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Romney Enters Presidential Race; Tornadoes Slam Massachusetts; Congressman Weiner's Political and Personal Story; 80s Spelling Bee Flashback; Olympian Dives into New Role; There's a Pill for That; Romney Enters Presidential Race
Aired June 02, 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.
Want to get you up to speed.
You are looking at live pictures at Bittersweet Farm. That is in Stratham, New Hampshire, where Mitt Romney is about to make it official. The former Massachusetts governor will formally announce his 2012 campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. He will also take some jabs at President Obama.
We have live coverage momentarily.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me in! Let me in! Let me in!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Terrifying moments in western Massachusetts, where rare tornadoes leave at least four people dead. The governor sent 1,000 National Guard troops to western Massachusetts for search and rescue. Damage is spread across 19 communities. Some homes were flattened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The front of the building collapsed, and she would have been dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big, heavy wind and a lot of banging. Just, you can hear the debris hitting cars, windows. Alarms started going off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very horrified. I'm a Springfield native, and I've never seen nothing like this ever.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The Army Corps of Engineers is preparing to release huge amounts of water into the upper Missouri River. That's expected to create flooding for the Dakotas, Iowa, Nebraska, and eventually Missouri. Heavy winter snowfall and spring rains have reservoirs on Missouri filled to the brim.
In Orlando, day eight of testimony in the murder trial of Casey Anthony, the young mother charged with killing her toddler. Anthony's brother told jurors about an explosive fight between his sister and mother. Lee Anthony says it ended with his sister admitting that daughter Caylee had been missing for a month. He also became the third family member to describe a decaying odor in Casey Anthony's car.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you recall about the smell of the car?
LEE ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY'S BROTHER: Just that it was very potent, very strong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it an offensive smell?
ANTHONY: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you approach the car?
ANTHONY: I had to walk by to get to the door, but otherwise not by choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The husband and wife who kidnapped 11-year-old Jaycee Dugard in 1991 are being sentenced in California today. Phillip and Nancy Garrido pleaded guilty in April. Both have agreed to lengthy prison terms and waived any appeals. Phillip Garrido fathered two children with Dugard during her 18-year captivity.
(GUNFIRE)
MALVEAUX: Distant gunfire breaks the night silence in Yemen. Government forces battling tribal fighters for 11 days now. Witnesses say that hundreds, perhaps 1,000, tribesmen are advancing on Sanaa now to join the fight against President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
With the anti-government protesters standing their ground on Syria's streets, Syrian troops are said to be shelling Rastan today, an historic town dating to the Roman Empire. Dozens of people have been killed in the latest rounds of protests, and human rights groups say 900 have died since protests erupted in March.
Russia today banned all fresh vegetable imports from European Union countries. Officials also ordered supermarkets to clear European produce from their shelves. An E. coli outbreak has killed 16 people in Europe and made 1,000 people sick. Chinese scientists call this particular strain of E. coli bacteria super toxic.
Dow Jones stocks are skidding again today, blue chips are down by 89 points or so. The Dow tumbled 280 points Wednesday, the biggest drop we've seen in 2011. Investors worried after economic reports this week indicate the recovery may be now stalling.
More now on the political story unfolding right now, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney formally announcing his run for the White House. Many consider Romney the early frontrunner in the race for the GOP nomination.
CNN Chief Political Correspondent Candy Crowley, she's joining us live from Stratham, New Hampshire. That is where Romney is making his announcement.
Candy, great to see you. I know it's still a little windy out there for you.
Romney plans to, from what we know in some remarks released, really go after President Obama on jobs and the economy. What do you make of that early strategy?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I make of it that he wants to be seen as the frontrunner, because when you're the frontrunner, you go after who you hope will be your eventual adversary, and that of course is President Obama. So there is that, especially when you have an announcement. You know, you don't take out after your Republican colleagues, you take out after the person who you're actually targeting, so there's that.
There's also this place to what the Romney camp believes is their strength, and that is his business acumen. They say this is a guy who has created jobs, this is a guy who understands how to take failing businesses and make them successes. This is a guy who turned the Olympics around in 2002 in Salt Lake City, when everyone thought it would be a financial bust.
So they want to play on that resume really heavily and contrast it to President Obama, and say look, you know, we took a chance on this young man and he didn't have that much experience. And now look, he's failed. The economy is a failure and here's what we need to do.
So that's what you're going to see today, because this is not a man who particularly wants to talk about the social issues or anything else. He thinks the number one issue when voters go to the poll a year from November is going to be the economy and jobs.
MALVEAUX: Candy, what is it like out there? Can you paint a picture for us? What is the mood?
CROWLEY: Well, you know, actually, what's interesting is that while this is certainly what former governor Romney wants to pivot on, is the economy, that's what everybody here is talking about. I will tell you that.
But, you know, it's picnic, it's a gorgeous day. We have the requisite hay bales which work both in New Hampshire and Iowa, by the way. We have the barn. We have the picturesque stuff, and the folks waiting for the candidate who is going to partake of some of the food here, which includes his wife's chili recipe.
So it's your basic big-time down-home, you know, sort of feel to it, and this is how campaigns start. What can I tell you?
