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Oil Gushing Freely from BP Well; Terror on Facebook; Breakthrough Toward AIDS Vaccine; Below the Gulf Oil Disaster; t-Risk Kids Make it to College; Aging Boomers Ponder Suicide; Angels in the Sky
Aired July 10, 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, how men and women in uniform just might have saved summer for some business owners along the Gulf of Mexico. They don't call them angels for nothing.
Perhaps the biggest and most promising breakthrough in the fight against HIV. We'll talk with two AIDS activist who are both HIV- positive about what some are calling proof of vaccine is possible.
We'll also talk with a doctor who says he's alarmed by the growing number of baby boomers saying they'll want to take their own lives. What's behind it?
And a lot of people are calling Lebron's announcement a publicity stunt. Whatever it was, it's raised millions for some grateful boys and girls. Two of them, you'll meet.
Good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. It is day 82 of the gulf oil disaster. A week from now, if all goes well, BP could be capturing nearly all of the oil now spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from that broken well. But right now oil is pouring out at the broken well at a rate of up to 60,000 barrels a day. BP today removed the containment cap that had been capturing some of the oil for the past few weeks.
A new and improved cap is supposed to take its place in the next few days. It is designed to seal the top and enable BP to collect all the oil from the well until relief wells can finally, finally kill that blowout.
But there's a lot of work that needs to be done between now and then. And CNN producer Vivian Kuo has been working for developments on this story. She's been following it all day and explains what's happening there.
They're kind of taking a risk in order to get a cap.
VIVIAN KUO, CNN PRODUCER: That's exactly right. I mean, the big picture idea here is that this is a big deal. We're at a crucial point in this juncture, as you've been saying, for 82 days into this oil spill with the replacement of the formerly existing cap that they took off earlier today to put on a new cap. This could be the best development we've seen yet in the entire timeline.
Now, this could take up to four to seven days from start to finish. And again, they began this removal process earlier today, but they could be, by the end of next week, we could see this well capped.
LEMON: And you've been following the developments all day. You've heard some of the officials at BP and the people who are out there. They're very hopeful about this. And this may be their last chance. They said August, but you're saying a couple of days, but they're very hopeful at least.
KUO: Well, it's important to make two distinctions here. Well, while they're attempting to what they call shunt in the well, basically contain it as best they can. At the same time basically double the containment capacity here. The eventual result will still be to kill the well losing the bottom cell and the relief well effort.
LEMON: All right. So we shall see. Thank you for following this story for us. CNN Producer Vivian Kuo. Nice job. Good to see you.
We're going to talk more about the gulf oil disaster, because a lot more oil is going to escape into the Gulf of Mexico before this is all over. And CNN's Ines Ferre joins us now from Waveland, Mississippi. She's on the gulf coast tonight.
And as local officials were worried about oil getting into the marsh and it appears it has happened now.
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it happened with the marsh right behind me. You'll see that a couple of days ago, they had some high tides, some high winds and the oil and water reach just to that line that you see, that brown line on the grass. And why is this so critical? Well, because the marsh is where you have shrimp, you have crab that actually lay their eggs here. So it's a very, very delicate area. It's very difficult to also clean up this area because you can't really step on it because otherwise you'll make it worse. Now the mayor of Waveland saying that he had been warning about this for days.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR THOMAS LONGO, WAVELAND, MISSISSIPPI: We've raised the red flag when the southeast wind was blowing and a high tide was coming. We raised the red flag and we said, hey, this is what's going to happen. You know, this is what we've been telling you. The berms we wanted to put on the north side of the beach, where now you see this silt fencing that went up yesterday after the fact. It's been a response rather than the aggressive fight to stop it. It's been a response after the damage is done. And that's what makes you angry. That's what's frustrating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FERRE: And, Don, some of the -- part of the response was, for example, the booms that you're seeing over here, these booms were replaced just this morning actually. You also see these are some of the still barriers that the mayor was referring to. These are intended so that the water, if it comes to the well, it doesn't come through down this area. And we did see some workers today coming by and tightening these up.
Don?
LEMON: Hey, listen, you heard our producer here Vivian Kuo talking about that containment cap being removed. So what are the people down there on the Mississippi on the gulf coast? Are they reacting to this? And the other one being -- the new one about to be put in place?
FERRE: Yes, definitely. I mean, I've spoken to a couple of the mayors around here in some of these cities. And they're saying that if this works -- I mean, they're very hopeful about it. If this works, they'd be very, very happy about it because they're saying, look, we can put all the booms you want out there, we can put all the workers you want out on the beach every day to clean tar balls, but really they've got to contain that oil and cap that well.
