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Multiple Arrests at Occupy Denver; Snow Storm Triggers Several States of Emergency; Americans Believed Killed in Kabul; Dozens Dead in Violent Clashes; Darrel Hammond Unplugged
Aired October 29, 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 -- bloody war. More than a dozen troops killed.
How? A passenger car packed with explosives.
Where? Kabul. A military convoy.
Who? The Taliban.
Tonight, the U.S. response.
And under fire.
Syrian jets pound a major city. Tanks open fire, pulverizing buildings. The explosive video in minutes.
Plus -- a band keeps a promise after this horrible stage collapse. Tonight, their tribute performance.
And funny man Darrell Hammond gets serious.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stabbing, beating, being electrocuted.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: How childhood abuse and his personal demons led him to the mental war all while taping "Saturday Night Live."
It's all right here, right now on CNN.
All right, thank you so much. I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Those stories and more.
But first, Occupy protesters in Denver, Colorado face to face with riot police.
(VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: Police say they used nonlethal agents, including mace and pepper balls when the protesters try to enter the state capitol. This video is from affiliate KUSA. More than half a dozen people were arrested in this. Police say one officer was knocked off his motorcycle and two others were kicked in the head in the confrontation with demonstrators. But one of the protester says it wasn't like that.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only thing that happened is they asked us to take a tent down. Some kid was standing too close to them. They started attacking everybody, spraying people with mace. Arresting them. We did nothing. This was supposed to be a peaceful protest and they're attacking us like we're in a third world country.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: All right, let's talk to Tanner Spendley now. He's one of the demonstrators at today's confrontation. He joins us now by phone.
Tanner, thanks so much for joining us. Are you OK?
TANNER SPENDLEY, OCCUPY DENVER PROTESTER (via telephone): Yes, absolutely. I avoided the police as much as I could.
LEMON: Tell us what you saw. You took this picture that we're seeing now, right?
SPENDLEY: Yes, yes. The police sent in their riot police to take down a tarp that was in between two trees. And then one of the senior officers fell on to one of the protesters and they essentially wrestled on the ground for a bit, and then the police used pepper spray and automatic rifles with pepper spray bullets at protesters.
LEMON: Were the Occupy Denver folks trying to rush or get into the capitol?
SPENDLEY: No, absolutely not. I was actually leading that march, and we were just wanting to speak on the steps of the building.
LEMON: So they said you tried to get in. Police earlier said you tried to get into the capitol and they had to use these methods to prevent you from doing it.
SPENDLEY: That's just quite frankly a lie. We continued with our march and we wanted to give an open forum to talk about the issues on the steps of the capitol. And they refused to let us on the steps.
LEMON: Were you hit at all with any pepper spray, or were you hurt at all in the confrontation?
SPENDLEY: I was personally jabbed in the stomach with one of the batons and I had a police officer grab me and push me back. But I was not hit with any of the spray, but many around me were.
LEMON: Did they give you any sort of warning before it happened?
SPENDLEY: Before they came in to get down the tarps, they did not.
LEMON: OK. Tanner Spendley, thank you so much for joining us. We're glad that you're OK.
We're going to move on now and talk to Lt. Murray of the Denver Police Department. He's going to join us now by phone.
So Lt. Murray, was -- he was there earlier today when that happened. Again, they were saying that one of the officers was rushed. Another one they said -- two others were kicked in this demonstration. And we heard from Tanner Spendley earlier. He was one of the protesters there. He took that picture you saw of the man on the ground.
Let's go now to Lt. Murray.
Lieutenant, so what happened? One of the protesters was there. He said that the police just started rushing the Occupy demonstrators and then shooting them with pepper balls and using harsh force.
LT. MATTHEW MURRAY, DENVER POLICE DEPARTMENT: Well, that may have been his perspective. But what happened was after protesters refused to comply with a lawful order, we went in to take down their tent and several officers were attacked. Officers responded with force and had to call other officers in. So I'm not sure what your witness's perspective were. But certainly the officers were attacked at the response.
LEMON: OK. So they're saying they were not trying to get into the capitol because the initial response from the Denver Police Department was that they were trying to get into the capitol, and therefore, they had to go to these means.
Lt. Murray, can you hear me?
MURRAY: I can hear you. Can you hear me?
LEMON: Yes.
MURRAY: We had protesters going up onto the capitol property. State police respond to that and they spoke to them (INAUDIBLE) -- so that's exactly how this whole thing started.
LEMON: Yes.
What do you think of what the police department did? If you look at the video of the officers, do you think that they were in compliance with rules, normal rules that are used in this situation?
