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Bishop Long Speaks Out on Sex Scandal; Pentagon Burns 10K Copies of Book; Nickelodeon's Going Dark

Aired September 26, 2010 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A look at the headlines in the NEWSROOM.

Bishop Eddie Long speaks. He says he'll fight lawsuits saying he coerced young men into having sex.

A memoir the Defense Department doesn't want you to read. It has destroyed thousands of copies. We'll talk to the author of "Operation Dark Heart."

And did you have trouble watching Nickelodeon yesterday? Well, that was the idea. The children's network going dark long enough for you and your kids to go out and play. We'll tell you why.

Our top story, Bishop Eddie Long is speaking out about the sex scandal that's enveloped his Atlanta area mega church. Today for the first time in days, Long addressed the allegations of sex with young men from the pulpit. He said while he's never professed to be a perfect man, he spoke he's not the man that's being portrayed on television.

After the church service, Long spoke to reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BISHOP EDDIE LONG, NEW BIRTH MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: I just want to take this moment to address you again as the advice of counsel, I am not going to address the allegations and the attack that's been levied upon me at this moment because, again, as I stated earlier in the service, you know, I want this to be dealt in the court of justice and not by public opinion. I will say that I am going to fight, fight very vigorously against these charges. And I've been at this church for 23 years. This is the first time I realized that we are as important as we are to get this much attention. And we're going to continue as a church to do the things that we do to touch the world.

There's so many things - and I even increase my commitment to working with the youth. I've always done that. We've always done that as a church. We've always helped young men and young ladies and families and to make sure that they are able to move forward and to move into college and to do things that make them better and more productive citizens.

So the things that New Birth has stood for, the good things that we have done and we will continue to do and increase in all of that. So without violating anything that my attorney has so commissioned me and put me, instruct me, I appreciate your time. I appreciate you being here. And I thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining us now to talk more about today's developments in the sexual abuse allegations against Long, John Blake, a race and religion writer for cnn.com and also for a long time wrote for "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" and reported on Bishop Long. And Martin Savidge who has been covering the story today, this weekend. In fact, all weekend long.

Martin, you were at New Birth church today. You heard the bishop. And you also had a chance to talk to a number of other people who have turned out in great support of Bishop Long.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This was a hugely anticipated day. I mean, there's no question. You cannot overstate how important the day was for the congregation, how important the day was for Bishop Long. And the crowd began showing up hours before the first service. In fact, we saw people there at 5:30 in the morning for a service that begins at 8:00.

And you didn't see Bishop Long actually until one hour after the service began. And the place was alive. It was electric. And it was full of praise. Of course, people are there to worship, but they were also here not only to hear the word of god today, they wanted to hear the word of the man. And in this case, it was Bishop Long. He was defiant. In fact, listen to how he spoke to literally preaching to the choir and the congregation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LONG: I am not a perfect man. But this thing, I'm going to fight. And I want you to know one other thing. I feel like David against Goliath. But I've got five rocks, and I haven't thrown one yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Now, the analogy there is an interesting one. He's certainly no David. I mean, he's the leader of one of the largest churches in the country. So to comply he is the little guy going up against greater forces is perhaps a mismatch of terminologies there. But he was very eloquent at using the Bible, at stating passages and striking chords with the congregation there. We spoke to a number of people as they came out to find out if they truly believed everything they heard. Some did. Some didn't. Here's what we found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fact that he's innocent and that he didn't do anything. I believe him. And that's all that matters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been going here 11 years. And before this, you couldn't have paid me to go to a church. And since I've been in this ministry, it's a wonderful ministry. And no, I don't think he did it. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He never really said anything specific about the situation. He just said that, I guess you meet challenges in life. And you stand up to adversity. And he's basically going to stand tall. He never said he didn't do it. He never said he was guilty. He never said he was innocent. And it was pretty brief. And he just walked off from there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: And that's a message that a lot of people did pick up on is the fact that, yes, of course, early in the week, his attorneys have spoken. His spokespeople have said emphatically, they deny this. But if there was ever a time that you thought you would hear himself deny and say, I am innocent, which he did not, you think it would be before the hometown crowd. And he didn't do that.