MALVEAUX: Sure. And what do we think about the last go-round? We know that Romney's Mormon faith was an issue for some voters. Do we think that's going to be an issue this go-round?
CROWLEY: Listen, you know, it was an issue last time, but looking at some of the stats that came in afterwards, it was a marginal issue. So if it's a marginal race, then yes. And where does this hurt him the most, if it does hurt him, his Mormonism? That's with Evangelical Christians.
So, if, say, Romney comes through New Hampshire and he wins, but not big, or there's some reason to say, oh, the race is still cloudy, when he goes south, which would be South Carolina, then maybe you have the possibility that he can't have, like, a clean win, a knockout win. But most people that have looked at the last race say, yes, it was a factor, but largely the people who are bothered by the fact that he's a Mormon are bothered by other things, at what they see is his changing positions on gay marriage and on abortion. So he didn't have the voters anyway, at least that's how the theory goes.
MALVEAUX: OK. Candy Crowley, thank you so much. Enjoy the afternoon, perhaps partake in a little chili or something.
CROWLEY: Thanks.
MALVEAUX: All right. We'll check back in with you in a bit. Thanks.
Here's a look at what's ahead this hour "On the Rundown."
Tornadoes slam Massachusetts. How some people had to run for their lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me in!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And Congressman Anthony Weiner, his political and personal story.
Then, the Casey Anthony trial, her brother taking the stand.
And Detroit's public school system, it has been called a national disgrace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've lost over 50 percent of our students. We have got to right-size this school system here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Finally, what does it take to become one of the best spellers in the country? We're going to talk with a former contender.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Here are today's "Choose the News" selections.
First, how children can find fun anywhere with anything, even in a former war zone.
Second, is the Nuclear Regulatory Commission protecting public safety?
And third, how a Texan is taking on his homeowners association.
Vote by texting 22360. Text 1 for "Tanks for Tots"; 2 for "Nuclear Plant Leaks"; or, 3, "Marine's Flagpole Fight." The winning story is going to air later this hour.
Search crews in Massachusetts are going door to door today to look for survivors of a tornado outbreak. The storms killed at least four people, and some of the worst damage was in Springfield. It's where a lot of people had some very close calls.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just started seeing wind fly around, and then just huge chunks started flying around. So we ran to the basement and then my whole room collapsed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And what happened to your house? Have you been to your house?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it got torn down by a tornado. Like, we went to the basement, and it got torn down by a tornado, like, real hard.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you were inside the basement as it was being pulled apart?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What were you thinking? Were you a little scared?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ran inside to the basement, and when we all gathered up, all the family covered the kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I heard that it had touched down here, I was scared and, I'm like, what's happening to my family? I want to know what's going on with my family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tornado came right down the street. And we have a rubber roof. It actually peeled it right off and ripped the decking of the roof right off. That's what's left of it. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I saw complete destruction. The next building, which is like a program (ph), the whole roof was collapsed. This lady was in a car bleeding to death. She was pregnant, and people were trying to call all kinds of people, but all the lines were busy at the moment because the line was down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were coming in a limo, and all of a sudden we had to turn around because there was so much traffic. And there were buildings falling. And so then we get here, and cops are in the limo telling us to get out, get out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We live on the third floor, and you could see right through the fourth floor. All of our possessions, everything is gone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a mess. Everything was going, flying. And I heard this big bang and I didn't know where it was coming from or what was falling, or where it was going to land or -- it was awful, it was nasty.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A big, heavy wind and a lot of banging. Just, you can hear the debris hitting cars, windows. Alarms started going off.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I stepped on my front porch because I heard the wind, and I saw all kinds of debris start turning in a circle, watched the tornado touch down right in front of my house. I took two steps backwards into the hallway of my apartment, closed the door, which all the windows on the front porch blew out two seconds after I closed the door.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very horrified. I'm a Springfield native and I've never seen nothing like this ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Tornadoes don't even happen very often in Massachusetts.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MALVEAUX: Well, he says he's the victim of a prank, and he even makes fun of his own name. We're going to take a look at the man behind the jokes, some background on Congressman Anthony Weiner.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: We're awaiting the official announcement from former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney on his run for the White House.
You're looking at a live picture here of the event in New Hampshire. He is scheduled to speak at 12:30 or so.
And on Monday night, Romney sits down with Piers Morgan to discuss how he intends to capture the White House in 2012. That is CNN, Monday night, 9:00 Eastern. Again, looking at live pictures as we await official announcement for him to throw himself into the group of candidates for the GOP nomination.
Well, a day after he denied posting a lewd photo on his Twitter page, Congressman Anthony Weiner told reporters today he has nothing else to say about the matter. Weiner spoke with CNN's Wolf Blitzer yesterday, and the interview followed a testy exchange with reporters earlier in the week. Weiner says he has hired a lawyer to investigate the photo showing the lower body of a man in his underwear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: You didn't send that photo to that woman in Washington State?
REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: I did not send it to that woman in Washington State.
BLITZER: But you're not 100 percent sure whether the photo is actually you?
WEINER: What I am going to say is that we're doing everything we can to try to answer that question, but we're doing an investigation. But I just want to caution you, photographs can be doctored, photographs can be manipulated, can be taken from one place and put in another. And so that's -- and I want to make it clear, this is, in my view, not a federal case. In my view, this is not an international conspiracy, this is a hoax, and I think that people should treat it that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The fallout over the lewd photo has a lot of people talking about Congressman Weiner.
