Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Honor in the Valley of Death; "Time's" Person of the Year; Seven People Dead After Blast at Mexican Resort; Tallahassee Man Catches Biggest Alligator; British Family Freed from Somali Pirates
Aired November 14, 2010 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: A Tallahassee man -- well, he has some major bragging rights. Earlier this month, he caught the state's longest gator on record, more than 14 feet long. It was killed in the state's annual alligator harvest. Hauling the 650-pound gator to land took an epic two-hour battle. It beat the previous record though by three inches.
You know, the Medal of Honor, there is no greater distinction in the U.S. Military and just ahead, honor in the valley of death. Barbara Starr's special on the young man who will receive the medal Tuesday for his heroic actions in Afghanistan.
But first, I want to give you some headlines.
Near Cancun, Mexico, at least seven people, including a child, were killed today by a powerful blast at a Caribbean resort. Mexican media report four of the dead were Canadians, another 20 people were hurt, including two Americans. Mexican authorities say the explosion appeared to be caused by a gas leak, possibly a stove. The resort is the Grand Riviera Princess on the Yucatan Peninsula.
A bizarre missing person's case in Ohio: a police SWAT team burst into a home in suburban Columbus, Ohio this morning. They rescued a missing teen, 13-year-old Sarah Maynard who was bound and gagged in the basement. The girl's mother, her brother and a family friend are still missing. Police arrested 30-year-old Matthew Hoffmann on kidnapping charges. The family went missing on Wednesday. The community has organized a massive search effort.
A British couple is free tonight after more than a year in captivity. Somali pirates kidnapped Paul and Rachel Chandler last year after the two set sail on their yacht for Tanzania. The family will not confirm if a ransom was paid, but Somali elders tell CNN the pirates received $750,000. The pirates initially demanded $7 million.
Well, this Tuesday, live here on CNN, you will see history made. Army Staff Sergeant Sal Giunta will receive the U.S. Military's highest praise -- the Medal of Honor. This is such a rare distinction, it hasn't happened to a living service member since the Vietnam War. Over the next 30 minutes, you're going to see why.
It was October of 2007 in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, a rugged and forbidding no man's land along the Pakistan border. Taliban and al- Qaeda fighters call it home. U.S. forces call it the Valley of Death. Now, the area is so dangerous that NATO earlier this year pulled all its forces out of the Korengal.
CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr spoke with Sergeant Giunta about the singular moment in that forsaken place that earned him honor in the Valley of Death.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STAFF SGT. SALVATORE GIUNTA, MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT: The whole time frame maybe lasted anywhere between like two and three minutes and five or six lifetimes. I don't know.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): But in those two, three minutes, army Staff Sergeant Sal Giunta went from a self- described mediocre soldier to a hero. His actions one night three years ago now deserving the nation's highest military honor.
(on camera); We've come to Afghanistan to find the men that Sal Giunta fought with. Many of them are here on this remote combat outpost, but their thoughts and memories are with Sal and what happened that night.
(voice-over): That October night, Giunta was walking along the ridge line with other members of his unit, assigned to protect other soldiers as they were walking back to their base.
SGT. FRANKLIN ECKRODE, U.S. ARMY: We opened up into a small clearing out of a lightly forested area and single shot rang out.
STARR: It was what the military calls an L-shaped ambush sprung by the Taliban, which means Taliban fighters were in front of the men and to their side.
GIUNTA: There's not just one of them. And it's not two of them. It's not ten of them. It's probably more than ten and they're really not that far away.
STAFF SGT. ERICK GALLARDO, U.S. ARMY: You actually watched the guy pulling the trigger that was aimed at you.
GIUNTA: It seems like your world is exploding in bullets and RPGs and everything.
ECKRODE: Just a bad situation.
GIUNTA: We looked and it was along our whole side, it was along, you know, our flank.
STARR: Every soldier that night was shot.
GALLARDO: You know I got shot running backwards shooting at them. I can see them.
ECKRODE: They started coming out of the trees and getting closer. I shoved over a berm on my back and got hit a fourth time.
STARR: Hit eight times was the man in front, walking point as the military says, Sergeant Josh Brennan of McFarland, Wisconsin. He talked to his dad, Mike, only a few days before.