Don?
LEMON: All right. Ines Ferre, down in the gulf coast. Thank you very much for that.
We want to turn now to some news overseas. It's been a deadly day for U.S. troops and coalition forces in Afghanistan. Six U.S. service members are among nine people killed today in several incidents. Two U.S. troops died in bombings in southern Afghanistan. Two more were killed in bomb attacks in the eastern part of the country. One died in small arms fire and another died in an accidental explosion. Today's news follows a deadly trend. June was a deadliest month for international and American forces in Afghanistan.
We have some new pictures to show you tonight on a Cuban blog. They appear to show former president Fidel Castro. The pro-government Web site says the photos were taken on Wednesday. They show the 83-year- old meeting with people at the National Center of Scientific Investigations in Havana. It would be the first public appearance by castor since he underwent intestinal surgery back in 2006.
You know, he is closely linked to two of the 9/11 attackers and one of the most wanted terrorists. How to find him? Why not check Facebook. Interesting.
Also a CNN exclusive. We're diving under the oil in the Gulf of Mexico to show you what the disaster is doing to marine life.
Hey, everybody, don't just sit there. Make sure you become part of our conversation. Send me a message on Twitter or on Facebook, and check out my blog at CNN.com/Don. Or you can look for me on four square as well. We want to hear from you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: On CNN security watch right now, a new example of the dangerous mix of extremism and the Internet. You may have heard of Anwar al Awlaki. He is the American-born radical cleric linked to several recent plots against U.S. targets. He is believed to be in Yemen, but he's been able to influence others online, even attacking fans on Facebook.
Our national correspondent Susan Candiotti has been looking into al Awlaki's online presence.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, you know, it's rather surprising in so many ways. We don't know how long these Facebook page has been up or exactly who started it. But we do know this. It features a smiling face of Anwar al Awlaki. We can tell you that as you indicated he is a home grown terrorist now living overseas who's described as a protegee of Osama bin Laden. And the Facebook page has 596 fans. Some of the comments on it include America is the true evil.
It also has links to some YouTube videos, and you can add some comments to it. It also features some links to some of his lectures as well. And if you become a fan, the face will also -- let's see -- it will send you to other Facebook friends. So this can actually add on, add on, add on in so many ways.
And Awlaki, as you indicated, has also been known to call for jihad and has been known to inspire, for example, the alleged Ft. Hood shooter, the Times Square bomber and some others as well.
Now we showed this page to Wired.com contributing editor and Brookings Institution fellow Noah Shachtman. He is also a national security specialist. He said that he was surprise to see this, but he said that Facebook does have certain methods to try to track down these things, certain ways to red flag this. But this one obviously got through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOAH SHACHTMAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, WIRED.COM: There's a tough line between freedom of speech and letting some really shady characters spread propaganda over -- you know, with an American company over American networks. And so it's a tough call. You don't want to censor people just because you don't like what they say. On the other hand, you don't want to help out a group that's actively trying to kill Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now we called Facebook about this, and within a couple of hours they had actually taken it down, and then they issued this statement to us, Don. Here's what they said, quote, "We have removed this page as we don't permit terrorists or terrorist organizations to maintain fan pages. We will remove such pages when we are made aware of them." So that's pretty fast work, Don. We did make them aware of it. We were just asking about it, they took it down right away.
LEMON: Our thanks to CNN's national correspondent Susan Candiotti. And one more note about al Awlaki's influence. A top U.S. official says a fugitive cleric had what he called a direct operational role in the Christmas day attempt to bring down an airliner bound for Detroit, Michigan. A major medical breakthrough on the horizon to tell you about. A vaccine for HIV is a step closer to reality. We're talking with two AIDS activist who are also HIV positive.
And we love what the blue angels can do. A sky show extraordinaire, and it's all the more spectacular when it can keep tourists at the beach and the thoughts of tar balls at bay.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The AIDS/HIV community worldwide is riding a wave of hope tonight. That's because a vaccine for the disease is one step closer to reality. Granted the road to a vaccine remains a long one, but a study in the most recent issue of "Science" magazine show scientists have possibly found the basis for a vaccine.
Researchers at The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, well, they say they have discovered three human antibodies that work against most strains of HIV.
Well, we talked with some AIDS activists for their reaction to this breakthrough.