He's an outspoken liberal Democrat, but not exactly a household name, at least before this current controversy. Here's some background on Weiner's personal and political story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Anthony Weiner is New York to the core. Born in Brooklyn to a lawyer and a school teacher, he went to a state university aiming to be a TV weatherman. When that didn't work, he turned to politics, working for then-Congressman Charles Schumer and hanging out with good friend comedian Jon Stewart.
Six years after college, he mounted a long-shot bid for New York City Council. He turned his scrappy nature into votes, and at age 27, became at the time the youngest person elected to the council, quickly becoming a thorn in the side of fellow councilman and New York mayor David Dinkins.
When his old boss, Schumer, ran for Senate in 1998, Weiner jumped in and ran to replace minimum in the House. On Capitol Hill, Weiner cemented his reputation as a liberal's liberal, famously fighting for women's rights and gun control. He's known for his determination, feistiness and, above all, his firebrand rhetoric, like the time he took on fellow New York Congressman Republican Peter King over a bill to provide medical care for 9/11 first responders.
WEINER: You vote in favor of something if you believe it's the right thing! If you believe it's the wrong thing, you vote no!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will the gentleman yield?
WEINER: I will not yield to the gentleman, and the gentleman will observe regular order! The gentleman will observe regular order!
MALVEAUX: But he does have a soft side. Last July, Weiner married long-time aide to Hillary Clinton Huma Abedin and became the only Jewish member of Congress to be married to a devout Muslim. Officiating at the ceremony, former president Bill Clinton.
WEINER: She's a remarkable, remarkable woman. She married a congressman. OK? She knows a little bit about something living in public life. She knows with that, goes a certain amount of aggravation. I don't think she imagined that it would be this.
MALVEAUX: That is perhaps an understatement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got the money shot.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Weiner says he is trying to protect his wife from "these insane stories that are getting so far from reality."
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee says he is not running for president, but Huckabee hints that he may be willing to consider the number two spot on the ticket. In a video posted by "The Arkansas Times," Huckabee says, "Everything is still open. I haven't closed doors." But he also added that he's not looking for anything and he's happy with what he's doing. He hosts a cable talk show.
President Obama today named a new White House counsel, the in- house attorney who advises the president. She is Kathryn Ruemmler, currently deputy White House counsel under Bob Bauer, who plans to retire to private law practice. Ruemmler made a name for herself as part of the team of federal attorneys who prosecuted Enron executives last decade.
CNN reporters, anchors, producers, we all have a bag packed. We have the inside scoop on some of the best restaurants, hotels, travel spots around the world.
With this week's "Travel Insider," CNN's political team tells us some of the favorite places to eat while they're on the campaign trail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh my God, barbecue. Anywhere in the South, really, the barbecue is so good, that even when you go to, like, gas stations, they have good barbecue.
BLITZER: I go out of my way only every other year or so when I'm in New Orleans. There's these beignets, these really sweet, tasty desserts at a place called Cafe Du Monde.
O'BRIEN: The airport, where usually the food is awful, has good barbecue.
MARY MATALIN, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: A made right (ph), they're made best in Des Moines, which is a kind of crumpled up hamburger on a soft bun. I've tried for 30 years to make it at home. I cannot.
They only make it there. And I would travel the Earth to find it, but you can only -- I've only found it in Des Moines, Iowa.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I do always make the point when I'm in Arkansas of going to Doe's. It's a meat place, it's a slab place. It's not pretty, it's not fancy, but boy is it good.
CROWLEY: In St. Louis there's a place called the Crowd Candy Kitchen, which has the best malts in the world. And I'm a vanilla girl, so (INAUDIBLE).
O'BRIEN: I had really good barbecue in St. Louis, excellent barbecue in Houston, very good barbecue in Nashville just the other day.
BLITZER: I could live without all that barbecue.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Here's a look at what's ahead this hour "On the Rundown."
First, brother against sister, the latest testimony in the Casey Anthony trial in Orlando.
And the Detroit Public Schools system struggling to keep students in class.
Then, "Medication Nation," a look at the potential dangers of so- called natural remedies.
Testimony is back under way in the murder trial of Casey Anthony, the young mother charged with killing her toddler. In dramatic testimony yesterday, Anthony's brother took the stand to talk about when he learned that his 2-year-old niece, Caylee, was missing.
CNN's Kiran Chetry has a recap. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You asked your sister, why won't you allow us to see Caylee? What do you recall her saying?
LEE ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY'S BROTHER: She said -- I'm paraphrasing -- because I'm a spiteful (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That conversation between Lee Anthony and his sister Casey took place July 15, 2008, and it contained a shocking admission.
ANTHONY: She told me that she had not seen Caylee in 31 days, that she had been kidnapped, and that the nanny took her.
CHETRY: Lee Anthony testified he had no idea his sister had even hired a nanny. And he told the court when he walked into Casey's garage that day, a horrible odor was coming from her car.
ANTHONY: It was very potent, very strong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it an offensive smell?
ANTHONY: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you approach the car?