MURRAY: Absolutely. And I think, Don, you have to look at the restraint the officers used. One of the things that I don't know your viewers are getting into full perspective, anytime at all you hear what these people are yelling and getting in the officers' face, end up a vocal response. And clearly our officers acted professionally and didn't respond in any way that would have embarrassed them or caused them to violate any type of -- LEMON: So lieutenant, I know we're probably -- I think we're having trouble with the lieutenant's phone. You can still hear me, right?
MURRAY: I can hear you.
LEMON: OK. So listen, one police officer was knocked off his motorcycle, two others were kicked in the head in the confrontation. Do you know their conditions?
MURRAY: Yes, they were out of the scene. There was nobody hospitalized. There was one protester hospitalized after he was arrested.
LEMON: Lt. Murray, thank you so much. We appreciate your time.
MURRAY: You bet.
LEMON: The other major story we're following here on CNN, states of emergency tonight in New Jersey and Massachusetts and also Connecticut.
An early winter snowstorm has crippled much of the mid-Atlantic and the northeast. More than 1 million customers are without power right now. Heavy wet snow has split trees and made travel extremely hazardous. At least two deaths are blamed on the storm.
CNN's meteorologist Chad Meyers is in York, Pennsylvania, Susan Candiotti is in New York and Jacqui Jeras here in Atlanta for us. We had team coverage.
So we're going to start with Chad.
Is this snow still falling where you are right now, Chad?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No, Don, it stopped. But I think that's not the big story now. It's freezing. Because what was falling earlier today at 34 was kind of sloppy. But now the temperature's dropped below that. So what's on the ground is beginning to crust over and now the roadways are really getting a lot slicker than they were just a couple hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the weight from the snow on the trees and the ice has split maples and Bradford pears and different trees around the house. So our whole development about 170 homes in the subdivision completely black right now. So we're out trying to get something warm and get something to eat. Take something back to my wife.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is actually better than a month or two ago with the floods. So I think that was actually worse than this. This is just unexpected for everybody.
Yes, it's been what, since '72 since we had snow in this area? So it's unexpected. But it's almost actually a little bit of a treat, too. Hopefully, this is it. We're done for the rest of the season.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lost power a couple hours ago. A lot of trees coming down. A lot of branches breaking. Power lines are disrupted for sure.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
MYERS: And Don, I want to take you to the snow. It's very heavy, you know. It packs great together. But the heaviness here, this was the problem.
Earlier today, this tree was completely covered in snow. And then we talked about how the wind was going to pick up. And the wind did pick up. And what the wind did, it actually knocked the snow off the tree. So that's good. I don't believe we're going to lose a lot more power lines tonight.
But what was basically an empty hotel that we checked into about ten hours ago is now full with families that don't have power. They don't want their 2, 3, 4-year-olds at home without power and without heat so they have now checked into these local hotels. And the restaurant behind us, they expected that to be empty tonight. But without power, people weren't cooking so they went out and drove around and they came here for a hot meal. Don?
LEMON: Chad Meyers, new information in. We've just gotten word now, three people dead because of this storm.
MYERS: That's right.
LEMON: 1.8 million people now without power as Chad has been reporting. Chad Meyers, thank you very much.
You know, the wintry storm is causing a lot of misery among the Occupy Wall Street protesters in Lower Manhattan.
And CNN Susan Candiotti found demonstrators hunkered down in their tents against the elements.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The medic just came through here. And she herself who is a volunteer is armed with some Styrofoam that is supposed to be waterproof. Big boards. And she is even helping to hand them out to anyone who needs it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you want?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, go away!
CANDIOTTI: All right. Well, they're even offering to give out more things to some people. Some people, as you heard, don't want it.
OK, we caught up to the medic here.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anyone at home? Do you guys want to slide (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
CANDIOTTI: It just puddles all over the place. Slush from the rain.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got to be careful about hypothermia and frostbite, issues like that, when you're dealing with the elements, especially for an extended period of time.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Organizers are asking anyone who can't take the conditions anymore to meet up at one location and then they'll be taken to a homeless shelter.
We've also seen some people being taken away by ambulance.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me. Pardon me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Open up the hole.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Susan Candiotti joins us now from Zuccotti Park.
Susan, the office of emergency management in New York sent out a release saying they wanted everyone out of parks because of snow possibly falling, heavy snow on trees. But was that -- was Zuccotti Park part of that?
CANDIOTTI: It doesn't seem to apply to that. They call that an advisory and a recommendation for most city parks. But here, this is a privately owned park.
The main worry is that a lot of the parks here obviously have very old trees with heavy branches. Fortunately, at this one, these seem to be fairly young trees. So if the branches fell, if they fell at all, I don't think they would do as much damage as they would in a lot of other parks here in the city that have been around far longer than this one. For now, very few people walking around here, Don. Most protesters are hunkered down in their tents for now.