Fill Wilson and Sherri Lewis are also HIV-positive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERRI LEWIS, AIDS ACTIVIST: Well, I've been hearing that for a long time. So, I was skeptical at first and then I did some of the reading that's been online, and you know, the fact that this is, you know, going across the board for 91 percent of the strains, which has been the real hurdle, you know, in finding a vaccine, an effective vaccine is that there were so many strains. But 91 percent of that, it's crossing over, it's very, very promising.
LEMON: Yes, that is --
LEWIS: I'm always, I'm cautiously optimistic. I've always been very conservative about medicines and treatments, but 25 years later, I'm glad I've been cautious.
LEMON: Yes, you bring up a good point because there's so much stigma around HIV and AIDS. So, what about getting this vaccine? Who should get it? What do you think? Do you think there will be a stigma, Phil?
PHIL WILSON, BLACK AIDS INSTITUTE: Well, I think that certainly, we need to do a lot of education but one of the take-home messages is that research is important, and it's important for us to be involved in doing research and particularly, Don, when you look at the demographics of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., this is a case study on why it's important for everybody but particularly black Americans to get involved in research, you know, the person who they first found this antibody is a black gay man, and so that's further evidence of why we should be engaged and I think, that's one of the steps in dealing with the stigma as well. LEWIS: And at the same time, knowing that it's an equal opportunity offender.
WILSON: That's right.
LEMON: Yes, it doesn't matter if you're gay or straight, black, white or whatever it is, it really doesn't, you know, the disease doesn't discriminate. But Sherri, hey, listen, I got to move on, I want to ask you about this.
LEWIS: OK.
LEMON: There's been talk around public health administrators, how they should distribute this. Some says, should basically require every college student to get it if they want to enroll in school, what do you think of that?
LEWIS: Well, I think that's -- if they want to, they do their research, they gather their information, I'm, you know, like I said, cautiously optimistic but I think it might be a very good idea. You know, the college campuses, which I've spent many years on as an educator, is a Petri dish for HIV infections. So, it's not a bad idea. Yes, well, I'm on the campus of UCLA out here, but I've been throughout different campuses on the east coast as well.
LEMON: So, Sherri and Phil, want to get to you a real quickly, and I just have a few, just a little bit left. You know, when you say vaccine, it doesn't mean it's over. So, what about risky behavior, do you think this could lead to that?
WILSON: Well, I think that certainly we have the continued work around prevention but I think your question raises the other part of it, you know, a vaccine is a part of it. But what we really need is a national AIDS strategy and it's exciting that this development is unveiled on the eve of the Obama administration releasing the first ever national AIDS strategy. So, it can't just be a vaccine. We need to talk about prevention. We need to talk about treatment for people living with HIV and we need to continue the work on research.
LEMON: That's going to have to be the last word. Thank you, Phil Wilson. Thank you, Sherri Lewis. And thanks for the bear, the bear is cute. I'm sorry it didn't get in on the conversation. We appreciate it.
WILSON: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You know, he's one of the most talked about candidates for office for all the wrong reasons. Today South Carolina Senate candidate Alvin Greene is making news again?
And you're not going to believe what Bill Clinton is doing now. Stick around. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We want to check your top stories for you right now. New rules could mean new help for America's military veterans stopping for post-traumatic stress disorder. The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to overhaul its rules as soon as next week so that vets can get help easier and faster than before. The current rules are often criticized as too complicated and too time consuming.
Heavy rains have inundated the Boston area causing flash floods and stranding cars. Flash flood warnings were issued for four counties in eastern Massachusetts. No injuries have been reported. The flooding has forced a closure of at least two bridges in the Boston area. And weather-related problems have snarled travel on local transit systems.
South Carolina Democratic Senate candidate Alvin Greene has cleared one of the legal hurdles that he's been facing. State investigators have wrapped up their investigation to Al Greene could afford the $10,000 entry fee for the Democratic primary when he had previously told the court he couldn't afford a lawyer.
The state has decided not to file charges. When I interviewed Greene, I asked him about the source of the money.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Who paid the $10,000 for your campaign to run?
ALVIN GREENE (D), SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE (via telephone): My personal money, from the Army.
LEMON: From where?
GREENE: Army.
LEMON: From the army.
GREENE: Personal money that I save in the army.
LEMON: All right. Because you're unemployed, right?
GREENE: Yes.
LEMON: That was part of your savings.
GREENE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Greene has now retained a defense attorney to answer charges that he showed pornographic images to a college student last year.
Bill Clinton is adding another line to his resume. The former president will officiate at the wedding of New York Congressman Anthony Weiner and long-time Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin. It could be good practice for the Clintons who are eagerly Chelsea Clinton's marriage later this month.
