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Floods Kill At Least 436 in Philippines; Extending Payroll Tax Cut Temporarily; Seventeen Days Until Iowa Caucuses
Aired December 17, 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: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. It's the top of the hour.
So, I want to get you caught up on be your headlines right now.
This video you're looking at, spectacular video, the Philippines reeling tonight from a large tropical storm. More than 400 people are dead, hundreds more missing. The storm dumped a month's worth of rain in about 12 hours, triggering flash floods and landslides. The U.S. has signaled it is ready to assist the Filipinos in their recovery.
In other news now, the Senate has agreed to extend the federal payroll tax cut but only for two months instead of a year. The House hasn't scheduled a vote on the measure yet and many House Republicans aren't happy with the temporary extension.
President Barack Obama backs the deal, but he's calling on law makers to do more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm very pleased to see the work that the Senate has done. While this agreement is for two months, it is my expectation -- in fact, it would be inexcusable -- for Congress not to further extend this middle classes tax cut for the rest of the year. It should be a formality and, hopefully, it's done with as little drama as possible when they get back in January.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: In the meantime, President Obama is expected to sign a spending bill passed by the Senate today, which will keep the government running through September 30th.
You hear the drums -- kind of know what's going on. It's the Occupy Wall Street movement, returning at least for one day. Today's gathering was in a Manhattan park. Organizers called it a reoccupy event. The rally comes as many occupying encampments across the country have been dismantled.
It is mission accomplished for an ex-Iraq prisoner of war Jessica Lynch. She earned her college teaching degree. Graduation wasn't the only thing on her mind, though. Lynch also had a message for returning service members.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA LYNCH, FORMER IRAQ PRISONER OF WAR: They finally get to come home. They're, you know, with their family, especially during this time. It's something to be proud of and, you know, you want your family to be there during the holidays. So, I'm thankful and grateful that they finally get to spend at least one holiday with their family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Jessica Lynch, one of 18 veterans who earned their diploma yesterday at West Virginia University at Parkersburg.
A riveting day of testimony of the trial of Bradley Manning. The Army private is accused of the biggest intelligence leaked in U.S. history, giving classified documents to the Web site WikiLeaks. Manning's attorneys want the court to consider his state of mind at the time of the alleged crimes.
CNN producer Larry Shaughnessy says one issue in particular was discussed in detail today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY SHAUGHNESSY, CNN PRODUCER (via telephone): The defense has been asking several witnesses who testified at this Article 32 hearing about Breanna Manning, an alter ego that Bradley Manning created and talked about online. Part of it appears to be the defense exploring Manning's gender identity issues to establish his state of mind during the alleged crimes.
LEMON: So this wasn't an alter ego he used online here. This wasn't something he used online to keep his real identity secret. They believe that this was something that was incorporated into his daily life.
SHAUGHNESSY: It was. They believe it was. In fact, at one point, a captain who is in the chain of command in Manning's unit when he was in Iraq saw a photo of Manning dressed as a woman. And a sergeant in his chain of command had counseling sessions with him about the whole issue of his sexuality and his gender identity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: CNN producer Larry Shaughnessy.
Now, Manning faces life in prison and even the possibility of the death penalty if he is found guilty.
All right. Let's go to Iowa now, the first true battleground for the field of Republican presidential hopefuls. And even though there are just 17 days until the Iowa caucuses, the frontrunners are spending their weekend elsewhere.
CNN political reporter Peter Hamby standing by live in Des Moines.
Just 17 days away. It's the holidays. They're all over the place, Peter. Newt Gingrich, Washington right now. Mitt Romney, South Carolina today.
And Romney is making an appeal to a group that hasn't always been on his side. And we're talking about the Tea Party, right?
PETER HAMBY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, you're exactly right. Governor Romney picked up a really big endorsement yesterday from South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who really has some Tea Party appeal. So, not the kind of Republican that sort of -- would usually support Governor Romney who's been viewed by skepticism by Tea Party activists and social conservatives.
But he was down there today in South Carolina, in Charleston, with Governor Haley and was asked, what do you think about the Tea Party? And listen to what he said, Don.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Many Tea Party folks are going to find me, I believe, to be the ideal candidate.
I think Tea Party supporters want to see government shrunk. They think it's too big. They think someone has to cut the federal budget, and I do. They want to see us balance the federal budget, and I will.
