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Home Invasion Murder; Drill Reaches Chilean Miners; Faux Newsmen, Real Rallies; CNN Equals Politics Update; What's Hot; Living In Poverty

Aired September 17, 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. Thanks for joining us. I'm Don Lemon. Tony is off today.

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

A woman's last moments alive captured on a bank surveillance camera. What happened to her and her family next is a horrific story at the center of a court case happening right now.

Living in poverty. You have seen the numbers. Today we're bringing you the faces behind those numbers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I live on approximately $5,000 a year. Sometimes I have to skip a meal to make sure I can save the money so that my son Brian (ph) has what he needs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: You are online right now, and we are, too. Ines Ferre is following "What's Hot."

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, this is from CNN.com. You thought unicorns were from fairytales. Scientists confirm the sighting of a rare animal sometimes known as an Asian unicorn. Here it is.

Also, Lady Gaga picking up the phone and calling up senators. She even recorded this message for Congress. I'll tell you about this later -- Don.

LEMON: More on all those stories coming up.

Thank you, Ines.

Straight to our top story right now. Jurors get a break today after seeing horrific crime scene photographs from a deadly home invasion in Connecticut. One of the two suspects is on trial.

Photographs of a doctor's wife and two daughters raped, murdered, and torched bodies brought most of the jurors to tears. Now, new evidence also shows tape of the mother in a bank, and our Randi Kaye has that part of the story for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're watching a wife and mother in a desperate attempt to save her family. This newly- released bank surveillance video shows Jennifer Hawke-Petit, 9:17 a.m., withdrawing $15,000 from her bank in the small town of Cheshire, Connecticut.

It was a Monday morning, July 23, 2007. About three miles away, something awful, something truly sinister was happening inside her home.

Her husband, William, was bound and gagged, and along with her two daughters, Haley and Michaela, was being held hostage. Their mom hoped the $15,000 would be enough to convince the two men who allegedly broke into her home the night before, to spare her family's lives.

At the bank she reaches out for help but has to be discrete, because one of the two alleged kidnappers was just outside. The bank manager quietly calls 911.

9:21 a.m., Cheshire police first learn of the home invasion and hostage situation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and children are being held at their house. The people are in a car outside the bank. She is getting $15,000, that if the police are told, they will kill the children and the husband. She is petrified.

KAYE: Minutes later, she leaves the bank with the ransom money.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They told her they wouldn't hurt anybody if she got back there with the money. She believes them. I think she's walking out now. She's walking out now.

KAYE: 9:26 a.m., Hawke-Petit gets into her car along with suspect Steven Hayes. The bank manager describes the vehicle to police. Officers are dispatched to the house to set up a perimeter.

9:27 a.m., a police captain tells officers not to approach the house. Almost 30 minutes go by. Still, not a single officer approaches the Petit home. No other authorities are alerted. Not the fire department, not state police.

In court, police testified that was protocol. In a hostage situation, they said, they don't storm the house. Adding they had no reason to believe anyone was in immediate danger.

At 9:54 a.m., a police dispatch. Dr. William Petit, who would turn out to be the only survivor of this horrific crime, was in the yard calling for help. He was bleeding badly from his head, his ankles still tied. (on camera): By now, nearly 40 minutes had passed since the bank manager had warned Cheshire police about the nightmare scenario unfolding in the family's home. Forty minutes.

Police would soon learn that Jennifer Hawke-Petit had been strangled. She and one of her daughters, sexually assaulted.

(voice-over): In chilling testimony, Dr. Petit described how he had been beaten with a baseball bat, then tied to a pole in the basement. He said the suspects yelled to him, quote, "Don't worry. It's all going to be over in a couple of minutes." And it was.

Dr. Petit managed to free himself through a basement door, but minutes later the house was on fire. His wife and two daughters dead.

Hayes has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and murder. Around 10 a.m., the suspects race out of the driveway in the family's SUV. As smoke billows from the back of the home, the suspects slam into police cruisers. Only then do officers realize the situation has much more urgent than they had thought.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Boy, that is a frightening story. Many are accusing the police, though, of responding too slowly to the invasion report.