A deep sea dive into the disaster zone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILIPPE COUSTEAU, MARINE ENVIRONMENTALIST: What we should be seeing is beautiful, crystal clear water down here in the gulf this time of the year. We should not be seeing a thick haze.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It's a fascinating look at this disaster. A CNN team with environmentalist Philippe Cousteau diving beneath the oily muck in the Gulf of Mexico. We'll show you what they found.
And the oil has ruined their busy tourism season. We've been telling you about that. Now people in Pensacola are looking to the skies to save them. I'll show you what we mean.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So tonight here on CNN, you're going to see the oil catastrophe like you have never seen before from underneath the oily slicks that have dominated our TV screens. Only CNN is giving you this unique perspective.
Our Amber Lyon took a deep sea dive with Marine Environmentalist Philippe Cousteau. They found going under the oil actually put them right in the middle of the oil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're about 48 miles away from the deepwater horizon spill, and if you look in the water, you can see it's cloudy right now. All these little pieces in front of us, it just looks like almost like you shook a tree or some kind of little branch. There's just little particles here all across the water.
PHILIPPE COUSTEAU, MARINE ENVIRONMENTALIST: That's what's so concerning about this. Because the oil isn't going to the surface. It is distributing throughout the water column and it's springtime, this critical time of year when fish and other organisms are breeding, and laying eggs into the water and it's floating through. It's deadly toxin. What we're seeing here even though it's not the big thick oil, this is still a big, big problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And once on land, Amber talked to me about her conversation with Doug Suttles from BP. And he told her bacteria should eat up the dispersants or chemicals used to break the oil. She had new insight to his statements after her experience swimming with sharks and also oil droplets.
LYON: Don, let me tell you what I saw. Before entering the water, there was a foamy layer of dispersed oil that you had to go through. It just felt really disgusting having it all around you. Thank goodness we are wearing that, those hazmat suits.
In addition to that, when you descended down into the water column, there was about a 15-foot layer of tiny oil droplets that had been dispersed for as far as the eye could see. And it's that layer that really terrifies a lot of environmentalists I've spoken to because they say that although Suttle says the bacteria is going to eat up all this oil, the more bacteria you have in the water, jumping on oil, the more it's going to suck up the oxygen in the water and potentially harm other aquatic life -- Don.
LEMON: Oh, OK, thank you.
Hey, listen, now that you've had some perspective, Amber, to think about what you did, what you accomplish yesterday, what do you make of this whole time? I mean, I'm sure it was sort of surreal at the time, especially when you were swimming with sharks.
LYON: It was -- you know, Don, people make fun of me because they think I'm terrified. You know, if you see a shark behind you, normally people scream. Instead I was looking at it in amazement. I love to see sharks underwater. It makes me happy as a diver because it is rare to see them.
LEMON: But not that close, Amber. Come on. I mean, that was -- you don't want them that close.
(CROSSTALK)
LYON: Hey, Don. You know, we were sitting in the middle of going live under water. You know my mask was flooding a little bit, and I'm holding on, trying to focus on what I'm saying and all of a sudden we have sharks swimming about two meters away from us behind our heads. But they were small. I always say this about sharks. As long as I'm not -- their mouths aren't bigger than my body so I can't fit inside, they don't scare me.
But anyway, above all, like you said, it was surreal. There was one time Philippe and I were talking about it. It was almost felt like we were in some kind of a dream world as we were swinging around underwater because it was such a blur with all these clouds of dispersed oil and everything else. And we just swim through it. And it just felt very surreal and unrealistic, unlike anything I've ever seen as a scuba diver who's done almost 200 dives under that water.
LEMON: And CNN's Amber Lyon.
Well, most of us take tap water for granted, but for one Texas homeowner, the kitchen faucet could destroy his house.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One little spark or something on the gas pocket could send me sky high. That's my feeling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We'll tell you what's causing this flammable faucet.
Plus, the boys and girls club got a lot of attention this week thanks to Lebron James. Tonight, we have another reason to give the organization some spotlight. It's helping make college a reality for some kids who may never have had the chance to succeed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Critically ill patient struggling to get the medical care they need or skipping it altogether because they couldn't afford the transportation costs. Kathy Broussard saw the need and organized a group of volunteer drivers and pilots in Houston to take care of all that.
She's our CNN hero of the week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHY BROUSSARD, CNN HERO: My name is Kathy Broussard. I started the Houston Ground Angels. And we provide free air transportation and free ground transportation for medical patients coming in and out of the Houston area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have nothing like this where I live. I would have died a long time ago.
