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Eight Spectators Killed in Race Crash; President Wraps Up Gulf Coast Vacation; Afghanistan War Policy; Escapes Escalate Prison Debate; Status of Gay Rights Around the World

Aired August 15, 2010 - 17:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Tragedy at an off-road race in California. Eight spectators were killed when a truck jumped off the course in the desert near San Bernardino.

At least seven other people were injured when the truck rolled into a group of fans. The driver was not hurt, but this crash highlights the dangers of this type of racing.

Fans were lined up right along the course, with just a little netting between them and the massive racing trucks.

Joining us now from Los Angeles is Jonathan Davy. He was at the race last night not far from where the crash happened. In fact, he captured it on live video.

Jonathan, first off, thanks for being with us. And I just want for you to describe, before this crash happened, just describe what was happening around you, and how things unfolded afterwards.

JONATHAN DAVY, SHOT VIDEO OF OFF-ROAD CRASH: Well, we arrived there around 11:30, 12:00, and it was just supposed to be a day of just, you know, camping and off-roading with some buddies. And then towards the end of the night there was going to be a nice race, the California 200.

We set up right next to the rock pile, you know, right before the jump, and all day there were people going by and, you know, doing the jump, and there was nothing that I saw that was, you know, out of control.

A lot of people were taking it very slow, just to read the track throughout the day and it was just, I mean, you know, during the race was just crazy.

KEILAR: Do you think -- so you obviously saw this happen. Did you think --

DAVY: Yes, I did.

KEILAR: Were you concerned that maybe you were too close or the people around you were too close? Because when we look at the pictures, everyone appears to be pretty close to the course.

And we've seen that actually some of the rules, which we know are not really enforced because it's sort of an informal situation, say that people need to be about 100 feet back.

Clearly they weren't. Were you concerned that it was unsafe, or did it seem, for someone who's gone to something like this before, that it was OK? It was an OK situation?

DAVY: I actually -- this was actually my first time going to an event. This is not something I'm particularly, you know, into. I went with a buddy of mine to meet up some friends.

And, you know, when we got there, there wasn't a lot of people crowded around. I really didn't know how the whole race was going to, you know, to, you know, I didn't know how it was going to be planned out.

KEILAR: Let me ask you, did you think when you were standing there as you were filming this, did it seem like it was an unsafe situation? Or did it seem fine until all of a sudden things went bad?

DAVY: No, absolutely. I want to say about two minutes before I started filming, there was a close call with myself and some friends that were on the left side where I was filming and I actually was a lot closer than, you know, what it shows on the video.

And I got pushed back. It was, you know, I got shaken up, I turned to my friend, I went, man, that was close and that's when I decided to film what was going on, and that's the only video I have of the whole race, is just that -- the crash.

And it's very unfortunate what happened and I mean, it, way too close for comfort.

KEILAR: Certainly --

DAVY: Very uncomfortable.

KEILAR: -- you can see that as you're watching this video. Let me ask you, since you hadn't been to a race before and you were going to this one, were you aware of what the rules were for spectators?

I mean, it's a 50-mile track and I imagine people have access to a lot of it. Did you know going in there that you should be a certain distance back?

Because there are these rules in place, but what's the point if people don't know what they are. Did you know about them?

DAVY: No, I did not. Like I said, I just went with a friend. I didn't exactly know, you know, what the race was about. I didn't know the course. We actually drove on the course, and you know, we went through it slow, you know, just to see what it was all about.

And someone was telling me right before this race started that they had barricades up before to hold the fans back, and the spectators. And that still doesn't -- still doesn't control the situation with -- with the fans.

Because they want to get as close as possible, you know, to what's going on. It's really intense. Everyone's go faster, go faster, go faster and a lot of people hit these jumps and get air and everyone cheers. And I mean, it's just, it's just crazy.

KEILAR: It is crazy. Do you think that there needs to be better enforcement? Or do you just think that fans are being irresponsible?

DAVY: I think it has to do with a little bit of both. I mean, even for me to be right there filming was, was very, you know, very dumb.

You know, I, you know, I showed the video to my parents and, you know, my girlfriend and stuff. It was -- they were looking at me like oh, why are you filming that close?

