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Clash Over Romney's Faith; Occupy Wall Street in 4th Week; Fight over Cherokee Election; Final Stages in the Battle For Sirte; Widow Loses Husband's Wedding Band; The Poverty Tour; Civil Rights Icon on Battle Over Same-Sex Marriage
Aired October 09, 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: Right now on CNN -- power to the people. One protest sparks another and another and another. Angry and frustrated Americans taking to the streets all over the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody is suffering except for this very small group of people.
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LEMON: But why is one man's protest another man's mob.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I for one am increasingly concerned about the growing mobs occupying Wall Street.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: Where is the love from the Tea Party?
And bloody battlefield.
We take you inside an intense gun battle in the fight for Libyan liberation.
Plus, war is hell. And there's been ten years of it. Now a war widow needs your help.
A man of God and an icon makes news on same-sex marriage.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are either for equal rights or not.
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LEMON: The Reverend Joseph Lowery turning 90 and taking a stand. It's all right here, right now on CNN.
Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Don Lemon. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. And we're going to start tonight with two subjects consuming the nation for the last few days. Politics and religion. And more specifically, what is keeping Republican voters from fully embracing Mitt Romney?
If you believe the headlines out of the Values Voters Summit, the annual conference for conservatives, it could be his Mormon religion. But as CNN's Candy Crowley reports, many in Romney's own party are doing whatever they can to sidestep the issue.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thomas Jefferson talked about the wall of separation between church and state. Nobody said anything about separating church and politics, but everybody knows it's a sticky wicket.
Is Mitt Romney a non-Christian?
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm not running for theologian-in-chief. I'm a lifelong Christian, and what that means is one of my guiding principles for the decisions I made is I start with do the right thing. I'm not getting into that controversy.
CROWLEY: The question arises because Dr. Robert Jeffress, a southern Baptist minister, introduced Texas Governor Rick Perry at a Values Voters Summit the other day, calling Perry a genuine follower of Jesus Christ, as opposed to another candidate Jeffress could and did mention in a later interview.
DR. ROBERT JEFFRESS, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF DALLAS: I think Mitt Romney is a good moral man, but I think those of us who are born- again followers of Christ should always prefer a competent Christian to a competent non-Christian like Mitt Romney.
CROWLEY: Mitt Romney is a Mormon and he has passed this way before, four years ago, the first time he ran for president, when he addressed concerns, rumors, and political analysis of his religion.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe in my Mormon faith and I endeavor to live by it. Some believe that such a confession of my faith will sink my candidacy. If they're right, so be it.
CROWLEY: Many things sank Romney's candidacy in '08. Religion may have been one of them.
RON BROWNSTEIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, NATIONAL JOURNAL: You look at the results from 2008, he ran poorly among evangelical Christians, especially in the south. In all the southern states, he never topped out above 20 percent of the votes among Evangelical Christians; only 11 percent in the critical state of South Carolina.
CROWLEY: In all, 45 percent of Republicans who vote in primaries are conservative Evangelical Christians. They are far less a factor in a general election. For Romney's GOP rivals, this requires a straddle. You don't want to alienate a huge part of the primary vote, nor do you want to look intolerant.
The pastor who was introducing and supporting Governor Perry in Texas, who said that Governor Romney, who is a Mormon, is not a Christian; I want to know if you agree with that statement?
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, this is so inconsequential as far as this campaign is concerned.
CROWLEY: Do you leave open the possibility that people are going to say that you dodged the question, the direct question?
BACHMANN: I think, again, to make this a big issue is just ridiculous right now, because every day I'm on the street talking to people. This is not what people are talking about.
CROWLEY: It will look like you're dodging it.
CAIN: If that's what it looks like, I'm dodging it, because it's not going to help us boost this economy, and you know that that's my number one priority.
CROWLEY: and that's how you navigate around a sticky wicket.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And two men who never talk around the tough issues are CNN contributors Will Cain and LZ Granderson.
Earlier, they joined me for a lively discussion about Mitt Romney and religion. LZ, gets us started addressing a political challenges facing a Mormon candidate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LZ GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Mormonism is a problem because so many evangelical Christians believe that he's going to hell, and no one wants to vote for anyone who's going to hell.
