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European Terror Warning to be Issued for American Travelers; 'It Gets Better' Project Seeks to Prevent LGBT Teen Suicide; Rahm Emanuel Resigns from White House Position; Late Night Comedians Deliver Political Puns;

Aired October 02, 2010 - 22:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, I'm Brooke Baldwin. Don has the night off.

Breaking news tonight that could affect hundreds of thousands of Americans traveling right now in Europe. Here's what we know, as early as tomorrow morning, the U.S. State Department is expected to issue this new travel advisory, essentially warning Americans to be extra careful, the word they keep using, and vigilant as they visit popular tourist destinations.

U.S. officials tell CNN this is not because of any specific new threat, rather the volume of information that has been coming in about a possible terror attack. To quote one U.S. official, "this is a serious situation." CNN's Phil Black spoke with me from London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's believed that this possible warning from the U.S. government is not related to any new intelligence about a threat or a potential plot in Europe that was made public just a few days ago.

You may recall that we learned of a plot that was described as a possible Mumbai-style attack like the one that took place in the city of Mumbai two years ago with a team of people attacking multiple sites, using small arms, guns and grenades. That sort of thing.

So we're told there's no new intelligence pointing to that, but we're told that officials in Europe and the United States are taking that potential threat so seriously, that America would consider issuing a warning just like the one that we're hearing about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: So I want to talk now to CNN senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, who is live for us in Hamburg, Germany. And, Nic, of course I want to talk to you about how, you know, Europeans are reacting to this possible travel alert, essentially in their own backyards. But first, let's point out simply the significance of Hamburg, and specifically that mosque that has been in the news, that has been frequented by Islamic radicals, including Mohammed Atta. NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke. Well, the mosque was closed down recently here in Hamburg by federal authorities, but not before a group of radicals, about 10 of them, had left for Pakistan about a year-and-a-half ago.

One of those radicals, Ahmed Sidiqi, is now in U.S. custody. He was captured in Kabul. He is a German Afghan, after he was captured in Kabul. He told U.S. authorities about this Mumbai-style attack that was being planned. He also told them that it was authorized by Osama bin Laden.

Now we've been talking here with German authorities and some sources within the counter-terrorism agencies here, and they say there is no direct threat that they see that's imminent right now in Germany. However, they do say -- the information that they're getting from Ahmed Sidiqi from U.S. authorities, is that every day he keeps telling them new information.

And what German authorities are concerned about right now are some of the other people that Sidiqi traveled from Hamburg to the terror training camps with Pakistan, where are they now? The authorities here know where some of them are, but there are others that are still unaccounted for. So that is a level of concern here right now -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, you say no direct threat, you're hearing, at least in Germany. Though given what you said and given the fact that there may be this travel advisory for Americans, what about Germans? What about other Europeans who you may have been in touch with? How are they reacting to the news tonight?

ROBERTSON: Well, you know, Germans really are not aware of sort of terror plots on their soil per se. In Britain, where there have been several attacks, 2005, 2007, Spain, certainly they're aware because the attacks in Madrid. But in Germany there have been no successful Islamic radical terror attacks here.

There was an attempted plot in 2007. And the men behind that had made enough explosives, 30 times the amount that was used in London that killed 50 people. And that group, the so-called "Salawan (ph) cell," had plotted attacks against soft U.S. targets here in Germany.

They were planning attacks at discos that Americans used, night clubs that Americans used, and also possibly U.S. bases here in Germany. So while perhaps people from the United States and other parts of Europe are aware of threats, in Germany here, none have been perpetrated.

So it's not something that they're thinking about very much. And the authorities here are really trying to play it down and not scare people. But, again, the track record in Germany is that one of the two plots that was interrupted in the last few years was against U.S. national -- was planned against U.S. nationals here -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: And you mentioned U.S. bases, which reminds me, you know, this not only would potentially affect tourism destinations in Western Europe, but also U.S. bases as well. Nic Robertson, thank you.

Let's continue the conversation. We have this panel of security experts. First we have CNN national security contributor Fran Townsend, who, by the way, is a former White House homeland security adviser under President Bush. Also with us, via Skype, there he is, from San Francisco. Former FBI Assistant Director Tom Fuentes.

Good to have both of you on. Fran, if I can, I want to begin with you, just with your homeland security background. Help Americans watching tonight, perhaps on the eve of this travel warning, what does this mean for Americans? Does this mean don't go to Europe or does this mean just be vigilant?

FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR, FORMER BUSH 43 WHITE HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: You know, Brooke, I find this really frustrating. You know, in the end, we know that there is this threat out there. It was reported earlier in the week. There is absolutely nothing new based on what we're hearing right now about the alert that is going to be in there.

And so frankly it has the ring of, look, the government knows there's this threat, it's an increasing problem and so what they really want to do is protect themselves that they warned you. But we're not hearing that there is any specific information in there about targets, locations, timing, or any really valuable advice to Americans about what they can do.

And so if it doesn't have that sort of information there in, you sort of have to ask yourself, why is the U.S. government even bothering to do this?

BALDWIN: Right. I think speaking with Tom earlier, Tom, you expressed some frustration in the vague language over this threat. And I think you also brought up a great point, if you can, the fact that we're talking about some of these Mumbai-style attacks which, you know, happened at The Taj, happened at hotels, yet this particular travel advisory would be related to tourist destinations and transportation hubs.

Help me connect the dots here, what are we looking at?

THOMAS FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: You're looking at everything, Brooke. And that's the problem with it. I agree with Fran, maybe even a little stronger than Fran that issuing a warning like this is on the verge of being just completely ridiculous.

There are thousands and thousands of Americans in Europe. They're in another country. They're Americans. Everybody is going to look different to them. Everybody is going to be carrying a backpack and looking strange compared to what they might be looking like if they were walking down the street in Peoria, Illinois, for example.

So I think to scare Americans who are traveling overseas, who are in public transportation hubs, they're in hotels, they're in restaurants, they're in taxi cabs, they're in every single location that was attacked by the Mumbai attackers in November of 2008. So I don't know exactly what they are going to do to keep themselves safe walking around the streets of Europe.

BALDWIN: So, Fran, what would be gained by using such vague language? I mean, if you're in the State Department tonight and if you're trying to possibly craft this advisory to release tomorrow morning, is there something to gain by this more-or-less scare tactic, like, hey, stay away from everything touristy in Europe, or no?

TOWNSEND: No. Frankly, Brooke, I don't think there's anything to be gained other than their sense of, well, we covered ourselves by specifically telling Americans about this threat.

Look, Americans have been watching the news. They watch it all the time. They've heard this threat. They understand. And so I'm a real believer, if these warnings -- these public warnings and alerts that get put out don't tell people specifics about either locations, timing, or what they can do to protect themselves, then we shouldn't bother. We shouldn't scare them about something that they can't protect themselves from.

BALDWIN: Tom, I'm going to give you the final word here. If you're, you know, here in the States and you're listening tonight, what do you want Americans to take away from this?

FUENTES: That nothing has changed. The threats have been out there for decades now and terrorist camps are alive and well in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen. They're cranking out graduates on a continuing basis. And when those graduates get the opportunity to use guns, grenades, or IEDS, or any other device, they're going to do so.

If I could add one more thing, Brooke, the investigation that Nic Robertson spoke of in Germany a couple of years ago, I was involved in that investigation. I was still in charge of FBI international operations at the time. And the fact that travel alerts weren't put out was because the authorities knew who the people were that were involved in it.

It was a group of Turkish nationals. They knew where they were going to attack and how they were going to attack. And all of that intelligence had been gathered. You know, the investigation was well under way and then of course they were arrested. So -- they were arrested before they could carry out the attack.

And the authorities in Germany, the German Federal Police, BKA, were very confident that there's no way they could have gotten out from under their surveillance and carried out the attack.

And, of course, as came out in trial, the Germans had actually located where the explosives were maintained and rendered them inert. So the bad guys didn't even know that the explosives they had weren't going to work anyway even if they got outside the surveillance.

So the fact that the travel advisory is going out, I agree with Fran, it's kind of absurd because what is anybody going to do? And if they knew who was going to carry out the attack and where, they would stop it.

BALDWIN: Well, perhaps we will just have to wait until tomorrow morning. We haven't heard any specifics from the State Department. Maybe we'll drill down in some of those specifics tomorrow morning. Fran Townsend, Tom Fuentes, thank you both. Thank you.