MIKE BRENNAN, FATHER OF SERGEANT JOSH BRENNAN: Actually he had volunteered for that mission that day.
STARR: On that ridge line Brennan was down, severely wounded. Sal Giunta raced ahead into the face of Taliban fire.
ECKRODE: He got to the front. He killed one of the guys that was dragging my team leader away, Sergeant Brennan. Wounded another one. Recovered Sergeant Brennan, brought him back to an area where we could secure him and continue the fight, started the aid on him.
I mean, for all intents and purposes, the amount of fire still going on and the conflict at the time, we shouldn't be alive right now.
GIUNTA: This is where it gets rough for me. You know, every time I -- every time I -- I can try -- I can try to explain it and I can try to put it into terms so people can understand it and the more I do that -- talking about it doesn't help me and it weighs heavy on me to this day.
STARR: Sal Giunta saved his friend, Josh Brennan, from being taken away by the Taliban.
BRENNAN: Due to the severity of Josh's injuries, Sergeant Giunta did everything that he could to try to render aid to Josh along with several other soldiers that got to Josh's location as well.
STARR: Six hours later, Josh Brennan died. Also killed that night was the medic, Hugo Mendoza of El Paso, Texas.
(on camera): And you have said that you feel, Sal's the reason you're still here, that he saved your life.
ECKRODE: He broke the tip of the ambush. If it hadn't for been for him running up and doing what he did, who's to say they wouldn't have kept trying to press the advantage. You know? He probably saved a lot of people's lives that night.
(voice-over): It's that act of bravery that was above and beyond with Sal Giunta running into enemy fire and getting to Josh to help save him.
GIUNTA: I think about it and it hurts. But say it out loud makes it that much more real and I feel like I've said it enough. I know it's real, but sometimes I can trick myself and just not think about it for a while.
STARR: Sal Giunta keeps insisting he doesn't deserve the nation's highest military award for heroism.
GIUNTA: When I first heard that they're putting me in for the Medal of Honor, I felt lost; I felt kind of angry. It came at such a price. People want to put a medal around my neck and congratulate me on a good job when there's two people that have just given their entire lives for this cause, for that mission, for the Army, for the people of the United States of America.
And now, I'm going to be the one they're going to shake hands with and congratulate. It didn't seem real and at the same time, what did seem real was -- shouldn't happen.
STARR: Talking to Sal, you get the impression that if he could, he would just as soon not be the first living American service member since the Vietnam War to receive the Medal of Honor.
GIUNTA: It's very bittersweet. It's such a huge honor. It's a great thing, but it is a great thing that has come at a personal loss to myself and so many other families.
STARR (on camera): And that is what you want people to know.
GIUNTA: Absolutely.
ROBERT GATES, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: He is a wonderful man and incredibly humble. And I think that he will, just by who he is, he communicates to every American why he deserves to be a recipient of this award and I think -- I think just his own presence and his own personality and that of his wife are all that's needed here in terms of communicating to the American people what an extraordinary man this is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Wow. Barbara Starr joins us now, live, from Washington.
So Barbara, tell us more about Sergeant Giunta. Where is he from? How did he join the Army? I want to know more about him.
STARR: Oh, this young man is just -- just remarkable. We sat down with him a couple of weeks ago in Italy.
He is from Iowa. He is from the Midwest. And you might wonder how he came to join the army. Well, a few years ago around the age of 18, he was mopping the floors one night at a Subway sandwich shop in his hometown, he says. The radio was on. There was a commercial on the radio, come to the recruiting station and get a free t-shirt.
Sal says, he thought, I'll go get a free t-shirt. I'm not doing anything tonight once I get finished mopping the floor. He wound up joining the army, going to the Korengal Valley and as you say, Don, next Tuesday, this 25-year-old soldier will step into the pages of American history.
He will stand next to President Obama and receive this honor and he -- yet he will tell you he'd rather have his friends back.
LEMON: All right. Barbara Starr, stand by. We're going to talk much, much more about this. There's much, much more about Sergeant Giunta's story that you don't want to miss tonight here on CNN.
His valor came to the Pentagon's attention almost immediately. I want you to listen to what General David Petraeus said in this exclusive interview with Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. COMMANDER IN AFGHANISTAN: He is going to say it is not his actions, it was what anyone would have done, it was the team.
