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North Korea 'Open' to Proposals; 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Repealed; The Grim Sleeper: LAPD Getting Hundreds of Tips

Aired December 18, 2010 - 22:30   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: In a bold move, police in Los Angeles released dozens of photos of women they believe could be victims of an alleged serial killer known as the Grim Sleeper.

Plus, we'll take you inside a secretive place where Americans can't and may never be allowed to visit, and where a few reporters have dare to even go. We will take you there, live, in just a few minutes.

And watch out for those slippery roads. This highway in Washington State turns into a demolition derby.

We start with breaking news tonight involving North Korea, where CNN's Wolf Blitzer has exclusive access to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. Richardson has just wrapped up a meeting with North Korean generals. A meeting he said made some progress. We cannot stress too much how dangerous the situation is right now with super heated rhetoric from the north as South Korea prepares for live fire military exercises near the North Korean coastline. He is visiting Pyongyang in an unofficial capacity at the invitation of North Korea. Wolf joins me by phone with Richardson's latest diplomatic efforts and the North Korean response.

Wolf, what can you tell us?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, Don, there have been some dramatic developments. Richardson literally just wrapped up an hour and a half meeting with Major General Pak Rim Su, the top North Korean military official in charge of the demilitarized zone and the armistice. He offered Richardson two proposals and the North Koreans were open to them. Establishing a U.S., North Korea, South Korea military commission to try to deal with some of these sensitive issues and the disputed areas.

Also the establishment of a hotline between North and South Korean military commanders to deal with these issues that the North Korean general was open. He didn't make a firm commitment. But he did do was offer the United States photographs of what they say they just discovered hundreds of U.S. remains of U.S. military personnel who were killed during the Korean war. And they're open to having a United States delegation come over and bring those remains back.

I saw some of the photographs, by the way, including a dog tag of one American soldier who was killed. Richardson is going to notify the Department of Defense and they'll notify next of kin. But he is here with me right now.

Let's get his quick reaction on what if any progress was achieved during this meeting.

Governor Richardson?

BILL RICHARDON (D), NEW MEXICO: Well, it was a very tough, sobering meeting. They're very concerned, the North Koreans, about the artillery drill. I told them the United and South Korea have an alliance and they're united. The good news is that I floated a couple of proposals. He didn't accept them. One was for a hotline between North and South Korea. This has been talked about before but it has never actually happened between the military commands in terms of times of crisis.

The second was a military commission. Representatives of the United States, North Korea, South Korea, to monitor the disputed areas in the west sea, to see if there are any potential altercation that can be avoided by this commission.

Now, again, I'm not an envoy of the administration. These are ideas that I've floated out to him. And the best news is I've been involved before in the recovery of remains. Six were given to me four years ago to a bipartisan delegation that I brought out here. They said that they recovered scores more recently and they want to resume the joint recovery efforts with the U.S. That's good news. But at the same time, before North Korea and the U.S. engage, North Korea has to stop some of this behavior such as the shelling of individuals and many other measures that have been very provocative.

BLITZER: All right. Thanks, Governor Richardson.

There you have it, Don.

It's a very, very fluid situation. Very tense, right now, as you know. The North Koreans say they'll respond militarily if the South Koreans go ahead with this exercise, which they've delayed for the weekend because of bad weather. Everyone is now looking to the United Nations Security Council. They're scheduled to meet in emergency session Sunday morning in New York. We'll see what happens there. But it is still a fluid situation. The North Koreans obviously watching it extremely closely as is everyone else -- Don?

LEMON: All right. Wolf Blitzer and Governor Bill Richardson in Pyongyang. Thanks to both of you.

Onto new news now. A landmark moment for gay rights here in the United States. Gays and lesbians will be able to serve openly in the military after the Senate today repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a 65-31 vote. The House already passed it. Now it is awaiting the president's signature. So let's get to our congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar on Capitol Hill -- Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, the breakdown in this vote, 65 to 31. You had eight Republican senators joining with 57 Democrats and independents who are present and voting to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the practice of the U.S. military where gays and lesbians servicemen and women couldn't serve if they are going to be open about their sexual orientation.

