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Newly-Released Weiner Photos; Republicans Prepare to Face Off; Giffords to Leave Rehab Facility; Fire Crews Getting Upper Hand; The "Sissy Boy" Experiment; Gingrich's Campaign Started Hitting Bumps

Aired June 12, 2011 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It's Sunday night. Big news in the last 48 hours that will continue to make headlines in your week ahead. The biggest story by far, Congressman Anthony Weiner.

Tonight nude photos believed to be taken inside a gym on Capitol Hill, and in some of them he is nearly nude. From those images to some of that are much more pleasant to see, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords nearly killed five months ago. Tonight we're seeing pictures of her for the first time since that fateful day, and she still has that great smile.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only thing they did was destroy our brother. And then they took him away from. He was empty, nothing there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It is a stunning story about an experiment on a 5-year-old boy, the brother of that man. His parents thought he had too many feminine traits so a government-funded research program set about trying to change him. This hour the doctor who performed the experiment reacts to news that his subject committed suicide.

Take a look around. Let's go up on the new stage. And the candidates are arriving, and the stage is now set for Monday night's GOP presidential debate that you'll only see right here on CNN. We're live on the campus of St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, counting down to the GOP presidential debate right here on CNN.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

It has been one of the worst weekends of Congressman Anthony Weiner's life. His political career appears to be hanging by a thread and the embarrassing pictures just keep cropping up. TMZ published these latest ones while Weiner is off seeking professional help.

Now the Web site says these pictures were taken in the House member's gym and sent to at least one woman. These aren't even the most graphic ones in the bunch. This comes a day after the Democratic leadership called on Weiner to resign. Here's a statement from House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

"Congressman Weiner has the love of his family, the confidence of his constituents and the recognition that he needs help. I urge Congressman Weiner to seek that help without the pressures of being a member of Congress."

The head of the Democratic National Committee Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz has a lot more blunt talk to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: It is with great disappointment that I call on Representative Anthony Weiner to resign. The behavior he has exhibited is indefensible and Representative Weiner's continued service in Congress is untenable. This sordid affair has become an unacceptable distraction for Representative Weiner, his family, his constituents and the House -- and for the good of all, he should step aside and address those things that should be most important -- his and his family's well-being.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So as Democrats started to abandon Weiner, we got word Saturday that he is seeking professional treatment. He made no mention of that just hours earlier when our own Jason Carroll caught up with him on the streets of New York, and he seemed adamant about hanging on to his seat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just to reconfirm about resignation, at this point, you have no plans --

WEINER: I have no news for you today.

CARROLL: And no plans to...

WEINER: Nothing changing. Nothing has changed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you're not resigning?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: A majority of Weiner's constituents in New York apparently don't want him to resign, but he may not be able to withstand the pressure in his own party to quit.

So let's talk about this now with CNN contributor Errol Louis. He also covers New York politics as a political anchor for New York One news.

Errol, good evening to you. Will the support of New Yorkers be enough to save Weiner here?

ERROL LOUIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's not just New Yorkers. It's the support of New Yorkers in his district, and we did a poll that show that 56 percent of them say that he should in fact stay in office now for now though. That can change in the weeks ahead, but, well, for now his district seems to think that he ought to hang in there, and it sounds like that's what he's going to do.

LEMON: You know, he wanted to run for mayor. Even if he does resign, do you think we can still see him run again in the 2013 race for New York City mayor?

LOUIS: Not a chance. The -- the head of the -- the mayor is also the head of the school system, and by a convincing majority, that same poll showed that New Yorkers don't want him to run for mayor in 2013. It hasn't really even come up. On the other hand, he's a young man, Don. In 2021, he will be just 57 years old. So there's time to revisit that, but definitely not in this election cycle for mayor.

LEMON: All right, Errol. Let's turn to the reason that I'm in New Hampshire tonight. CNN is sponsoring a Republican debate right here on Monday night. I want to pop up this new poll we're releasing on the eve of the debate. We asked, should government promote traditional values? 50 percent say no, 46 percent says yes. That's a first time since 1993 that the yes percentage has dipped below 50 percent.

Errol, who is the most vulnerable candidate in light of this?

LOUIS: Very interesting. I'd say really all of them. I mean, some of the lesser candidates who have sort of a non-orthodox position for Republicans, like the Rudy Giulianis of the world. People who have wavered on some of these issues, who have been open to things like abortion or same-sex marriage or at least not toeing the most conservative party line. It shows that they are in for some tough sledding, it seems to me.