Our Anderson Cooper discussed it with our senior analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, and law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE BROOKS, "IN SESSION" LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Right from the time of the 911 call from the bank teller, telling 911 that, hey, this woman is here, she's in our bank, she says that they've been very nice, that if they give them the money, that they'll go away. From the time of that call to the time police were able to get a perimeter set up around that neighborhood, and -- but they actually also had someone outside with eyes on the house, trying to find out what's going on inside.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "AC 360": And they said there was nothing unusual that they could see from the outside going on.

BROOKS: Exactly. From the information they had to work with, from Mrs. Petit, and their procedure that I think they were following, because you don't want to go rush right in. You know, they don't know what the situation's going on inside that house. It could have made things even worse.

COOPER: It's sort of damned if you do, damned if you don't. Had they rushed in and something bad happened, the police would be blamed. I hate to second guess police in something like this, but I mean, it just it's the worst -- it's sort of a nightmare scenario, someone invading your home. It just seems so horrific that it can actually happen, and it's a bizarre strategy by the defense. They're blaming the police.

Even if they had made a mistake, their client still allegedly committed the crime.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: You know, we've all covered a lot of crimes, and I remember vividly when this happened in Connecticut thinking, this is the worst. This is the single worst crime I have ever encountered, at least in the United States. And in terms of this defense strategy, the answer is, so what?

If the police made a mistake, so what? How does that help the defense?

I think the approach here and look, the defense lawyers have to say something, is simply to throw things against the wall, try to blame someone else, try to complicate the story, try to deflect attention. I don't think it's going to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Boy, it is Friday, and you think it would be a slow day going into the weekend, but it is not. This just into CNN.

We're talking about those 33 Chilean miners that have been trapped underground since August 5th. We're getting new information, and CNN's Patrick Oppmann joins us now from Copiapo in Chile to tell us what's going on.

This is hopeful, right, Patrick?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN ALL-PLATFORM JOURNALIST: Very hopeful. Truly a remarkable development. The Plan B drilling team that had made some good progress in the beginning but had really been sidelined lately with technical problems, broke through to the miners, drilling several hundred meters in the space of about 24 hours.

Now, we have to caution that what they'll do now is put a wider drill bit to continue to expand this hole to the point that they'll actually be able to rescue the miners. But this is the first time that a drill bit has reached the miners.

And the amazing thing about this, too, is that the miners aided in this last operation. Before the drill bit could eventually reach about 623 meters, they were encountering some difficulty, hitting some very hard rock. One of the drillers, Brandon Fisher (ph), the leader of the Plan B drill team, a Pennsylvanian who is assisting with this drilling effort, he said that the miners were sent to the hole that was being drilled, and underneath were able to put pieces of wood up to see how far that bit was from the workshop they were drilling to.

What this drill does essentially is widen a drill -- a hole that had already been drilled down to the mine. It's widening it to the point -- about 28 inches to that point where the miners will eventually be able to be rescued through it.

It's now widened to about 12 inches, a very significant development. It's going to take several more weeks to widen to the point they'll be able to rescue those miners, but we're learning today that finally a drill bit has reached those trapped men after 40-plus days in the mine.

LEMON: All right. You're saying again, several more weeks. It had been said that it may not be until November, until Christmas, Patrick, that they were able to reach these men.

What are they, like, a mile and a half below the surface? And they're saying possibly a week? That has to be good news for the family and for the men, but I'm sure they just don't want to raise any false expectation there, as well.

OPPMANN: Well, a surprising development. It will probably be several more weeks before they have it wide enough to actually be able to put the men through it. Then begins the process of preparing that hole now to pull the men out.

It's not going to be something that will be done in a day. It will take quite a bit of time. They have to put a cage down and pull the men out one at a time. But an important development today as a drill bit finally reaches those trapped miners, giving those men some hope and probably changing the timeline yet.

