for Oklahoma, Tennessee, and certainly across much of the northeast. I want to show you Delaware and Philadelphia because this is an excessive heat warning. High temperatures will soar into the mid 90s, but look at the heat index, it will climb up to 102 degrees. That's what it'll feel like today. It's been like that for days. So, once the thunderstorms roll through, that's when we'll finally get some relief from the heat which has been good news. Looking at the storms as a whole, you can see the heaviest rain is working its way into parts of Northern Pennsylvania.

We'll be watching for that to roll through Pittsburgh as well. And finally, as we take a look at your high temperatures for today, what we're looking at is a lot of hot weather across much of the country, certainly the hottest in the desert southwest, 104 in Las Vegas and 111 in phoenix. Only a little bit better as you start heading further to the north. Minneapolis and Chicago had their strong storms. Now, it's in the 80s. So, Kyra, the 80s will seem like a cool down after all of this heat we've been experiencing across the country.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Bonnie.

Let's check our top stories. The containment cap back on the damaged well and siphoning oil to the surface. The cap was removed yesterday after an undersea robot accident. The government plans to appeal a judge's decision to toss out the temporary deepwater drilling ban.

Senate confirmation hearings begin next week with General David Petraeus to become the top commander in Afghanistan. Petraeus would take over for General Stanley McChrystal, leaved of duty yesterday. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was overruled in his bid to keep McChrystal on the job.

Google's YouTube wins bidder copyright battle with Viacom. A judge ruled YouTube is not liable for copyrights encouragement (ph) by its users. Viacom owns MTV networks and Paramount pictures. Google calls the decision quote, "an important victory for the billions of people around the world who use the web."

Gay parents we see it a lot on TV and in the movies. Some say it just reflects real life. Others say not so much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: There was a time when having openly gay characters on television and in films was considered taking a risk. Now, many will tell you that the gay parenting is the new normal. Kareen Wynter explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want to switch. OK. Sometimes, you go to switch.

KAREEN WYNTER CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rich Vaughn and Tommy Woelfel have been together for nearly nine years and married for two. Twenty-two months ago, their family doubled in size with their little twins, Abe and Austin. Sons born via surrogate. The couple has noticed something new in entertainment that they like.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to dance for my baby.

TOMMY WOELFEL, GAY PARENT: I think everybody likes to see a story on television that they can relate to.

WYNTER: Vaughn and Woelfel hope (ph) TV shows like "Modern Family," "Glee", and the new film "The Kids are All Right" represent a growing trend in Hollywood story lines, gay parents.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your mom and I sense that there's some other stuff going on in your life which we just want to be let in. Are you having a relationship with someone?

JULIANNE MOORE, ACTRESS: I think the entertainment world reflects popular culture. I think that this is what happening in the world. So, what you're seeing in television and film is what's going on in our society at-large. It's a great thing.

WYNTER: Not everyone thinks it's a good thing including Dan Gainor from the Culture and Media Institute which says its mission in part is to preserve and help restore America's culture, character, traditional values, and morals against the assault of the liberal media elite.

DAN GAINOR, CULTURE AND MEDIA INSTITUTE: It's bad for society to promote homosexuals -- particularly, homosexual lifestyle and gay marriage, and that's what this is doing.

WYNTER: For Gainor, a traditional values require one male and one female parent.

GAINOR: Hollywood has done a great deal of work causing acceptance in American culture for homosexuality.

WYNTER: It's for that very same reason that GLAD, a gay advocacy group has lauded such programming and telling CNN, quote, "stories like that of "Modern Family's" Mitchell and Cameron are shedding new light on the hundreds of thousands of children being raised by loving and committed gay parents and the unfair natures of bans on adoption by gay and lesbian couples that currently exist in Florida, Utah, Mississippi.

GAINOR: Again, what they are trying to do is normalize something that a lot of people certainly in those states don't want to normalize.

WYNTER: There in lies the debate for many. Is gay parenting normal?

Do you think you're normal?

RICH VAUGHN, GAY DAD: As far as parenting, I think we're completely normal. We get frustrated. We're tired. We have great moments. Lots of great moments. And everything about our lives is revolving around the kids. And that's completely normal.

WYNTER: Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

PHILLIPS: And another reminder for you, our special doc airs tonight. Soledad O'Brien follows a same-sex couple in their struggle against the legal and personal obstacles to become parents. Watch "Gary and Tony Have a Baby" tonight, 8:00 p.m. eastern time.