ANTHONY: I had to walk by it to get to the door, but otherwise not by choice.
CHETRY: It was the same day that Casey's mother called police to report her granddaughter missing.
Also taking the stand yesterday, the lead investigator in the case, Yuri Melich. He says Anthony told him that her daughter was kidnapped by her nanny. That nanny has never been found. And when he asked Casey why she never reported her daughter missing after 31 days, she replied that she thought she could handle the problem by herself.
NANCY GRACE, HOST, "NANCY GRACE": It's almost as if the mind is tricking the eye.
CHETRY: HLN's Nancy Grace says despite the defense's best efforts, she can't see how anyone can believe Casey's claims.
GRACE: She's a sweet-looking petite. She looks pale and frail with her hair back in a ponytail like a cheerleader, and it's hard to take in and assimilate that what you are seeing is not what the evidence is telling you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Want to get some insight on this latest testimony and on how this trial is going. Joining us again is criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Holly Hughes. And Holly, thank you so much for being here. Casey Anthony's brother, Lee Anthony. Tell us about his testimony. Were there any bombshells? What was the significance? Did it help or hurt this mother's case?
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Actually, Suzanne, it was bombshell day. And it's funny because the prosecution had to really pull Lee Anthony -- that's Casey's older brother -- to get him to give up some of these real gems for the prosecution. He didn't want to be there. He was nervous. He was reticent, he kept saying I don't remember, they had to keep getting out his deposition testimony and prior interviews. It's what we call refreshing recollection in the law. And you're allowed to do that. You can show a witness something they've said in the past that's been recorded on paper to review it, to refresh their memory.
Three of the really big things he told us was number one, yes, there was an offensive smell. Yes, it was really, really horrible and I could smell it just walking past the car in the garage. Then we also hear that statement that comes from the defendant's own mouth when her little girl is missing, Lee is trying to talk to Casey, his little sister and say, "Tell us where Caylee is, tell us where my niece is. You know, Mom wants to see her grandbaby. Why won't you tell us?" And Casey's words are, maybe because I'm a spiteful, and it rhymes with witch -- we won't say it here on air, but all know what the word it.
So, at a time when a mother should be breaking down and saying, oh my gosh, my baby is missing, she's just making it all about her. I'm not going to tell you because I'm a spiteful you-know-what. You know, so again, it's an insight into Casey's personality that I'm sure the defense did not want us to hear. And the other third thing that really was a real gem, the prosecution managed to eke it out of him was he talked about - Casey's own words again -- Cindy, Casey and Lee's mother, had told her, you are an unfit mother. You should not have had this baby. Caylee was a big mistake, but the best mistake you ever made.
MALVEUAX: Wow.
HUGHES: So, yes, those are huge, because what we saw was poor Cindy, the grandmother and mother of the defendant, breaking down on the stand, crying, trying to kind of make up for that and backpedal, she was a great mother. She was really good with Caylee. Then we hear that's not necessarily what she thought.
MALVEAUX: Tell us about the brother, though. Because this is the same brother who was accused, right, of -- by Casey Anthony of sexually molesting her as a child. Did that ever come up.
HUGHES: Correct.
MALVEAUX: Did the defense say, hey, you know, you guys don't have a good relationship here.
HUGHES: Right. And Suzanne, you nailed it, that's exactly right. That should have been the first thing that either side said to him. Did you ever do this? Because surely you know you've been accused of this. Neither side broached the subject, which is really fascinating from a legal standpoint.
Prosecution didn't want to give it credence because they know there's no evidence of it. They're just not going to brother, they're going to ignore it, put up their case and ignore the defense's fire starting. But I'm curious why Jose Baez did not get up and go down that line of questioning.
MALVEAUX: The defense attorney?
HUGHES: Jose Baez is representing Casey Anthony. He's the lead defense attorney. And the first thing -- he is the one that stood up at opening and said Lee abused her. He sexually molested her. Why wouldn't your first question be, you've abused Casey yourself. Isn't it true you did this and that to her? Jose Baez, the defense attorney, was very vocal about it in opening, but when he had the chance, Suzanne, he had Lee Anthony on the stand, he didn't bring it up. And the only reason I can think of is he's saving it for later because Lee Anthony, Casey's brother, is also on the defense's witness list. So, I think we're going to see him back on the stand again, and that may be the time they go after him.
MALVEAUX: All right, Holly, thank you so much. Appreciate your insights.
HUGHES: Thank you.
MALVEAUX: Watch special all-day coverage of the Casey Anthony trial on our sister network. That is HLN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: We have some breaking news. We want to bring you up to speed on this. Eman al Obeidy, she had accused Libyan security forces of raping her in Libya. She was brought to Qatar, that is where she was staying safely. She was there awaiting resettlement as a refugee.
We understand now that she has been forced to return to Libya, but in an area that the rebels control. I want to bring in our Nic Robertson, who is in the Hague to explain the update on where she is going, why she has been forcibly deported from this country where she was once considered safe and was very vocal in speaking about these charges. Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, it seems Eman al Obeidy just can't get a break wherever she goes. She spent almost a month now in Qatar, taken there by the rebels. Once she escaped Libya, the rebels helped her to get to Qatar. Why Qatar? Because Qatari authorities there are heavily supporting the rebels. She'd been disappointed with the rebels, frustrated they were sort of trying to perhaps she felt maybe use her a little bit while she was just trying to recover from the emotional strain of everything she had been through, the rape and the pressure of living in Tripoli, not knowing, she said, if she was going to die from one day to the next.
