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Arizona's Fight over Immigration; "Static Kill" Delayed; Russia Wildfires; Pakistan Flooding; Wedding Bells for Chelsea Clinton; Manhunt for Three Escaped Murderers; Soldier in Solitary; ROTC Cadet Struck by Lightning, Dies; How Much is a Clinton Wedding Photo Worth; Family Gives Up All to Help Others

Aired July 31, 2010 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: This hour on CNN, immigration, the least of Arizona's worries at this hour. There is a manhunt there for three murderers who escaped from prison and who have already abducted two people. Police warn to be on the lookout.

While many people struggle in this economy just to keep their house in possession, one family is doing the exact opposite, selling everything except the clothes on their back. Wait until you hear what they're doing with the money.

And the wedding, the fitting American royalty or at least the first family. The Clintons' big day, but this time Chelsea is the star. We have the pictures to prove it.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. This is the first weekend Arizonans are dealing with their new immigration law, a law that came with much consternation and a judge late this week blocking the most controversial parts of it.

The governor fought back right away, but lost her bid to get a speedy appeal hearing so that's not going to happen until November, we hear. But we are learning now that Governor Jan Brewer may try another tactic altogether. CNN's Dan Simon is standing by for us in Phoenix. Dan, what's the governor thinking about doing here?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Don, can you hear me?

LEMON: Hi, Dan, go ahead. We're having a little bit of trouble with Dan there. Dan, if you can hear me, what's the governor thinking about doing? She's going to try a new tactic we're hearing?

SIMON: Hi, Don. Can you hear me?

LEMON: Yes, I can hear you.

SIMON: We are here at the state capitol trying to get a sense of how the governor wants to go forward here. Obviously the state dealt a major setback with the judge putting on hold four key provisions.

And so the thinking is, at least what we are hearing is that the governor might consider calling a special legislative session where they would, in essence, go back to the drawing board, if you will and re-tweak some language.

Perhaps there's a way to appease the appeals court going forward. I'm not sure if that would be throwing out the bill entirely and starting really from scratch or if it would mean just kind of going in and tinkering to fix the problem that Judge Susan (Bolton) had with the bill and going from there.

That's what we are trying to really pin down Republican leaders on and just sort of get a sense as to where their thinking is now because obviously they don't want to wait a few months before this thing goes through the appeals court.

LEMON: Dan, as we came to you there in Arizona, we are looking at some pictures of protesters. Now, are the protests continuing even until today?

SIMON: The protests are still going on. We have been here, you know, for the last several days. Every day there's been one giant protest after another. There's going to be another one tonight with the Arizona Tea Party group taking to the streets here in the capitol.

We saw something else last night. The protests are taking place even out of state. New York Mets versus the Arizona Diamondbacks, apparently an unruly fan or protester took to the field holding a Mexican flag. Certainly these protests have not died down and again, expecting more tonight, Don.

LEMON: All right, Dan and we'll be following that story. Dan Simon standing by for us in Arizona as we continue on with the story.

In the meantime, we want to go to the Gulf of Mexico now. Work to permanently seal BP's crippled well has apparently hit a snag. The procedure known as static kill now won't begin until Monday or maybe even Tuesday.

That's when heavy drilling mud and cement will be pumped into the well from above to push the crude oil back down into the earth. But the first sediment from the Tropical Storm Bonnie has to be cleared out of the way first.

The so-called bottom kill procedure when a relief well intercepts a well and pumps it full of cement is expected to begin by the end of the month.

Scorching temperatures are fuelling some of the worst wildfires Russia has ever seen. At least 25 people have been killed and nearly 3,000 left homeless by the blazes in the western part of the country.

Temperatures in some areas could reach 104 degrees Fahrenheit. That forecast moved one official to say he doesn't expect the situation to improve any time soon.

