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New Sex Allegations Against Pastor; GOP Puts it in Writing; Diabetes Drug Decision; The E-Books Revolution According to Stephen King; Doctor Detectives; CNN Equals Politics, What's Hot; Chilean Miners Awaiting Rescue

Aired September 23, 2010 - 12:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Tony is off today.

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

House Republicans are taking the pledge. Will it impact who you vote for in November? That's the big question.

And e-books appear to be the future of publishing. Author Stephen King tells us why he was one of first to embrace this new technology.

And you're online right now. We are, too. Josh Levs is following "What's Hot."

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Don.

A top-level guerrilla leader killed in Colombia. The president calling it historic. We have all the details for you at CNN.com.

LEMON: That is "What's Hot." We'll be following that with Josh Levs.

Now, let's get started now with our lead story.

This was supposed to be the day that megachurch pastor Bishop Eddie Long broke his silence. Instead, he has backed out of an interview and a news conference, and there are new allegations right now against him. A third young man is now suing the leader of the 25,000-member New Birth Missionary Baptist Church.

CNN's Ed Lavandera broke the story and he joins me live.

This is the first question I have to ask you. And you can see this right there. This is on Twitter. What does that say?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: "Don Lemon," where's the bishop?

LEMON: Where is the bishop. He is so transparent. I have to ask you this. He's always here when he wants to talk about something, when he wants to promote something. His PR people call us. His church members call us. And now that people want to hear from him, it appears to the public that he'd hiding.

Where is the bishop?

LAVANDERA: There's no question. I don't know where he is right now, but we were supposed to hear from him this morning on the "Tom Joyner Radio Show." He was supposed to call in. Our colleague, CNN's Roland Martin, was supposed to speak with him this morning. It turned out that his attorney says he told him, "Don't do the interview."

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: He was supposed to go on Tom Joyner's morning show, and he and Roland and Tom were supposed to interview him. And here's what Tom Joyner has said on his blog. I'm going to read this to you.

He said -- Joyner said -- this was after the interview, where Long was supposed to attend and the attorney went on. He said, he would be immediately -- Tom is saying, "I would be immediately making radio appearances to try to clear my name." "I would have beat me to work," Joyner said. "I would have been in my radio studio before I got there," meaning trying to clear his name.

So, is --

LAVANDERA: And I've gotten a lot of messages like that over the last couple of days. And yesterday, when I was asked this question, we were able to say later in the day, look, he's planning to do this interview, the "Tom Joyner Radio Show." Obviously a relatively friendly venue.

And then he was supposed to also, later in the day today, come out and make a public statement, just read a statement, not take any questions, but at least appear on camera. We haven't seen him in a couple of days. And this is a man who is seen everywhere.

LEMON: And here's -- we're going to get to the third person. We're also hearing from B.J. Bernstein, from radio interviews that she did with Frank Ski I heard yesterday morning. They are vetting other stories from other young men as well.

LAVANDERA: Right. She told us that as well.

LEMON: But speaking to PR people -- and we know the American people are very forgiving. If you come out and say -- even if you say -- you know, innocent until proven guilty, whatever part of it. Hey, listen, if you come out and you're honest and you're transparent with the American people, usually they will forgive you for whatever if you've done something wrong. And if you haven't, then you have nothing to worry about.

Here's what he is losing the opportunity to do the longer he doesn't talk. He's losing the opportunity to say, I've already answered those questions, and to move on by not coming out an speaking, because people are going to be asking and asking and asking until he answers.

LAVANDERA: Oh, there's no question. Real quick, we do know that he's planning on speaking publicly from the pulpit on Sunday.

LEMON: That's a controlled venue. I'm talking about answering the tough questions -- yes.

LAVANDERA: For sure. Questions are another thing. But we'll hear from him in a couple of days.

And then the other thing is, all we've gotten so far is a statement that his attorney says that he wrote, and he talked about that on the show -- on the "Tom Joyner Radio Show." We can listen to a little bit of what Bishop Eddie Long's attorney -- the statement that he read from the bishop this morning on that radio show.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CRAIG GILLEN, ATTORNEY FOR BISHOP EDDIE LONG: "I have been through storms and my faith, as always, sustained me. I am anxious to respond directly to these false allegations, and I will do so. However, my lawyers counsel patience at this time."

"Let me be clear. The charges against me and New Birth are false. I have devoted my life to helping others, and these false allegations hurt me deeply. But my faith is strong and the truth will emerge."

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: Why couldn't the bishop say that?