They want somebody who will get the economy going who understands jobs and the economy, not just government. And jobs and the economy is what I know.
They're tired of people who spent their life in politics who think that Washington is the answer. I didn't spend my life in politics. I spent my career in the private sector.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMBY: So, you hear Governor Romney there. The first line he said in that sound bite, "I'm the ideal Tea Party candidate," something that Democrats are seizing on today. They blasted out e-mails to reporters today just saying, hey, this is another example of Governor Romney saying anything to capture the Republican nomination. You can't trust this guy.
But, again, Governor Romney needs the support of conservatives if he wants to win both Iowa and South Carolina, or at least show well there. And he really does need to do well there if not win to get the nomination, Don.
LEMON: So, Pete, the all-important, maybe not so important, I don't know if it used to be, the "Des Moines Register" endorsement, who is it?
HAMBY: Yes, it's coming down later tonight here in Des Moines. It will be closely watched, it always it is. People here in Iowa expect Mitt Romney to get it. John McCain won it back in 2008, the establishment sort of front-runner.
However, "The Register" doesn't have the best track record of who will win the caucuses. The last time they picked successfully who won in the caucuses was George W. Bush back in 2000. Before that, '96 with Bob Dole.
But in 2004, they endorsed John Edwards for the Democratic nomination. Obviously, that didn't work out. And as I said, last time they picked McCain and they picked Hillary Clinton. Neither one of them won Iowa.
However, it's something every campaign wants to have, you always want your supporters to kind of wake up on Sunday morning and read nice thing about your candidate in the biggest newspaper in the state, Don.
LEMON: Well, I said while I introduced you that Newt Gingrich is in Washington. And let's see, Romney is South Carolina. The question is, as a front-runner, the overall frontrunner, where is Newt this weekend? Why is he in Washington? Is he taking the weekend off?
HAMBY: Yes, he is. And it's sort of curious because Gingrich has been criticized by Republicans for not really building up an organization He's kind of used the debates to do well and he's only lately opened a campaign office here in Des Moines, sort of scrambling to put together organizations in these early states.
And it's kind of striking, when you've got Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry and Rick Santorum all over the state this weekend doing bus tours criticizing Gingrich, he's taking the weekend off. He's doing some interviews, he did kind of a tele-town hall, calling into Iowa households today to sort of explain his positions.
But, you know, Iowa, these voters here, they want to meet the candidate. And the Gingrich campaign, it's sort of striking that they're taking the weekend off.
He's doing a Sunday show interview tomorrow from D.C., and that's about it, Don. It's pretty interesting.
LEMON: Pete Hamby, thank you. I like the decorations behind you. Nice Christmas stuff. Appreciate it.
HAMBY: Thanks.
LEMON: The national office of the fraternity of Sigma Phi Epsilon indefinitely closing its chapter at the University of Vermont. The move comes after a survey surface asking members a question, quote, "If I can rape someone, who could it be?"
Matt Austin from our affiliate WFFF has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT AUSTIN, WFFF REPORTER (voice-over): The lights were on inside the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house on the UVM campus Friday night, but no one was willing to answer the door after stunning news hours earlier.
ANNIE STEVENS, ASSOC. V.P., UNIV. OF VERMONT: The national organization Sigma Phi Epsilon has now announced that they are closing the chapter here in Vermont.
AUSTIN: UVM associate vice president of student life, Annie Stevens, says the decision has a lot to do with fraternity members not talking about the survey which asked people who they would like to rape.
STEVENS: No one has really claimed responsibility.
AUSTIN: Just days after learning the survey, the university suspended the fraternity and started an investigation. Protests called for an end to the frat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is something that can shatter someone's life!
AUSTIN (on camera): You think the university itself could have done more to really kind of calm thing things down?
STEVENS: Well, I think it was going to continue until some action, you know, was going to take place.
AUSTIN (voice-over): That finally came Friday when the national organization made its decision.
(on camera): School officials say now that the fraternity is closed, the 20 guys who live here will have to move out.
(voice-over): Stevens says the school will help the students find a new place to live. She also hopes it brings some closure to the campus which prides itself on making it safe for everyone.
STEVENS: I really hope this continues to compel us to carry out all of those same missions around really stopping violence of any kind and particularly challenging rape culture.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Matt Austin from our affiliate WFFF. The national office of Sigma Phi Epsilon said it and the university could decide late to reopen the chapter.