BROUSSARD: There's probably about 300 people volunteering their car, their gas, time. The volunteers, some of them have had cancer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I see them, they gave me hope. They stay there with us fighting. And I have been doing it.
BROUSSARD: God has bypassed me and cancer. And if I can help somebody -- and I'm sorry for crying -- but if I can help somebody make their life a little better, then that's what it is all about. It is not about me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Kathy and her volunteers have completed about 6,000 air and ground missions since 2001.
To nominate someone you think is changing the world, go to CNNHeroes.com.
You know, I have a couple more hero stories for you straight ahead here on CNN.
It was a simple gesture that meant so much to so many people. He picked up and folded old glory after the flag had blown down in a storm. Now many people want to reward him for his unselfish patriotism.
And beating the odds in a big, big way. At-risk kids taking a big step towards fulfilling their lifelong dreams, I should say, all because of the Boys & Girls Club. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Our "What Matters" tonight, somewhat related to the Lebron James announcement. It was a big deal that happen the other night. Everybody wondered why it was such a big deal. He said he wanted to raise money for charity for the Boys & Girls Club. Well, let's talk about the super stars that he's helping because these people are superstars of their own generation.
At-risk kids who beat all the odds to make it into college. Now they're getting special support to help guarantee they make it through college. Part of that announcement the other night, they raised more -- Lebron James, more than $2.5 million for the Boys & Girls Club.
I talked with two children. Devontre Echols who has had to face his mom close to losing her job, and Toyia Gray. She has persevered as her mother suffers from a debilitating disease. Here's her story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOYIA GRAY, ATLANTA BOYS & GIRLS CLUB: About two years ago, about 2- 1/2 years ago, she was diagnosed with the most -- it's not a very common form of MS, but it is called Devic's.
LEMON: It's a severe form of multiple sclerosis.
GRAY: Right, multiple sclerosis. And in that she has a blood clot in her leg, which is gone away now and several other deficiencies. She's anemic.
LEMON: She's a single mom.
GRAY: Right.
LEMON: So without the Boys & Girls Club, do you think you would have got on this point. Where you think you'd be?
GRAY: Not at all. I don't think I would have made it without the Boys & Girls Club. They've been a vital part of my success, and I extend a special thank-you to all of them for all that they've done to me throughout this time.
LEMON: Devontre Echols, let me ask you this, because you've seen -- I said there was some Lebron -- a lot of Lebron-hating going on. I mean, it was his decision to make. But what do you make of Lebron did raising all that money for the Boys & Girls Club? Did you even think about it?
DEVONTRE ECHOLS, LAWRENCEVILLE, GA. BOYS & GIRLS CLUB: Well, I thought about it. But I think sometimes when the stars actually take the time to give back to the community, it makes them a better leader because it gives other something to actually look forward to. Because when you only place words and you don't do something, everyday says, you know the chance against NBA are so slight, so slight, but when you take the time to do something and you give back to the community, I feel that makes you look even more impressive. Even though you're burying yourself in.
I mean, even tough that happens I still think that what he's doing is remarkable. So I'm still with it.
LEMON: And listen, your moms -- both of your moms are there. Can we get them on camera? They are so proud, moms and family. Are you guys proud?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
LEMON: Yes, yes, yes. So listen, Devontre, your mom who is sitting there, your mom is in the real estate business. We know it's not going well now. So what do you think about the Boys & Girls Club. And she's also a single mom, right?
ECHOLS: Yes.
LEMON: Do you think you'd be here?
ECHOLS: I really don't think I would be here because all the time that she has spent into the Boys & Girls Club has reflected on everything I've done. Mr. Johnson who was a very good mentor to me. And when I was growing up -- I mean, I was always a good kid, but all the opportunities that I got through the Boys & Girls Club never would have happened, that I can guarantee, because now I'm now a leader of the Boys & Girls Club. I've been involved in too many community service hours and I just enjoy what I do working with kids. And I just love it.
LEMON: You Taekwondo and all that, right?
ECHOLS: Yes.
LEMON: Don't you have a story about when you are too tired, you don't want to do your homework, you don't want to do all this stuff? Tell us that story real quick.
ECHOLS: Oh my goodness. Like I was always doing something. It was never a boring moment. And I was also a level one certified instructor at ATA. Third degree black belt. And I have been doing martial arts since I was age 2. Weapons, forms, sparring, tournaments, medals, everything.
LEMON: What do you want to be?