Now Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew Friday to the region and blamed local officials for a, quote, "chaotic and uncoordinated response". From fire to floods now, the death toll from catastrophic floods in Pakistan has risen to at least 800. Even worst, more monsoon rains could be on the way. The floods had put thousands of people out on the roads and caused a chaos in remote parts of Pakistan. CNN's Reza Sayah has more for us now from the capital, Islamabad.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: With many of the bridges impassable, sometimes the only way to cross area rivers is by boat. What you are looking at are boats where owner is charging the equivalent about 80 cents for taking people across the river and sometimes with the heat and circumstances, frustrations set in.

This is a fight that took place inside one of the boats that was packed with about 20 people, local residents fighting for a spot to get across the river. This is the road that connects Charsadda to Peshawar.

Much of it is damaged and it is a chaotic scene. Tens of kilometers down that way and tens of kilometers down that way, these are people who have lost their homes. Many of them lost all their belongings.

UMER SAEED, FLOOD VICTIM: I think they should have to help people, especially in the building.

SAYAH: Government officials are calling this the worst natural disaster this area has ever seen with a million people impacted. They say they are trying to get helicopters, boats and relief crews here as soon as possible.

But as you heard, many of the people we spoke to, help isn't arriving soon enough and patience is running thin. Reza Sayah, CNN, Charsadda, Pakistan.

LEMON: All right, Reza.

Killers on the run. Three convicted murderers escaped from prison and already, they've apparently abducted two people at gunpoint.

And the social event of the year for some. Forget about a thousand words. A picture of Chelsea Clinton at her wedding today is worth much more. It's the Paparazzi's dream. We're going to tell you about it a lot this weekend.

Don't just sit there. Make sure you become part of the conversation. Send me a message on Twitter or on Facebook. Check out my blog at cnn.com/don. Look for me on foursquare.com. If you don't know what it is, check it out foursquare. We want to hear from you. Be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Wedding bells, wedding bells ringing today for Chelsea Clinton. I remember when she was just a wee little tot. Well, in just about an hour from now, the former first daughter ties the knot with her long-time boyfriend, Marc Mezvinsky. The site of the nuptials, a small Hudson Valley town of Rhinebeck, New York. Of course, it is all abuzz and that's where we find our Susan Candiotti. Susan, my gosh, every woman --

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, people have started -- I know.

LEMON: Every woman I talk to is talking about this. I say the women are interested. The guys go, what's the big deal? I want to know though. I don't know, what do you think?

CANDIOTTI: I think everyone should be interested when there is a big fancy wedding, right, or might be interested, a lot of people. I can tell you that right here in Rhinebeck, not surprisingly there are hundreds of people who have gathered at the main intersection in town. Why?

Well, a) It's the main intersection in town. B) All the reporters are lined up here and, c) The hotel across the street is one of the ones where a lot of the guests are staying. We have been seeing some buses leaving here a little while ago with people all dressed up.

Obviously, the guests on board to the wedding site as you said. We expect the wedding ceremony to begin within the hour. But frankly, what have we been - how we've been spending most of the day today?

Well, as you can imagine, we've been looking for any celebrity sightings. In fact, Vera Wang had lunch here at one of the Italian restaurants. She, of course, is rumored to be the designer of the wedding dress for Chelsea Clinton.

After all, there was a picture of Chelsea going into Vera Wang's design studio earlier in the week under a -- wearing a disguise that big floppy hat. So anyway, Vera Wang is here.

And I also ran into actors Nary Steenburgen and Ted Danson, of course, are long-time friends of the Clintons. I asked them to talk about what they think the former first family is going through, certainly the mother and father-of-the-bride, what kind of emotions they must be feeling. Here's what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY STEENBURGEN, ACTRESS: Those kind of details, I guess I want to keep private except they've -- it's been a very personal experience for them. They have done things in their own way. They are very much about family.

She's -- her family is a little bit smaller. She's an only child and he's family is big. He has lots of siblings, but there's just been so much love and tenderness around the whole thing.

That gets obscured a little bit when you're talking about someone that's a public person. But on the inside of it, I can tell you it's been very much like everybody's wedding. Full of tenderness, memories and laughter, I'm really excited for them. They're great together. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: And Steenburgen added that probably by the end of the night, as she put it, Bill Clinton will be crying his eyes out -- Don.

