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Same-Sex Marriage Ruling; Gunman Kills 8, Then Himself; Same- Sex Marriage Debate; Craigslist Sex Ad Accusations; The Journey Home

Aired August 04, 2010 - 12:00   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. I'm Don Lemon. Tony is off today.

Top of the hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, where anything can happen. Here are some of the people behind today's stories.

Fiery crash. A plane goes down in Phoenix. We've got the latest details on what happened.

Selling sex online. We go to the founder of Craigslist to see what the company is doing to clamp down on pimping minors online.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Craigslist is like the Wal-Mart of online sex trafficking right now in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: You're online right now, and we are, too. Ines Ferre is following the top trending stories on the Internet for us.

Let's get started, though, with today's lead story.

First this hour, California's ban on same-sex marriage. Voters signed off on the measure known as Proposition 8 in 2008. And in a few hours, a federal judge will tell us if it is constitutional.

CNN's Dan Simon is standing by at the federal courthouse in San Francisco.

Dan, is the judge's decision today, is it going to be the final word on this? It's not. It's got to go on after this, right?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's going to go on, Don. And it's sort of hard to overstate the long-term or broad ramifications that this case can ultimately have.

You know, when you think about the famous court cases in the history of American law, you think of Roe versus Wade or Brown versus the Board of Education. Well, this case, Perry versus Schwarzenegger, could join those cases in terms of being one of the most famous cases of all time.

You look at the case, Perry versus Schwarzenegger, Perry being the last name of one of those suing for the right to marry. Oddly enough, Schwarzenegger's name is attached to this suit, the governor of California. But the state decided not to contest this lawsuit. Instead, that was left up to Prop 8 supporters to provide the defense, the supporters from a group called protectmarriage.com.

And I want you to listen now to the way both of these sides characterize this lawsuit. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED OLSON, PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY: Well, the first thing to think about is that right to marry is a fundamental right in the United States. It's a right that's protected by the Constitution. The Supreme Court has held over and over again that it may be one of our most fundamental rights, to unite with a person that you love, to form a partnership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW PUGNO, PROTECT MARRIAGE: Seven million Californians voted to preserve or restore what marriage has meant since the beginning of time. And if they're not permitted to do something as basic as that, then there's something really wrong with our system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: So how did we get to this point? Well, you have to go back to 2004. That's when the city of San Francisco started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. You had a rush of people go to the courthouse here in San Francisco.

Well, that ultimately led to a series of lawsuits which then led to Proposition 8, which defined marriage between a man and a woman. It was a costly campaign in 2008. Both sides spending between them more than $80 million, and ultimately the Prop 8 supporters prevailed at the ballot box by a 52-48 percent margin, a very close vote.

So now it comes down to this, at least today, from this federal judge who is in this building behind me, going to be issuing this ruling in just a matter of hours -- Don.

LEMON: All right. We're going to be standing by, and Dan Simon will be there.

Dan, thank you very much.

And I want to tell you, just ahead, I'll talk live with supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage. First, the views from a married gay couple. You'll remember Gary Spino and Tony Brown. They were profiled in a CNN documentary. And later in the hour, conservative political activist Tony Perkins joins me from Washington.

Let's move on. At least one person was killed this morning in Phoenix when the plane he was trying to land slammed into a building. Witnesses say it had taken off from Deer Valley Airport, and then looped around, and that a sputtering was heard coming from the plane's engine before it crashed. When firefighters arrived, the plane was in flames.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. SCOTT WALKER, PHOENIX FIRE DEPT.: There is literally nothing left of the plane. You know, these planes are made out of light- weight fibers, they consume quickly, there's fuel on board. So when we have a crash out here, typically the planes are fully destroyed, and this one is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Now we go down South. A milestone in the 107-day-old disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

The first step in permanently sealing the busted oil well appears to be working in the so-called static kill. Crews pumped drilling mud into the well to force the oil back into the reservoir. While they're monitoring conditions to make sure the well remains stable, on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," White House energy adviser Carol Browner called it an important step.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL BROWNER, WHITE HOUSE ENERGY POLICY ADVISER: We definitely are making progress. Oil hasn't been leaking for some time. The static kill is going well.

