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Libyan Rebels Seize City; Interview with Congresswoman Maxine Waters of California; Explosions in Libyan Capital; China Brawl
Aired August 20, 2011 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Rebels battling Moammar Gadhafi's army say they are in complete control of towns surrounding Tripoli. It is the most progress yet claimed by the rebels as they push toward the Libyan capital. We're going to have a live report for you.
Plus, the Congressional Black Caucus says it has a bone to pick with President Obama. Congresswoman Maxine Waters is leading the charge. I'm going to talk with her live this hour about the issues at hand.
Also, meet the new generation of flash mobs. Kids using social media to commit crimes. What happened to the days of dancing and singing in the middle of the mall?
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.
We start with breaking news. There's a lot of news to get through right now. I want to get you caught up.
It's out of Libya tonight. A rebel spokesman says anti-government troops have now entered the capital.
And CNN's senior correspondent Matthew Chance is live in Tripoli for us.
So, Matthew, we spoke with you not long ago. What are you seeing and hearing now?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the situation appears to have calmed a little since we last spoke, Don. But there's still sporadic outbursts of gunfire across the city that we can hear periodically, every few minutes or so. Clearly, the situation isn't as calm as the government authorities are telling us that it is.
We've had a press conference within the last hour or so with Moussa Ibrahim, who's the Libyan government spokesperson. He said that a number of -- small odd numbers of armed gangs have infiltrated parts of the city and have been responsible for this violence. He said that the armed forces of Libya is loyal to Colonel Gadhafi, of course, had confronted them, and the situation had now been brought under control.
That statement is intentioned with the kind of scenes, the kind of sounds we're hearing outside this hotel in Tripoli, around the Libyan capital. Still, as I say, these sporadic bursts of gunfire. Clearly, the situation isn't as stable as the government here, the authorities are attempting to make out -- Don.
LEMON: So, Matthew, I want you to take a look at this video from yesterday. You see huge explosions and gunfire going off there in Libya. Where's Moammar Gadhafi now? Any signs that he may be leaving Libya?
CHANCE: Well, the short answer is we don't know where he is. But certainly there's a lot of rumors that the Libyan government here in Tripoli has reached out to neighboring countries like Tunisia, like Algeria, like Egypt and requested them for some kind of safe haven for Colonel Gadhafi's family, possibly for even Colonel Gadhafi himself. There's speculation he may be heading to South America, to South Africa. But this is just speculation. It is just rumor.
As far as the government officials that we've had access to are concerned, they're categorically denying any suggestion that Colonel Gadhafi or his family are going to be leaving Tripoli. Indeed, publicly, the Libyan leader has said that he intends to stay in the capital. He intends to fight any rebel advance on the capital. And he's calling on loyalists in Tripoli to do the same.
That doesn't mean that behind the scenes, there aren't negotiations underway with various governments. It's just that they're not in the public arena and we don't know about them officially yet.
LEMON: Hey, Matthew, we were taking a close look at CNN, at Libyan state-run television because we get a lot of our information from that. There's a talk show going on now. Earlier, there was something else -- it didn't have anything to do with the unrest that's going on.
We told you about Moussa Ibrahim. We saw the press conference. I'm sure you guys are paying attention to it there. He said -- he's talking about the rebels. He said their lies have reached another level of hysteria, idiocy and stupidity. Do not let the crusaders lie to you.
Basically, going on television and giving exactly -- what appears to be the opposite of the information that people there who live there are reporting and that some of the reporters are reporting back to us as well.
CHANCE: Yes. Now, I think to some extent both sides are guilty of, you know, exaggerating the various situations on their side. We've had this throughout the conflict Libya, throughout the crisis. One side says one thing, the other side says something completely opposed to what the other side just said. I mean, in this situation, the truth usually lies somewhere between.
But, yes, what we've heard from Ibrahim this evening is again categorical denial of all of these rebel attacks. They're still not acknowledging that the rebels are in control of Zawiya, that crucial strategic town west of Tripoli. And they're still saying that there's a chance they could reopen that road.
In fact, they're saying they're the ones that control the roads into Tripoli, and they've chosen to close it. And so, you do get this sort of feeling when you hear these reports from outside of Tripoli when you speak to local residents as well. And we've had some contact by telephone with sort of independent residents who have been telling us about the situation here, as well.
You do get a sense that to some extent, the authorities here in Tripoli are in denial or at least, they are trying to represent a very calm, very stable image of their capital to the local media and to the outside world.
LEMON: Hey, Matthew, listen, we don't want -- we want to let you go here. And we're also awaiting our Sara Sidner. You mentioned Zawiya, that's where she is. We're going to get her up live here in just a minute.
