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Closing in on a Tax Cut Deal; Iran's Nuclear Breakthrough; Video Barbie Gets FBI's Attention

Aired December 06, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Welcome to the 10:00 hour. Pretty chilly in the east 7:00 a.m. California time. And it's a big day for Prop 8. The ban on same sex marriage getting a challenge in Federal Appeals Court. CNN's keeping an eye on that for you.

And a French court says that a Continental Airlines mechanic bears some blame for the crash of a Concorde supersonic jet. That crashed happened 10 years ago and killed 113 people. The mechanic was fined more than $2,600 and got a suspended sentence for involuntary manslaughter. Continental and the company that made the doomed jet were also slapped with fine.

And the hunt is on for a killer shark in Egypt. It actually attacked and killed a German woman snorkeling in the water off Sharm El-Sheikh. Three other people were hurt last week in that same area.

You're paycheck and your taxes. Senators have been debating them all weekend long on Capitol Hill and after a series of test votes. Well, it looks like they are closing in on a deal to extend the Bush tax cuts for all Americans no matter how much you make. Help for millions of the jobless maybe part of that compromise as well.

Christine Romans here to tell us more about it. Less than four weeks until those tax cuts expire. Let's talk about the bottom line, Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And many payroll departments of big companies are watching this nervously because they don't have much time to change their withholding tables, in fact, if they're going to change how much money to check in their paycheck next January 1st.

Let's look, if you're single, Kyra, you make $47,000 a year, what will this mean to you? It means your tax bill, if the tax cuts are extended, would be about $4,259. If the tax cuts were allowed to expire and Congress did not extend them, your tax bill would go up to $5,078.

What about a family of four making say $75,000 a year? A couple of young children. Don't forget, there are tax credits and deductions for small children. If the tax cuts are extended, the tax bill is $1,600. If the tax cuts expire, paring back of some of those child tax credits would mean the tax bill would go up all the way to $4,200 a year. What about a couple married, 65 or older, making $121,000 a year? If the tax cuts are extended, they are billed for the year about $12,600, and if the tax cuts expired, it would jump up more than $6,000 to $19,567. Those are just four different profiles. Everyone is different. Everyone has different circumstances and deductions but the Tax Policy Center and many others have calculated there's a lot of people zeroing in on their own information, Kyra, and trying to figure it out what it would mean for them if those are not extended. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Got it. All right. Christine, thanks so much.

Well, the recession may be over but the nation's top economist says brace for a long recovery. The unemployment rate has been at 9.5 percent for higher than 16 straight months now. Fed chair Ben Bernanke thinks it will be a while before we get back to normal, too.

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BEN BERNANKE, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: Between the peak and the end of last year, we lost 8.5 million jobs and we've only got about a million back so far, and that doesn't even account the new people coming into the labor force. At the rate we're going, it could be four or five years before we are back to a more normal unemployment rate, somewhere in the vicinity of say five or six percent.

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PHILLIPS: Well, Bernanke wants to commit at least another $600 billion to hold down interest rates, but critics says it is a risky idea. One that could lead to ballooning inflation.

Well, the U.S. is talking with its allies about how to best deal with North Korea. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton meets today with top diplomats from South Korea and from Japan. The three nations want to be on the same page in responding to North Korea's recent shelling of a South Korean island and its uranium enrichment program.

In a phone call last night, President Obama told china's president North Korea needs to stop its provocative behavior.

New developments this morning out of Iran as well. Iran says it can now make nuclear fuel from scratch, including a crucial component known as yellow cake. It's a coarse powder, and making it is the first step in a process that actually converts uranium oar into one of two things, fuel for a nuclear power reactor or the metal used in an atomic weapon.

And that has the White House pretty worried. Until now, Iran had to depend on other countries for this raw material and this revelation comes just as long delayed nuke talks get under way in Switzerland.

A diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks softens the window on the censorship battle into China. The cable describes Chinese officials anxiety about citizens getting uncensored online content through Google. China apparently turned the heat up on the search engine firm after a top official entered his name and found critical posts all about him.

A lot of digging going on this morning in South Bend, Indiana. This snow, several inches of it, part of a system that could set a record in Chicago. The lake effect, well, that's snow that hit Buffalo, again, where the heck did fall go? It went away quickly, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It did. It come like very quick, like a few leaves started falling, and, boom, replaced by snowflakes. It came down in sheets. There have been a lot of people out there that have been enjoying the snow, but for other people, say many folks in Buffalo, it's been damaging especially along (INAUDIBLE).