LEMON: Looks like they're staying put, as well. Thank you very much. Susan Candiotti, we appreciate it.
And we saw that radar there next to Susan Candiotti. Let's talk about that now with CNN's Jacqui Jeras, our meteorologist here.
Jacqui, so 1.8 million people until now without power.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
LEMON: And we're told that three people are dead because of the storm now.
JERAS: Yes. And the danger is still out there tonight. And this is going to last into tomorrow morning, unfortunately. You know, the height of the storm is over with for you in places like Washington, D.C. into Baltimore, Philadelphia. New York City maybe until midnight and things will get better. But we still have a long way to go for parts of New England as that heavy snow continues to come down and those winds will stay very, very strong.
This map though will show you say by 10:00 tomorrow morning, southern New England begins to dry up. And by 02:00, we'll be watching Maine begin to dry up. So better conditions are expected.
But the snow fall totals have been extremely impressive. In fact, about a foot and a half in Plainfield, Massachusetts. We had Pennsylvania about 16 inches. And parts of Maryland about 11.5. So we'll continue to see problems as temperatures freeze down tonight, but very quick melting expected as well by tomorrow with temperatures back in the 40s and 50s. Don?
LEMON: Jacqui, thank you very much.
Coming up on CNN, a nasty day in Afghanistan. A suicide bomber hits a military convoy. There apparently are American casualties.
And heavy gunfire in one Syrian neighborhood. We'll take you to these global hot spots -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A very dark day. Four American forces in Kabul, several soldiers are believed to be among the victims of a suicide bombing in the Afghan capital.
CNN's Nick Payton Walsh joins me now from Kabul with more on this. What's the very latest? What do you know, Nick?
NICK PAYTON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it appears that yesterday is dawn now the following day here in Kabul. Yesterday, a car packed with explosives rammed into a NATO convoy. Not far from the very center of Kabul here hitting an armored bus known as a Rhino, carrying a number of NATO personnel.
These heavily armored vehicles used to shift significant numbers of people around the capital here. We understand from ISAF that eight ISAF civilians were killed, five military personnel killed. The Canadian military coming forward saying one of those military dead is one of their soldiers but also a U.S. official telling CNN stateside that 13 Americans were killed. Don?
LEMON: All right. So the nationalities of the victims yet, are they not completely set on that? Do they know for sure? Is this the final word on it?
WALSH: ISAF don't normally discuss the dead. They let host countries do that. But in this particular case, there is a discrepancy between whether these are all Americans. There appears to be obviously a Canadian death here according to the Canadian military. So obviously a situation is still very fluid on the ground, perhaps testament to the severity of the blast here -- Don.
LEMON: Yes. And Nick, not the only attack today in Afghanistan, unfortunately.
WALSH: Absolutely. Two others to mention which would have been yesterday here in Afghanistan. One, up in the northeast of the country in Kunar Province. A woman wearing a burqa, she's probably only 25, detonating a device attached to her outside the Afghan Intelligence Headquarters up there.
And a second attack near Kandahar in the south in which two ISAF soldiers apparently had were shot when a man wearing Afghan army uniform turned his weapon upon them. The information for that not clear and a senior Afghan army official down there saying the two dead were Australian and seven other people were injured although these are not facts that ISAF will themselves confirm. Don?
LEMON: Nick Paton Walsh in Kabul for us tonight. Thank you very much, Nick.
Dozens of death reported across Syria tonight as security forces go after anti-government demonstrators with lethal firepower.
CNN's Arwa Damon has the latest.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Don, the focus of this most recent offensive appears to be the neighborhood of Bab Amer in western City of Homs, according to one activist that we spoke to. He said that he heard military jets overhead at around 9:30 in the morning, and then tanks began opening fire indiscriminately. He said at buildings, people's homes, at times appearing to be targeting people's windows and balconies.
Now this particular neighborhood is very well-known as being one of the main epicenters of anti-government activity in the City of Homs. And this effective been under siege for weeks now, but it has also been one of the major flash points of clashes taking place between Syrian security forces and the factors who call themselves this free Syrian army.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 20 loyalist troops where killed during those clashes and 53 injured. Activists also report a number of casualties amongst civilians. Other parts of the country also saw heavy military crackdown just as parts of the province of Idlib and Deir Ezzor.
It most certainly appears that the longer this conflict drags on, the more violent it becomes and the greater the risk activists and the government alike say of the nation fighting towards a civil war. Don?
LEMON: All right, Arwa Damon in Beirut for us. Thank you, Arwa.