And I was just with everyone, it was in the moment. Like I said, it was something I've never been to before. It was crazy, you know, I turned and I woke up that morning, I turned to my fiancee, Amy and I was like, I really shouldn't -- I'm kind of sketched out about this whole situation, I really don't want to go.

And she said don't go, don't go. I said I'm going to go with my buddy, Brock, I'm going to go and I end up going and what seemed to be a great day, something I've never been to before just turned tragic.

Something, it's just something that is forever going to be in my head and I mean, I couldn't sleep last night. It's -- I got chills right now just thinking about it.

KEILAR: I can imagine that and a lot of lessons learned. And I know everyone just probably looked around and thought, I'll just do what the next guy was doing.

But that was close, Jonathan. We're certainly glad that you're OK. This is a tragic event. Certainly something needs to be learned for a lot of these fans who go to this. Thanks for being with us, Jonathan. We appreciate it.

DAVY: No problem, thank you.

KEILAR: President Obama is back at the White House after spending the weekend on Florida's Gulf Coast. Here's CNN's Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry.

ED HENRY, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The president wrapped up this quick vacation on the Gulf Coast with first lady Michelle Obama, their daughter Sasha decided to go for a boat ride today, even though pretty rough waters, a lot of wind and clouds out there.

At one point the president even took the helm and was steering the ship although this trip has been overshadowed a bit by the president trying to navigate some rough waters on a major controversy back in New York City, the building of that mosque near Ground Zero.

The president, of course, helped kick this off a bit Friday night at the White House, when he first weighed in on the subject, and basically suggested that he supported this project on religious freedom grounds. On Saturday, when I caught up with the president one-on-one, he appeared to be backpedalling although a White House spokesman insisted he was not changing his tune at all.

But today on CNN's "State of the Union" with Candy Crowley, Republican Congressman Peter King charged that the president was, in fact, backpedalling and is telling that Democrats like Congressman Chris Van Hollen were not necessarily given the president a full-throated defense. Instead they were trying to speak broadly about religious freedom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDY CROWLEY, HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": You seem to say, look, I'm just saying that we have a principle here and it's of religious freedom. I'm not saying one way or another whether I support it. What does that -- does that seem like a change to you?

REPRESENTATIVE PETER KING, (R) NEW YORK: Yes, it does. The president is a gifted speaker, he's a tremendous communicator. Obviously, his words were carefully chosen on Friday night, and the inference or the clear impression everyone came away with was that he was saying he was supporting the mosque at Ground Zero.

And you can parse it later on and sort of back away, but the fact is that is clearly the impression I believe he wanted to leave.

CROWLEY: Congressman Van Hollen, would you rather the president have not brought this up?

REPRESENTATIVE CHRIS VAN HOLLEN, (D) MARYLAND: Candy, first of all, I think that when it comes to 9/11 and the memory of 9/11 we should all agree that it would be wrong to politicize this issue.

And I think what the president said yesterday was that the president of the United States of America, he was simply stating the principle that, under our great constitution, we do not discriminate against people based on their religion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Now the president heads out on the road to do some campaigning and fund-raising for Democrats who were already bracing for midterm elections that could be bleak for the Democratic Party because of the jobs issue.

Now they may also have to navigate a very difficult mosque issue that could turn out to be explosive heading into those midterms. Ed Henry, CNN, with the president in Panama City Beach, Florida.

KEILAR: Coming up, what's the future of the war in Afghanistan? The top U.S. general there speaks out, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Touring flood-stricken Pakistan, the head of the United Nations says he's never seen anything so devastating. A fifth of the country, this is roughly the size of Florida, under water. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says an estimated 20 million people are in desperate need of food, clean drinking water, medicine, and shelter. And he's urging the international community to send more help.

And in China, their honoring their dead. Ceremonies held across the country today in memory of the more than 1,200 people killed in mudslides. Northwestern China has seen the worst of the torrential rains. At least 500 people are still missing.

General David Petraeus speaking out today about nation building in Afghanistan on NBC's "Meet the Press" the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan says it's up to the Afghan government to win over its own people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES AFGHANISTAN: At the end of the day, it's not about their embrace of us. It's not about us winning hearts and minds. It's about the Afghan government winning hearts and minds.

This isn't to say that there's any kind of objective of turning Afghanistan into Switzerland, in three to five years or less. Afghan good enough is good enough.