From a rape survey in one school to allegations of vicious at another. Coming up, the hazing scandal at Florida A&M University and we'll talk to the attorney for a student whose injuries were so severe -- so severe that she had to be hospitalized.
And protesters in Cairo clashed with security forces. A report on the violence is next.
And again, the Florida A&M hazing scandal. One student says she was hazed, giving up her scholarship and going home. Her attorney joins me live. You'll hear her story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Overseas now:
Egypt's revolution isn't over and a new standoff between protesters and police today turned bloody. Demonstrators fought Egyptian security forces as those officers battled with batons and guns. At least 10 people have been killed since Friday.
A fire at a Cairo library destroyed 200-year-old manuscripts considered irreplaceable. Egypt's interim prime minister blamed protesters for the arson. They want him out of office.
Leon Panetta became the first secretary of defense to visit Libya today. He didn't try to sugar-coat the challenges facing Libya's new leaders. Panetta said the transition to democracy will be long and it will be difficult. The secretary said he believed Libya's future would be prosperous. He also called Libya a source of inspiration for the world.
The physical wounds of the Iraq war are not only fresh are, they are forever. Now that the war is winding down, the recovery has a long way to go.
And CNN's Michael Holmes talks to Iraqi civilians whose lives have been changed forever.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a Baghdad rehabilitation facility, victims of nearly nine years of war try to rebuild shattered bodies. They're not soldiers, not insurgents. They're regular, everyday people.
(on camera): More than 30,000 U.S. troops were wounded during this war. How do we know? Well, of course every one of them was counted. How many Iraqi civilians though were maimed by the bombs and the bullets over the years? Well, nobody knows for sure. Best guess, hundreds of thousands.
But, of course, all of those numbers have a name.
(voice-over): Amr Mosan (ph), age 30, caught in a marketplace bombing, a paraplegic. Kata Abbas (ph), age 34, shot in sectarian violence, paraplegic. Kareem Tasha (ph), 26, truck driver shot at random while driving, paraplegic. Yousef Abd (ph), taxi driver, lost his leg after being shot in a market.
DR. ALI MOHAMMAD ABBASS, IBN AL-KUFF HOSPITAL: This war destroyed their hopes in the future, in this Iraq. What will be in this country after this war? They are very worried about the future.
SABAH AHMED, SON INJURED IN WAR (through translator): It destroyed our lives. He's my only son. It crushed our morale at home.
HOLMES: Sabah Ahmed is a broken man. His son Haider was 12 when a roadside bomb went off as he walked home from school in 2006. He hasn't walked since.
AHMED (through translator): Life at home is like hell now. His psychological state is not like that of other children who can go out. It's painful for him to see these other children. HOLMES: Those who think the war is over because the Americans are going aren't living in today's Iraq. Nearly 200 Iraqis died last month. More than 300 wounded in horrific ways. Most of them, innocents in the wrong place at the wrong time as bombs went off or gunfire erupted.
Oday Naji (ph), a humble driver for the Education Ministry, set off for work one morning last month. Minutes later, a bomb stuck to the bottom of his vehicle exploded. The father of a 3-month-old child lost his leg. Victim, it appears, of one of a series of such bombings of government workers. Not high-profile people -- anyone who works for the government.
"I really don't know who did it or why," he tells me, bewildered. "I'm not an important person." We leave Oday (ph) to visit Muna Adnan, a particularly heartbreaking case. The 29-year-old was her impoverished family's sole income earner, selling tea on the sidewalk last month outside their home when a bomb planted seemingly at random blew one leg off and damaged the other.
It was one of three bombs on that street that day. It killed seven, wounded 28. It's difficult to watch her physical and emotional agony.
MUNA ADNAN, WOUNDED BOMB VICTIM (through translator): I don't know. I don't know anything. I just want my leg back. I don't want anything else.
HOLMES: "What did this girl do to deserve this?" Muna's father asks. "Her whole future is gone. What can we do, put her on a cart and take her out to beg?"
Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Up next here on CNN, a former Army captain who spent 15 months in Iraq tells us how his blog became a huge hit among fellow soldiers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The last American forces will be out of Iraq by the end of the year. Former Army Captain Matt Gallagher spent 15 months in Iraq. He began blogging about his experiences soon after he arrived in 2007 as a lieutenant. His blog was enormously popular with fellow soldiers. Then in 2008, the Army shut down his blog. Last year those stories were published so as a book. It's called "Kaboom: Embracing the Suck in a Savage Little War."
So, author Matt Gallagher joins me now from New York. Thank you, sir. Good to see you. Doing OK?
MATT GALLAGHER, SENIOR WRITIGN MGR., IAVA: Good to see you. Yes, absolutely. Thanks for having me.
LEMON: You are the senior writing manager for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the IAVA. So, Matt, the question is, what's going through your head now? You've been there, the troops are coming home. You see the remaining troops will be home soon.
How does that feel?
GALLAGHER: Very surreal time. I'm sure not just for myself but all veterans of Iraq. Not being there, there's a sense of closure, of course, but seeing the images of the bases where, you know, when I was there 150,000 Americans were in the country. And now, they're complete ghost towns. It's a very odd feeling.
LEMON: Let's be honest here. If anyone has had a chance to travel over the last couple of weeks and you see the troops coming home from Iraq and some coming home from Afghanistan, you know they're going to be home with their kids and you see the families rushing to embrace them and the tears. You can't help but be moved by that.
GALLAGHER: Oh, absolutely. I mean especially during this time of the holidays. It's like Santa Claus coming home, a real-life Santa Claus coming home to their kids. You know, every one of those men and women are heroes, not only for their families but for this country. It's very poignant and touching.
LEMON: Matt, was it worth it? Was the fight worth it?
GALLAGHER: It's a great question, Don. And something that historians will be debating for decades. Right now, the legacy of these wars and the reality is, it's going to be play out in the home fronts of two countries, both in Iraq as you talked about in the segment before this one, and back here in the States. You know, we have returning veterans coming home to record numbers of unemployment, trying to get back to school with a new G.I. bill, kind of how my generation of veterans reincorporated back into American society will really have a huge impact of the legacy of this war.
LEMON: We've been talking about your blog. It was enormously popular and it was shut down. Why did the Army shut down your blog?
GALLAGHER: Yes, for about six months I was keeping a blog, talking about the comings and goings of my platoon in Iraq, stationed in a small outpost just north of Baghdad. And I wrote about a conversation I had with my battalion commander that was perhaps a little too frank and honest. And they pulled the plug on it, which they had the right to do technically.
I hadn't committed any operational security violations so kind of a debate ensued about, you know, social media playing out in a combat zone. I came back, did the remaining months of my tour in Iraq, you know, as honorably and bravely as I could with my men, came back, transitioned out of the service and was lucky enough to write a book about it.
LEMON: Yes, did -- what was the benefit? Do you think men and women or even their families or people who just wanted to know, what was the benefit? Do you think they got anything out of the blog? GALLAGHER: You know, I hope so. I hope that by putting names and experiences down, you know, on the Internet served as a connection for Americans that weren't directly connected to these wars.
LEMON: It's real because you were there.
GALLAGHER: Absolutely, yes, the boy next door.
LEMON: Yes. Can I --
GALLAGHER: We all were just trying to do the best we could.
LEMON: Can I ask you this? And I want to read. It's an excerpt from your book and it's about the capture of a high-value terrorist known as Mohammed the Ghost. You were surprised had when you actually saw him, you said. You wrote that he probably could have been captured much earlier by setting a trap with, quote, you said, "Xboxes, a few porn mags and some weed."
Explain that to us.
GALLAGHER: Right. Right. Yes, no. When I went over there in 2007, I had a very powerful image of who the bad guy was, right? Kind of the -- looked a lot like Osama bin Laden, jihadists -- die-hard jihadists, wanting to kill everything that I held dear.
You know, certainly those men existed here and there, but most of the insurgents that we dealt with on a day-to-day basis during my time in Iraq were kids, you know, trying to put bread on the table sometimes. They'd been hired by older insurgents to plant bombs, to pull triggers. And, you know, there was some empathy that we developed for those guys. At the same time, there's only so much empathy you can have for those people who are actively are trying to kill you.
So, it was a very ambiguous, gray experience for all of us and realizing that, as with all wars, the ones that started it aren't the ones fighting it.
LEMON: OK. I have a couple seconds here, Matt. What's on your lapel?