But also, I want to show Libyan state-run television. They're showing some pretty patriotic scenes going on. There you see celebrations, they are showing on the street. And again we don't know if the pictures are live or where the pictures are coming from. But those are the live pictures coming from Libyan state-run television.
On the right of the screen, you see images of Moammar Gadhafi. You see the army there. And to the left, you se people who are supporters of Moammar Gadhafi in the street.
So, listen, as we continue on, this is what Moussa Ibrahim said just moments ago. Matthew we, he said, "Tripoli is in total control. We're in total control here."
So, again, I just want to reiterate, you said both sides are exaggerating here and the truth is somewhere in the middle.
CHANCE: Yes, exactly. I mean, as we have this press conference here, we weren't permitted to go to the press conference by the way. The foreign media, for the last week or so, have been excluded from these government briefings. It's just been the local Libya media.
But as we watched here on the television in hotel, it's all we can do, and he was saying the situation has been brought under control. I mean, outside the window of this hotel now, you can hear the gunshots reverberating, crackling through the streets of Tripoli. All over the city, there are still gunshots being fired. It's not as intense as it was an hour or two ago.
But even as I speak to you now, Don, I can hear gunshots being fired out in the streets, outside of the hotel, in the center of Tripoli. So, clearly, the situation is still very volatile. Clearly, there are still some, you know, armed groups, some opposition figures, some rebels -- whatever you want to call them -- very active, as you can hear, in the streets of Tripoli.
LEMON: All right. Matthew Chance in Tripoli -- Matthew, thank you.
We're going to go to Zawiya now, and Sara Sidner. She is live there. She's with the rebels, as a matter of fact.
Sara -- so, what's the situation where you are? What are you seeing and hearing?
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we're hearing is a lot of gunfire. But that gunfire really is celebratory gunfire. People here believe now that the uprising has begun in Tripoli, and they want to come and fight there. They are very excited that they were able to take full control of the city of Zawiya.
And the reason why they're so excited about taking control of the city, it's only just 30 miles from Tripoli, 30 miles west of Tripoli, just about a 40-minute drive there. And it houses a large oil refinery, one of the last functioning refineries in the entire country. So, they gotten control of that, as well, and also cut off a main supply route to Tripoli.
Now, they are hoping to get on that coastal road and head straight to Tripoli. But they do have something in their way. They were able to push Gadhafi forces back. Now, Gadhafi forces have retreated toward Tripoli. They will have to pass through those tanks and that army before they can get into the city, and that's something they'll have to contend with.
We heard plenty of artillery fire today coming into the city from about 17 kilometer outside the city -- Don.
LEMON: And you talk it that oil supply are important because --
SIDNER: Very important, because right now, Tripoli's fuel supply is extremely scarce. And, you know, when people get in situations where it's difficult to find fuel, it's difficult to find cooking oil, it's difficult to find food, things become very, very uneasy, I guess you could say. And people that are unhappy with the regime may feel suddenly that, hey, it looks like he's being squeezed.
But the rebels are hoping is that people will revolt. They're hoping that there's a lot more support for the opposition than there is for the Gadhafi regime. But we need to be careful in saying because the rebels hope that that doesn't necessarily make it true. There's plenty of support it seems in the capital for Gadhafi. And that's certainly where everyone believes, don, that the firepower -- that Gadhafi has the most firepower right there, concentrated in the city.
A lot of people are predicting that this could be a very bloody battle of urban warfare there.
LEMON: All right. We're not going to go far from the story.
Sara Sidner in Zawiya, Matthew Chance in Tripoli, thanks to both of you. Please stand by.
On to other news now:
Jobs are just one reason the Congressional Black Caucus says it has a bone to pick with President Obama. Congresswoman Maxine Waters is leading the charge here. She's going to join me right after the break, live, to explain why there's growing frustration with the president among some of his strongest supporters. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. I want you to listen because here comes Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and she always says what's on her mind. So, you want to pay attention to this segment.
He is the president, so criticism comes with the territory. But strong words about President Obama this week from Congresswoman Maxine Waters got a lot of people talking because -- let's face it -- he hasn't gotten a lot of criticism from high-profile African-Americans. But at a jobs fair this week sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus, Congresswoman Waters said there's growing frustration with the president among members of the Black Caucus and her audience seemed to share the frustration.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO LCIP)
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D), CALIFORNIA: We don't put pressure on the president because y'all love the president. We love the president.
You're very proud --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do --
WATERS: You're very proud to have a black man.
When you tell us it's all right and you unleash us and you tell us you're ready for us to have this conversation, we're ready to have the conversation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK, Congresswoman, she joins us now from Los Angeles.