LAVANDERA: That's -- you know, that's -- I think that's a fair question. I mean, it's not one that I can answer, but I think it's -- and we're hearing it repeatedly from a lot of people. You know, he has got a lot of defenders in his church.

I was told that the way this statement, when he read it on camera, was supposed to happen today, was going to include having a lot of supporters behind him. So we need to be clear. He still has a great deal of support.

However, there's also a great deal of people who go to this church -- we've spoken with them -- who also say, look, I want to believe he's telling the truth, but I need to see more and I want to hear from him directly. So we've heard that from his church members as well.

LEMON: Yes. Again, as we were saying, these are just allegations. But the more you don't talk -- and it happened with Tiger Woods. It happens with everyone. The longer you sort of hide as people think, then they think you have something to hide. And like, what's going on? LAVANDERA: And initially, Roland Martin started off the interview this morning on the radio show with that very point. He's like, "If these guys were saying this about me," Roland said, "I'd be on top of a mountaintop screaming my head off if it wasn't true."

LEMON: But you don't have to say it's easy when it's not happening to you. That's easier to say.

LAVANDERA: Well, of course.

LEMON: And someone who's in the public eye, things are said about you that aren't true, and there's no way to defend them. And sometimes when you talk about them, just saying this just to be honest, you give them more play than they deserve.

LAVANDERA: I also want to pass along, too, that his attorneys said, look, if you want to blame somebody, the attorneys asking, blame me, I'm the one that kept him off the radio show this morning.

LEMON: You know what I don't understand? What people are saying this morning about -- there were two interviews. There was one on the "Tom Joyner Radio Show" and there was one on Frank Ski. We had Frank Ski booked, and he said his bosses told him that he can't talk anymore.

Is that -- the attorney is, by going on those shows and saying that, it doesn't look good. People are saying he didn't even know what time church service was on Sunday. Why didn't -- and this is the thing -- why didn't they press him harder?

And that's what I mean, going to a journalist who is going to ask the tough questions, and not doing the cliche thing and thinking you're going to go somewhere and have the softball interview and it's going to be over. That's not going to happen. Deal with it, and then move on and get it behind you.

LAVANDERA: Right.

LEMON: Yes. Sorry. On my little high horse here -- but again --

LAVANDERA: Got me on the hot seat.

LEMON: As we said, innocent until proven guilty. By the way, you're doing a great job on this story.

LAVANDERA: Thanks.

LEMON: And we'll see where it goes.

Again, we're hearing from B.J. Bernstein. She's vetting other people, and there's a third young man --

LAVANDERA: Three as of now.

LEMON: -- who filed yesterday. Thank you. LAVANDERA: We'll keep tabs on that.

LEMON: Thank you very much, Ed Lavandera. Appreciate it.

LAVANDERA: Thanks.

LEMON: Watch for him throughout the day here on CNN.

In the meantime, Republicans are outlining their plans for governing if they take control of the House in November. A "Pledge to America" focuses broadly on jobs, spending and taxes.

The pledge spells out many of the same themes Newt Gingrich put in the Republicans' 1994 Contract with America. Remember that? That was ahead of the GOP's takeover in 1995.

Our Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash in Sterling, Virginia, where GOP lawmakers unveiled the pledge today.

And Dana, is there anything new here? You've been speaking to John Boehner, I think exclusively today, about this very subject.

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, a lot of what -- if people look at this, a lot of what they see is not going to be new to them. Big picture, the Republicans are saying that they are going to try to cut spending, they're going to try to make the tax cuts permanent. They want to repeal the president's health care plan.

The reason why they say they this, they did this, is because they understand that as much as their campaign is against Democrats and trying to get the Democrats out of power, they understand that the Republican brand is damaged as well. So what they're trying to do is give that voter who goes into the voting booth and says, I really don't want the Democrat, but I'm not so sure about the Republicans either, a little bit of a sense that they actually get it, that Republicans have changed their ways from back when they were potentially spending too much.

But the other thing that there really is in here is a lot of bones, so to speak, to those Tea Party voters who say too much spending and that Congress itself needs to be reformed. I want to give you some of those examples.

In this they say that they will have weekly votes on spending cuts. They will cut Congress' budget. They'll also have a net hiring freeze on non-security federal employees. And they pledge to have a vote on every regulation, federal regulation costing more than $100 million.

But despite what's in here, we are already hearing from some people that, you know what? Maybe it's not really specific enough. They pledge to cut spending, pledge to reduce spending back to the levels before the stimulus plan and before the bailout. But they don't say exactly how they're going to do it.