Coming up, SNL veteran Darrell Hammond raw and uncut. And we're not talking about his comedy.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stabbing, beating, being electrocuted. Stuff like that.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: He revealed it all to CNN.com and we've got the exclusive excerpts from his interview, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Remember Darrell Hammond? Once part of "Saturday Night Live," you know him for his spot-on impressions of President Bill Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARRELL HAMMOND, COMEDIAN: You're going to miss me, aren't you? Admit it. Admit it.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So watching his talent has made you laugh. The secret that came out this week, though, hearing about his childhood will make you cry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMOND: When I was a child, I was a victim of systematic and lengthy and brutality, I mean, stabbing, beating, being electrocuted, stuff like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMOND: With me, I was on as many as seven medications at one time. I mean, these doctors really didn't know what to do with me. There was a cutting backstage. I was once taken to a psych ward. In fact, the week that I did the Gore debates, I believe I was taken away in a straitjacket. And there's no way people would know about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Joining me right now is the producer who interviewed Hammond. His name is Jarrett Bellini. And you brought us these clips that have not been seen in public before.
I want you to briefly give me the back story because you were supposed to do a CNN segment on comedy, and then it made this really drastic, dramatic turn.
JARRETT BELLINI, CNN.COM VIDEO PRODUCER: Yes. Originally this was supposed to be for our CNN comedy segment. And Darrell was in town doing his standup act. And the owner of the Punchline comedy club here in Atlanta sent me a text message and said, we're on our way, we'll be there in 20 minutes. You might want to Google his book. He wants to talk about it. So I had a little bit of time to research it. He came in, I thought we would have a few laughs and it quickly turned.
LEMON: Oh, OK. So I want to see more of it. I'm sure the viewers do, as well.
So I want to get Hammond's interview and the clips that we haven't seen before. This is one where he talks about his present health.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
HAMMOND: I'm barely on any meds at all. At all. You know, I'm like on a slight dose of Wellbutrin, which I mean, half the planet is on Wellbutrin because it makes you happy. I mean, that from Zoloft, Ativan, Klonopin, Triavil, Mellaril.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You got a shot of Lexapro.
HAMMOND: I never did Lexapro.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: Jarrett, so how did he look to you? His eyes were darting. His mentioning all these medications.
BELLINI: Yes. A lot of people mentioned that his eyes were sort of darting around. And I really think that he was nervous. I think writing about what happened to him is one thing and talking about is another thing. That was early on in the interview. And as the interview went on, he got more comfortable. His eyes were darting less. And I just think it was just an uncomfortable thing for him to talk about.
LEMON: OK. Let's listen to how he says he's moved on now.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
HAMMOND: Exacting revenge on your parents is going to be harder than not exacting revenge. The easier, softer way is to walk away from it. And find some way to let go of it, which I have been able to do. But it's not like it didn't take a million years and almost a million dollars because it did.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: So how did it cost him a million dollars? Is that for being institutionalized? Did he explain any of that? Or why his mother abused him in the first place?
BELLINI: You know, I don't know the particulars of why it cost so much. I'm just -- you know, we can assume that it's medical bills. As to why his mother did this in the first place, you know, when he made a point that when she was on her deathbed, he started to think, you know, she was once a little girl and somebody did something to her to make her this way. And he was forgiving to her in a way at the end. And so like I said, he just thinks that maybe something happened to her when she was a kid.
LEMON: Yes. Yes. There's never any excuse for abuse, but only she would know why she did it. Was there something masking, maybe that triggered it when he was a child, if he said something, did something?
BELLINI: No, he didn't get into that. He just said it was something that happened. And he didn't want to talk too much about the particulars of that.
LEMON: It wasn't all serious, though. And I like this part when he talks about Bill Clinton and when people ask him to do Bill Clinton.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
HAMMOND: Firemen putting out a fire at my house. You're the guy that does Bill on TV, do some Bill for us.
And there was a college student offered to flash me if I would do Clinton for her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So did you do it?
HAMMOND: I said listen, young lady, that is very sick. That is so god (EXPLETIVE DELETED) sick.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: He's still a funny man. So what's he doing now?
Comedy?
BELLINI: Right now he's still doing his standup act. Like I said, he was in town to do standup at the comedy clubs.
LEMON: So here's the thing. As a journalist though, and I have to ask you, do you believe him? Because you sit there and you know you see his eyes. You're there in the room with him and you get a feeling. BELLINI: Right. We did put in a request for a comment from "Saturday Night Live" and haven't received anything from them. And unfortunately, both of his parents have passed away. So there's no way to go to them and ask them to back up what he said.