But, you know, this is also a state by state kind of question. You have to ask that question in New Hampshire. You'll get a very different answer in Iowa. You get yet another answer in Nevada and another answer in South Carolina and in Florida. So those early states, I think there's considerable diversity which is actually a good thing, but for -- for Iowa, where it all starts, Iowa is a bible belt scene.

I mean, you've been there, I'm sure. If you haven't, you're going to get your fill of it, and they are very serious about -- about cultural issues, about what they call traditional values, and very -- very hard to get past that. And some -- some candidates in fact may skip it rather than go into the heart of what is a very tough place. If you are not toeing the line on traditional values.

LEMON: All right. Back here in New Hampshire now then, who has got the most to prove in tomorrow night's debate?

LOUIS: Oh, I think by far it's Mitt Romney. I mean, you know, he's from a neighboring state. He won the state last time. He's clearly staking a lot there. He's not participating in some of the early Iowa straw polls, and it's not clear whether he's even going to participate in a debate later this summer. So he's got to win. He's got to win convincingly.

He's got to not just win in whatever polls you and others take, but he's got to do well on the stage. You know, it's just too easy for him for an ambitious guy like Tim Pawlenty or a guy like Herman Cain who seems to be very good on the stump and seems to be getting some attention. It's too easy for Mitt Romney to get picked off, and he's going to have to really make a strong case. He's going to have to be confident. I mean, he's going to have to show that he's got some support up there.

LEMON: All right. Errol Louis, thank you very much. And we should point out that Newt Gingrich is re-launching his campaign at an event tonight.

LOUIS: Have fun.

LEMON: Yes, we will have a lot of fun. Let's hope tomorrow night.

So Newt Gingrich is going to re-launch, and he's going to be speaking tonight, and we're going to bring it to you here on CNN.

Up next, you'll see the first pictures of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords since she was shot in January.

Plus, return at your own risk. That's what thousands of residents in Arizona are now being told.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALES and UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES: We are the Phantom Hawks and we follow Don Lemon on CNN on Twitter.

LEMON: You better.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Gabrielle Giffords will leave a Houston rehab hospital by the end of the month to begin outpatient therapy. That's according to the Arizona congresswoman's spokesperson.

New photos of Giffords were posted today on her Facebook page. Giffords was sitting outside during the photo shoot. In this one, she's next to her mother looking happy and relaxed, and CNN's Lisa Sylvester has more from Washington.

Lisa?

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, on Gabrielle Giffords' Facebook page, more than 800 people have post a comment sending her well wishes. Just a sample of some of them. "Great to see you smiling. You are a wonderful inspiration."

Another one reads, "Same smile, same attitude. Can't wait to see you back in Congress." And she continues to improve. She's walking more. Her verbal and cognitive skills are coming along, and now we have these pictures, and you can see some of the differences.

In the latest pictures, her hair was darker, cropped short. She is wearing glasses. The most obvious difference though is the indentation on the left side of her head. In the second photo, that's her mom, by the way, with her in the picture. She still has that same gorgeous smile. And these pictures were taken May 17th. And that is the day before she had surgery to replace the skull bone. That surgery was to put in a synthetic bone and shunt. And her doctors said it went very well.

So physically speaking her condition has improved above and beyond what this photo show. And I spoke to her communications director, C.J. Karamargin by phone, and just saw her last week. He said she was talking about politics, about the Mitt Romney announcement and overall in good spirits. And I asked him, how long before he expects her to be back and running the office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C.J. KARAMARGIN, GIFFORDS' COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR (via-telephone): I don't know. Hopefully, it will be soon. If you look at the amount of distance that she's traveled so far and how far she has come, I think we're confident it's going to be soon. But, you know, if there's one thing we've learned in this, the whole process, Lisa, that is the need to be patient.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SYLVESTER: C.J. said the plan is to have her moved from the Houston Rehabilitation Center by the end of the month. So she will stay in Houston, but continue with outpatient treatment.

Don?

LEMON: Lisa, thank you very much.