What had happened was she had asked the United Nations high commission for the refugees to give her refugee status, and they granted her that status. And her parents had come to visit her. But it seems the Qatari authorities had put her under essentially arrest with armed guards on the door in the hotel, told her she was going to be forcibly deported even though the UNHCR had a representative in Qatar who had documents to show she now had refugee status, plane tickets to take her to a third country. The Qatari authorities put her and her parents on a Qatari military aircraft late last night and forcibly deported her back to the rebel-controlled east of the country against her will. Her last words to CNN late last night were "I hope God is with me because I don't know what's going to happen."
She didn't want to go back to Benghazi, and human rights organizations have said what has happened to her is absolutely illegal, and the United Nations high commission for the refugees is still trying to get an answer from the Qataris there for why they've done this.
It really seems at the moment she just cannot get a break at all, Suzanne. This woman who has been through so much and has come to symbolize so much of the suffering in Libya is now being pushed around by yet another government.
MALVEAUX: Nic, I don't understand why would the Qatari government do this? Why would they take this stand?
ROBERTSON: Well, we're asking them at the moment why exactly this has happened. They say they had told her within the past week that her visa, the visa she had been brought to the country on by the rebel leadership, was about to expire. But why would they send her forcibly on a military plane back to Libya when the UNHCR representatives were there last night in her hotel room with tickets to take her to somewhere in Europe, a safe sanctuary in Europe?
She wants to come to the United States where she wants to continue her studies. She's studied law, she wants to continue those studies, and she was in the process of doing that. So, this doesn't explain why the Qataris have made this move. They support the rebels a lot, and she appears recently to have had disagreements with that rebel leadership. Could that be behind part of it? We don't have the answers as yet, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: And Nic, just one quick question. You know the region better than anyone. Is there any chance that Gadhafi or anybody who supports Gadhafi could in some way be influencing this, have some sort of influence in bringing her back to Libya?
ROBERTSON: It doesn't seem likely that they would have the influence, but she didn't want to go back to the east of Libya that the rebels control because she didn't feel safe because she's afraid of Gadhafi agents there. Remember, she escaped from under his nose in Tripoli just a month ago. She's accused relatives or at least his people in his regime, of raping her. And just last night in Benghazi, Gadhafi's forces are believed to have been behind that car bomb outside a significant, large hotel that Western diplomats use. So, her fears that Gadhafi are maybe to get to her in Benghazi when you see all this in this light are not unfounded. And that's what she's worried about. She wants to start a new life. Just -- what she needs, she says, is space and help to overcome the trauma she's been through. Right now she's just not getting it, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: All right. Nic Robertson, thank you very much for the breaking news. We're going to have more after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
MALVEAUX: Today is the National Spelling Bee semifinals. Quick look at the quiz here. Here's one of the most misspelled words in America, existence. So, how do you spell it? Take a look at the choices on your screen. Do you know the right answer? Here it is! It is B. Existence is spelled e-x-i-s-t-e-n-c-e!
It's been a long time since our Eatocracy editor Kat Kinsman competed in a National Spelling Bee, but her memory of the stress and excitement couldn't be any clearer. OK, you've got to check this out. This lovely picture of Kat in 1986! She said when in her own words she had a "light-socket perm and train-track braces."
Today, much different picture, beautiful Kat.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: We al went through those awkward stages! What can I tell you?
KAT KINSMAN, CNN EATOCRACY EDITOR: We sure -- can you spell d- or-r-k-y?
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: Kat, first of all, thanks so much, you wrote a terrific piece in the blog. I mean, I just thoroughly enjoyed it. You've had your own experience as a National Spelling Bee competitor. How close did you get to winning?
KINSMAN: I wasn't anywhere near the top. I got maybe 142nd, but 142nd best speller in the nation, not too shabby.
MALVEAUX: What word tripped you up? Can you tell us? Do you remember it?
KINSMAN: This - it haunts me in my dreams. Phyllophorous.
MALVEAUX: And you could spell it. What does it mean?
KINSMAN: Something to do with leaves. I should have asked for a definition. You wonder why the kids are stalling. Had I thought to ask, I started with an "f."
MALVEAUX: Well, it's the first time I heard of the word. Tell us what is it like? I mean, what is it like to be a kid up here, to become a finalist? What does it take? I mean, you must have spent hours and hours practicing your spelling.
KINSMAN: It is seriously to this date I go on national live television, spoke in front of crowds the single most nerve-racking moment of my entire life.
I spent maybe an hour a night practicing. There are kids who I swear in underground bunkers being force-fed pages of dictionaries. At this point, there are kids home schooled. I got there realized I didn't have a chance so I just had fun.
MALVEAUX: Have you been watching the spelling bee, the competition this week?
KINSMAN: You know I can't and I've talked about this with other spelling bee veterans. I get so nervous it actually gives me panic attacks when I hear that buzzer, I'm happy to read about it. There's a kid from my hometown who is in this right now and I can't get near it or I'll curl up into a little ball. It's so sad.