LEMON: Very sweet, very sweet. Yes, everyone should be excited about a nice wedding. We wish them prosperity and a long, happy life together. All right, thank you, Susan. We appreciate it.

CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.

LEMON: You know catching a break in California, fire crews battling for wildfires that have burned thousands of acres get some good news today.

And the Army private accused of leaking all those military documents now spending time alone behind bars.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check your top stories right now.

Firefighters have their hands full in Southern California. They are battling the raging crown fire in Los Angeles county. It's now about 62 percent contained. Thanks to better weather conditions - that's thanks to better weather conditions.

Authorities have lifted evacuation orders and most residents have returned home. The crown fire is the biggest of three wildfires that have blackened more than 17,000 acres in that region.

President Barack Obama says he hopes Congressman Charlie Rangel ends his career with dignity despite an ethics investigation. On Friday, a House panel recommended a reprimand for the New York Democrat.

A reprimand would be considered a slap on the wrist by some. Among other things Rangel is accused of using his influence to solicit donations for a college policy center that bears his name and other charges involve alleged income tax and financial disclosure violations.

Investigators in Pakistan have found the flight data recorders at the site of the deadly plane crash outside Islamabad. The black boxes will be sent to Germany or France for analysis since aviation officials don't have the facilities to examine them in Pakistan.

One hundred and fifty two people were killed when the plane went down in the hills outside the capital, but authorities say, it could take months to complete that investigation.

In Arizona, a manhunt is on for three convicted murderers who escaped from prison. Police say the men broke out of the medium security prison in Kingman, Arizona, last night. They allegedly abducted two people at gun point early this morning, but later released them at a truck stop. All three were serving 15 years to life on murder convictions. Sergeant James Jackson is with the Flagstaff, Arizona Police Department. He joins us now by phone. Sergeant, thank you for joining us. Where do you believe these escapees are now?

SGT. JAMES JACKSON, FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA POLICE (via telephone): We, at this time, have no idea.

LEMON: You have no idea?

JACKSON: No idea. They -

LEMON: So what are you telling people? We said at the beginning of the show, be on the lookout. What are you telling folks there?

JACKSON: We are telling individuals here to be on the lookout for these individuals. They are armed and dangerous. They fled from the Little America truck stop and an unknown location of travel.

LEMON: When you say "armed and dangerous" it was a medium security prison, but how dangerous do you believe these men are?

JACKSON: At this point, I have no details as to what they were incarcerated for. I don't have that information.

LEMON: All right. What are you doing to find these people? What are authorities doing? Have you fanned out? Do you have a team of people who flanked out around the area to look?

JACKSON: Actually the flagstaff of the police department, we scoured the area this morning looking for the individuals. We were unable to locate them. I believe the Arizona Department of Corrections has an apprehension team looking for those individuals right now.

LEMON: So the Department of Corrections taking the lead. What about the people they abducted? We said that they kidnapped two people and let them go. Are they able to help in any way with, you know, maybe identifying what kind of car they were in or if they had changed clothing or anything of that matter?

JACKSON: I don't have any of those details at this time, no.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, Sergeant Jackson. We appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you.

LEMON: All right, let's move on now and talk about that Army private with access to loads of classified documents, now accused of passing tens of thousands of pages of military information to a web site. New developments today in the case against Private Bradley Manning.

And a chilling vision of a world under constant nuclear threat. We're talking with the director of a new documentary. It's called "Countdown to Zero."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. We are learning new details today about the Army private suspected of one of the largest security breaches in military history.

A military spokesman says Private First Class Bradley Manning is now in solitary confinement in Quantico, Virginia. He's suspected of leaking tens of thousands of classified military documents to the web site wikileaks.org. CNN's Sandra Endo has been tracking the story for us in Washington.

Sandra, what's the very latest on this?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we are learning more about the private first class who military officials say they are focusing on.

