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President Obama Releases Long-Form Birth Certificate; National Security Team Shuffle; Syria's Deadly Crackdown; Judge's Sexuality Questioned; Bill Bans Transgender Marriage; Rep. Giffords Lands In Florida; Talk Back Question

Aired April 27, 2011 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Let's get you up to speed.

President Obama made copies of his original birth certificate public today, making that public. The document shows Barack Hussein Obama II was born in Honolulu in 1961. It bears the signature of his late mother, Stanley Ann Dunham.

The president says questions about his birthplace were overshadowing his agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that there's going to be a segment of people for which no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest. But I'm speaking to the vast majority of the American people, as well as to the press.

We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We've got better stuff to do. I've got better stuff to do.

We have got big problems to solve. And I'm confident we can solve them. But we're going to have to focus on them, not on this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: For years, birthers have claimed that the president was not born in the United States and was not constitutionally qualified to be president. Well, the latest noise had been coming from Donald Trump, who is toying with a run for the Republican nomination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, ENTREPRENEUR: Today I'm very proud of myself, because I have accomplished something that nobody else has been able to accomplish. I was just informed while on the helicopter that our president has finally released a birth certificate. I'd want to look at it, but I hope it's true.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: Our CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins us on the phone.

And Jeff, you heard Donald Trump's remarks here, he's very proud of himself. Legally, the president had satisfied all the questions about where he was born, his birth certificate. This seems like this is certainly a political move.

Do we think that -- is there any question at all, anything that's unresolved regarding what the president has put forward that someone could use to question his citizenship?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Well, there is no factual dispute here. There has never been a factual dispute that sane people could disagree about.

This is yet further proof that gravity exists and that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. I doubt that the hardcore birthers will be satisfied by this, but I do think that this should resolve the issue in the minds of all but the absolute craziest of people.

MALVEAUX: And Jeffrey, you and I have talked about this. It's something that the president could have done a long time ago, opening up that vault and allowing for the original birth certificate to be made public here.

Does this set up a dangerous precedent? Does it set up something where the president -- it is beneath him to have to open the vault and to bring this forward to the public? Is this a good idea?

TOOBIN: That's a hard question. I think the situation is so odd, that I don't think the issue of precedence will really come up very often.

Look, Donald Trump is right, he is the person who raised this and got us in the news media to cover it sufficiently that it did become a big issue. I don't know that it was hurting the president politically. I think the people who were agitated about it were such hardcore opponents, they were never going to be persuaded, but I think the president was right that this dispute was certainly taking up a lot of time. I suspect that many of the birthers will continue, but Trump, who is rational, if cynical about this whole thing, may drop it.

MALVEAUX: All right, Jeff. Thank you so much, Jeffrey Toobin, for your perspective on all of this.

Well, another story, violent storms, possibly tornadoes, clobbering the Deep South. That is happening today.

Three new deaths are now confirmed in Mississippi. Several people are reported trapped in debris that is south of Huntsville, Alabama.

The dangerous weather system will move through Atlanta area. That's going to happen tonight, before targeting the Carolinas. That's happening tomorrow, on Thursday.

High water on the Ohio River helped pin four runaway barges underneath a railroad trestle in Pennsylvania today. Two of the barges eventually squeezed under the bridge. The water is so high, authorities may blow up a levee down river, where the Ohio meets the Mississippi, to ease the pressure.

A shooter opened fire at Kabul airport today, killing nine people, six of them U.S. troops. Now, officials say an Afghan military pilot started shooting after he got into an argument with the troops. The Taliban claimed that the shooter was an insurgent who infiltrated the Afghan military, but NATO says that is not the case.

Well, new assignments now for key players inside the Obama administration. President Obama is expected to announce tomorrow that he is moving CIA Director Leon Panetta to the Pentagon as defense secretary. Afghan war commander David Petraeus will replace Panetta at the CIA. Now, both nominations need Senate approval.

The United States is telling Americans, think long and hard before making a trip to Mexico. And that is because of the surging drug violence there. The State Department has now expanded a travel warning. It now includes parts of the nine Mexican states shown with those red lines there and all of the states shaded in red.

Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, she is flying to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida right now. She's going to watch her husband, Mark Kelly, command the last flight of space shuttle Endeavour on Friday. Giffords has been recovering from a gunshot wound to the head at a Houston rehab hospital.

Here's your chance to "Talk Back" about the big story of the day. President Obama, now releasing his original birth certificate.

Our Carol Costello is here with the "Talk Back" question.

It's the original. He had already supplied the official birth certificate, so he said it's additional information. People already had a lot to go with already.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but will this put the issue to rest once and for all? That's what we're going to talk about today.

The issue of President Obama's birth certificate just would not go away for months, years. The Obama team said the issue was settled, the certification of live birth they released in 2008 was enough.

Now, in a stunning turnaround, the president decided to release his original birth certificate. Was it because of Donald Trump, who has hammered away at the issue for weeks, or other Republicans like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, who flirted with birtherism? Or was it just, as the president says, that he had had enough of all the "silliness"?

Mr. Obama said the issue had become a distraction from the real problems facing our country. It could also be a distraction for the president's re-election campaign though.

In a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, one-quarter of Americans believe the president was not born here. Not a majority, but a stubbornly significant minority.

So, is it over? "Talk Back" today: Does President Obama's move put the birther issue to rest?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN, and I'll read some of your responses later this hour.

MALVEAUX: I would be very curious. I know we're working on this, a CNN poll, to see, does it change people's opinion either way?

COSTELLO: We'll see. You heard Jeffrey Toobin say for those hardcore people out there who believe that the president was not born in the United States, it won't change their mind. But hopefully that's a tiny, tiny sliver of Americans.

MALVEAUX: We'll see what the polls say and the viewers. It will be very interesting.

COSTELLO: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Thanks, Carol.

Here's a look at what's ahead "On the Rundown."

Fresh gunfire in Daraa. The Syrian government, intensifying its bloody crackdown.

A dangerous water rescue in Ohio after a teen gets in over his head.

And we are waiting for the Federal Reserve decision on interest rates and Chairman Ben Bernanke's news conference.

And, plus, a judge's sexuality is questioned in two fascinating legal cases.

And Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. She is heading to Florida to watch her husband launch into space.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: This just in. We have an update on a story that we have been following.

Eight U.S. service members and one American civilian contractor were killed. That, today, in a shooting at an Afghan air force compound in Kabul. That's according to a Pentagon spokesman.

This is -- what we understand, NATO saying that an Afghan military pilot opened fire on the troops, on international troops, sparking a gunfight. The Taliban had claimed responsibility for the attacks, said it had been working with the shooter for some time. NATO says that, in fact, is not correct.

But that updated information, eight U.S. service members, one American civilian contractor, killed there in Kabul.

(GUNFIRE)

MALVEAUX: A witness says terror reigns in the city of Daraa. This video now said to show demonstrators being fired on indiscriminately by government troops. The brutal crackdown is going to be discussed today at a U.N. Security Council briefing.

Fran Townsend joins us via Skype from New York. She is our national security contributor and a member of the CIA External Advisory Committee.

Fran, thanks for joining us here.

I want to talk, first of all, about Syria, because things are really deteriorating very quickly, as the Syrian military is cracking down on the protesters. We saw 13 tanks moving now into the city of Daraa, snipers targeting people leaving their homes, dead bodies on the street.

How long can this go on in Syria before that city explodes?

I understand that -- Fran, do we have you?

We don't have Fran. Apologize for that.

Want to go to Chris Lawrence, who's at the Pentagon.

Chris, give us a sense of what is taking place there. I understand that there's a shuffle within the administration, the Obama administration, dealing with the Defense Department, CIA, as well as those on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Tell us what you know.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Suzanne, a major shuffle taking place. It's a game of musical chairs right now over the next few months.

Here's how President Obama's nomination plans are going to shake out. And we expect a formal announcement to come sometime tomorrow, from what sources are telling us.

Take a look. CIA Director Leon Panetta will be moving from the CIA. He's going to be nominated to take over the Pentagon, here at the Department of Defense.

