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Well-Killing Procedure Working; Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Office Denies Assassination Attempt; President Obama at AFL-CIO
Aired August 04, 2010 - 11:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Live from Studio 7 at the CNN world headquarters on this Wednesday, August 4th -- the president's birthday, by the way, his 49th -- here are our big stories today.
A federal judge is set to rule within hours on California's same- sex marriage ban. The case pairs a Hollywood liberal with one of Washington's most conservative legal minds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB REINER, DIRECTOR/ACTOR: They say that politics make strange bedfellows. Well, you don't have a stranger bedfellow than me and Ted Olson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: BP says the kill on its busted oil well is working. Gulf fishermen begin thinking about their future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our big thing is working with BP right now. Until all of this changes and everything's cleared up, until then I'm not going back crabbing, because I'm not going to go throw that out there, you see, and then they can close it. The oil's out there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And a C-17 becomes a flying intensive care unit. Part two of Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr's look at the journey home from war.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Tony is off today.
Those stories and your comments, right here, right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And just moments from now, President Obama discusses issue number one, and that's jobs. He's addressing the AFL-CIO Executive Council. You're looking at live pictures now from the Washington Convention Center.
The White House says the president will highlight steps he's taken to rebuild the economy and create jobs. But it's also a chance for him to rally the nation's largest labor union ahead of upcoming midterm elections.
We'll bring you the president as soon as he starts speaking there, moments away.
But first, now, the day for which so many people along the Gulf Coast have been awaiting, hoping, and praying: the first step in permanently sealing the busted oil well appears to be working.
CNN's David Mattingly joins us now live from New Orleans with the latest on the static kill -- David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, here we are, 107 days into this disaster, and now, for all practical purposes, this well is dead. BP, over an eight-hour period last night, pumped drilling mud into this well, and in just eight hours, they were able to pump enough mud in there to counteract the pressure of the oil and push it back down, back down into the reservoir where it erupted out of and caused this disaster back in April. That is a hugely significant event, because before they had a cap on the well, they had it contained, and now they have this well completely under control, essentially killing this well and ending its threat.
Right now, they're monitoring it. They may have to adjust the amount of mud that they have put in there. But right now they're also involved in conversations with government scientists about what to do next.
Perhaps they'll put a cement plug near the top of this well, in addition to the cement plug that they plan to put in at the bottom of the well later this month, when that relief well is finished. But, again, this is a milestone, Don, 107 days in to this disaster, and this well is dead.
LEMON: David Mattingly, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you.
Other big stories right now.
A federal judge is set to rule on the constitutionality of California's Proposition 8 in just a few hours. The voter-approved measure bans same-sex marriage. Regardless of what the judge decides though, the issue is expected to be appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court.
Conflicting reports on a possible assassination attempt against Iran's president today. Iranian media reported a man threw a homemade grenade at Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's motorcade. Reuters photographs show his security detail flinching, but the Iranian's president's office says the explosion was a firecracker, not a bomb.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This doesn't seem like a serious incident. Of course, there was a lot of conflicting reports that had been coming in over the past several hours that got a lot of attention. But about an hour ago, I spoke to an adviser for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and he told me everyone should calm down because no one tried to kill the Iranian president.
He describes this item that apparently blew up as a toy firecracker. He said this was someone playing with a firecracker, the kind children play with, the kinds you use when you want to celebrate. This was a toy, and there were no injuries. But the western media made it bigger than it is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: CNN's Reza Sayah.
We go to a developing story now. At least one person is reported dead after a small plane crashed this morning at an airport in Phoenix.
The FAA says the pilot was trying to land at Deer Valley Airport when the SR-22 aircraft slammed into a building. A witness reported hearing a sputtering sound coming from the plane's engine before the crash.
Two possible motives are now emerging today in that workplace shooting in Connecticut. Police say Omar Thornton killed eight people at Hartford Distributors before he took his own life. Thornton worked as a truck driver for the beer and wine distributor. Gunfire erupted after supervisors fired him for stealing beer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLORIA WILSON, MOTHER OF SHOOTING VICTIM: He liked his job, you know, but he was getting tired of it. He'd worked there 30 years, and he was ready to retire. Everybody liked him. He had that personality, you know? Just loved people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- the loss of a beloved husband, father, son, and friend. We want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support that's been extended to us. Our hearts go out to all those Hartford Distributor and Company's families who are hurting today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Thornton's family is speaking out. Here is what his mother is saying, saying her son called her after the shooting to say, "I killed the five racists that were bothering me." A union representative says if Thornton was subjected to racial taunts, he never filed a complaint.
We're standing by, I want to tell you, for a police news conference. There you see them getting ready there in Manchester, and we'll bring it to you just as soon as that happens.