He's taking the stage right here in New Hampshire for tomorrow night's GOP debate, but first he talked to me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I get ready every day. I'm here in New Hampshire, and the folks here in New Hampshire, they ask a lot of tough questions. Not to slight John King, but they -- they are pretty tough here, and in Iowa, South Carolina, so we've been going through debate prep pretty much every day for the last 18 month months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I met up with former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum to talk about his place in this race. Can a social conservative get traction when voters are so focused on the economy? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think people promote the values. And the values change as society changes. I mean, if we did traditional values, we would still be in a segregated society. Think about that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it's what people do in their homes is any of the government's business. If people want to do something, as long as they are not hurting somebody else, I don't have a problem with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Voters here in New Hampshire, site of CNN's Republican presidential debate, Monday night, echoing the findings of a new CNN poll.

Results indicate that voters are now less concerned about social issues like abortion and more concerned about the economy. That should be very interesting to a candidate like Rick Santorum who can be very divisive on social issues like gay rights. Here's what he had to say on that subject when I caught up with him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: I was recently on Joy Behar, and she said that she called you, I think it's bigoted. Paraphrase it, bigoted or homophobic or what have you.

SANTORUM: I have difference on agreement on a public policy issue. It doesn't mean that I'm, you know, I hate anybody. I don't hate anybody. I'm called by my faith to love everybody. I do. I mean, I pray for people whether they are for me or against me because that's what I'm supposed to do. And just because I disagree with a legal definition of what marriage is doesn't mean I dislike anybody or hate anybody or am spiteful of anybody, because I think that's what's best for society.

And we should be able to disagree without calling people bigots. I think that's really sad that -- that you have people on the other side, because you stand up for something that has been an institution in this world for 2,000 years, that all of a sudden now you're a hater. You're a mean person. I'm not. I've never been. And --

LEMON: Do you have any gay friends?

SANTORUM: Yes, in fact, I have had gay people work for me.

LEMON: Yes. And friends?

SANTORUM: Yes.

LEMON: You know, people say, I have black friends. SANTORUM: Well -- I mean, yes, in fact, I was with a gay friend of mine just two days ago. I mean -- so, yes, I do. And they respect that I have differences of opinion on that. I talk about these things in front of them and we have conversations about that. They differ from me, but they know that I love them because they are my friends and they know that I respect -- and we have respect for our differences.

LEMON: You know, that's the headline, Rick Santorum has gay friends.

SANTORUM: It should be. It was well-known that Rick Santorum had a leading gay Republican working for him for ten years. I don't know -- I don't know what the -- you know, what the shock value is here. I mean, the fact of the matter is when, for example, when there was a man who was working as the executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee who was ousted by one of the gay papers, the first person who came to his aid was me because he was doing a great job.

LEMON: Yes.

SANTORUM: So I understand the narrative. It's always easy to sort of paint a narrative. Oh, this guy is for, you know, stands up for traditional marriage, he must hate gay people, no, I don't. I just disagree with what the issue of marriage should be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Thousands of fire fighters are working right now to try to contain a massive wildfire. They have got a lot of work to do. At last check the fire was only six percent contained.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: After 15 days of battling one of the largest forest fires in Arizona history, a huge sigh of relief tonight. Fire fighters believe they finally had the upper hand in the monstrous wallow fire.

CNN's Jim Spellman is in Eagar, Arizona. Jim?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, despite this fire being only six percent contained, fire fighters here are very optimistic about where this fire is headed and very pleased with the progress they have made this week.

They took advantage of two days of low winds to build lines between the active fire and the populated areas. So happy with their progress, in fact, that they were able to reopen some of these areas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. WEBB HOGLE, APACHE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: As of Sunday, June 12th, at 10:00 a.m., residents of the Springerville, Eagar, and South Fort areas who were evacuated because of the massive wallow fire have been allowed to return to their homes. After consulting with fire officials, it has been determined that the fire risk has diminished enough that it will no longer be a threat to the citizens of the towns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SPELLMAN: That is good news for the thousands of people who evacuated Eagar and Springerville. They will return to find absolutely no damage to any structures in either of these two towns, but they will find smoky conditions. Authorities have recommended that small children, the elderly and people with pre-existing respiratory conditions should consider staying away. Don?

LEMON: All right, Jim. Thank you very much.

Let's move on now to weather and our Monday morning commute. Meteorologist Alexandra Steele can tell us where air travelers might be seeing some delays tomorrow.