Panetta brings a lot of experience. He started his career as a Republican, then worked in the Clinton White House. And he was also the head of the Office of Budget and Management (sic), the OMB, Office of Management and Budget. That's important, because one of the key jobs here at the Pentagon over the next year or so will be instituting some very strict budget cuts here. Also, who's going to take Panetta's place at the CIA? Well, President Obama is expected to announce that he will nominate General David Petraeus. The man currently leading the fight in Afghanistan will now be nominated to take over the intelligence side.

That's key, because General Petraeus has been working with a lot of those CIA station agents in Iraq, in Afghanistan. So he has some very real experience with those folks already on the ground.

When this new team sort of gets in place, you're also going to see a new team in Afghanistan. Lieutenant General John Allen will take over the fight in Afghanistan, and Ryan Crocker will be nominated to be the new ambassador to Afghanistan. One of the key issues there will be how they can both get along with President Hamid Karzai and perhaps improve that relationship over where it's been over the last year -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Chris, do we think at all, with this shuffling that's taking place, is it going to impact our even change our policy when it comes to troops in Afghanistan, troops in Iraq, when we would actually start to see a significant pullout, for instance, in Afghanistan?

LAWRENCE: Well, if you started to see this change perhaps as early as this summer -- I know President Obama probably will want to get some of these nominations before Congress in the next couple months. He's already said that he wants to start drawing down some of the troops in July.

But that is one of the criticisms you're going to hear from some analysts, in that by choosing people from sort of within his administration already, that there's some unwillingness to really rethink American foreign policy. And whether General David Petraeus, who has been focused on improving the U.S. military's ability to fight these wars in, say, Afghanistan, you know, how much is he willing to look forward at new challenges, considering a lot of the American people don't want to be fighting this war right now anyway?

MALVEAUX: Chris, thank you.

I want to bring in Fran Townsend.

Fran, can you hear us?

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: I sure can, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. Great.

There are a number of hot spots that we want to talk about. First of them, Syria.

We are seeing a real deterioration taking place there, 13 tanks rolling into Daraa. There are bodies on the streets.

How long do we think that this could last before their leadership has got to go?

TOWNSEND: Well, as long as Assad can keep it in Daraa, and it doesn't spread to Damascus, that he doesn't have a more widespread approach, I think from the Syrian point of view, this is a manageable problem. What really will add pressure to this is the international community.

I mean, look, the Obama administration is going to have to contend with the questions on a substantive basis about, well, why in Libya and Egypt did we press, and we're going to stand on the sidelines with Syria? I think one of the right concerns the administration has is being drawn into a proxy war with Iran, who clearly will act to support the Assad regime.

MALVEAUX: And we've heard Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, saying that these attacks are abhorrent, but really tough words at this point.

Can the administration do anything to change what is taking place on the ground unless it actually decides that it's going to send in U.S. troops?

TOWNSEND: Well, the president was very clear in Libya, he had no intention of sending in U.S. troops. And right now I think the public line that we're hearing from the administration is they're looking at targeted sanctions. Targeted sanctions haven't -- in and of themselves, haven't worked anywhere, including in Libya, by the way. So we're going to have to wait and see, what are they going to be able to do, short of sending in troops?

MALVEAUX: I want to turn to Libya. There's a great article in "The New York Times" about Gadhafi's daughter, Aisha Gadhafi, and she says she and her siblings, the seven sons, they have been talking constantly. They really have been circling the wagons, if you will, hunkering down, and they say they are going to protect their family's power inside of Libya.

Do you think this is a sign they are confident that they are going to be able to stay in power? Or how do you read that?

TOWNSEND: Well, I think it's hard to say that they'll be able to stay in power. It's just not at all clear that they'll be able to last over the long term.

MALVEAUX: We lost Fran Townsend. Well, we will hopefully try to get her back, if we can.

We're following another story as well, this severe weather system that is taking aim at the South. We're going to find out what's expected and where the worst of it now is headed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

MALVEAUX: Time to go "X Country" for stories CNN affiliates are covering.