We got some video to share with you. Many people out and about in parts of Buffalo last week had all kinds of problems along parts of i-90 just trying to get from one area to the other, especially say from Buffalo to back towards Erie. It just wasn't happening. And then of course, the heavy snow that stacks up on the roofs, what happens, sometimes, you have a little bit of temperature activity, going up above the freezing point. You have a little bit of a thaw and then it refreezes, and it creates what we refer to as ice dams on many overhangs and roofs.

The snow continues to mount up and it doesn't slide off and then you have just the sheer weight, the volume of that snow, causing those roofs to fail. You see some of the structure failures on some of those mobile homes. Certainly rough times there, and it looks like they're going to have more snow in parts of Erie. But thankfully, not that I want bad things to happen in places like Erie but Buffalo is going to be spared. It appears from this next blast of snowfall as the winds having more of a northerly movement as opposed to a northwesterly movement. That's going to cause most of the snowfall to go a little bit farther south of Buffalo.

Syracuse, you're going to be in on the action. Cleveland, you're definitely going to get some of it. The western shores of Michigan. Kalamazoo, possibly up to 10 inches of snowfall for the next 48 hours. So be prepared. Winter is coming on with a vengeance. And while things are going to be very cool on the eastern half of the country, things should warm up a bit in parts of the four corners. But when you get into Utah, outside of Salt Lake City, near the Wasatch range, some heavy snowfall certainly a possibility.

Also, central and north Rockies, snow is going to be coming down. That's going to be some great news for skiers but for travelers though, it's always a different story. Got to take it easy out there. Very, very treacherous times.

PHILLIPS: All right. All of the marks you worked in, did you ever do the big polar bear plunge?

WOLF: No way. No, no, no.

PHILLIPS: Why not? Chicken.

WOLF: Absolutely. Let's be honest, that is definitely it.

PHILLIPS: From Michigan to Wisconsin, I remember all these crazy folks doing it. But it's usually for a great cause. It's not one of those nutty clubs. You know, they're raising money. All right. Take a look at this one. Some guys, by the way, that went in some skivvies that probably shouldn't have been shown.

WOLF: Speedo free.

PHILLIPS: I'm telling you, man. These things should be Speedo free. About 1,000 people turned out along the shore of Lake Erie this time. And it was the polar plunge there and it's become a holiday tradition, Reynolds, and they raised money actually for special Olympics, fantastic organization, FYI, in Buffalo, New York and apparently they raised about $150,000. Pretty worth it, huh?

WOLF: It's a great cause. It is. But you have to remember outside the water, the temperatures are certainly below the freezing point, and you get in the water, that's in the 40s.

PHILLIPS: The water was warmer than the weather outside.

WOLF: It's when the water is warmer you run into these problems. You remember the famous episode of "Seinfeld," the shrinkage episode.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely. (INAUDIBLE) major issues.

WOLF: Merciless.

PHILLIPS: I guess there was a lot of that going on over the weekend.

WOLF: But for a good cause. A wonderful, wonderful cause.

PHILLIPS: There you go.

That's right. Thanks, Reynolds.

WOLF: You bet.

PHILLIPS: OK. Well, the stars lit up our nation's capital Sunday as the president honored five of our top cultural icons. We've got the highlights in the "Showbiz Update."

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PHILLIPS: Well, Steven Tyler, James Taylor, Gwen Stefani, just a few stars who brought a little glitz and glamour to our nation's capital. A star-studded Kennedy Center honors and pays tribute to five cultural icons for their life-time contributions to the arts and American culture. The show brought out some of the biggest and best in the entertainment industry. And as Chris Rock points out, even the world's most powerful leader was in attendance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: I walked in this room, and it's an amazing feeling to look up and see the most powerful person in the world and right next to her Barack Obama. He didn't get her a job. She got him a job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Oprah was one of five honorees at last night's event, which was hosted by the president and first lady Obama. As you know, when so many big names gather in one place, our A.J. Hammer is all over it. Hey, A.J..

A.J. HAMMER, HOST "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": Hi, there, Kyra. Oprah was one of the five cultural superstars whose lives and work were celebrated in this weekend's Washington 33rd Kennedy Center honors. It was a fabulous ceremony. Paul McCartney was toasted, too. You heard his music a moment ago.