ECHOLS: I want to be a lot of things.
LEMON: All right, go ahead.
ECHOLS: But the first thing, the main thing I really want to be would be an author, because I always want -- everybody has a story to tell, and I feel that if you can make people feel emotional through a story, then all of a sudden you bring now a lot of emotion.
LEMON: I'm going to let you talk, but I cut you off. You said you were involved in everything, and what happened? Was there a time that came when you -- it was too much for you to do and you had to focus a little bit more or what?
ECHOLS: There was a time when I came -- actually, my senior year and my junior year, taking on the S.A.T. and A.C.T. but other than that I just learned to balance it.
LEMON: We're very proud of you. And you, your inspirations -- well, not only you had -- as we've talked about, you're doing other things as well and there were other organizations that helped you.
GRAY: Right.
LEMON: So what do you think this means to kids in your position because they may not understand what's going on. Some people watching this, middle-class families, mom and dad at home, and they don't understand those struggles.
GRAY: Right. And it was quite fine for me actually. While we were at the college camp, Taco Bell, yesterday, a couple of kids said to me, all these cameras are following you, you're so famous. And I was like, no, I'm really not. And it was kind of sad for me because I don't really now how to act, and it was like, look at the camera, don't look at the camera.
But it was a learning experience and I think it made them feel a lot closer to success because when you see someone that's your age from your community doing something big, then you realize, hey, this isn't so far away. I can do the same thing.
LEMON: Tell us about college camp.
GRAY: College camp, it was an excellent experience. I think it was a form of exposure for kids from underprivileged neighborhoods. They were able to go to UGA and to spend two days there and they had to go through just about everything that a college freshman would have to go through. They had to register. They had to get assigned to different rooms and all these different things and they were extremely excited.
LEMON: So listen, that's a video of it. I want to say, you're sitting here, they're wondering, guys, what's on their shirts. These are the Taco Bell shirts and the Boys and Girls Club of America.
So I am going to say thank you to you guys over here. Thank you. You, guys, are amazing.
And I'm going to walk over to the moms and give them a big hug. Keep making us proud and I'm sure you're thankful for what LeBron did, right?
GRAY: Right.
LEMON: All right. So, we're going to go to break.
Moms and family, thank you so much. You're raising some very great kids, and I wish you guys all the blessings. Excuse me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. LEMON: God bless you. Nice to meet you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. You, too.
LEMON: Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.
All right. Listen, we've got to talk much, much more here on CNN. We have a lot coming up. I don't know what's on the prompter, but this is a great segment. I love it. We're back in a moment here on CNN.
Thank you, guys.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That was a little bit earlier tonight. What a great family. They deserve some love. You see all these faces, famous faces behind me? These are other people who have benefited from the Boys & Girls Club.
I'm sure you recognize these faces. There's Jennifer Lopez. There's Miss Jackie Joyner-Kersee. She's an Olympian. There's also actor Martin Sheen. There's Shaq -- Shaquille O'Neal, and none other than the man himself, Denzel Washington, among many others. We know that one day that Devontre and Toyia will be on that list.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: This is just in to CNN. And there are times when we have been reporting about all of these troubling things that have been happening especially in New York City.
We want to tell you what CNN has learned from the NYPD, the New York City Police Department. They have confirmed that a suspicious package has been found near 59th and Lexington. It's on the upper east side of Manhattan. Again, the bomb squad on the scene there and also emergency service is responding. Trains -- subway trains in the area are being bypassed around. But again, we don't know if it's anything. We have a crew there. We're checking on it, and if something develops, we will certainly let you know.
I want you to pay attention to this next story because it could affect you, it could affect your parents, maybe even your grandparents. For the next few minutes, we're going to talk about a taboo subject here. We're going to talk about suicide.
Many middle-aged baby boomers confessed they are thinking about ending their lives when they get old so they don't become a burden for their children. Dr. Mark Goulston has written a blog about this. He says these suicidal thoughts often come from the experience of taking care of their own elderly parents and they don't want to put their children through it. So, the doctor's latest book is called "Just Listen: The Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone." He joins us now from Los Angeles.
Thank you. This is a very interesting topic. So let's be clear about this right away. You're not advocating suicide. You simply are pointing out that you're hearing this from your middle-aged patients.
DR. MARK GOULSTON, PSYCHIATRIST: Absolutely. You know, when you listen deeply to people and get past whatever they're saying and think what's really going on, what's really going on, it's amazing, after three questions, people will start to talk to you about what they're afraid of and what they're ashamed of.