But ultimately, it's the relief wells that we ordered drilled that will be the final kill. Probably in the next 10 to 14 days, that will be done. But an important step last night.

And as you also noted, our scientists and external scientists believe that the vast majority of the oil has now been contained. It's been skimmed. Mother Nature has done its part. It's evaporated. And so I think we're turning a corner here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: For 107 days we were talking about all the oil going into the Gulf. So where did all of the oil go?

This graph is based on numbers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as reported in "The New York Times." NOAA scientists say one-fourth of the oil has been captured through the containment cap, controlled burns, or either skimming. Twenty-five percent evaporated or either dissolved. Twenty-four percent was dispersed, and that leaves 26 percent that is still at sea or that has washed up on shore.

We'll continue to follow. A busy 49th birthday today for President Barack Obama. He wrapped up a speech just last hour on issue number one -- jobs. And you saw his address live right here on CNN.

The president tried to reassure the AFL-CIO that his job recovery efforts are working and his administration stands firmly with unions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: In Connecticut now, a lot of unanswered questions after a deadly shooting spree at a beverage distributorship. A worker killed eight people before killing himself.

The key question -- what caused him to snap, of course.

CNN's Alison Kosik is with us now from Manchester, Connecticut, where they just held a press conference just a short time ago.

Alison, what did we learn from that press conference?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, we are learning terrifying new details about what happened inside the warehouse behind me yesterday when that lone gunman opened fire on his co-workers.

Listen to this. When Omar Thornton, the 34-year-old gunman, came into the facility early yesterday morning, around 7:00, for a disciplinary hearing, police are saying that he hid two .9 millimeter weapons inside a lunch box, and he put it inside the kitchen before he had the meeting. After he tendered his resignation and was being escorted out, he made an excuse, saying he wanted a drink of water, walked back into the kitchen, and then grabbed his weapons and opened fire.

But here's the scary part, Don. Police are telling us he not only walked through the building that you see behind me, but at times he would run through, targeting people, chasing people through the building, shooting at them, apparently. At one point, he even ran outside of the building, into the parking lot, chasing people, and got locked out of the building, only to then shoot through a glass door to get back into the building and finish the job.

At the very end, of course, as we heard, police found him dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in a corner office. And this, of course, bringing up a lot of emotion for a lot of people who work here.

We talked with one person who worked here at this facility for 30 years. He came back to the scene, and one of his friends named Roy came back as well. And Roy was inside the building when this happened. He's the one wearing the hat. I don't know if you can see the video. But here's what his friend had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Did Roy tell you what it was like inside there?

AL BASSETT, RETIREE: He just said, "Pure hell, Al," and just walked away. Pure hell. Pure hell. I'm sure it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: And the company is offering crisis intervention services for the employees. There's also a church service later this evening -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Alison Kosik, thank you very much. We appreciate your reporting.

The debate over same-sex marriage. While we wait for a judge's ruling, we'll get the views from both sides here. The couple from the CNN documentary, "GARY AND TONY HAVE A BABY," they're going to talk with their opposition to the gay marriage ban.

First, though, our "Random Moment" in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. So we know that never drink and drive, but what about never drink and dial? Booze and phones don't mix. You don't want to drunk-dial anyone. Here's proof.

Watch our "Random Moment of the Day."

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OPERATOR: This is 911.

GEORGE MCMURRAIN, CALLED 911 DRUNK: I need a -- I need a -- a ride.

OPERATOR: You need a ride?

MCMURRAIN: Yes, to the liquor store.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: Did he say to the liquor store? Yes, he did.

The sheriff in Jacksonville, Florida, says George McMurrain called 911 not once, not twice, but three times to get a ride to the liquor store. He got a ride. Guess where? To the pokey. He went straight to jail.

Wait. There's more.

This is Bernadette. She's called 911 in Cincinnati four times. She was lonely, and she wanted a date.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm having a hard time getting a hold of, you know, a date line. Everybody wants to screw me around. My name's Bernadette Music (ph)

OPERATOR: OK. This is 911. You need to dial something else, OK?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do I need to dial?