Let me tell you, it was his actions. They were incredible and he is so very deserving of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And coming up in just a few moments here, winning a Medal of Honor. To understand what it means, you almost have to win one yourself.
In a moment, you'll hear from some members of that exclusive club.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Sergeant Sal Giunta didn't set out to be a hero. He was just trying to survive and help his buddies survive from an ambush in which they almost certainly would have been killed. But something in Sgt. Giunta's actions during those brief, terrifying moments transcended the desire to live. It was bravery on a grand scale and everybody knew it instantly.
Almost as soon as the shooting stopped, the process began of recommending Sergeant Giunta for the Medal of Honor. Again, CNN's Barbara Starr.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): Perhaps no one knows the nature of courage more than these men, some of America's more than 80 living Medal of Honor recipients.
LEO THORSNESS, MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT: What makes receiving the Medal of Honor different than any other medal is, one of the criteria is it's got to be above and beyond.
STARR: But deciding who deserves the award for going above and beyond the call of duty is a long and involved process, some say too involved. In Staff Sergeant Sal Giunta's case, it began within hours of a fire fight in the Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan.
ECKRODE: The same night that I got MEDEVAC-ed to Bagram Airfield, like 3:00 in the morning or something -- can't remember what time it was but I wrote my first sworn statement right there in the office of Bagram Airfield.
STARR (on camera): Eckrode's statement here at Bagram became part of an ever-growing file that eventually wound up on the president's desk. Just six hours after the fire fight, Unit Commander Captain Daniel Kearney began the formal paperwork to recommend Sal Giunta for the Medal of Honor. MAJ. DANIEL KEARNEY, UNIT COMMANDER: He went through the ambush, grabbed his best friend, Sergeant Brennan, killed several other insurgents, pulled him back through the ambush and then started giving him aid. Oh, by the way, he was shot twice himself.
STARR (voice-over): Kearney's recommendation went up through the Army's entire chain of command.
BRIG. GEN. RICK MUSTION, ADJ. GENERAL, U.S. ARMY: That would consist of the battalion commander, the brigade commander, the mission commander, a theater commander, a combatant commander, and in many cases now, the Central Command commander.
STARR: Throughout it all, one phrase is key, "incontestable proof of the heroism".
MUSTION: The situation that occurred can't be refuted in public, couldn't have an individual on the site say this didn't happen.
STARR: Usually, that means at least two eyewitnesses. The process has only produced one living Medal of Honor recipient since the Vietnam War.
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R) CALIFORNIA: This just shows how bureaucratic and how slow the Department of Defense has become.
STARR: Congressman Duncan Hunter served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
HUNTER: I think frankly, that the DOD's standard for the Medal of Honor and for other awards has actually changed to where you have to do more than ever before. Frankly, some even say you have to die anymore in order to get the Medal of Honor.
STARR: Defense Secretary Robert Gates told me standards haven't changed. It's the way U.S. troops fight.
GATES: I think part of the reason is the -- the nature of war today in the sense that if particularly in Afghanistan, our enemies generally use weapons at a distance from us. So, there's -- there's a proportion, there's less hand to hand or in-close combat than there has been in previous wars.
STARR: Sal Giunta's heroism met all the stringent Medal of Honor standards. The file on his actions went through the Army and finally, to Secretary Gates.
GATES: Each one of these, when they come to my desk, it's generally about a three-inch thick notebook.
STARR: Maps, drawing, eyewitness accounts.
GATES: The file is extraordinarily complete, but when you start to read the details and really, whether it's for this living recipient or the ones being presented posthumously, you just sit there and wonder, how could anybody possibly do this. STARR: Agreeing that Giunta deserved the nation's highest honor, Gates sent the file to President Obama. In September, almost three years after the fire fight, the President of the United States called Giunta and told him he would be receiving the Medal of Honor.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now.
Barbara, the U.S. has been involved in two wars for most of the past decade, yet very few medals of honor have been awarded to people who have died. Have the requirements changed or is it just the nature of modern warfare?