We're also awaiting President Obama. He's in union territory right now, about to speak at the AFL-CIO Executive Council, ,at their convention in Washington. The president plans to tout his efforts to rebuild the economy and create jobs, but new figures show 14,600,000 Americans are still looking for work; 6,800,000 of those are long-term unemployed.
Our Senior White House Correspondent, Ed Henry standing by for us -- Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, you're absolutely right. I mean, the White House knows that the public, when you look at the polls, they just don't feel like they're -- we've dug out of this recession yet, despite the steps the president has taken. So he's trying to make the case -- this is a friendly audience, as you noted, and White House aides say he'll lay out sort of, you know, how he passed the stimulus, how he's now pushing for a small business tax relief bill that he thinks will help.
And also, just last week we saw him in Detroit at GM and Chrysler plants, showing how the auto bailouts, while deeply unpopular right now, helped save a lot of jobs. He's going to continue to tout those initiatives.
You hear the Republican criticism, though. This is a fierce political environment just a couple months before the midterm elections. The Republicans saying the stimulus has not worked as promised or as advertised.
The president has been very aggressive, though, in framing this midterm election that's coming up as sort of a sign that he inherited a mess from the Bush administration. He's taken these steps to try to improve it, but he realizes there's a long way yet to go.
It's interesting. You noted the AFL-CIO, of course, they're very thankful this president has delivered for them on issues like health care reform. Obviously the president now hoping organized labor will help deliver for Democrats in November in terms of turning out the Democratic base, turning out that vote, and getting some enthusiasm at a time when Republicans really seem to have enthusiasm on their side.
I mentioned the auto bailouts, as well. Last week, the president in Detroit. Tomorrow, he'll be in Chicago at a Ford plant, once again making the case that while all the steps he's taken haven't been perfect, but they've been tough choices.
And in the example of the auto bailout, he's going to talk about how there could have been another million jobs lost if that industry went under, could have made the recession a lot worse. The president also in Chicago tonight, ahead of that visit to the Ford plant, celebrating his birthday and a quiet dinner with some friends tonight in his hometown -- Don.
LEMON: You hit up on it. I was going to ask you that question -- how is this going to help him and help Democrats in the elections coming up? He's going, by going into union territory, right to the heart of workman, workwoman in this country, to appeal to them.
HENRY: Absolutely. He realizes that -- you know, we often talk about enthusiasm, who's got it.
In 2008, clearly it was on the Democratic side. They -- from the president on down, both in the House and Senate as well, sort of carried that change mantle.
Republicans are trying to seize that mantle from this president, try to take back the House and Senate, put that into Republican control. It's going to be very important for him to not only reach out to the middle of the country, but to make sure that his base is fired up. He's going to start by trying to do that with organized labor this morning -- Don.
LEMON: White House Correspondent Ed Henry.
Ed, thank you very much.
And again, we're standing by for the president.
Also, other stories here.
Government officials urge fishermen to get back into the Gulf and catch fish. So why don't they? One fisherman's dilemma.
Before we get to the Big Board, let's get back now to Washington. There's the Big Board right there. You see the market trading, plus 25. And it's still trading above 10,000.
But back to Washington now and the AFL-CIO council meeting with the president. We are told he's in the building. You see him there shaking hands and doing a bit of greeting.
We're going to take a break and we're going to bring you the president's remarks as soon as he starts speaking.
We're back in a moment here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Got a whole lot developing here in the CNN NEWSROOM. There you see there's a news conference about to go on in Connecticut, where it concerns that deadly workplace shooting yesterday.
And then you see the president. He's going to speak about jobs. So many of you are out of work. He's talking to the AFL-CIO, their Executive Council today, in Washington.
It's going to be a bit before the president starts to speak. Lots of greetings, lots of introductions and so forth, so you're not going to miss any of it. We're going to move on until the president actually comes to the podium and starts his speech.
So, in the meantime, a federal agency says most of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico has dissipated, dissolved, evaporated. The once- gushing oil well has been plugged, and every day officials opened more state and federal fishing waters.
So, why are fishermen hesitant to go back out?
Here's CNN's Ed Lavandera in Louisiana.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REV. JOHN ARNONE, ST. BERNARD CATHOLIC CHURCH: They need it in that boat.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a Cajun tradition -- a priest blesses the fishing fleet. But this year, there's not enough holy water to go around to make fishermen's troubles go away.
ARNONE: That's the biggest challenge, is not knowing if they're going to be able to get back out to do what they've done all their life, and that is live on the water.
LAVANDERA: Slowly, more and more fishing waters along the Gulf Coast have reopened. Seventy percent of Louisiana's fishing zones are reopen. But getting the fishermen, like Warren Guidroz, back on the water is the hard part.