As you mentioned, 22-year-old Bradley Manning is the prime suspect in their investigation into who leaked more than 90,000 documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan to the web site called wikileaks.

Manning is being held in solitary confinement in Quantico, Virginia, for a different case altogether. He's facing charges of leaking a 2007 air strike video and downloading documents from classified military systems.

We know that he's from Crescent, Oklahoma, where childhood friends say he was extremely intelligent and not afraid to speak his mind.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHERA MOORE, FRIEND OF BRADLEY MANNING: If someone didn't agree with him on his point of view like on government stuff or religious because he was nonreligious, he would -- like I said, he was very outspoken and spoke his opinion. Sometimes he would get in heated arguments in class if he didn't agree with certain things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENDO: Now, the military lawyer appointed to Private Manning representing him for the previous charges could not be reached for comment, Don.

And Manning could possibly have a hearing right here in Washington as early as next month. But, because of the new investigation, that timeline could be pushed back - Don.

LEMON: All right, because of the new investigation, how broad is this investigation?

ENDO: Well, it's interesting because the Defense Department did ask the FBI to step in and that means the scope has broadened. They are going to be looking at possible other suspects involved in this case. That means with the FBI involved it doesn't only mean military suspects. It could mean civilian ones as well.

LEMON: Sandra Endo in Washington. Thank you, Sandra. This Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee could vote to send the new start nuclear treaty to the full Senate. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the agreement in April to further reduce nuclear stock piles.

It is a reminder of the grip these weapons still have on the world. That's the subject of the new documentary. It's called "Countdown to Zero." It's opening in many theaters this weekend. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Smuggling highly enriched uranium into the United States is pretty straightforward. Lead pipe will shield the HEU. The detector would have to be within inches to pick up any radiation and then hide it amongst everyday goods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A hundred pounds of highly enriched uranium is smaller than a football. It would fit in a six-pack of beer cans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Wow. The director to "Countdown to Zero" is Lucy Walker and joins us now live. Lucy, why did you want to do this film now? It seems pretty timely though. Maybe that's it.

LUCY WALKER, DIRECTOR, "COUNTDOWN TO ZERO": It really is. We wanted to have an interesting time where the president called for a world without nuclear weapons. I was a kid during the cold war and was so scared. I wanted a bomb shelter in the backyard. I remember bugging my dad about it.

He said, building one wouldn't the hard part. Having a gun to keep the neighbors out would be hard. That was so scary when I was a kid. My mom said, I would just take a pill. I wouldn't want to live through it.

That was frightening and the funny part is we stopped being afraid, but the weapons are still here. We still have 22,400, I believe, at last count. The good news is we don't have 65,000, but the bad news is when you could destroy the world x number of times over, any kind of algebra like that is really very scary.

LEMON: Lucy, where did you grow up?

WALKER: I grew up in London, England.

LEMON: You had a bomb shelter in London, England where you grew up?

WALKER: No, I didn't. I wanted one. I was so scared.

LEMON: All right. I thought you had one. Your mom said she'd take a pill.

WALKER: No.

LEMON: Listen, I --your film, it's a very interesting film as we said. It argues for complete disarmament though and you imply that the U.S. has to lead the way. That's a lofty goal. Do you think it is realistic?

WALKER: I think that it is the rational way forward. It sounds pretty far-fetched, but I came at the subject with an open mind. Just the goal of this film was to explore what nuclear weapons are doing in the world today. What should we worry about with terrorists, or should we be worried about with countries like Iran that seem to be getting nuclear weapons and who may get them next?

I didn't come in as sort of an activist person with a particular agenda. I really came in trying to understand the nature of this threat that's so changed in the world today and I came out really agreeing with the current administration's policies which, with the way things are going with proliferation and terrorism, the weapons are not keeping us safe anymore. We are more vulnerable to them being used against us. That would be horrible. So in this sort of --

LEMON: That leads me to my next question then. So some Republicans this week objected to the new treaty saying it will hamper the anti- missile defense system. What's your response to that?