So, when I did speak just recently exclusively with John Boehner, who hopes to be Speaker, I asked him that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: You talk about the rebellion out there. Part of what those rebellious voters want to know is, they want you to be specific, because as you probably know, as you know, they maybe aren't that enamored of the Democrats, but they don't trust you as a Republican.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: That's why we've outlined clearly in our pledge what we would and would not do. And I think when it comes to spending, we've been very specific about commonsense steps that we can do to get government --

BASH: Give me one example.

BOEHNER: How about the unspent stimulus money? Let's stop it. Let's stop it and bring it back.

How about all the TARP funds? No more bailouts, no more using this money for unintended purposes. There's $700 billion right there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So he was talking about unspent money that he would put back into the Treasury. What I was trying to get at is what he would do to cut the spending of the federal government that is already gone, that has already been spent. Didn't get much there.

But one other thing I wanted to tell you about, Don, and that is that I asked him about his relationship with the president and the fact that they don't really have a relationship, and he said something interesting. He said, "Look, we're disagree. We're not especially close. But I suspect in the coming months we're going to have the opportunity to get a lot closer."

I asked him if he thinks today, 40 days out, if he thinks he will be the Speaker of the House. He said, "That's our goal, but we've got a lot of work to do."

Don.

LEMON: Dana Bash in Sterling, Virginia. You can see she is at Tart Lumber, standing right out front.

Thank you, Dana Bash. Appreciate your reporting.

BASH: Thank you.

LEMON: A popular diabetes drug linked to concerns about heart problems. And we'll tell you what the FDA decided about Avandia.

First, though, our "Random Moment" in 80 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Parking ticket chill. You'll see why I'm doing this in a second. It's our "Random Moment of the Day."

Cambridge, Massachusetts, hopes its newly-designed parking tickets are as soothing as a beach sunset. They show yoga positions.

The tickets aren't calming some Cambridge residents, though. They're freaking people out. One woman says she's more ticked off now about the waste than the parking ticket.

Your "Random Moment" for a Thursday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Within the last hour you saw just a short time ago I announced this breaking news here on CNN. The FDA says its decision -- has had its decision on the fate of the diabetes drug Avandia. The agency will allow Avandia to stay on the market. It will stay on the market, but it is imposing tight restrictions on its use.

Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us.

Elizabeth, what's the latest on this? Strict restrictions probably for those who can't really control it.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting what this means. And let me back up for a second, because I think a lot of people are unfamiliar with the story. It's been a while.

Avandia came out 11 years ago, and everybody was excited about this wonder drug for diabetes. But then studies said it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. And then there was a lot of concern about it, obviously.

So, what the FDA has done today is they said to doctors, look, doctors, if you want to prescribe this drug, you're going to have to document that nothing else works. And for a doctor to do that is a ton of work. And historically, when they've done this with other drugs, the sales plummet. So doctors are going to have to document that this is the only drug and that it's worth of risk of having a heart attack or a stroke.

Now, let me talk about what GSK has to say, because they put out a press release. And GlaxoSmithKline says, "The company continues to believe that Avandia is an important treatment for patients with type 2 diabetes."

LEMON: So that's not -- that's why, don't take it off the market if they think it's so dangerous, because they believe that it works for some patients?

COHEN: Well, the FDA had people testifying. Patients came to the FDA and said, please don't take away our Avandia. But I've talked to many doctors who say, look, if Avandia works for them, something else will work for them, too, without that kind of risk.

LEMON: That's what I was going to ask you. COHEN: Right.

LEMON: What about the alternatives? Because I'm sure now if you go into a doctor's office and you're reading about Avandia, you're going to be, like, I'm not sure if I'm going to take it, yes.

COHEN: Yes, maybe not. Yes. We have actually written a whole column about this, a whole "Empowered Patient" column.

If you go to CNNHealth.com you'll see it. There are plenty of alternatives. Doctors I've talked to said you should have an alternative. If you'll go there you can read more about them.

LEMON: Fascinating. Fascinating. Thank you so much for coming in to tell us this.

COHEN: OK. Thanks.

LEMON: Elizabeth Cohen.

And something else we're going to be talking about, the high cost -- and you know about this -- of health care. Even with health care reform, you could see your premiums and your co-pays go up. We're going to explain that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Health care reform was supposed to bring costs down, but your insurance premiums probably won't be falling anytime soon. Why is that?

Stephanie Elam from the New York Stock Exchange.

So, Stephanie, why are costs still rising?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is one that everyone is going to be paying attention to, Don. And really, what we're talking about here are these new provisions that go in effect today. And they're costing insurance companies more.