And that means having traditional social organizing structures as part of the ultimate solution, if you will or tribal Shura councils and so forth, which are quite democratic by the way. They then connect at the district or province level with what goes up to Kabul, and comes out, as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence joining us now.

And Chris, General Petraeus, he lays out a way forward to build up the Afghan government and allow American forces to leave. How hard, though, will it be to have these tribal councils that he's talking about report right up the line to Kabul?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, a lot harder than it looks on the surface. I mean, there's just no real history of a strong central government in Afghanistan. It is very, very tribal.

When I was there, I met people who had lived their entire life in about a 10 mile radius and never been outside that area. Now, recently General Petraeus just last month did get President Karzai to sign off on forming these new local security teams.

Think of sort of a neighborhood watch, but with guns, who would then fight the Taliban only in their local community. Now there are some who say go even further, rewrite the constitution, decentralize the government, and let American and international forces give a lot of money and guns and weapons and aid to these local villages and tribal elders.

And basically say, look, you keep the Taliban out. Now the problem with that is, President Karzai would most likely oppose any plan that took significant power out of the central government there in Kabul.

KEILAR: And, Chris, President Obama, he says that he's going to start withdrawing some troops by next summer. But you've got people on both side of the equation saying, what does that really mean?

Can you quantify that? How soon? Is there some sort of flexibility in case things aren't going so well? Did General Petraeus indicate that there is flexibility on that?

LAWRENCE: He did. He seemed to say that he understands and supports this idea of the deadline that things need to get moving, that it's been stagnant too long.

But he did seem to at least leave the possibility out there that he could recommend at that time that there be no withdrawal. He's basically saying that the last eight years, we haven't got it right.

It's only in the last six months that the forces have really come up with a good plan and been able to start to execute it. The feeling among defense officials that I've spoken with is they need time.

That it takes, you know, from the time you get the troops there on the ground, about two years to really see significant differences.

And so they're looking at perhaps trying to convince sort of the American people, and the administration, and congress to perhaps give them more time.

It would be a big difference this time next year pulling say, 2,000 to 3,000 troops out, versus say 10,000 to 15,000, 20,000 troops out.

KEILAR: A lot of people want to know what exactly it's going to be. Chris Lawrence our Pentagon correspondent. I should say working very hard for us on a Sunday. Thank you, sir.

LAWRENCE: You, too.

KEILAR: Traveling the ward -- traveling the world, I should say, solo, all by yourself. You know there's a lot of people who are doing it.

So let's find out what they're experiencing that the rest of us are not.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Top stories now. Tragedy at an off-road auto race in southern California. Eight people were killed, several others were hurt when a truck slammed into a crowd of spectators.

This happened in San Bernardino County, that's east of Los Angeles and video shows that many of those watching the race were extremely close to the track, as you can see right there.

And actress Zsa Zsa Gabor has asked for a priest to come to her bedside at a Los Angeles hospital to read her the last rites. That word from Gabor's publicist. The 93-year-old has suffered numerous complications since falling and breaking her hip last month.

And President Obama has wrapped up his quick getaway to the Florida panhandle. He and first lady Michelle Obama, also their youngest daughter Sasha, they spent part of the weekend at Panama City Beach in a trip that was intended to show support for the region after the oil -- for this region after suffering that devastating oil spill.

Yesterday the president and his daughter went for a swim in the bay. You can see the picture from the White House right there and we'll have more stories for you in 20 minutes.

You know Julia Roberts' new movie, it hit theaters this weekend, "Eat, Pray, Love" you may have read the book. It's one woman's search for herself while traveling solo through Italy, India and Bali.

The book, and now the movie, are really striking a chord with women. It's actually inspiring many of them just to take off on their own and Marybeth Bond is one of those women.

She's a travel writer. She's an expert on women's travel issues. She's joining us now from San Francisco.

And you actually traveled around the world solo for two years. It's only one year in this book, and this movie, so what did you do? And where did you go?

MARYBETH BOND, TRAVEL AUTHOR: Well, I spent a year in Asia, and a year in Europe, and I did everything that I couldn't do on a two-week vacation, because I knew that I'd come home and have to work again. And I had a marvelous trip. Made new friends. You know, learned a lot about myself.