GALLAGHER: Yes, I'm rocking my combat action badge that I earned with the Army in Iraq and my IAVA pin, the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, which is a veteran service organization that I'm not only proud to be a member of but also work for.
LEMON: Matt Gallagher, thanks for coming up. Most of all, thanks for your service, OK?
GALLAGHER: Thanks for having me on, Don. Appreciate it.
LEMON: Investigators ID the man they say opened fire at a California office building, killing two of his co-workers.
And we'll have that, plus more of your top stories, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: These are the headlines right now:
Investigators have identified the gunman who killed two people, then himself at an office building in southern California. They say 48- year-old Andre Turner (ph) opened fire at Southern California Edison yesterday. "The L.A. Times" is reporting the victims worked for the utility company as did Turner. The paper also reports two other people wounded in the shooting are now in critical condition.
Ex-Chicago Bears wide receiver Sam Hurd is out of jail, released on a $100,000 cash bond. He's accused of conspiring to buy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of marijuana and cocaine in order to distribute it in and around Chicago. The Bears cut Hurd from the team yesterday. His attorney says Hurd is innocent and will fight those charges.
She stuck by him through accusations of rape, but Kobe Bryant's wife is now filing for divorce. Vanessa Bryant and the basketball star had been married more than 10 years. They have two daughters who are 8 and 5 years old. In 2003, Colorado prosecutors charged Kobe Bryant with sexual assault but dropped the case after the victim refused to testify.
A united front in suburban Detroit has about 200 Muslims and Christian protesters joined up to picket Lowe's. They are criticizing the home improvement chain's decision to pull ads from the TLC reality show called "All-American Muslims". Lowe's decision came after a Florida group objected to the show's positive portrayal of Muslims in the U.S. A local station says 30 counter protesters showed up to support Lowe's.
The hazing scandal at Florida A&M University may soon lead to a lawsuit. A freshman said vicious hazing left her leg so badly injured she had to go to the hospital. Her attorney is going to join me next.
But first, a national report released just this week finds that nearly half of America's public schools failed federal achievement standards. How can parents help turn around a failing school? We get some advice from Education Contributor and Principle Steve Perry in this edition of "Perry's Principles".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE PERRY, CNN EDUCATION CONTRIBUTOR: There are ways that you can improve the school. The first is that you as a parent have to get involved. You have to meet with the principal and the teachers there. And you have to come and be solution-oriented. Coming in and pointing out problems doesn't help anybody. We see the same problems that you do.
Talk to other parents and see what they think. Get your PTA together and as a group be solution oriented. Talk about how you can improve your reading scores and math scores. Talk about making it a more comfortable environment. Fight the powers that want to maintain the status quo within the school.
Demand that people stay after school with your children, even if it is outside the contract. You must be determined to get the best education out of any school that you have to send your child to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: This story has really been in the headlines and a lot of people in social media have been reaching out to me about this story. We're going to get more information now about Bria Turner, she is a band member at Florida A&M University. She says she was -- hang on one second, why are you saying that?
Bria Hunter.
LEMON: Bria Hunter, it says the wrong thing in there. So, it's Bria Hunter.
Let's go to it now. Tell us Bria's story. B.J. Bernstein is her attorney.
Bria said she was beaten so badly -- I'm glad you said that, there was a wrong name in there. She was beaten so badly, with one of her legs, she said it was hazing. She had an $82,000 scholarship to Florida A&M University. She is giving it up, it was a full ride. She says she doesn't want to go back.
B.J. BERNSTEIN, BREA HUNTER'S ATTORNEY: Right. Freshman, 18 years old, was a clarinet player, and is 105 pounds soaking wet. I mean, she is a tiny little girl who is full of energy, full of life, was excited about going to the school. It was her parents' alma mater; got the scholarship. As she gets to school, there's this Red Dog group and there are actually several subgroups in the band in which there is hazing to be a part of this group in your freshman year.
LEMON: To be a part of the Marching 100 is a big, big deal, right? So they feel they have to go through this hazing because, number one, they want to be a part of it. Probably for the most part. Number two, their parents and everybody else are proud of them and they can't give up. They can't not do it.