Also, coming up next hour --

UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: Straight ahead in CNN NEWSROOM. We're gay in America, and we want you to hear our stories.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The tools of first grade: pencils, erasers, the PB&J and the Justin Bieber lunch box, Trojan -- maybe Dirks -- condoms. Yes, I see your jaw dropping. That's exactly my reaction also.

Check out the cool new stuff that a school in Massachusetts is giving to all school kids who ask. And then we must talk.

The story from Rondella Richardson of WCVB TV in Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RONDELLA RICHARDSON, WCVB TV, BOSTON (voice-over): When you have sand between your toes and erotic toys are ready available on Main Street it's hard not to be laid back. But Provincetown gets an even bigger notch in its liberal belt because school-aged children will soon be given free condoms if they ask.

CONSTANCE BLACK, PROVINCETOWN RESIDENT: I think that's going a little too far.

KATELYN GOLSBY, PROVINCETOWN RESIDENT: I would definitely say some kids would be having sex in elementary school and it's important for them to be able to protect themselves.

RICHARDSON: Yes, even first through six graders get condoms and each one comes with a talk about the birds and bees.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's pretty sick.

RICHARDSON: Can you think of any reason why it would be a good idea to give this out in elementary?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

DR. BETH SINGER, SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS: What makes you think a 5 or 6-year-old is going to be interested in this? Perhaps if you're excluded it would become interesting to you.

RICHARDSON: The policy says the school does not approve of sexual activity by students. Still tourists are taken aback.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's ridiculous and absurd. It's disgusting.

RICHARSON: Local opinion -- mixed.

BLACK: First graders, they wouldn't even -- they'd probably take them out and fill them with water and throw them at people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the parents aren't teaching them, somebody has to.

RICHARDSON (on camera): It's in the policy that even as a parent you cannot ask that your child not receive a condom.

SINGER: They could say it but we wouldn't honor it.

RICHARDSON: Why is that?

SINGER: I would prefer to hear parents say to their children you're not allowed to have sex as opposed to you're not allowed to have a condom.

RICHARDSON: So there is no option out?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's it. Wow?

CHARLIE HANSON, TOURIST FROM SOUTH DAKOTA: And I think that should be a parents decision to decide whether they should have condoms available to them or whether they are even going to be put in that situation.

RICHARDSON: All 66 high schoolers and 89 students in the lower grades can start asking for these latest school supplies in September. There will be no paper trail. The school isn't taking names and will not report back to parents.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So first graders getting condoms. Am I an old prude or is this just wrong? I mean, when I had sex education in the sixth grade, I had to have a permission slip to take it. I remember hold hands with David so and so at the roller rink in fifth grade and was worried about getting in trouble for that.

Boy, we're light years away from those days and we are curious to hear your thoughts on the story as well. E-mail me at CNN.com/Kyra.

All right, we're watching all the latest developments during the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

General Stanley McChrystal is out, General David Petraeus is in. But this sure isn't new territory for the head of Central Command. Let me take you into the battlefield with Afghanistan's new commander.

But first, CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr with why this change in command happened in the first place -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, a very key player we now know wanted Stanley McChrystal to keep his job. We'll tell you who, coming up.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: And, you know, Vancouver, the world was watching it in February for the Olympics but this city spent billions and billions of dollars to host the game. So we wanted to know Kyra, was it worth it? We went to Vancouver to find out. We'll tell you in the next hour.

PHILLIPS: All right, thanks, guys.

Plus staked-out on a drug trafficking super highway, but these officers are finding out that fighting the good fight could make them prime targets in the drug war, some of them getting death threats. We're going on patrol with them coming up next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, depending on where you live, you may already have your hands on the new iPod 4 or the iPhone 4, I should say. It's hitting store shelves today.

Take a look at this in Tokyo, London, New York and other cities; thousands of people lining up to get their hands on the newest smart phone. Some new features: cameras on the front and back for video chats, and it'll cost you at least $199 bucks depending on which version you pick.

On the West Coast, the doors are just about to open up. CNN's Dan Simon outside a store in San Francisco.

So Dan, what's going on where you are?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you can see a lot of people in line here. The line started actually two days ago. Before we show you what it looks like, well, first, let me tell you that these are the smart people. They pre-ordered their phone in advance. We're essentially dealing with two lines here, hundreds of people in each line.

This right here, Kyra, this is Eli. And he's getting married tonight. Do you think you'll make the ceremony?

ELI, WAITING IN LINE FOR IPHONE 4: I think I'll make it. Yes, a couple of hours here. And then, I'll -- I'll head home and the fiancee is in bed right now so --

SIMON: Ok, your bride to be doesn't mind?