So we're kind of forced to take him at his word for it. Sitting there with him in the same room, I didn't get the impression that he was making it up. He seemed really tortured by everything.
LEMON: Yes. He's got a memoir coming out. We will learn a lot of this. But this came out early because it wasn't supposed to be until the push for his book that he was supposed to talk about this. You got an exclusive. You know, one out of whole lot of network.
BELLINI: It was a very unexpected exclusive. We didn't see it coming. All I thought, hey, we're going to sit down, we're going to laugh, we'll have some fun and pretty soon, I just threw my notes away and said all right, let's just see where this goes.
LEMON: Yes. Let's hope he's OK. Nice work.
BELLINI: Thanks so much.
LEMON: Thank you, Jarrett Bellini, we really appreciate it.
And you can look at CNN.com.
Up next, making good on a promise. The band "Sugarland" returns to the scene of a horrible stage collapse.
And the Coast Guard captures a huge amount of cocaine on the high seas. Try 7 tons. Wait until you hear the street value of this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Headlines right now on CNN. Talk about sailing the high seas. I want you to check out this video of the U.S. Coast Guard unloading seven tons, 15,000 pounds, of cocaine.
The coke was seized of a submersible watercraft in Central America and it is worth roughly $180 million. This haul alone equals roughly one-third of all the land based drug seizures in the U.S. for an entire year.
Well, there's good news for some of you. JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo banks have decided against charging a monthly debit card fee after testing the idea in pilot programs. In September, Bank of America announced its one $5 a month fee, but the backlash has now prompted it to also consider changes in that policy.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
ALAN JOYCE, CEO, QANTAS: We have decided to ground the Qantas international and domestic fleets immediately. I repeat, we are grounding the Qantas fleet now.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: In a move disrupting travel for thousands, the Australian airline Qantas grounded all its aircraft in response to a labor dispute. The airline says it will impose a lockout until an agreement is reached with unions representing air and staff and ground staff. The lockout begins on Monday. The grounding of the fleet is immediate.
Who wins in a race between a police officer and a state trooper? Well, it isn't exactly a race. I want you to listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And okay. Stand by. Stand by.
Put your hands out that window right now. Put your hands out the window.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Turn around, turn around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Turn around right now. Turn around. Do yourself a favor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ma'am, I apologize, but I was on my way to my duty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But ma'am, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stand by. You got anything else in here? Any other weapon on you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got it from a school that I'm working for, and I'm late for work. But other than that, I didn't know you was stopping me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir!
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: All right. Here's what happened. On October 11th, this speeding Miami police officer refused to pull over for a Florida trooper leading her on a chase in excess of, get this, 120 miles per hour. Well, the officer's excuse when he was finally pulled over? At gunpoint? He was late for a second job he says. Score this win for the Florida highway patrol.
And sometimes there is a clearer line between good guy and bad guy. Check out this high speed police chase in Texas. Lasted about 20 minutes, and we're talking speeds of more than 125 miles per hour.
The suspect is accused of robbing a gas station with a rifle, then speeding off. Cops caught up with the man and arrested him.
(VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: You know, this was more than just another concert. Friday night Sugarland returned to Indiana for their first show since the deadly stage collapse at the state fair in August.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
SCREAMING
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: The country group was set to perform before ferocious winds caused the stage to collapse killing seven and injuring dozens more. Fans say the free concert last night was healing.
(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)
MARIA ABCELNOUR, CONCERT GUEST: I feel like we're almost like completing something we starred in August. And it's kind of coming full circle, and I'm glad we get to finally carry it out tonight.
(END VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: Well, the band performed in front of a capacity crowd around 18,000. And money donated will go to the Indiana State Fair Remembrance Fund.
An artifact that hasn't seen the light of day in about 300 years. Here's what it looks like. We'll tell you what it is after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Oh, having a little fun here with Jacqui Jeras. She's going to join me, because she was talking about a pirate's treasure brought up from the ocean floor. This week crews recovered a cannon from the pirate Blackbeard's ship, and Jacqui is going to tell us about it.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Like when was that?
LEMON: Exactly.
JERAS: I was looking at my notes from 1716 to 1718 was when he had his reign of terror, so to speak.
LEMON: All right.
JERAS: Bet you want to talk like a pirate now, Halloween weekend. Got to bring the pirates out kind of thing.
LEMON: I haven't had any sleep. Don't make me be silly. It's very easy.
So what happened? JERAS: Well, they brought up a huge cannon. We've got video that I just showed you of this. It is one of 13 that they've actually brought up to the surface. And this was off the coast of North Carolina near Buford -- Beaufort, excuse me. Buford would be the wind scale.