Still ahead tonight, a moment of silence to remember the Rutgers University freshman who took his own life and blogger Perez Hilton's compassionate reaction to his death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ HILTON, BLOGGER: You know, I have a Web site where I make fun of celebrities myself. And I've been re-evaluating what I do and how I operate in the wake of this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: This past week, so many of you have been talking about that freshman at Rutgers who killed himself. And today the university community observed a moment of silence to remember to honor Tyler Clementi. In fact, football fans paused during the home game against Tulane today.

Prosecutors say Clementi committed suicide after his roommate, using a Webcam, live-streamed the 18-year-old kissing another man, putting it on the Internet for anyone to watch.

But keep in mind here, Tyler Clementi's story, this is just part of this disturbing wave of suicides committed by gay teenagers in recent weeks. In fact, bullying, humiliation, it's a fact of life for many of them. And so that is the motivation behind this project. It's called "It Gets Better."

You can hop on YouTube. It's this YouTube channel with celebrities, regular folks just like you and me offering support. In tonight's "What Matters," openly gay gossip blogger Perez Hilton talked to me about why he's getting involved and why he may be rethinking his blog.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILTON: What is really effective about this campaign for me is that it's one concrete, tangible easy way that everybody can do something to reach out to the youth. Suicide is an issue for everyone, young or old, but a lot of people recently have been struggling with that.

And it's statistically proven, sadly, gay, lesbian, and transgender youth have a far higher suicide rate than their peers. So this project, it's called "It Gets Better." It's on YouTube/itgetsbetterproject -- youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject, it's one concrete way to reach to that audience and tell them that they're not alone, that, you know, we've been through similar struggles and that things get better, and to tell them the options that they have. Because if you feel powerless, then I can understand why you may consider suicide, but these young kids have a future ahead of them. It will only get better if they're around to see it get better.

BALDWIN: Some people may say, why does it take another teen committing suicide for us to have this national conversation?

HILTON: Absolutely. I mean, that's something that even I am working towards. You know, I have a Web site where I make fun of celebrities myself. And I've been re-evaluating what I do and how I operate in the wake of this.

But when it comes to children, especially young people, impressionable minds, you know, it's important to not make them feel afraid to be who they are. You know, and I can understand how living in fear one might take drastic actions. But I just must reiterate to anyone watching, suicide is not the answer.

Suicide should not be an option. And if you see a friend, a loved one, anyone who is going through a difficult time, take the extra step and you talk to them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Will he change his blogging ways? We will follow up. Bullying at our schools, now online, why do kids do it? And what can be done to put an end to it? An "AC 360" special report starts Monday night, 10:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.

And still ahead, how easy is it for someone to spy on you through a teeny tiny Webcam? Believe it or not, it happens more than you think.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREGORY EVANS, CEO, LIGATT SECURITY: What we see on TV every single day, it's not even a half of a percent -- of 1 percent of what's going on out there. There's a lot of crimes like this that happen every single day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That guy, who is a cyber-security expert, he has some tips for all of us to protect ourselves from unknown predators out there. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So do you think you would notice if you were walking past a computer and you would notice maybe a little teeny tiny Webcam? The suicide of Tyler Clementi at Rutgers reveals just how tiny these inconspicuous devices really carry these big risks.

In fact, there have been reports that the roommate here may have turned this Webcam on remotely from another room to live-stream this 18-year-old. But you don't need to own the Webcam to use it to spy. Did you know that?

Hackers can access other people's Webcams live-streaming, recording them for days, possibly months without the victims ever having a clue. Cyber-security expert Gregory Evans explains how.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVANS: I want to make sure people understand this. Just because you have a camera on your computer doesn't mean somebody can just turn on your camera just like that. They have to know exactly what they're doing.

So what we're going to do is we're going to use a program like let's say Net Exploit (ph), all right? Which is one -- it's a hacking program. It's the most usable program out there in the world when it comes to computer hacking.

You can download it on the Internet for free. We were going to -- use that and we'll hack into one of our test networks and then we'll get a prompt where we can execute any command on that computer, including turning on the camera.

Once a person has access to your Webcam or gets in, he will all of the capabilities that that camera has. So if that camera can follow you around, that person can follow you around the room. If that camera has a built-in mike, it can record you as well. It can be that easy. It's a serious situation. And what makes it really scary, again, you never know when you are a victim.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: So you watch and you think, OK, so how do I protect myself? Gregory explained to me, first you have encrypt your wireless network, you know, get a pass-code, secure it, and beware if you borrow wireless networks from maybe your neighbor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVANS: Make sure that you're not just relying on that. Your operating system also has...