KEILAR: Yes, and certainly you're an advocate for other women to go and do this themselves. So let's go through some of the tips that you have. The first one you have is obviously preparation is important. You say start smart.

BOND: That's right. I say always get accommodations for the first night. It will just help you get your bearings especially if you're going to a foreign country, or somewhere where you will have jet lag.

KEILAR: Yes, don't start off at the train station going, my gosh, I got in late, and I have no idea where to stay, and there's no vacancies. OK, you also say, avoid power plays and unwanted attention. What does that mean?

BOND: That's right. You can avoid unwanted attention if you avoid eye contact, if you remain silent, and if you move away from the source of irritation.

KEILAR: So -- but what's an example of this? In your two years where you were traveling, what's an example of something like this? A source of irritation?

BOND: OK, I see -- on a street in Paris. There are three guys walking down the sidewalk toward me, they began taunting, talking, et cetera. I don't want to be close enough to them that they could reach out and touch me. I don't look at them. I'm silent. I just change to the other side of the street. I've avoided the whole problem.

KEILAR: Change to the other side of the street. If they cross the street bother you, you go into a store, you turn around you walk into a restaurant, something like that.

BOND: That's right. Just trust your instincts. If anything feels off just move away.

KEILAR: Sure. I know that sounds really smart. And then the other thing is, to dress conservatively, right? You don't want to be bringing too much attention if you're traveling on your own as a woman?

BOND: That's right. You want to blend in. Check the way that the local women dress. And if they dress conservatively, then you should, too. Just blend in with the local women.

KEILAR: And as kids, of course, our parents always said don't talk to strangers. But you say no, quite the opposite, do talk to strangers. Why is that?

BOND: That adds so much to your trip. I mean, some of the best travel experiences come from spontaneous invitations by a person, or a family, or a group to join them for a dinner, or an activity. And even if you don't speak their language, a smile goes a long way. Sometimes those are the best experiences that happen.

KEILAR: I have to tell you, because I have a girlfriend who went to Peru, traveling by herself, and she had this amazing experience, and I went also to Peru, not traveling by myself, but she got invited to someone's house for dinner.

And she had this amazing experience, just to someone's house, kind of out in the countryside, and it just was -- it was really amazing that she was able to do that. One of the other things that you say is, wine and dine yourself. What do you mean?

BOND: That's right. Well, first of all, take good care of yourself. If you feel like a manicure or a good meal, go get it. But you will become a pro at eating alone.

When you travel alone you'll learn to look for lively places to eat, like a bistro or a cafe. Sit at the counter, you know, and that smile goes a long way. Talk to the people in the restaurant. Sometimes those conversations may be the highlight of your day.

KEILAR: Certainly. OK, I'm going to run through a couple of your commonsense safety tips because I want to get to the last question here.

You say trust your instincts, don't tell people where you're staying, don't accept car rides or hitchhike, don't display your hotel key.

But above all this is about making it a positive experience Marybeth. So how is it that solo traveling can change someone? What's the positive here?

BOND: Well, it certainly changed me. You come back from traveling alone with so much confidence and courage, and you're ready for your next challenge.

For example, traveling alone, I once made up a bucket list of all the things I wanted to accomplish in my life and one of those was to bicycle across the United States and raise money for a charity.

And I just accomplished that. I rode 3,000 miles across the country, and with my sponsor, Total Cereal, we raised $52,000 for osteoporosis. And that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't been alone and looked at the big picture about life, and slowly built up the confidence to do those tough things

So it can really change the way you think. Plus, I met my husband traveling alone so, certainly it's changed my life.

KEILAR: Certainly has.

BOND: There's no reason not to go.

KEILAR: Yes, you make it sound like a lot of fun. Marybeth Bond, thanks so much for joining us. Really good tips there. Appreciate it.

BOND: Thank you.

KEILAR: A nationwide manhunt, police searching for an inmate who broke out of an Arizona prison. And coming up we'll look at how this incident has escalated anger over private prisons.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Turning back now to our top story, the tragic deaths of eight people in an off-road racing crash in California. The course, it's very different than traditional race tracks. Drivers have to navigate hills, they navigate quick turns, and the crowd isn't necessarily behind any kind of protective barricade or fence.