OPERATOR: OK. If it's a date line, it's not 911.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: For her it was. Bernadette told the 911 operator she couldn't get a date for two reasons -- she is too thin, and she is broke.

And we're happy to report Bernadette finally has a date in September with a judge.

Another "Random Moment," double shot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In just a few hours, a judge is set to rule on whether California's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Here's a state-by-state breakdown on this issue.

Five states and the District of Columbia, shown in blue, allow gay marriage. States in yellow provide spousal rights and/or recognize same-sex marriages from other states. In the red states, either the Constitution or statutes ban same-sex unions. The orange states ban gay unions, but provide spousal rights.

We're getting the view from both sides of the same-sex marriage debate issue this hour.

Now, you may remember partners Tony Brown and Gary Spino from the CNN documentary "Gary and Tony Have a Baby." Brown is with us now from New York, and Spino is with us by telephone to talk about their opposition to California's same-sex marriage ban.

So listen, Gary, I want to get you in here. How are you guys feeling? Are you anxiously awaiting this judge's decision, or is it just something that's in the back of your minds now?

GARY SPINO, FEATURED IN "GARY & TONY HAVE A BABY": Very anxiously awaiting.

LEMON: And for obvious reasons. You have a baby now, and you went through the whole process of this. What do you think this will mean for the country? So goes California, so goes the rest of the nation, do you believe?

SPINO: Honestly, I'd like to think that, but I don't. Every time this is brought up -- and it really has been brought up every two years for about 10 years, every election cycle. And no matter what the outcome is, there is always this negative backlash.

And just me, personally, I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. And, in fact, it already has. We already got some messaging from a group in Pennsylvania that's already planning to -- whatever, you know, travel up and down the East Coast to spread their -- you know, their words of hate. So that's the anxiety that I'm feeling.

LEMON: Tony, same question. Are you feeling anxiety about this?

TONY BROWN, FEATURED IN "GARY & TONY HAVE A BABY": I think the whole community is waiting kind of with bated breath for this decision. And I share Gary's trepidation to a certain degree.

I'm hopeful, because for the first time, I believe in this case, that this case has the potential of addressing some of the very negative and dishonest tactics that were used to convince the voters in California that Proposition 8 was a good idea. And I personally am hoping that Judge Walker's decision is going to address some of those tactics and show that really what Prop 8 was about was creating a second class citizenship for gay people and that that's not right.

LEMON: Well, Tony, the opposition says seven million people in California, seven million citizens, voters, voted for Proposition 8, which was against gay marriage. So why go against the wishes of the voters?

BROWN: Well, if you look at current polling, actually, now a few polls have been released showing that more than half of California voters would not have voted yes on Prop 8 just in the short amount of time that's taken place since the election. So I think a lot of things are changing.

I think a lot of the voters have understood what they were told, and that what they were told was not necessarily true. And as more and more people get to know gay people, get to know gay families, and get to realize that we deserve the same rights as everybody else, I think -- and that we're not a threat to them, exactly -- that we're going to prevail.

SPINO: Actually, can I --

BROWNER: It takes time.

LEMON: Yes, go ahead.

SPINO: You know, historically, you can never have a majority voting on the rights of a minority, because it will never pass. I mean, if that happened back in the day, we would still have slavery.

LEMON: And, you know, this has been -- some people say this is one of the last frontiers when it comes to civil rights, and you cannot judge a civil rights issue on a popular poll or on what the majority wants, because it may go against the law. Here's -- the people who wanted Proposition 8, who were against gay marriage, were concerned -- and you brought it up -- that it was -- it would be taught that gay marriage was right and OK in schools. They were concerned about that. And they had been told -- they were concerned about mostly children, what the children would be told, and that this whole thing, as they say, the sanctity of marriage.

What's your opinion about that, Tony?

BROWNER: Well, I -- as a parent now, I understand why those tactics were so effective, because I can speak for Gary and for myself, that there really is nothing more important than our son and his well- being. So any perceived threat to him, it's going to make you stand up and listen.