Our first stop is Michigan. That is where lightning struck and injured nine people last night at a soccer field just south of Kalamazoo. Adults and children were hit. Seven people, one with serious injuries, were taken to hospitals. Two sought treatment on their own.

Now to Ohio, where this teenager had to be rescued after running into a rain-fed creek near Cleveland and getting swept downstream. The current was just too strong for him to get out, so he grabbed onto a rock and waited for help.

In Florida, a pizza shop opener said something was up when a guy strolled through his restaurant with a red cloud billowing from his pants. It turned out a bank had just been robbed a couple of doors down, and the cloud was an exploding dye pack. The owner chased after the guy and held him for police.

The aviation industry, under the microscope after reports of air traffic controllers caught napping.

Our "CNN In Depth" coverage, "Air Traffic: Out of Control," is taking a closer look at the industry.

Our Poppy Harlow of CNNMoney.com talked with an airline CEO about some of the challenges that these airlines are facing. She joins us from New York.

And hey, Poppy. I'm guessing that one of the big issues here has got to be the cost of fuel.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I mean, absolutely. It's killing the airlines just like it's killing everyone that drives a car these days.

Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly, you see him right there. We sat down, had a long conversation with him about this. And what he told us, Suzanne, is that just since the beginning of this year, the price of jet fuel has risen 74 cents a gallon, and he says for every penny that it increases, it costs the industry $175 million a year.

We are all paying for that. Your tickets are going up. You're probably noticing it because of those fuel surcharges. And what he's arguing -- this is very interesting -- he says that upgrading our air traffic control system is what we need to save fuel. It's going to be a huge fuel saver.

The industry and the FAA, Suzanne, have been pushing for an upgrade to our nation's air traffic control system for a long time. What they want to say is something called NextGen. That's basically satellite-based aircraft tracking like GPS in our cars.

What the FAA says, it's going to cost a lot. It's about $15 billion to $22 billion, and it would likely not be done until 2025. But the theory behind it is that if you use this satellite technology to track planes wherever they are, they can go much more directly to their destination, and that's going to save time and that is going to safe fuel.

Take a listen to what the CEO of Southwest told us on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARY KELLY, CHAIRMAN & CEO, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: Airplanes don't fly from origin to destination as the crow flies. They fly very inefficiently based on these ground radar stations. So we're dealing with 1950s technology. It's wasting a lot of energy and it's creating a lot of unnecessary greenhouse gasses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And, you know, in an op-ed that he wrote for us -- it's on CNNMoney.com today -- he's really pushing the Transportation Department and also the airline industry to speed up that funding and implementation of NextGen, because he says it's going to save so much fuel, so much energy.

And I want you to take a look at these numbers, because this is what the FAA does tell us. If we saw a conservative estimate of just a six percent fuel reduction, Suzanne, it would save the industry 1.16 billion gallons of fuel, 24 billion pounds of CO2 by 2018.

So, they're talking about just a massive change here, but it doesn't lie in the hands of the industry, Suzanne. This is totally up to the government, and as we know, funding any new project this day, pretty hard to do.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. Poppy Harlow, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

HARLOW: You got it.

MALVEAUX: The latest move by the Federal Reserve could have a very real effect on your family's budget. Our Christine Romans is here to tell you how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here's what we have coming up "On the Rundown."

The latest move by the Federal Reserve hits home. What it means for your family's budget.

The president, setting the record straight. He was born here, and he has the birth certificate to prove it. So what was Donald Trump talking about?

Plus, a judge's sexual orientation now at issue in the court fight over same-sex marriage.

Well, it could be a tipping point, a moment for the economy, the Fed's interest rate announcement. And Chairman Ben Bernanke, holding the first of what will be a series of news conferences to talk about the economy. Our Alison Kosik and Christine Romans are in New York to break it down for us.

Alison, I want to start off with you. What is the Fed saying, and how is Wall Street reacting? What do we know so far?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are waiting on the Fed's decision, supposed to come out in the next couple of minutes. And this decision is coming out at 12:30. Then the news conference that you mentioned will come out around 2:15.

There are a few things that the market is going to be looking for. First of all, interest rates. Everybody wanting to know what the interest rates will stay at these historically low levels, in a range of zero to a quarter of one percent. That's one thing that investors are going to be looking for.