BERNSTEIN: And it's just natural with young people this age. I almost want to say children. They may be 18 or 19, but we all know what they're like at that age. They want to fit in. They wan to be a part of the group. They want to show their loyalty to their school, which they are excited to be about. But it results in a brutal beating such that she was at the hospital, she did -- is it was eventually reported, because she could barely walk and actually is still getting medical care and was at the doctor today.
LEMON: She did an interview, she and her mom, Bria and Mom, did an interview before you became her attorney because you would not have allowed this interview to happen.
BERNSTEIN: No, no. LEMON: Let's do the longer sound bite first, the one where she talks about the hazing. Then her mom stops her in the middle and says, I don't think you need to talk anymore. Then we'll talk to B.J.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIA HUNTER, ALLEGED FAMU HAZING VICTIM: The first day, like everybody -- not everybody but some -- a good few people got hit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to stop. I'm not comfortable.
HUNTER: They went around the room and they asked people, did you want to be a part of this organization?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's an organization within the band?
HUNTER: Well, it's not affiliated with the band but it's in the band.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you mean?
HUNTER: Like it's not legal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK? The mom is not comfortable talking about it, but they in some way kind of knew it was going on. But did they know how severe it was?
BERNSTEIN: You know, obviously no. I mean, you don't know that your child is going to be beat to the stage that she's in the hospital or with Robert Champion, your child is going to be beat so that he dies.
LEMON: But her dad was in the band, wasn't he?
BERNSTEIN: Her dad was in the band but it wasn't like this when he was there, to this level. And again, this is -- this is the problem. It's an open secret at Florida A&M and other institutions where hazing occurs.
LEMON: OK. Let's talk about Robert Champion. He died. His death was ruled a homicide, an autopsy revealed that the hazing trauma was the cause of his death. They were friends. He warned her. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTER: He didn't like it. He told me not to let anyone touch me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERNSTEIN: Even worse, what that child said. And it gives me chill bumps. I met his parents the other day. Bria has told me that Robert said to her, hazing is like a cancer, and one day it's going to be found and come to light. And who could have realized that what brought it to light was that child's own death. If that doesn't give every person chill bumps who says, why are you going after the school? Why is it the school's fault? Because there's a tradition in fraternities and sororities. And there are a lot of alums know exactly what I'm talking about.
But they have to stop and think, things are changing. Times are changing. Why is violence a way to show your loyalty? You can show your loyalty to your fellow pledges, classmates, in so many other constructive ways. And in a world where we're upset about bullying, where we're upset -- this whole newscast, about the violence in our world, these are the good kids, the kid who are scholars, who are musicians.
LEMON: Because it's always been had that way doesn't mean that it has to go on being that way. Because you did something in the past doesn't mean you were doing the right thing.
BERNSTEIN: Exactly. It has to stop. That's what we're going to work on hard here.
LEMON: And she's suing with you as her representative.
BERNSTEIN: We'll be filing suit soon.
LEMON: For?
BERNSTEIN: For damages, I mean the child's lost an $82,000 a year scholarship. She has physical injuries as of -- I just saw her again yesterday. She is still having trouble walking. She can't bend all the way down. She was at the doctor for several hours yesterday, she was back for testing again today. Because they were concerned about some things with her legs. This is serious stuff.
LEMON: Thank you. Appreciate, B.J.
BERNSTEIN: Thank you.
LEMON: Again, it is Bria Hunter?
BERNSTEIN: Yes.
LEMON: And B.J. is the attorney.
Coming up, we want to talk some money now. If you're looking for a job this time of year, you may be able to take advantage of the holiday season to get ahead. CNN's Christine Romans spoke to Brad Karsh, founder of JobBound, for some helpful tips.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR, YOUR MONEY: Tell our viewers, Brad Karsh, what you need to be doing to take advantage of this time of year to get a job.
BRAD KARSH, PRESIDENT & FOUNDER, JOBBOUND: Sure, and speaking of this time of year, I'm going to sort of holiday theme this.
One tip I have, don't be greedy this holiday season. A lot of job seekers want to hold out for the perfect job. Now, if you have been out a job a week, a month, maybe you can hold off for some stuff. But if you have been long-term unemployed, you want to try to get a job, any job. I see people say I was a director, they will only make me a manager. My advice is prove it on the job, don't prove in the interview.
ROMANS: Just get in there.
KARSH: Just get in there. It's easier to have the discussion with someone in HR once you have been there six months as opposed to arguing about it before you start working.