STARR: Well, you know, Secretary Gates believes it's the nature of modern warfare. But that's not to say he hasn't been pressing for this. I would say it's been the last couple of years that he's made it very clear he wanted to see some answers and he wanted to know why a Medal of Honor had not been awarded to someone who had lived to tell of such valor and courage.
And behind the scenes, more files are being worked on. More are expected in the coming weeks and months. This is something that does reflect the changing nature of war. But this now after this coming Tuesday, I think we will begin to see some movement on this, Don.
LEMON: He saved some buddies. What about the other guys who survived the ambush? Will they be at Tuesday's ceremony, Barbara?
STARR: Yes, I have to tell you, I've gotten some e-mails this weekend, most of Battle Company is home. They are back. Several of them have, as of today, arrived in Washington. They are reuniting. I think it's fair to say there will be a good deal of thirst-quenching going on amongst the guys this weekend by all accounts.
They are really thrilled to be back together. They are going to remember those who didn't make it back. This is a brotherhood, I think, that is going to exist forever, Don.
LEMON: Absolutely. We call it adult beverages and they are -- they can truly have as many as they'd like.
Barbara, stand by because we're going to be coming back to you in just a little bit.
CNN will have live coverage of the Medal of Honor ceremony on Tuesday. But with pride though comes a strong dose of sadness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIUNTA: It's very bittersweet. I mean, it's such a huge honor. It's a great thing. But it is a great thing that has come at a personal loss to myself and so many other families.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Sergeant Sal Giunta says he says he will accept the medal, but not for himself. He says it belongs to every American who fought in Afghanistan.
That's coming up right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: U.S. forces pulled out of Afghanistan's Korengal Valley earlier this year as part of shift in military strategy. Many troops found that hard to accept. Controlling the Korengal had cost a lot of lives. So by withdrawing, did they die for nothing?
I want you to listen now to Staff Sergeant Sal Giunta. His 2007 deployment in the Korengal earned him the Medal of Honor which he will receive Tuesday from President Barack Obama.
Again, CNN Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): In Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, it happened almost every day. A place where Medal of Honor recipient, Staff Sergeant Sal Giunta, says nothing is easy.
GIUNTA: Everything is hard. You know, the people are hard. Vegetation is hard.
STARR: Author Sebastian Junger and filmmaker Tim Hetherington spent the better part of the year in the Korengal for Junger's book, "War" and Hetherington's film, "Restrepo". They followed Sal Giunta and many of his teammates.
(on camera): How violent for the troops there?
SEBASTIAN JUNGER, AUTHOR, "WAR": There were 150 American soldiers there, Battle Company of the 173rd Airborne. And they were in almost 500 fire fights during their deployment. I was told that that was almost one-fifth of all the combat in all of Afghanistan.
TIM HETHERINGTON, DIRECTOR, "RESTREPO": There are nearly 50 American lives have been lost and countless more people have been injured and countless civilians have been killed as well, caught in the cross fire and a lot of insurgent fighters. So, you know, death was daily reckoning.
STARR (voice-over): Why were soldiers like Giunta sent to the Korengal in the first place? To help build a road near the Pakistani border and yes, win hearts and minds. A mission some now say was destined to fail.
STAFF SGT. ERICK GALLARDO, U.S. ARMY: A lot of (INAUDIBLE) in that valley. A lot of lives were lost.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger, I copy. STARR: The Korengal Valley became so vicious, so bloody, it became known as the Valley of Death. The military finally made the decision to leave.
(on camera): Many of the soldiers have come to terms with the decision to leave the Korengal Valley.
GIUNTA: I've made my peace with that. What was done there, I hope was done for the benefit and it hopefully helped a lot of people. And the Medal of Honor that I will receive happened in that valley, but it wasn't for that valley. It was for the people.
GALLARDO: We did everything we could. We did everything that was asked of us. We did exactly what our commanders wanted us to do. What the army decided to do after that, that was on the army.
STARR: Is there a bit of irony here that it then became a place where the U.S. Military very quickly decided it perhaps shouldn't even be? That it didn't fit the strategy in Afghanistan, to be some place where it was so unwelcome and it withdrew and there are no more troops in the Valley of Death?
GATES: I think it has some iconic value as you say. Just because of books that have been written about it and the documentaries and so on, but I don't see a particular irony in it.