LEMON: Well, some people are deciding this in the church. And others are saying that this should be decided in the courts, as is now, and not necessarily at the voting booth.

How do you feel?

BROWNER: I think everybody is entitled to their own opinion, and particularly their own religious opinion. But there is a separation of church and state for specifically this reason.

Regardless of where your feelings about homosexuality are based, whether they're based in religion or whether they're based on your own societal experience, that should not affect the legal rights, the civil rights of the gay community. And that's the exact reason why the separation of church and state was written into the Constitution.

LEMON: Gary, with anything there is compromise -- with anything. Do you see the other side? Do you see the fear? Do you understand that some people have been brought up a certain way and have certain religious beliefs, and may necessarily -- may not necessarily go along with your lifestyle and the lifestyle of millions of Americans around the country, and believe that gay marriage should not be legal?

SPINO: Well, here's my thought on the subject. Religion is learned.

I was born this way, so I don't have a lot of patience for that, because you're basically taught what your parents or your grandparents -- it's a learned thing. But, you know, I was born this way. You're not born with religion.

LEMON: Yes. And I said lifestyle for a reason, because I thought that you would address that. And you said most people would say it's not a lifestyle, anyone who is gay. It's not a lifestyle, it's simply who you are.

SPINO: Exactly.

LEMON: All right.

Thank you, Gary and Tony.

They were the subject of "GARY AND TONY HAVE A BABY." Our Soledad O'Brien did a documentary about a month ago.

We appreciate it, and we will be checking in with you to see what happens once this judge rules in California.

In the meantime, we're going to talk with a supporter of the gay marriage ban in just a few minutes, Tony Perkins. There he is. He's the president of the Family Research Council.

I'm sure he has a lot to say about this conversation that we just had. He's raring to go. He's going to join us at 12:20 -- it's 12:20 now. He's going to join us in just a little bit. Two minutes away, I should say, just been told by the producer.

Don't go anywhere, Tony. We'll see you in a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

LEMON: As we have been reporting here on CNN, a judge is expected to issue his ruling within hours on whether California's ban on same-sex marriage is constitutional.

Earlier, we talked with a gay couple about their opposition to this ban. Joining us now from my hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, we're going to talk about his support for this ban.

It's Tony Perkins. He is the president of the Family Research Council.

I'll ask you the same question that I asked to Gary and Tony. Many people say this should be decided in the courts, it should not be decided on the ballot, nor should it be decided in churches.

What do you say, Mr. Perkins?

TONY PERKINS, PRESIDENT, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: Well, if you want to say that, the Prop 8 that we're talking about earlier was actually decided in the California case. This is a different challenge.

This is a challenge of California's law based upon the U.S. Constitution. This is no longer an issue just of California. This is a national issue, because if they're successful in trying to find somewhere in this mystical clause of the shadows there of the Constitution that the left often likes to point to, this right to same-sex marriage, then you could see all 31 states that have gone on record, the people of those states, to defend the definition of marriage, you could see that wiped out overnight. So this is a very significant court case that we'll be deciding.

LEMON: So I'll ask you the other side. The people who are for same- sex marriage, who don't want Proposition 8, would say what's wrong with that if it is upholding the Constitution? What's wrong with that?

PERKINS: Well, first off, there is nothing in the Constitution under civil rights. Civil rights was put into the Constitution based upon racial equality, which, by the way, was adopted by the states. It was done the right way.

Now, there's no way you can convince anyone that 100 years ago, when that amendment was adopted, that that pertained to someone's sexual behavior. There's no way to make that case.

LEMON: All men are created equal, endowed by the rights of their creator?

PERKINS: That was the original Constitution. When you talk about -- it was clarified to make sure that people, based upon their racial background or their racial makeup, that they were, in fact, created equal. Absolutely. You're correct.

And so the amendment -- the Constitution was amended to make sure that those rights extended to everyone based upon those inborn characteristics of race. Now, if they want to say that this pertains to sexual behavior, then they need to amend the Constitution to do such.

