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Obama Criticized for Trip; Champion's Death Ruled a Homicide; Reports: Facebook IPO May 18; Openly Gay Romney Adviser Quits; Four Players Suspended In Saints Bounty Scandal; Guide Dog Leads Blind Dog; At Least 11 Killed In Cairo; Violence Colors Egypt Elections; Vegan children's Book Outrages Some; Chinese Officials Tail CNN Crew

Aired May 02, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Live from the CNN headquarters in Atlanta, where it's noon Eastern Time, 9:00 a.m. on the West Coast, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Suzanne Malveaux.

I want to get you up to speed for this May 2nd.

The commander-in-chief has returned home from the Afghan war zone. President Obama marked the first anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden with an unannounced trip to Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will not keep Americans in harm's way a single day longer than is absolutely required for our national security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Within two hours of the president's departure, a suicide bomber rocked Kabul. At least seven people were killed. The Taliban is claiming responsibility for the attack.

Hillary Clinton is in China. She's there to talk economic strategy, but the name on everyone's lips is Chen. That's Chen Guangcheng, who is now, we are told, in a hospital in Beijing.

Chen is the blind human rights activists who was convicted and thrown in jail for leading protests against the government. He spent six days under American embassy protection after escaping house arrest. It's still not clear if he left the embassy by choice. A friend of the activist says Chinese authorities threatened his family.

And this is central Cairo in Egypt today. Angry protesters are rioting because a candidate for president is not being allowed to run. Demonstrators have camped out in Cairo for several days now. And today was especially violent. At least 11 people were killed by rocks and fire bombs. Much more on Egypt's violent election season later on this hour.

And this video has just been released of a deadly duck boat accident in Philadelphia. It happened in July of 2010. A barge slammed into a tour boat throwing more than three dozen people into the Delaware River. Two Hungarian students were killed in that accident. A wrongful death lawsuit filed by their families is about to go to federal court.

And the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced today they are signing free agent Eric LeGrand. LeGrand was paralyzed from an injury during his junior year at Rutgers University. LeGrand won't play for the Buccaneers, but the team says his perseverance, character, and spirit are an inspiration. He showed some of that tenacity during an interview back in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC LEGRAND, PARALYZED FORMER RUTGERS PLAYER: In my dark days, you know, I just -- I'll just tell me, I can't stay down because there's someone out there that's always worse than you, and that's what I tell myself. If there's somebody out there worse than me, why am I sitting here complaining, why am I crying? I have a whole world behind my back that is waiting for me to get up out of this chair. I got to keep on going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A huge inspiration.

President Obama arrived back at the White House just a short time ago after his unannounced trip to Afghanistan. The commander-in- chief landed in the war zone under the cover of darkness. He returned home in the middle of the day, having rallied American troops, refocused attention on the killing of Osama bin Laden, and shown the world that U.S. power remains dominant.

Let's go live to Athena Jones at the White House.

Athena, how does the White House respond to criticism that this was a political device used in an election year?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, I don't think anyone would believe that this has nothing to do with politics.

But from the White House's point of view, they, first of all, the fact this trip to Afghanistan fell on the one-year anniversary of the killing of bin Laden is part of all of it, but that the president always had the intention of spending that day with troops. They say that the signing of this agreement was really about the two presidents getting together on Afghan soil as President Karzai had requested to sign this strategic partnership agreement ahead of the NATO summit that comes in another three weeks in Chicago where they will be meeting with various allies who are there in Afghanistan and talking about the way forward.

I should mention to you that when it comes to politics, it isn't all positive politics, of course, for the president as well. I mean, this is an incredibly unpopular war. If you look at some of our recent polling, more than 70 percent of people are against it. And more than 60 percent say things aren't going well and the U.S. isn't winning there.

So having this agreement to maintain a commitment to Afghanistan through 2024 isn't a wholly positive, Fredricka, to some people.

WHITFIELD: And, so, Athena, apparently, there were a few items left out of the speech. What have you learned about that?

JONES: Well, certainly. There has been some criticism that the president didn't talk about, you know, troop numbers that will stay behind after 2014 or the amount of money that will be committed to Afghanistan after 2014. These are issues that senior administration officials tell us will begin to be discussed at NATO with all the other allies who the U.S. is hoping will contribute.

Also, issues like Afghan readiness, the readiness of their security forces, what the Karzai government is going to do to battle corruption.

This whole issue of Pakistan, we know the president touched on Pakistan a little bit in this speech yesterday, but we also know that the relationship between the U.S. and Pakistan has been really, really strained ever since that raid on the bin Laden compound. You know, he wasn't hiding in the mountains of Pakistan. He was in this garrison town, and, of course, the whole issue of drones.

So, there's a lot that still needs to be worked out, that needs to be dealt with over the coming years. And this is really in a way just the beginning, kind of a framework to continue talking about future frameworks and future agreements, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Athena Jones at the White House -- thanks so much.

JONES: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So, I want to bring in our Wolf Blitzer right now.

Wolf, the White House points out this was the first time a sitting U.S. president has spoken to the American people from inside an active war zone. President Obama was clearly speaking to his audience here at home.

Take a listen to the focus on the future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We emerge from a decade of conflict abroad and economic crisis at home. It's time to renew America -- an America where our children live free from fear and have the skills to claim their dreams, a united America of grit and resilience, where sunlight glistens off soaring new towers in downtown Manhattan, and we build our future as one people, as one nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Wolf, you know, did this trip and the dialogue of the president kind of redirect the overall talks over the next six months come Election Day?

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Look, obviously all of this is within the political context. There's a major election about to happen in the United States six months from now. There will be an election. So everything is within a political context.