ROMANS: If you are going to have 5 million people, potentially, rolling off unemployment benefits you can't afford to just wait too long for what you think is your old level, right?
KARSH: Exactly. That's what a lot of people are doing. I say just get in, do something. As long as you're not miserable get in somewhere.
ROMANS: How should you be using the holiday season, maybe, to find those connections and networks, because we talked a lot about networking as an important opportunity? Keeping up your social media connections, but holiday parties, is it crass or is it very savvy to be making those connections?
KARSH: Well, I think it's never a bad idea to network. People definitely think or get worried that they are going to have to be a little too crass. People enjoy networking. They want to talk to friends. They want to hear what's going on. And they want to legitimately help you. So it is not a bad idea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Egyptian protesters thought their rebellion was over, but nothing could be further from the truth. Ten people have been killed in violence since Friday. It this picture, outraging many people and on social media. It's all over the place, a defenseless woman nearly naked to the waist dragged of by officers.
Mohamed Fahmy joins me now by phone. He is in Cairo.
This is unbelievable stuff here. What's going on, Mohammed?
MOHAMED FAHMY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I've been at the site of the clashes for 48 hours. They're ongoing now as I speak. It's between the Egyptian protesters and the military. It started outside the cabinet where the protesters had staged an open-ended sit- in, dubbed Occupy Cabinet. They do not like the new prime minister appointed by the military. They see him as one of Mubarak's men. He was in Mubarak's cabinet for 18 years.
Now they feel they have been misled. And they did want him at all. I watched the beginning of the clashes. The military was on top of the rooftop of the cabinet building throwing down unconventional weapons, everything from sofas, fire extinguishers, cement blocks, glass. And they really inflicted a lot of injuries to the protesters on the ground.
We know now from the ministry of health and the prosecutor that 10 people have been killed with live ammo, which is surprising because the prime minister gave out a speech saying that live ammo was not used. And it must have been another third party involved and the protests do not believe that.
The situation is the military stormed in while the CNN crew was on the ground and we had to run for a good 300 meters. They were just beating elderly, women, little kids. They were just going way out. And the picture you see right in front of you has been causing a lot of talk on the ground, circulating on Twitter, Facebook. People are upset. They really had faith in the army. There was a slogan in the Egyptian community, the army and the people, one hand.
This specific photo has really tarnished their image, and it does not seem like these clashes are going to stop anytime soon.
LEMON: Mohamed, let's talk about-and you're talking about Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri, who was appointed by the military earlier this month.
But that picture we have been looking at, that picture is horrific. What is happening in this picture? Obviously they are stomping on her, this woman, in the middle of the street. The reaction from this and exactly what is going on here?
FAHMY: What is going on is that one reaction from the government-or let's say a government official was that this photo must have been photo-shopped, fabricated photo. I myself was around during this attack. I didn't see this specific incident happening, but, yes, people are shocked because this is an Islamic culture and one infringement that you see as ripping somebody's clothes off, that's really a big deal.
LEMON: Well, for a woman to have exposed her bra there, in that culture, that in itself is terrible.
FAHMY: Yeah, it's a disaster. I've seen a man crying saying, our women have been betrayed. I actually have seen somebody, another woman that her veil was removed by the military. She was beaten and, you know, considered a traitor. It seems that they are also attacking foreigners and journalists. A lot of journalists have been beaten, their cameras have been confiscated. We at CNN, on the ground, had to also limit our coverage with the cameras on the ground, specifically because of what is happening right now.
And from where I'm standing the clashes are still ongoing, the Molotov cocktails are being exchanged. The one specific scene that really upset me, and many people, is at the epicenter of the clashes there's a building, it's a scientific center. And it contains manuscripts of historical books, 200,000 of them, that have been destroyed completely, and the building is completely burnt and destroyed. And it's just really upsetting because, other than the 10 people that died, now we have a historical building that have been completely destroyed, Don. LEMON: And the prime minister saying the arson committed by those protesters they showed no patriotism by burning down that library, according to him. Listen, with this unrest, Mohamed, that is happening now, and the crackdown, does it show any signs of diminishing, or is it just firing up the protesters and the opposition?