But, again, this happened quite suddenly this morning, that we got news on it. So I think the timeline will be shifting. They're not out yet, but sooner, perhaps, than we expected.

LEMON: Patrick Oppmann joining us from Chile.

And it is just in. This is developing news, and it's good news. This is the kind of news we like, especially on a Friday, going into the weekend. And I'm sure the families of men who are trapped a mile and a half, really, below the surface in that mine in Chile -- they have been able to get a borehole that's been able to reach them. And as Patrick said, they're going to try to make it bigger so they can get those men out, and they say it's going to be a couple of weeks.

So, hopefully, fingers crossed, it will be before either Thanksgiving or Christmas that those men are free from below ground. We'll keep you updated on that.

The White House says it is stepping up to protect your financial interests, and Elizabeth Warren is the new sheriff in town.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. A new ice cream joint opens its doors. It is our "Random Moment of the Day."

It's called Creme De Cana. It specializes in marijuana-filled ice cream. You heard me, it specializes in marijuana-filled ice cream. It's probably good, because you get to eat at the same time as you have the munchies, right? The shop offers flavors like Banabus Foster (ph), Strawmerry Cheesecake (ph), and Triple Chocolate Brownie. The owner says most customers come back for seconds, thirds, even fourths. And I'm sure fifths and sixths, as well.

The ice cream, at $15 a half a pint, is for people who would rather eat their medical marijuana than smoke it. Perfectly legal, though, in California. We should tell you, it is legal there.

A Friday "Random Moment" for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know, she is an outspoken advocate for consumers, and next hour, the president appoints Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren to a very powerful new position. Warren will help create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The agency's role is to help you avoid fraud and hidden fees in everything from mortgages to credit cards to student loans.

Warren says, "The time for hiding tricks and traps in the fine print is over." Hear more from the so-called new sheriff tonight. She's going to be on "JOHN KING USA." Elizabeth Warren. "JOHN KING USA," tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

It's going to be very interesting. Make sure you tune in.

Let's talk more about the new Consumer Protection Bureau. It is the centerpiece of financial reform that followed the economic meltdown.

Ines Ferre has more on how the agency is supposed to help protect your money -- Ines.

FERRE: And Don, one of the goals of this new agency is to really avoid another subprime meltdown. And what it really is, is a watchdog, an independent watchdog over credit cards, mortgages, short- term loans known as payday loans, and some other financial products.

Now, what it does is it establishes new rules for consumer protections over products and financial services products. And it can enforce these rules and improve data collection on how these products are being used.

Now, this agency is a centralized agency. That means the idea is that it can act faster. It doesn't have to wait for Congress to pass laws to protect them from bad practices. And also, they're planning to establish a national hotline.

It would be a toll free 1-800 number where you could report problems with any financial services that you have. You can report problems, complaints, ask questions. A new hotline coming -- Don.

LEMON: Ines Ferre, thank you very much.

I want to tell you that President Obama announces the appointment of Elizabeth Warren today, 1:30 p.m. Eastern. Not very long from now, 1:30 p.m. Eastern. My colleague T.J. Holmes will be here. He will be shepherding that coverage for you, 10:30 a.m. Pacific. And you can see the announcement live, of course, during the CNN NEWSROOM.

Stick around. It's going to be interesting.

A powerful storm moving quickly through New York City yesterday, rush hour. Dense population, big storm, not a good combination. It left quite a mess in its wake.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's talk some politics, shall we?

Religious conservatives are opening a big political talk-fest in Washington today. As a matter of fact, right now. It's called the Value Voters Summit.

The event is in its fifth year and draws presidential wannabes, along with the GOP's rising stars. Delaware Senate nominee and Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell has been invited to speak today after her surprise win on Tuesday. Also speaking today, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: The government doesn't create wealth. The government doesn't create money. We do. We're the ones who do.

But they're busy trying to be our banker, they're busy trying to be our mortgage broker, they're busy trying to be our financial services broker, our car dealer, our doctor. They are living off of our money. And you see, the Tea Party, like the great founders of our country, believes that governments are instituted among men like our declaration says, and derive their just powers from us, the consent of the governed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. We're going to follow that. And as a matter of fact, they're on a lunch break at that Values Voters Summit, or we would bring you there live. But stick around in the CNN NEWSROOM.