Hi, Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, good evening to you, Don. All right, let's get to it if you're traveling tomorrow around St. Louis. You could see some delays and strong storms possibly. Isolated tornadoes. Some gusty winds and hail maybe the biggest threat.

How about 96 tomorrow in Memphis. An isolated storm may slow you down for a bit of time at airport. Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, very stormy today. Improving conditions after midnight tonight and smooth sailing through tomorrow morning and through the afternoon, so certainly much improved conditions there.

So it's really the center of the country that will see some strong storms. St. Louis and Kansas City, including those areas. But what we're going to see in the southeast especially is the incredible warmth. So very warm temperatures. We'll continue to look at those, especially hot in the southeast, where Don is, a few showers, especially in northern New England. But, again, it's right here. In the center of the country, we're going to see from Iowa to Illinois, the stormy hot spot tomorrow. Once again some hail, and even some high winds. That's a look at tomorrow's commute.

Back to you, Don.

LEMON: All right, Alexandra, thank you very much.

Some good news for the Arizona congresswoman shot back in January. Two new pictures of Gabrielle Giffords were released today. And we'll tell you when doctors expect her to be released from a rehab hospital.

And the speaker of the house has some fun at his own expense. Hear his joke next.

But first, fewer people can afford to pay their mortgages, but they still have money to buy a round of drinks. Alison Kosik has the details in this week's "Getting Down to Business." ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Of the 4 million homeowners severely behind on their mortgage, almost two-thirds have essentially become squatters in their own home. According to lending agency LPS, it takes an average of 565 days to foreclose on a home after owners begin missing payments. People failing to pay their mortgages in New York and Florida are staying even longer. These states usually take about 800 days to foreclose.

The recession was tough on many industries, but it didn't dampen Americans' spirit, at least not in terms of alcohol sales. According to the finance company Stage Works, alcohol sales were not only strong throughout the recession, they actually grew each year with 2010 showing a 9 percent increase.

And it looks like dad may be getting a nicer tie this father's day. A survey by the National Retail Federation shows Americans will spend about $10 more this year than last, averaging $106 for dad's present. But never fear, moms out there, you still get the greatest affection with an average of $140 spent on Mother's Day.

That's this week's "Getting Down to Business."

Alison Kosik, CNN, New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: When you begin to go out there and ask people to vote for you, they are probably not going to vote for you if they can't say your name. You know, my name looks like beaner, bonner, boner, thank god it's not Weiner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was House Speaker John Boehner speaking during commencement ceremonies at Ohio State University today poking fun at his own name and also Congressman Anthony Weiner, as you heard there.

We're live in New Hampshire where CNN is getting ready for tomorrow night's GOP debate, and we're going to be talking more about that coming up, but first let's go to the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta with someone's name who I always get correct. She didn't always get mine correct, so Richelle Carey.

Richelle, what are the headlines?

RICHELLE CAREY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm still tweeting about that, Don. I'm still tweeting about the fact that I called you another co- anchor of mine, but that's a funny joke from Representative Boehner. That's a funny joke. I liked that about Anthony Weiner and it actually gets me to the top story.

More explicit and embarrassing photos of Congressman Anthony Weiner are cropping up. TMZ posted these pictures.

Wonder where he is, well, they say it's the gym where the House members work out. Weiner is off seeking professional help after the Democratic leadership called for his resignation on Saturday. A bit of good news for him, a little, relatively speaking. Delaware police have closed their investigation into his Twitter contact with a 17- year-old girl without finding any wrongdoing.

Gabrielle Giffords will leave a Houston hospital by the end of the month to begin outpatient therapy. Take a look at some new photos of the Arizona congresswoman. They were posted today on her Facebook page. That's her mom, right there smiling with her. These photos were taken about a month ago. Giffords was critically wounded, of course, in a shooting in January at a Tucson shopping center that killed six people.

And before there was Watergate, WikiLeaks, another whistleblowers and blockbusters, there were The Pentagon Papers, a secret study on the Vietnam War. In Monday, the national archives will release all 7,000 pages to commemorate the 40th anniversary of their publication. Back then, Whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg leaked incomplete copies to the "New York Times" revealing that top government officials knew the conflict in Vietnam was unwinnable.

All right. Back to New Hampshire and my friend Don Lemon.

LEMON: All right, Richelle, thank you very much.

CAREY: You bet.