But even with that, if you look at the 10th Amendment, unless the Constitution speaks specifically to an issue, it's reserved to the states. And that's exactly what California did, and that's exactly what California's court upheld, that the right -- that the people had the right to, in fact, defend the definition of marriage.

That's what they did. This is another approach.

LEMON: OK. The reason I said all men are created equal -- and we can go on. We can talk about the 14th Amendment. That's been debated. Some people want to change it now when it comes to talking about immigration.

But if two people who want to be together think -- feel that they should have the same rights as the people next door who are heterosexual, under the American Constitution, regardless of what you believe about religion or about sex or what have you, what is wrong with those two people abiding by the Constitution, paying taxes, having the same rights under our Constitution as everyone else? What is wrong with that? What is the argument against that?

PERKINS: Well, Don, that's a good question, because, actually, you know, two people do not have those rights. Under the Constitution --

LEMON: Well, heterosexual or straight people do have those rights.

PERKINS: No, they don't. You don't have -- two people don't have the right to marry whoever they want. There are restrictions. The states -- this is an issue reserved to the states.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: No, I'm not talking about marriage. And maybe we're parsing words here. I'm talking about the rights to pool the resources to get benefits from their spouse, to get tax benefits, to get tax credits for children, all of that. I'm talking about under the law, I'm not necessarily talking about marriage.

PERKINS: Well, that's what's at the core of this debate, is over marriage, whether or not there is a constitutional right to marry.

LEMON: That's what we call it, right. We call it marriage. But we're talking about maybe it's civil unions or what have you.

And I guess the basis of my question is -- we're sort of parsing words about civil unions and about marriage. And what I'm asking you is, is -- are you opposed to just the marriage part, or are you opposed to everyone getting the same rights in the country, or are you opposed to that?

PERKINS: Well, Don, first off, the government -- state governments have granted certain benefits to marriage because marriage benefits society. It's not just some arbitrary move by the government to extend certain benefits to married couples.

The reason married couples have benefits is because their behavior traditionally benefits society. But we're not parsing words here, Don. Marriage is at the core of this debate. That's what this court case is about. And the challenge is that there's a constitutional right to marry.

LEMON: OK. We've got to run here. And I don't think you're understanding -- I just wanted you to answer the question about rights, everyone in the country, taking marriage away. That's what I'm asking you.

PERKINS: Well, I mean, everybody has certain rights according to the laws. There are limits.

Two people that are married couldn't marry someone else. Someone can't marry a close relative. There is restrictions on marriage. So it's not arbitrary against homosexuals. There have been laws that have been passed that all people must abide by when it comes to marriage.

LEMON: All right. We can talk about this, and it's a very interesting conversation. This won't be the last time this is going to go on. And once the ruling today -- it's going to go on to the Ninth Circuit.

Tony Perkins, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

PERKINS: All right, Don. Good to be with you.

LEMON: Is Craigslist doing enough to block ads that sell sex? The company says it is, but police tell a different story.

CNN's Amber Lyon confronts the founder of Craigslist about the ads his company posts online.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Craigslist is one of the most popular websites in the United States. But critics say it's not doing nearly enough to block ads that sell sex. CNN's Amber Lyon went to one of the busiest online prostitution markets in the country, Washington, to investigate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I want to show you how easy it is for these pimps to use Craigslist to sell their girls. So we're actually going to post an ad for a fictional prostitute right now. Don't try this at home, OK?

It says right now that it will cost $10 per ad, $5 to repost. One of the big things going on with Craigslist right now is they're saying that they're monitoring all of these ads that come through on adult services to check to see if any of these girls are underage or young.

So we put some words in here. Sweet, innocent, new girl. We're going to see what happens. We'll see if Craigslist is going to let our ad post. We'll also see, you know, what kind of calls we get.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw your ad on Craigslist.

LYON: Hello.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, what's your donation for an hour in-call?

LYON: What are you looking for? What type?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh, just a half an hour. Just a, you know, a quick half an hour get together.

LYON: OK, what's your name?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John.

LYON: But -- so what is that now, we've had 15 calls? And the ad's only been up for three hours. Fifteen calls in three hours.