They're also going to be looking to see what the Fed says about inflation. We have all felt it when we drive our car up to the gas pump and we go to the grocery store. We know deep down that we have high prices for our food and for our gas.

So, one thing that many have been saying is that the Fed hasn't acknowledged that we are seeing inflation in food and energy prices. So, that is one thing investors are going to be looking for.

And finally, they are going to be looking to see if the Fed is going to be confirming whether or not they're going to wind down their $600 billion bond buying program, where the Fed has essentially been throwing trillions of dollars into the economy to rev up the economy and also to push investors into riskier assets, like the stock market. And also prop up your 401(k), so it makes you kind of feel a little bit more wealthier and sort of brings confidence back into the market.

MALVEAUX: Sure. And Christine, why does it matter when we hear from Ben Bernanke? Why does he have so much influence over what happens in the economy?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Because the Fed is America's central bank, and because what the Fed is doing in normal times and also in extraordinary times affects just about every aspect of our economy and your pocket book.

The Fed tries to control the direction of the economy. The whole point is, you know -- I have been covering the Fed for so long, we used to call it maximum sustainable growth without inflation and full employment. That's what the Fed is going for. And how the key a interest rate adjustment affects the stock market, the housing market, what you pay in interest for a mortgage, the price of consumer goods, jobs, inflation and overall economic growth.

So, what the Fed aims to do by setting us a target for interest rates, the rates that banks charge each other, they are trying to promote economic growth in this country, keep as many people employed as possible, keep inflation at bay. While also protecting the integrity of the financial system, the banking system and what you and I do with our money. So, it's a big mandate.

MALVEUAX: And what kind of questions do you think the Fed chair is going to be getting at this news conference?

ROMANS: I agree with Alison. He's going to be asked about the price for the goods that we pay. I mean, on paper, inflation is benign, as they say. But it's only benign for you and me if you don't go to the grocery store, you don't fill your tank up and you're not relying on any commodities to run your factories. So, he's going to be asked about that.

Alison also mentioned the bond buying program it has. It's going to be asked whether it's going to continue its extraordinary emergency kind of stimulus, one that's going to wind down. Any big news will come, if for some reason he were to indicate that it won't wind down this summer as we expect.

You know, the Fed is one of these things that to some people, it's kind of mysterious and for many, many years, what it did was done just sort of - I will say in secret. When I first started covering the Fed, Suzanne, you couldn't even know what the Fed's decision on interest rate was. You had to watch the market and see how the market reacted to kind of glean what happened.

Now for the Fed chief to actually be having a press conference, to answer questions from the media, to show exactly what they're doing and why and to give more clarity, it's pretty historic.

MALVEAUX: And Alison, I want to go back to you really quickly here. In covering the Obama administration, the Bush administration, I know they don't like to comment on the changes, the incremental changes, the stock market, the changes, these types of things. How important is this, what Bernanke says, when you take a look at how the economy -- we think the economy is going to perform looking ahead?

Do we still have Alison --

KOSIK: We do.

MALVEAUX: Can you hear me?

KOSIK: I was actually taking notes down - I can - I was taking notes from the Fed's statement, which just came out about 30 seconds ago. Here's what the Fed says. There is no change in that Fed funds rate of zero to a quarter of a percent. So, interest, that key interest rate is going to stay at that historically low level.

There is no change that's going to happen with that $600 billion bond program that I was talking to you about. There was the expectation that it was going to wind down in June. That apparently is not going to happen.

The Fed also said -- and this is a change -- that the Fed said that the recovery is moving along at a moderate rate. That is a change from its last statement where it said it was moving along more firmly. So, that is kind of a downgrade if you want to look at it that way.

But -- just a correction on the $600 billion bond program, but the wind-down will happen. Fed also saying that the labor market is improving gradually. As far as inflation goes, the Fed saying there's no change in the inflation, and the inflation pressures that we're seeing in our gas prices and our food prices, the Fed says are going to be remaining transitory or temporary. Also their long-term inflation rate is stable as well.