BALDWIN: You need more than that.

EVANS: You need more than that. And it's good to have a real firewall, not your D-Link or your Linksys. But it's good to have different ways. If you can use your D-Link and Linksys, you can use the one that's built in Windows, and you can also use your Windows firewall as well, or the Nortons and McAfee, I should say.

BALDWIN: OK. So you need extra security there. And then this is what I find interesting, if somebody sent you a pdf link...

EVANS: Yes.

BALDWIN: ... that may be nefarious. EVANS: That is so true. Right now, you'll see that you'll get a whole bunch of spam that says here's your invoice or here's the business proposal that I sent you. And you're like, what business proposal? And person clicks on that, and what it will do is it will open up certain ports on your computer and it will connect your computer back to the hacker's computer.

So he doesn't have to hack into your computer. And any one, any layman who doesn't know anything about computers can send you an e- mail and just ask you to click on a pdf, and now they have full access to your computer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Well, when we come back, the latest on that alert, expected to be issued to Americans traveling to Europe. Stay right there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Checking some of our top stories, the U.S. State Department is expected to issue this new travel advisory to Americans in Europe. That advisory, we're hearing, could come as early as tomorrow morning. U.S. officials say it will urge Americans to be vigilant, be alert if you're headed to tourist spots, transportation hubs. One senior U.S. official calling this, quote, "a serious situation."

The U.S. says -- rather the official says U.S. military bases are also taking precautions over there. The advisory is based on an increase in terror threat information. To be clear, this is not any specific new threat.

And much of the East Coast is in clean-up mode after deadly storms the last couple of days. At least eight deaths blamed on the bad weather all the way from North Carolina up through New England. Rescuers in fact had to pull hundreds of people out of their homes, their cars. Flood warnings still in effect for the Mid-Atlantic states.

And listen to this, a leisurely day on jet skis has turned deadly for an American couple down on the Mexican border. Tiffany and David Hartley were on Falcon Lake yesterday -- or rather Wednesday, which, by the way, straddles the U.S.-Mexican border, that's near Laredo, Texas. The couple had crossed over the border to see some of the ruins on the Mexican side when they were ambushed by gunmen in boats.

David Hartley, the husband, was shot, fell into the water. His wife barely escaped back in the U.S. on the jet skis. The county sheriff says he has been warning people about risks of venturing across the border. CNN contacted the sheriff tonight, he said the gunmen are part of a Mexican drug gang that has been attacking and robbing fisherman on this particular lake. David Hartley's body still not been recovered.

And it's being called the antidote to the tea party movement by one of the organizers. Thousands of people gathered on the National Mall today for One Nation Working Together rally, several liberal activist groups coming together, demanding jobs, equality, better education. This comes about a month after a major rally for conservatives in the same spot.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. "What the Week with Pete Dominick" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PETE DOMINICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been six days since Israel started building again in the West Bank. Five days since Vice President Joe Biden told his base to buck up. Four days since Eddie Long declared spiritual warfare on his accusers.

And you, you've had 14 seconds to adjust your eyes to this beautiful bald head. We're going to take you all of it right now. Welcome to WHAT THE WEEK.

There's a fine line between news and noise. I'm Pete Dominick. I'm one of 6.8 billion people on this planet. Its 2010 we have thousands of TV channels, the digital super highways, Republicans, Democrats, Independents and apathetic.

Gays, straights, bi's, Jews, Muslims, Christians and Atheist and 15 different flavors of toothpaste. Information overloads, but this, this is what made TV. This is what we watched and this, this week this is the week that was. Hit it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDDIE LONG, BISHOP: I've been accused I'm under attack.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Four men now who are accusing Long of coercing them into sex when they were teenagers.

LONG: I'm going to fight.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: It is shades of Vietnam.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Five American soldiers facing murder charges. Accused of killing three Afghan civilians.