STARR (voice-over): So many battles for so many troops; heroism every day. Sal Giunta says for him, the Medal of Honor is for all of those who have fought. Barbara Starr, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Barbara is with us again right now.
So Barbara, let's talk about the ceremony at the White House on Tuesday. You know, it's going to be historic. A young man from Iowa joins the Army on a whim and ends up winning the Military's highest -- being awarded the Military's highest honor. That's pretty heavy stuff.
STARR: You know it is. And this whole question of strategy and grand U.S. plans and all of that, what it boils down to for Sal Giunta, for Battle Company, for men and woman who have served across the generations whether it's Vietnam, the fields of France in World War II. When men and women serve in battle of course, it is not for the grand strategy of the nation, but it is to serve with their brothers and sisters.
I mean this is what the men of Battle Company tell us and this is what we know. A young man serves, fights, risks his life to save his buddy on the left and his buddy on the right. This is a brotherhood in close battle, in literally hand to hand combat. Sal Giunta will tell you that he did no more than what any other soldier would have done that.
The President of the United States will beg to differ on Tuesday. He will say that Sal Giunta is an extraordinary American. And I think I would wrap by saying that Battle Company, of course, wants everyone to also remember those who didn't make it home; Sergeant Josh Brennan, Specialist Hugo Mendoza and all the men who served in the Korengal -- Don.
LEMON: Amazing, I'm sure Sergeant Giunta would trade his medal to have his friends back.
Barbara, will you help me out with something here? I want to show -- I told when I was coming in to work today. Let's -- there's some video that we took from the CNN tower cam. It was from Centennial Olympic Park. And it was the 40th brigade, they returned from Afghanistan this year.
This is the video. I was out there. I was coming in to work. This is my video. And so I just got out of my car, Barbara, and started videotaping them with my iPhone. And it's the Georgia National Guard. They were marching from Canton to downtown Atlanta this weekend to commemorate Veterans Day; a 48-mile march began on Saturday at the Georgia National Cemetery in Canton and it ended at Centennial Olympic Park.
And I asked one of the guys out there Barbara. I said, what do veterans mean to this country and why should we honor them? And here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because of these soldiers, you have the liberties and freedom that you do. And you may not like it, but please appreciate it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Barbara, he is right.
STARR: Oh, absolutely. You know, it is worth always remembering I think the United States Military is an all-volunteer force. These are people who raise their right hand, join the military. They know these days they are going to war, that they are risking their lives for the country and for their buddies, who join them in battle, Don.
LEMON: And we thank them for their service Barbara. And we thank you. Great reporting there; really appreciate it.
STARR: Thank you.
LEMON: When we come right back here on CNN, we'll update you on the headlines including a deadly explosion at a tourist resort in Mexico.
Plus, a British couple is finally free after being held hostage by Somali pirates for over a year.
And it was Ben Bernanke last year. Who will be "Time" magazine's person of the year this year? I'll talk to one of the magazine's editor's about who's in the running. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We want to update you now on that bizarre missing person's case in Ohio. Police have rescued a missing teenager, 13-year-old Sarah Meyner (ph), found bound and gagged in a home in suburban Columbus, Ohio. The girl's mother, her brother and a family friend are still missing. Police arrested a 30-year-old Matthew Hoffman on kidnapping charges. The family went missing on Wednesday and since then, the community has organized massive search efforts. The neighbor describes the massive rescue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE CHRISTOPHER, NEIGHBOR: S.W.A.T. team came and then the blast I heard, they blasted the door and went in. And you know, I heard the guy was sleeping on the couch and they found one of the girls that was missing tied up down in the basement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Also, developing tonight, near Cancun, Mexico, as many as seven people including a child were killed today by a powerful blast at a Caribbean resort. Mexican media report four of the dead were Canadians. Another 20 people were hurt including two Americans. Mexican authorities say the explosion appeared to be caused by a gas leak, possibly a stove. The Grand Riviera Princess is on the Yucatan Peninsula.
A British couple is free tonight after more than a year in captivity. Somali pirates kidnapped Paul and Rachel Chandler them last year after the two set sail on their yacht for Tanzania. The family will not confirm if a ransom was paid, but Somali elders tell CNN the pirates received $750,000. The pirates initially demanded $7 million.