So what's going to happen? Well, most of them are going to pass those increases on to us.

So let's run through a few of the major changes.

For one thing, children are now covered for pre-existing conditions. Also, no lifetime limits on coverage. And children can be covered on a parents' plan until the age of 26. The idea to get them through college there and still have insurance coverage.

But those new benefits are going to cost you. And human resources consultant Mercer says on average, employers expect health care costs to rise nearly six percent per employee next year, in line with what we've been seeing for the last few years. But the companies surveyed say more than two percent of the latest increases directly tied to those new health care provisions. How much your actual plan goes up is actually going to depend on what your coverage was before health reform. But in general, Mercer says you can expect to see higher co-pays, higher deductibles, and premiums next year if you get insurance through your job like most of us do here in America.

Now, if you get it privately, here's the thing, you're probably going to be slapped with even higher premium hikes there. We're talking about double-digit increases in some states. But regulators are watching carefully to make sure insurance companies aren't taking advantage of this change here and using the health care reform as an excuse for unjustified rate hikes -- Don.

LEMON: All right. So when are we going to see then the costs stop skyrocketing? Like, just, when?

ELAM: That's the point. Right? That's what everyone wants. Like, the whole idea behind this is to get our costs in control. Right?

Well, a recent government report finds it will be at least five years before health care spending starts to slow down. It predicts we'll see a spike this year, through 2014, as most uninsured people have to get access to care.

Then spending growth will slow slightly from 2015 through 2019. The hope is that long term, a bigger pool of insured customers will help lessen the pressure on premiums by spreading out all of that risk. Whether that happens remains to be seen.

Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY GELLERT, CEO, HEALTH NET: Health care reform has provided benefits to some people who are vulnerable. There's no question of that.

The real question is, as we implement it over time, is the cost. Because if it leads to making it less affordable for other people presently covered, we'll have vulnerable people there, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELAM: Now, according to the Obama administration, they're saying health reform is already starting to lower costs for some people. For example, they say seniors enrolled in private insurance plans through Medicare will see average premiums fall next year. This week, we also saw Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina refunding $155 million in premiums to some customers as a result of changes from health car reform.

So, as you've probably gathered about this one, Don, the whole debate about health reform and how it's going to affect our costs for Americans, it's not done being argued. And I don't expect it will be done for several years. LEMON: Stephanie Elam, thank you very much.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Florida Governor Charlie Crist has ordered the state to stop enforcing a ban on adoption by gay and lesbian parents. A state appeals court has ruled the law unconstitutional because it singles out all homosexuals as unfit parents.

Florida is the only state with a blanket ban on adoption by gays and lesbians. The case is likely headed to the state Supreme Court.

Martin Gill and his partner, well, they brought this case so they could adopt -- they wanted to adopt their two foster children that they have been parenting now for five years. Martin Gill joins me now from Miami.

Thanks for joining us, sir.

MARTIN GILL, PLAINTIFF/FOSTER PARENT: Good morning, Don.

LEMON: Good morning.

They have 30 days. The Department of Children and Family Services has 30 days to decide on an appeal.

Does this feel like a victory to you right now, or are you just sort of waiting to see what's going to happen next?

GILL: Absolutely. It's a huge victory.

We're still kind of trying to determine exactly what it means, but basically it's a huge step in the right direction. And after careful consultation with our lawyers today and yesterday, they've determined basically that within 15 days, any gay or lesbian can potentially adopt children in this state.

LEMON: And he said -- the governor said he wasn't going to stop it. So if they start the process -- one wonders if they start the process within 30 days, if that can be reversed. It was sort of the same situation when it came to Prop 8 out in California.

Is that a concern for you?

GILL: Well, at this point, I can't say it's not a concern, because this is Florida. And having fought this battle for five years, you know, you never really are that comfortable here, I think.

But Governor Charlie Crist has reached out to us. And he says that he would like to have that discussion with us. And after careful consultation with our lawyers, we are going to ask him not to go for a further appeal. And according to our lawyers, and even the state's lawyers, at that point our decision will basically strike down the ban, and anybody in any district in Florida will be able to adopt. LEMON: How are your kids?

GILL: They're doing great. They're doing great.

LEMON: Are they old enough -- they're not old enough to really understand what's going on, right?

GILL: Well, parts of it they do, I think. I certainly tried to explain it to them when we were first going to court, when it first all became public.

I was explaining it to them that, you know, "You're going to take on my last name and you're going to be forever family, and no one can ever take you away." You know, they really never felt at all like they could be taken from our family, because we've always given them a lot of reassurance and we've never really spoken to that effect. And certainly we've treated them just as we would treat our own biological child.