WALKER: My response is watch the movie because hopefully we really get to grips with understanding why the treaty is a great thing to ratify and why it is so important that we use this momentum that we have with a president who's so switched on these issues.

I must say that I've been immersed in the world of nuclear weapons and trying to understand it. Everyone that I have spoke to that makes any sense is really seeing the same song that the president is singing. Now is the time to ratify the treaty.

These weapons have to come down or they will be used against us. I don't want to be sitting here discussing with you how did we not do anything to stop this happening? The way to stop a horrible nuclear disaster is to sign this - to ratify this treaty right now.

LEMON: Yes. You know, it's not like a big budget Hollywood action film, but it is certainly important. It's interesting to watch. Lucy walker, the director of "Countdown to Zero," and it's in theaters now. Thank you.

WALKER: Thank you so much.

LEMON: You know, we've all heard how dangerous lightning can be, but it's been especially true over the last few weeks. The total is nearly two dozen deaths due to lightning this year. Our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras is going to take a closer look for you.

Also ahead here on CNN, find out why one man is compelled to spend his life diffusing deadly landmines. He even did it with his bare hands

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Listen. This is a horrible story. An ROTC cadet, struck by lightning at Ft. Knox, has died. She was rushed by helicopter to the University of Louisville Hospital but died of complications. The 18-year-old was outside, doing field exercises with other cadets, when the weather quickly turned dangerous. The other female cadet was seriously hurt in the same incident.

Let's go to our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras, now.

Jacqui, how often does this happen?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: More often than you think. It's actually very underreported. We just recently had three deaths of teenagers in Georgia as well. It's young people in particular that are vulnerable to this. Overall, about 60 people each year die from lightning strikes. They think the number is a little bit closer to 70 probably. Only 10 percent of people struck by lightning actually die.

You know, this is something that we are all exposed to, Don. We think about big weather threats, and we think about tornadoes and we think about hurricanes, right? But on a day-to-day basis, I would say, every week, for the most part, some people across the United States have to deal with the threat of lightning.

Look at the live picture right here on our radar picture. Look at all those lightning strikes that are occurring as we speak. I can put a little box on here to show you just how many strikes just in this area we have had in the last hour. Look at that. About 8,500 strikes. That's a whole lot.

By the way, Florida has more lightning strikes than any other state. We have great video to show you too of lightning out of Florida from earlier this week in the Sarasota area. Look how it lights up the skies.

You know, lightning is about 50,000 times hotter than the sun. Like five times hotter than the sun. Can you believe that? Incredibly hot. It can be very thin, by the way, too, about the width of a pencil.

It can strike as far as ten miles away from the parent storm. But we have heard cases, as much as 40 miles away. So if you can hear it, it can hit you. We wonder why people don't do better and take more precautions when there is lightning.

I was at the pool this week and I got out of the pool because there was thunder. We heard it and there were teenagers still in my pool. I'm like, get out of the pool. They're like, oh, it's not going to hit me.

LEMON: I've often wondered thought, is it a myth, that you have to get out of the pool if it's raining, if it's true?

JERAS: No. It's not a myth. In fact, water and recreation are ways people get killed, more than any other way. If you are in the pool -- and we only say, don't go under a tree. That's what happened with one of the Georgia teenagers as well. So indoors, in a sturdy building is the best place you can be.

A little fun note I thought you might like with this, Don, 75 percent of lightning victims are men.

LEMON: That's because we don't even take directions. We know everything.

(LAUGHTER)

JERAS: Golfers, boaters.

LEMON: Yes. I have to say my grandmother used to say, when there was a thunder and lightning storm, when we were kids in Louisiana, we would turn the lights off.

I hear you, Tom. We're going to wrap.

(LAUGHTER)

She'd turn all the lights off. We couldn't talk on the phone, the television, everything. We'd have to be quiet. And she was right. We thought she was just being eccentric.

JERAS: She's right. Yes, you don't want to be using electrical devices.