Our Josh Levs takes a look at the track and the rules.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's take a look at the map behind me. I want to show you something here. I want you all to see where this is taking place in the United States.

Let's zoom right in. We're going to California here. It's in this section and where we're going to go as we zoom in is east of L.A., east of San Bernardino. We're going to go down so you have a sort of parallel view to this area where it takes place, where this race, soggy dry lake. That area is 50 miles long, they go around four times. Now what we are hearing about this area, the "L.A. Times" describes this as a mecca for off-road racing. And you can see from the terrain why it would be used for off-road racing, why it's so popular for that. There are lots of races that tack place in this area throughout the year.

All right, let's get to some of that video. I'm going to tell you now about the rules. These are written rules, you can see them for yourself on the website NBRacing.com. And look at what some of them say. First of all, it says do not spectate within 100 feet of the course. Looking at what we're seeing here, it's clear that these people are way, way within that. Now, exactly how many feet are considered the course, we don't know for sure. But it does clearly seem any one of them could jump out, launch at the car, touch it, as it's going by.

It also says spectate only on pit side of course. Now, when we're looking here we're seeing people on two sides. Does that violate this rule about the pit side? We need to learn about that. It says do not stand or drive on the course. Well, it looks like some folks may be standing on the course at least at some point during it.

Do not spectate on the outside of a curve or a turn is another one of the rules. Another rule I'll tell you here, do not park with your lights on and facing oncoming race vehicles. Just a couple of the many rules there.

Now, I'll also tell you that there are a lot of rules surrounding the vehicles that do these trips. They talk about what kinds of cages they need to have, what kinds of nets they need to have, safety precautions, certain fire extinguishers onboard, safety harnesses, these five-point safety harnesses can't be any older than three years from the date of the present race.

There are a lot of rules surrounding this so this not the kind of thing that you'll hear just sort of happens organically people decide they're going to do it and do it. There is an organization here and they do operate.

So what we have right now are a lot of questions about how something like this happens, but who is it up to enforce certain rules? Are there supposed to be barricades everywhere? Is it up to the people who show up to know what all these rules are and follow them and also is there anyone who checks the entire length of the course?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: That was Josh Levs for us there.

And police in Buffalo, New York, they're still searching for the gunman in a shooting spree outside of a downtown restaurant that left four people dead. They arrested a 25-year-old suspect, but apparently he was not connected to the shooting, so the charges were dropped, though he remains in jail for unrelated parole violations. Four other people were injured in Saturday's shooting spree during a celebration for a wedding anniversary.

And U.S. marshals are focusing on Montana and Canada in their search for an escaped Arizona inmate. John McCluskey and his fiancee/cousin are on the run. Police say she helped McCluskey and two other inmates break out of prison. The other two were recaptured but the incident has ramped up the debate over for-profit prisons. CNN's Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An ominous warning about the Arizona prison break and its violent aftermath, there could be more.

TERRY GODDARD (D), ARIZONA ATTORNEY GENERAL: I hope nothing happens, but the risk has gotten to be much, much higher.

TODD: That's Arizona's Democratic Attorney General Terry Goddard. He's blasting the state's republican governor, Jan Brewer, in the wake of the escape that officials say has led to two murders.

In an interview with CNN, Goddard accuses Brewer of moving too aggressively to make state prisons privately run, like the facility in Kingman where the breakout occurred, and as a result --

GODDARD: When you put these very high risk, very violent offenders into a private situation which is designed to operate for a profit, then that means they're going to cut costs wherever they can. We are putting the public's safety at risk, and that's impermissible.

TODD: Goddard points out that also means putting violent offenders into medium and minimum security jails.

The Kingman prison is medium security prison, originally built for DUI offenders. Two of the three inmates who escaped from there are convicted murders. There are a total of 117 murderers there.

Goddard is himself running for governor and will likely be Brewer's opponent this fall.

An aide to Governor Brewer's said she couldn't do an on-camera interview with us, but her spokesman sent an e-mail saying in part, "The Attorney General is clearly being forced to make these reckless and irresponsible statements at the behest of union bosses who back him politically, and demand that he attempt to politically exploit this terrible tragedy." Goddard denies he is acting on behalf of the unions.

The governor's spokesman says they're not cutting prison spending, and says the state's system of placing prisoners was also used by former democratic Governor Janet Napolitano, currently homeland security secretary.