The composer and lyricist Jerry Herman was also honored. Choreographer Bill T. Jones, country icon Merrill Haggard as well, all honored for their lifetime contributions. And of course, stars turned out, Julia Roberts, John Travolta, Jennifer Hudson, Gwen Stefani, Steven Tyler, they were all there for the big star-studded ceremony and Winfrey was honored for her more than 4,400 shows and half dozen films and nearly 25 years as a talk show host. She has, as it was put in her official citation, impacted nearly every aspect of the entertainment world while engaging, inspiring and enriching the lives of millions.

Of course, CNN caught up with Oprah on the red carpet, and we have to asked her if she had any advice for the next Oprah as she wraps up her final season this year. Watch what she tells.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, KENNEDY CENTER HONOREE: The only advice is to be yourself because all of life is about becoming more of who you are. And you can be you better than you can be anybody else. You know, I started out pretending to be Barbara Walters and then figuring out that I could be a better Oprah. So, my best advice is always to find a way to your true self, to the highest truest expression of yourself because that's what people are looking for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAMMER: Something that she obviously figured out. The gala was taped on Sunday night and scheduled to be broadcast, Kyra, on December 28th on CBS. I enjoy watching that show. It's festive and stars come out but there's a certain air of I don't know, sophistication that I really enjoy seeing coming from the Hollywood people.

PHILLIPS: Well, you just described yourself.

All right. One of the big stories in Hollywood last week, actor Josh Duhamel getting boosted from a flight for texting. So he broke his silence, huh?

HAMMER: Yes, it does seemed that Josh has learned his lesson which is basically don't mess around with the flight crew. Duhamel is finally speaking out about this incident and got kicked off a New York to Kentucky flight on Thursday. As "Showbiz Tonight" reported he was removed from the flight for refusing to switch of his Blackberry after a flight attendant asked him several times to shut the thing off.

Well, when he didn't, the plane reportedly turned back to the gate at La Guardia Airport. Josh was removed. Can you imagine how the other passengers felt about that? Well, Duhamel is now telling "Access Hollywood" this. "I've learned that it's best to always turned them off. Lesson learned." The actor also admitted that the experience was quote "not my favorite moment."

I got to tell you, Kyra, I was flying this weekend. A lot of people have a real problem with the fact that you have to turned off your cell phones, turn off your Blackberries. But being a rule favoring person as long as that's the rule and FAA regulation, I'm shutting it off, and I encouraged my fellow passengers, celebrity or not to do the same so we can just move along.

PHILLIPS: A.J., you are such a good boy. You're sophisticated and you follow the rules. Is there anything hidden that I don't know? You come across far to perfect.

HAMMER: I got a big list right here, Kyra. Where do I begin?

PHILLIPS: No. We're going to keep the image going. A.J., thanks so much.

Well, if you want any information about anything breaking in the entertainment world. You got the perfect A.J. Hammer every evening on "Showbiz Tonight" at 5:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. on HLN.

All right. Get ready to talk about that. Barbie, that a lot of us don't understand. Have you seen this? It's a Barbie that comes with a video camera. Right there in the middle of her chest. We'll tell you why the model has gotten even the FBI's attention in a way that holiday Barbie never did.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: This just in. A Supreme Court says that it's going to take up the Wal-Mart sex discrimination case. More than 1.5 million current and former workers are seeking back pay and punitive damages against Wal-Mart. You may remember the suit was first filed back in 2001, and the plaintiff say that women were paid less and given fewer opportunities for promotion than men. We'll follow it for you.

Well, buckle yourself in for a wild joy ride. Truck across, cross country. Police in northern Ohio say that they finally slapped the handcuffs on the 17-year-old driver of this stolen dump truck who led lawmen on a collision packed 52-mile long chase through three counties. Before it was over, the teen took a couple of police cruisers, smashed a few private vehicles. Luckily, nobody was seriously hurt.

And in Dallas, Texas, the Salvation Army counting their blessings. Thanks in part to no benevolently minded person. They dropped a South African coin into one of their red kettles. Guess, how much it was worth? It was worth between $1,300 and $1500.

And in Boston, it was beginning to sound a lot like Christmas on Saturday. Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart pulling a massive Christmas carol chorus in hopes of breaking a world Guinness record. They didn't do it but it sure was beautiful. It sounded fantastic.