There we go. There's the empty room, of course. They're eating lunch, so they're not there. But a lot of high-profile Republicans and, as we say, rising stars in the GOP ranks speaking there, appearing there, attending the Value Voters Summit.

So stick around in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll follow that for you.

You know, they make fun of the news -- this is different politics -- the people who make it and those who report it. But Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are getting serious. Well, we think, at least. They're calling their fans to march on Washington on October 30th. Their dueling rallies are a counter to a recent event held by conservatives. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, "THE DAILY SHOW": Tonight I announce the Rally to Restore Sanity.

(APPLAUSE)

STEWART: It is happening, people! It is happening! It is happening! A real gathering!

We will gather! We will gather on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., a million moderate march, where we take to the streets to send a message to our leaders and our national media that says we are here! We're only here, though, until 6:00 because we have a sitter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, "THE COLBERT REPORT": Ladies and gentlemen, it is on, October 30th, on the Mall, because now is not the time to take it down a notch. Now is the time for all good men to freak out for freedom!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So let's bring in CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser to talk about the rising influence of really -- Paul, we're talking about political outsiders. Some people may say, oh, this is a joke, and wonder, you know, if it's real or not.

But I have to tell you this -- as we were playing that clip earlier, just a second ago with Stephen Colbert and with Jon Stewart, every young person in this studio turned to look at the monitor. And that says a lot about their power and what's going on out there.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You're absolutely right, Don. A lot of younger voters -- let's talk about voters -- get their news from Jon Stewart or Colbert, rather than from cable news networks or more traditional newscasts.

And a Pew poll a couple of years ago, I think in 2007, had Stewart right up there. I think he was in fourth place, tied for four with a lot of traditional anchors. So it has become a place for people to get their news.

And we're all talking about it. Listen, we're talking about it right now on TV right now.

It's also -- Dave Jenkins (ph), if you can just take a look at this, CNNPolitics.com -- it's a big story on our Web site, as well, Don. And let's talk about the timing of this rally, October 30th. That's the Saturday, the weekend before the midterm elections -- Don.

LEMON: OK. Listen, I want to show you this. We have a cover of "New York" magazine which Jon Stewart was on. I was in New York the other day and saw them on the stands and said, "Wow, look at that. Very interesting."

"The Jon Stewart Decade" it's called. Inside, it says, "America is a joke." And it talks about Jon Stewart's power, it goes behind the scenes of "The Daily Show."

This is really -- he is really a political force in a way, without really trying to be one, I would imagine. So the question is about these outsiders -- you know, the beginning of the Tea Party, should we not underestimate what's going to happen here? Can this turn into something real?

STEINHAUSER: Yes, don't underestimate it at all. Nowadays, when it's so easy for anybody to make headlines and it's so easy for anybody to get their message out, yes, outsiders in a way become very powerful. Look, some top politicians now go on the Colbert show and on the Stewart show, as well as the more traditional newscasts --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And I have to say, Paul, in the beginning of the Tea Party, what some people called the movement, when the Tea Party started up, a lot of people underestimated the Tea Party. And look at what has happened just in recent days with that election. STEINHAUSER: The Tea Party movement is just a little over a year and a half old and has become a major, major power player in the Republican primaries this year. And you're right, we have seen some big upsets by candidates backed by the Tea Party movement.

And Don, I've said this before. It's almost like the tail wagging the dog. It's the grassroots, it's the outsiders now having almost as much influence, if not more in some cases, than the establishment parties.

LEMON: Paul Steinhauser, tongue-in-cheek, but I think it's going to turn into something much bigger. Thank you, Paul.

STEINHAUSER: Thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

LEMON: Criminals in Mexico exploiting young women and girls, and forcing them to become sex workers right here on this side of the border.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Criminals in Mexico are making money from smuggling and prostitution, preying on young women and girls, then forcing them into the sex trade in the United States.