And what I'm hearing from mainly white middle-class baby boomers is that -- who feel burdened by their parents and taking care of them when they're elderly and taking care of them when they were dying, what I'm hearing from many of them is I'm going to take a bottle of pills before I'm a burden on my children.
In fact, five minutes before I appeared here, I just got an e-mail from someone saying exactly that at my blog. And I think what the issue is it's mainly a white middle-class problem because Third World people, family is everything. And that's just part of what they do and they're actually more patient with their aging relatives.
LEMON: I wonder -- doctor, you talk about it on your blog. I'm going to read the comment. I have it right there. I looked in there and it says -- I'm not sure who exactly it's from. But it says, "I think for myself as a baby boomer, if I find myself becoming old and feeble, I've already decided that I will kill myself. I would not be a burden on someone else."
This comes down really to -- because medical science, keeping people alive longer than ever before -- comes down to finances, not wanting to be a drain on finances and emotional as well, and just being a burden to the family in general.
GOULSTON: Well, absolutely. Usually what's happening is if you're an impatient person as many people are and if your aging parent is not aging or dying graciously or gratefully, if they're really a pain to everyone around them including their caregivers, what happens is you harbor this shameful resentment. You have this feeling, I wish they were gone already. And it's very difficult to know what to do with that. So often what you feel, as they're getting older and as they're dying, is that you don't want to do that to your own family.
LEMON: Let me ask you. Why is this -- why is this unique to boomers? Is the next generation, generation x, generation y, what have you, is that generation going to go through the same sort of thing or will it be a different scenario? I wonder why -- why baby boomers.
GOULSTON: Well, I think baby boomers are an impatient lot. I think the parents of baby boomers were much more patient than baby boomers and I think the millennials have no patience. And so I think what happens is when you mix impatience in your personality with a difficult parent that you resent, what happens is you begin to see that you don't want to be a burden to your children who have even less patience than you have.
LEMON: All right. Got you. So, listen, what's the advice here? Is there -- is there a solution? GOULSTON: I think the advice, first of all, is if you're that difficult person and you're a baby boomer, change. If you're high maintenance, difficult to please, easy to upset person, change it. Also, if you're addressing that parent who's aging poorly, focus on the positive part of their personality, even if it's only 1 percent or 5 percent and say to them, you know, going forward, mom, going forward, dad, I want to focus on that part of you that everyone likes and let's build from that so that I don't start avoiding you.
LEMON: And, doctor, it's easier said than done. It's a tough situation and we have to figure out here and we appreciated you coming here to CNN. Thank you, sir.
GOULSTON: Thank you.
LEMON: So if you see people wandering around with those metal detectors, you've seen them, you think they're odd? Just check out the price of historic treasure one lucky man found buried in the English countryside.
And prophecy can be a many tentacle thing. You can argue it's random luck, but this octopus has an enviable winning streak in the World Cup.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, it's been a rough summer for people especially business owners all along the Gulf coast. But today, for a few hours at least, they caught a little bit of a break. Thousands of people gathered on a Florida beach to look skyward for a glimpse of an American tradition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER (voice over): Angels were flying around Pensacola beach this weekend. The sun was shining. The crowds came to see the Navy's locally-based aviation acrobatics team, the Blue Angels.
ED SHROEDER, PENSACOLA BAY CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU: If they fly, the people will be here. The question is, you know, whether we would be able to have the show on the beach or whether it would have to move inland somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The oil and tar stayed to the west in the beach, saving the biggest revenue-generating weekend of the year.
For the locals, this was a big relief after seeing as much as a 25 percent decline in business during the Fourth of July weekend. Extra beach clean-up crews worked through the night, efforts that even the youngest of show-goers appreciated.
BAYLEIGH CRITCHFIELF, PENSACOLA, FLORIDA RESIDENT: Well, I thought there was going to be more like tons of oil because I thought they weren't going to do the air show, but it's clean so far to me, so -- and I believe that they did a very good job on cleaning it. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The businesses, too, are finally cleaning up. Tourism officials say revenues soared to $25 million, their normal take when the Blues fly their home town.
SCHROEDER: Most of our hotels here on the beach are filled. Condos have a good business. And even in town, most of those hotels are filled.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It's obvious that James and Joann Woodson aren't staying in a hotel. One look at how prepared they are with this comfortable setup. Playing dominos between air acts. The Woodsons are happy the tourists decided to visit and support the local businesses but this air show is not all about money to these locals.