All right. Let's talk about a toy that might be on Santa's 2010 list. Have you seen it? It's called video camera Barbie. Yes, Barbie can record all the exploits of her owner and her owner's friends. The little girl's play time easily uploaded to the internet for pretty much anyone to see. Would you be cool with that?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't know if they are going to take it somewhere and do something with other kids and put it on line or a parent might try to do something. It's not something I would want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Predators through children, to download stuff that is recorded on a kid's doll like that. I just don't think that that would be the right thing to put out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Once its on the internet, it's always on the internet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, this Barbie has gotten on the FBI's radar for those very reasons. The bureau says it hasn't gotten any reports of pedophiles using the doll for illegal purposes but it also says the possibility of the combination of these two in a single device presents a big concern for investigators. "Law enforcement is encouraged to be aware of unconventional avenues for possible production and possession of child pornography such as the Barbie video girl.

Barbie's mother ship, Mattel, says "the products are concerned with children and their best interests in mind and many of Mattel's employees are parents themselves and we understand the importance of child safety. It's our number one priority."

But why even go there? I don't know. It seems like Barbie doesn't need all that technology. She's about little girls and their imaginations, right? The techie video gadgets can come a little later. Let's talk about this more with Jennifer Wooden Mitchell. She is co-president of Child Teen Lures Prevention. So Jennifer, I understand you are pretty outraged about this. Why?

VOICE OF JENNIFER W. MITCHELL, CHILD-TEEN LURES PREVENTION: Well, you know, I do support technology and kids and 21st century learning skills and all that. I would just warn parents to be very careful when gifting any tech toys that are internet linked.

If parents are not familiar in their entirety with the ability to upload onto the internet and how their kids can be exposed to other people, I would really caution them to be careful giving this to children. You know, we have a (INAUDIBLE) generation. We have parents who are very analog and kids who are digital. And the kids know a lot more than the parents about this stuff. There is room for exploitation here. Parents should be very, very aware of it. And not just with a Barbie doll, any technology their kids are using.

PHILLIPS: Well, and that's - I mean, Jennifer, what would a young girl who plays with Barbies need with this? I mean, it gave us sort - I mean, it gave us all kind of a creepy feeling when we actually talked about it.

MITCHELL: I agree. It doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, you know, but everything is turning tech now. Everybody wants to have that edge. Everybody wants to have that connection, but that connection is not always in the best interest of our children and their safety.

PHILLIPS: And Jennifer, the FBI is saying OK, this is why we're putting out this internal warning. By the way, it wasn't for the public to see. It was internal. And the concern - the point that the FBI is making is when you make a bust in the home of a pedophile or wherever and you see Barbie dolls, don't discount that as evidence.

Look and see if it is a video Barbie. Because it might have important information for the case. How creative have pedophiles gotten, you know, to this point in 2010, and with something like this, like a video Barbie be appealing to a pedophile?

MITCHELL: Well, of course. I mean, listen, pedophiles think 24/7 about ways they can get to kids. We don't think that way. They do. It is very important that parents not discount that it could be used in that way. You know, I'd like to say that it wouldn't be or couldn't be, but, unfortunately, that's how pedophiles think. So consumer beware here.

PHILLIPS: Jennifer wood Mitchell, thanks for calling in. Appreciate it.

MITCHELL: Thank you for having me, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

Michelle Rhee, she didn't make a lot of friends when she fired hundreds of teachers as part of her education reform plan in D.C.. Well, now this controversial educator is getting ready to inject herself in the education debate once again but this time on a much bigger level.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) PHILLIPS: All right. Stock market opening bell rang just about an hour ago. Checking the big board right now. Dow industrials down almost four points there. What worries that the Bush tax cuts will not be extended is affecting how Wall Street firms are doing business. That's for sure. Carter Evans with more on that from New York. Hey, Carter.

CARTER EVANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. OK. So, the Bush tax cuts may expire for the highest earners in this country. We've been talking about this for about a month now. That means folks here on Wall Street. Now the "New York Times" is saying that some firms here are talking about moving up their bonus payments to this year in order to avoid a possibly higher tax rate.

So currently top earners in this country, people who are making over $250,000 a year are paying 35 percent in federal taxes. If the tax cut expires, that tax rate would go up to 39.6 percent. So people making $1 million will have to pay $46,000 more in taxes next year if these tax cuts are not extended.