Guidroz and thousands of other fishermen face the same dilemma -- he's trapped crabs for 13 years. He'd love to go back, but his BP job is a steady and better paycheck -- for now. Crab fishing can be shut down any day.
WARREN GUIDROZ, CRAB FISHERMAN: My big thing is working with BP right now. Until all of this changes and everything's cleared up, until then I'm not going back crabbing, because I'm not going to go to go throw that out there, you see, and then they could close it, because the oil is out there.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Everywhere you go here in Delacroix Island, you'll still see boats sitting idle. And this is the kind of place where you can come and meet hundreds of people who making their living catching crabs.
This is what they use to catch them. But they've been sitting here so long that in many places, it's given spiders time to spin their webs on these traps. And, of course, as long as these traps are sitting here on shore, they're not catching any crabs.
(voice-over): And even if Warren Guidroz returned to crabbing tomorrow, he's not convinced what he's catching is safe to eat.
GUIDROZ: They don't know if they should chance it or not.
LAVANDERA (on camera): Would you eat it?
GUIDROZ: Would I eat it?
LAVANDERA: Yes.
GUIDROZ: No, not if I didn't know for sure.
LAVANDERA: Right.
GUIDROZ: No, not if I didn't know for sure.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Federal and state officials stress it's all completely safe. No oil or chemicals have been found in the tested seafood. The battle is on to restore the image and confidence in the Gulf Coast seafood industry and bring the fishermen back.
UWELL SMITH, LOUISIANA SEAFOOD BOARD: We need to rebuild the consumer confidence at the national level. People in South Louisiana and along the coast, they understand. They're tuned in to the message. They know that the seafood is being tested at these unprecedented levels. But we -- it's going to take us some time.
LAVANDERA: Later on this week, state officials here in Louisiana will try to figure out when to open the white shrimping season beginning around the 3rd of August and they hope it remains on track. If it does indeed remain open as scheduled, it will be the turning point to things getting back to normal here on the gulf coast.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Ed.
We're going to have more on the Gulf oil disaster in just a bit.
We want to get you to this live event in Washington, D.C. We showed you the president about to go to the podium just a short time ago. He's doing his thanking. He's about to speak in front of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting in Washington.
Let's go live now to the president.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: After nearly 10 years of struggle -- the middle class has been struggling now for about a decade -- 10 years in which folks felt the sting of stagnant incomes and sluggish job growth and declining economic security, as well as at least eight years in which there was a profound animosity towards the notion of unions, it's going to take some time to reverse all that's been done. But we're on the right track.
We're moving forward. And that's what I'm going to want to talk to you about briefly today.
I hope you don't mind me interjecting, though, a topic, because it's in the news right now, and I want to make sure that all of you are aware of it.
You know, one place in our country where people have paid -- have faced particular struggles in the last few months in the Gulf of Mexico as a result of the BP oil spill. So, it was very welcomed news when we learned overnight that efforts to stop the well through what's called a static kill appear to be working, and that a report out today by our scientists show that the vast majority of the spilled oil has been dispersed or removed from the water.
So, the long battle to stop the leak and contain the oil is finally close to coming to an end. And we are very pleased with that.
(APPLAUSE)
Our recovery efforts, though, will continue. We have to reverse the damage that's been done.
We will continue to work to hold polluters accountable for the destruction they've caused. We've got to make sure that folks who were harmed are reimbursed. And we're going to stand by the people of the region however long it takes until they're back on their feet.
Now, beyond the Gulf, many of those who have been hit hardest by the economic upheaval of recent years have been the people that you represent. For generations, manufacturing was the ticket to a better life for the American worker. But as the world became smaller, outsourcing an easier way to increase profits, a lot of those jobs shifted to low-wage nations.
So many who held those jobs went to work in the construction industry, as we had the housing boom. But when the subprime mortgage crisis hit, when those mortgages were called up on Wall Street, that bubble burst, leaving devastation everywhere. So now we've got millions of our fellow Americans swept up in that disaster, hardworking people who have been let to sit idle for months, and even years, as their lives have been turned upside down.
And there's one last element to it, obviously. Having been plunged into a recession, it also means that teachers and firefighters and people who are providing public services each and every day are threatened because tax revenues at the state level and at the local levels have crashed. And so you have a perfect economic storm that's hit our middle class directly in every region, every segment of this country.
And you know the stories. I don't need to tell you.
You know what happens when a plant closes and hundreds of your members are suddenly without work and an entire community is devastated. You know how hard it is for somebody who has worked his whole life to be unable to find a job. And that pain goes beyond just the financial pain.