(AUDIO GAP)

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Former President Jimmy Carter was hospitalized. He went to the hospital just for observation.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN, SITUATION ROOM: A woman asked Mr. Obama this direct question.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Are you a Christian? BARRACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: The precepts of Jesus Christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that I would want to lead.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: High anxiety in the streets of Paris. New reports quoting British Intelligence suggesting a plot by a terrorist commando team had been foiled.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Tony Curtis has died. The coroner said he suffered a heart attack in his Las Vegas home.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: By all accounts Tyler Clemente an 18 year-old freshman was good nature soul. His roommate secretly screened video of him kissing another man on the internet. Authorities say Clemente committed suicide. Jumped from the George Washington Bridge.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Chief of Staff Ron Emanuel's is resigning in order to run or major of Chicago.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: If authentic it is the first we've heard from Osama Biden Laden since March.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOMINICK: Well that's what the mainstream media hammered into your head. Some important stuff and we'll get into it. But what was uncovered? A couple of things come to mind. Number one, Michelle Obama's child nutrition bill came to a screeching halt in the house.

And she's always champion for healthier school lunches. You know she's got that organic garden, inspired my family to plant ours. But the biggest issue for some was that the First Lady's bill would take money from Food Stamp programs.

The number two undercover issue. Kim Jong-Il's son Kim Jong-Un was promoted to a Four Star General. Pretty much identifying him as the heir apparent to lead North Korea. But nothing was more undercover yet more important than the testimony of the Director the Congressional Budget Office Doug Elmendorf's this week on tax cut.

He characterized as devastating. Here to talk to me with it our specially handpicked panel. David Webb he's a co-founder of the Tea Party 365 in New York. He's also host of Sirius XM the David Webb Show.

Stephanie Miller, National Talk Radio Show host and Sam Sedar a comedian, writer and a director and some of the funniest tweets I've read in my life. Welcome guys. Listen this is a no win, nobody wins and that's why it's a great story.

Republicans and Democrats everybody loses. If it's not OK to cut the top it's not OK to cut from the bottom. They all raised the deficit. Let's start with you David Webb. What do we do here? Why not - why isn't anybody talking about Doug Elmendorf's testimony?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WEBB, CO-FOUNDER TEA PARTY 365 AND HOST OF SIRIUS XM THE DAVID WEBB SHOW: Well I mean if you read the whole report it basically says that it's going to raise it in the short term. It's going to be good in the short-term; it's going to raise it in the long term. Unless you offset it with either increase in tax or spending cuts.

So you know what hey Washington cut some taxes and maybe cut some spending that helps.

DOMINICK: Stephanie Miller, Democrats aren't highlighting this, this week because it's bad news. It breaks - it'll break Obama's promise. We know President Obama is not going raise taxes above $250,000 for those making that right?

STEPHANIE MILLER, NATIONAL TALK RADIO HOST: Well you know Pete I mean one thing it does prove is what the President been saying is right. You know these Bush tax cuts for the rich are largely what got us to this deficit so they got to stop screaming about the deficits.

I think the one thing that did come out of it is that at least that they did a temporary extension of tax cuts for people $250,000. That seems to be the best you know, the best idea in there. But you know, he has - they also can't keep telling the lie that he hasn't given tax cuts because he has to most Americans.

DOMINICK: Sam Sedar, this you know trickledown economics theory. Doug Elmendorf kind of bashes it. He says tax cuts aren't good. They are raising the deficit. Sam?

SAM CEDARR, COMEDIAN, WRITER AND DIRECTOR: Well I mean trickledown economics has been completely - completely discredited by anybody but you know maybe the Tea Party. I'm not a deficit hawk. So I'm not terribly worried about the deficit frankly.

But I think we should have tax cuts for people under $250,000 because we've seen study after study which suggest that these people are going to spend more money. And the one thing about that OMB report is that it does not actually measure the difference which has been proven like I said in study after study that people who get tax cuts under $250,000 they put that money into the economy.

You get tax cuts over $250,000 you put into the bank and you just wait.

DOMINICK: David Webb you're a very, very wealthy guy. Are you putting your money all in the bank? And David let me - we all (INAUDIBLE). Hold on. This is what I want to ask the Tea Party and Republicans. Where are you cutting? David Webb cut away, cut away. Go ahead my friend.

WEBB: Well you start by cutting programs that are bloated.

DOMINICK: Give me one, give me one.

WEBB: Things like you know they cut down on Department of Education. Cut it down. Push it back down to the states. Decentralize it. And he's completely wrong about tax cuts.

DOMINICK: Every state has their own Department of Education. You want to get rid of the Department of Education? WEBB: Well education works best when it's at the state level and you need a DOE to kind of oversee some of the issues. But it works best at the state level.

CEDARR: Yes, but Pete at that point cut the Department of Education. You've now gone .00001 percent of the way. I mean that's ridiculous.