All those Arizonians waiting to inhale are celebrating today. Election officials have determined the Prop 203, which permits medical marijuana has passed by about 4,300 votes. No votes had been leading the "Arizona Republic" reports, but until officials began counting provisional ballots, it all changed. Arizona becomes the 15th state to allow medical marijuana.
Still ahead, here on CNN, my conversation with a mega church pastor who recently announced to his congregation that he is gay.
And what do Lady Gaga, the prime minister of Turkey and the founder of WikiLeaks have in common? They're all in the running to be "Time" magazine's person of the year. A closer look at how the final person is chosen and who else is in the running.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Every November, the speculation begins. Who will be "Time" magazine's person of the year? This week the magazine released a list of 25 potential candidates and there's even a way for you to have your say on-line.
Radhika Jones is the assistant managing editor for "Time" Magazine. Thanks for joining us. So Radhika -
RADHIKA JONES, "TIME" MAGAZINE, ASST. MANAGING EDITOR: Hi.
LEMON: "Time" has an on-line poll that everyone at home can vote on. So let's pop that up and talk about some of these candidates here. A bit of a surprise at number one, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Why is he polling so high?
JONES: Erdogan.
LEMON: Yes. Erdogan.
JONES: Well, it's -
LEMON: You say it a lot better than I do.
JONES: It's interesting. I mean, he's had a very big year. Turkey is obviously a nation of huge geo-political strategic importance and it's at the cross roads of Europe and Asia. Erdogan, this year has, he's really flexed his diplomatic muscle. He's been critical of Israel. He's been critical of the U.S. and I think people are really watching to see what he's going to do next.
LEMON: Yes, very interesting. You know, I found this one to be interesting, I guess I'll say. Julian Assange, number three. Right now, So "Time" doesn't always shy away from picking controversial people for its Person of the Year, does it?
JONES: No, the person of the year as the founder of "Time" put it, is the person who affects the news of the year for good or for ill. And depending on your take of the ethics of WikiLeaks, you could go either way on Julian Assange but certainly he has affected the news of this year very much by his huge classified leaks of information from the Iraq war and the war on Afghanistan.
LEMON: So listen, the unemployed American, that is number eight right now on the polls. Isn't it kind of a cop out? Some people say that. You know what I'm talking about. They say this category when you do something like that is kind of vague and picking an actual person because back in 2005, remember it was you were "Time" magazine's Person of the Year.
JONES: I do remember. I was very honored to be chosen.
LEMON: So did I.
JONES: Yes, you could argue that it's a little bit of a conceptual gimmick perhaps, but I'm surprised to see how highly the unemployed American is polling. I think it really is resonating with people this year, the idea that, you know, there are - the unemployment rate is simply not dropping as quickly as people who have hoped and this may be the new normal that we are living with. That choice would reflect that.
LEMON: It is a sign of the times. It says exactly what is going on in the country, what people find important, the economy, jobs, economy, jobs.
Listen, what's the criteria for picking the Person of the Year?
JONES: You know, we, it's an editorial choice. It is not determined by the poll, I should say, although you can go to time.com and vote. The editors spend a lot of time thinking about the big stories of the year and how they have affected everyone around the world and we try to put a face to those stories.
LEMON: So then what's the purpose of the poll then? Do you just want to know what's on viewer's minds? They're not going to have any say even if they go and vote, Radhika?
JONES: We'll find a way to acknowledge the poll results in the issue for sure. The purpose of the poll in a way is to show people who, what candidates are on our minds and the other thing is that we are attuned to what people think. It's interesting, fascinating for us, editorially, to see how various candidates do in the poll.
LEMON: So it might not be any of these 25 people?
JONES: We reserve that right, yes.
LEMON: OK. All right. We appreciate it. And we look forward. Thanks, Radhika.
JONES: Thank you.
LEMON: Next here on CNN, George W. Bush and his brother, Jeb, together. What they told CNN about their famous family name. Plus, they defy the traditional views about money, education and achievement. How students in one low income school are succeeding even in the face of government budget cuts.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's check what's crossing on the political ticker right now. Congress returns to Washington tomorrow for a lame duck session and probably the most immediate issue for them to deal with will be the Bush tax cuts. Republicans want to see them extended across the board. Democrats only want to extend them for people making less than $250,000 a year in order to reduce the deficit.