WHITFIELD: John, you've covered him for a long time when you were at "The Atlanta Journal." Bishop Long really does kind of praise the fact that he has helped this congregation grow from 300 back in 1987 when he first joined to now 25,000. His charisma, you wrote, in a number of your articles is, in large part, why - is his charisma, in large part, why his supporters have a hard time seeing anything other than the Bishop Long that they have come to know for all these years?

JOHN BLAKE, RACE & RELIGION WRITER, CNN.COM: Well, I think it's more than charisma. I think he's done tangible things for a lot of people there. I mean, you mentioned a gentleman there who says he's never been to church before. I think Bishop Long has made it permissible for men to be masculine and to be very aggressive but yet to be Christians. A lot of churches, in a sense, have been dominated by women. I mean, women are the ones who have been the power base, who have been devoted and the leaders in church. But I think Bishop Long made it possible for men to come to church and feel good about themselves, and you can't underestimate that.

WHITFIELD: You wrote a number of articles about him in large part very flattering. It kind of told the story of what his following was all about, who he was. But as soon as you started delving into kind of the financial, I guess, history of this church, that kind of line of communication was cut off. Your access was cut off, too, wasn't it?

BLAKE: Yes. What happened when I wrote a lot of those critical articles, I got a flurry of e-mails from New Birth members who would say touch not gods anointed. That's a scripture in the old testament. I think for some New Birth members to attack Bishop Long is to attack god.

WHITFIELD: OK.

SAVIDGE: I wanted to point out something because we're sort of talking about an issue of control here. And, of course, the church is trying to control the message that comes out. And we did find today, for instance, we were not allowed to actually be - we were physically in the church, but we were not in the area where Bishop Long was speaking. We were actually in a smaller chapel, and we were watching this coming in on a closed-circuit feed. We were not allowed to go into the church. We were not allowed to talk to anybody there. But yet we were given access but we weren't given complete access. There again, there is this effort to try and restrict perhaps total access to everything while you're at the church. And that seems to be reflected in kind of when you began to investigate the story.

WHITFIELD: We have one quote, at least one quote from something you wrote with "The Atlanta Journal" a while back. We want to bring that up one more time. Michelle, do we have that? We're trying to bring that up to kind of describe, you know, how Bishop Long has, for a long time, described himself.

You wrote that "Long calls himself a spiritual daddy to literally hundreds of young men in his church. An estimated 40 percent of the members of New Birth are men, a rarity among black churches," exactly what you were touching on. "He's their pastor but also a benefactor and a buddy. Long has paid college tuition for some members, given his business suits to others and plays basketball and lifts weights with his male ministers. He's even taken some on business trips."

And we know the allegations now, some of the business trips also involve some of these four men who are alleging that they were sexual misconduct or sexual relationship between them and Long while abroad. This really did foster a great relationship that he had, as you mentioned, with a number of people in the church, primarily young men through the youth ministries.

BLAKE: Yes. I mean, he's had this relationship with men, but it's kind of a paradox because on one hand, he has this really close, intimate relationship with some members of his church. But by being a mega church pastor, he's also very remote from a lot of members.

For example, I had a buddy of mine who was a man who attended that church who was dying of cancer. He wanted to talk to Bishop Long and have this guy help him, but he couldn't get an appointment. So it's kind of like close to some members of the church, men who are leaders, but you can't just go make an appointment and see Bishop Long. I mean, it's 25,000 members. It's kind of close but kind of distant in another way.

WHITFIELD: So now as a result of even allegations, even though nothing has been proven, just merely by the fact that the allegations, might that kind of relationship be fractured?

BLAKE: That's a great question. I think the next couple weeks will tell - this goes to the heart of his image, being this kind of masculine preacher. I think you can't underestimate the type of loyalty that people have for him in that church. Like again, as I said, he is God's anointed for a lot of people in that church, for them to deserve him it's almost like, people deserving god.

WHITFIELD: And Marty, what's next?

SAVIDGE: Well, I mean, we have to stress and we cannot stress enough given all the publicity this story gets. There has been nothing proven. You have these civil suits. These are not criminal accusations that have been made here. And so there is still a great deal more evidence perhaps that the public would like to see. And I'm talking about some sort of proof of actual sexual content.