LEMON: You know, last night we told you about Kirk Murphy. Kirk was just five years old when he was treated at UCLA's gender identity clinic under a pseudonym to conceal his real name. The purpose was to eliminate his feminine behavior and make him more masculine.

The man who ran the study was George Rekers, a graduate student at the time. Rekers called Kirk's treatment which his family says involved beatings at home, a success. Decades later, the research that was done on Kirk is still being cited by those who think kids can be prevented from becoming gay.

That infuriates Kirk's family. They say the treatment that Reker's called a success literally destroyed him. They want you to know what he went through and the impact it had on the rest of his life.

CNN confronted Rekers with their allegations. Here now is Anderson Cooper's special report on the sissy boy experiment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARIS MURPHY, KIRK MURPHY'S SISTER: Kirk, what do you think of your nephew?

KIRK MURPHY, SUBJECTED TO EXPERIMENT: Are we on camera?

MARIS MURPHY: Yes.

KIRK MURPHY: Are you just taking pictures? ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kirk Murphy killed himself nearly six months after this video was taken in 2003. He was 38 years old and had struggled with being gay for most of his life, a struggle his family blames on experimental therapy that Kirk was subjected to as a 5-year- old child. Experimental therapy that identified him as effeminate, a so-called "sissy boy", and tried to fundamentally change his behavior.

Kirk's mother enrolled him in the experimental therapy at UCLA in 1970 because of concerns he was playing with girls' toys.

KAYTEE MURPHY, KIRK MURPHY'S MOTHER: And I trusted these people because they were the experts.

MARIS MURPHY: What they really told him was that the very core of who he was, was broken.

KAYTEE MURPHY: I think my husband and I and Kirk were manipulated by this program. I think Kirk would have been better off if I hadn't taken him.

COOPER: Kirk's family had no idea George Rekers has, for the last three decades, used Kirk as an example of a child whose effeminate behavior was successfully altered. In numerous publications, Rekers has written about Kirk, calling him Kraig to hide his identity.

KAYTEE MURPHY: I blame them for the way his life turned out. If one person causes another person's death, I don't care if it's 20 or 50 years, it's the same as murder in my eyes.

COOPER: Of course, the actual reason someone commits suicide is difficult, if not impossible, to know. Kirk's family's allegations that George Rekers' therapy caused Kirk to take his own life are just that, allegations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From CNN. I'd like to talk about your therapy that you did with Kraig.

COOPER: George Rekers didn't respond to CNN's repeated request for an interview, so our producers tracked him down in Florida to ask him about the Murphy family's allegations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you just talk to us for a second about your therapy with the patient named Kraig?

GEORGE REKERS, CONDUCTED EXPERIMENT: It's published.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've interviewed Kraig's family recently. They say that the therapy you did with him as a child led directly to his suicide as an adult. What do you say about that?

REKERS: I didn't know that. That's too bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not aware of his suicide?

REKERS: No. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you say to the family if they say that the therapy that you did with him as a child led to his suicide as an adult?

REKERS: Well, I think scientifically, that would be inaccurate, to assume that it was the therapy.

But I do grieve for the parents now that you've told me that news. I think that's very sad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Coming up, after the break, Dr. Rekers defends his therapy, yet is caught up in his own scandal with a gay escort.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Dr. George Rekers says his treatment to rid a little boy of feminine behavior was a success even though that boy, Kirk Murphy, committed suicide at age 38.

His family now blames Dr. Reker's therapy for Kirk's death, an allegation the doctor dismisses because of the decades that passed between Kirk's treatment and his suicide. But as you're about to see, despite claiming his treatment can treat homosexuality, Dr. Rekers had his own scandal with a gay escort.

Now the conclusion of Anderson Cooper's special report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (voice-over): Rekers pointed out that his work with Kirk took place decades before his suicide.

REKERS: That's a long time ago. You have a hypothesis that positive treatment back in the 1970s had something to do with something happening decades later. That hypothesis needs a lot of scientific investigation to see if it's valid.

On a two independent psychologists with me had evaluated him and said he was better adjusted after treatment. So it wasn't my opinion.

COOPER: One of those psychologists has since died. The other, Larry Ferguson, told us he did evaluate Kirk Murphy as a teenager. He told us the family was well-adjusted and he didn't see any red flags when evaluating Kirk.

