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Medical Mission Ends in Death; "For Profit" Schools under Fire; RNC Chairman under Pressure; Manhunt in Yellowstone National Park; Man Behind the Mosque; Ovation for Rep. Waters
Aired August 08, 2010 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Boy, they make a lot of money. I had a lot of fun; I got a haircut. Thank you very much JD for that.
I want to tell you guys coming up this hour, at 7:00 p.m. hour of CNN NEWSROOM we're going to have the competition winners. So stick around.
It's the top of the hour now.
A mission of mercy ends in ambush and deaths. U.S. officials today issued scathing condemnations of the attacks on ten medical aid workers in Afghanistan including six Americans. The Taliban has claimed responsibility. The victims' bodies were returned to Kabul. The medical aid team was gunned down execution style in a remote mountain area.
And CNN's senior correspondent Allan Chernoff has more on team leader, Tom Little, and the family and friends he left behind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REV. STAN KEY, LONDONVILLE COMMUNITY CHURCH: Tom Little stood right here four Sundays ago and he told us about this trip. And then we were here and he said, "Please pray, there's dangers."
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Optometrist Tom Little knew he was living a life of danger. But it was to do God's work, he passionately believed.
KEY: A lot of us talk the gospel. But few people live the gospel. And Tom lived it.
CHERNOFF: For 33 years he lived it. He and his wife Libby raised their three daughters in Afghanistan so Tom could provide eye Care to the Afghans for free.
LIBBY LITTLE, WIFE OF SLAIN AID WORKER: There was danger. There's been danger at times we have seen along the way. But it really was what we thought God wanted us to do. And we -- I felt it was a privilege to and it was a joy to be doing what we're supposed to do.
CHERNOFF: To provide eye care in Afghanistan, where it is badly needed, the Littles endured rocket attacks during wartime and numerous hostile encounters. LITTLE: We've often just stopped everything when they've held us sort of hostage, saying we're not going to let you go any -- any further. Then we'll do -- we'll do eye care on them. Or serve them. That's ok. Then they'd let us go.
CHERNOFF: But after surviving close calls for three decades, Tom Little was shot and killed Thursday along with nine other aid workers, an attack for which the Taliban has claimed responsibility.
KEY: It was an act of evil in its rawest ugliest form.
CHERNOFF: Even in the face of such brutality, Libby and her friends say Tom's murder was not in vain.
TOM HALE, FRIEND OF SLAIN AID WORKER: I think it is going to inspire more people -- more people who are on the fence -- more people who realize that staying in a nice comfortable position in America is perhaps not what God wants them to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Allan Chernoff joins us now live. Allan, the Taliban has -- has claimed that there was proselytizing by that group; any evidence of that?
CHERNOFF: The Littles say absolutely not. And their friends say the same things. Libby says look, we -- we never handed out bibles. We never proselytized -- that was not our mission, they're not our purpose, we were there to provide assistance, provide health care assistance.
LEMON: Now, did Tom Little intend to remain there for 33 years? That's an exceptionally long amount of time to be -- to spend giving aid -- Allan.
CHERNOFF: It truly is. His wife says that they went there first expecting to spend two years. And then she says there never was a good time to leave. They were just committed. And keep in mind they stayed there through wartime. They had a rocket onto the bedroom of one of their children -- I mean just absolutely exceptional commitment.
LEMON: All right, Allan Chernoff, thank you very much.
You know, it's a final push to end the Gulf of -- the Gulf oil leak once and for all, as crews get back to drilling a relief well at the site. A live look now at the busted well which has been sealed off with cement.
Right now, the relief well is within 100 feet of drilling into the damaged oil line, once that happens crews will be able to start the bottom kill by pumping in mud and cement to block the leak permanently.
It's giving the Obama administration a cautious sigh of relief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL BROWNER, WHITE HOUSE ENERGY & CLIMATE CHANGE ADVISER: And no one is saying don't worry. What we're saying is right now the tests show nothing of concern; we're going to continue to test. We're not going away. We're going to continue to work with the Gulf Coast communities to make sure their economic losses are honored, to get the fisheries reopened when appropriate. Later today at the president's birthday party, he's going to be serving his guests seafood from the Gulf of Mexico.
We want to make sure that these communities are restored and that they're made whole and that the environment is made whole. There's still a lot of work to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And the government's point man in this disaster, Thad Allen agrees that the job is far from over. And he gives BP mixed marks for how it's handled all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE NATION": A grade from A to F, how did BP do handling this?