Yes, you have young men who have said this, but what real proof? A couple of photographs have appeared beyond that. There is not strong evidence. So I would think that you're going to look for a couple things. One, see if anybody else comes forward. And two, to see if there's any more evidence, whether it be text information, whether it be e-mail, some sort of communication between these young men that actually would seem to imply the charges that have been made, the accusations that have been made.

WHITFIELD: All right. CNN's Martin Savidge, thanks so much, and CNN.com's John Blake, also with "The Atlanta Journal Constitution" writing a number of articles about Bishop Long. All right. Thanks very much to both of you, gentlemen.

All right. The battle over tax cuts, a hot topic on the Sunday shows today. We'll join the debate coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Economic experts say the recession has ended. It ended in June of last year, they say, but we have a new CNN Opinion Research Corporation poll out today, and it shows that nearly three-quarters of you disagree. 74 percent say we're still in a recession. Only 25 percent side with the experts.

With Bush-era tax cuts set to expire, there's a big debate over what to do. President Obama wants to extend the cuts, but only for families making under $250,000. Republicans want to extend the cuts for everyone. GOP leaders have called for a vote before the November elections, but Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has ruled that out. A vote after the elections appears to be much more likely.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN (I), CONNECTICUT: I think when we come back in November or December, the first thing is we've got to extend these tax cuts. If we don't do anything, everybody's taxes go up in January.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Is that a possibility?

LIEBERMAN: It is a possibility. And to me, it's the surest way to send America back into a second dip of a recession which nobody wants. So we've got to find a way to break through this partisan gridlock again and come to a compromise. And my guess is that the probability is that we will extend the so-called middle-class tax cuts permanently, so to speak, and we will agree to extend the tax cuts on high-income earners for at least a year or two. I hope we can do that.

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: What it gets down to is we can count, and we know we don't have 60 votes for our tax position. We want to basically say after the election, when we still face a deadline by the end of the year, we'll take up all these tax issues. That, to me, is the only realistic way to address it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And unless Congress takes action, the tax cuts will expire December 31st.

Nearly 10,000 copies of an Army Reserve officer's memoir detailing his special ops mission in Afghanistan won't be on store shelves. They have been burned. The Pentagon bought the first editions of "Operation Dark Heart" by Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Schaffer. The Defense Department says it had to protect state secrets. Schaffer says he got the Army's approval before sending his manuscript to a publisher. Lieutenant Colonel Shaffer who was awarded a bronze star for his military service will be my guest in about 15 minutes from now to talk more about that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Here's a question for you. Can carrying a certain shopping bag, this one right here, make women feel more attractive and glamorous, even if it's empty? According to a new study, Victoria's Secret bags have some pretty amazing results for a lot of women. We'll explain all of that in the chat room when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. A moratorium that halted Israeli settle construction in the West Bank is set to expire today. Palestinian leaders say if construction resumes, they may break off Middle East peace talks. The U.S. is trying to keep both sides at the table. We'll have a report from the West Bank in the 5:00 Eastern hour.

And in Chile, excitement is growing among the families of 33 trapped miners. A rescue cage that is supposed to haul the miners to the surface has arrived several days ahead of schedule. Authorities say it will be weeks before they're actually ready to use it, but the capsule itself has become a new symbol of hope.

And it's still unclear if White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel will leave his post in the Obama administration to run for mayor of Chicago. But if he does, he may have to do it without a potentially powerful political ally. Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin declined to endorse Emanuel on CNN's "State of the Union" today.

And we always love this time, too, because it's the "Chatroom" when Jacqui Jeras and I get a chance to have a little sofa time.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes.

WHITFIELD: And talk about that fun stuff that's sort of off radar, sometimes on radar. We got to have a hodgepodge here.

JERAS: We do.

A little controversial on a couple of them today.

WHITFIELD: Beginning with?

JERAS: Well, this one's not controversial. This one I personally think is fantastic is Nickelodeon, the network, as you know, went dark yesterday for three hours.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

JERAS: Yes. And they did this because they wanted to promote getting children outside and playing. It was worldwide day of play.

WHITFIELD: Was it made really clear to people, or would people turn it off if they didn't know the promotion, turn on and see if it is , you know, dark and understand?

JERAS: Well, as you can see. That's what they did. Well, Michelle Obama, first lady, came on and she did a little spiel, I guess so -

WHITFIELD: A little diddy.