Now, this is going to be interesting when he comes out and meets the press at 2:15 to kind of explain this inflation question, because you and I know that when we go to the supermarket or when we go to the gas station, we're paying high prices. So, it's interesting to see if anyone's going to be asking about how this jibes. You know, the Fed says inflation is stable, there's basically no problem with inflation where you and I who are here buying things that says something completely different.

MALVEUAX: And Alison, really quick here if we can, we notice the stock market is going up now, after this news. It's up now 15, the Dow Jones up 15 points. Do we have a sense that they're responding in a way that this is good news for them, despite the fact that we don't still have a sense of whether he's going to respond to the inflation concerns?

KOSIK: Actually it doesn't look like there's much of a concern since you and I started talking about six minutes ago. the market really hasn't moved. You know, what could be happening, Suzanne, is that investors and traders are really trying to process this statement. It is usually a lengthy statement. So, we may see the effect here in the market come maybe in about 10 to 15 minutes. We'll wait and see and keep an eye on it for you, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Alison Kosik and Christine Romans, thank you so much.

President Obama responding to critics who question whether he is really a natural-born American. Why he says he decided to release copies of his original birth certificate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: President Obama tries to put an end to the birther controversy by releasing his original birth certificate. Now, the president says the country has more important issues to deal with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm confident that the American people and America's political leaders can come together in a bipartisan way and solve these problems. We always have. But we're not going to be able to do it if we are distracted. We're not going to be able to do it if we spend time vilifying each other. We're not going to be able to do it if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts. We're not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman. He traveled to Hawaii recently, he found plenty of evidence that the president, of course, was born there. And Gary, first of all, excellent reporting. I mean, really, very refreshing to see. I mean, you tracked and traced a lot of people who were down there who knew him, the birth certificate and so forth.

Did you have anything, did you suspect anything was afoot when you were actually speaking with officials there in Hawaii. You've got the White House actually requested this from the vault, from the health department, just Wednesday -- or Friday.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Friday, but we just found out as the White House this past Friday, so four days ago requested - or five days ago, I've got to do my math again. But five days ago requested to get this original vault birth certificate. We were there five days before that.

But we have been calling, just asking some additional questions of the health department. And I should tell you for full disclosure that the health department did not reveal to us that the president's people called to get the original vault birth certificate.

But what's really important, we stressed in our reporting was he did not need to do this. The short form, computer-generated birth certificate is the official certified birth certificate these days in the state of the Hawaii. Everyone who goes to get their birth certificate gets the short form that Barack Obama revealed three years ago. So, he did not legally in any way, shape or form, have to get this.

MALVUEAX: So, what is this exactly? What kind of information -- additional information are we provided with today?

TUCHMAN: Right. So, it's a long form and it just has some more information. For example, it has the ages of his parents, it has the occupations of his parents. It says his father was a student. That was his occupation. His mother, there's no occupation listed. Stanley N. Dunum (ph). It also has their signatures and the dates that they signed it, the mother and the father.

It's interesting, his mother signed it on August 7, his father signed it on August 8. He was born on August 4. But there was speculation among many people in the conspiracy movement, and even some others who just weren't quite so sure, they were wondering, well maybe it's said he was a Muslim on the original birth certificate. Or maybe there's a different father involved. There's a lot of conspiracy feelings about that.

This form has no space for religion, and we reported that initially. And we also reported that the former director of the health department of Hawaii who was a Republican in the Republican administration last year, had looked at this. He had gotten authorization to look at it, saw nothing about religion. Saw that it was in order. There was no problem. And indeed, there's nothing about any religion. I mean, he's a Christian, but it doesn't say Christian, it doesn't say Muslim, it doesn't say anything about religion.

MALVEAUX: Is this document going to put this to rest? Is there anything else out there, are there any lingering questions? Or should this basically answer all of those questions people had about whether or not he was born in Hawaii, whether or not she was a Muslim, all of that in this documentation?

TUCHMAN: This document will not put it to rest, Suzanne. There will still be people who think this document is not authentic.