And I think that's the reason why people pay so much close attention to who the president is and who the president chooses to worship because the Bible strictly says and if you are a fundamentalist and you follow the Bible literally, it says no man can come to the father but by me. That's Jesus' words.
So, you're looking and you're saying, well, this guy isn't following Jesus, then whoever he's following is not the right person. He's going to hell, I can't vote for someone who's going to hell and that's the reason why we keep having this conversation over and over again.
LEMON: Go ahead real quickly, Will, because I want to --
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I'm just very curious because LZ knows, I don't have a dog in this fight. I believe nothing honestly. I mean, Christianity, Mormonism, they are competing myths to me.
But I don't understand that religion should be off the table. It seems like religion is something that informs our decision-making. It informs our world view. It informs our philosophical bearings.
When we're choosing the leader of the world, I don't really understand why we should exempt their religious beliefs as part of our analysis.
GRANDERSON: I'll tell you what's the most disturbing thing to me about all of this, is that there are so many opportunities for both President Obama, as well as the other individuals running for the White House to get in front of a microphone and say, this is America. It doesn't matter what your religion is because we have freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and none of this should be impacting the White House. But they keep ducking it and actually pandering by saying, no, no, no, I'm Christian. Or if you are Romney, you don't talk about your religion at all.
And I think what needs to happen is that someone needs to stand up and remind America what America stands for because, right now, all we're doing is, you know, ducking the question because no one wants to offend the far right.
LEMON: All right. You are preaching there.
CAIN: I can't deny that it matters something to some voters, but the question none of us can answer is how much.
To be honest, we are all guessing. So, will this help or hurt Rick Perry? I'm sure there's a segment of Christians out there that believe the same thing that pastor said about Mormonism. And it won't Rick Perry with them.
Will it hurt Rick Perry with general election voters -- general -- should he win the primary, I don't know. I think LZ has some interesting things to say about religion there, but I don't think it answers the fundamental question which we ask, is if religion is so important in forming who we are, why should it be something we exempt from the debate?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And for the record, Rick Perry has distanced himself from the remarks labeling Mormonism a cult. He is not however cut ties with the pastor who made those comments.
In other news, Monday marks the 24th straight day of non-stop protests by the fledgling Occupy Wall Street movement. Occupy events have been popping up all over the country, including this one Sunday in front of the White House. About 100 people gather to protest what they call corporate greed and social inequality.
One person was arrested when he tried to throw a shoe over the White House fence. Secret service says the shoe hit a uniformed officer. The man has been charged with assault. The Occupy Wall Street movement apparently doesn't have many friends among Republicans. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor called them mobs and Republican presidential candidates have been lining up to dismiss the protesters as un-American and engaging in class warfare.
Listen to Herman Cain and then Michele Bachmann.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BACHMANN: I went by one of the protests in Washington, D.C. on Friday, and I saw a lot of signs from AFSCME and other unions that were there. So I don't know how spontaneous these protests were, but it seems to me that their anger should be directed at the White House, because Barack Obama's policies have put us in one of the worst tailspins economically that we have. And maybe that's why the protests that I saw was within shouting distance of the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAIN: Yes. But the fact of the matter is, why aren't there jobs? Go and picket the White House. Demonstrate in front of the White House. The thing that this administration does not get is that the business sector is the engine of economic growth. That's key. They don't get that. So this president and administration wants to continue to try and spend our way to prosperity. Part of it is jealousy. I stand by that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And as you might imagine, civil rights veterans such as the Reverend Joseph Lowery have a much different perspective.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. JOSEPH LOWERY, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: The people know that he's not responsible for our financial dilemma, and they know that the financial community is responsible. That the greed, the corruption, the selfishness of the financial community. And even today, when the wealthy are not willing to share their wealth, they want to keep less than 10 percent of the people own more than 90 percent of the wealth. That's unfair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOWERY: Dr. Joseph Lowery turned 90 this week and is a living legend of the civil rights era.