JERAS: A little diddy, saying what they were doing and why they were doing it. She did that right at noon as they went off and then they kept that slate on there. So if kids came on and turned on the TV, they saw that they were supposed to get outside and play.

WHITFIELD: It's an interesting kind of paradox when you've got a television station, a network that certainly wants to appeal to the most viewers possible, especially among the young crowd, right?

JERAS: Kids watching TV all the time.

WHITFIELD: And then instead saying don't watch right now, go out and play which a lot of kids just don't do enough of. Just get out and play.

JERAS: Right. I mean -

WHITFIELD: Throw rocks, something.

JERAS: Yes, go play. We'll call you when it's time for dinner, right?

WHITFIELD: Just don't run in the street.

JERAS: Right. But yes, people don't do that quite as much anymore, and kids do need their exercise, and they need fresh air. Kudos to Nickelodeon. I think it's great.

WHITFIELD: That's really great.

All right. Speaking of television, in a very different way, PBS program "Sesame Street." I know lots of folks have been talking and thinking about this one all week long with popular artist Katy Perry videotaping a video that would air on "Sesame Street" but not so fast.

JERAS: And there's the video.

WHITFIELD: Colorful and looking really cute and fun.

JERAS: Now, some parents have commented on her outfit that she's wearing, saying that it's a little too revealing and based upon the feedback that they received by the little clips that were released, "Sesame Street" has decided they're going to pull the video part of it.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, it is interesting because her lyrics and the imagery on her videos and even her albums doesn't necessarily say wholesome.

(CROSSTALK)

JERAS: Katy Perry. If you're looking at her video -

WHITFIELD: I don't think she'd be upset if I said that. I mean, not wholesome, come on. It is -

JERAS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: It's a bit of a quandary why -

JERAS: Why they had her on in the first place?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

JERAS: It's kind of where you were going with that one. I could tell.

WHITFIELD: I mean, she's a talented artist.

JERAS: Her songs are very popular. If you don't know who Katy Perry is, you know her "Hot and Cold," "California Girls." Daisy dukes song. And I think it appeals to a lot of young kids because it's very bubble gum-type of music. I think.

WHITFIELD: They're not paying attention to the lyrics.

JERAS: Probably not so much in that video.

WHITFIELD: All right. So even though it's not going to make it on to "Sesame Street," on the regular program, I think people have seen enough of it where they kind of thought it already made air.

JERAS: By the way, I posted it on my Facebook page. It's not on YouTube any longer. I guess it's not on "Sesame Street's" page any longer. But Katy Perry has it on her page and she also has an interview with Elmo regarding it on her page. So if you want to see more. You know, she's wearing the same outfit in both. And I tell you I saw the video and I thought, it's probably not what I would wear on "Sesame Street," but then when I saw her -

WHITFIELD: Maybe that's what you would wear when you're at the weather map.

JERAS: Whatever. But it looked much more revealing in the interview with Elmo. So when I saw her on that I'm, like, whoa! Yes. She's a very voluptuous woman. I'll just say that.

WHITFIELD: Well, I like the bright colors.

JERAS: You be the judge. Let me know. Bright colors are fun.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk about something else. Bright colors but we're talking in the form of bags. And you know what? When folks - they go to Victoria's Secret, of course, when you get a purchase, you get a bag like this.

JERAS: Right.

WHITFIELD: But apparently some ladies, according to a study, are finding some other uses in these bags even if they're not carrying their latest purchase, and it makes them feel good.

JERAS: Right. So they did this study and gave women different types of bags. And apparently after they walked around the mall for a couple of hours with the Victoria's Secret bag, they rated their feelings and their thoughts and just how they felt about themselves, much better.

WHITFIELD: Is it the color?

JERAS: Just holding it made them feel sexy.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder why.

JERAS: Well, you know, seriously, they're nice bags. They're heavy, nice bags.

WHITFIELD: Texture. Good.

JERAS: (INAUDIBLE) And I'm that environmentally friendly girl who would maybe put her lunch in this. But to be honest, I haven't done it because I might not because then anybody would know I wear sexy underwear.

(CROSSTALK)

JERAS: But apparently a lot of women like to feel that way, you know? So good for them.

WHITFIELD: It's the little secret. Victoria's Secret.

JERAS: Use it for what you want. You'll feel good about yourself apparently.