ADM. THAD ALLEN (RET.), NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: Well, I think I would have to break it into parts. I think at the well head I'm not sure there's any oil company who could have done any more than they did.
The technology was needed to be brought in from other parts of the world was -- it took a long time to engineer it. It took a long time to install it. But ultimately it helped us put the cap on and it controlled the well. So I give them fairly good marks there.
What BP is not good at, they're a large global oil production company. They don't do retail sales or deal with individuals on a transactional basis. Anything's involved that has been a real struggle for them.
And I've had these conversations with Tony Hayward and Bob Dudley and the other folks. It's something they don't naturally have as a capacity or competency in their company. And it's been very, very hard for them to understand. And that's the lens by which the American people view them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The relief well could be finished by this time next week.
You know, at the height of the summer tourism season, one of America's top vacation destinations could be the hiding ground for two suspected killers. Police and federal authorities are searching for escaped inmates John McCluskey and Tracy Province. They fled the Arizona state prison last week.
And now they're suspected in the brutal killing of an elderly couple in New Mexico. We'll get the latest on the manhunt from a top official with the New Mexico state police and a security expert in just a few minutes here on CNN.
And just ahead -- the man behind the mosque controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not about the World Trade Center. This is not about -- this is not about a particular location.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The developer for the so-called Ground Zero mosque is speaking out about the center and the fire storm it has created.
But first, a federal investigation into "for profit" schools -- fraud and deception caught on undercover video. And we've got the tapes to show you.
And don't just sit there. Be a part of our conversation, a part of the show. Send me a message on Twitter or Facebook. Check out my blog at CNN.com/don and look for us on Four Square as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: High pressure sales, exaggerated values, sometimes outright fraud; you may expect that from a shady car dealer. Not when you're applying for school, though.
Fifteen "for profit" colleges like the University of Phoenix, Kaplan College and Everest College, they are run by corporations and they are under fire for their recruiting tactics.
Undercover investigators from the Government Accountability Office visited each of them and they brought hidden cameras.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people have student loans --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- but the best thing about it, it's like a car note, where if you don't pay they're going to come after you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got to look at it -- I owe $85,000 to the University of Florida. Will I pay it back? Probably not.
I look at life a little differently than most people. I look at life as tomorrow's never promised.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not signing up for the school right now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, you are actually reserving your seat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really need to see -- figure out, the money thing first, I was hoping I could talk to the financial people first.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, they won't even let you back there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok, but here's the thing. You are not a financial aid expert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, that's why we want to talk to someone, before we sign anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You owe it to yourself, finish your paperwork, apply to the school. This is your admission and application process. No one here has not gone to school because of financial aid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't you be the first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Ok, so potential students apparently talked into getting loans they don't need. Promised job opportunities they won't be qualified for and encouraged to lie on financial aid forms.
Harris Miller is the president and CEO of the Career College Association which represents more than half of the schools cited in this investigation.
So Harris, I mean, those -- those pictures are pretty -- pretty damning there. What are you -- what's your response to -- to that video?
HARRIS MILLER, PRESIDENT & CEO CAREER COLLEGE ASSOCIATION: I agree with you, Don. We can't defend the indefensible; it is critically important that every perspective student be given total accurate and full information about the programs, about the financial aid.
And I was extremely disturbed, as was my board of directors and my members about what we saw in the hearing on Wednesday. And changes are going to happen.
LEMON: Ok, changes like?
MILLER: We need to come up with a standardized form that every school agrees to use to present to the student where they go through in a checklist item by item and making sure that the student understands all of his or her rights, understands exactly the program they're signing up for. Understands the cost of the program, understands the cost of all the loans and the repayment, and no student walks away before making enrollment decision without being as fully informed as he or she could possibly be.
What we have here, Don, is a great set of schools offering great benefits. But if it's perceived that students are being subjected to high-pressure tactics or not being given the accurate and complete information, then people are going to question the value to these students.
LEMON: Well, here -- and here's the thing. And real quickly if you can answer have all, have you -- you said you're going to do the standardized forms. All of the schools agreed to do this. This is going to protocol at every one of those schools.
MILLER: Absolutely --
LEMON: Ok.
MILLER: -- we have to make changes.
LEMON: Ok.
(CROSSTALK)
MILLER: But the current system just isn't working.