LEMON: Yes. And Martin Gill, those are the magic words, "forever family."

We want to thank you for joining us here on CNN. OK? Best of luck.

GILL: All right. Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you.

Digital or print? Which one? Sales of e-readers have e-books outselling hard covers on Amazon. And hear what author Stephen King is saying about the threat to the printed page.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Let's check your money right now and let's check CNNMoney.com.

You can see the big story on CNNMoney.com, "$700 billion Too Much but $3 trillion OK?" The president and John Boehner both agree on something. They agree to extending the tax cuts for the middle class despite the $3 trillion tab.

Nasdaq up 13 points and the Dow is down at this moment 151.

Let's talk about those e-books. As a matter of fact, I read them right here on my iPad. You can read them on a Kindle, or what have you. Amazon sells more electronic books than hardcovers, and the next generation of video books, well, it's nearing a release.

Alana Cho talks to author Stephen King about the e-book movement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "The Shining," "Misery," "Carrie." The mere mention of Stephen King's titles evokes fear.

(on camera): Do people ever say to you when they meet you, you know, you know I thought maybe I might be scared of you? All the time, right?

STEPHEN KING, BEST-SELLING AUTHOR: Sure. A lot of people think they're scared of me but I'm civilized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay right here please.

CHO (voice-over): The best-selling author built a career on frightening people for the written word. He sees things in ways others don't. So years before most authors even thought about e- books, King published a novella online. It shocked the industry. And got him a lot of attention.

KING: I got on the cover of "Time" magazine and for once in my life, I got noticed by the guys in the suits and ties. They would say, how did that work? How did that sell? They were fascinated by the business aspect.

CHO: That was a decade ago. Today, the e-book industry is on fire. Amazon is selling more e-books than hard covers making up more than 8 percent of publishing revenue, up from 3 percent a year ago. On track to hit 50 percent by 2015. Some studies show when people own e-book readers like Kindles and Ipads they buy more and read more, the future. But does it mean the death of traditional books?

(on camera): The internet in many ways killed the music industry. So why won't it do that to books?

KING: Well, I'm not sure that it won't. The book is not the important part. The book is the delivery system. The important part is the story and the talent.

CHO (voice-over): Content, pardon the pun, is King.

(on camera) Well I feel like there are twice as many people working here than a month ago.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are.

CHO (voice-over): Jane Freedman won Harper Collins. Today she is the CEO of Open Road Integrated Media, a company that publishes, you guessed it, e-books. Open Road is also among those adding video to e-books by authors like Pat Conroy who wrote "The Prince Of Tides."

PAT CONROY, AUTHOR: Do not be afraid of critics, other writers to write something so bold.

CHO: Hoping to enhance the e-book experience.

JANE FRIEDMAN, CEO, OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED MEDIA: I actually was very involved in starting the audio book business and we have people said why would I listen to a book? I like to turn the pages. The e- book is just another format. CHO: Why King reads both books and e-books.

(on camera): Do you go back and read your own books?

KING: Very rarely. I know how they come out. Books will always exist. Will they be what they are now? Absolutely they will not.

CHO (on camera): Does that make you sad?

KING: Oh, man. Does that make me sad? If I say yes, everybody will understand that. The answer is the future is going to be what the future is going to be.

CHO (voice-over): With one potential drawback.

KING: If you drop a book in the toilet, you can fish it out and dry it off and read it. If you drop your Kindle in the toilet, you're done.

CHO: Think e-books are a fad, think again. How about a library with no books? One library at the University of Texas at San Antonio has no physical books, none at all. Its entire collection of 425,000 volumes and 18,000 journal articles is available only online.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Thanks, Alina.

Highly skilled doctor detectives race to save a little girl's life. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with them as they battle medical mysteries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Two families struggling to save loved ones suffering devastating medical mysteries. Six-year-old Kiley endures debilitating twitches and tremors. Fifty-three-year-old Sally has a mysterious disease causing her muscles to grow out of control.

Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with their doctor detectives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At 53 years old, Sally Massagee was physically ripped.

SALLY MASSAGEE, UNDIAGNOSED DISEASES PROGRAM PATIENT: Everybody assumed I spent a whole lot of time in the gym.

GUPTA: But Sally didn't lift weights. In fact, whatever was causing her body to bulk up uncontrollably was also taking away her ability to live her life. MASSAGEE: It was very frustrating. I was losing the ability to do the things I loved to do. It became increasingly difficult just to walk. At some point I knew if it continued it would kill me.