WATERS: Yes.
LEMON: Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
Congresswoman, you know when you say things like that --
WATERS: Yes.
LEMON: -- you are going to stir up the pot and you are going to get criticized. What is going on?
WATERS: Yes. Well, you know, the news constantly reporting the high rate of unemployment in this country, but especially among African- Americans. That 16 percent that really calculates into 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, and some of our worst off areas, the growing homelessness in places like Los Angeles, the young people who cannot find jobs, and mothers who have worked hard and fathers to send their kids off to college and they come back, can't find a job.
And the parents are asking us, what's going on? I mean, I've worked hard to send this kid to college. I can't -- he can't get a job.
And, then, of course, the protracted debate on the debt ceiling where we got our clocks cleaned and the Republicans walked away with everything. And we have no new revenue in this picture at all.
LEMON: OK, Congresswoman.
WATERS: Yes, it calculates to frustration.
LEMON: Let's stick to one thing at a time. And we're --
WATERS: Yes.
LEMON: -- going to talk about leadership in a second. But I want to talk now --
WATERS: Sure. Yes.
LEMON: Do you think -- or are you saying that a black president is not doing enough as president to help black people?
WATERS: No, I'm not saying that. And this argument, this decision that I asked, the constituents were there in Detroit to tell us whether or not they wanted us to have is basically that, a discussion.
What is going on? Why is it the unemployment is so persistent in the black community? What is Congress doing about it? What is the White House doing about it? It's a discussion I have opened up.
LEMON: What would have him do? What do you want him to do?
WATERS: Well, listen, do you know what I was inspired by? The president went on a trip to three states in this country. He went to Iowa. He went to Iowa where the unemployment is about 6.2 percent to 6.7 percent, and he took about $510 million to help with the development of biofuels, to infuse those dollars into the community and increase lending so that it would help jobs.
We like that. And we want the same kind of thing in the urban community.
We've been talking about targeted efforts. That's when he did when he went to Iowa. That's what I'd like to see in urban communities. That's one example.
Of course, he's going to roll out with a big jobs proposal in September. We have some ideas.
LEMON: OK.
WATERS: We support an infrastructure bank and on and on and on. So that's what I'm talking about.
LEMON: OK. Listen, on the same day that you made your comments, there was an executive order that came out the same day promising to promote diversity in America. Why now? Do you think that was in response to your comment? Because when I talked with people --
WATERS: Well, I don't know.
LEMON: -- when I talked to people, they say, this was probably written three months ago. Why would it commute out on this day? Are they responding to Maxine Waters?
WATERS: I don't. I don't even know what it says, and I don't know what it means. I'll be happy to take a look at it, and try and see what that means.
You know, we work on these things all the time to try to equal the playing field. I've increased diversity in all of our financial services agencies. When I worked on the conference committee with the Dodd-Frank bill, I created the offices of minority and women inclusion. Those are the kind of things we work on all the time. I don't know what this executive order is, but I would welcome it if it opens up opportunities.
LEMON: OK. Do you think the president is doing enough to promote diversity in America?
WATERS: I think the president is doing what he can, and the Black Caucus needs to help him more. We need to show that not only is it important to our communities, we need to show him that we've got tremendous support for doing this. And he'll have a lot of support -- he'll have a lot of support the more he does. I think we all need to be in this discussion and in this effort.
LEMON: OK. And on this talk here, what do you think of his leadership? Has he been a good leader? Can he be a better leader in some areas? And if so, where would you like to see it?
WATERS: I think the president has worked hard, and he's doing the best that he possibly can do. I think the Tea Party has made it more difficult. I think the president's style is really to try and work to get along, to try and get people to come together.
LEMON: But has that been effective, Congresswoman?
WATERS: It's time to fight -- it's time to fight. It's time to look him in the eye, stare them down, not give in, and go for it. It's time to go for a big idea with a big fight behind it. And I think he'll have a lot of support for it.
LEMON: Congresswoman Maxine Waters -- thank you very much.
WATERS: You're so welcome.
LEMON: All right.
You know, not everyone believes publicly criticizing the president is the best way. Up next, we're going to sit down with someone who says this may not be the best approach. And I know this topic is generating lots of interest on social media. Make sure you connect with me on twitter, on Facebook, on CNN.com/don. I'm reading your tweets and your comments now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. So, we just heard from Congresswoman Water, a key player in the Congressional Black Caucus. She says there's going frustration with President Obama among African-American voters.
Let's talk more about it now with Goldie Taylor. She's an opinion columnist for thegrio.com and managing editor of the Goldie Taylor Project.