LEMON: Thank you, Jacqui. We appreciate it.

Each year, an estimated 200 to 300 Cambodians are injured or killed by thousands of active land mines, 30 years after being planted by the Khmer Rouge. In fact, Cambodia is among the countries with the most land mines worldwide. This week's "CNN Hero" planted million of them as a child soldier. He's now going back to remove the danger.

(CNN HERO)

LEMON: Since 1993, Aki Ra (ph) and his team have cleared about 50,000 landmines and war weapons. There are only a few days left to nominate a "CNN Hero." Nominations for 2010 close tomorrow. That's always such a great performance when we recognize our heroes. So go there and vote. Make your nomination for someone you think is a hero. Go to CNNheroes.com. Very important. We appreciate our heroes here.

Former Vice President Al Gore accused of sexual assault. We have new information about the case against him.

And rah-rah-sis-boom-bah. Do they even say that anymore? Do they? I don't know. A cheerleader takes out a thief. We'll tell you how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: When talking about weddings and Chelsea Clinton, combine the A-list guests with its zero-media access, and Chelsea Clinton's wedding today is arguably the most sought after photo of the year for paparazzi -- so far. The details have been so shrouded, only just yesterday, when Bill Clinton arrived in Rhinebeck, New York, did reporters get hard confirmation that they were in the right place at the right time. People didn't know where it was for sure.

So how much would a picture of Chelsea and Marc Mezvinsky at their wedding tonight go for?

Let's ask Stephen Trupp. He is here to give us his professional estimate. He's the CEO of Star Max Incorporated, which specializes in taking and distributing celeb photos.

What would you say an exclusive picture of Chelsea in her wedding gown goes for? Ten bucks? What do you think?

(LAUGHTER)

STEPHEN TRUPP, CEO, STAR MAX INCORPORATED: Well, under the circumstances that you are talking about, I would estimate that, if someone got a good picture of Chelsea and Marc together doing something interesting, considering how little access is being granted, you could be talking very big money, you know, to the tune of maybe a few hundred thousand dollars and upward.

LEMON: I said this was arguably the most sought after picture. But I see people camped outside the jail for Lindsay Lohan. Would this go for more than a picture of Lindsay Lohan coming out of prison -- jail?

TRUPP: I think so. I think because of the secrecy surrounding this event. With the Lindsay Lohan case, there are a lot of people going after that photo. A lot of people know where she is and there are amateurs as well as professionals there. With this, a lot of people didn't know about it until the last moment. So I think this will be of an exclusive type of picture and probably more valuable, you know, given the circumstances.

LEMON: What about other VIPs at this wedding, like Oprah? The president said he's not going, but other dignitaries there?

TRUPP: Again, it's going to come down to -- I saw, when I was watching some of the news clips, before that there are a lot of people outside. It looks like professionals as well as amateurs. It really will depend. If people get pictures of them coming in that could be worth anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. But, again, if someone gets something inside, you know, someone sneaks in a cell phone with a camera on it or a nonprofessional camera and gets some decent pictures, which we would be happy to represent them, by the way --

(LAUGHTER)

-- those could be worth a lot of money.

LEMON: You just came on to solicit, Stephen.

(LAUGHTER)

Stephen Trupp. So we have to run, but if they release an official photo, does that cut down the price?

TRUPP: It does. If a wire service, such as A.P., puts that out, and those are virtually the only photos from it, even if someone has something else, it would cut down the price. But, again, depending on what the photos are. That's the critical issue. If you've got the two of them feeding each other cake, or kissing, or tripping over one another, or something interesting, that's a valuable photo.

LEMON: We've got you. We have you, Stephen Trupp. And you know what? We can solicit as well. We have iReporters, and they can go to iReport.com and upload it and we'll put it on CNN.

TRUPP: OK. It's us against you.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Thank you, sir.

TRUPP: OK, thanks a lot.

LEMON: We want to check your top stories now.