FAHMY: Well, basically, the statement has really upset the opposition and the protesters because the average person at home now sees the protesters as these thugs who are destroying public property and history. But the matter of the fact is, I was standing outside that building at 9:00 a.m., when it was happening. And basically there were military officers on top of the rooftop of the building, throwing rocks at the protesters on the ground. And they were fighting back.
And many of them when I spoke to them - they had no clue. I, myself, didn't know this was a library that contained such historical books and manuscripts. So none of these people believe that the protesters would do that on purpose. They are people who are -- many of them are very educated and they do -- they would not do that. But the question is, what was the military doing on top of this building when it's a historical building?
LEMON: Yeah. That's the library, that Mohamed is speaking about there. There that you are looking at in the pictures.
Mohamed, be safe.
Mohamed Fidel Fahmy in Cairo with all with all the unrest going on over there. You can better believe we'll be paying attention to it. We appreciated you again, Mohamed.
You know, it seems like, every few months we're telling you about a new Facebook redesign. But you've never seen an overhaul like this one, on the site before. What you need to know about using the new Facebook Timeline, and whether you have any choice in this matter coming up.
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LEMON: Have you noticed your friend's Facebook profiles look a lot different in the past few days? Maybe you're one of the thousand who is have turned on the site's new Timeline feature. It rearranges all of your status updates, the pictures, the videos, everything to tell the story of your life. And like any major change to Facebook, some people love it, some people hate it and some people are confused about how's it work, where's my wall? What's going on?
That's why we have Brian Tong. He is the senior editor for the tech web site CNET.
OK, Brian, I was one of the early adopters, one of the testers of the Timeline. We're going to pop up my page here for a little bit. First off, you're going to need more than just a profile pick from now on, right? BRIAN TONG, SENIOR EDITOR, CNET: Yeah. They have this thing called the cover photo. It's this panoramic picture behind your profile picture. The thing about this is I know people like you might take your profile picture and then put another picture of your face on it, because I know you like make sure every one sees you all over the Facebook, man.
LEMON: That was me visiting the Facebook headquarters in New York.
TONG: See, I knew you would have your face on your face.
LEMON: Course I did. I was hugging the wall. The wall liked me. Everyone on Facebook said, "I'm glad it didn't poke you." I thought that was pretty funny.
TONG: Yeah, that's good.
LEMON: A little Facebook humor.
Let's talk about the right side here, where you can see the actual Timeline. Can you go back and add pictures and events from way before you ever signed onto Facebook, all the beginning of your life and even if you want to put your family before you were born.
TONG: What makes this navigation pretty cool, it really like Facebook changed this format to make it a scrapbook of your life. I can tell you right when I switched over to Timeline you just kind of drag through and you remember all these events and pictures that you forgot about. So this Timeline, in a scary way, though, it also documents pretty much every moment you've interacted on Facebook. It's kind of like a year book, too. It's fun, but it's creepy how much information you can scoop from all your activity on there.
LEMON: You were looking at pictures like from way back when, like from 2000, 1999. There were some from the '80s on there for me. When I put-when I had to kinked hair, check that out. I don't know if you can see it.
TONG: How big was the hair in the '80s? I want to see that, Dude.
LEMON: Oh, it was huge. And there it is. My little modeling proofs.
TONG: Oh, no.
LEMON: I thought I was the bomb. I weighed about 132 pounds wet. There it is, I'm Erkle. That's me from the '80s. So, if you go on my Facebook.
TONG: Download the Erkle, the Erkle.
LEMON: So update yours. I want to see. All right?
TONG: OK, OK.
LEMON: Thank you, Brian Tong, appreciate it. TONG: All right.
LEMON: When we come right back here, some sweet reunions between the troops and their families.
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LEMON: Need some inspiration here? After more than eight years of war, the last of America's military forces will soon be out of Iraq. We have been seeing so many great homecomings. Here are some of those sweet reunions between the troops and their families.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he were here right now, I'd tell him thanks for serving us in our country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just happy and shocked. Truly happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a tremendous feeling and one that very few moments in life parallel; just really thankful to be home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, baby! Oh, my God!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mommy!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What a surprise, what a shock. And this is the best Mother's Day present.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a surprise for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm very blessed. Very proud to be the mother of a soldier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Welcome home. Thank you for your service. I'm Don Lemon, CNN headquarters in Atlanta. "CNN HEROES, ALL STAR TRIBUTE" is next.