Why are so many people ignoring the similarities between the Occupy Wall Street protest and that other dissatisfied citizen powered movement, the Tea Party? Well, we'll take that on in our no talking points segment just a few moments away here on CNN.
And the war widow needs your help. She has lost a symbol of the union with her late husband, his wedding ring. We'll tell you what she's doing to try to find it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It is going to be a big week in Washington. The Senate is expected to vote on President Obama's $447 billion jobs bill. 60 votes will be needed to overcome Republican efforts to block the measure.
CNN's Athena Jones has a look at the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The bill would cut payroll taxes, extend unemployment benefits, give tax credits for raising wages or hiring out of work veterans or the long-term unemployed and provide money to keep public workers on the job and invest in rebuilding schools and roads. It would be paid for with 5.6 percent tax on income over $1 million, starting in 2013.
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LEMON: Unemployment remains stuck at 9.1 percent, another reason Democrats argue that a jobs bill is badly needed.
We have been telling you about the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon going on in New York and other cities around the country.
CNN contributor and political anchor for New York One Errol Louis is in Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan tonight.
Errol, thank you. You are right, I should say, in your own backyard, almost. So, Errol, it's good to see you.
ERROL LOUIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey.
LEMON: What are protesters telling you? Are they still in this for the long haul because i know you've been reporting on it on your show.
LOUIS: Yes, they are here for the long run. This is day 23. What they've said and there's one sign back here to that effect, it says that the medium is the message. That the fact that they have an -- see you later, pal.
The fact that they haven't presented a list of demands, the fact that they haven't been organized in a traditional sense, the fact they haven't put a group of leaders forward as their leaders is part of the message. And that indeed is what they've done. They've, you know, sort of decided just to hang here and to be here. And to let people come by n find out from them what it is they're talking about. And we and a lot of other news organizations have done just that.
LEMON: You said you had a couple of bloggers on who came, some people who were arrested. You've been -- you had close contact with the folks there. What are besides -- not people saying they don't have a coherent message. What is the feel you get, especially as a New Yorker, about this group which has sparked other groups? Do they realize what's happening across the country or are they in a vacuum because they are out there in the parks every day?
LOUIS: Oh, no, no. They are probably more, better wired up than most offices in this country. They've got a whole Internet setup back there. And, in fact, I came and they were projecting it up on the screen as they were having a large sort of group discussion.
One of those discussions was about a group from California that's going to be coming here to talk with them and sort of watch and learn from them about some of their demonstration tactics. But, no, they are very, very aware that they have inspired different groups around the country in Washington, D.C. and in a number of cities around the country to do sort of the same thing.
They are getting support. They are getting packages on a daily basis from all across the country. People are sending them money. I talked with the folks at the financial institution where they've opened up an account. I mean, you know, they are digging in for the long haul.
LEMON: What I'm wondering is we've been talking about the president's job bills coming up next week. If people in Washington, if lawmakers may be paying attention to this, and do you think it will have any effect on that passage or non-passage of that bill?
LOUIS: What's going on down here?
LEMON: Yes.
LOUIS: I suspect that there will be very little, frankly. I mean, look, one of the things that's going on, Don, is that there's a profound distrust of the existing institutions, whether it's the media, as you just saw or the courts or the Congress or the White House and certainly Wall Street.
So those avenues are always open for these folks to sort of do the traditional thing. Write a letter to your congressman. Hope for passage of a particular bill. By and large, the mood here and the signs that are back here and the conversations that are going on, it goes far, far beyond that. They want to talk about the core reasons that people do things, not passage of a particular bill.
LEMON: The reason I asked you that is because I spoke with someone from "The Wall Street Journal" earlier who writes about these matters and writes about the economy.
He says, he believes that the people on Wall Street are starting to pay attention now but the change is going to have to come from Washington. So I'm wondering if that has trickled down into Washington. That's why I asked you that question.
LOUIS: Well, it's interesting. I mean, look, I've seen signs of every description back here. Some say impeach Obama. Some say, you know, waterboard Wall Street. You know, so I think there is sort of a sense of a plague on both of their houses and we, the people is what they are saying, need some action. They are not really getting into the ins and outs of who is supposed to act first, what particular action they are supposed to take.