LEMON: All right, so people just don't do that. I mean, and most people -- most of the times when this happens there's a culture here. There is maybe someone behind the scenes or at least employees may feel pressure in some way to do what they did, what you saw on camera.
MILLER: Well, I'm not willing to in doubt 200 -- indict 200,000 employees. I do believe that to some extent these employees were off their reservation. But they should have no employees off the reservation.
We're going to adopt a zero-tolerance policy. No tolerance for anything that doesn't comply. And not just with the lateral laws but the spirit of law. And that means total consumer protection.
LEMON: Ok, this is also just as disturbing. I want to show you, Harris, a few tuition comparisons from the GAO's report and I want to get your response to this.
To get a certificate in computer aided drafting -- in computer aided drafting for instance, it will -- it will cost you nearly $14,000.
That's at a "for-profit" school, one for a "for-profit" in California and only $520 at a nearby public college. Don't you think that's outrageous when you compare that?
MILLER: What that doesn't talk about Don, is the fact that every California citizen is paying taxes to subsidize those students at those public colleges and universities. It's $10,000 per students.
The other thing it doesn't talk about --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: But the difference between $13,000 and $520 or the difference between -- what is that $13,400 -- I mean, that's a huge difference; no one is paying that much taxes.
MILLER: And they are. That's exactly the point. The other point, they don't talk about in the report Don is unfortunately the graduation rate from our community colleges across the country is about 22 percent, whereas from our colleges with exactly the same demographics, the graduation rate is closer to 62 percent.
So if you talk about return on investment, it's actually a good return on investment for people in the public to allow students to have the choice whether to go to a community college or traditional college or to a career college.
LEMON: Ok. So listen and real quickly here -- Friday, Kaplan suspended enrollment at two of its campuses cited in the investigation. Should more of these schools do the same thing?
MILLER: I know you're going to see a lot of changes. This is what they call a teachable moment for educators. And the message is very clear. Something has to change to make sure that everyone understands consumer protection, student protection comes first.
LEMON: Harris Miller, thank you, sir.
MILLER: Thank you for having me, Don.
LEMON: All right.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters breaking her silence now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: No improper action. No failure to disclose. No one in (INAUDIBLE). No case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: In her first public appearance since being charged with congressional ethics violations. Waters is actually calling for her charges to be made public. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Here's a look at your top stories. A warning from the U.S. Embassy to Americans in Saudi Arabia; they could become targets of terrorism. The embassy says it has credible information that extremists plan to attack Westerners in al-Khasim (ph) Province. No word on when or how it might happen, but Americans in the area are advised to be careful and to stay alert.
The first trial under the Obama administration's new military commissions will begin this week at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Omar Khadr is charged with terrorist acts and killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan. At 23 years old he's the youngest detainee at Gitmo and the first to face trial under the Obama administration's new rules. Defendants and military commissions now have more protections and limits on what evidence that can be used against them.
And a race to contain an oil spill after two ships smash into each other off the coast of India -- look at that -- the two boats rammed together today of Mumbai. Both ships had to be evacuated and one of them started leaking oil but no injuries are reported there. Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele knows how to dominate the spotlight. That spotlight has revealed he has problem with some inside of his own party. Our senior political editor Mark Preston spoke with Steele this week at a major party gathering in Kansas City. He joins me now from Washington.
It's always good to see you. You're doing ok?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: I'm doing all right, Don.
LEMON: You're doing a great job in Kansas City. You know I want to start with Steele's reaction to a question about his standing with the Party activists (ph). Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL STEEL, CHAIRMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: With anything, you know, there's disagreements and different opinions on issues. I think the members have made it very clear that our focus, and I agree, should be on November 2nd. That's where I look. That's where I'm going. I'm getting on the bus and I'm going across the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So obviously there, Mr. Preston, Michael Steele thinks winning will cure all of his problems.
PRESTON: He does. But you know, so far Don, he has had a lot of wins and he still has problems, you know. Under his stewardship, Republicans have picked up the Massachusetts seat -- Ted Kennedy's seat up in Massachusetts. They also won the governorship to Virginia and New Jersey.
However Michael Steele, as our viewers are well aware, has had a series of gaffes, a series of missteps and there's been a lot of questions about his stewardship of the RNC.
To tell you, Don, I was out in Kansas City there for five days talking to members of the Republican National Committee. Look, they are just focused right now or they're trying to put the focus on trying to win in November. That's what Michael Steele wants to talk about nowadays.