WHITFIELD: Hey, whatever makes you feel good, right?

JERAS: You know, this university, by the way, also did a study not just this one that say about the brands and influencing people and how they feel. They gave some MBA students a pen that said M.I.T. on it, and they took notes for months and they felt smarter after they used that pen for a few months.

WHITFIELD: So brands makes an impact.

JERAS: Can change the way you feel.

WHITFIELD: Makes an impact. That's interesting stuff. All right. I love that. Jacqui, thanks so much. Of course, we're going to see you a bit later because we got some nasty weather -

JERAS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Taking place in parts of the country. We'll talk about. That stuff won't make us feel so good. But for now we'll just count on the make us feel good stuff like the Victoria's Secret bags. Yes.

And eating healthy, that should make you feel good, too, especially when your kids are doing it. We're going to talk about what experts are saying about how to get kids to eat well, like it, so it doesn't feel like it's homework.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The Pentagon burned some 10,000 copies of the book "Operation Dark Heart." defense officials say they were protecting national security. It's a personal memoir from an army intelligence officer about his missions in Afghanistan. Author, Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer said the army vetted his manuscript before it was published. Lieutenant Colonel Shaffer joins us now live from D.C. Good to see you.

LT. COL. ANTHONY SCHAFFER, AUTHOR, "OPERATION DARK HEART:" Good to see you. How are you?

WHITFIELD: I'm doing pretty good. We did try to reach out to the Pentagon Department of Defense we put out calls to them to get their side of the story, and we're still waiting for that opportunity to hear their end of the story. Although there are a number of quotes we have come across, statements from various people. We'll get through that in a moment. But first of all, what was your understanding about what you were and were not allowed to publish based on your experience while in Afghanistan?

SCHAFFER: Right. The book was actually contracted with my publisher almost two years ago. And at the very point in time that this happened, I notified my army chain of command of the event, that I was going to be writing a book about my experiences in Afghanistan and sought guidance. Obviously, as an intelligence officer, I knew I had to have it vetted and reviewed.

According to my lawyer Mark Zade, the organization is which holds your security clearance is responsible for clearing your book. In this case since I'm an army reserve officer, I gave it to the army and I asked them to say, what do I do? And that process actually progressed very well. I actually hired a researcher who would assist me in finding open source information to make sure that nothing we're talking about in the book and let me be clear. There are things we left out of the book which are highly classified.

WHITFIELD: And you left out of the book because of the army or D.O.D. said leave it out? Or you're saying you did that on your own?

SCHAFFER: For the most part on my own. There's some things that the army felt that they did not want in, and I just took them out. There was no argument. If they felt it was sensitive or something couldn't be referenced properly, it's out. And that process was completed by January of this year. And from there, after I received written permission, the written documents went to the publisher, and we move forward. And I'm a public spokesman for a think tank here. I sat right in this very studio on "Larry King" and talked about the book coming out and when I was on with him discussing regarding a firing.

WHITFIELD: Once again, the written permission came from?

SCHAFFER: From the army reserve.

WHITFIELD: So when the Department of Defense -- when a Pentagon spokesperson comes out, this by April Cunningham, and says the Defense Department decided to purchase copies of the first printing because they contained information which could cause damage to national security and say the defense officials observed the destruction of approximately 9,500 copies on September 20th, your reaction to that is what?

SCHAFFER: Well, curiosity I guess in some ways by the fact that I sat through the process of going through the redactions. The army directed me after -- Department of Defense, primarily defense intelligence agency had problems with the manuscript, so I worked with the Department of Defense for two weeks going through the entire book again. The whole process was one where two different standards were used. The standard I used with the army and the standard of the D.O.D. applied were vastly different. And I think that's why you see the drama which unfolded and the interest of D.O.D. to come in and change things the way they did.

And, you know, I can't argue against D.O.D. D.O.D. has a prerogative to do this. However, I've said several times that I thought the way they looked at it was inappropriate by the fact that they didn't bother to check with the sourcing of my research assistant and everything that she did to make sure that everything was found in the open public sector in some form or the other people -- the individuals who had worked with me in the army to actually go through item by item. They had tons of questions I had to answer relating to sourcing.

WHITFIELD: Were you worried while compiling the facts, while recalling your memories of your missions while you were crafting this book? Were you worried at all or thinking about national security first and foremost?