What they are saying is, as if you will, consumers of the end product, they don't like what they've gotten. They don't like what they are seeing. They don't have a lot of trust that it's going to be done properly and they want an entirely new way of approaching this so that in the end, there will be jobs. It goes way beyond passing a particular bill.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, Errol Louis on the field, on the scene. We like that. Thank you, sir.
LOUIS: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: Libya's new leaders say they are in the final stages of controlling Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte. That report is next.
And ahead, my conversation with Tavis Smiley and Cornel West about poverty across America.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The last gasp of forces loyal to ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
(VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: Libya's new leaders on the National Transitional Council say they are in the final stages of the fight to take over Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte. It's the most important remaining stronghold for Gadhafi supporters. The NTC is waiting for the city to fall before declaring liberation. Gadhafi's whereabouts are still unknown, but the NTC military commanders say it's unlikely that he is still controlling any forces.
This week the country's second largest Indian nation, The Cherokees will elect their chief. 2800 descendants of African- American slaves will get to vote in the election after a federal court fight.
CNN's special correspondent Soledad O'Brien has more on the battle over civil rights and tribal rights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sam Ford is a Cherokee freedmen.
SAM FORD, CHEROKEE FREEDMEN: I'm an African-American with Cherokee heritage. My great grandmother, Feliz Thompson Petit was a slave of the Cherokees.
O'BRIEN: It's a little known chapter in American history. The Cherokees were one of five Indian tribes whose members owned slaves.
(on camera): So what were those slaves doing for the Cherokee nation?
CELIA NAYLRO: They were agricultural laborers. They were also individuals who worked as domestic slaves.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): But in 1866, the Cherokees freed their slaves. They signed a treaty guaranteeing that all freedmen and their descendents would, quote, "have all the right of native Cherokees."
Today, that treaty is at the center of a controversy involving nearly 3,000 African-Americans. On August 22nd, Cherokee nation kicked them out of the tribe.
DIANE HAMMONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL, CHEROKEE NATION: The treaty of 1866 did not give citizenship to the freedmen nor to their descendants.
O'BRIEN: Diane Hammons is the attorney general for Cherokee nation.
HAMMONS: The heart of the issue is whether or not an Indian tribe can describe, can determine who is eligible to be a member of that tribe.
O'BRIEN: In 2007, Cherokee nation passed a law requiring proof of Indian blood to be a member. The proof is based on a record that was created a century ago called the Doss Rolls. The freedmen say the Doss Rolls are wrong because they were based on how you looked.
FORD: If you looked black, they wrote Cherokee freedmen. If you looked not black, they wrote Cherokee.
O'BRIEN: Many freedmen were of mixed Cherokee and African blood, but on the rolls they were listed with no Indian blood. Last month, it all went to federal court.
FORD: I was restored as a member of the Cherokee nation.
O'BRIEN: A settlement has let the freedmen back into the tribe for now. The descendants can vote in the election for the Cherokee chief, but there's no guarantee that they will get to stay in the tribe. Reporting for "In America," Soledad O'Brien, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And make sure you join Soledad O'Brien as she examines how some black entrepreneurs are risking everything to become the next big thing in the Silicon Valley. A Black in America special "The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley" will air Sunday night November 13th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.
Coming up, the ultimate case of trying to find a needle in a haystack. We'll show you what one Afghanistan war widow is doing to try to find her husband's lost wedding band. It is a heartfelt story. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: This week marked the 10th anniversary of America's longest running war, Afghanistan. One of the lowest points for U.S. forces occurred in August when an attack on a Chinook helicopter killed 30 Americans. Navy SEAL Aaron Carson Vaughn was among them.
And just recently Vaughn's widow lost his wedding band shown here in a family photo. She had been wearing it since her husband's death. And right after Vaughn died in August, his grandmother told me about their last conversation on his 30th birthday.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
GENEVA CARSON VAUGHN, GRANDMOTHER OF KILED NAVY SEAL: I told him to be careful and he said, "Granny, don't worry about me." He said, "I'm not afraid because I know where I'm going if something happens to me." Aaron was a Christian and he stood firm in his faith.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
LEMON: So that was Aaron's grandmother back in August when it first happened. Now his wife joins us now. And since then, you've sadly lost your husband and now you lost one of the things that you think that was closest to you and him.