So this is why it's a concern on Wall Street. Bonuses are a huge part of people's salary. In fact, for some people, most of their pay comes through bonuses. In fact, last year Wall Street paid out $20 billion in bonuses. Of course, this could end up to be a moot point because there are signs right now that a compromise could be in the works that would extend the Bush tax cuts for all, even wealthy here in this country, for a couple of years but not permanently.

PHILLIPS: All right. So for the rest of us, it sounds like we're going to have to deal with higher gas prices during the holiday, in particular, right?

How high could prices go?

EVANS: Well, it's looking like $3 a gallon for the national average. Now, many people in this country are already paying more than $3 a gallon but we're talking the national average, all of the places in this country, when you look at gas prices, the low prices and the high prices averaging more than $3 a gallon by Christmas. The national average right now is $2.91 a gallon. They are already seeing $3 a gallon on Long Island, here in New York, in Chicago, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, San Francisco.

Here's why. Oil prices are at their highest level in two years. More than $89 a barrel today. One of the reasons for that, Kyra, is the weaker dollar. The dollar got a whole lot weaker when this quantitative easing that the Fed put in place a couple of weeks ago went into effect. That weakened the dollar a bit. Essentially when you're printing money, it makes the dollar worth less.

There is also strong demand for oil right now because it's wintertime, and people are trying to heat their homes. A lot of people are trying to strategize so they can drive less. I don't know if you've done this while you're shopping, but a lot of people, Kyra, right now are going online and they're planning out their shopping trips before they go so they can make it as efficient as possible because gas prices are going up, and it looks like they are going to top three bucks a gallon this month.

PHILLIPS: Big bummer. All right, Carter. Thanks.

Other stories that got us talking today. Check your pantry because food safety inspectors actually found hard plastic inside eight-ounce packages of Bumble Bee lunch on the run chicken salad lunch kits. And also, in three-and-a-half ounce packages of Bumble Bee chicken salad with crackers. But the USDA says there's only a remote possibility that you can be hurt by it. Now, the Suter company packages both these products. Look for August 2011 and February 2012 best buy dates.

The Chinese government worries that it can't control Google, that citizens might get uncensored online content. We know this, thanks to WikiLeaks. One leaked cable talks about a Chinese government leader who was upset when he found negative comments about him online.

All right. Well, this just in to CNN. The woman whose name and face that became synonymous with the controversial education revolution is taking her reform ideas national now.

Remember Michelle Rhee? Well, she stepped down as Washington, D.C.'s schools chancellor in October. She was a hero to a lot of people and a villain to many others. During her three years in charge, she fired hundreds of teachers, dozens of bureaucrats and even principals. She did away with the city's tenure system in favor of a merit-based reward plan.

Well, now, just a few short months after leaving her post in D.C., she's decided to launch an education advocacy group. Her Web site went live just moments ago. This is what it looks like. She's going to be unveiling her new ideas this afternoon on "Oprah." Oprah, as a matter of fact, is giving her the entire hour to talk about it.

But CNN education contributor Steve Perry got a sneak. He is joining us live via Skype from Hartford, Connecticut. Steve, what's the idea behind the group, and is Michelle Rhee going political here?

STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: The idea behind the group is to provide another voice in the political conversation. She's most definitely going political. In fact, she understands that while a lots going to happen in the classroom, what impacts what is going on in the classroom is what's going on in Congress as well as local governments. So she's going to put together a grass roots forum of educators and parents and individuals who care about public education to do what they can to reform public education.

PHILLIPS: All right. We know that she's a controversial figure, to say the least.

Here's one point of her mission statement. "Actively and purposely engage in politics. We'll support pro reform candidates and push an aggressive legislative agenda. No longer will the unions be the only ones exerting muscle with the politicians."

All right. So, how will she be able to bring people together to make educational progress actually occur?

PERRY: As we saw with the movie "Waiting for Superman" in which she was prominently featured, there is a significant interest in what's happening in our public schools. So, there is already a latent interest. She in particular has a ground swell of support. I get to go to college campuses and travel throughout the country meeting educators and what I see - as well as college students.

And what I see is that there is an interest intersection. People from different political perspectives coming together around one issue, and it's education. What we find is that they're focused on how can we fix it. There is virtually no organization suggesting that it should stay the same.

The challenge is how should it become different. And what she is suggesting that we get downright revolutionary. She's looking at some amazing opportunities to create contracts that are more compelling for people interested in education, maybe coming into education, rewarding success as opposed to just staying there the longest. And coming -- bringing people who are not otherwise involved in education into the education discussion.