But a psychiatrist who followed up with Kirk when he was 18, Dr. Richard Green, wrote that Kirk told him he tried to kill himself the year before because he didn't, quote, "want to grow up to be gay".

COOPER: Rekers insists the therapy was intended to help Kirk and his parents.

REKERS: I only meant to help. The rationale was positive, to help children, help the parents who come to us in their distress, asking questions: "What can we do to help our child be better adjusted?"

COOPER: George Rekers has had a nearly three-decade career as a champion of the anti-gay movement. In addition to being a founding member of the Family Research Council, he was also a board member of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality or NARTH, an organization whose members attempt to treat those who struggle with what they call unwanted homosexuality.

Just last year, however, in a surprising twist, George Rekers' days as a prominent anti-gay activist abruptly ended. Rekers was caught with a young male escort he'd hired to accompany him on a trip to Europe. This photograph was taken of them in the airport in Miami. Rekers says he's not gay and denies any sexual contact with the escort. He says he hired him to help him carry his luggage. The escort says he gave Rekers sexual massages while in Europe.

Rekers resigned from NARTH after the scandal, and the Family Research Council said in a statement they haven't had contact with him in over a decade.

Rekers' reputation among those who oppose homosexuality may be tarnished, but his research is still being cited. In this book he co- authored, "Handbook of Therapy for Unwanted Homosexual Attractions", he continues to cite his work with Kirk, whom he calls Kraig, as a success. He writes that the case was, quote, "the first experimentally-demonstrated reversal of a cross-gender identity with psychological treatment". The book was published in 2009, six years after Kirk Murphy took his own life.

MARIS MURPHY: The research has a postscript to it that needs to be added, and that is to acknowledge that Kirk Andrew Murphy was Kraig, and he was gay, and he committed suicide.

COOPER (on camera): What do you want people to -- to remember about Kirk, to know about Kirk?

MARIS MURPHY: That this was a little boy who deserved protection, respect, and unconditional love. And I don't want him to be remembered as a science experiment. He was a person.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Want to bring in now behavior expert Dr. Wendy Walsh.

Wendy, I'm sure you've heard of George Rekers and the work that he did. What do you make of it?

DR. WENDY WALSH, BEHAVIOR EXPERT: well, you know, my initial thought is that, you know, the American public thinks, Don, that you're either gate or you're straight. When Kinsey research clearly show that most of us lie on a continuum somewhere, both in fantasy or behavior, that is sort of a scale. I mean, Kinsey called it 1-6.

So I would think that if this therapy ever had any positive results, it was probably because he was taking bisexual people and suppressing the homosexual part of their inclination. So he could probably try to ride on that for a while, but I'm so disturbed to think that he would try to treat children when sexual orientation isn't even clear at 5 years old, led alone gender identity.

It just seems like there's -- it's not the developmental window to even begin to deal with this, and so inappropriate and so damaging.

LEMON: So let me get this straight. In the psychology community, is there any support for this kind of therapy, Dr. Wendy?

WALSH: I wouldn't think so. I mean, the Psychiatric Association clearly does not endorse anything he does. There is no support. I mean, psychology is about having personal growth and learning to be who you are in the world and accept who you are and having self-esteem and self-confidence. It's not about changing who you are. I -- I really, it's so disturbing to think that this work is being done in 2011, 12, almost.

LEMON: Yes. Yes.

Dr. Wendy, thank you so much. I appreciate you joining us tonight.

Coming up, the reason I'm in New Hampshire. Monday night's GOP debate. We'll tell you more about the seven candidates who will be on the stage, including Newt Gingrich who is speaking in California right now just a few days after all those staffers resigned from his campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Live now to California. Beverly Hills, specifically, where Newt Gingrich is making his first appearance since his senior staff members resigned en masse last week. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: During this last week, today's generation of Jews made a similar pilgrimage to the streets of Jerusalem knowing that the freedom that allows them to visit their holiest sites is more endangered at this moment in history than at any time since that morning four and a half decades ago.

Indeed, both Israel and America are at a dangerous crossroads in which the survival of Israel and the safety of the United States both hang in the balance. While the United States and its allies have won important victories in the war on terrorism, it is impossible to look at the totality of the world ten years after 9/11 and conclude that we are on the winning path or that the world is a safer place.

Year after year --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: All right. He is speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California. And that's why he's making reference to Jewish people there.