WEBB: Well, well, yes but you know he ask for it. Let me give you a little lesson in economics. When, when the rich the so-call evil rich above $250,000 that have money to invest. It helps grown wealth capitol in the country.

And unless you offset the cuts one of two ways. You either cut spending across the board, which is what we need to do. You raise taxes with (INAUDIBLE).

DOMINICK: All right. But you know need, but hold on.

MILLER: Oh please. Listen.

WEBB: Let me finish. But it delivers. It will deliver over $3.4 trillion in actually revenue for the Government.

DOMINICK: Stephanie Miller. Stephanie Miller.

MILLER: Oh please I'm out here in California Pete. And Meg Whitman is billionaire and she can't even afford legal household help apparently. So you know Sam here makes a good point.

The rich don't spend their money. So you know I think you're right it certainly benefits more people to give tax cuts at lower levels. And the other thing that we're screaming about is you know these tax levels are still so much lower than they ever were.

You know, well lets go back to the 90 percent Eisenhower years right.

DOMINICK: I'm sure that should work out really well, where you just want to from 36 to 39. But all right guys we're almost out of time here but when we come back up next the political plagues of the week. This week we're focusing on the disorder the Democrats seem to be suffering from we're calling it electile dysfunction.

Yep you heard me right. Want me to explain? Don't change the channel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOMINICK: Welcome back to WHAT THE WEEK. I'm Pete Dominick and every week I'm heading out with CNN cameras to talk with you about the issues that matter the most to you. This week Don't Ask Don't Tell.

A CNN poll said two-thirds of Americans 67 percent now a favor allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. Do you agree? I hit the streets to talk it out.

Of all these countries which allow gays to serve openly in the military, Germany yes. United Kingdom yes, I believe that's Finland yes, Australia yes, Italy account the country yes, Japan yes, Canada definitely. United States of America no.

Welcome to Democracy. Where are you guys from? Come here cowboys. Sixty-seven percent of Americans in a new CNN poll said gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly in the military. What do you think? UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I think they should.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I think they should.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I mean everybody has the right you know what I'm saying to protect and serve our country.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I really think it should be up to the men and women in the military.

DOMINICK: My take is I use to be uncomfortable around gay people and then I got around gay people. God bless anybody for being attracted to me.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Can you imagine anybody my old being attracted to you?

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Right and you know what I love gays and I love lesbians but I don't agree with what they do because in the word. DOMINICK: I understand that.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: In the word.

DOMINICK: But that so - but you're making a religious argument. What other jobs can they not do?

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I'm just saying.

DOMINICK: What other jobs can gays and lesbians not be able to do?

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Well you know what you said openly.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Obviously you have not found it. Don't have the foundation in the Bible where it ought to be. You read the Bible and it tells you what we should believe or should and should not believe.

DOMINICK: I understand that.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: But I don't want to turn this into a biblical conversation.

DOMINICK: No that's OK. But you are and the military is separated from religion. UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I don't see how people can say yes let's let them in openly if you haven't served.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Well 20 years in the Air Force you know I think that Don't Ask, Don't Tell is an appropriate. It was known about in the military even back then but if you did your job that's all that really mattered.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I disagree with that totally.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: But them out in front.

DOMINICK: What's that? Put them out in front. Put them out in front. Does that mean they can serve openly? David Webb your conservative Tea Party Organizer. You host a conservative radio talk show host. Should gays be allowed to serve openly in the military?

WEBB: I'm going to trust that. Trust Gates on this one. He says we need to study it and move forward to the point where it can happen. Yes, look. What somebody wants to do in their bedroom is their own business.

But the military is an environment where you need a transition and integration. It's going to happen eventually.

DOMINICK: Sam Sedar this one seems like a slam dunk.

CEDARR: It is slam dunk. It's going to happen immediate - you know eventually so let's start the process right now. There's absolutely no reason why we have this incredibly (INAUDIBLE) policy.

DOMINICK: Stephanie Miller the 24 countries.

WEBB: It actually is a process.

DOMINICK: Twenty-four allow gays to serve openly in the military. Are we not as professional in our military Stephanie?

WEBB: I'm still in shock over that cowboy. Let me just say someone ought to write a song Momma Don't Let Your Baby Grow Up to be Homophobic Cowboys. That is really stunning. I - you know in this day and age I think I'm going to quote my dad's old running make Barry Goldwater.