LEMON: And you know what, many have talked about, as much as we've made of the demise of Michael Steele, many people have counted him out a number of times and he's survived and will survive his full tenure, it's look like. But what about his future? Will he even run for a second term as RNC chair?
PRESTON: You know, Don, it's a great question. And it's really an unanswered question at this point. In fact, I posed it to him when we were out in Kansas City to see if we would get some kind of reaction. Would he tell us that in fact he would run for another two-year term that would take him into the presidential cycle? In fact, let's hear what he had to say, Don, to me out in Kansas City.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: It sounded like you were going to run for a second term. I mean you were very --
STEELE: Oh my goodness. Can I -- can we get through -- can we finish this one first?
PRESTON: So you are -- you're thinking of running for a second term?
STEELE: You know what I'm thinking about right now? Lunch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: Well, he was thinking of lunch and what he did right afterwards, he went and got himself a sandwich as he told us that's what he's going to do. So far, Don, we have two Republicans who have expressed interest in challenging him. They are the North Dakota Party chairman Gary Emineth and former senator Norm Coleman.
Look, a lot of people are saying to us privately -- they're saying to me privately out in Kansas City, look, they want Michael Steele to step down gracefully. But he still does have his defenders. It will be interesting to see if he runs again, Don.
LEMON: Mark Preston, we'll see you at 10:00 p.m. Thank you sir.
PRESTON: Take care.
LEMON: Armed, dangerous and on the run. The man hunt for two escaped inmates escalates as police link them to a brutal murder of a New Mexico couple. Now law enforcements believe they may be in one of our nation's biggest family destinations. That story, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Ok.
Are two suspected killers using Yellowstone National Park as their hiding ground? Police and federal authorities certainly think so. They're on the hunt for two escaped inmates, John McCluskey and Tracy Province.
They fled an Arizona prison last week along with a third man who has been recaptured, by the way. McCluskey and Province are now suspected in the brutal killing of a couple in New Mexico. The two are considered armed and extremely dangerous.
Major Robert Shilling of the New Mexico state police joins us now from Albuquerque. Thank you, sir.
Armed and extremely dangerous -- what are you telling people in Yellowstone National Park?
MAJOR ROBERT SHILLING, NEW MEXICO STATE POLICE (via telephone): Well, Yellowstone included, but anywhere else in the southwest, we're telling people that, you know, "Please be aware of your surroundings and if you see anything that may be remotely associated with this investigation and with these three individuals on the run to call the local law enforcement."
We're extremely concerned about the continued threat to public safety that these three pose.
LEMON: Yes. And you know what Mr. Shilling, you bring up a very good point. You know, we're focused on Yellowstone because that's where law enforcements believe they could be right now but the entire southwest.
Can you take us a little bit deeper into the New Mexico couple? Why are they suspects in that? What happened? Give us the circumstances.
SHILLING: Well, beginning Wednesday with the discovery of a burned- out camp trailer, agents were able to piece together the trailer belonged to a couple from Oklahoma who routinely from year to year take a trip to New Mexico on their way to Colorado. Within hours of determining who that trailer belonged to, Albuquerque authorities located the husband's (ph) pickup truck for us in Albuquerque.
That was kind of the genesis of getting the investigation off the ground as far as collecting forensic evidence and beginning to try and piece this together. We didn't have a lot to go on until such time as some evidence was processed by our crime lab. And we were able to forensically link McCluskey to the crime scene.
LEMON: Major Robert Shilling of New Mexico state police. Thank you very much sir. Good luck to you. Keep us updated, ok?
SHILLING: Thank you sir. You're welcome.
LEMON: All right. We're going to continue on with the story now -- U.S. Marshals from Arizona are on the ground in Yellowstone National Park. They're teaming up with their counter parts in Montana and Wyoming.
Under arrest right now, fugitive John McCluskey's mother -- 68-year- old Claudia Washburn is suspected of aiding her son's escape from prison. Washburn's husband tells CNN he would shoot his stepson McCluskey if he ever saw him again, never mind the consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK WASHBURN, HUSBAND OF CLAUDIA WASHBURN: I know what you guys have done. You think you're Bonnie and Clyde. You're not. You're no (INAUDIBLE). You're scum.
I told the U.S. Marshals I haven't got that long to live. But if I could ever see you, what you did, I'll shoot you and serve my time.