MALVEAUX: If you were to speak to any of those current contestants, what advice could you give them? What would you tell them?
KINSMAN: Enjoy being in a room full of other kids who celebrate being smart. You are not the dorkiest person in the room for once which is a great thing and just really enjoy making friends for life. After I wrote the article, I found the speller I made friends with and we're friends on Facebook now and have resumed a friendship after 25 years.
MALVEAUX: And what was that like? What possessed you to get into spelling in the first place?
KINSMAN: It's just something that's always come naturally to me. I hear a word, I can see it my head and I love language so much it seemed like a natural fit and nobody else was stepping up to be in the spelling bee so that worked out for me.
MALVEAUX: All right, Kat, that's why you're so good at what you do here. So thank you very much and we'll be watching. We'll let you know who wins at the end.
KINSMAN: Thank you.
MALVEAUX: Thanks, Kat. Read that blog. It's an excellent blog, I really enjoy it. Thank you, Kat.
Each week, we want to take a look at people who have accomplished extraordinary things. In this week's "Human Factor," CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta focuses on a former Olympic champ who has returned to his sport, but in a new role.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four Olympic gold medals, one silver, five world championships, and 47 national titles, Greg Louganis one of the best divers ever. Still he doesn't feel diving defines him.
GREG LOUGANIS, 5-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST: I started performing on stage when I was three, you know, singing, dancing, gymnastics, acrobatics and then diving. You know, diving is what everybody knows me from, but that was just another stage for me.
GUPTA: He's stunned fans during the 1988 Seoul Olympic games when he hit his head on the diving board. The next day, he won a gold medal.
Louganis retired in 1988, years later the world learned he was HIV positive and had been the victim of abuse. Yet for him, none of these ranks as the biggest thing he had to overcome in his life.
LOUGANIS: Probably the biggest obstacle for me I would have to say is my shyness.
GUPTA: He says while diving gave him credibility, and a platform to be heard what he's most proud of is writing his book "Breaking the Surface."
LOUGANIS: When I was on book tour people were coming to me and saying "you saved my life," whether it be coming out about HIV status, getting out of an abusive relationship, dealing with my sexuality. You know, there were so many things that I shared in the book that I guess gave other people strength. Round out -- there, right there.
GUPTA: Now more than 20 years after retiring from diving, Louganis is back this time as a coach.
LOUGANIS: There you go.
GUPTA: And Coach Louganis emphasizes starting with the basic fundamentals, dance, acrobatics, gymnastics, like he did, before ever attempting the difficult dives.
LOUGANIS: My advice to that kid is be better than me.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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MALVEAUX: This week we're going in-depth on medication nation, Americans have been led to believe by doctors, advertisers, even the pharmaceutical industry that there's a pill to cure just about everything.
CNN's networks are looking into the politics and the pills. If a medicine says natural it must be good for you, right? Well, not necessarily. Herbs, vitamins and other supplements can cause serious problems if you're not careful.
Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen, she's joining us with advice to watch for. Elizabeth, I know you've got a lot here. Should we just go home and empty the medicine cabinet?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, we shouldn't. I mean, supplements could really be wonderful and they're powerful which is good, but people forget that power also can be bad. I mean, you want to use these correctly.
MALVEAUX: What mistakes are people making in using these?
COHEN: All right, they're making a couple of really classic mistakes here. First of all, people think wow if one pill is good, then 10 must be really good, right.
So people are ignoring dosage recommendations. The other thing people are doing is they're taking certain supplements before surgery that they shouldn't. It can really cause problems.
And also people just forget to tell their doctor that they're taking certain supplements and certain some supplements can interact with medicines.
MALVEAUX: So are there certain specifics you can give us about some of these?
COHEN: Yes, I talked to some experts at the Mayo Clinic and elsewhere and I said tell me specifically which ones should we be careful about. So for example right here you have garlic and there is an issue, if you take garlic before surgery, could you bleed out during surgery.
A lot of garlic can have that affect so you have to tell your doctor, you'll be fine, but you just have to tell him. Look at these. These are Vitamin B complex vitamins. Those can interact with antibiotics if you're taking antibiotics.
A lot of people don't know that. And finally here we have St. John's wart, and those can decrease the effectiveness of the birth control pill. That's the problem.
MALVEAUX: So these are all the kinds of things that could really complicate a situation if you didn't realize that you didn't have that information.
COHEN: Right, just tell your doctor that you're taking them and a lot of people tell me my doctor doesn't know anything about supplements. I can tell him whatever, they don't know.
That is true with some doctors so what you want to do is go to cnn.com/empoweredpatient and we have a web site where you can look up doctors who know something about alternative medicine. There's a website that directs you to the right doctor. MALVEAUX: All right, great, good advice. Thank you very much, Elizabeth.
So you told us what you'd like to see or choose the news story just moments away.
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MALVEAUX: Looking at live pictures here, waiting an official announcement by former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney to announce that he is going to go ahead and join in the GOP presidential run to run for president for 2012. That is coming up shortly.
Well, you told us what you wanted to see. Here is your choose the news winner. A Marine Corps veteran in Texas is fighting his homeowners' association for the right to fly the American flag in his backyard.