I want to bring in now our senior political editor, Mr. Mark Preston.

So, Mark, do you think he's going to talk about the past week and what's happened on this? This is his first appearance?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Yes. This is his first public appearance. I'd be really surprise, Don, that he actually addresses the turmoil that has faced his campaign in the last four or five days. As you said, all of his senior staff have resigned. They were upset at him because they didn't think that he was as dedicated to this presidential campaign as he should have been, specifically raising money, and, two, retail politics going out and meeting voters. But I don't think he'll do it tonight.

LEMON: Do you think that America loves a comeback story? I've been saying that all week. Do you think he can re-launch his campaign and be successful at it, and that's going to be important? People are going to be listening to that tomorrow night during these debates if he references that.

PRESTON: Yes. And, again, that is going to be the focus for Newt Gingrich tomorrow night. Can he show that he has not been knocked off of his feet for what has happened over the last four or five days. Can he reboot? Can he re-launch? Absolutely. Anything is possible.

We saw John McCain go through a terrible shake-up in 2007. He went on to win the Republican nomination. Although, for Newt Gingrich, it's going to be really hard. It's going to be very difficult.

LEMON: OK, there are some comments, Mark, I'm being told by the producer regarding the campaign. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRICH: We charted tonight with many of you, and various people commented on recent weeks. As someone who has been in public life for nearly 40 years, I know full well the rigors of campaigning for public office. In fact, I've had some recent reminders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PRESTON: All right. So I stand corrected. I stand corrected. He actually addressed it. Maybe it was the elephant in the room, so to speak.

LEMON: He addressed it, but didn't address it. He made light of it. But he didn't talk about how he's going to redo and how is he going to come out of this.

PRESTON: No. And he's going to have to explain it, not only to us, not only to his staff that has surrounded him and that have remained with him, but he's really got to focus on those key primary voters to let them know, and donors as well, to let them know that he is serious. So even though he gets a laugh out of it, he does address it, albeit very minorly, he does need it address it with donors and voters that are going to help him win the nomination if he's to win the nomination. LEMON: He has the highest name recognition, is that fair to say, out of everyone?

PRESTON: He's certainly one of the highest, but maybe he was such a polarizing figure back in the late '90s.

LEMON: Yes, but everyone thought that, you know, Newt Gingrich, because he turned it around, put the GOP on top, that he would have the best chance this time.

What was it? Was it his past or his present? What really put him into the position that he's in now?

PRESTON: Well, you know, because Newt Gingrich certainly is a very smart man. He is a great politician. It might be that he was too smart and he might have been too good of a politician that he wasn't willing to listen to people around him. He surrounded himself with some very smart staffers, and in order to run a successful campaign, Don, a good CEO has to look at his lieutenants and take their advice and apparently he didn't do so.

LEMON: And maybe a bit arrogant, too, as well.

PRESTON: Well, I'm sure some of those departing staffers would say that.

LEMON: What was it? Was this a thing with Tiffany's and all of that, or was it really that they felt, I don't know, slighted in the sense that he wasn't paying attention to them, because they wanted him to stay. Get on the phone, start raising money, start making calls. Is he now going on a vacation? And then they said his wife had too much influence over him and the campaign?

PRESTON: I think we should call for some factors. First of all, for them to be successful, he had to be successful. And they -- they thought that he needed to take their advice and in some ways I think they are correct, but there was a bunch things. There was the credit line at Tiffany, but really the straw that brought the camel's back was the fact that he took two weeks off, he went out to the Mediterranean on a cruise. He did not stay here in the U.S. He did not meet voters. He did not raise money and enough is enough.

LEMON: All right. And here we are.

PRESTON: Here we are.

LEMON: Thank you, Mark Preston.

Top stories are next. More explicit photos from the New York Congressman. What are Anthony Weiner's plans for the future?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Now the big stories in the week ahead, from Washington to Hollywood. Our correspondents tell you what you need to know. We begin tonight at the White House. DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian at the White House. This week President Obama will be touting jobs, raising money and fulfilling a campaign promise.

First on Monday, President Obama heads to Raleigh, Durham, North Carolina, where he will visit a company that makes, among other things, LED lights. He'll also be talking about job creation there.

Later in the day, he heads down to Miami for a fundraisers. It's more money in the bank for a campaign that's expected to raise $1 billion.