SCHAFFER: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Or were you thinking mostly about, you know, I want to tell my story regardless of how this might impact national security?

SCHAFFER: That's a great question. Let me answer it in two parts. First, we made sure that nothing in the way of technical information relating to frequencies, technology or anything that could actually give the enemy an advantage that was completely off limits. Nothing was ever discussed.

Secondly, specific techniques which have never been exposed publicly in any regard were completely left off the table. There's a number of things which we did I can't get into. And the other thing we really wanted to do was make it readable for people to understand. I wrote this in the perspective of the first person. When people read it, I wanted to give them a sense of what it was like. Almost the apocalypse now view of the Captain Willard character of going up the river, what it's like to see things through my eyes.

WHITFIELD: Do you have any second thoughts about it now that the Department of Defense is maintaining this and they have grabbed 10,000 copies, burned them so that nobody can read it even though your publisher, St. Martin's Press, is going for a second printing? Any regrets? Any concerns about how this information might be used against the U.S. or the continuing efforts abroad?

SCHAFFER: Frankly, no. I feel that first off, the first edition would have been something that gave people a great deal of insight. Frankly, the second edition, the dots are still connected. And I think that was one of the things D.O.D. was going for. My inside sources tell me one of the things they were trying to do is delay this publication for the book. They did not understand the folks at my publisher could get it turned around as quick as they did. I think the D.O.D. was shocked that they were able to turn it around in two weeks. I don't feel regret because I felt I followed the process given to me, and I've continued to cooperate to this very day. Anything they've asked me to do, I've done what they've asked me.

WHITFIELD: Is the content any different in the second printing than in the first?

SCHAFFER: It is different, by the fact that you'll see if you see the book, there are redactions.

WHITFIELD: Is it likely that in that first edition, there are digital -- there is the digital copy so that people are still able to read it even though these 10,000 copies have been destroyed, hard copies have been destroyed?

SCHAFFER: You know, again, I don't know. I think it's very possible that things got out there. D.O.D., I think, had some concerns about it. The publisher warned them about the potential for what you're bringing up right now when this started back on the 13th of August.

WHITFIELD: OK.

SCHAFFER: That was something that was brought up.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Schaffer, the book is "Operation Dark Heart." We appreciate your time.

SCHAFFER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We're still hoping that the Pentagon or the Department of Defense will take us up on the invitation to also join us live to have this discussion. Thanks so much. Appreciate your time.

Days of downpours lead to rising rivers. We'll tell you who's at risk and what's ahead in the days to come.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. In a sermon this morning, Bishop Eddie Long vowed to fight sex allegations. Four young men filed lawsuits last week saying the Atlanta pastor coerced them into sex. Long says it's the most difficult time of his life. Long is known for his crusades against homosexuality. His new birth missionary Baptist church has around 25,000 members.

In a deeply unsatisfying choice, that's what San Francisco's biggest newspaper is calling the California Senate race. So in a rare move, "The San Francisco Chronicle" has decided not to endorse either candidate. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina is battling incumbent Democrat Barbara boxer for the spot.

And Hyundai is planning to recall thousands of brand-new sedans because of potential steering problems. We're talking about nearly 140,000 Sonatas. All of them 2011 models built in Alabama. They say it's possible joints in the steering column weren't put together correctly. And that could cause a complete loss of steering. They will officially start the recall in October.

All right. Let's talk some nasty weather. Parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota right there under states of emergency. Dozens of rivers are out of their banks, and many have crested. And where they haven't, volunteers are trying to sandbag. And families are already heading for higher ground. Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras. Oh, boy. Is it likely to get worse especially as you have cresting expected?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Most of them have crested. And many of them have just crested in the last couple of hours, in fact. Some of the concerns that we have down the line, one of which is in central Wisconsin on the Wisconsin River in the town of Portage where the Caledonia dam they are concerned there that that dam could possibly give way. Even though the rivers have crested, remember they're going to stay full; they are going to stay in flood for several days. So just because the crest has happened doesn't mean that threat is over and done with. There are lots of roads covered.