CNN's Rafael Romo shows us one alleged plot and one teenager's shocking story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He name is Amalor Cortez Mesa (ph). The 36-year-old Mexican national is charged with involvement in a prostitution ring based in the Atlanta area that victimized women and girls smuggled from Mexico, some as young as 14.

BROCK NICHOLSON, ICE SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: They were brought in with romantic promise, with job promises, young girls from a certain state of Mexico. Brought up, smuggled in, immediately forced into prostitution.

ROMO: Immigration and Customs Enforcement Special Agent Brock Nicholson says four members of the same family were involved in the prostitution ring.

Twenty-seven-year-old Otto Jaime Alerio Sperez (ph), who has admitted one count of providing false information, drove victims to several secret locations in the Atlanta area, forcing them to see multiple clients per day. They were kept locked up in several houses.

NICHOLSON: The houses had bars on the windows, locks on the outside of the door. We find 11 additional victims ranging in age from 14 to 28. All confirmed victims, all have been trafficked for the purpose of prostitution.

ROMO: This case offers a glimpse into how these rings operate.

AMB. LUIS COEBACA, U.S. STATE DEPT.: There's a lot of word of mouth. And a lot of the word of mouth actually comes with these little business cards that often have something very innocuous on them that you only would know it's a business card for a prostitution ring if someone had whispered it to you.

ROMO: As a former prosecutor, Luis Coebaca says the level of cruelty of these prostitution rings is hard to imagine.

COEBACA: We have situations in the United States, cases that I have worked on when I was with the Justice Department involving women who had to service up to 50 customers a day. Just a crushing amount of what in effect is a daily set of rapes.

ROMO: We found the Mexican woman who was only 15 years old when she became a victim. Her boyfriend in Mexico promised a good life in the United States and smuggled her through the border. Once here, she was forced into prostitution. She agreed to talk to us on the condition that we protect her identity.

"CLAUDIA", FORCED INTO SEX TRADE (via on-screen translation): The first time I had to sleep (INAUIDBLE) then 25, and it kept on going up. I ended up sleeping with as many as 60 men in one day.

ROMO (voice-over): Claudia, not her real name, describes to us a world of abuse and beatings, drugs, forced sex, and sleepless nights with strangers.

"CLAUDIA": There were girls my age who couldn't take the abuse. They were forced to take drugs like cocaine and marijuana so that they could work longer. We were all about the same age: 15, 16, 18. A lot of men would come looking for girls our age, so they kept us very busy.

ROMO: Mia Hasec is a social worker who works with law enforcement agencies to rescue victims of human trafficking who come from all over the world.

(on camera): It must be really difficult for you to see the situation in which some of these victims come to you.

MAYA HASEC, SOCIAL WORKER: It's very difficult to see them in this situation, specifically sexual exploitation, and more so seeing minors go through this and knowing that their lives are never going to be the same, and they're going to be scarred forever.

ROMO: What is the greatest challenge that you guys face when you're trying to help a victim in this situation?

HASEC: The greatest challenge that we have is getting the victim to actually admit that they are a victim. They have been brainwashed by the traffickers for so long, and told that the trafficker is the only person that they can trust.

ROMO: And back to the suspects in the Atlanta case, Salvatore Cortez Mesa and the others accused of human trafficking, have pled not guilty. Their trial is due to begin in November.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Rafael, thank you very much.

More than ever before, students are leaving college with a diploma, and a mountain of debt, though.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Terri McMillan's latest novel "Getting To Happy" is already heading to the big screen. But that is no surprise, since three of her bestselling books have been adapted into films, including -- remember this one - "Waiting to Exhale"? Big hit. The 1995 movie follows four African-American women and their relationships with men.