John McCluskey, if you're watching this, give yourself up. It's a matter of time. You'll never realize what you've done to me and your mother.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Boy, those are pretty strong words. Lou Palumbo -- there he is right there -- we're going to dig a little deeper. He's a security expert. He joins me now from New York.
Those are pretty strong words and he seems to mean it. What are they doing, Lou, to find these guys? I mean, this is a crime spree that has gone throughout the southwest.
LOU PALUMBO, DIRECTOR, ELITE GROUP: Well, basically, Don, what they've done is they've summoned the troops and they're creating this massive canvas with as many resources from law enforcement as they could possibly accumulate in an attempt to, simply state, locate them before they carry out any other crimes or, in their instances, homicides before they're apprehended.
LEMON: Hey, so listen, it was believed early on when they escaped that they may be on their way to Mexico. It looked like that's the path that they were taking. Why haven't they gone into Mexico yet?
PALUMBO: Because the borders are probably -- the border patrol is probably looking for them -- ICE. It's just not that easy to slip out of the country anymore. As you know, the borders aren't completely sealed, but there's a larger concentration of law enforcement agents there in an attempt to address the immigration problem, which conversely is going to help address anybody attempting to leave the country. So it's just not that easy anymore.
And the reason they probably would go to Yellowstone is because it will take them out of the mainstream of America. One of the things you need to do, Don, is look into the backgrounds of the individuals to find out exactly how familiar they might be with that type of terrain.
In other words, someone like myself born and raised in New York City, I'm not the guy you want to drop in Yellowstone National Park. Saying that, individuals who are from areas similar to that, a bit more rural, they cut their teeth on hunting and fishing and can survive in areas similar to Yellowstone are more likely to go in there, regroup, and try to figure out and create a strategy as to how they're going to evade the authorities.
And quite frankly I think their only option would be to leave this country. And as I said, it just isn't that easy anymore.
LEMON: And, Lou, you know, I've got to ask you this as we were talking about it today in the Newsroom. You know, Yellowstone National Park, everyone feels safe there. That's where you go with your family. You fish, you camp -- all of these things.
And then, you know, to have two people who are suspected of killing someone and escape prisons, that's not a safe place to be. And not all -- not everyone there has no communications because you go there to kind of get away.
PALUMBO: That's absolutely correct, Don. But I mean, part of the methodology, the mechanism I would implement if I was in law enforcement leading this, I would call on the resources of the National Guard. If I really thought that there was a significant amount of information supporting the presence in Yellowstone, for example, I would bring in the National Guard, spearheaded by the U.S. Marshals, augmented by the local jurisdictions.
And I would just saturate that place and literally do tent-by-tent searches. Because there are people, as you know, who are in there in campers, who are in there in tents, that are out there trying to enjoy outdoor life.
LEMON: Yes.
PALUMBO: I mean, they really need to saturate this region at this point, with as much resource or assets as they possibly can.
LEMON: Security expert Lou Palumbo. He is the director of the Elite Group and a retired police officer. Lou, thank you. Always good to see you, my friend.
PALUMBO: You too, Don.
LEMON: Demonstrators gathered today outside the prison holding that's holding Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking tens of thousands of military secrets to WikiLeak. But this demonstration may surprise you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If indeed, he was the whistle blower, that we are proud of him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That's right. This demonstration is in support of Manning. That's next. Plus this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHARIF EL-GAMAL, REAL ESTATE INVESTOR DEVELOPER: This is not about the World Trade Center. This is not about - this is not about a particular location.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: You're going to meet the man behind the so-called Ground Zero mosque. Why did he choose that location? And what does he think about the controversy it has created? His exclusive interview with CNN, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Checking some top stories here on CNN. California's Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters received a standing ovation this weekend at an appearance in her district. Waters has been accused of violating House rules by seeking federal help for a bank that had financial ties to her husband. The congresswoman says that while she did try to get help for minority banks, she insists she did nothing wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: I made that call to Secretary Paulson so that this trade group, the NBA, which represents all those minority banks could speak with the Treasury Department staff. No improper action, no failure to disclose, no one influence. No case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Activists rallied outside the Marine Corps based outside Quantico, Virginia today, to applaud the man military officials suspect leaked scores of military documents to the WikiLeaks web site. Supporters cheered 22-year-old Army Private Bradley Manning, he served as an intelligence analyst in Iraq. He is being held at Quantico, pending a military investigation into a separate case, also involving military leaks.