ELI: No, she doesn't. I'm here with my best man. And I'll see her in a couple of hours.

SIMON: All right.

All right, Kyra and let's go ahead and show you what things look like around the corner; Apple graciously providing these people with bagels and coffee this morning. And as you can see, as we show you some of the folks here in line, I think it's pretty safe to say we're dealing with a predominantly male demographic and a pretty young demographic.

Let's find you customer number one all of the way at the front of the line. Again, this is just the pre-order line. On the other side, which is equally intense, these are people just waiting in line and hoping that they'll get their iPhone sometime today. They're open until 9:00 this evening.

Let's go ahead and find customer number one. Where is Keith? Keith, how are you doing, sir?

KEITH, PRE-ORDERED IPHONE 4: Not bad.

SIMON: You got here when?

KEITH: Tuesday, about 36 hours ago.

SIMON: And the question that I'm sure a lot of people are wondering is why?

KEITH: Well, I've gotten that one a lot. I had the free time and I wanted the phone, you know.

SIMON: Well, you're going to get one because let's go and pan the camera. You can see all of the Apple employees here inside the store getting ready to open the front door. You can feel the anticipation, Kyra. By the way, I hope these people called in to their bosses and let them know that they're not going to be on time for work because guess what, they're going to be a little late -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, but they're going to be so plugged in, Dan. I know, you've -- you've covered a lot of these big Apple events. How does this one compare?

SIMON: I think this ranks right up there, Kyra. Where do you rank them? The iPhone original of 2007, it was; 2006, 2007, or the iPad just a few months ago. The good news, Kyra, is I'm going to be getting in line myself in just a few minutes, but I get to do my job and wait in line at the same time. These people aren't as fortunate.

PHILLIPS: I have a feeling, though, you could probably work yourself somewhere in the middle to up in the front, Dan. You are going to be ethical in this case?

SIMON: Yes. You know what, I don't want to have any punches landed in this direction, so I think I'll go ahead and wait.

PHILLIPS: I don't know. That could be an interesting live shot, Dan. We could use a little flavor.

SIMON: It certainly could. How are you doing for time?

PHILLIPS: I don't know. Sara, can we vamp a little longer? She says, sure, go for it.

Actually, I don't want you to start a fight, but, Dan, we're looking inside the store. Look at this. I mean it's like -- it was so funny. We were teasing all the people showing up standing in line. I'm like ok, this is not a rock concert, right. This isn't a chance to get tickets for Justin Bieber.

But look at this. I mean this is all about a device.

SIMON: It's really unbelievable, but, you know what, this is really part of pop culture. And we have seen Apple do this over the years but again, I don't think we've ever seen anything quite like this for iPhone 4. You know what Kyra, maybe we'll -- if we get one, maybe we can do a video chat with you later on.

PHILLIPS: Yes, really. Try to figure -- you're going to have to explain to me how to use the device. So apparently, we want to hang in here, Dan, and do a 60-second countdown to kind of observe how this madness unfolds.

But what's the deal? Are the workers just going to kind of line up and everyone's going to kind of come down the chute and everyone is going to get a high-five as they come in to get their new device?

SIMON: We're watching it together. I get we'll wait and see. Look at the catering cart you have here that Apple set up. Isn't that nice that they did this for all these people?

(CROSS TALKING)

PHILLIPS: Yes. They are already catering to them.

SIMON: You bet. Here they are. They are unlocking the door. Keith is getting ready. He's not coming in first.

KEITH: Still not going to be able make it in first.

(CROSSTALK)

SIMON: I just got shoved out of here by a --

PHILLIPS: Did you get shoved away? I was kind of hoping we can open up the door. Ask if we can open up the door and listen to them all getting prepped and briefed? Will they let you do that, Dan? What the heck? It's live television.

SIMON: Here goes Keith. They are being very careful about this. You can see that the guy has his phone. He's got a stop watch.

PHILLIPS: They are down to the T. Ok, here we go. It's the top of the hour, Dan.

SIMON: They really are. Here we go. Fifteen seconds, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: It's like the launch of the space shuttle or the new year countdown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 3, 2, 1!

SIMON: There you go. Congratulations to Keith, getting his new iPhone momentarily.

PHILLIPS: OK. Dan, your job is done.

SIMON: (INAUDIBLE) begin.

Exactly. Now, you go get yourself in line, OK, and let us know when you've got your phone.

SIMON: You got it. We'll keep you posted.

PHILLIPS: All right. Dan Simon, thanks so much.