I'm always confused that I have to think about it when I say it.
LEMON: Tomato, tomato.
JERAS: I know, but yes, it's been, you know, hundreds of years since this thing has seen or felt oxygen. And look at how huge it is. This is like eight feet long and guess how much it weighs?
LEMON: Oh, my gosh.
JERAS: 2,000 pounds.
LEMON: Oh, my gosh.
JERAS: 2,000 pounds. Amazing.
LEMON: That took a crank to get it up there, huh.
JERAS: Yes.
LEMON: Look at all those barnacles and everything on there.
JERAS: Quite a process. It's going to take about four to five years to clean this thing off and to be able to restore it.
Now the reason they wanted to bring this up, this is one of many artifacts. There are about 280,000 artifacts that they've already brought up. They found this thing back in 1997. So they know that it's been out there and it's been quite awhile, but they wanted to get that particular cannon out because there are things underneath it.
Of course, everybody wants to know the mystery of Blackbeard's treasure, right? Is there a burying treasure out there? Are there any clues? Are they hints or anything like that that they might be able to find? Well, they've already found a couple of things. Some of those artifacts. For example, they found some dishes.
LEMON: OK.
JERAS: They found some gold dust. Gold dust.
LEMON: Gold dust, but all that stuff, even some dishes, it's worth a lot of money.
JERAS: Yes.
LEMON: It's going to go into a museum, I'm sure.
JERAS: Absolutely, yes. A lot of this stuff is on its way to North Carolina Maritime Museum so you can go ahead and go there and check some of it out.
LEMON: This is stuff that was found before.
JERAS: Previously, yes. And so the rest of it will be restored and then put in the museum, as well.
LEMON: One of 13 cannons. That's pretty cool.
OK, another -- we're going to go to the sky now.
JERAS: Yes, did you see it.
LEMON: We're talking about the northern lights. I don't know maybe. I don't know if I'm seeing things or exactly seeing the northern lights.
JERAS: I thought I'd just, you know, we're seeing things in the sky.
LEMON: How cool was that.
JERAS: A lot of people saw that. Yes, that was early this week. So Monday night, Tuesday night and some people saw it Wednesday night, as well. It was a spectacular show of the Aurora borealis. And it was seen in the deep south, like 34 states were able to see this. It is in places where you would normally never see it.
My husband texted me on Monday night. He is a pilot from Atlanta, and he's like I see the Aurora borealis over Atlanta. I'm like, what, you're crazy, but it was true.
And what's unique about this one and what made this more rare, not just because they saw it so far south, but also because of the red glow. You don't see a lot of red very often, and that's what people were seeing from the south. They've had a lot of questions this week.
So, Jacqui, why is it red? What makes the different colors that you see? So I looked it up. The red is -- what happens is when all of these like highly charged electrons and all these particles from the big blast of the sun, I won't get too technical on you, came towards the earth and interacts with atoms. So when it hits oxygen, it's green; when it hits nitrogen, it's purple. And the red is the oxygen high up like hundreds of miles above the earth's surface makes the red.
LEMON: You're so smart. We should have asked Aurora, your daughter.
JERAS: Yes, that's my daughter.
LEMON: Because that's your daughter's name.
JERAS: She was named after it.
LEMON: Well, I thought I saw it but then I just said maybe I've been overserved and I went home. No, kidding. JERAS: Stop.
LEMON: Thank you, Jacqui. Good information. Good information. We like that.
JERAS: Thanks.
LEMON: Appreciate it. Hi, Aurora.
JERAS: She's sleeping.
LEMON: She's sleeping.
Coming up, I want you to meet 7-year-old Bobby Montoya. His mother is raising him as a girl saying he likes to wear dresses, have long hair and play with dolls. He also wants to join the Girl Scouts. We'll tell you about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Now to a story sending shock waves across the parenting world. About a young boy who wants to be a Girl Scout. The organization has turned him away. And I asked psychologist Dr. Alduan Tartt about the case of 7-year-old Bobby Montoya.
A boy in Colorado wants to be a Girl Scout and was initially turned away. The mother of Bobby Montoya says, her son likes dolls and girls' clothes and wanted to join the girl scouts after seeing his sister in it. So, here's more from Bobby's mother. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FELISHA ARCHULETA, MOTHER OF BOBBY MONTOYA: I said, what's the big deal? She says, it doesn't matter how he looks. He has boy parts, he can't be a Girl Scout. Girl Scouts don't allow that. I don't want to be in trouble by parent or my supervisor.
BOBBY MONTOYA, BOY REJECTED BY BOY SCOUTS: It was like somebody told me I can't like girl stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. So is it damaging for the boy that he was turned away? Is it damaging that his mother allows him to do this?