Well, the White House is being cagey about whether or a not a compromise could be reached on the Bush tax cuts during this session. White House adviser, the senior adviser David Axelrod, wouldn't give a solid answer about it on the Sunday talk shows, but he did say that the middle class deserves these tax cuts the most because it has taken the hardest hit in this recession.
Could Michael Steele's days be numbered as the head of the GOP? Republican Senator Jim DeMint apparently hopes so. DeMint told Fox News that Republicans need a stronger national committee and he criticized Steele's get out the votes efforts during the midterms.
For the latest political news, go to cnnpolitics.com You know, busy days for President George W. Bush. His recently released 481-page memoir is getting a lot of buzz lately. On Tuesday, ground breaking ceremonies for his presidential library and museum in Dallas. He sat down with our very own Candy Crowley for an interview on tonight's special "State of the Union" at the top of the hour.
And joining him for a part of that interview, his brother, Jeb Bush. They talked about the persistent rumors that Jeb would be perfect as a Republican National Committee chairman. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEB BUSH, FMR. FLORIDA GOVERNOR: If I'm trying to achieve financial security for my family, and I'm not running for office, I certainly wouldn't run for RNC chairman.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And why do you think all this talk is always out there? First of all, let me ask you, why is this talk always out there, by the way?
GEORGE W. BUSH, FMR. U.S. PRESIDENT: Because he's a successful person. He's smart. He's honest. And he had an unbelievably good record as the governor of Florida.
CROWLEY: And your last name is Bush, and so there's always sort of chatter about that.
GEORGE W. BUSH: Yes, but had he been a failure as governor of Florida, they wouldn't be touting him and if he wasn't an honest guy, they wouldn't be touting him and if wasn't a decent person with a great heart, they wouldn't be touting him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: For more on Candy Crowley's interview with the Bushes, tonight at 8:00 Eastern. Just a few minutes from now. It is a special edition of CNN's "State of the Union."
All right. Let's talk education now because a lot of people assume budget cuts automatically lead to low-performing schools, but that's not always the case. In today's edition of "Perry's Principles," CNN's education contributor Steve Perry takes us to an Alabama school that accepts no excuses in its pursuit of educational excellence.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's go quietly, quietly.
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR ((voice-over): Faced with deep budget cuts, educators here at Phillips Academy could make lots of excuses.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PERRY: But failure's not an option with this public school with 800 students. K through eight. (on camera): Statistically, you don't exist. 100 percent black, about 60 percent poor. Homeless children in your school, this is the worst economic time and you have one of the top 10 schools in the entire state. Why is it the resources are not holding you back?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, quality instruction makes the difference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you added more chemicals, there are things you have to react.
MARK SULLIVAN, PRINCIPAL, PHILLIPS ACADEMY: That the relationship between that student and teacher makes the difference.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're talking about worlds apart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The skills that teacher has when goes into that classroom that makes the difference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready?
PERRY (on camera): What makes your school a good school?
SULLIVAN: Our parent base is phenomenal. No matter what we may need, our parents are there to stand in the gap to do fund-raisers, to volunteer time. We have people who understand that whatever it takes to get the job done, we have to do it and if somebody wants to come in and volunteer to help, we accept that help.
PERRY (voice-over): So, you have found a way to inspire your teachers, children and parents to stay focused on the children and the business of education.
SULLIVAN: We have to bring our a-game every single day. We can't make excuses. We have to make things happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to make it sound exciting.
SULLIVAN: We're in the business of educating students. And if students aren't educated, we haven't done our job.
PERRY: Steve Perry, Birmingham, Alabama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Sounds good, Steve. OK. Still ahead on CNN, they're gruesome and graphic, but will they really stop people from smoking? We'll take a closer look at the new warning labels the FDA wants to put on packs of cigarettes. Plus, a mega church pastor tells me about his decision to tell his congregation and the world that he is gay. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. Would you buy a pack of cigarettes if it showed an image of burned out lungs or a hole in a smoker's throat? Graphic warnings like that could be on the way, though. CNN's national correspondent Susan Candiotti reports on the FDA's proposed new labels that could have smokers swearing off the habit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are graphic. They're, meant to be blunt and the FDA wants them to make smokers think twice about lighting up.