This has been a very controversial topic. It's had a very long and winding road, especially in the Senate. Most recently, this was attached to a larger defense measure, defense authorization bill. And this was one of the reasons that defense authorization bill failed, because of this controversial topic, as well as some others.

In the end, the House ended up passing a stand-alone "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" repeal. That is what went through the Senate today.

And today, you're hearing from supporters like Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut, who is saying this is about righting a wrong. We also heard from his other leading co- sponsor, a Republican, Susan Collins of Maine, who said this is about making sure that anyone can serve in the military so long as they're willing to put on a uniform and fight for the freedom of all Americans.

But there are still a lot of opponents here. Senator John McCain, he stood on the Senate floor today and said that he is concerned this is going to be a distraction that will cost lives.

In the end, though, this -- the plan is for President Obama -- this is according to the White House -- to sign this into law this week and for them, the military, to go ahead and implement it here in the coming weeks -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Brianna Keilar, thank you very much.

Even after the president signs the repeal, it won't go into effect right away. There will be a certification process for a few months to verify the change won't impact military readiness or effectiveness. Now if all that checks out, the repeal will go into effect once and for all 60 days later. So for now, gay service members are advised not to do anything.

But former Army Lieutenant Dan Choi isn't one to stay quiet. He was still in the service when he came out on national TV last year. That earned him a discharge, and he became one of the loudest voices in the push for repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Here's what he had to say when I spoke with him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN CHOI, FORMER ARMY LIEUTENANT (via telephone): We know that when you're on the right side of justice and history, you don't ever go backwards. And so, this is the real moment. It's not for me that is the most excited. I'm sure that this is sending shockwaves to all the closeted and fearful and self-hating people all throughout America who are afraid to come out because they're gay. And they're saying finally that the government is saying that we're taking steps closer for you to access your integrity. And that's why it's so amazing. Not just amazing for me. And oh, I'm already out. I'm fairly openly gay, I guess you can say.

LEMON: Yes.

CHOI: But, you know, this is for all of those people in the military who are languishing, not able to come out to themselves, because they are so ingrained with this self-hatred and it's a message. And I hope that it really stiffens their spine.

LEMON: Listen, Dan, you're in the military. Is it not true that most people in the military know who the gay men and women are around them and they're OK with it, so this is -- this is something that is -- it seems, you know, sort of -- what is the word I'm looking for? Not hypocritical, but people are already there and now people will know?

CHOI: Yes, it's already a reality that, look, we're not only acknowledging the truth that we already know, we know that we're serving with openly gay people in other countries as well.

You know, we're in these operations with NATO allies. There's openly gay people that we're already serving with. And so, it's ridiculous when you hear people say, OMG, as John McCain said, wow, look, this is going to cause the amputations of soldiers and marines. And that is probably the most ridiculous thing that I've heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And I should tell you, Dan Choi just got out of the hospital after suffering a breakdown that he says is related to both post-traumatic stress and the fight against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." And we want to wish our best to him.

I also spoke with someone who is gay and currently serving an act of duty. Military officer using the pseudonym "J.D. Smith."

He is the founder of OutServe. It's an underground network that claim 1700 gay and lesbian service members. Here's how he reacted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. SMITH," ACTIVE DUTY MILITARY OFFICER (via telephone): It was -- it was amazing to watch today, just to see the vote take place. I mean, it was just -- it was like a knife just came out of your back. You know that this is going to be over in the next few months. And it was amazing to see it happen.

LEMON: Any concern, J.D., for any backlash, especially for, like, the Marines, who were opposed more than any other branch of the military?

SMITH: I don't think there's going to be any backlash at all. I think that even some of the Marines that may not think they ever known a gay and lesbian in their experience, when their best friend or one of their friends in their unit comes out as being gay, they're going to realize it's not an issue at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: There was another big Senate vote today on another big issue --immigration. Supporters fell five votes short of the 60 votes needed to advance a Dream Act. That's a bill that offered a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants who entered the United States as children.