JAMES WOODSON, PENSACOLA, FLORIDA RESIDENT: With the crowd out here, you know, this kind of make you forget about the oil, you know, for just this -- just this little time. It makes you forget about the problems that we are really having. We know it's a great problem, but it kind of makes you forget about it for right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: It's amazing to see them do that. A big thanks to CNN producer Kim Segal who put this piece together for us today in Pensacola. Thank you, Kim.
All right. So, it's Saturday night, I hope you've having fun. I hope you stayed the whole time. We always want to catch you up on some news that you might have missed throughout the week.
So, here's what we want to tell you -- an update to a story that's been generating a huge amount of interest all over the country. It's really a sweet story. It was a simple unselfish gesture in middle of the night during a rainstorm. An anonymous man found an American flag that had been blown to the ground in El Paso, Texas. So he picked it up and he carefully folded it military style.
If it weren't for the surveillance video, though, no one would know about it. Local TV stations tracked him down. And it turns out, he was a homeless man living in a nearby warehouse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUSTUS BOZARTH, RESCUED DOWNED U.S. FLAG: It was a form of respect (ph) of folding the flag like that.
REBECCA OROZCO, METI INC.: It was amazing experience to see that. It was heartwarming to see that, a good Samaritan who was walking around that area that time of day in the rain will come to the rescue of the U.S. flag.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A lot f o grateful Americans now want to return the favor to Gustus Bozarth for his unselfish act of patriotism. The Wells Fargo Bank in El Paso has set up a special account for him to accept donations.
A British museum is considerably richer today because of this man. His name is Dave Crisp (ph). He's an amateur treasure hunter armed with a metal detector. While searching a field in southwest England, he stumbled upon more than 50,000 ancient Roman coins buried in a clay pot.
Can you imagine? Let's see. What are the odds of that?
The silver and bronze coins date to the third century and some bear the likeness of a little known Roman general who ruled Britain. It's one of the largest such finds ever made in Britain. The coins are both valued at about $1 million. Crisp says he'll split that money with the land owner where the coins were found. Congratulations to both of them. Good. Like winning the lottery.
LEMON: You know, he has a winning streak that Las Vegas would envy. Picking soccer winners from his home in Germany. He's not a person. He is -- an octopus. And thanks to the World Cup, he's now world famous. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): He's an octopus who doesn't realize his goal is to predict World Cup winners.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Paul the Oracle" octopus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Psychic sea creature.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Oracle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Psychic saffholehad (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mystic mollusk has gotten famous.
MOOS: Paul lives at the Sea Life Aquarium in Germany where they lower two boxes labeled with the flags of competing teams. Each box contains muscles, one of Paul's favorite foods.
(on camera): He picked the winner like six times in a row.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're very sensitive, octopus.
MOOS (voice over): Faced with the choice between Germany, his current home, and Spain, coiled over then topped Germany, then slinked over to Spain and later straddled the two before making his final pick by opening the box with the Spanish flag.
Paul's less lucky relatives were on sale at New York's Fairway Market.
(on camera): Octopus, $3.99 a pound. Paul's worth a heck of a lot more than that.
(voice over): Some who were buying octopus were skeptical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This thing, it must be fixed. I don't believe that there's some genius octopus.
MOOS: Paul isn't the first animal prognosticator. Princess the Camel picked winning football teams by selecting one of two graham crackers from her owners' labeled palms.
Watch Chippy the Pundit Chimp was pitted against human pundits deciding between Rudy and Hillary for U.S Senate. But Chippy never made it big like Paul who has his own website -- Don't tell any of my handlers that I can type, and his own Twitter account.
PETA has even gotten into the act, demanding that Paul be set free. They're saying that an octopus is not a prop that should be used for entertainment. After correctly predicting Germany's loss to Spain, the psychic octopus has even received death threats.
"Put that thing on the menu."
"I ate your mother."
OLIVER WALENCIAK, SEA LIFE AQUARIUM: We take a little bit more care about our octopus than before because there are quite a lot of visitors who want to peel and to eat him.
MOOS: The prime minister of Spain joked about sending Paul a protective team. And after Spain beat Germany, Spanish celebrity chef Jose Andres took octopus off the menu. But a jokester on YouTube made Paul the target of a Hitler assassination plot.
Boasted one fan, "With eight tentacles, I'd like to see him do a penalty kick."
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Spain versus the Netherlands tomorrow. Who do you have?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spain.
LEMON: Spain.
Who do you have?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spain.
LEMON: Spain.
I'm Don lemon. Thanks for watching. Good night, everyone. I'll see you back here tomorrow night.