It goes to who they are as a person. It hits them in their gut.
Having a conversation with your spouse and saying, you know, maybe we can't afford this house anymore, maybe we're going to have to give up on being able to save for our kids' college education, that goes directly to people's identities, to their cores. And this is something that all of you know all too well.
But I'm here to tell you, we are not giving up and we are not giving in. We're going to keep fighting for an economy that works for everybody, not just for a privileged few.
(APPLAUSE)
We want an economy that rewards, once again, people who work hard and fulfill their responsibilities, not just people who game the system. And that's been at the heart of the economic plan that we put in place over the past year and a half.
And I want to thank the AFL-CIO for all you've done to fight for jobs, to fight for tax cuts for the middle class, to fight for reforms that will rein in the special interests, and to fight for policies that aren't just going to rebuild this economy, but are actually going to put us on a long-term path of sustainable growth that is good for all Americans. Because of you, we've been able to get a lot done over the last 20 months.
Together, we're jump-starting a new American clean energy industry, an industry with the potential to generate perhaps millions of jobs, building wind turbines and solar panels and manufacturing the batteries for the cars of the future, building nuclear plants, developing clean coal technology. Now, there are other countries that are fighting for those jobs in China and India, in Germany and in other parts of Europe, but the United States doesn't play for second place.
As long as I'm president, I'm going to keep fighting night and day to make sure that we win those jobs, that those jobs are created right here in the United States of America, and that your members are put to work.
(APPLAUSE)
So, the message I want to deliver to our competitors and to those in Washington who have tried to block our progress at every step of the way, is that we are going to rebuild this economy stronger than before, and at the heart of it are going to be three powerful words: "Made in America." Made in America.
(APPLAUSE)
That's why we're finally enforcing our trade laws, in some cases for the very first time. That's why we're fighting for tax breaks for companies that invest here in the United States, as opposed to companies that are investing overseas, or that keep their profits offshore, because it is my belief, and I know it's the belief of this room, that there are no better workers than U.S. workers. There are no better workers than your members, and they are absolutely committed to making sure that America's on the rise again.
(APPLAUSE)
And we are going to keep moving forward with them. Not moving backwards, but moving forward with them. As we rebuild our economy, we're going to rebuild America as well.
Over the last 20 months, bulldozers and backhoes have been working in communities across the country, as construction crews from local companies repair roads and bridges, railways and ports. That was part of our plan, and it's put hundreds of thousands of folks to work. But there's a lot more to do to rebuild our infrastructure for the 21st century, and a lot more Americans who are ready and willing to do that work.
So, that, too, is an area where we've got to keep moving forward.
We're going to have to cut taxes for middle class families, and after a tough fight, we finally extended emergency unemployment assistance for folks who had lost their jobs.
(APPLAUSE)
We passed the Fair Pay Act to help put a stop to pay discrimination. We've reversed the executive orders of the last administration that were designed to undermine organized labor. I've appointed folks who actually are fulfilling their responsibilities to make sure our workplaces are safe, whether in a mine or in an office, a factory, or anyplace else, and we are going to keep on fighting to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, with your help we passed health reform, enshrining the idea that everybody in America should be able to get decent health care and shouldn't go bankrupt when they get sick, health reform that is preventing insurers from denying and dropping people's coverage, that's lowering the price of prescription drugs for our seniors. It's going to make health care more affordable for everybody, including businesses, which means they can hire more workers. Together, we passed Wall Street reform to protect the consumers in our financial system and put an end to taxpayer bailouts and stop the abuses that almost dragged our economy into another Great Depression.
Now, the steps we're taking are making a difference, but the fact is, as Rich mentioned this, it took us nearly a decade to dig ourselves into the hole that we're in. It's going to take a lot longer than any of us would like to climb out of that hole. And I'd be lying to you if I thought that all these changes are going to be happening overnight.
We've still got some tough times ahead, and your members obviously are bearing the brunt of a lot of those tough times. But here's what we're not going to do -- we're not going to go back to digging the hole.
We're not going to go back to the policies that took Bill Clinton's surplus and in eight years turned it into record deficits.
(APPLAUSE)
We're not going back to policies that saw people working harder and harder but falling further and further behind. We're not going back to policies that gave corporate special interests free rein to right their own rules and produce the greatest economic crisis in generations. We are not going back to those ideas, because as hard as it is out there right now for a lot of folks, as far as we've got to go, what's clear is that our nation is headed in the right direction.
Our economy's growing again instead of shrinking. We're adding jobs in the private sector instead of losing them.
America's moving forward, and we're moving forward largely without any help from the opposition party, a party that has voted no on just about every turn -- no on making college more affordable; no on clean energy jobs; no on broadband; no on high-speed rails; no on water and highway projects.