And now, almost two decades later, McMillan revisits the lives of these same women in "Getting To Happy." And our Fredricka Whitfield asked the author, if something happened in her life, or the lives of these characters to prompt her to write a sequel. Here's a preview of that interview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TERRI MCMILLAN, AUTHOR, "GETTING TO HAPPY": I had no intention of writing a sequel to "Waiting to Exhale." But after my divorce, I was really bitter and angry. You know, when you have been deceived, when you have been lied to, and someone that you trusted -- I don't care who they are -- when it happens, you don't care. You just are angry. And it was wearing me out, and I didn't like the person that I had become.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting, because you -- you talk about you were -- you were in a place. You were upset. Your husband wasn't what you thought he was.

MCMILLIAN: No.

WHITFIELD: Why is it you made a decision, I'm going to do a continuation of these women's lives as opposed to write specifically about what happened to me?

MCMILLIAN: I started meeting a lot of other women who, in my age group, mid 40s to late 50s, who were just sad. Some of whom had never been married, some never had children. Some suffered from the empty nest syndrome. Some were just lonely. And a lot of them seemed to be disappointed with how their lives had turned out.

And so, in trying to explore what it might take for us to get back to happy, I just came up with four different scenarios that I know a lot of women have to deal with. I realized that I had already told a story with four protagonists, female protagonists. And then I realized that those women were the perfect candidates for this story.

WHITFIELD: Bernadine, Gloria, Savannah and Robin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITNEY HOUSTON (acting): And then, I did it. I closed my eyes. And I -- exhaled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Very nice. Okay. Don't hold your breath, but McMillan talks more about the book. Her emotional rollercoaster after discovering her husband was gay. The bitter divorce, and how she got to happy, as she says. Fredricka Whitfield's extensive interview next week in our "What Matters" segment, and Fred always does great interviews, so you want to watch that.

To read more of what matters to all of us, make sure you pick up the latest issue of "Essence" magazine on newsstands right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Best place to check information on money, stock market, anything you want to know about business, whatever it is you want to know that has to do with money, CNNmoney.com.

Of course, the big story, a housing rebound. Question mark. It would be great if it said "a housing rebound." But it says a housing rebound, it's a question, yes, it's possible. Let's hope it's possible, let's hope it's happening, really soon.

Let's check the markets real quickly. The NASDAQ up 12 points, Dow up 9 points-plus territory. That is good. Of course, the market still trading above 10,000.

I want to get now to New York and talk to our Stephanie Elam. She is going to be talking about this. Students are taking on more debt than ever to cover the skyrocketing cost of college, and it's really adding up. Stephanie Elam joins us from New York.

Stephanie, student loan debt hit a new milestone to go to college. Oh, yes, how long ago was that for us, right? It was for me.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNNMONEY.COM: It was a minute ago -- no, for me, too. For me, too. I keep looking at it and I'm like, it seems like it was yesterday, but actually, it was a lot of yesterdays ago, Don.

But for a lot of people who are dealing with their student loans, it's making it seem like college was maybe a long time ago, but a painful time ago, because student loan debt has hit a record high, and it now exceeds credit card debt in this country. So, student debt now stands at -- take a look at this -- $850 billion, according to financial aid Web site finaid.org. Total credit card debt is about $828 billion.

So, what's behind this trend? For one thing, people are cutting back on credit card use. We have been hearing about that all year, right, Don? It's falling for 23 months in a row, people are like, "I don't know what's going on with the economy, I'm not going to just bank on money being there, I'm going pay for things straight out." And at the same time, college costs are rising, about five percent a year, and that means more borrowing. That's why students are racking up loan debt at a rate of more than $2,800 a second. Imagine just looking at that by second.

Now, you might think -- this is going to freak out a lot of students. That's actually not really what we found out when we talked to some students here in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think when I become successful, I'll be able to pay them off. But I'm -- I mean, it's always a little worrying that you have this massive debt on you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully I can get a nice job that I can pay it off in time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With what I'm in loans, I need to have, like, a very well-paying job by the time I'm, you know, in my mid 20s to start paying it back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know that my job prospects of graduation are much higher, so the price will hopefully be worth it.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ELAM: So, they always say you make more money if you go to college, right? But here's the thing. Jobs are not as easy to come by these days. So, more students are having trouble paying off their debt. The default rate on federal student loans recently hit seven percent, and that's the highest since 1997, Don.