Good to see you, Goldie.
GOLDIE TAYLOR, GOLDIE TAYLOR PROJECT: Good to see you, Don. Good to see you.
LEMON: Good to see you. You hear the interview with the congresswoman, right?
TAYLOR: I did.
LEMON: And she said -- when I said do you think -- what do you think of the president's leadership, and she said, "I think it's time to fight." which means it's time for him to fight. She's -- I think she's saying he needs to change his strategy and stop trying to work with everybody and have everybody like him. He just needs to be a fighter now.
TAYLOR: I think there are a lot of people who are coming from that quarter that are frankly frustrated with the kind of leadership that's come out of the White House. The difference here --
LEMON: But listen, when you say the kind of leadership that's come out -- what do you mean? What do you mean by that?
TAYLOR: President Obama told us when he was running that he was going to be a conciliatory president. That he was going to meet people halfway. Meet people at their point of need. That he was going to work in a bipartisan way. He was right about that.
LEMON: That was then.
TAYLOR: That was then. But the reality is, this process that's in, and you get, you know, 20 new freshmen in the Republican Party who say they're not willing to work with this president on anything. And you've got an opposition who is committed to his failure.
And so, at some point, you have to change your strategy and say these people aren't about working for the good of the country. This is about politics.
LEMON: OK. I started to tell you this morning, I'm at brunch, two old friends. And they live in Chicago, not far from President Obama. And they -- they could not disagree more with his leadership now.
And they -- one said, we have to give him a chance. The husband said, oh, come on, honey. Stop making excuses.
These are conversations that African-Americans usually have around the dinner table, not in public. Should African-Americans be publicly criticizing the president?
TAYLOR: Your grandmother and mine, they didn't like back fence talk. They didn't like putting our dirty laundry in the street. They didn't like us publicly criticizing one another out in the public square where other communities could see it.
That is at play here with this president. And I got to tell you, some of these black elected officials, they are losing, frankly, access to this White House because they are being publicly critical.
If you have someone like Maxine Waters, there are 12 African-American women serving in the United States Congress between the Senate and the House of Representatives. If out of 12, out of 535 -- and she is the most senior ranking African-American woman serving -- if she doesn't have a direct line to this president, we are in trouble.
LEMON: Wow. You just said a lot there.
I'm going to show you something. I just got a tweet from Spike Lee. And Spike Lee was having social event with President Obama at Professor Ogletree's house. Spike Lee tweeted this -- he said, "In a HELLA quick conversation with President Obama, I told him he will continue to have my support, and he needs to take off the kid gloves."
There's a growing sentiment of that among African-Americans.
TAYLOR: If you look at the unemployment rate, for instance, among all Americans, somewhere around 9.1 percent, 9.2 percent, then you look at double that for African-Americans, and if you look for African- American men in places like Detroit, Atlanta, and it's up to nearly 40 percent and 45 percent, we're feeling the heat.
And so, to ask this White House for a concerted agenda that is focus on urban issues, on African-American issues, I think that that's right for America. And I think this president has to do it.
LEMON: You wrote a column in "The Grio" basically saying would you hold him to a different standard if he was white. I think we should hold every president to the same standard.
TAYLOR: But, culturally, African-Americans don't do that. We are a circle the wagons kind of community. So, if someone is being attacked from the outside, even if we see the flaw, he ain't perfect, but he's ours.
LEMON: But a criticism isn't always an attack. I was always -- I've always been told, even from my own black people, constructive criticism is good for you. You need that, boy.
TAYLOR: I got to wish and hope that our community advances in the way that constructive criticism can be taken. However, we're not there yet. LEMON: Yes.
TAYLOR: You know, still crabs in a barrel, people will say.
LEMON: Thank you very much.
TAYLOR: Thank you, Don.
LEMON: Goldie Taylor, good stuff. We appreciate it.
This is the kind of conversation we like to have here. Thank you. Really appreciate it.
Coming up next, the so-called West Memphis Three are enjoying their first full day of freedom. They've been locked up for 18 years for the brutal killings of three cub scouts. Coming up: how they got out of prison.
But, first, getting kids interested in writing and reading. It's a challenge for parents and teachers. But a San Francisco project uses a variety of techniques to spark interest.
CNN education contributor Steve Perry visits in tonight's "Perry's Principles."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): 826 National is a literacy organization with eight chapters across the country.
Today, we're at the original location in San Francisco called 826 Valencia.
PERRY: Here, kids get tutoring, attend creative writing workshops and watch their own books get published.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ahoy mate. What are you doing there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go.