That doesn't stop them from showing up at the ribbon cuttings. It doesn't stop them from sending out press releases.
They've even said no to tax cuts for small businesses and 95 percent of working families. They just said no to a small business tax cut again just last week.
As we speak, they've been trying to block an emergency measure to save the jobs of police officers and firefighters and teachers and other critical public servants across the country who may be laid off because of state and local budge cuts. And as if that was not enough, now they're talking about repealing this and repealing that.
I guess they want to go back to hidden credit card fees and mortgage penalties buried in the fine print. They want to go back to a system that allowed for taxpayer bailouts. They want to go back to allowing insurance companies to discriminate against people based on preexisting conditions.
They would repeal the tax cuts for small businesses that provide health care for their employees. They want to go backwards. We want to move America forward.
And that's what the choice is going to be in this upcoming election. And all your members need to understand it.
I know, you know, if you're talking to a lot of your locals, I'm sure they're feeling like, boy, change has not happened fast enough. We are still hurting out here. They're frustrated. They've got every right to be frustrated.
And I am happy, as president of the United States, to take responsibility for making decisions now that are going to put us in a stronger position down the road. And they need to know that, that we're going to be working with you to make sure that we're putting ourselves in a position where folks are working and working for a good wage and good benefits.
But you have to remind them, for the next three months, this election's a choice. You've got these folks who drove America's economy into a ditch. And for the last 20 months, we put on our boots, and we got into the mud, and we've been shoving that car out of the ditch inch by inch, and they've been standing on the side the whole time, watching, telling us, "No, you're not pushing hard enough. You're not doing it the right way. Not lifting a finger to help." And now we finally got that car up on the tarmac -- up on the blacktop there, about to drive, and they say they want the keys back.
Well, you can't have the keys. Because you don't know how to drive.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: You don't know how to drive! You're not going to get the keys back. You're not going to get them back!
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA : I -- you know, somebody pointed out to me that when you're in a car and you want to go forward, you put -- you put it in D.
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: You want to go back in the ditch, you put it on R. I just want everybody to think about that.
(APPLAUSE AND LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: Look, let me close by saying this. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit -- not a few weeks ago -- just a few days ago. I had the opportunity to visit a Chrysler plant in Detroit. This is a place, obviously, that's been harder hit than just about anywhere. Not just during this financial crisis, but for a couple of decades now. The auto industry alone lost hundreds of thousands of jobs in the year before I took office.
So, we had to make a very difficult decision when I became president about whether to walk away from American automakers or help them get back on their feet. And I decided we couldn't walk away from what could be a million middle-class jobs. So, we told the automakers that we would give them temporary assistance if they restructured to make themselves competitive for the 21st century. And most of the just-say-no crowd in Washington didn't agree with this decision, and, let's face it, it was not popular in the polls. A lot of people weren't happy with that decision.
But today, all three U.S. automakers are operating at a profit for the first time in more than five years. They've had the strongest job growth in more than ten years. Fifty-five thousand workers have been hired. Instead of a plant shutdown, the plant that I was at is staying open this summer just to meet increased demand. They've even added another shift.
Now, just a few weeks before I visited that auto plant, 14 of its employees won the lottery. This is a true story. Now, you'd think they would have decided to retire. Cash out, walk away. But most of them didn't. They're staying on their jobs. And the guy who bought the ticket -- he's a guy named William Shanteau (ph) -- took the money and he bought his wife one of the Jeep Cherokees that they make at the plant. (APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And then -- and then he bought a bunch of American flags for his hometown. Because he loves his country, just like he loves the company that he works for and the workers that he works with and the union that represents them. And he's going to keep on showing up every day, because he loves that plant, he loves his co-workers, and he loves the idea of making something right here in the United States that's worth something. He loves the idea of being productive. And creating something of value for people.
And that's the true character of our people. That's been the essence of the AFL-CIO. And that's why even in these difficult times, I remain confident about our future, because of people like that. Because the workers that I meet all across this country, members of your unions, who get up every morning and put in a hard day's work to build a company, build a future, support their families.
As Americans, they don't give up. They don't quit. I don't give up. I don't quit. The AFL-CIO does not give up. It does not quit.
If we stand together, then I'm absolutely confident that we are going to rebuild America, not just to where it was before this financial crisis, but stronger than it has ever been. That is a commitment that I'm making to you. Thank you for the commitment that you've made to me.
God bless you. Thank you, guys. Thank you.
LEMON: President Barack Obama in Washington speaking in front of the AFL-CIO, its executive council meeting. And this has really become the theme over the last couple of weeks as the president has been out and other Democrats talking about the last eight years, the big years, the eight years of President Bush. And that's going to be the theme coming up to this election.