OK, so we're on the main page of the Washington, D.C. Craigslist section right now. And to get down to the adult services section, you scroll past the for sale section. It's right underneath pet services is adult services.

LYON (voice-over): Craigslist says its staff manually screens all of these adult services ads, and will reject any that make it look or sound like you're selling sex. That may not be easy. But when we looked through the ads, most of them were pretty blatant.

LYON (on camera): Look at that, she sitting here in her underwear.

LYON (voice-over): On a single day last week, we counted 7,000 adult services ads in the major metropolitan areas where Craigslist is move active. Dozens had photos with young-looking females, dozens more had words that used youth as a selling point.

The FAIR Fund investigates juvenile trafficking.

ANDREA POWELL, FAIR FUND: And most of the young people that we've worked with who have been exploited online talk about Craigslist. They don't talk about the other sites. Craigslist is like the Wal-Mart of online sex trafficking right now in this country.

"M", FORMER UNDERAGE PROSTITUTE: We post ads, around like four or five, and you wait for you to get a call. Wait to get a call.

POWELL: From everything that we understand, when they are being exploited by a pimp or a trafficker, more accurately described, the trafficker is keeping the money.

"M": And if I didn't get it, yes, he would beat me.

LYON (on camera): So we're here at George Washington University. And we just found out that Craig Newmark, he's the founder of Craigslist, he's going to be speaking here today at a tech conference. He doesn't know we're coming. He's been very media shy lately about all of these allegations against him. This guy is the Craig in Craigslist. It's his list.

So can people trust that children are not being sex trafficked on Craigslist?

CRAIG NEWMARK, FOUNDER, CRAIGSLIST: I think we explain that pretty thoroughly on our blog.

LYON: That's where Jim Buckmaster says that you will immediately contact law enforcement if you suspect any ads are suspicious.

NEWMARK: Jim does a great job showing that we do more than anyone in this area. Pretty good for a community of 50 million people.

LYON: This is Inspector Brian Bray with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. He's also in charge of the prostitution enforcement unit. In Craigslist' blog they say that they're going to immediately contact law enforcement any time they see a suspicious ad, and you say you've never been contacted by them.

BRIAN BRAY, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE: That's correct. I -- it does, you know, it does bother us from a law enforcement perspective because the problem is so rampant that, you know, to get a handle on it, we need all the assistance we can get. And if they're -- if they're notifying, I'm not sure if they're notifying the right people, because we're not getting the call.

LYON: What are you guys doing to protect these girls? You guys say in the blog that you will remove any ad that looks like the person might be suggesting they're going to offer sex. Look at this ad. It says, young, sexy, sweet and bubbly. Clearly here she writes 250 an hour. I mean what do you think she's selling in her bra and underwear, a dinner date? And she's in her bra and underwear.

NEWMARK: Have you reported this to us?

LYON: What are you guys doing? But you guys say you screen all these ads manually in your blog.

NEWMARK: Have you -- I've never -- I don't know what this is.

LYON: but in Jim Buckmaster's blog, he says these are being screened.

NEWMARK: Have you reported -- have you reported this source?

LYON: Why do I have the responsibility to report this to you when it's your website? You are the one posting this online. I just want to know. I mean -- OK.

It's just we've run into a lot of victims and a lot of advocates that pretty much call your site the Wal-Mart of child sex trafficking.

LYON (voice-over): In 2008, Craigslist agreed to report any suspicious ads to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which works with police to find and rescue trafficking victims. Two years and hundreds of thousands of sketchy ads later, the center says Craigslist has reported fewer than 100.

LYON (on camera): Thank you for your time, Craig.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And it should be noted that under the Communications Decency Act, Craigslist is not legally responsible for the content users publish on its site. Craigslist has stated on its blog its screens adult services ads carefully and if they suspect ads are from minors, they'll report them to law enforcement.