PERRY: And did I also mention it is housed in a power supply store. These kids are writing a story for a grumpy pirate named "Mr. Blue."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We promised them they could write a story. Can we please try?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I hope so. It better be a good story.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It better be exciting and suspenseful.
PERRY: 826 Valencia also offers one-on-one tutoring in any subject students need help with, host field trips, and has a special focus on working with students whose parents don't speak English at home. But today, they are all about creative writing. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or it could be a crocodile mixed with an iguana.
PERRY (on camera): You are helping kids in this community use writing to do what?
GERALD RICHARDS, CEO, 826 NATIONAL: It all begins with writing. And so, you have to build from that sort of basis and so the students that we work with, if their writing is great, it follows that everything else that they would do from English to Math to Science.
PERRY: How much are they paying for this?
RICHARDS: It's all free.
PERRY: Wow.
RICHARDS: Yes.
PERRY: How do you pay for that?
RICHARDS: A lot of fund raising.
PERRY: Yes.
RICHARDS: A lot of the goodwill of the community. We work with a lot of foundations and corporations.
PERRY: 826 Valencia has nearly 1,700 active volunteers from all different types of careers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you think that's going to be a good story so far?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there's a lot of potential there. I like what I'm hearing so far.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excellent. All right. Let's get back to work guys.
PERRY (voice-over): Steve Perry, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Breaking news here on CNN. This is Libyan state- run television. And according to them, they are -- this is Moammar Gadhafi. That's what they're saying. They're broadcasting images of Moammar Gadhafi speaking on the left.
Again, this is Libyan state-run television. They're in control of it. That's what they're saying. They're saying it's live. But we cannot confirm - there was a press conference earlier in Tripoli by Mussa Ibrahim, a spokesperson for the government, who said that everything was in control. They were in control of Tripoli. And that reports of advances on the capital city they said were greatly exaggerated. But Libyan state-run television, again, is broadcasting these images of reportedly of Moammar Gadhafi now, and there were questions about whether he was still in Libya, whether he had fled, but if you believe the images on Libyan state-run television, he's still there. Rebels appear, though, to be one step closer to Tripoli. Opposition fighters pushed the government forces outside the gates of Zawiya (ph) today. Artillery martyrs can still be heard inside the city and it can be heard in Tripoli as well.
Our Sara Sidner from our international, CNN International, is with us from Zawiya. And then also Matthew Chance is in Tripoli. Moammar Gadhafi is reportedly telling his supporters that they have gotten rid of the traitorous rebels, and that's what we're hearing on Libyan state-run television. We're not going to go far from the story. The full resources of CNN on top of it. We have our entire crew there in Libya, reporters, correspondents there, producers, cameras on the ground, as well. And we're checking on it back here in the U.S. so stand by for more information on Libya.
OK. Here we go now. Here in the United States, rain is pummeling the midwest with the Chicago and the Detroit areas really feeling the brunt of it. Our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras, is here to tell us about these severe systems that are going through. Jacqui, it looked pretty ominous over the skies of Chicago. The air show - I lived in Chicago for a number of years. It's amazing to see. They come right by the buildings if you're standing on top. There had to be delays for a while, right?
JERAS: Yes, they did. But it was able to go on. They got the people out of the way, told them where to go so they can stay safe. Those storms have moved on. That was another storm we need to worry about. This is breaking news for you guys. We now have a new tropical storm. This is tropical storm Irene. We've been telling you about it for a couple of days. This tropical wave that's been out in the open waters of the Atlantic but it has a chance to become a powerful storm. And has a chance to have some type of an effect on the U.S..
Well, here's what we know now. This is tropical storm Irene. Maximum winds, 50 miles per hour. The hurricane hunters have been flying in this thing the last couple of hours. This on Google Earth is the track that they were taking, and you can see the criss-cross pattern through the center of that storm. And they did find a closed circulation which means wind spun all the way around kind of clockwise and they also found those stronger winds to support calling it a tropical storm even. So just skipped tropical depression status altogether.
Tropical storm warnings now have been issued for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This is the forecast track that we're talking about, where we're expecting it to go. It should be arriving in the Virgin Islands already by tomorrow afternoon. Heading towards Puerto Rico tomorrow night and into Monday. And then moving through Hispaniola and we'll have to watch what happens after that. This storm will likely intensify, it's likely going to become the first hurricane, we think, of the season. What about the U.S.? The margin of error out here I want to tell you is as much as 200 miles. So it's too early to tell what kind of an impact it's going to have on the U.S.. We could see still an Atlantic coast. We could see a Gulf of Mexico storm. But everybody who lives in the southeast U.S. needs to pay close attention to Irene. Next weekend, Don, you and I might be talking about the storm that hit parts of the southeast late next week. So we're talking Thursday- Friday maybe.