This is very much, as Ed Henry said to you, to us, just a short time ago, it's very much about the election coming up. This is -- the president said it took nearly a decade to dig the hole we're in and it will take us some time to dig out. And he says he's not going to lie, but it will take some time to get out of this hole.
Also talked about the surplus during Bill Clinton says -- saying they're not going to go back and turn this into a deficit. He said America's moving forward despite the opposition. Of course, hitting hard the Republicans there, and then went on to list what the Republicans blocked, criticized them for showing up at ribbon-cutting ceremonies even though they blocked certain initiatives that he wanted. He said Republicans want America to go backwards.
Then he talked about this little anecdote he said, getting the car out of the ditch. He said they sit there on, you know, next to the ditch and on the blacktop -- and once the car was out of the ditch, they wanted the keys back. He said if you want to go forwards, you put it in D, and if you want to go backwards, you put it in R, obviously referring to Republicans and Democrats there. So, this is very much about the election. He even said it. Over the next three months, he said, this is a choice. So, obviously directed at Republicans, at Democrats, at Americans, wanting people to think about how it was under Bush.
So, we will see. The president speaking there.
Again, we're following some developing news. There's a press conference happening in Connecticut for that workplace shooting.
Also, we're following news out of California when it comes to Proposition 8. Proposition 8, a decision will be made today on whether or not that will be overturned in California. Gay marriage.
We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I want to give you a quick update on the workplace shooting yesterday in Connecticut. Police say that Omar Thornton went into that workplace and shot, killed nine people. His mom says that he believed there were racist elements within the company and then called her and said he took them out. But according to the supervisors at the beer and wine distribution company, he had never filed any racial discrimination claims, said nothing about taunts.
But again, that's what's happening in Connecticut. A press conference there, happening just a little bit to go. Let's listen in on that press conference, as a matter of fact.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
LT. CHRIS DAVIS, MACHESTER, CONNECTICUT POLICE: Finished processing the scene, which again, will probably take through the night. And after that, there will be some administrative, OSHA and some other companies will have to come through -- government agencies will have to come through to allow them to open, so it won't be within the next few days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where in the building were the bodies found?
DAVIS: It was throughout the building.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you describe the route --
LEMON: You hear that at the beer distribution company. Let's go back to what happened just moments ago. This same gentleman spoke about that shooting. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: We're still trying to piece together the circumstances surrounding yesterday. In recapping the order of events yesterday, it's important to note we got the first nine -- we received the first of many 911 calls at approximately 7:26 a.m. yesterday morning, reporting that there was an active shooter inside of the building. We had the first officer arrived on scene within three minutes of that timeframe and started to deal with a very hectic, chaotic and fluid situation, including locating and removing victims from the -- from the parking lot and escorting them to safety, and putting them into a position to where there was no longer any danger to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That was the press conference happening there just a short time ago. Thirty-four-year-old Omar Thornton had worked at this beer and wine distribution company for two years and, again, went in yesterday and killed those people. You heard the press conference there a short time ago. We're going to update you on the situation, because it's happening now. More details are coming out, so we'll get back to it here on CNN as we get more.
In the meantime, we want to talk about another developing story, really oppressive around the country. There is no letup in the heat wave across parts of the south and the Midwest. We can attest to that right here in Atlanta, because boy, oh, boy, it is hot. And I'm sure our meteorologist, Rob Marciano, there he is, sweating it out in Piedmont Park. Not a bad place to be, Rob, but it is hot and sticky.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: I was going to say, it's almost noon. It's a sunny day in Atlanta. Usually, that park would be teeming with people, and it's very telling. Not only were people sweating, my house was sweating last night. My windows were all fogged up because of how sticky it is. It's crazy.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Unbelievable levels of humidity, and at night. And that's what's keeping things warm at night, Don. And that's really the big deal. You can't cool off at night, especially in city areas like Atlanta. So, it's going to be a tough go here for another couple of days.
LEMON: All right, Rob. Thank you. We appreciate it. hank you, Rob.
You know, while we're bringing you news from around the world, we're also checking what's hot online. Ines Ferre surfing the Web for us. What do you have?
INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Solar storms, Don. That's what's hot online, Don. And check these out. These are from an iReporter on CNN. They're creating these, these beautiful lights in the night sky. He's from Denmark. Unbelievable auroras in the night sky.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So, this is the next step on a legal path that's expected to end at the United States Supreme Court. A federal judge in California is just a few hours away from announcing his decision on California's Proposition 8. That is a measure which voters approved. It bars same-sex couples from marriage.