GUPTA: She'd seen countless medical specialists. No one had an explanation. That's why Dr. William Gahl and his team of world-class specialists at the Undiagnosed Diseases Program was trying to solve the mystery.

(on camera): This is super impressive. You really see a cleavage right in the middle of her back, because those muscles are so -- so big.

(voice-over): Dr. William Gahl is the program's lead investigator.

(on camera): When you see these pictures, I mean they are pretty incredible. Did you think steroids?

DR. WILLIAM GAHL, DIRECTOR, NIH UNDIAGNOSED DISEASE PROGRAM: Sure. We pretty much all thought it, except that the letter said she's not taking steroids, she's not taking anything anabolic, and she did weight lift a little bit but many years before. So there's no possible effect of that.

So the endocrinologist had eliminated all those things that we would naturally think about.

GAHL: You know what? When she falls asleep she tightens up some.

GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Gahl and the UDP see only the rarest cases.

GAHL: There's still a fair amount of rigidity.

GUPTA: Not only do they want to save lives, but they also want to advance science by identifying new diseases.

GAHL: Bottom line, the bones are not involved, it's not acromegaly. It's just confined to the muscle. What in the world could this be?

GUPTA: During a week of intense tests, there are scans, blood work, an examination of everything going on inside Sally's body.

(on camera): So this is Sally's MRI of the brain. That's pretty incredible.

GAHL: When the images were found, it was seen that the muscles, even the muscles that govern the movements of the eye, which are really small muscles, are huge. The neuro-radiologist saw this and sort of went wild over this. He says look at the size of those. They're three to four times bigger.

GUPTA: They've probably really, truly never seen anything quite like this.

GAHL: Right. Because there's no way to make those muscles big by, like, moving your eyes a lot; it's not like lifting weights, so why would they be that big?

GUPTA (voice-over): It's a clue. It suggests something inside the muscle itself. So the UDP team took a sample.

(on camera): You took some muscle from her arm.

GAHL: Right. And really this was one of those, sort of judgment decisions, because she had had a muscle biopsy one year before that was read as normal. So we weren't like 99 percent sure we should do this. We were like 70, 80 percent sure.

GUPTA (voice-over): In five days, the tests are complete. Sally is sent home to North Carolina but no diagnosis. Not yet.

In fact, Gahl and his team treat their patients like a crime scene. They collect all the evidence they can find and then try to make sense of it.

GAHL: We do like, sort of detective work, but remember, a lot of the detective work takes place after the patients have gone.

GUPTA: But that decision, to take the sample of muscle tissue from Sally's bicep, in time that will prove to be a key part of this puzzle.

At midweek for 5-year-old Kylie, her body has only given up a few small clues. But the specialists are eliminating possible causes by finding what is working normally.

(on camera): So this is the right side of her brain, and this is the left side of her brain. It's the right side of her body that's affected, so you would expect to see changes on the left side of her brain.

DR. CAMILO TORO, NEUROLOGIST: I think things are structurally pretty normal, so it's some sort of wiring problem that's not visible.

GUPTA (voice-over): An electro-encephalogram, or EEG, shows Kylie's brain is symmetrical, which is positive news. But there are these spikes of activity.

TORO: Very, very asymmetrical.

GUPTA: They could point to epilepsia partialis continua (ph). That's a rare brain disorder that affects the brain's motor strength (ph). However, that would only explain Kylie's symptoms, not what's causing them.

TORO: We're understanding the phenomena but we don't really have a full understanding of the underlying mechanisms that work (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, this will help it not hurt. GUPTA: By Friday the tests are complete. Now Dr. Gahl and his team are planning what they're going to tell Kylie's parents.

Waiting in another room, Kylie's mom and dad are anxious, hopeful.

GINA MCPEAK, KYLIE'S MOTHER: They might have some things back from that, so it's exciting and I'm nervous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we want to document that for her.

GUPTA: But the doctors have no diagnosis.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're working all sorts of thing that have yet to come back for us to consider.

GUPTA: Instead they explain how the results will guide their investigation.

GAHL: We continue to work together on this.

GUPTA: For Kylie's mom and dad, Gina and Steven, the emotional toll of the week is just so overwhelming.

GAHL: We don't consider this to be a final diagnosis. The parents are really having sort of a tough time. And this is quite typical for this program.

G. MCPEAK: It was just I think too much for me at that exact moment, so --

S. MCPEAK: It scared me because I didn't want it to be the end.

GUPTA: For the next several months, the UDP team will chase every clue, hoping it leads them to a prime suspect. What is killing Kylie and how to stop it?