LEMON: I was looking at the monitor as you drew that. And I had to say New Orleans - we don't know? I'm sure they paying close watch. We don't know where it's going to go.
JERAS: The models are showing really quite uniform consensus. And that this would more than likely not go that way, but it's still, it's just too early in the ballgame to say for sure.
LEMON: I always say, of course, that's the first thing that comes to us when we think of the Gulf Coast because of Katrina. Thank you, Jacqui.
JERAS: Sure.
LEMON: Appreciate it.
OK. Just ahead here on CNN, so much for what was dubbed a friendship match between the Georgetown Hoyas (ph) and the Chinese pro-team in Beijing. A sideline scuffle turned into a full-court chaos. And we have the video to show you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. You know, it's supposed to be a goodwill trip, but goodwill was in short supply.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That, my friends, is Georgetown University's basketball team brawling with a pro-team in China. You may have seen this already, but what you didn't see was an earlier incident involving U.S. reporter. They got roughed up by Chinese security right down the hall from where Vice President Joe Biden was speaking with China's vice president.
Maureen O'Connor, staff writer for Gawker.com. Maureen, the basketball game was bad enough, what happened to the reporters who were covering Biden?
MAUREEN O'CONNOR, STAFF WRITER, GAWKER.COM: On Biden's first full day in China he was having bilateral talks with the Vice President Xi of China. Beforehand, the reporters were supposed to be allowed to listen to each of them give remarks. So Xi gave his remarks, and then Biden was giving his and part way through, Chinese press aides started shoving reporters out the door. Well, Chinese reporters and international reporters. And apparently the reporters didn't want to leave vice president Biden - vice president Biden's staff didn't want the reporters to leave. And so the Chinese officials literally locked arms and started shoving them out the door. An "L.A. Times " reporter who was there described it as fisticuffs emerging. And this is something that now occasionally the Chinese government is notoriously strict about the amount of access they allow the press. And they have been known to cut off events early if they, you know, don't like the way something is going or think there's too much access.
LEMON: Yes.
O'CONNOR: So it escalated to physical proportions is certainly unusual.
LEMON: I thought it was very interesting that all this was going on while down the hall the vice president was talking about more openness and candor. But let's move on and talk more politics here. I was talking about Rick Perry. He is - you could say a colorful character. All the rage this week. So fellow Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman has taken to Twitter to get his message out. Perry made headlines when he said he didn't believe in global warming, so Huntsman fired back, he fired back with a tweet and said, "to be clear," he wrote, "I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy." So Maureen, Huntsman is going on another network tomorrow, and we're hearing he's going to criticize Perry directly.
O'CONNOR: Huntsman is sort of posing himself as like the anti-Tea Party candidate right now. Which is a bold move in a year when Tea Party fervor is really high. People think that the, you know, winning the GOP nomination is going to require that. I would wonder if Huntsman has a bit of a longer game on his - sort of on his agenda that right now he's posing himself to be the one person that rejects the culture wars. And that he's becoming almost more progressive over the years.
When he was elected to be Utah's governor in 2004, he didn't support gay civil unions. But at the end of his term he did say he does. And now here he is moving for a more progressive Republican Party. Which isn't necessarily a winning strategy now, although it could be. But it's pretty risky now. But I wonder if maybe he's got a longer game that he's holding on to right now.
LEMON: Let's talk about this, about Rick Perry because as I said, he's colorful. A lot of people are saying thank goodness he's in the game. And I have to be honest, among a number of bland Republican candidates, he's definitely upped the ante when it comes to personality. And saying things that a lot of people are afraid to say. And it's really catching fire, in some quarters. You guys have been write being it, a lot of bloggers are really glad that he's in this and are having a good time with Rick Perry.
O'CONNOR: You know, he's an interesting guy. One thing very fascinating about Rick Perry is that he never apologizes at all for the degree to which he's very tied to the evangelical movement. He leads prayer meetings. He doesn't, you know - usually when you hear people talk about teaching intelligent design and evolution, actually use the phrase intelligent design. He just straight up says we teach creationism, and that's what I believe. So there's a sort of almost disarming the degree to which he's willing to engage the culture wars. And just almost straight out of central casting for this very, you know, charismatic, southern guy who makes absolutely no apologies for the degree to which he's going to go straight to his Christian base.
LEMON: Yes, it does seem like a movie. There was a movie with - I forget who. Someone played George W. Bush, it was a lot like the Rick Perry character. It's not "Wag the Dog." I forget the name of the movie. It will come to me, I'm sure during the break. Maureen, always a pleasure to have you. Thank you.