Wounded war heroes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPEC. GARY DAVIS, U.S. ARMY: With all the adrenaline going through me, I did notice that my leg were messed up. But I crawled as far as I could to a door. That's all the energy I had. And I just kept on yelling, "help me, help me."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We'll take you into the lives and the treatment of wounded, critically wounded troops from an airborne hospital to their first stop on the journey home. It is a CNN exclusive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Wounded war heroes on a journey home. Yesterday, CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr brought you on board as an airborne hospital flew troops out of Afghanistan. Today, in part two of her exclusive report, she is with wounded troops as they arrive at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Got it.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eight hours after leaving the war zone, words of comfort.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Landstuhl. You're safe now. They're going to take good care of you, OK?

STARR: For some, the rush into intensive care, even as stretchers keep coming off the overnight flight from Afghanistan.

STARR (on camera): These critically wounded troops have just arrived from Afghanistan here at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Some of them are suffering massive injuries. They have been in roadside bomb blasts, mortar attacks. It is here that you can begin to see the price the wounded are paying in this war.

STARR (voice-over): In the last several weeks, trauma director Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Fang has seen firsthand what is happening to troops carrying out the strategy of protecting Afghan civilians.

LT. COL. RAYMOND FANG, TRAUMA DR., LANDSTUHL REGIONAL MEDICAL CTR.: We see a lot more injured, what we call dismounted IED injuries, where people are on foot patrol and they're injured. And here we see truly just devastating extremity amputations. We've been seeing a lot more three and four extremely amputations than I had seen during, you know, from the conflict in Iraq.

STARR: Specialist Gary Davis arrived here from Afghanistan just a couple of days ago. He survived a massive roadside bomb. Portions of both legs have been amputated.

SPEC. GARY DAVIS, U.S. ARMY: We flipped over. Everybody had their seat belts and stuff on. But, you know, we were in pain. I got out of the vehicle, undid my seatbelt, and just, you know, flopped on to the ground. With all the adrenaline going through me, I did notice that my leg were messed up, but I crawled as far as I could to a door. That's all the energy I had. And I just kept on yelling, "help me, help me."

STARR: Davis is on constant pain medication, but still, doctors will try to get him out of bed and into a chair. He will fly home within hours.

SPEC. SHALANDRA REDDIN, U.S. ARMY: Take him to the ER.

STARR: Back out front with the teams who handled the wounded, Specialist Shalandra Reddin giggles about her new braces.

REDDIN: Can you understand me because I just --

STARR: But quickly, this 27-year-old begins to open up.

REDDIN: We have seen so many people with missing legs, arms, eyeballs. I mean no -- it's been crazy.

STARR: She tells us, these days, there may be as many as four buses of wounded a day. It used to be just one. Shalandra talks to the troops.

REDDIN: One story I heard that particularly stuck in my mind was, he said that he was looking out the window in Iraq, and the next thing, he woke up, he was here, you know. And he had no legs. So --

STARR (on camera): That is a lot for you to deal with at the age of 27.

REDDIN: Yes.

STARR: It's hard.

REDDIN: Yes. It is. But I'm -- I'd rather help someone than it be the other way around. That's how I look at it.

STARR (voice-over): As soon as the wounded can be stabilized enough to fly again, they leave Germany and are loaded one last time onto a cargo plane for the nine hour flight back to the United States. Medications are checked and rechecked. More gear is loaded. Turning the C-17 cargo plane into a flying intensive care unit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready to lift?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ready to lift.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lift.

STARR: For this critically wounded soldier, equipment that would take up an entire hospital room stateside. From hospital bed, to cargo plane.

STARR (on camera): All right. You're now on your way home.

DAVIS: Yes.

STARR: What -- what's -- what are they telling you? Where are you going? What's going to happen next?

DAVIS: I'm going Walter Reid and start my rehab there. My parents are supposed to meet me there at some time. So I'm excited about that.

STARR (voice-over): Young troops still have their priorities, even now.

DAVIS: For example, I asked if they had Internet. And they said, oh, yes, don't worry, you're going to have a computer in your room so you can like do e-mails and stuff like that.

STARR: Still, at moments, the road is daunting.

STARR (on camera): Right now, because of the medication and everything, fairly pain-free?

DAVIS: I'm doing pretty good.

STARR: Yes? This is not such a good day?

DAVIS: Well, yesterday was tough because they took me out of the bed.