S. MCPEAK: Maybe someday we'll get that phone call: "Hey, we think we might know what it is."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: That was CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

You know, all year on CNN, we have been introducing you to some truly remarkable people. We call them CNN Heroes. They are everyday folks who are changing the world, like the doctors you saw there. Today, in about 40 minutes at 1:00 Eastern, Anderson Cooper will introduce this year's top ten CNN Heroes at CNN.com. Be sure you log on and vote for the CNN Hero who inspires you the most.

Donald Trump in "THE SITUATION ROOM." He tells Wolf Blitzer President Oama is in political quicksand? A "CNN Equals Politics" update, moments away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Time right now for your "CNN Equals Politics" update. Senior political editor Mark Preston with "The Best Political Team On Television" joins me now from Washington.

I'm so excited, I could barely get it out, Mark. What's crossing right now? I'm sure you're excited, too.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: I'll tell you, these updates every -- on the 45s certainly give you the best in the political news.

Very quickly, up in Delaware right now, Christine O'Donnell, who seems to be the Republican favorite. People love to see what she's doing. What's going to happen to her? Well, we have a new CNN/"Time"/Opinion Research Corporation poll. It doesn't spell good news for her, Don. It shows that she's down 16 points to the Democratic nominee Chris Coons. What's interesting about this, had she lost, had the establishment candidate won, Mike Castle, he would have been up 18 points. A lot of Republicans here in town who wanted that establishment candidate to win privately saying to themselves, we told you so.

Moving on. What is The Donald saying right now about President Obama? Well, he doesn't have very good things to say right now, Don. He's saying that President Obama probably is going to have a tough re- election. Not surprising right now given the state of the economy. But this is what he told our own Wolf Blitzer yesterday. "I don't know if he's ever going to recover. I look at him as the president that is really in trouble." He goes on to say that he sees a lot of animosity and a level of hatred that he has never ever seen before. I should note that Donald Trump did endorse John McCain, Don, back in the 2008 presidential election.

And let's close it out with this right here. Stephen Colbert. We already know he's coming to Washington for that big rally, that "March to Keep Fear Alive" rally on October 3rd. Well, guess what? He's going to be here tomorrow. He's testifying before a House judiciary subcommittee. He's going to be talking about the issue of immigration. In fact, Colbert spent the day working as an immigrant farmer up in New York state. Not quite sure what he's going to say tomorrow or if he's going to be in character. We're trying to get those answers right now from the House Judiciary Committee. But Stephen Colbert on Capitol Hill tomorrow talking about that very, very thorny issue of immigration.

Don.

LEMON: Every -- news on the 45s. Politics on the 45s. Is that what you said? That's like you give us 22 minutes, we'll give you the world. You give us 45 minutes, we'll give you the world of politics. What do you think of that, Mark?

PRESTON: I like it. Give me 45 seconds, I'll give you the world.

LEMON: Of politics.

PRESTON: Of politics.

LEMON: Mark Preston, thank you.

PRESTON: Thanks.

LEMON: Your next political update coming up in an hour here on CNN, at 45, as Mark said. For the latest political news, go to cnnpolitics.com.

"Sesame Street's" Elmo plays dress-up with pop singer Katy Perry, and parents say no way. Josh Levs explains "What's Hot" on the Internet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. So, OK, you know, video goes -- a new video goes viral. It happens all the time, Josh Levs. And a "Sesame Street" video is yanked off YouTube. Josh is here to tell us "What's Hot."

Hey, listen, I'm going to cover up my e-mail there, but check this out. This was this weekend here on CNN. Look who I'm hanging out with, Elmo.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE).

LEMON: And that's what this is about, right?

LEVS: This is actually -- well, it's about Elmo, but it's not about a picture like that. No, this is completely innocent. No, no one would have any trouble with that.

Here's the thing. They pulled this video. It went up on YouTube and before it ever went on TV they pulled it. Let's just go right to it. It's Katy Perry playing around with Elmo. And, you know, I just think it's completely fine. Like most parents that I've talked to think it's completely fine and have no trouble with it. But apparently there are some parents -- we (INAUDIBLE) drop the banner for certain shots, but some parents looked at this and said, too much cleavage and he runs around the bottom of her skirt and they thought it got a little too racy for "Sesame Street."

So there are parents who point -- now some people are defending it. Say, wait a second, have you ever seen The Little Mermaid, have you ever seen Princess Jasmine? I mean The Little Mermaid wears this tiny little bikini. But apparently some people thought that this was a little too racy.