LEMON: That's a lot of money. I know -- some of my friends, the overachievers, the ones who became attorneys and doctors and what have you, still paying off those loans. So, what do we do now in this day and age, Stephanie, to students aren't paying off these loans for years and years?

ELAM: I know. It's long after they're out of school and they're still thinking about it. But experts suggest a couple things.

First of all, if you're going to borrow, look at federal aid first. Stafford and Plus loans are cheaper and more available than private student loans. The second thing you want to do, don't borrow more money for your entire education than you expect your starting salary will be. That means you've got to research what your chosen field might pay, and make sure you apply for grants and scholarships. Hello, that's free money, because you know, they just give it to you. They say you qualify. So, you definitely want to look into that.

Of course, check out CNNmoney.com because they have this online calculator, and it can really help you determine how quickly you can pay off those student loans. It looks just like this, you can find it on CNNmoney.com, Don, to help everybody out there who may be going back to school and thinking, "Oh, boy, what am I going to do when these loans come due?"

LEMON: Stephanie Elam. By the way, how is the little one doing?

ELAM: She is fantastic. She smiles all the time.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Thank you. Congratulations, by the way.

ELAM: Sure. Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Thank you.

You know, Mexico's east coast is getting slammed by Hurricane Karl, and we'll get the latest on the powerful storm as it moves ashore.

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LEMON: It is time for your top stories right now on CNN.

On day two of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Britain, five men are in custody in London on suspicion of terror charges. CNN has learned there is no evidence of a terror plot or threat against the pontiff.

Hurricane Karl is starting to make landfall on the Mexican coast. The storm is packing powerful winds and a dangerous storm surge. Potentially deadly rain is in the forecast as Karl moves ashore. We'll keep an eye on that one for you.

New revelations in yesterday's shooting at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. One of the gunman's relatives says he was upset over what he thought was a botched surgery on his mother. The gunman wounded a doctor before killing his mother and then himself.

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LEMON: All right. It's time right now for your "CNN Equals Politics" update. Mark Preston, the best political team on television, joins us now from D.C.

Working hard there, Mark. What's crossing right now?

MARK PRESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, let me tell you. What will she do? Will she run? Will she not run? Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican will lost her primary bid, will make a decision tonight. Will she run as an independent. She has a lot of money, Don, and she could run as an independent as a write-in candidate. I will tell you, establishment Republicans here in Washington, D.C., do not want her to run. They're now getting behind the Tea Party candidate in that race. So Lisa Murkowski, we'll know in a few hours what her political plans are.

Let me just put you over here, demystify television a little bit for you, Don, or for our viewers. Look at this right here. This is a live feed of the Value Voters Summit. It's coming into CNN. This is our camera. There's nobody in that room. But at 2:00 this afternoon, they're going to come back in after lunch and you're going to be able to watch that live here on cnn.com. If you go to cnnpolitics.com, click on the link at 2:00, you'll be able to see the likes of Rick Santorum (ph) and also Tea Party leaders talking about the future of the Republican Party and talking about the election. So you've got to multi-task on that one.

And let's close it with this, right here. Who are these two men? Stewart, Colbert, what are they doing? Well, Don, they're coming to Washington, D.C. They're going to march on Washington right before the election. A lot going on, on this election day.

I'll tell you, I've got one more thing for you, Don. It just came across my Blackberry right here. There's been a lot of discussion about what Jerry Brown and Bill Clinton, could they ever get back together? They have been arguing a little bit. Well, Bill Clinton is going to head out to California. They've just put out a news release, Jerry Brown's campaign, to campaign for Jerry Brown for governor. We'll soon see them together. Of course there was that spat this past week, a lot of bad blood or was some past bad blood. These two gentlemen ran against each other, as our viewers known, for president in 1992.

Don.