Arnett Gaston, a college proffer who once ran New York's Riker's Island Prison, says private prisons can be effective, but he says wouldn't let guards at private jails watch violent offenders. (on camera): What couldn't they do?

ARNETT GASTON, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: They could not arrest. They could not affect an arrest. They were not empowered to.

They may not have sufficient training in arrest procedure. They may not have sufficient in escape prevention, riot techniques, responsibilities, responses to emergency situations that could require physical force up to and including deadly physical force.

TODD (voice-over): Gaston says it's important that guards have all of that training and certification as so-called peace officers.

(on camera): An official with the state department of corrections says guards at Arizona's privately run jails, like that one in Kingman, do not have that certification, don't have the power to make arrests as guards at publicly run jails can.

But they say the level of training is the same across the board. They say the training at that facility was adequate, but they acknowledge there was human error on the day of the escape.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: As a result of the escape, the private prison's warden and chief of security have resigned.

You know the court battle over California's Prop 8 has same-sex marriage being a very hot topic in the U.S. right now. But how is it viewed in other countries? We'll be taking a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Checking your top stories now. Eight spectators are dead after a racing truck plowed into the crowd during an off-road race in California. Several other people were injured. The driver was not hurt. But his truck lost control coming over a jump, and then it rolled over.

General David Petraeus says it will take a lot of time and commitment to keep Afghanistan from being a haven for terrorists. In a TV interview, the commanding general in Afghanistan says the key is to establish secure zones and then expand them outward. He points to the capital Kabul as a successful example of that strategy.

In Pakistan, towns and villages just washed away. That's what U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon saw when he toured some of the flood damage there today. He ordered a $10 million increase in U.N. emergency aid. Up to 20 million Pakistanis have been affected by the floods. That is one out of every 10 people there.

The battle over same-sex marriage in California is now in the hands of a federal appeals court. Opponents filed a 95-page motion asking the court to keep same-sex marriages on hold while the issue is resolved in court. The debate is playing out on the streets of Washington this weekend. A national group of anti-gay marriage activists made a stop there as part of their 19-state tour. And a counter protest was also held at Freedom Plaza. Thursday, federal Judge Vaughn Walker lifted a temporary stay saying that same-sex marriages in California can resume next Wednesday, if a higher court doesn't intervene.

In a sweeping ruling earlier this month, Judge Walker struck down California's voter approved Proposition Eight, ruling the ban on gay marriage violates the constitutional right of same-sex couples. Now this Prop 8 decision has focused attention on the issues of same-sex marriage, civil unions, gay rights in general, and while some countries accept same-sex unions, others don't even allow the right to be gay. So we asked our worldwide CNN reporting team to tell us the status of gay rights in their countries.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sara Sidner in New Delhi, India. Up until last year, gay sex was a crime in this country. But in July 2009, the federal court struck down penal code section 377 and decriminalized consensual gay sex. A group called the Naz Foundation brought the lawsuit. They were concerned with the health of homosexuals. And once the decision was made after a seven-year legal battle, there were certainly celebrations from the gay community and there was praise from groups like the U.N. Program on AIDS and Human Rights Watch. But there was also condemnation from leaders of several religious groups, including the Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Sikh religions concerned that it went against their beliefs. Now the law may have changed, but the social stigma on gays and lesbians and transsexuals is certainly still here in this country, which is a mostly conservative country. And when it comes to the possibility of gay marriage or civil unions, this country is a long way away from considering that as something that it will accept.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Shasta Darlington in Havana, this stunning seawall where hundreds of Cubans gather every night for cheap drinks and a bit of music. This particular stretch here is a hot spot among the gay community. Now you'll usually find some extra police presence. But reports of harassment have actually dropped off in the last couple of years. Now remember, this is Cuba. In 1979, homosexual acts were decriminalized. Being a homosexual meant ending up in a labor camp and now people walk freely hand in hand. But efforts to legalize those same-sex unions have so far failed. The daughter of President Raul Castro herself has put some legislation before parliament. But so far, she hasn't been able to convince hard-liners in the communist party or the Catholic Church.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Diana Magnay in Johannesburg. Now same-sex marriage was legalized in this country on the 1st of December 2006. And it is in fact one of the few countries in the world that makes it unconstitutional as per the country's bill of rights to discriminate against a person according to their sexual orientation. It is one of the -- it is the only African country to have legal same-sex marriage, and also one of the few to really have a progressive gay rights policy. That said many gay activists say that there is a prevalent belief in this country that homosexuality is wrong and that there are therefore only very few churches that are prepared to officiate over same-sex ceremonies.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Many same-sex couples say those who are against their unions for religious purposes are missing the point. They say the issue is not about religion, but equality.