So not only did they pull it, but we have a statement from "Sesame Street" about this. The Universe (ph) Sesame Workshop said in a statement -- they said, "we use parodies and celebrity segments to interest adults in the show because we know that a child learns best when co-viewing with a parent or caregiver. We also value our viewer's opinions and particularly those of parents. In light of the feedback, we have decided we will not air the segment on the television broadcast of "Sesame Street, which is aimed at preschoolers." And a representative for Katy Perry said, hey, she really enjoyed working with "Sesame Street" and playing up in this dress-up kind of thing and she had a good time anyway.

But, yes, a little controversy there.

LEMON: What can be -- how can you be upset about that? Elmo is innocent. Totally innocent. It's about kids. I love Elmo and I love Cookie Monster. I love all the "Sesame Street" characters.

LEVS: And it's still up at katyperry.com. We can roll out here on a video that's totally not controversial at all. The hot new video from OK Go. Let's just show that and we'll go out on that.

LEMON: OK Go.

LEVS: Because you know, OK Go, these are the guys that pioneered the awesome treadmill video and then they had that really cool video with the giant rogover (ph) machine. Now it's all about the little puppy dog. Check him out. This is that there youtube.com/okgo. You can see it on their page. They spent weeks and weeks training all these animals. The animals do some amazing stunts.

LEMON: All right.

LEVS: All of it up there. No one talking about pulling that from anywhere.

LEMON: All right. Very interesting.

LEVS: It is hot.

LEMON: It is hot. That's "What's Hot." We're back in a moment here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, this is break news into CNN. And, pardon me, we're just getting it in here. This is from our national correspondent, Susan Candiotti. Of course she's in New York. It says a Nicaraguan diplomat based in New York has been found dead with his throat slashed today in his apartment in the Bronx. This is according to the New York Police Department, a deputy commissioner there, Paul Brown.

They're saying that his driver discovered the body of the diplomat who is now being identified pending notification of his family. A knife was found and recovered at the scene. That's according to the spokesperson. He said it was too early in the investigation to classify the death as a murder or a suicide. It's not yet known. The victim was found at his home, which is on the Grand Concourse, by, again, the consuls (ph) driver, and they may have been picking him up at the time to take him to a meeting with his delegation, which is attending the United Nations General Assembly.

More to come here on CNN. A Nicaraguan diplomat based in New York found dead with his throat slashed in his Bronx apartment this morning, according to the New York City Police Department. In the meantime, I want to take you to Chile and talk about those 33 Chilean miners. They have been trapped underground since August 3rd. Rescuers are working to save them, of course. And CNN's Karl Penhaul shows us how they are helping themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new dawn breaks, 33 miners face another day trapped half a mile deep. Rescue workers say the men never lost their notion of time.

MIGUEL FORTT, CHILE RESCUE COORDINATOR (through translator): The miners have cell phones so they had a calendar. They knew perfectly what day it was and what time it was. The only thing they didn't know was what the weather was like.

PENHAUL: It's 8:00 a.m. on the surface. Far underground, day shift is starting. They're working to help rescue themselves. There are three shifts, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. to midnight. And midnight till 8:00 a.m.

FORTT: They have eight hours of rest, another eight-hour work shift, and eight hours to play games, read, write letters, jog or have a walk, because they have access to about two and a half kilometers of tunnels.

PENHAUL: Time is marked by meals sent down in metal tubes rescuers call carrier pigeons. Nurse Mabel Rios is supervising.

MABEL RIOS, NURSE, (through translator): About 7:45 we send them breakfast. At 10:00 a.m. a milk shake. At 12:00 we send them lunch. At 4:00 p.m. another milk shake. At around 7:00 p.m. we send them their dinner.

PENHAUL: First job of the day, check air quality. By midday, paramedic Johnny Barrios has checked all the miner's vital signs and sent the data to doctors above.

FORTT: They have to do blood and urine tests and check if there's any skin infection.

PENHAUL: Around the clock, miners help the rescue effort, clearing debris from the drills now boring an escape shaft. At 4:00 p.m., dayshift ends. Miners play games, listen to music and workout on the orders of a personal trainer far above.

FORTT: Usually the truck operators are quite fat because they're sitting down all day. They have a personal trainer to help them cut down their waistline so they can fit in the rescue capsule.

PENHAUL: Work or rest, the miners spend their day wandering up and down between the workshop, refuge or camp.

For the fourteen smokers, it's a long hike to light up. Each has a ration of 11 cigarettes a day.