I mean, what's interesting, just last night, Donald Trump is telling us, I hear the birth certificate is missing. Now, I don't know how's he's going to respond to that now. He was asked that question in his news conference, and he didn't answer it. He might say well it's missing because Barack Obama now has it. And that's what my investigators found out, that he asked for it.

But I should tell you, the original birth certificate, the very original - not the copy, but the original Barack Obama birth certificate, remains in the vault. This is just a copy, so it ain't missing.

MALVEAUX: All right. Excellent reporting, Gary. And I do want to mention that our own John King is going to be talking to Donald Trump on his show later this evening to press him on those issues and on those very questions. So, thank you, Gary.

TUCHMAN: Thanks, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. I want to go directly to our own Chad Myers. I understand that we're now learning that there is a tornado that is on the ground in Huntsville, Alabama. Chad, can you tell us what you have?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right along Capshaw, Capshaw Road, and this is just to the west of Huntsville, Alabama and this storm is moving rapidly to the east. 30, 40, 50 miles per hour, moving in from the west. So, Huntsville, Alabama. You should be hearing the sirens. If you are not hearing the sirens, still you need to get to a place of shelter, a place of safety away from windows inside the building on the lowest level. Underneath a stairwell is great, those stairs are nice and strong. Inside a closet with no windows. You won't get hit by broken glass. But Huntsville, Alabama, this is a tornado on the ground to your west, heading to you.

MALVEAUX: All right, Chad, thank you very much.

A bill banning transgender marriage in Texas. How this woman ended up at the center of a legal nightmare. Just one of the fascinating legal cases that Sunny Hostin is watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: A California judge's sexual orientation is called into question in the Proposition 8 fight, while lawmakers in Texas consider banning some transgender marriages. Our Sunny Hostin from "In Session," our sister network truTV, joins us now.

Sunny, great to see you. Tell us what's happening in the Prop 8 case.

SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR, "IN SESSION" ON TRUTV: Well, you remember Proposition 8 was passed in California, Suzanne, and prevented and banned same-sex marriages. Well, a federal judge, his name is Chief Judge Vaughn Walker, basically said, huh-uh, I'm going to overturn that ban and I'm going to allow -- not allow for Proposition 8 to be enforced. Well, people always sort of speculated about his sexuality. And in April, he came out and he said, yes, I am gay and I have had this long-term same-sex relationship.

Now supporters of Proposition 8 are trying to overturn this decision, his 136 page, well-reasoned decision. They are saying that he should have disclosed his sexual orientation. They are saying he should have perhaps tried to recuse himself. And that because he had, I suppose, a specific interest in the outcome, because if same-sex marriages were allowed, perhaps he would then marry his partner, that he should have recused himself and they are asking for his decision to be just tossed out. Really, really striking development in this case.

MALVEAUX: And, Sunny, is there any legal precedent for considering a judge's sexual orientation?

HOSTIN: Well, not necessarily a sexual orientation of a judge, but certainly federal law, in terms of disqualification, does ask for judges to be disqualified or recuse themselves when they have a specific interest in the outcome of a case. In this case, Suzanne, I mean the fact that he did ultimately come out, I would say disclosure would have been the best policy. Is that going -- is this motion going to be, you know, decided on favorably? I don't think so but he probably should have disclosed his sexual orientation earlier before the opinion.

MALVEAUX: And, Sunny, really quickly on this bill that seeks to prevent transgender people from marrying in Texas. Tell us who proposed this bill and what is behind this bill.

HOSTIN: Well, a Republican senator, his name is Tommy Williams, he's proposing this bill which would basically reverse a law in Texas that allows county clerks to accept a certificate confirming a sex change as proof of gender, thus allowing basically someone that used to be a man marry another man because that person would then be transgendered and would be legally a woman.

Interestingly enough, the governor is saying that this sort of legislation, this law just sort of snuck in, Governor Perry. Don't we want our governors and our legislators to read the law before signing the law? So it's very interesting that now they sort of want a do over. They want now to pass another law that says, uh-uh, that's not what we intended in Texas. We want marriage between a man and a woman and so they want to just ban transgendered folks from getting married.