DR. JOHN SEFFRIN, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY: This is a truly historic event.
CANDIOTTI: Historic because cigarette warning labels haven't changed in 25 years. The proposed labels will be hard to miss.
SEFFRIN: These are pretty difficult not to pay attention to because it has to cover 50 percent of the front and back of package of cigarettes.
CANDIOTTI: The warnings are required by law to show up on cartons by 2012. Yet another tool including public service announcements meant to get smokers to kick the habit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now there is a permanent hole in my throat.
CANDIOTTI: More than 30 countries already use far more explicit images. This one from Australia. Another from Thailand.
SEFFRIN: They're not meant to offend anybody or to scare anybody off. It's meant to inform.
CANDIOTTI: We showed the proposed labels to young people who belong to an Asian-American group promoting good health.
(on camera): How powerful a message do you think this is showing someone with a tracheotomy?
DANA RIBAUDO, STUDENT: I think it's powerful but we're constantly bombarded with images all day that overtime you just become numb to them.
WILL LIAO, STUDENT: I don't think it's really effective either because looking at the picture you see how he did perform this kind of surgery and yet he's still smoking.
CANDIOTTI: Do you think a woman who is addicted to smoking looking at this will think, hmm, maybe I shouldn't do that?
SAMMI LIU, STUDENT: No. They would continue doing it.
CANDIOTTI: Why?
LIU: Smoking is addictive. They can't stop.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): The FDA is taking public comments until January. Tobacco company Phillip Morris says it plans to weigh in but RJ Reynolds is suing over being forced to show labels like these.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: OK. Everyone, it is the interview that you all had been tweeting and commenting on and made it number one on cnn.com. So thank you. So this is the interview, the pastor of a Georgia mega church telling his congregation the secret that he's been holding all of his life. That he is gay. I want to play part of my in-depth conversation with him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: How has your family and your kids, how have they reacted to this?
JIM SWILLEY, MEGA CHURCH PASTOR: Well, I would have never said publicly until I knew that all four of my kids were OK. I talked to each one of them individually. They knew the situation. They knew there has to be some reason why. Their mother and I were divorcing because we have had a very amicable marriage. They never heard us fight or be disagreeable at all.
So I had to tell them and really had to make sure that I had the green light from them before I ever said anything about it publicly because if they had said, "Dad, we don't want you to say this. I don't think I ever would have."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. So we covered lots of topics. You can hear more from Pastor Swilley, Jim Swilley on his coming out, it's tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
All right. I want you to check out this rock. Apparently it is the largest emerald in the world and also the subject of a court battle. We'll tell you more when we come right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So every weekend we like to bring you some interesting stories, news items that you might have missed throughout the week. OK. So try slipping this ring on your finger. The Bahia gem is said to be the largest emerald in the world. Should be at 840 pounds and right now, it is in the hands of the Los Angeles sheriff's department because there is a court case over who owns it.
The courthouse news service reports a gem buyer named Tony Thomas testified this week that he bought the Bahia emerald in 2001 and he lost his bill of sale after his house burned down. Thomas said he thought the defendants in the case played a part in that house fire. An expert also testified the Bahia emerald is worth $800 million. Well, Thomas said he paid $400,000 for it. That would be quite a profit. A Tallahassee man has major bragging rights. He caught the state's longest gator on record. Look at that thing. More than 14 feet long, it was killed in the state's annual alligator harvest. Hauling the 650-pound gator to land took an epic two hours. It beat the previous record by three inches.
All right. 30 seconds may cost a deputy of 20 years his job. In Washington state, an officer on the (INAUDIBLE) county sheriff's department is under internal investigation for possibly having sex while on duty. Our affiliate KING reports the officer may have accidentally tripped the mic in his patrol car. This is how it sounded.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
LEMON: Stop laughing, guys. The radio transmission lasts about 30 seconds. The deputy who has not been named is on paid administrative leave.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Up next, former President George W. Bush on a special edition of CNN's stat "State of the Union." See you at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