The judge will rule whether such a ban is constitutionally permissible. The losing side is expected to appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. And after that, it's pretty much a forgone conclusion; the U.S. Supreme Court will be asked to look at this case. Justices could decide whether gays are entitled to equal protection under the 14th Amendment. Talking a lot about the 14th Amendment.
You know, this case pairs two high-powered attorneys, Ted Olson and David Boyce, famous archrivals in Bush versus Gore. They teamed up to overturn Prop 8. Sound like a Hollywood fantasy straight from central casting? You bet. Here's CNN's political analyst, Gloria Borger.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's a script that could have been written in Hollywood. The opening shot? A lunch in the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel and it starts where you might expect, with a Hollywood heavy hitter. Director and actor, Rob Reiner.
ROB REINER, DIRECTOR/ACTOR: Well, this was after Proposition 8 went the wrong way for us.
BORGER: The lunch took place in November, 2008, a week after the election. Obama won the White House.
UNIDENTIFIED: What do we want! When do we want it?
BORGER: But gays and lesbians lost the right to marry in California.
ROB REINER, DIRECTOR/ACTOR: Well we were trying to figure out what to do next. And then we thought about the idea of a possible legal challenge to proposition 8. And serendipitously, a friend of my wife's came by the table.
BORGER: The friend suggested they would find an ally in her former brother-in-law, who turned out to be Ted Olson, a towering figure in the conservative legal movement.
(on-camera): So that stub stunned you, right?
REINER: Yes, it more than stunned me. It stunned me, but I said if this is true, this is the home run of all-times. I mean, the idea that Ted Olson, this arch conservative, the solicitor general for George Bush, who had argued Bush v. Gore, and basically put me in bed for a couple of days.
I was so depressed after Bush v. Gore, was interested in gay rights. I thought, let's check it out.
BORGER: But didn't you have any doubts about Ted Olson?
REINER: You know, they say that politics makes strange bed fellows. Well, you don't have a stranger bed fellow than me and Ted Olson.
CHAD GRIFFIN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR EQUAL RIGHTS: I was skeptical absolutely
BORGER (voice-over): Chad Griffin was also at the polo lounge that day. He and Rob Reiner are old friends and political allies. They met when Chad was just 19 and a press aide in the Clinton White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNE HANEY, AMERICAN ACTOR: Good morning, Mr. President.
MICHAEL DOUGLAS, AMERICAN ACTOR: How are you today, Mrs. Chapil?
HANEY: Fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BORGER: He gave Reiner the West Wing the tour when the director was scouting for his film, "An American President." They decided Griffin would be the one to make this first uneasy call to Olson.
GRIFFIN: Much to my surprise, it was an issue that he clearly thought about. But the moment I hung up the phone, I realized that there was a chance I was talking to someone who overnight could become the most important, significant advocate for marriage equality that this movement has ever seen.
TED OLSON, LAWYER: We talked for a while on the telephone. And then he said, can I come and talk to you in your office in Washington, D.C.
BORGER (on camera): Weren't you stunned?
OLSON: I wasn't so stunned. I'm a lawyer. I represent cases involving the constitution. This is an important constitutional question. Yes, I think that when we -- we hurt people when we tell them they're no good.
We tell them that they're not equal to us. And we say, your loving relationship doesn't count? The words in the California Constitution are that your relationship is not recognized.
What harm do we do? What harm do we do to those individuals every single day to their family, to their friends? We're putting a badge on them that says unequal. And that's contrary to everything we believe in this country.
BORGER (voice-over): So Ted Olson took the meeting with Griffin. They kept it a secret, though.
(on camera) Here you are with Donald Rumsfeld.
(voice over) After all, Olson is a conservative legal icon.
(on camera) Of course, one of the first things you see when you walk through the door in this office is -- a picture of Ronald Reagan.
OLSON: He was a wonderful, wonderful man to know and to work for. And, of course, President Bush is here, too.
BORGER (voice over): That would be Bush 43.
GEORGE BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I will to the best of my ability --
BORGER: The president whose election Olson successfully defended before the supreme court in 2000. A memory that wasn't lost on Chad Griffin.
GRIFFIN: I knew I was in foreign territory. But I saw enough in that office to know just how Republican, you know, of a world that Ted Olson comes from. And my world could not be more different than that. BORGER : Also on display was Olson's extraordinary legal track record. With 44 supreme court victories under his belt..
(on camera) And here are the quills. Now, you get one of these every time -
OLSON: Every time you argue a case in the supreme court, at the desk is the quill.
BORGER (on camera): Weeks later, Reiner says the deal was sealed here in his California home.