PHILLIPS: All right. How does this organization differ from others that are trying to reform education?

PERRY: Well, honestly, I don't think that many of the other organizations have been able to pull together the resources that this organization will. Not just financial resources. I think one of the challenges is people think resources, they think cash.

Well, money's not the issue in public education. It's performance. What she's going to be able to do is pull together some of the most exciting educators currently in the business today and get them to speak as one voice about what can be done to reform education.

She's already got quite a bit of support. I mean, Oprah is spending the entire hour talking about this. This is huge.

PHILLIPS: Right. And Florida's governor-elect, Rick Scott, he's actually tapped her, Michelle Rhee, to head his education transition team, right? So, what does that mean for Rhee and her agenda?

PERRY: I think what is means is it's just another person reaching across the aisle. For so long, the conversation around education seemed to sit comfortably within the Democratic party. But what we found with this fall's elections is that there are a lot of people who want into the political conversation. And now that more people want into the political conversation as it relates specifically to education, Rhee is going to be a person who is a tour de force. She will have to be reckoned with. I am very, very interested to see how this pans out.

PHILLIPS: Well, you're going to keep us updated. Steve Perry, thank you so much.

PERRY: Thank you, Kyra. PHILLIPS: Growing up gay. A pair of new studies are giving us more insight about what it's like to be LGBT. The running theme, acceptance is key. We're talking about how to reach these kids, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Gay bullying, gay suicides. They are sad stories that we keep hearing over and over again. But if the anecdotes weren't enough, there is a pair of new studies detailing just how hard it is to grow up gay, dealing with stereotypes like these.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are the stereotypes that we deal with?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lesbians fall in love after a day and move in two weeks later.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gay men can't play sports. They can't play football. They can't do anything identified towards masculinity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gay men speak in high voices.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gay people like every person they see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gay people are the reason why we have HIV.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: That's from a home for LGBT teens that I had a chance to visit earlier this year. IT's called True Colors. And there the staff is already practicing what these studies show. Acceptance is critical for gay teens.

Kamora Herrington is the mentoring program coordinator at True Colors. And Kamora, I had the pleasure to meet so many of your kids, kids that actually have been thrown into foster care because their parents simply don't want them. It was heartbreaking to hear so many of these stories.

So, let's talk about these studies, and you're already way ahead of the game, but these studies that just came out. The role of acceptance and how incredibly crucial that is because of what's happening to our gay teens.

KAMORA HERRINGTON, MENTORING PROGRAM COORDINATOR, OUR TRUE COLORS: Well, I'm incredibly happy that these studies came out. In a way, it seems like a no-brainer but it really isn't for some people that if you love and accept your children and can figure out how to do love and accept your children, they won't be at greater risk for the evils.

But then the really interesting piece about Caitlin Ryan's research is that a family doesn't have to go all the way to be a fully accepting P-flag family that's right there. The family just has to get to a place where they don't abuse and criticize their gay kids, and then that cuts all of those horribles in half or at least the chance of committing suicide, doing drugs, all those awful things -- cuts it in half.

PHILLIPS: I mean, and that's what these studies found. When the kids weren't accepted, in particular by family members and teachers, that they were three times more likely to commit suicide, have bad grades, violent behavior, juvenile arrests, and it was even higher for girls.

HERRINGTON: It is. A big piece of that is coming away from the gender norm. As we talk about this, we are thinking of the lesbian kid, the gay kid, the bisexual kid, the transgendered kid. And we're wondering what is it about their orientation that around offends people so much. But a lot of it is gender presentation. And if you way you present yourself is offensive to people around you, they react accordingly. If you are a boy who offends people because are more like a girl, because you act more effeminate, your parents are going to be more rejecting if they're not okay with who you are.

With the girls, the same thing. If they're a bit more masculine in presentation and their way of being, their parents are more rejecting if they are not okay. If you are a gay kid who has that acting, looking straight way about you, then people aren't as offended until you're older and they realize that it's not a phase. And then when you are an adult and they realize it's not a phase, you have some inner resources. But our 15-year-old and 16-year-old children don't have those resources yet.

PHILLIPS: Now, you have been successful in utilizing resources and dealing with kids these kids and their various issues, kids who have been completely rejected. So -- let's say you were in front of your kids -- we saw a little bit there in a class I had a chance to sit in on. As you bring these kids in that are thinking about violent behavior, suicide, or have already committed crimes and now you've got them in your class, where do you even begin with these kids? When they're not getting it at home, Kamora, what is it that you are doing that's helping them become so much better at life and, you know, their self-esteem. It was incredible the impact you had on these kids.