O'CONNOR: Thank you, Don.
LEMON: Next up, crooks can steal you blind. Simply by organizing a flash mob on Twitter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A disturbing trend in social media to tell you about. It's called flash mob. Nearly 30 people apparently alerted on their cell phones suddenly turned up to convenience stores in Germantown, Maryland this week. They fled with candy and snacks before police could arrived. And then a few days later, a nearly identical scene at a convenience store in Washington. This time, a pack of girls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Girls? Are you sure? That's unbelievable. I'm - I don't know. I'm speechless. I have nothing else to say. I can't believe there's 10 girls going around robbing people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. Let's bring in now tech expert Brian Tong. He's a senior editor for cnet.com in San Francisco. Brian, it appears to be very troubling. These aren't the only cities that happened in. I think Philadelphia's having problems, and some other cities. Has this always happened with social media or is this really a new trend?
BRIAN TONG, SENIOR EDITOR, CNET.COM: It is starting to become a new trend because Twitter and social media networks, they allow people to organize on their own. And it can start as a really small bubble and then get bigger and bigger. But it was found out later that some of those incidences that you talked about, although the blame - the blame is thrown directly at social media, it wasn't necessarily the case. A lot of these people organized together when they were locally near each other. And then maybe they (INAUDIBLE) I.M.'d some of their friends to join in. But it was really blaming social networking, I think, sometimes feels like a knee-jerk reaction because it's kind of one of those hot things and you can use it as a tool. But it may not necessarily really have been the main culprit of this.
LEMON: OK. All right. So can Twitter or Facebook, or however they're getting this, can they do anything to block this kind of activity?
TONG: Well, I think when you start talking about blocking forms of communication and, you know, arguably violating first amendment rights that we have, freedom of speech and that's one of the - obviously one of the platforms that our democracy is based off of, that gets into shaky ground when you talk about things like that. I think what's more important is law enforcement officials and agencies they have to really use the internet and social networking as tools where they can put people on the ground to listen to what's going on. Because by the time you see it on Twitter, it's at the second, third stage. It's already elevated. So you really, although budgets are tight, you've got to put people that are close to it that can figure out where these start first.
LEMON: Listen, I know you're not a police officer or attorney -
TONG: I'm not.
LEMON: But do you think we need laws about using social media for criminal activity? Or is that already - is it covered under the laws we have now?
TONG: I think you're starting to see because of digital communication, a lot of things that we're used to are now gray in the digital space. You know, tracking people's movements and whereabouts for communication patterns on line and through their computers. So this is definitely evolving because it's an everyday thing. We've started to see a lot of new cases that show how gray technology and communications are getting.
So I think it's one thing that we'll continue to develop because we just really - this is a whole new world for us of how to deal with this legally.
LEMON: Hey, can you go through this next one really quickly? I have another thing I want to ask you about. There's another - major changes in mobile device market, in the mobile device market involving Google, Motorola, Hewlett-Packard, can you walk us through it real quick?
TONG: Yes, we have two shakeups. Google acquired Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. This is really a move where a lot of people thought is Google going to start making their own phone. But really what it's come to is they're acquiring the patent portfolio of Motorola, 17,000 patents to really protect them in the mobile space because a lot of times we have companies like Apple and Samsung and Microsoft suing each other because they say their phones violate the patents. So Google, although this is a big move financially, really more than anything, that was motivated to protect themselves in these legal battles.
LEMON: I can't talk with you right now, Brian, because I'm on my - my cell phone here.
TONG: Oh. On air?
LEMON: You know what I'm talking about, right? You know what I'm talking about.
TONG: I know exactly what you're talking about. So there's this survey. This Pew Research Center survey that said 20-something year old kids or people, I don't want to call them kids, over 1/3 of them fake having cell phone conversations in public. Now when you apply that to everyone of all ages, it gets around somewhere around 10 percent to 13 percent. Is this indicative - have you ever done this?
LEMON: I do. I do it all the time. All the time. I do. I got to tell you what, you know where I learned it - it's going to sound weird. It just sort of happened naturally one day. Then I was watching something an interview, Larry King or something, she talked about it, Paris Hilton, saying that's how she fakes out reporter or people. She pretends she's on her cell phone. You know what --
TONG: So you're comparing yourself to Paris Hilton?
LEMON: I got to give it to you when it's something good. I don't care who you are. If it's Paris Hilton, it's good. I like the tie, giving me a little competition.
TONG: You know, try to style it up for you, man.
LEMON: Bye, Brian Tong. See you next time.
TONG: All right. See you, king of twitter.
LEMON: Don't hate. Appreciate it.