You don't have to be straight you just have to shoot straight.

DOMINICK: Congress - I love that. Congress already has better health care than most Americans right guys? But WHAT THE WEEK want to take things a little further and give everyone in politics a weekly checkup.

This week we're examining the Democrats who are suffering from what plagues many of the brass in Washington. It's when the rock star President and mighty Democrats of 2008 go limp and lose their mission of hope and change. It's when all the party's money and experts can't explain to America that it takes a long time to get out of this jam. It's our political plague of the week. We call it electile dysfunction and there's no magic pill that can save the Democrats.

Their mission is soft. And they lost their mojo. What can they do to win elections in 2010 and 2012? David Webb of course you're happy. They Republicans are way in the lead. But you've been here before with electile dysfunction.

WEBB: Well look it happens in both parties. But right now the reaction the reaction to bad policies since 2006 by the Pelosi led Congress and the president and basically liberalism on steroids is proven not to work.

Stimulus didn't work. Health care bill now is going to cost everybody more money and nothing and jobs well they're not coming back. So you know people are just going to just say no more Democrats, no more big Government, no more entitlements let's get back to a rational Government. DOMINICK: Stephanie?

MILLER: You know you guys just keep nominating more and more alarming candidates over there in the Tea Party I'm sorry. You know I think that we are going to take Joe Biden advice and get it together. Otherwise in Delaware we're going to have Samantha from Bewitch who thinks that mice have fully functioning human brains.

I have yet to see a Tea Party candidate with a fully functioning human brain.

DOMINICK: Woe!

WEBB: Well if it was - woe, woe, Stephanie, Stephanie. There are 39 seats needed, there are 70 in play and there are 100 that are really, 30 more than a close. They're not all Tea Party candidates. Nice try and by the way the real witchcraft (INAUDIBLE).

MILLER: Hey look, I don't think the media storylines its. Democrats are going to take a blood bath in it (INAUDIBLE).

DOMINICK: Hold on guys. Let David Webb get his joke out. Go David.

WEBB: The real, the real witchcraft is the voodoo economics that's going on in Washington that's where a President has spent more than every President behind him on the deficit.

DOMINICK: Sam Sedar is that true? Hold on David. Is that true Sam?

CEDARR: The bottom line is. Back during the 2008 campaign everybody knew whoever was going to win the Presidency was going to get blamed for the disastrous policies of the Republicans for the past eight years and its come into fruition. And you know I'm not one who actually thinks I don't think you're going to see GOP control of either the house or the Senate. Because you know you can get very excited if you're a Tea Party member but the fact is you can only vote once and apparently because Sheril (ph) Law is coming you may not be able to vote at all according to these people. But I think we're going to see the Democrats at least retain control.

WEBB: Well that was almost funny but it didn't make sense.

CEDARR: Well I was making a joke at the fact that Sharon Engel said today Sheril (ph) Law is taking over this country. And I was making a joke that the fact that a lot of Tea Party members seem to believe that and that is in fact the joke. I mean it's ridiculous.

DOMINICK: All right guys. Well everybody got a joke in and we'll let everybody at home decide who's was the best. And I might add I follow Sam Sedar around twitter.

All right President Obama's Chief of Staff calling it a day to run for Major of Chicago. I thought it was kind of crazy myself until I did some research. Rahm Emanuel's week on the other side.

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DOMINICK: Friday morning President Obama's made this announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: My Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel has informed me that he will be leaving his post today to explore other opportunities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOMINICK: Like maybe Mayor of Chicago. This brings us to our segment we call you are here. So how did we get here? Let's go back about three weeks when Mayor Daily announced that he would not be seeking another term.

Effectively ending a political dynasty in the windy city. And of course the talk of Rahm Emanuel his replacement that starts immediately. Why? Well let's go back to April when Rahm Emanuel made some news on the Charlie Rose program.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAHM EMANUEL, CHIEF OF STAFF, UNITED STATES: I hope Mayor Daily seeks re-election. I will work and support him if he seeks re- election. But if Mayor Daily doesn't one day I would like to run for Mayor for the city of Chicago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOMINICK: There you have it. Now let's go back even further, like 50 years further to find out who is Rahm Emanuel and how did he get here. Well he was born and raised in Chicago. He's a ballet dancer who lost his middle finger in a meat slicer accident while working at Arbys in high school.