You know, school is back, or it's almost back, and so are those concerns about cyber bullying. We're going to find out the latest technology aimed at helping parents keep their kids safe.

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KEILAR: Well, you know, since kids are heading back to school we thought it would be a really good time to discuss the dangerous trend of cyber bullying. And what can be done to protect kids online, and also on their phones? So to help us with the discussion we brought in two experts. We have Bill Bennett, he is the former education secretary and a CNN political contributor. He's also an adviser and investor in a parental Internet monitoring service called MouseMail. And then Les Ottolenghi is the CEO of Fuzebox Incorporated. It is widely considered a technology visionary. You are, not the company. You are and let's begin, though, with Bill Bennett first.

You know, Bill, this is so serious. This is a subject that really hits a place in your heart. We have seen kids kill themselves over cyber bullying. Parents still don't know really what goes on in their child's lives, either online or on their cell phones. And you say it's the beginning of a new year, let's start talking about this, for either the first time or let's do a refresher for this on kids, right?

BILL BENNETT, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, that's exactly right, Brianna. Thanks for the introduction. Yeah, there's the problem of cyber bullying. There's the problem of inappropriate, obnoxious testing. There are things called sexting where people send pictures of themselves. And now we've seen a whole industry develop out of that, pornographers are getting in on this.

It's back-to-school time, it's the right time to talk about this. Parents will be buying cell phones for their kids, smartphones. There's a way now to prevent these kinds of messages from getting through to kids. And let me just say something about the schools. Because the schools, when I talked about this on my radio show, Brianna, the teachers and principals called and said, if we could somehow prevent the texting from going on all day, whether it's obnoxious or not, the texting interferes with the capacity of teachers to teach, and kids to learn.

So that's another thing we want to be able to do, and this technology that Les can tell you about and this product can certainly help. But this problem, this issue has gotten very serious. Parents want to protect their children, there's now a way to do it.

KEILAR: That's right, and the whole issue here, Les, is that technology is being used perhaps to victimize children, but you work with this kind of technology that can actually be used to protect children. You're on the board of a company that makes this product called MouseMail. What is it?

LES OTTOLENGHI, FUZEBOX INCORPORATED: That's right. It is about protection. But it's also about prevention and parenting. And MouseMail does all three of those things. So, I can simply take a portable computer, and I can quickly log on and register my child and protect them immediately. Give them an e-mail account and actually integrate that e-mail account with their other e-mail accounts. Like Yahoo!, Google or Microsoft. And immediately they're protected by MouseMail.

KEILAR: So what happens if you're a parent? What kind of feedback are you getting? Say like as if I am the child, I'm getting some e-mails, maybe some of them are improper, what is going to be flagged here? Is it bad words? Is it if it's from a certain person that you don't want me talking to? How does it work?

OTTOLENGHI: It's all of those things. In fact, it's about how you filter the bad words, images and inappropriate messages. There's a dictionary in mouse mail that automatically catches those bad words, images and inappropriate messages. And the parent can set up rules to add new words and alert the parent if something's going wrong.

KEILAR: So what's the cost here?

OTTOLENGHI: The cost is 43 cents a day. That's very little to protect your child from what now is sexual predators. Actually even hate groups trying to solicit kids online and as well as what Dr. Bennett said, sex texting and inappropriate behavior and language being used.

KEILAR: Nine bucks a month, right?

OTTOLENGHI: About $9 to $12 a month.

KEILAR: So what if you don't have nine bucks a month? What about parents who that's not really affordable for them but they want protection for their kids, too?

OTTOLENGHI: Certainly. Parent company Safe Communications has dedicated itself to an education program. We're just starting that with MouseMail and we're adding it on to what is called Cool You for older children and teenagers. That's a full educational program that we're putting online in the next six months to enable parents to know what to do online.