Arizona's governor is thinking of changing parts of her state's immigration law, according to the Associated Press. Reportedly, she may tweak the language after a judge blocked some of the most controversial sections. The state appealed on Thursday, the same day the law went into effect.

Meantime, the protests continue, and not just in Arizona. During a Mets game in New York last night, two protesters ran onto the field waving Mexican flags. Security guards eventually grabbed them.

Former Vice President Al Gore will not face sexual assault charges. Police in Portland, Oregon, decided not to recommend prosecution because of a lack of credible evidence. A woman had accused Gore of unwanted sexual contact during a professional massage back in 2006. Police launched a full-scale investigation this summer after the "National Enquirer" printed her allegations. Former vice president had cooperated with police and denied any wrongdoing from the very beginning in that case.

Today marks one year since three American hikers were seized by Iranian authorities after they allegedly strayed across the border from Iraq. They have been in Iranian custody ever since. Tehran accuses them of espionage. President Obama says they are innocent. Protests over their continued detention were planned worldwide today.

Fighting obesity in Chicago is tough. It's tough in one Chicago neighborhood where it's been easier to get drugs or guns than to get fresh vegetables. That's a struggle LaDonna Redmond has taken on. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the latest of her efforts in our "Fit Nation" report.

(FIT NATION)

LEMON: Can you imagine quitting your job and selling everything you own to help total strangers all over the world? Next, you will meet an extraordinary family who is doing just that.

Hi, guys.

CROWD: Hi.

LEMON: We'll see you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: People say, I'm going to sell everything and go, you know, surf or run a surf shop or do something great. Well, the next people you're going to meet, they're doing that. While channel surfing, you have probably seen promos showing people in impoverished countries that need help. But how many of us have acted on it? I don't mean just by sending money. You're about to meet a woman and their kids who sold everything they own to finance a trip around the world to help others.

I want you to meet Teresa Keller and her kids, Jennifer and Alex.

Wave, so everyone knows who you are.

Also, their good friend, Megan, who is like a child to them, is here to join us as well on the trip. So there is Teresa, Jennifer, Alex, and Megan.

Hi, guys.

CROWD: Hi.

TERESA KELLER, SOLD EVERYTHING TO HELP OTHERS: Hi, how are you?

LEMON: I'm doing well. How are you is the question? I mean, weren't you nervous? Aren't you scared?

TERESA: No, we're doing pretty well. We moved out of our rental house yesterday. We went to Rhode Island. Now we're in the Big Apple. We're happy to be here. and we take off for Moscow tomorrow morning.

LEMON: I understand. Listen, you have sold everything. You gave the comfort of a paying job in Boston, even your home, and so you sold just about everything to do this.

What inspired you, Teresa?

KELLER: Well, I've always wanted to do something to help people in developing countries, ever since I was a teenager. I knew I need to build career skills first. And then I got caught up in day-to-day life. I worked for 20 years in not for profits. I'm the executive director of Archaeological Institute of America. But I was working 60 hours a week. I wasn't seeing my kids. I was traveling all the time, fund-raising.

And then, what really hit home is, I went to Peru to speak at an international tourism conference, and I saw poverty firsthand for the first time. And I thought, wow, this is the time to actually do something. I could travel with my kids. We could spend time together. And we could try to inspire others to help people. LEMON: So you think this is a better life lesson, better lesson for your kids than struggling to pay a mortgage and climbing up the corporate ladder and being really sort of into just your own family and your own community?

KELLER: Well, definitely. If we didn't do it now, we won't be able to do it because Jennifer is heading off to college.

(LAUGHTER)

So this will be her gap year.

LEMON: Jennifer --

KELLER: It's kind of now or never.

LEMON: Kid, how do you feel about this trip? You are going to miss school? Miss your friends?

Jennifer, I'll start with you.

JENNIFER MANGLASS, TRAVELING WORLD WITH MOM: Well, I'm going to miss my friends. I had to leave behind my girlfriend, which was hard. But I'm really excited to go on the trip. I always wanted to travel around the world, and just the ability to help people is really important to me. So I'm real excited.