A tribute concert for Michael Jackson is dividing his famous family. Straight ahead, a look at who's on what side. But first, in our "Making Their Mark" segment this week, a good Samaritan comes to the rescue of a single working mother in Pennsylvania who was left without a car. Nicole Grilli says her car was stolen and then destroyed in a crash last week. She didn't know what to do. She's already working two jobs. Her son's birthday is this week. School is starting. And Christmas isn't far away. Well, she got another car thanks to a man who saw her story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICOLE GRILLI, CARJACKING VICTIM: Oh, my god. I'm so thankful because I didn't think there was people out there like this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Aww. Aww.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, the good Samaritan who didn't want to be identified says the car belonged to his 97-year-old mother who died last year and would be pleased it went to someone who really could use it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. So it has been a year since Michael Jackson died and a tribute that planned for him is fueling some serious in-fighting among his loved ones. But first, Jackson's doctor, Dr. Conrad Murray goes on trial next month on a charge of involuntary manslaughter for the king of pop's death. There is a new development about how his attorneys want the jury handled.
CNN wire entertainment correspondent Alan Duke is here with the story. So what's happening regarding the jury?
ALAN DUKE, CNN WIRE ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dr. Murray's lawyers yesterday filed a motion asking for jury sequestration, to put them up in a hotel, not let them see "Nancy Grace." They specifically called her out and her commentary during the Casey Anthony trial.
LEMON: That's a fancy word. You say he's asking the jury to be sequestered..
DUKE: Stay in the hotel, don't watch TV, don't read the internet.
LEMON: OK. All right. That's the trial. Give me the situation and explain for the tribute for Michael Jackson and how it's conflicting with the Cirque de Soleil performance dedicated to Michael. There's a big uproar among family members here.
DUKE: It's been a big mess. And Jermaine Jackson and Randy Jackson, you know them well. They objected through Twitter first of all saying they don't like the timing of the October 8th show because it conflicts with the Dr. Murray trial. But, guess what, they not objected to the October 2nd timing of the launch of the Cirque de Soleil immortal tour, Michael Jackson show, which starts and is sanctioned by the estate, October 2nd during the trial.
LEMON: It makes you wonder, like, can they get on one page with the Michael Jackson tributes? What in the world is going on here?
DUKE: It's something Katherine Jackson has to deal with. And she came by and visited with me this week. I asked her that very question. And maybe we can hear part of her answer.
LEMON: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHERINE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S MOTHER: The trial is very important. And I can understand how Michael - how Randy and Jermaine feel. But it's been two years. And when these gentlemen came to me and talked about it, I thought it was a good idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DUKE: And, by the way, we see Katherine, Michael's mom, Joe Jackson, your buddy Joe Jackson, who you had some great interviews with, he actually called from Vietnam to let me know that he's not involved in this tribute. Not that he's got anything against it but the estate was implying that he was one of the originators of it. He said he's not. In fact, he's working on his Happy land promotion, of course, the big development in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. LEMON: I thank you for abiding by our policy that we had here. There's a wedding going on in Hollywood. This is a free zone.
DUKE: I'm not involved.
LEMON: OK.
DUKE: Right.
LEMON: Appreciate it. Thank you.
Straight ahead, meet the man who could be the next Eddie Murphy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So you may not know Kevin Hart by name but guaranteed you will soon. The comedian could be the next Eddie Murphy. He's already broken one of Murphy's records for ticket sales. Now Kevin Hart is going big screen with a movie that debuts next month. But when we spoke, we didn't talk Hollywood. We talked politics, specifically - and we talked about the Tea Party as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Then how about the Tea Party?
KEVIN HART, COMEDIAN: What Tea Party? I'll go. When is it?
LEMON: You don't know anything about the Tea Party?
HART: What tea party?
LEMON: Do you know anything about Republicans or Democrats?
HART: Are they going to be at the tea party? If you're going to roll, I'll roll with you.
LEMON: You don't know anything about it?
HART: Oh, you're talking about Republicans and Democrats.
LEMON: And the tea party.
HART: And the tea party.
LEMON: Around Sarah Palin.
HART: Yes, I know Sara. I go to the tea party all the time. I went last week.
LEMON: You did?
HART: Every week, right?
LEMON: Yes.
HART: Everybody got to wear white. The one I went to was a white party.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: The fun doesn't end there. Check out my full interview with Kevin Hart later on tonight. He talks President Obama, his tour, his inspirations and you'll laugh all the way. It's a joke. It's a joke. That's tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World headquarters in Atlanta. Thank you so much for watching. I'll see you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. CNN presents, "Battle for Blair Mountain," it starts right now.