HERRINGTON: Well, the very beginning, one of the things do, and I think you heard our children talk about this is we learn how to understand the homophobe. We need to learn how to understand where people who reject us are coming from. Because what our kids are hearing from the parents is "I hate you." And the truth is, most of their parents don't hate their children. And if the parents were to hear that, they would be shocked and offended and hurt to know that their children think that hate them.

But often parents can't separate the behavior, the orientation from the child who they gave birth to who they love. So, one of the first things that we do is we come together and say, you know what? Your parents love you, but why might they reject you? What might this be coming from?

And then of course, religion comes up, social standing comes up, what their parents' friends might think of them comes up. But really to get to a place of understanding, your parents love you. There is this piece of you that for whatever reason, your parent can't get over and can't get through. And then once we do that, we just start dealing with how amazing we are as gay people. And once they realize there are a whole bunch of us who have done wonderful things on this earth, then they begin joining that community.

But we do everything to make sure they are not ostracized from her home community or from their family of origin because that's where that real support needs to come from. A gay kid coming to a gay organization and hearing that gay is okay is going to happen. But a gay kid going to mom and saying I'm gay. For mom to find a place of love and acceptance, that's what's going to keep the kid alive. That's going to do a much more important job than what I can do.

PHILLIPS: And one more thing that this pointed out, Kamora, before we let you go -- teachers, it was -- the research that they found, teachers not accepting these kids. Even punishing them, more likely to punish a gay kid than a straight kid. What's up with that?

HERRINGTON: (INAUDIBLE) both came out together.

Well, think about it. They're being punished, but lots of kids are being punished unfairly in schools. But what happens with the typical kid when the child is punished unfairly? Mom comes in. Mom demands a parent/teacher conference. Mom demands that her child is treated fairly and with respect.

When that child is gay and the mom doesn't respect the child and mom has issues with the child's orientation, that parent isn't going to school and advocating for their child in the same way that they would if it was a different issue. When we look at the rates of our children being punished, of course that is happening. Who they are is offensive to some of the teachers. The way they present themselves is offensive to teachers, and then once the punishment is meted out, there is no place for the parent to come in and say, we're going to do this differently because the parent feels the same way the teacher often does.

PHILLIPS: Kamora Herrington, group is True Colors. It's pretty amazing. It's always great to see you and talk to you. Thanks, Kamora.

HERRINGTON: Kyra, thank you. And the kids say to say hi. Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: Aw! Well, big hugs and kisses to them.

HERRINGTON: (INAUDIBLE)

PHILLIPS: We've got some - you bet - sad news coming to us now out of Dallas. "The Dallas Morning News" is now reporting that Cowboys legend Don Meredith has died. Meredith passed away Sunday evening, we're told, in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his family by his side. He was battling emphysema and also suffered a minor stroke in 2004. You may remember, he was nicknamed Dandy Don. He was the original Dallas Cowboy actually signing a contract with the team before it was officially in the NFL. And then after playing for the Cowboys from 1960 to 1968, he went onto Monday night football fame, ending many games by singing the party's over when he figured the game was out of reach. Meredith was 72 years old.

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BILL HADER, SNL CAST MEMBER (acting as Julian Assange): Welcome to WikiLeaks, TMZ. Looking for world leaders behaving badly. Come on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our guys caught up with president Hamid Karzai leaving Tong (ph) last night. And I think it kind of speaks for itself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, you forgot your briefcase.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not take bribes.

(LAUGHTER)

HADER: What an idiot. Good work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the clock is ticking down on the lame duck session for what's still on Congress' to do list. Let's check in senior political editor Mark Preston. Hey, Mark.

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, Kyra. How are you?

Look, one of my favorite features, Kyra, on CNNpolitics.com is actually done by our friends at CNN Money. They have put together the Washington Punch List. And what this is is all of the issues that are going to affect your bottom line, that are going to affect your pocketbook. What's going to happen to unemployment benefits? What's going to happen to extending tax breaks? What's going to happen with the fiscal 2011 budget?