LEMON: Nice job, Mr. Mark Preston. Thank you, sir. Your next political update coming up in one hour here on CNN. For the latest political news, make sure you go to cnnpolitics.com. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK. So we're going to talk about "What's Hot" right now. I'm checking my Twitter feed madly because I want to know if Lady Gaga tweets with Harry Reid. I mean, come on, she can -- she can tweet with Don Lemon. Come on.

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And she's recorded messages to Congress. And this one is on YouTube. She recorded this message about "don't ask, don't tell." She's called up senators. In fact, she's telling people to call up the senators themselves. And she actually called up the two senators from where she's from. So take a listen to this message.

LEMON: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mailbox belonging to Senator (INAUDIBLE) office, is full. Goodbye.

LADY GAGA: I have called both of the senators that operate in my district. I will not stop calling until I reach them and I can leave them this message. I am a constituent of the senator. My name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, also known as Lady Gaga. I'm calling to ask the senator to vote with Senator's Harry Reid and Carl Levin to repeal "don't ask, don't tell."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And she is a big supporter of gay rights. I was watching the VMAs the other night and she actually went with some service members who had been discharged under "don't ask, don't tell."

FERRE: That's right. That's right.

So -- and we want to show you these other two things which -- this one's from Harrisburg University. They actually have banned social media for one week, Don.

LEMON: Oh, really?

FERRE: Banning social media just to see how social media, you know, what it does to students if they don't have it. And they're a science and technology school.

And also, Netiquette. This is from cnn.com. All those like annoying little signs that people right, like, lol, omg. So I just want to show you, I actually asked -- on FaceBook I asked people to put which ones they didn't like and these ones were the ones that some people said. "Personally I hate lol. I never use it."

"All of them, ttyl."

LEMON: Oh.

FERRE: Yes.

LEMON: Yes. Well, you know what, I was just wondering, too, you know, what's the correct age to stop using emoticons? If you ever figure that, answer that for me.

We're back in a moment. Thank you, Ines.

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LEMON: Here's what a new report shows. It found one in six Americans living in poverty. That's nearly 44 million people. It is the highest number in 51 years. The census report says children are suffering the most, one in five are living in poverty. But the numbers don't give us the entire story. A face behind the statistics. Poppy Harlow spoke with a Brooklyn woman who is fighting to get out of poverty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: President Obama said today, the number of people living in America in poverty is unacceptably high.

ANN VALDEZ, LIVING IN POVERTY: This is true. Poverty is really very serious. It's very demoralizing. It's made to feel demoralizing, hurtful. There's so much going on, and there's no jobs available. No one wants to live the way we have to live.

HARLOW: How do you get by every day, Ann? I mean what do you live on?

VALDEZ: I live on approximately $5,000 a year. Sometimes I have to skip a meal to make sure I can save the money so that my son, Brian, has what he needs. And if it wasn't for my sister, my son would not have half of his school supplies or any of his clothing for school.

HARLOW: Joseph, how has it been for you? Do you feel like you grew up in poverty?

JOSEPH VALDEZ, ANN'S SON: Yes. But I wasn't deprived a good childhood. So I'm very happy. It doesn't matter where you come from. If you have a good childhood, money isn't an issue.

A. VALDEZ: I gave everything I can to my children. If I had to go without, it's OK, as long as my children had.

HARLOW: If you could have one message to send to the people watching, what would it be?

A. VALDEZ: My message would be, never judge a book by its cover, never make assumptions, come outside, meet the people in your community where you live, meet the people in the communities where you work and meet the people in the communities where you represent.

HARLOW: See the face of poverty.

A. VALDEZ: See the face of poverty.

(END VIDEOTAPE) LEMON: You know, Ann has been out of work since 2005. Her unemployment benefits ran out four years ago. And even though she has two years of college, she hasn't been able to find work.

The CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with T.J. Holmes. He's in for Ali Velshi. And T.J., someone just asked me, Did you guys coordinate our outfits? We didn't; we're going to confuse the viewers, even more than we do already.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Don, let's just be honest, we did. We did coordinate.

LEMON: Don't tell anybody.

HOLMES: Appreciate you, as always, buddy.