KIMBERLY VAUGHN, WIDOW OF NAVY SEAL: Absolutely. He left his wedding band with me before this deployment. And the day that I found out that he had been killed in action, I went downstairs and I had been wearing it on my right hand thumb ever since that day.
LEMON: Yes.
VAUGHN: And I took a trip to Texas last week and looked down on one of the flights and realized that it was missing, and that I had lost it. So, it was pretty crushing.
LEMON: The producers asked you for a picture of the ring and you looked for it and you think this was the last time you wore it?
VAUGHN: Absolutely. I was looking through my camera for some other picture and I noticed on October 1st, that I had taken this and I was wearing the ring. My father snapped it of me on the airplane and I was like, OK, that's one less place. I know it's not in the hotel or car -- the rental car. That it's actually either on that airplane, in the Charlotte airport, or on the next plane.
Thrifty rental car was wonderful, they tracked down the actual rental car, took the seats out, pulled up the flooring to look for this ring. And -- I mean, that's really amazing to me that total strangers would be willing to do this for something -- although such little monetary value means -- you know, it's just, well, priceless for me.
LEMON: So I think anyone would say, you know what? You have made a big effort. You have made a big effort here and others would say, you know, it's just an object. Maybe you should just give up and say it's an object.
How do you feel about that?
VAUGHN: Well, this kind of snowballed. It was basically a suggestion of a friend to put it on Facebook, hoping to reach out to some people, maybe the cleaning crew in the airport, just someone that I wouldn't necessarily know who said, hey, I found that ring.
And yes, it is small in value and people probably lose wedding bands or jewelry all the time. But to me, it was just something tangible that my husband used to wear that I could wear that just reminded me of our commitment and love.
And, of course, I'll move on and I'll be fine without it, but it's just a memento that meant lot to us, that I'm hoping that I can get back.
LEMON: Yes. Kimberly, are you going to ever give up, do you think?
VAUGHN: You know, it's a memory that I'll always have. It's not going to change the love that Aaron and I shared. So, you know, I'm just hoping -- excuse me, that I can find it, that there's a good Samaritan out there who will turn it in. But you know it won't change, my focus now is raising my two wonderful children and just remembering the love that Aaron and I shared.
LEMON: Well, I say you are going to find it, because the whole world is looking for this ring.
VAUGHN: Thanks.
LEMON: Thank you for the sacrifice not only that your husband Aaron made but the sacrifice that you made, your family. And can you please tell Geneva Carson Vaughn, the grandmother, I said we are all thinking of her and the rest of the family?
VAUGHN: Absolutely. Thank you so much for sharing my story.
LEMON: Thank you.
Kimberly Vaughn kick-started her search by starting a support group on Facebook, The Find Aaron Vaughn's Wedding Band page had more than 11,000 members at latest count.
Kimberly, good luck and update us.
Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party. Both are angry. Both claim no party affiliation. Both say they're grassroots. So why are conservatives and liberals choosing sides denouncing one and not the other? I'll take that on in our "No Talking Points" segment, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. In our "No Talking Points" segment tonight, taking to the streets in protest. A grass roots movement voicing anger with the establishment. Demanding change. All of that describes both the Occupy Wall Street Movement and The Tea Party. While conservative leaders defend the Tea Party, it's a different story when it comes to the Wall Streeters.
Here's Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor in 2010 and then a few days ago as house majority leader.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
REP. ERIC CANTOR (R), VIRGINIA: I differ with you to say that the people affiliated with the tea party across this country are outside the main stream.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really?