It's a voluntary evacuation, but they're encouraging people to do that in the Portage area as a result of that as they could be threatened by that dam break if that should happen. Take a look at these green boxes. That's where we have flood warnings still in effect at this hour today. Now, an area which could have new flooding, those rivers, by the way, all emptying into the Mississippi River. And so the Mississippi's probably going to flood in a couple of days. Right now just minor to moderate flooding expected.

This is the new flooding that we're talking about here. Stretching from Atlanta on up into parts of the Carolinas into the Virginias as well. Those flood watches have been posted here because we're going to be getting a whole heck of a lot of rain in the next couple days. Anywhere between three and six inches. Widespread can be expected and some isolated heavier amounts. When we start seeing these squall lines that aren't moving too fast, that's where we'll see rain begin to pile up.

We've got delays 45 minutes out of Atlanta as a result of the low clouds and the rain showers that we're having. And this is all spreading on up towards the north and to the east. So if you have travel plans, say, in the mid-Atlantic in the northeastern corridor tomorrow, expect to have some travel delays as a result of that, too. Here you can see our forecast precip in the next 48 hours in cities like Roanoke down towards Charlotte and just southeast of Atlanta is where we're expecting some of the heaviest accumulations as well.

We're also keeping our eye on the tropics. Matthew is done and gone, but still bringing some heavy rain across parts of Mexico. We've got a new area of disturbed weather over here. And some of the energy and maybe some of the moisture from Matthew could get caught up in that. We'll have to watch for the potential of development. It would be really slow over the next couple days. Knock on wood. We don't have any named storms. We still have Lisa out there.

WHITFIELD: Nothing behind Matthew.

JERAS: Nothing immediately.

WHITFIELD: OK.

JERAS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Stop at "m," please.

JERAS: Wouldn't that be great?

WHITFIELD: I know.

JERAS: I wouldn't make any bets on that one.

WHITFIELD: You might get bored, though, huh?

JERAS: That's not going to happen. We'll have more.

WHITFIELD: All right.

JERAS: It's a nice thought.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

OK. Well, they're used to making fancy meals in fancy restaurants. Well, now some of the nation's most renowned chefs are leaving the kitchen to show some tough customers how to make the healthy choice. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All this week, CNN is focusing on food, one of my favorite topics. In the move toward healthy choices. Some of the most renowned chefs in Washington are even teaming up with the White House to take that message beyond their kitchens. Here's CNN's Kate Bolduan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD GRAY, CHEF & OWNER, EQUINOX: One chicken salad and the pastrami ready for eleven.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From the kitchen to the classroom.

GRAY: Let's peel our corn back. It's a tutu, very nice. I like it. All right.

BOLDUAN: Washington celebrity chef and owner of Equinox, Todd Gray is taking on what he describes as his toughest customers yet, the students of D.C. public schools.

GRAY: It's a reality that we have to recognize, the fact that we've put food in the back seat. We need to put it up front again. Flour, baking powder and baking soda.

BOLDUAN: Gray's pancake demonstration at this elementary is part of a star-studded effort spearheaded by White House chef Sam Cass. Chefs across the country adopting local schools to promote healthier eating as part of the first lady's campaign to combat childhood obesity.

GRAY: My role is to go and get people enthusiastic about cooking, about fresh food, about fresh food from their garden. Teaches them how to cook with fresh ingredients, cook them with a peel and hopefully one day be a mentor for them.

BOLDUAN: But the mission won't be easy. Schools receive less than $3 per student per lunch from the federal government. And with lack of funding comes less money for the often more expensive healthier options. D.D. public schools is trying to improve school lunches, launching a pilot program requiring foodservice providers purchase at least 20 percent of their ingredients locally. In hopes they can get fresher cheaper.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've done away with those disgusting tater tots, and they don't have chicken tenders. They don't have processed foods. This is a real new page in terms of cafeteria eating.

BOLDUAN: And that is something the parents of Murch Elementary students have full heartedly embraced. Why is the food that they're eating so important, or should be more important?

JOHN WIX, PARTENT OF MURCH ELEMENTARY STUDENT: It's just as important as digesting a book is what you digest on that plate. And you know what? It's all equally important. I wouldn't say the food is any more important than getting the right books and getting the right teachers. It just all has to be a priority.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some squash.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't like squash.

GRAY: Oh, you haven't had our squash yet.

BOLDUAN: Chef Gray agrees, describing the challenge of overhauling school lunch as a mountain they'll climb one step at a time. What do you really hope to see come from it?