(on camera) Was this kind of like an out of body experience for you? I mean here you are sitting and talking to Ted Olson, whom you probably regarded as --
REINER: Yes, the enemy.
OLSON: The devil, they say. The devil.
BORGER: : Now -- what are you?
OLSON: Well, I'm a devil to a different group of people.
ED WHALEN, CONSERVATIVE LEGAL ANAYLYST: It really is a betrayal of everything that Ted Olson has purported to stand for.
BORGER (voice over) Ed Whalen, now, a conservative legal analyst and former Olson fan, now like many conservatives, feels betrayed.
WHALEN: He was viewed as someone who fought the good fight. I think most people assumed that he was a man of principle. I thought it was a shocking act on his part.
BORGER (on camera) : And so do you think he has destroyed his reputation?
WHALEN: I think so.
OLSON: This is a case that challenges the status of individuals. BORGER (voice-over): So why did Olson do it?
OLSON: People say that you must be doing this because someone in your family is gay. That is not the case. I'm doing this because I think it's the right thing to do.
BORGER: And once Olson made the decision, it became an emotional journey.
OLSON: A younger woman who works here is a lawyer. She came up to me, and she said, Ted, I want to tell you what I think about what you're doing.
She said, I'm a lesbian and I don't think you know me. We haven't worked together. My partner and I have children.
I can't tell you what you're doing for us by taking this case, and she started to cry. And then I did.
BORGER: Then Olson made another move right out of central casting. He wanted to hire a co-counsel. Of all people, the liberal David Boies, his former supreme court rival, the man he beat in Bush versus Gore. The director loved it.
REINER: And then when he suggested that we get David Boies to be his co-counsel, I thought, wow. To get the two guys who opposed each other on Bush v. Gore, to team up was saying that this is a nonpartisan issue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They share an abiding belief --
BORGER: Not to mention, irresistible public relations.
WHLAEN: I think Ted recognized that this odd bed fellows combination, so to speak, would get a lot of attention.
BORGER (on camera): So people call them the odd couple.
WHALEN: Well, it is a very odd couple, isn't it?
BORGER( voice over): Or is it? judge for yourself.
OLSON: As we were getting ready to argue Bush versus Gore, did we have this conversation?
(CROSSTALK)
OLSON: We said, someday, someone is going to come to us who will want to get married, and they'll be gay. And we'll do this together.
WHALEN: We actually talked about that. That second part I don't remember.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Our senior political analyst, Gloria Borger, joins me now from Washington. Gloria, fascinating interview. Nice job. What do they agree on, anything in this case, if anything?
BORGER: Well, they actually agree on more than you would think, particularly in this case. They both see it as sort of the last civil rights case left to be fought in this country. And they see it as a very, very simple case, which says the Proposition 8 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. Period.
And that is the case, they argued, before Judge Walker. That is what he will be deciding today, as you pointed out earlier. This is likely to be appealed right up to the Supreme Court. So you're going to have the two -- the two lawyers who were arch rivals once, who, by the way, have become great friends, arguing on the same side of this issue.
LEMON: I thought it was fascinating. I thought it was a very poignant thought when he said, you know, you're telling people -- you're telling people that there is something wrong with them. That they are --
BORGER: Right.
LEMON: -- that they are bad in a certain way, and they don't live up to what everyone else -- what you think normal is. He said it better than I did. But it was a really smart thought.
BORGER: Right. You know, he -- he is quite emotional about this case. As is David Boyce. But they could believe -- and you know, some people are saying, why are you doing this now? Okay? Because over 40 states have legislation that outlaws gay marriage. Only a handful allow gay marriage. Why bring it to the Supreme Court now? This is a very heavy lift for the Supreme Court. Public opinion is overwhelmingly against you.
And when I asked these two attorneys why they decided to do it now, they said, okay, you tell me when the right time is to raise a civil rights issue. And that they believe that when the case was decided over 40 years ago, saying that blacks and whites could marry each other, a majority of the country disagreed with that decision.
So, they're saying, you know what, the Court is the right place to do some things that maybe the American public isn't yet ready to do. And so they decided to do it -- to do it now.
Lots of gay groups were skeptical at the beginning. But they've come around. And so, Boyce and Olson will be taking their case to the high court.
LEMON: We'll see. We're going to be watching it here, and there is going to be an announcement today, and you can watch it here on CNN. Senior political analyst Gloria Borger. Gloria, thank you very much.
And I want to tell you we will hear from both sides of the issue next hour. Proposition 8 supporter Tony Perkins from the Family Research Council. He's going to join us. And we'll talk with a married couple against Prop 8. Gary Speano (ph) and Tony Brown. They were the focus of a CNN documentary, "GARY AND TONY HAVE A BABY."
That's all in next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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