But first, we want to bring you Mitt Romney with his official announcement.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
MITT ROMNEY, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is what America is about as well, don't you think? Doug and Stella, thank you so much for opening your farm. How do you open a farm? Opening up your farm and enjoying this time with you.
I see a lot of friends here, some of whom have retired, I saw some college students and I'm sure you're glad that exams are over. Couples are here with their kids as you see from the front. I spoke to a single mom who has taken time off from work today, don't worry, we won't tell anybody.
You know, my guess is that everybody here has a different story they could tell. We have different backgrounds. We wake up in the morning and go to different jobs or look for different jobs. We go to churches, different churches, or maybe don't go to church that much.
I bet some of you have families that have lived in New Hampshire for 200 years or more, and of course, there are others that have come here for recently by sneaking over the border from Massachusetts. You know the taxes are better over here. You know that.
But here in this beautiful June day we come together to begin a process that we often quite naturally take for granted. It's really, however, one of the great achievements in the history of the world. For all of our country's wealth and influence in the world, those are not the source of America's greatness.
The true source of our greatness is America's self-rule, a government that answers to a free and independent people. We live in the most powerful nation that's ever existed, and it all goes back to a few men and women who had the courage to stand and even to die for their belief in liberty and the equality of all humankind.
Because of their vision, the United States of America is not ruled by a monarchy or even controlled by aristocracy. I guess, though sometimes the people in Washington might act the otherwise. We don't have a house of Lords. We don't have a ruling class that inherits their power. And by the way, as the Red Sox like to remind the New York Yankees regularly, there are no dynasties in America.
Who is it that rules this great nation? You do. Every four years we know who it is who will give the state of the union address, who will set the course, who will be the commander in chief, and what's true right here in New Hampshire on this farm has always been true in America, though each of us comes from very different backgrounds, though each of us has chosen to walk a different path in life, we're united by one great overwhelming passion. We love America, we believe in America.
Today we're united not only by our faith and belief in America, we're also united by our concern for America. This country we love is in peril, and that, my friends, is one reason why we're here today. A few years ago, Americans did something quite American in a nature, it's the sort of thing we like to do. We gave someone new a chance to lead the country, someone we hadn't known for very long, somebody who didn't have a long record, but someone who promised to lead us to a better place.
At the time, we didn't know what kind of president he'd make, it was a moment of crisis for our economy, and when Barack Obama came to office, we wished him well, and hoped for the best. Now in the third year of his fourth year term or four-year term, we have more than slogans and promises to judge him by. Barack Obama has failed America.
When he took office, the economy was in recession, and he made it worse, and he made it last longer. Three years later, over 16 million Americans are out of work or just quit looking for jobs. Millions more are unemployed.
Three years later, unemployment is still above 8 percent, and that was the figure he said his stimulus would keep from happening. Three years later, foreclosures are still at record levels. Three years later, the prices of homes continue to fall. Three years later, our national debt has grown nearly as large as our entire economy, and families are buried under higher prices for food and higher prices for gasoline.
It breaks my heart to see what's happening to this great country. These failing hopes make up President Obama's own misery index, it's never been higher.
And what's his answer? He says this, I'm just getting started. No, Mr. President, you've had your chance. We the people on this farm, and citizens across the country, are the ones who are just getting started.
I visited with a family, Kathy and Dave Tyler, who live in a suburb of Las Vegas, Nevada, you probably know families just like them right here. They're in their early 40s, and it's a couple who had worked hard, sacrificed to buy a home in a good neighborhood, the sort of place that they wanted their daughter, Aly (ph), to grow up in. But now that neighborhood is being crushed by this Obama economy.
First, their neighbors started losing their jobs, now they lost their homes, and all around the Tylers, there are abandoned homes and abandoned dreams. But the Tylers wake up in the morning and they get Aly ready to go off to school, and then go to work and do everything they can to make it to the end of the month and hold their lives together, it doesn't matter to them if they're Republican or Democrat, independent or libertarian, they're just Americans, an American family.
And across the richest and greatest country on earth, there are millions of American families just like the Tylers, folks who grew up believing that if they played by the rules, worked hard, they'd have the chance to build a good life, with steady work, and always the possibility that with a little harder work, they might be able to get ahead.
And in that America, you don't wonder if your children will have a better life, you know they will. You know it the same way that we know that the sun is going to rise the east on the great farm. The confidence in a better tomorrow defines us as Americans.
When generations of immigrants looked up and saw the statue of liberty for the first time, they surely had a lot of questions about the life that was before them, but one thing they knew beyond any doubt, and that is they were coming to a place where anything was possible, that in America, their children would have a better life.
I believe in that America. I believe you believe in that America. It's an America of freedom and opportunity, a nation where innovation and hard work propel the most powerful economy in the world, a land that is secured by the greatest military the world has ever seen and friends and allies across the world who link arms with us.
President Obama sees a different America, and he's taken us in a different direction. A few minutes into office he traveled around the globe to apologize for America. At a time of historic change and great opportunity in the Arab world, he's hesitant and uncertain. He hesitated to speak out for the dissidents in Iran, but his administration boasts that he is leading from behind in Libya.