President Barack Obama issued a statement calling it, quote, "incredibly disappointing vote" and he vowed to continue fighting for the legislation. The House passed its version of the bill earlier this month.

The president did sign a short-term spending bill today. It will keep the government in business through Tuesday. The temporary spending measure passed both Houses of Congress on Friday. It is necessary because Senate budget negotiations broke down Thursday night and the current budget resolution expired today. The goal now is to pass another temporary spending bill that will last into the New Year when the new Congress has taken office.

Still ahead here on CNN. Fifteen minutes of fame and a ticket to the unemployment line. That is the hand that Velma Hart was dealt. Now she's become one of the millions looking for work this holiday season and she's here to tell us about it.

Plus, did the accused Grim Sleeper serial killer have more victims than originally thought? Investigators are now turning to the public for help.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, now to Los Angeles and the bizarre case of the alleged serial killer known as the Grim Sleeper. After police released 150 photos of women found in the possession of Lonnie Franklin Jr., hundred of tips have been pouring in.

Joel Rubin of The Los Angeles Times has some new information for us.

So, Joel, police have tentatively identified some of the women in these photos?

JOEL RUBIN, LOS ANGELES TIMES: Yes, a day after they released, it was actually 180 images showing what they estimate to be about 160 individual women. After they released them, they -- the day after, they said they had tentatively identified five of the women. And they said they were going to take the weekend off and get right back at it on Monday. So I think that's where they stand now.

LEMON: All right. Just to be clear, identified at least five of the women. Do we know if the women are alive or deceased?

RUBIN: No. They were very clear to say that they could not comment on the status of the women. They simply had names for five of the women whereas before they had no names. In the days to come, they will be clearly talking to relatives who have contacted them but they weren't clear whether the actual women themselves had contacted them or relatives.

LEMON: Yes. So here's the interesting thing, Joel. So we have over 1,000 images and they've released just over 100 of them. But we don't know if the women in all of these photographs, we don't know who they are. Police don't know if they're alive or if they're dead.

RUBIN: That's true. Yes, and that was really the conundrum that the detectives were facing when they went into this man's house after arresting him. Discovered this trove of images and hundreds of hours of video. And they said, you know, we've got to try to identify who these women are. They tried to do it privately and got to the end of all their routes on that front and said, you know, we feel we have no other option but to go to the public and say, do you know who these people are.

LEMON: Yes, and describe some of these photos. I think some of the women they believe may have, he may have lured them into his yard? Describe the photos and the situations surrounding the pictures.

RUBIN: Right. So the images that were released are very tightly cropped just to show the faces of the women. But the photos themselves and the video that were found have been described as, you know, most of them showing sexually provocative poses. Various states of nudity. And, you know, the working theory is that somehow he encountered these women along the way and the photos seem to range from 20 years old, back, 30 years old, back to the '80s up to present day, or until he was arrested. And somehow lured them into the backyard and had them get in front of the camera.

So listen, Joel, in the short time we have left. I'm looking at the images here. And most of the images I'm seeing are of African- American women. Is that a pattern here?

RUBIN: Well, he lived in south L.A. which is at the time when he was most active, allegedly active, it was predominantly African- American. He himself is African-American. And his M.O. by all accounts was to focus on allegedly young African-American women. So it didn't come as any surprise to the detectives.

LEMON: I have to run. But real quickly, why the Grim Sleeper?

RUBIN: It goes back to the fact that he allegedly had a long period of time between two sets of killings that he's accused of. He was active in the mid '80s and then later.

LEMON: Joel Rubin with "The Los Angeles Times." Very good information. Thank you for coming on CNN and sharing that with us, OK?

RUBIN: Thanks for having the time.

LEMON: Coming up here on CNN. More than 140 inmates escaped from a Mexican prison near the Texas border.

Plus, while weather out west. I want you to check out these cars. They're just trying to get up a hill. We'll have more when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's check you top stories right now. Tonight, police in Mexico are searching for at least 141 inmates who escaped from a prison near the U.S. border. Authorities say the escapees had help from prison workers. The inmates broke out of a penitentiary in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico. One of the prisons housing inmates connected to drug gangs.