So if their child is online in a place they shouldn't be, they can counsel their children, this is the appropriate behavior. And, as well, what groups to hang out with and what friends to make. And so they know the right type of communications and when to reach out for help to their parent.

KEILAR: And Bill, you know, some people might argue that this is kind of intrusive. I know it's not spyware because this doesn't allow a parent to look at everything that a child is doing. But some might say it's kind of akin to that. So what do you say to them? And how do parents need to communicate with their child so their child doesn't just feel like they're being spied on?

BENNETT: Exactly right, Brianna. It is not spyware. And as Les said, it begins with a conversation with the child. Parent says I'm going to buy you this cell phone, it's a smartphone, it's going to work for you. I want to be able to get in touch with you. You also will be able to talk to your friends on this and you'll be able to text your friends. But I'm also going to protect you. And when things come through that aren't supposed to get to you, they are not going to get to you.

Meanwhile, you carry on your conversations in your texts of an appropriate nature with your friends and I don't know what the content of those are. That's entirely up to you. But when this dictionary kicks in, when some predator tries to get in, when there's somebody trying to send a message that shouldn't be sent to your child, it never gets to the child. It's blocked, it's kept from getting to the child. That gives the child the opportunity to carry on these conversations, have his life, the parent is not spying on it, but the parent is doing his job or her job in protecting the child and the parent, by the way, gets peace of mind that they don't always get from modern technology.

KEILAR: And I guess it's so important, Les and Bill, for parents just to say I'm watching you and I am involved. So thank you to both of us, very important topic to consider as we get back into the school year.

Now coming up next, new worries about some bad weather for the Gulf. We have details straight ahead.

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KEILAR: All right. We're still keeping an eye on the remnants of tropical depression five. It might not be finished just yet. And Jacqui Jeras, you have more on this. Tropical depression five, it doesn't even have a name, and yet, how frustrating for a lot of people who are looking at this weather.

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KEILAR: Oshkosh, Wisconsin, it's a small town that hosts one of the world's largest air shows. And the week-long event brings a tremendous amount of business to the local economy. How helpful is that? Just ask anyone there.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, which is the aviation home of the world for one week out of the year. It's EAA air venture. It's a big air show and a lot more. And it attracts more than 500,000 people and more than 10,000 airplanes.

MAYOR PAUL ESSLINGER, OSHKOSH: It's virtually impossible to get a hotel room in Oshkosh for this week.

BRIAN WOGERNESE, PRESIDENT, WHC COMPANIES: We are fully booked every year, there's a waiting list to get in. And we did come here because of the air show, but there has to be other business that does support us during the rest of the year also.

DICK KNAPINSKI, SPOKESMAN, EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSN: There's more than $110 million of economic impact for the state of Wisconsin because of this event.

ADA THIMKE, OWNER: Our special today is the chorizo. This is the oldest Mexican restaurant in Oshkosh. The first year that we experienced the air show, business was fabulous and we were able to grow from a 50-seat restaurant and expand to 148 seats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have folks from around the world come to the small Midwest community where people are friendly.

JOSHUA MURPHY, FOOD WORKER: I'm stirring up the pork, making sure it's not too dry. It was hard for me to find jobs lately with everything the way it is. I came here, they welcome you with open arms. And I'm very thankful for it. We're glad this show is here because if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have a job either.

STEVEN GABELBAUER, DUBLIN'S IRISH PUB: Most of our part-timers are working full-time this week. And some of our full-timers are putting in a little extra overtime.

MURPHY: The money I'm making from this job, I'm going to be using for textbooks for school and part of tuition.

WOGERNESE: We are providing jobs because of the air show. Our restaurant is called the Vintage Grill. We had to add 40 temporary staff to that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a huge, huge boost for the city of Oshkosh and for people to get money in their pockets.

THIMKE: I think we're very lucky to have an air show here.

WOGERNESE: it does get a little noisy.

KNAPINSKI: Oshkosh is the place each year.

GABELBAUER: We got a little Cessna going by.

KNAPINSKI: Wait, that's an F-18.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's just something that everybody's gotten used to because you actually miss it once it's gone.

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KEILAR: I'm Brianna Keilar, and Don Lemon is up next.