He speaks with firmness and clarity, however, when it comes to Israel. He seems firmly and clearly determined to undermine our long-time friend ally. He's treating Israel the same way so many European countries have, with suspicion and distrust and assumption that Israel is somehow at fault.
To his credit, the president ordered the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden. In Afghanistan, the surge was right, but announcing the withdrawal date, that was wrong. The Taliban may not have watches, but they do have calendars.
Now here at home, the president seems to take his inspiration, not from the small towns and villages of New Hampshire, but from the capitals of Europe. With the economy in crisis, his answer was to borrow more money and to throw it at Washington bureaucrats and politicians, just like Europe.
Instead of encouraging entrepreneurs and innovators and employers, he raises their taxes. Piles on mounds of record-breaking regulation and bureaucracy and gives more power to union bosses.
Instead of recognizing the state's rightful authority to solve their own problems, he seizes power from them and rams through a disastrous national health care plan. This president's first answer to every problem is to take power from you and from your local government and from your state, so that his so-called experts in Washington can make decisions for you. And with each of those decisions, we lose more of our freedom.
You and I understand that. We look at our country and we know in our hearts that things aren't right and that they're not getting better. President Obama's European answers are not the solution to America's challenges, and in the campaign to come, the American ideals of economic freedom and opportunity need a clear and unapologetic defense, and I intend to make it because I have lived it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go, Nick! Make America Rich!
ROMNEY: Twenty-seven years ago, I left my job and went to join with some friends a small business. Like many of you, it had been a dream of mine to try to build a business from the ground up. We started in a little office a couple of hours from here, and over the years, we were able to grow from our first ten employees to hundreds.
My work led me to become very deeply involved in helping other businesses from start-ups to large companies that were going through tough times. Sometimes I was successful, and we were able to help create jobs, Other times I wasn't. I learned how America competes with other companies in other countries and what works in the real world and what doesn't.
I left that business in 1999 to help put the Salt Lake City Olympics back on track, and when those games were over, I came back to Massachusetts to serve as governor. Now, I had never heard -- I never held, rather -- I never held public office before, but I went at it like I ran businesses and like I ran the Olympics, asked tough questions and take on the toughest problems first, because they'll get worse in the future if you don't.
When I took office, we had a nearly $3 billion budget gap. My legislature was only -- was over 85 percent Democrat. The expectation was that we'd have to raise taxes but I refused. I ordered instead a complete review of all state spending, made tough choices, and balanced the budget without raising taxes. That sent a message that business as usual was over.
And then over the next four years, we consolidated agencies, we cut programs, we sold state property, and we cut taxes 19 times. I also found the state was giving over $1 billion away in free health care, much of it to people who could have paid something for just gaming the system. You won't be surprised that a lot of Democrats thought we should give them even more. I took on this problem and hammered out a solution that took a bad situation and made it better, not perfect, but it was a state solution to our state's problem.
At the end of the year -- at the end of four years, it took over 800 vetoes, but we balanced every budget, restored a $2 billion rainy day fund and kept our schools first among all 50 states, and I'm proud of that record.
Now all those experiences, starting and running businesses for 25 years, turning around the Olympics, governing a state, had helped ship shape who I am, and how it is I lead. Of course, if I ran through a list of all my mistakes this afternoon, Ann would find it hilarious and you'd be here all night.
But I can tell you I've learned from the successes and from the failures. Turning something around, turning around a crisis takes experience and bold action. And for millions of Americans, the economy is in crisis today, and unless we change course, it will be in crisis for all of us tomorrow.
Did you know that government, federal, state and local, under President Obama, has grown to consume almost 40 percent of our economy. We're only inches away from ceasing to be a free economy. I will cap federal spending at 20 percent or less of the economy and finally, finally balance the budget.
My generation, your generation, will pass the torch to the next generation, not a bill, and I'm going to insist that Washington learns how to respect the constitution, including the tenth amendment.
Now we're going to return the responsibility and authority to the states for dozens of government programs, and that will begin with a complete repeal of Obamacare.
From my first day in office, my number one job will be to see that America once again is number one in job creation. You know, if you want to create jobs, it helps to have actually had a job, and I have.
I'm going to make our business taxes competitive with other nations, modernize regulations in bureaucracy and finally promote America's trade interests. It's time for a president who cares more about Americas' workers than it does about America's union bosses.
Over the last 30 years or so, I can't tell you how many times I've heard that a situation is hopeless, but I've never been very good at listening to those people and I've always enjoyed proving them wrong, it's one of the lessons I learned from my dad. My father never graduated from college, he apprenticed as a laugh and plaster carpenter and he was darned good at it. He learned how to take a whole handful of nails, put them in his mouth and spit then them out with the pointy end forward. Now, on his honey moon with my mom, they drove across the country, he sold aluminum paint along the way to pay for gas and hotels. There were a lot of reasons that my father could have given up or set his sights lower, but dad always believed in America, and in that America, a laughing plaster man could grow up and work his way to run a little car company called American motors and he could end up as governor of the very state where he had once sold aluminum paint.
For my dad, America was the land of opportunity, where the circumstances of birth are no barrier to achieving one's dreams. Small business and entrepreneurs were encouraged and respected and a good worker could always find a good job. The spirit of enterprise, innovation, pioneering and tribute --
(END OF COVERAGE)