American Amanda Knox won a major victory today when an Italian appeals court agreed to independent testing of key pieces of evidence in her murder case. Knox was convicted of murdering her English roommate at the home they shared in Italy in 2007. The judge is allowing new forensic tests on the knife believed used in the attack, and he has also agreed to allow testimony from new witnesses for the defense who are said to have information showing Knox was not involved in the killing.

A massive winter storm has grounded all flights at London's Heathrow Airport. As of right now, it is closed indefinitely. It was the same story across much of Europe today with blizzard conditions from northern Ireland to Bulgaria. Up to 40 inches, more than three feet has fallen in parts of Bulgaria.

If you're in Washington State tonight, be careful behind the wheel. Look at that. It was like bumper cars on a skating rink at Spokane's South Hill today. Cars slid all over the place and smashed into each other on the icy surface. It led to a pileup that lasted for about two hours. No report of serious injuries but lots of damage.

Never ever do this. Driving across a flooded road is a big no-. A major pacific storm dumping huge amounts of rain on the West Coast, causing this. Look at that. That's flooding in Sacramento, California. But there's good news for skiers. Higher elevations are seeing snowfalls measured in feet.

So she did something that many Americans only wish they had the opportunity to do. Earlier this year, Velma Hart confronted the president about the economy during a town hall meeting. Well, coming up, hear what she has to say about the president now and her passionate views on the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So you probably don't remember her name, but you might remember her moment in the spotlight. Velma Hart questioned President Obama during a televised town hall meeting and told him how worried she was about the economy. She had good reason to be. She was recently laid off. A casualty of the recession. She was so concerned about.

Earlier I talked with her about the president, his policies and even today's Senate vote on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VELMA HART, TOWN HALL MEETING ATTENDEE & FORMER NATIONAL FINANCE DIRECTOR, AMVETS: I want to believe that the passage of this bill is significant in that it recognizes a wrong. Civil rights violations in any capacity, in any era should never be tolerated.

So I see that as a correction that is long overdue. And I'm very, very excited about this for the president, and quite frankly for the Congress, because it looks like a bipartisan support on this bill.

LEMON: Do you blame the president for your layoff?

HART: Absolutely not. I don't know what country everybody else lives in, but I live in a democracy. And that means there are three legislative branches of government and there are lots of people, more than 500, who make the decisions about what happens in this country.

Am I disappointed? Absolutely. I don't know anybody who wouldn't be. The community that I reach out to and talk to often are certainly concerned. But the fact of the matter is, this is not a problem for one man. This is a problem, though, that at least from the base that I come from, we want leadership and results. It's time, and it's long overdue.

LEMON: Ms. Hart said that you were exhausted. You still support him? It sounds like you do.

HART: Absolutely, I support this president.

LEMON: OK. Let's talk about the tax cut deal between the president and Republicans, what do you think?

HART: Well, here's where I come down on it. I listened to the president's message that Wednesday -- I believe it was a Wednesday -- when he talked about why he thought this was the right direction for the country to go in. And I believed what he said. I bought it off on it because, at the end of the day, his driving agenda was his constituent base. He absolutely wanted to make sure that they could be supported through what were unprecedented economic challenges. And so I think his heart was in right place and the agenda was in the right place.

The concern I have is the concern that I think he shares and many in Congress shares, and that's the added debt.

LEMON: Listen --

HART: But I also believe that that was the first and many decisions that will have to be made, Don, and some are going to be very hard. I'm hoping further effect on the people can be averted, but I don't know that that's possible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Even though she is still looking for work, Velma Hart told me she is not worried about finding a job. She says she is focused on Christmas and celebrating the holidays with her family.

Happy holidays to that family, the Hart Family.

Up next, a soulful sounds of R&B artist, Avant. He'll sing his new single for us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I'm Don Lemon in Atlanta. I'll see you back here tomorrow night 6:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

A special CNN documentary, "A SOLDIER'S STORY" is next, but right now we leave you with the sounds of R&B artist, Avant, singing his new single, "Kiss Goodbye."