These are people that are concerned about the fists of -- these are people, Maggie, that are concerned about the fiscal state of our country.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
CANTOR: I for one am increasingly concerned about the growing mobs occupying Wall Street and the other cities across the country.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: Now the Democrats. Here's Charlie Rangel comparing the Tea Party to people opposed to civil rights in the 1960s and then him defending the New York group last night on this very program.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
REP. CHARLIE RANGEL (R), NEW YORK: A group that in Washington fighting against the health bill and fighting against the president looked just like and sounded just like those groups that attacked the civil rights movement in the south.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
RANGEL: All I can say, Don, is that we should have more and more people protesting.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: And it doesn't stop there. Scholars like Dr. Cornel West are weighing in.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
CORNEL WEST, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: The Tea Party Movement is a right wing populist movement obsessed with individual liberty, obsessed with small government, lower taxes, whereas what you see with the young people especially in the Occupy Wall Street movement around the country is a different kind of movement. Not just populist in the progressive sense but is inclusive, it's embracive.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: And just this week, while not embracing the new protesters, President Obama did acknowledge them by saying they are giving voice to a wider frustration with the financial system.
But conservatives, especially those running for his current job like Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain insist the Wall Street group should turn their anger towards, guess who, Mr. Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If they are frustrated because they don't have jobs, if they are frustrated because this economy is not moving, they ought to be protesting the White House because of the failed policies.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
MICHELLE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It seems to me that their anger should be directed at the White House because Barack Obama's policies have put us in one of the worst tailspins, economically, that we have.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: So we know there's always rhetoric, but in truth and beyond theoretic, no matter where either group is in the political spectrum you cannot deny their similarities. Chief among them is that both are expressing their right to question and more importantly protest against their government. And at its core that is not partisan, nor ideological. It is a right under our institution and it is the American way.
Coming up, an important visitor is headed to the White House this week. That's just one of the stories we'll tell you about in the week ahead.
And later, failure has never been so funny. Find out what are we talking. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Now to the big stories of the week ahead from the White House to Wall Street to Hollywood.
Our correspondents tell you what you need to know. And we begin tonight with the president's plans for the week.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian at the White House where this week President Obama heads down the street and out of state as he visits with wounded service members at Walter Reed Medical Center in Maryland. That's on Monday. Then, on Tuesday, he heads to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he'll meet with union members. The focus, of course, will be on job creation. He wraps up the day in Orlando, Florida, with fund-raisers.
Then, finally, on Thursday, a state visit, the White House welcomes the president and first lady of the republic of Korea.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I'm Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon where after a brief break on Monday to celebrate the Columbus Day holiday, the Defense Department kicks in to high gear. It's highlighted by the Association of the U.S. Army Convention here in Washington, D.C.
Most of the Pentagon officials will be there talking about the Army's strategy, personnel. We expect to see some technology advances rolled out, the use of robots in the field.
And then on Thursday, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff both head to Capitol Hill to testify on national defense 10 years after 9/11.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.
Well, on the economic docket this week, retail sales figures for last month are due out. The report is going to give us some insight into consumer spending as we approach the all-important holiday shopping season.
Also, coming up, we'll get a look at consumer spending and consumer sentiment. The latest U.S. trade balance. That's due out, along with import and export prices.
And in Washington, the Senate will vote on free trade deals with South Korea, Colombia and Panama. Track it all on CNN Money.
A.J. HAMMER, ANCHOR, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: I'm "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer.
Here's what we are watching this week: Kim Kardashian's over-the- top wedding finally airs on TV. Was it worth the wait?
Also, Cher on "Dancing with the Stars." Will she show up and will her appearance actually help to keep Chaz Bono on the show?
Make sure you catch "Showbiz Tonight" exclusively, Sunday to Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, on HLN.
LEMON: All right. Let's take a look now at what's ahead for people traveling as the workweek begins. Tomorrow's commute tonight with Jacqui Jeras.
Looks like there's going to be some problems on both coasts.
(WEATHER REPORT)
LEMON: Next, the new face of poor Americans. You may be surprised to learn how young they are.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: When someone loses their home and nearly everything they own, where do they go? Well, this is a homeless camp outside of Ann Arbor, Michigan. PBS host Tavis Smiley and Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West visited the camp as part of their recent poverty tour.
Smiley will highlight the poverty tour all this week on his show on PBS. And I recently spoke with both Smiley and West about their tour and how it fits in with the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAVIS SMILEY, HOST, "TAVIS SMILEY" ON PBS: I'm hoping very quickly that these five nights of conversation on PBS about poverty in America will do my small part at least, a small part, to advance this conversation about the poor being rendered more and more invisible in this country every day.