STARR (voice-over): For these troops, pain and exhaustion, but they are going home. That story tomorrow.

Barbara Starr, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And for more of Barbara Starr's amazing stories of doctors and nurses who get the wounded out of the war zone, watch "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer, 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Quickly want to get you up to speed on our top stories.

Federal officials believe the vast majority of oil in the Gulf is now gone. It's either evaporated, skimmed or it just dissolved. And BP says pumping heavy mud into the well has stopped the leak all together.

Employees of a beer distribution company in Manchester, Connecticut, are grieving today, one day after a deadly shooting spree. Investigators say Omar Thornton opened fire moments after he was forced to resign. Nine people died, including the shooter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It 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. The measure, which voters approved, 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. After that, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion the U.S. Supreme Court will be asked to look at the case. Justices could decide whether gays are entitled to equal protection under the 14th Amendment. That brings us to Jean Casarez, correspondent for "In Session" live daytime trial coverage of our sister network, TruTV.

Jean, thanks for joining us.

How will this ruling affect other states, if at all?

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, "IN SESSION" ON TRUTV: This is huge. This ruling is going to be so important, because if we look at California for a second, the California Supreme Court found that Proposition 8 was valid law. But that was under California law. Now a federal court is looking at it and will determine under federal law if it is Constitutional.

There are a majority of states in this country that have via constitutional amendments for their state constitutions or via statutes that gay marriage is prohibited. So the ruling here can impact the other states that have that ruling that it's being deemed unconstitutional or constitutional. We'll see how it runs.

But the other aspect to this is, the voters' rights. Because a voter believes that when they go to a valid box and they vote, that they are going to have an impact. And 52 percent of the people in California voted for Proposition 8. So there also an aspect of diluting the strength of the voting majority.

LEMON: Jean, tell us about the judge in this case.

CASAREZ: This is very, very interesting. He is the chief judge, Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court in the northern California district. He was originally a Republican nominee appointee by President Reagan. But Nancy Pelosi actually stopped everything at that time because she felt he wasn't sensitive to gay rights. He had been an attorney that represented the U.S. Olympics in their fight to not have the gay Olympic title. But he later said that he was just doing his job for his client.

He is openly gay himself and he was finally appointed by President H.W. Bush to the federal bench, where he has been since that appointment.

LEMON: All right, "In Session's" Jean Casarez.

Thank you, Jean.

You know, this may be one of the prettiest pictures that you will see all day. It's an eruption of ionized atoms on the sun. It creates a curtain of light over the earth. It's what's hot on the Internet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know what? You brought it up.

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I did.

LEMON: That you're trafficking what's hot online. And what's going on there? You've got --

FERRE: Paper.

LEMON: Paper.

FERRE: Right here.

LEMON: Why don't you have this? Maybe you should have this. Do you want that? There you go.

FERRE: You've got the iPad. Oh, thank you. Let's swap for good, right? All right, but let's check out -- these are iReports that are coming in of those auroras. Beautiful sky that you're seeing here because of the solar storms. And also -- these -- this one is from Denmark. Unbelievable, those images, those lights in the night sky. And that definitely online right now, on cnn.com. You can check out more of that.

And also check this out. This is from YouTube. It's trending on YouTube. Now do tigers like catnip? Do leopards like catnip? Well, Big Cat Rescue, they put this to the test. And check it out. They definitely do.

LEMON: Looks like they do. It looks pretty --

FERRE: It's a -- and catnip is an herb that's from the mint family and it's known to make cats high and so basically they're testing it out with some tigers and leopards there. Yes, Don, you're saying to yourself, what have you been doing?

LEMON: Can't get enough. I'll trade you.

FERRE: Trading back. Oh, that's an Indian giver if I've ever seen one.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh, as she's walking away.

FERRE: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you. We appreciate it.

CNN NEWSROOM is tracking today's efforts to permanently plug the oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. More on that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Oh, it's been a very busy morning. Thanks for sticking with us. Now it's afternoon and the NEWSROOM continues right now with T.J. Holmes, in for Ali Velshi.

Take it away, sir.