LEMON: All right. Let's get to the other folks here. Want to talk to Alex.

Alex, in the red shirt. I like your red Polo shirt, by the way, Alex. Listen, look at all the bands you have on for different causes. How do you feel about this? Are you excited? Maybe a little nervous?

ALEX GAGLIARDO, TRAVELING WORLD WITH MOM: I didn't want to go at first. But now, I'm sort of OK with it. And I don't really have, like, a choice of going.

LEMON: Why didn't you want to go? Why were you hesitant?

GAGLIARDO: Because I didn't want to leave my friends and my town, Groton, with the chance of not moving back to Groton.

LEMON: Yes. What do you anticipate doing? Are you excited about just getting there? Is there one project or one part of the trip that you're excited about?

GAGLIARDO: I'm excited about the wood farm project in Tanzania. And I can't wait to go to Japan.

LEMON: Family friend and like family, Megan. So how did you get, I shouldn't say duped into this, but how did you get involved in doing this?

MEGAN GRACE FRANZ, TRAVELING WORLD WITH FRIENDS: Teresa and my mom are best friends. And Teresa is telling my mom about this crazy idea she had. She was like, that will be great for Megan. And Teresa was like, all right, I'll take her along. So I got a call and I'm going.

LEMON: What are you anticipating?

FRANZ: What's that?

LEMON: What are you anticipating?

FRANZ: I'm just really excited for all the experiences I'm going to gain. I'm definitely going to miss my family and friends. But I the knowledge and experiences we'll gain firsthand on this trip will be useful in the upcoming years and life. So I'm really excited for the whole thing.

LEMON: So Teresa, I'll give you the last word, since this was your big, bright idea. What do you say to people who may be watching going, man, I don't know about this? They're just so concerned about, you know, their family, their mortgage, the car and their community, and not thinking in a broader sense. What do you say?

KELLER: You know, what I really want to say is, I know when I had to go through problems in my life, when I look at the bigger picture, it makes me feel better. We want to be a vehicle for people to be able to donate $2 or $5, or just for people to log on to the web site, because we have someone who has pledged five cents per visit, and then you can see the good you're doing in the world. And that makes you focus on the bigger picture.

LEMON: And rtwwithus.org. That's your organization, if people want to help.

TERESA KELLER: Exactly.

LEMON: Thank you, guys.

Thank you Teresa, Jennifer, Megan, Alex, and Bella, who is not there, as well. Good luck to you. Come back and tell us how your trip went, OK?

TERESA KELLER: Thank you.

CROWD: Thanks.

LEMON: Up next, here on CNN, a teenage girl at the mall, and then it gets wild.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEALY EDWARDS, CHEERLEADER: I thought I was going to stop him. But he kept running. So I was like, OK, I guess you're going to the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A would-be thief found out the hard way that this high school cheerleader is the last person he'd want to run into.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Time now for "News You Missed." This is one place that you don't want to fall out of the boat. Check it out. You're looking at hundreds of alligators in Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp in a rare feeding frenzy. The gators had herded lots of fish into a confined area and then they pigged out, of course, of gatored out. Most people would have beat a hasty retreat back to shore. But the fishermen, who shot this video, they just motored slowly through the gators so they could go fishing somewhere else.

Everyone at Moore High School in Oklahoma knows junior, Kealy Edwards (ph), is an outstanding cheerleader. Look at her. You can see that right there. But now, they know she has a secret identity, crime fighter. Last weekend, at the mall, talking on her cell phone to her mom, an alleged shoplifter bolted right for her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARDS: I was like, hang on, mom. I put the phone down. He got close to me. I got in his way and grabbed him. He kept trying to run. I just slammed him on the ground.

I didn't think -- I was shaking. I was, like, nervous. I didn't know why I did that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, she was wearing a dress. It didn't stop her. Police say you shouldn't do that, though. They discourage that.

All right, I'll see new one hour. But right now, "THE SITUATION ROOM" begins.