ALDUAN TARTT, PSYCHOLOGIST: Absolutely.
LEMON: Is it damaging that his mom allows him or is it damaging that he was turned away?
TARTT: First of all, he should not have been allowed interest into the Girl Scouts. It's for girls. It's not for boys that want to be girls.
LEMON: Right. TARTT: It's damaging for his mom to allow him to express at level at this young an age because he doesn't really know who he is. Think about it. He's not going to be accepted by boys and he's not going to be accepted by girls.
So there are a number of kids now that grow up and they want to do things that girls do or boys want to do things that girls do. But the problem is, they're not old enough to really say that's who they are and identify that way.
LEMON: You know what's interesting, I just had this conversation in Arkansas -- I did a speaking engagement there. And we talked about this exact thing. I think that little boy wanted to be a princess or something for Halloween. And most of the women in the room said, yes, allow him. And most of the men said, they're too young, until he gets older and he can express himself, you know, maybe when he's in high school or in college, it's fine. But at his certain age, a parent has to be a parent. Why would dad think differently?
TARTT: Well, you know, it's that macho thing. But it's a slippery slope...
LEMON: It's not just macho, because there were even gay men in the class who were saying, no, don't let him do it.
TARTT: Right. I mean, because you know how society is going to respond.
LEMON: Yes.
TARTT: And that's the thing he's not prepared for. So, OK, he wants to go school. He's already talking about being teased, being bullied, not being accepted. Wait until he's older until he's really sure, this is what I want to be and then we can deal with. Because the kid is going to be what he needs to be. But at this age, he really is setting himself up for a lot of rejection. And that's the part, she can't go to school with him.
LEMON: That was the consensus from most of the guys. Thank you, Doctor Tartt.
TARTT: You're welcome.
LEMON: I appreciate your insight.
I want to tell you what the girl scouts of Colorado said in a statement. They said, that kid who identifies as girls, kids identified as girls, quote, "Are welcome to join." They're welcome to join.
A spokesman told CNN, "I have absolutely heard of many situations of transgender kids who are absolutely living as a girl. Girl scouts shouldn't be any different for them."
And so not clear if the Girl Scouts will let Bobby join, but his grandmother told the "New York Daily News" that the family will not allow Bobby to go back to that troop.
A black list anyone would be honored to be on. Find out what it is right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So typically, no one wants to be black listed, but that definitely isn't the case with The Black List. A new exhibit in Washington featuring portraits and interviews from 50 African- Americans who have left a lasting mark on the world. Look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS ROCK, ACTOR: I'm Chris Rock.
SUSAN RICE: Susan rice.
TYLER PERRY: Tyler Perry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's about achievement. It's about people who have done something extraordinary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The governor of Massachusetts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a reproductive endocrinologist and fertility specialist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Composer, rapper, actor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unemployed.
TIMOTHY GREENFIELD-SANDERS, PHOTOGRAPHER/FILMMAKER: The black list was a way to take my portraits and bring them to life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I tell my students I expect for them to go out and change the world.
GREENFIELD-SANDERS: To have them almost like talking portraits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not just be the best surgeon but actually change the world.
GREENFIELD-SANDERS: That's what I wanted to do. It's not about what they're wearing. It's not about anything. It's about the face. It's about the person.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The word "The Black List" is something that was considered negative. And repurposing that word and shining the light on positive African-Americans, I couldn't be more proud to be part of this group.
FAYE WATTLETON, WOMEN'S RIGHTS ACTIVIST: This list is not just about the people who were photographed, but the symbolic meaning of their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe with my background of what I've done in fashion and what I've done socially, I think it was interesting to kind of throw me in the mix.
GREENFIELD-SANDERS: You need to have someone like Susan Lori Parks and you need someone like Majora Carter who is an environmentalist and activist to give a range of accomplishment.
MAJORA CARTER, ENVIRONMENT/ACTIVIST: I'm probably one of the least well-known people in this list. It does show that there are people you may never hear of, but still play an incredible role and have such an impact on how our lives as Americans are led.
GREENFIELD-SANDERS: There are 50 portraits here. Should there be 100? There should be a thousand, should be 10,000, of course. And there are millions of stories.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You can see "The Black List" exhibit at The National Portrait Gallery in Washington through April 22nd of next year.
The Occupy Movement has been camped out in New York for weeks. But what's the end game? We'll tell you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: They have withstood political criticism for weeks and living outdoors, as well. But can the Occupy Wall Street crowd endure snow and winter-like temperatures?
Well, that's a scene in New York's Zuccotti Park. Look at that. That was earlier today where protesters are gearing up for a cold, wet night right now. They were gearing up then and the cold night has set in.