Pakistan is getting more of exactly what it doesn't need right now, torrential rain. Aid agencies are increasing their efforts to deliver aid to about 12 million Pakistanis in almost every part of the country. The U.N. says the need in Pakistan right now is on par with the misery caused by the 2005 earthquake.
Rescue teams are searching for more than 1,000 people who are missing in landslides, massive landslides, in northwestern China. At least 127 people were killed when torrential rain triggered flooding and mud slides that swept away homes and destroyed roads. Dozens of people are hurt. Some 45,000 others had been evacuated from the stricken area.
A New Orleans mom took drastic action when she found out her son was acting up in kindergarten. She became a fixer at the school and has used the experience to help others. CNN's education contributor Steve Perry has more on what she's learned in tonight's "Perry's Principles."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARRAN HARPER ROYAL, PARENT ADVOCATE: When Chris was in kindergarten, every day I would go to pick him up and the teachers would say, Miss Royal, Chris did this, Miss Royal, Chris did that.
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): When Karran Harper Royal found out her son was acting up at school, she took drastic action, she quit her job and went to school with him.
ROYAL: I was at school every day. They ended up making me a substitute teacher.
PERRY (on camera): Come on.
ROYAL: No, seriously.
PERRY (voice-over): Chris qualified for special needs services. But his case was complex. Not only was he diagnosed with ADHD, his high IQ classified him as a gifted student.
(on camera): So he truly was an exceptional learner.
ROYAL: Yes. He was exceptional.
PERRY (voice-over): The New Orleans mom struggled with red tap to get maximum resources for her son.
ROYAL: So I started going to school board meetings. I prepared some documents to show them what I need - the trouble I had in getting services for my son.
PERRY (on camera): They must have loved you.
ROYAL: Oh, they have come to love me. They have come to love me.
PERRY (voice-over): Today, Chris is all grown up. And Karran is using her experience to show other parents the ropes.
ROYAL: If their child is in need of special education services, we walk them through that process, one on one. We help them understand what the law says that the school district is required to provide and we do workshops to help them understand behavior. You're the expert of your child. Make sure your child understands what's going on.
PERRY: Steve Perry, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Steve, thank you very much.
You know, today I lived through a hair and lightning experience.
That means I did get a haircut. A lot of people taking pictures. Never done that before, got a haircut on camera. But you know, it was for the job. Learning about what organizers say is the largest hair show in the world. You'll meet people who are a part of it, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A battle pitting religious freedoms against emotions still raw from 9/11. By now, you've probably heard about the plans to build a mosque just two blocks from Ground Zero. And the divisions over it are reaching far beyond the Big Apple.
This past week, a commission rejected landmark status for a building that would be demolished to make way for the mosque. The conservative American Center for Law and Justice filed a lawsuit challenging that decision.
CNN's own Fareed Zakaria weighed in on the controversy during his own show today. He say he is giving back an award from the Anti- defamation League because the group wants to see the mosque relocated. Well, there's no shortage of voices in this debate. But what about the developer at the center of this controversy - Sharif El-Gamal. Our Allan Chernoff asked him why he's driven by the project.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): If what you have in mind is building bridges, interfaith dialogue, then why not have the center a little further away from the World Trade Center? Instead of just two blocks right there. There probably wouldn't be much opposition if you were further away.
EL-GAMAL: You know, this is not about the World Trade Center. This is not about a particular location. This is about a need that exists in the lower Manhattan community and a need that exists within the Muslim community to have a community and a cultural center. And it's pretty hard finding real estate in New York.
CHERNOFF: So you have the building. Therefore, do it there?
EL-GAMAL: We have the building. And we're doing it there. God willing.
CHERNOFF: No change of plans. Nobody is going to convince you guys elsewhere.
EL-GAMAL: There's a need. The community has spoken.
CHERNOFF: You expect opponents eventually will embrace this?
EL-GAMAL: They already have. And as people start understanding what we are trying to achieve here, they want to be a part of this.
CHERNOFF: And the fact that you have ground zero, are you telling me that it really has nothing to do with ground zero? Nothing to do with the World Trade Center.
EL-GAMAL: It has nothing to do with the World Trade Center.
CHERNOFF: You just happen to own the building.
EL-GAMAL: That's where we found the real estate that took us almost five years to buy.
CHERNOFF: So what do you say to the opponents who argue, you know what this is a victory mosque. Maybe the funding is coming from people who are supporting terrorists.