GRAY: I mean, I said this from the beginning. I think this is decades of change. You might not see school menus change by the fall. I don't think so. I don't think that that's -- I think that these are steps that we have to take very gradually. And over the years, you see change.

BADLWIN: It all starts with the corn cakes.

GRAY: It all starts on the griddle, right, with a corn cake. That's it. Did you have one?

BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I'll take one. So what we choose to eat, where we buy our food and how much we spend on it says a whole lot about who we are more than you might think. So catch our series "Eatocracy, Mind, Body and Wallet" all this week in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Time now for "CNN Equals Politics Updates" we're keeping an eye on all the headlines on the CNN political ticker. And here's what's crossing right now. White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is said to be considering whether to run for mayor of Chicago. He got some advice from Illinois Senator Dick Durbin who said, quote, you can't do it from the White House. But Durbin said no. When asked if he was endorsing Emanuel. And House Minority Leader John Boehner thinks he's in line for a promotion. Boehner says if Republicans regain control of the House in November, he's confident his colleagues will vote to make him speaker.

And new polls in California have Democrats out front in key races. Senator Barbara Boxer is leading former Hewlett-Packard CEO, Carly Fiorina, in the Senate race. For governor, its state attorney general Jerry Brown leading former eBay executive Meg Whitman.

And for the latest political news, logon to CNNPOLITICS.com.

Deaf boys abused by their priest. Now as adults, they're coming forward and seeking justice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): I went into his office. The door was closed. And Father Murphy said, take your pants down. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We'll have an exclusive interview with one of the victims who is suing the pope.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In a small school for the deaf in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as many as 200 deaf boys were raped or sexually abused by the priest and headmaster. It was one of the most notorious cases of sex abuse in the Catholic Church and today a CNN exclusive. The first interview with one of those victims who is now suing Pope Benedict. It's part of a special CNN documentary examining what Pope Benedict did or didn't do about the crisis. Here is CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At a lakeside retreat in northern Wisconsin.

TERRY KOHUT, ABUSE VICTIM: Come.

TUCHMAN: Terry Kohut tries to escape his past. It isn't easy, 50 years ago when he was just 10 years old, Terry, who is deaf, was sent to the St. John's School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What happened there to Terry and up to 200 other deaf boys is now central to the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. And to the question of what Pope Benedict, then Cardinal Ratzinger, knew about it all. Terry Kohut has never spoken publicly about the horrors he endured at St. John's until now. What did he do to you?

KOHUT: And then it was after I went into his office, the door was closed. And Father Murphy said, "take your pants down."

TUCHMAN: Father Lawrence Murphy was the headmaster and priest at St. John's for more than two decades. He was a charismatic fund-raiser and respected church leader, but Father Murphy has also been identified by dozens of deaf men who say he raped and sexually abused them as children for years. Father Murphy's abuse would come to the direct attention of Cardinal Ratzinger, but his handling of the case would stun Murphy's victims.

DAVID GIBSON, POLITICSDAILY.COM: I think what the Murphy case shows is the deference that Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope Benedict would always give to the priest.

KOHUT: What actually happens in court?

TUCHMAN: Today Terry Kohut is suing the Vatican for what Father Murphy did to him the St. John's. His lawsuit is the first to ever specifically name Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict. Until now, Terry Kohut has been anonymous, named only as John Doe 16.

KOHUT: Yes, I was confused as to why it was happening. I mean, he was a priest. You know, I was trying to figure out, I can't believe a priest would do that. TUCHMAN: The priest is believed to have picked out victims who were especially vulnerable or had been through tragedy already in their young lives. Terry Kohut fit that pattern.

KOHUT: My brother was electrocuted. He died when I was 10. And when I was 11, my father hung himself. And at 12, my favorite dog died, and it tore me up. And I saw Father Murphy and I thought that he could be a second father.

TUCHMAN: Tell me why, Terry, you've decided to file suit. What do you want to see happen?

KOHUT: I want to see the Vatican because I've been waiting for all these years for them to ex-communicate, defrock, Father Murphy, but they haven't.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: To find out exactly what the Pope knew and did not, Father Murphy -- what he did or did not know about Father Murphy, tune into a CNN documentary, "What the Pope knew" a special CNN documentary tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.