MALVEAUX: OK. Thank you. Sunny Hostin, appreciate that.

We are keeping a close eye here, a look of some pictures of Congressman Gabrielle Giffords' plane arriving in Florida. She's coming from Houston. She departed from Houston earlier today. She is scheduled to attend the Friday launch of this space shuttle Endeavour. And that is commanded by her husband, Mark Kelly. And as we know, we've been getting some very optimistic reports from her doctors and those involve in her rehab that she is doing much, much better after the gunshot wound to the head. We are going to get more after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: NASA is counting down to Friday's final launch of space shuttle Endeavour. A plane left Houston this morning carrying Gabrielle Giffords to Florida to watch her husband, Mark Kelly, pilot that mission. Our CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us from the Houston rehab center where Giffords has been recovering from a brain injury caused by a gunshot wound to the head.

Elizabeth, just tell us, how is her recovery coming along?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, the doctors here say that she is doing great. That she can say simple sentences like, "I love you." They say that she can walk a bit. She mostly walks when someone's helping her. But they say that she really is doing terrific.

But, I do want to say, they haven't discharged her from the hospital. They expect her to come back in a short period of time. And she's going to watch her husband's launch and then she's coming back.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Elizabeth, thank you. It's good to hear that she's doing so well. We look forward to seeing her on that Friday launch. Thank you, Elizabeth.

Well, your responses to our "Talk Back" question have been pouring in. Does President Obama's release of his original birth certificate put the birther issue to rest? Chris Griffin writes, "it's been put to rest for sane minds." More on your responses just moment away, including yours, Jennifer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: You've been sounding off on our "Talk Back" question. The topic, President Obama releasing his birth certificate. And our own Carol Costello is here with the question and the responses.

Carol, I know you've got a ton of these.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We did get a ton. They're pouring in. The "Talk Back" question, does President Obama's move put an end to the birther issue.

So, this is from Luis. He says, "I hope so. The media needs to tell these nuts, enough with the bull, now let's move on to reality."

And remember this, Suzanne. This is from Marjorie. "Trump: I'll release my tax return when Obama releases his birth certificate." So we'll be looking forward to Donald Trump's financial records very soon.

MALVEAUX: We'll see. Don't hold your breath.

COSTELLO: Yes. Yes, that was a promise made during his -- whatever this campaign he is on right now.

This from Michael. "Hopefully finally we stop hearing that ego headed man, Trump, talking about how the president isn't born in America. Now we can finally focus on issues."

This from Jennifer. "Of course not. People still say it's fake. This isn't about birth or education, it's about the fact that these people don't like the fact that our president is a Democrat, a black man and has an unusual name. It's just easier to nitpick at someone who is different than to admit one's own bigotry."

And this from Lolo. "I want proof that Donald Trump's hair is real." Lolo, Mr. Trump was recently asked that very question and he said indeed his hair is real, but he provided no documentation.

MALVEAUX: Go to the barber. Come on. You've got to follow up. Investigators going to the barber, you know.

COSTELLO: Yes, exactly. We need some proof.

Keep the conversation going, facebook.com/carolcnn, facebook.com/carolcnn. And thank you so much for all of the comments. Very enlightening.

MALVEAUX: And Donald Trump, the one who's been at the center of all of this, he is going to be on with John King later this evening, 7:00 Eastern, to talk about all of this and --

COSTELLO: I heard you interview John King about his coming interview and he sounded like he was raring to go.

MALVEAUX: I -- you know, I want to see this. I want to see this interview. Because we've all taken turns with Donald Trump, asking him, pushing those questions, you know, Candy and Anderson, myself, all of us, you as well, and I want to see if he's got a -- if he's answering --

COSTELLO: Right, in the face of documentation.

MALVEAUX: Right. And he said it was missing documentation.

COSTELLO: I mean --

MALVEAUX: So let's see what he -- how he explains himself.

COSTELLO: Oh, he'll go on to the college records.

MALVEAUX: OK. All right, Carol, thank you.

COSTELLO: Sure.

MALVEAUX: Always fascinating.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Randi Kay, who's in for Ali Velshi.

Hey, Randi.