Earlier I spoke to Dorian Warren about where the movement is headed. He is a professor of political science at Columbia University.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Could the bad weather end up doing what police and city officials couldn't? Force the Occupy protesters to go home.
PROF. DORIAN WARREN, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: I don't think so. I think as we've seen from the footage earlier today, I think they're pretty committed to staying out there through the snow, through the cold weather, with or without generators. I think they're out there to stay, not only in Zuccotti Park but in other cities across the country.
LEMON: Yes, they just took their generators away. We've seen several cities crack down on these protesters. Oakland, California, being among the most dramatic. Any signs the movement is weakening or fading? Do you think it's still growing?
WARREN: I think it's growing because people are becoming more upset with the response of the police, for instance, to the protesters. So I think the Oakland incident has galvanized people even more so than it would have if there wasn't tear gas and other perceived forms of brutality against the protesters.
LEMON: And again, we talk about the weather and what impact that will have on the movement as the weather starts to get bad all across the country, meaning colder and probably a lot of snow, a lot of inclement weather.
So we're looking at live pictures. There's the radar. We saw our Chad Myers, who is out there in York, Pennsylvania. Susan Candiotti in New York. It looks bad. York got tons of snow. New York only got about 1.5, but still, when you're outside and you don't have generators, it makes you cold. But as I said, they can always go home, but they are choosing to do this. So we should be concerned about it because if it gets really bad, their lives could be at risk.
WARREN: Yes.
LEMON: A lot of people compare this movement, Professor, to the protests of the 1960s. Do you think that's an accurate comparison?
WARREN: I don't. I actually think the more accurate comparison is of the 1890s and the 1930s populace movements. Those movements have three key features that I think the Occupy Wall Street movement has. The first was a focus on the common man or the common woman against the tiny elite. So the "we are the 99 percent" mean -- actually corresponds to that historic function of populism of saying, "we are the common people against the elite."
The second element of populism has to do with the demands that people make. In this case, the protesters are pointing attention to Wall Street and saying, economic inequality has grown too much and the political system is broken.
So the third element then is to restore democracy, to restore some balance in the political system so that the rules aren't rigged against those common people that are working hard every day and just trying to get by.
LEMON: Here's my question. And people say, oh, well, it doesn't have a really concise message, what's the message, what do they really want? I think, at the end -- what you just said, in the end, that's what they want.
But here's a question. At some point, even the Tea Party, just for a recent comparison, had to take their movement into the political system in order to evoke some change, right? In order to make some change, you have to do it through legislation and through government.
WARREN: Yes.
LEMON: So how much of an impact can they have just by sitting in parks all over the country? At some point, don't you have to have legislation, make changes in laws, those sorts of things, so that the behavior that they believe is happening doesn't happen anymore? WARREN: Absolutely. But let's -- remember -- actually, a good example is the civil rights movement. The Montgomery bus boycott began 1955. Five years later, in 1960, student sit-ins in lunch counters; 1961, freedom rides. The big gains didn't come until the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1964 Voting Rights Act. That was almost a decade after one of the key moments that started the movement for the civil rights movement. We're only five weeks into Occupy Wall Street. So I think, you know, we need to wait a little bit longer to see how this movement will evolve and grow, not only in this country but, it seems like, around the world.
LEMON: I think that you're right. But to think that it's going to take a decade in this day and time, with how quickly information gets by, I don't think it should take that long. But I think you're right. We can wait a little bit. But we'll see.
Professor, appreciate you joining us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Let's check your headlines right now.
At least three people have died in a large snowstorm rolling across the northeast. Nearly 2 million are without power tonight. Close to 20 inches have fallen in some places. The snow is the wet and very heavy causing trees to split and branches to fall off. The states of emergency have been declared in New Jersey, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
The cold snowy weather didn't keep a group of lucky kids from trick or treating at the White House. There they are. The president and first lady hosted the annual event two days before the actual holiday. They greeted local school kids with goodie bags filled with cookies, dried fruit and M&Ms and printed with the presidential seal.
OK, some live pictures tonight. There it is, the White House bathed in orange light. Celebrating Halloween and the little trick or treating ceremony they had earlier this evening.
An emotional scene at Rutgers University as one of their injured players returned to the football field.
(VIDEOCLIP)
LEMON: Eric Legrand, number 52, was paralyzed last October. Well, Saturday he led Rutgers onto the field against West Virginia in a snowstorm. The first time he's been back with his teammates since the accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. He was hurt making a tackle against Army.
Congratulations to him. We are rooting for him.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. See you tomorrow night, 6:00, 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Good night.