LEMON: Let's talk about the numbers. How many people now qualify as poor. Dr. West, were you surprised by this number? Do we know how many people exactly qualify as poor and were you surprised by the sheer number of people?
DR. CORNEL WEST, PRINCTON PROFESSOR: Well, we don't know the exact numbers. And what's so unprecedented about this in U.S. television is that we get a chance both to put a human face on poverty, on the one hand, but also to acknowledge that, you know, 42 percent of our precious children of all colors live in or near poverty. That's a national disgrace, it's a moral obscenity.
LEMON: Let's talk about the timing in all of this. You mentioned the Occupy Wall Street and other cities around the country. This grassroots movement, now growing. Either of you can answer this. The timing is right on here. Is there a sense of frustration and outrage that's growing in America when it comes to poverty?
SMILEY: I think the answer is yes. One of the reasons why Dr. West and I wanted to get out this summer, Don, while we had a little time that we could adjust. Of course, he's teaching at Princeton all the time and I'm doing my radio and TV work.
Well, we cleared our schedule during the month of August this summer to take this "Poverty Tour", 11 states, 18 cities and we did that this summer because we wanted to do our part to raise the issue of poverty, higher up on the American agenda, specifically as we start to head into this campaign for the White House.
And we want to make sure that this time, that Democrats and Republicans debate the issue of what we're going to do to eradicate poverty in this country. In the last presidential cycle, three presidential debates, the word poor or poverty does not come up one time in three presidential debates out of the mouths of Mr. McCain or Mr. Obama or any of the moderators. It wasn't even on the agenda last time. It's not just about jobs in the short run, that is important, but it's about eradicating poverty, Don, in the long run.
WEST: Absolutely.
LEMON: Professor, then, what is the lesson here for the national classroom?
WEST: I think part of what we're talking about, especially in this season, reading the book of Jonah and so forth, that this is a moment of rebirth. It's a moment of re-examination, that greed needs to die. That avarice needs to die. That indifference to poor people needs to die and a rebirth of empathy, a rebirth of social justice, a rebirth of people of all colors and all cultures, all sexual orientations and all genders fundamentally committed to ensure that we fight the poverty and inequality that's been running amuck and trying to renew American democracy.
SMILEY: What is our pain threshold? There are so many Americans being squeezed and some obviously being crushed by this bad economy. And black folk are catching the most hell. The numbers bear that out. So what is our pain threshold in America? There are some serious questions that people of color and that all Americans have to wrestle with in these very difficult times of economic deprivation and quite frankly political cowardice.
LEMON: The "Poverty Tour" airs all this week on the Tavis Smiley show on PBS. Check your local listings.
When we come right back, a former Beatle walks down the aisle again. And the Reverend Joseph Lowery, a pioneer of the Civil Rights movement gives us his thought on today's fight for equality.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Out and proud. Thousands line the streets of Atlanta Sunday for the annual Pride Parade. This is the 41st year of the festival which has grown into one of the biggest LGBT events in the south.
The celebration comes in the middle of a banner year for gay rights with the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" taking effect less than three weeks ago.
Same-sex marriage, however, is still illegal in all but six states. The push to legalize it throughout the land has drawn parallels to the Civil Rights movement. But leaders from that era have at times been reluctant to support the push for gay rights.
I had a chance to speak with a true Civil Rights icon, the Reverend Joseph Lowery on the occasion of his 90th birthday. He told me his views on gay issues are evolving.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REV. JOSEPH LOWERY, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: You're either for equal rights or you're not. You can't be partially for equal rights. Equal rights means what it says, everybody has an equal opportunity and equal privileges.
And while I think we'd have less controversy if we just dealt with civil unions, I can't -- committed to equal rights, I can't deny anybody the right to engage in same-sex marriage. I don't -- you know, I think it would be better off the other way, and I have had problems with it, because I grew up under boy/girl, man/woman, romance and marriage. But I realize that equal rights are equal rights.
LEMON: How can you say that as a religious person, as a minister? Think about what the religious doctrines, the church teaches, what the Bible says.