EL-GAMAL: We are planning on using including best practices when it comes to raising funds. We plan on having topnotch experts that are going to be recognized by the Treasury Department. That are going to be recognized by our Homeland Security.
And we plan on working closely with those advisors, with those auditors to come up with the best practices that are going to satisfy the rules and laws of the land. We plan on being fully transparent.
CHERNOFF: To make sure people don't accuse you of getting money from folks who are funding terrorism. EL-GAMAL: I think I answered that very clearly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Allan Chernoff joins us now, live from New York. Allan, you know, when he says it's not about the World Trade Centers, it is about the World Trade Centers, for a lot of people. A lot of people who lost loved ones for that. And this is going - it's going to be more than a mosque, right?
CHERNOFF: It's going to be much more than a mosque. Sharif El-Gamal says look, calling it a mosque is totally unfair. What he has in mind is a community center. The plans do call and by the way, there are no final plans but the project intent is to have a community center that would include a swimming pool, basketball court, library, art studios, a restaurant, a culinary school as well. So we will have a mosque within. But all those other items are also on the agenda. He says this is a facility that would be open to anyone.
LEMON: OK. And listen, this controversy is going to continue for quite some time. El-Gamal's Silver Properties owns one of the buildings involved in a New York utility, owns the other adjacent building. Can you clarify this for us? What's going on here?
CHERNOFF: Yes. What's happening here is that there are two buildings, right? 4547 Park Place, two blocks away from the World Trade Center and then 4951. El-Gamal right now owns one of those buildings. But inside they are connected. This building before 9/11, it was a Burlington Coat Factory. It was a store. It's been connected for quite some time.
LEMON: Got you.
CHERNOFF: The second building on the exterior is owned right now by Con Edison, the utility here in New York but El-Gamal has the lease on that. And he's exercising the option to buy that second building. So that's pretty much a done deal. He just have to have the money for that. I'm sure that will not be an issue. So that's where that stands.
LEMON: As I said, to be continued. This is not just talk in New York. People are not just outrage here. People are talking about here in Atlanta for breakfast this morning, around the country, really around the world. Allan, good reporting.
CHERNOFF: It is a big deal.
LEMON: Yes. Thank you very much.
We're going to change topics here. Hair wars. A heated hair competition is going on. Right across the street from our studios, right here in Atlanta. And we're going to take you to the front lines. In fact, we brought the front lines right to you. We got the stylists who will show us which wow styles are a cut above the rest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Look at that hair. Look at that. I was there today. It was my first time. It's a certain cultural phenomenon, and it happens every six months and it's going on right now, right here in Atlanta. The Bronner Brothers International Hair Show this weekend. You know, it's expected to bring about 60,000 people or more here to Atlanta and about 20 million bucks to the economy in Atlanta. That is a lot of money.
Here's what organizers are saying. They're saying it is the world's largest hair show. And you can see how outrageous the competition, the showmanship can get. Look at all the people there. They're all spending money, right? Tonight you're going to meet one of the insiders of the show. His name is Jason Griggers. Jason, good to see you.
JASON GRIGGERS, ELITE HAIRSTYLIST: Hi, nice to meet you.
LEMON: With some very beautiful ladies here you helped get even more beautiful. Beautiful-er, as they say. Jason has taken home the title from the Bronner Brothers this year. But he is instructing this year. You didn't compete this year.
GRIGGERS: No, I didn't compete. They're trying to force me to retire. I'm actually doing platform work this year for a company called FHI.
LEMON: Weren't you on a reality show?
GRIGGERS: I was, you may have first seen me on the "Tears, Shears and Beauty."
LEMON: I remember I went to what is it - the Chris Rock - last year and you were there.
GRIGGERS: I was there. The good head documentary.
LEMON: OK. So this is the most obvious question. Because when we talked about this, these ladies would go in, African-American women will go in, and they see and go, can you do black hair? Right?
GRIGGERS: These don't anymore. These are all -
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: That's real, right? That's real, right?
GRIGGERS: I've had that before. In the beginning, it was quite frequent.
LEMON: What drew you to do this?
GRIGGERS: You know, I wasn't drawn to it. I think it was drawn to me. Somebody asked me a few days ago, they said, you know, was this your destiny. I'm like, I don't know if it was my destiny. But it's definitely my reality. LEMON: I mean, that's what I was going to say. To do black women's hair. This is really the biggest competition for doing hair, specially African-American women hair, in the world.