You know, Kyra, a lot of people don't realize this, but Congress still needs to pass a budget for the federal government in 2011. They did a temporary fix that will get them through a couple more weeks, but they still need to address it. So, if you go to CNNpolitics.com, you can get to the link to the Washington Punch List, the crib sheet to find out what Congress is doing, at least when it comes to economic policy and monetary policy here in Washington, D.C.

You know, Kyra, we have talked a lot about "don't ask, don't tell." Of course, that really seems to be one of the biggest issues right now that Congress is facing, but how does it effect the military? Last week when the Pentagon put out its report, it talked about how they didn't think that overall it would negatively affect the current service members that are in the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines.

But there is one group where there really seems to be a debate about it, and that's with the chaplains. Right now, 3,000 chaplains currently serve in the military. And it is an issue of debate. If you go to CNNpolitics.com, there is a great story up there that lays out both sides about the "don't ask, don't tell" policy revocation if that's the case and how the chaplains are dealing with it. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. Well, Americans ranking presidents who served in the past 50 years. I'm curious who is on top.

PRESTON: Well, this is always a fun story, and, in fact, there's a new poll out just this morning from Gallup where they take the nine presidents that served over the last 50 years. And probably really to no one's surprise, if you look at the top president is John F. Kennedy. He comes in at 85 percent followed by Ronald Reagan, at 74 percent, Bill Clinton at 69 percent, and George H.W. Bush at 64 percent. What's interesting is that Richard Nixon, which isn't what we have -- the current graphic. He is the lowest rated president at 29 percent, and our most recent president, of course, George W. Bush comes in at 47 percent.

Now, one other interesting thing about this survey is it shows that Jimmy Carter is actually losing ground. In 2006, his favorability rating was 61 percent. Now, Kyra, it's only 52 percent. So, Gallup thinks that might have a lot to do with his outspoken criticism of the war in Iraq and really his criticism of George W. Bush. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Mark Preston, thanks so much.

We'll have your next political update in just about an hour. Also, for all of the latest political news, go to our Web site CNNpolitics.com.

Well, if you have an adventurist spirit and some extra cash -- actually, a lot of extra cash -- you may wind up here in the desert with your ticket to ride into outer space.

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PHILLIPS: All right. Real quickly here. We are getting word from Barbara Starr over at the Pentagon that Admiral Mike Mullen, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, is going to be heading out of Washington tonight, apparently, for South Korea. As you know, we have been covering the tensions there between the North and the South, and apparently, this was a hastily planned visit, we are told, designed to try and reassure the South Korean military that the U.S. is supporting it.

You know, the South Korean navy began those live-fire exercises on the seas surrounding the Korean Peninsula at the beginning of this week. Once those tensions began to form between the north and south over the past few weeks, and we have been covering that. We will follow the trip and see what kind of impact it does make.

Now, every day at this time, we honor the men and women in uniform who is given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan for all of us. We call it "Home and Away." And today we're lifting up first lieutenant Tyler Parten from Marianna, Arkansas. He was killed in an insurgent attack in Kunar Province there in Afghanistan in September of 2009. His friend, Amy Ditto (ph) sent us these pictures and some pretty great memories. She said "Tyler was a man of integrity, honor and compassion and was a consummate gentleman. He was also hilarious and never forgot to see the humor in every situation. He was the kind of person who made everyone else feel important and loved. Tyler also enjoyed playing and composing music, and would play harmonica for all of those kids in Afghanistan."

If you have a loved one you would like us to honor, here's all you've got to do. Go to CNN.com/homeandaway, type in your service member's name in the upper right-hand search field, pull up have your profile and seven us your thoughts, your pictures, and we promise to keep the memory of your hero alive.

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PHILLIPS: All right, movie buffs. You remember that scene from "The Godfather" as Corleone's daughter gets married on the family Staten Island compound? Well, guess what, the actual home now for sale. Only 2.9 million bucks, and it can be yours. Or you be like the Don himself and give them an offer they just can't refuse.

Quick programming note: Al Pacino, who played son Michael Corlenone, appears tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." You won't want to miss it as we count down to Larry's final show. That's actually ten days and counting. The King is almost in retirement, Drew.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Unbelievable. That's going to be kind of sad, actually.

PHILLIPS: I know. And you think, boy, from radio all of the way to CNN. He's got quite the life span.

GRIFFIN: But he swears he is not going anywhere. He'll still have specials, he'll still have great interviews. We just won't see him every single night.

PHILLIPS: Good luck, Drew.

GRIFFIN: All right. Thanks a lot. Thanks, Kyra.