Then on Tuesday, the president flies to Puerto Rico, a place he visited during the campaign and said he would return to if elected. He will be the first president to make an official visit there since John F. Kennedy.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kate Bolduan on Capitol Hill. The House returns Monday after a week home in their congressional districts and a big topic in both the House and the Senate, the federal debt and raising the debt ceiling. Debt talks between Democrats, Republicans led by the vice president are ramping up. The bipartisan group has three scheduled meetings this week as they try to hammer out a deal to raise the federal debt limit.

Also, we're keeping an eye on scandal surrounding Congressman Anthony Weiner. The lawmakers will be returning this week for the first time since the congressman acknowledged he did send those lewd photos, and we'll see how lawmakers react to their colleague as they try to get back to work.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Coming up next week, we'll get a host of economic news. Wall Street is going to be watching it all very closely.

At the beginning of the week, we'll get two key readings on inflation, both on the consumer and the wholesale level. And the housing market will be in focus when we get the latest report on housing starts. We'll also see how consumers are feeling about the economy and how much they are spending. We'll get the consumer sentiment report and also the latest retail sales numbers. All of that, coming up. A big week for Wall Street. We'll track it all on CNN Money.

A.J. HAMMER, CO-HOST, HLN'S "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT": I'm "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer. Here's what we're watching this week.

Well, of all the big controversies from tonight's Tony Awards, we also gets the season premiere of "Keeping up with the Kardashians."

Kim K. and her fiance, Kris Humphreys, are already talking baby names, but there will be more news this week about the Kim Kardashian cheating scandal. "Showbiz Tonight" exclusively weeknights at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on HLN.

LEMON: All right. Thanks, guys. We're live in New Hampshire where CNN is getting ready for tomorrow night's GOP debate. But right now let's get you caught up on some of the hour's top stories. And for that, we turn to Richelle Carey at CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

Hi, Richelle.

CAREY: Hello, Don. Been holding it down for you here.

Let me get to some of the top stories right now.

More explicit and embarrassing photos of Congressman Anthony Weiner keeps surfacing. TMZ posted these pictures and say they were taken in the House member's gym. Weiner is off seeking professional help after the Democratic leadership called for his resignation on Saturday. However, Delaware police have closed their investigation into his Twitter contact with a 17-year-old girl without finding any wrongdoing.

Gabrielle Giffords will leave the Houston Rehab Hospital by the end of the month to begin outpatient therapy. New photos of the Arizona congresswoman were posted today on her Facebook page. They were taken about a month ago. You can see -- some of these before and after pictures. Giffords was critically wounded in a January shooting at a Tucson shopping center that killed six people.

People in two evacuated Arizona towns are being allowed to go home. Fire crews believe they now have the upper hand on that monstrous wallow fire, although it's only about 10 percent contained. Controlled burns have robbed the fire of fuel to advance.

And the Dallas Mavericks did it tonight. Check this out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEOPLE SHOUTING.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAREY: Celebrations in Dallas after the Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat, 105 to 95 to win the NBA championships. Four games to two. It's the first championship in franchise history for Dallas. Jason Terry led the Dallas Mavs with 27 points, Dirk Nowitzki had 21, LeBron had 21 for Miami.

Now back to New Hampshire for Don. I was able to sneak in a little bit of the game, Don. Just a little bit.

LEMON: Now you are rubbing it in. Are you sure? Was that Dallas or was that Cleveland that's celebrating? They're probably celebrating more in Cleveland tonight, don't you think, Richelle?

CAREY: Probably are. You got that right.

LEMON: Hey, listen, I'm looking at Twitter here and it starting to trend. They are saying Chris Bosh broke down in the hall in the tunnel and started to cry, and they had to pick him up and carry him out. Were you able to witness that moment?

CAREY: I have not seen that. That I would have to see to believe. I mean, you want champions to hate losing, but good grief. I need to see that.

LEMON: Yes. It's amazing because everyone thought, everyone thought the Heat was going to win.

CAREY: Go, Texas.

LEMON: Mavs wanted it. They have heart.

All right, thank you, Richelle.

CAREY: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Thanks for filling in.

I'm Don Lemon in Manchester, New Hampshire. Thanks for watching, everyone. Don't forget to watch the debate, Monday night, right here on CNN. And thanks to everyone at Saint Anselm --