GRIGGERS: Right.
LEMON: The Bronner Brothers is. This is biggest in the world.
GRIGGERS: It's the hair royale, they give away, you know, $20,000 and $25,000.
LEMON: Yes. You guys like your hair-dos?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
LEMON: Tell us about the experience there. You know, I walked around. I said it was multi-cultural. Because I saw people of all different (INAUDIBLE). I even got a haircut. Did he do OK?
GRIGGERS: Yes.
LEMON: Yes. What's so important, especially about in a recession? Where the country's in a recession now and people are still spending money. The Bronner Brothers said after the Chris Rock movie and in a recession, actually the numbers go up. They make even more money. Hair stylists make even more money. Why?
GRIGGERS: Who knows why. But I think that people want to feel good and people want to look good. And sometimes if they can just - looking pretty makes them feel good.
LEMON: Yes. What do you think here? I'm going to let you guys go. But where do you think we would be without the Bronner Brothers? Because they are really just lauded. People think they're celebrities and gods. What do you think about what the Bronner Brothers has done when it comes to hair in the world?
GRIGGERS: The Bronner Brothers as an organization actually has opened up a lot of doors for many people, certainly like myself. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the Bronner Brothers.
LEMON: All right. You guys look great. I think the Bronner Brothers and everybody there for the haircut I got today, you guys are great. Thanks. Congratulations.
GRIGGERS: Come back next year.
LEMON: We appreciate all the money that you bring to the economy here in Atlanta. We can certainly use it.
GRIGGERS: Go team.
LEMON: Go team. Where am I? Over here?
All right. Remembering a passed entangled in slavery and presidential politics. One family reflects on their contribution to history and their powerful connection to George Washington's home.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. On Sunday, we always want to try to catch you up on some of the news you might have missed throughout the week.
This is our first story here. An investigation is under way at American Airlines after seven puppies died in a cargo hold of one of its jets. 15 puppies were on Tuesday, on a Tuesday morning flight from Tulsa to Chicago. A baggage handler noticed some looked lethargic when the plane arrived. Well, they were taken to a vet and seven of them died. Tulsa was experiencing a heat wave. And the airline may have violated its policy of not transporting pets when temperatures are above 85 degrees. They're still investigating.
Rudy Giuliani's daughter arrested for allegedly trying to shoplift cosmetics at a Manhattan store. Police say 20-year-old Caroline Giuliani was caught on camera Wednesday, stuffing her pockets with $150 worth of cosmetics. Store security confronted her at an exit and called police. The Harvard student was charged with petty larceny and she was released. She is to go before a judge on August 31st.
In Portland, Oregon, a county inspector ordered seven-year-old Julie Murphy to shut down her lemonade stand at an arts fair because she didn't have a restaurant license. Meanies. He even threatened a $500 fine. We're not kidding here. The whole episode caused an uproar, not surprisingly. But now everything seems to be settled. The county chairman, well, has even called to apologize.
You may know a lot about the so-called father of this country, George Washington. But what do you know about the slave family that worked on his plantation at Mt. Vernon. Their descendants are holding a family reunion this weekend.
And CNN photo journalist Doug Shantz recorded it for us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROHULAMNI QUANDER, FAMILY MEMBER: Even though it was George Washington's home, it was our home, too. The Quander family is now celebrating its 85th reunion. Quander ancestors were in service here to George Washington from the 18th century while he was off in Concord, Lexington and Bunker Hill, our ancestors were here in the fields tending the animals. So this is very much a part of our legacy, as it was of his.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The memory of those who have gone before us, we will always remember to honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slavery is over. And we have moved on. And it's time to be about the business of making America all that it can be.
GUY LARRY MITCHELL, FAMILY MEMBER: This is the greatest nation in the world that you can go from slavery to president of the United States. That is huge. QUANDER: So we need to take the strengths, the significance of what George Washington stood for, what the founding fathers stood for. We need to turn it to our own advantage and see how we can use that. We need to see what all of the ancestors, what was so special and strong about them that can be to the benefit of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Photo journalist Doug Shantz.
You know, this weekend, Usher, the entertainer, did not disappoint.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: He performed some of his top hits before a crowd that was there to celebrate not just his talent but also his philanthropy. Tonight at 10:00 p.m., hear why. You'll see my conversation with celeb who's giving back and making sure others pay it forward. Nice work, Usher.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. "STATE OF THE UNION" with Candy Crowley starts now.