LOWERY: Let's be careful -- what does the Bible say that you're talking about? What does the Bible say that you're talking about?
The Bible talks about equal rights. The Bible talks about all God's children got shoes. The Bible talks about -- when you talk about one or two accounts in the Bible, in Leviticus and so forth, that talks about homosexuality, there are also passages that talk about slaves, obey your master.
I reject that, just like I reject references in Leviticus. I think we have to look at the bible as God's words, look at it holistically. And the truth of the matter is God insisted that all God's children got shoes and got equal rights. And if you believe in equal rights, you cannot deny any of God's children any portion of rights.
LEMON: Including gay people?
LOWERY: Including gay people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Reverend Lowery was honored Sunday night in Atlanta with a star-studded birthday celebration.
CNN's own Soledad O'Brien emceed the event with appearances by Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Holiday, Peabo Bryson and Cicely Tyson.
Getting caught up in the headlines. The Occupy Wall Street protest is entering its fourth week. The movement started in New York's financial district and has spread to cities across the country including this protest Sunday near the White House. One demonstrator was arrested for throwing a shoe that hit a police officer.
Better education opportunities now await illegal immigrants in California. Governor Jerry Brown has signed the second part of the state's controversial Dream Act into law. It makes illegal immigrants eligible for state-funded financial aid starting in 2013. The first half of the act went into effect in July, allowing them to receive private scholarships.
The Coast Guard rescued four boaters Sunday who officials estimate had been treading water for almost 20 hours. Among those saved was a 4-year-old girl. It happened on the waters off Marathon, Florida. The Coast Guard says a boat sank with a total of eight people on board. And not all wore life jackets. An 80-year-old woman drowned. Three others were picked up by a boat passing by.
Libya's new leaders say they are in the final stages of seizing one of the last most important strongholds of Moammar Gadhafi's forces. The National Transitional Council is poised to take Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte. The NTC is waiting for the city to fall before declaring liberation. Gadhafi's whereabouts are still unknown, but the NTC military commanders say it's unlikely that he is still controlling any forces.
A fugitive hijacker who was on the run for four decades is fighting extradition to the U.S. George Wright's lawyer says the 68- year-old suffers from heart and blood pressure problems and believes he'll die in prison if he is sent back to the states. Wright is a convicted murder who escaped from prison in 1970. In 1972, he hijacked a flight to Miami with four other members of the Black Liberation Army. He was on the run until authorities finally caught up with him in Portugal last month.
Paul McCartney may be the famous former Beatle, but all eyes were on his beautiful bride Sunday, Nancy Shevell. A 51-year-old American divorcee. The couple were married at the same London venue where McCartney married his first wife in 1969. This is his third marriage. Among the guests at today's event, Ringo Starr, Barbara Walters and Shevell's second cousin.
Good luck to them.
And now for some supreme silliness and fun where nothing works and everyone laughs. I'm talking about Flugtag.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Flugtag. Flugtag 2011!
What is Flugtag?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a flying innovation. Making things fly as far as you can.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it?
The Flugtag is the flying mechanical mayhem. Auto mechanical flying mayhem.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're trying to get to the farthest buoy to see if they can beat the people from last year. But we haven't seen anyone do it yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do they judge this event?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three things. First is creativity. Second is a little skit that we do. And last thing you got to fly, dude.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The record is 219 -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 207.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 207.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going down today, though.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our theme is Miami Beach lifeguards and he is going to be sitting in a glider and glide to safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a National Breast Cancer advocate. We just launched a non-profit called a Second Basemen. We fight breast cancer in very unusual ways. And our Flugtag, it's an amazing way to kick it off so we made a giant flying bra. We're the Second Basemen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The USA team because a-team has already been copyrighted or something. I don't know what they are talking about.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: i think it's cool. Also funny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you guys ever want to do this?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wanted to this year. I'm like, we don't have time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. So much bad news, depressing news, we decided to have a little fun. Send you away for the evening in a good mood. Hope you enjoyed it.
Thanks for watching, everyone. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. I'll see you back here next weekend. Have yourself a great week. Good night.