President Obama made a joke that it rendered him mute because apparently he really like using this finger. His brother Ari Emanuel the guy that Ari Gold on the HBO show Entourage is based on. That's my favorite show. That's his brother the most powerful agent in entertainment.

All right enough personal information. Here's Rahm Emanuel professional bio. He was Senior Advisor to Richard Daily when he campaign for Mayor of Chicago in 1989. He was one of President Bill Clinton's Senior Advisors we'll put him right there on the road.

He represented in the House of Representatives from 2003 to 2008 he represented Chicago. President Obama tapped him in 2008 to be his Chief of Staff and well I have to say when I heard that this ambitious guy was going to leave such a powerful job to run for Mayor I thought well that doesn't sound very ambitious.

Until I realize even a guy called Rahmbo isn't super human. The average tenure of a Chief of State is about two years. Except for of course the first Chief of Staff, Harry Truman Chief of Staff. That's a there he is right there, handsome man John Steelman was his name. He served the longest six years because he didn't know that you can get out a little earlier.

That trend was started much later. And that brings us to his replacement the new Chief of Staff. President Obama's new left hand, he's left-handed. His name is Pete Rouse. He's not quite the ball buster that Rahm Emanuel has been but he was Obama's Senate, Senate Chief of Staff.

And before that people called him the 101st Senator when he worked for Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Now if more and more people are getting their news from comedians these days. Well then exactly what are they getting? Stick around. We'll hear whose getting roasted by the late night comedians.

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DOMINICK: Welcome back to WHAT THE WEEK. I'm Pete Dominick and this segment is called Why This Person is Better Than Me. Let's get started. Helle Meth she's better than me. She's only 12 years old and she started her own charity. Go to every-one.org and donate just one dollar.

Do it now to a really, really great cause. Patricia Moran she is better than me. Why? She's 70 years old she just join the Peace Corps to study Spanish and learn the culture. If I'm 70 I just hope I can still speak English.

Who is else is better than me? The students, the students of Mona Shore High School in Michigan. They elected a transgender peer homecoming King. Despite school officials barring it. I love it when this happens. I smell a feel good movie.

Mark Zuckerberg. We know why he's better than me. He donated a $100 million to Newark Public Schools this week. Well maybe he's not better than me, there's a very controversial movie coming out says he stole Facebook. So we'll draw on his face.

Helle Meth you're better than me. Patricia Moran you're better than me. Mona Shore Students you're better than me. Mark Zuckerberg I don't know. They're all better than me. All right.

Well late night comedy has become a legitimate news source. Traditional journalist might balk at that idea. But as a standup comedian I think it's kind of awesome. Look. As Carol Burnett once said comedy is tragedy plus time.

In the age of 24 hour media time moves pretty fast. Here's what late night comedians found funny this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, THE JIMMY KIMMEL SHOW: Last night Sarah Palin made here first appearance on the show Dances With the Stars to support her daughter Bristol.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Sarah was like please don't let her fall, please don't let her fall. While Bristol was like please don't let her talk, please don't let her talk.

KIMMEL: Everything she says she says in threes. Like this.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: How do you think the show is going so far?

SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: This is amazing it's so exciting and it great to see all this courage and joy and exuberance by dancer it's awesome.

KIMMEL: Courage, enjoy and exuberance. And we went back through a lot of the tape of Sarah Palin and it turns out she does this all the time.

PALIN: Absolutely amazing, awesome, invigorating. The determination and resolve and the sheer guts. Control and titles and egos. Democracy and tolerance and freedom. It's a humbling, humbling experience already. It's very humbling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOMINICK: Stephanie Miller Sarah Palin continues to take a beating what do you think?

MILLER: She is just comedy gold, caribou Barbie I don't care what she says. I think it's a good day when you understand anything she says so.

DOMINICK: All right. Sam Sedar, David Webb we're out of time but I thank you guys so much for coming on this panel. I really, really appreciate you joining me for our first show. And now using my beautiful bald head as a magic eight ball.

Here's the next big thing. Next week we'll mark the anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Nine years the longest war in US history. And this past week a poll found that two-thirds of you don't want us to be there anymore.

Next week we'll see if the war on the war in Afghanistan is going to heat up. And finally this week. The world lost a great comedian. I lost a good friend and three boys lost a great dad. Gregg Geraldo this one's for you.

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