I would have liked to have seen the president a lot more transparent with the American people in his remarks last night.

WHITFIELD: What do you mean?

BLITZER: Well, you know, he talked about the troops that are coming home. What he didn't say is that he basically tripled the number of troops since he took office.

There were about 35,000, 36,000 troops in Afghanistan -- U.S. troops in Afghanistan in January 2009 when he took office. He increased that number to well over 100,000 troops in Afghanistan. He doubled and tripled down on what President Bush had done. Now, there's still about $90,000 U.S. troops. At the end of the summer, there'll still be about 67,000 or so U.S. troops.

I wish he would have been more transparent with the American people and explained how much this is going to cost all of us taxpayers, $2 billion a week right now, $120 billion a year, probably $200 billion between now and the end of 2014 when all U.S. combat forces are out of Afghanistan.

If you do the math, take a look at $200 billion. You add up all sorts of really important programs in the United States, food for children, health for poor women, all sorts of things along those lines, it's a lot more money that the United States is spending in Afghanistan than spending on some of these vital programs here at home.

He didn't get into the money, he didn't get into the final troop levels, and he certainly didn't answer the unanswered questions -- what happens after 2014? How much is this going to continue costing American taxpayers between 2014, 2024? We know it's going to be in the billions and billions of dollars.

How many troops will remain? Will they have immunity from prosecution from Afghan law if they do remain in any significant numbers in Afghanistan other than just protecting the U.S. embassy in Kabul?

None of this was addressed by the president. It would have been good to hear him bluntly and say, as commander-in-chief, look, this is going to be treacherous. This is going to be dangerous. He did say that, but he didn't get into the specifics that I would have liked to have heard.

WHITFIELD: And security-wise this was a big risk taken by the White House. But, you know, how did this define or even perhaps redefine the president's perceived command of his office or perhaps even his foreign policy?

BLITZER: You know, it speaks volumes. And I pointed this out repeatedly yesterday, that 10-plus years after the U.S. went in right after 9/11 and liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban, a president of the United States still needs to fly into Afghanistan under such enormous secrecy in the middle of the night.

He can't be there during the daylight hours. He arrived at around 11:00 p.m. local time. He left by 5:00 a.m. local time. He was only there in the middle of the night because it's so dangerous.

He didn't get into the whole aspect of Hamid Karzai. Some of the stuff that Hamid Karzai has done and said about the United States -- he's the partner, the strategic partnership agreement with which the president signed this deal -- you know, it just sort of speaks volumes about the pitfalls, the problems that the United States has right now.

But you know what? It's the president's war right now. He has doubled and tripled down, as I said. He's going to have to deal with this.

What I don't like about what Mitt Romney said is he really didn't explain what he would do differently in that statement that he put out. He put out a wishy-washy statement himself. It's going to be up to Romney's -- Romney himself and his national security advisers to explain where he disagrees, if he does, with the president when it comes to Afghanistan.

I suspect on Afghanistan, they agree more than they disagree -- and that will be to the irritation of a lot of other folks who think it's time to get out of there as quickly as possible.

So this will be an issue I suspect one way or another between now and November of this year.

WHITFIELD: Six months to go.

All right. Thanks so much, Wolf Blitzer, in Washington.

And here's the rundown of some stories that we're covering this hour.

Criminal charges are under way in the case of the marching band hazing death. How many people will be charged and how serious will those charges be? We've got the details on the investigation.

Also, your chance to own a piece of Facebook is coming up. But how much will it cost you?

And a seeing eye dog helps one of its own kind. Video you have got to see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In less than two hours, a Florida state attorney general is expected to announce criminal charges in the suspected hazing death of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion. The 26-year- old student was a member of the university's famed marching band. He died after being beaten on a band bus following a football game in November.

George Howell has done extensive reporting on this story for us.

George, how many people are expected to be charged and how serious will these charges be?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is the big question at this hour. We know -- we do know, confirmed, that at least several people will be charged in this case. How many people at this point? We will learn at 2:00 p.m.

But again, this happened back in November -- November 19th of last year. Robert Champion, the 26-year-old, was on the bus with several other band members when according to the medical examiner's office, he was beaten so severely to the back, to the arms, and to the chest that he went into shock, Fredricka, and he died from that beating.

And at this point, there are many questions. You know, obviously, how many people will charged? But also, what is the range of the charges?

We know that hazing in the state of Florida, it is a felony. Could this also be manslaughter? Could it also be murder? Those are the questions that we will learn more about at 2:00 p.m.

And just a few months ago, I spoke to HLN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks about this case, an investigator himself. I wanted to find out what do prosecutors look into in a case like this?

Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: How do you determine the level of culpability? Who did what?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: That's a great question. And as a law enforcement officer, I want to know who were the ones delivering the blows, the serious blows? Was there one person who delivered the most blows that may have caused his death? We don't know. Were there other people who might not have been involved at all?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: The Champion family has been waiting for the last 5 1/2 months for this day, for this moment to learn who is involved in the death of their son.

So, again, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time, we should hear more prosecutors on what they're planning.

WHITFIELD: It's taken a long time. Is this any indicator it may be a difficult case to prosecute, especially since many of the witnesses may ultimately be defendants as well, unless there are some plea deals?

HOWELL: That is certainly a possibility. And, as you heard what Mike Brooks had to say just a minute ago, also the number of people who were on that bus. Obviously, you have to speak to everyone. You have to find out who did what on the bus, and certainly that has taken some time.

But when you talk to the Champions, again, their attorney conducted a civil lawsuit, a civil lawsuit has been filed. They spoke to people, and in their civil lawsuit, they point the finger at the bus driver, which is very interesting. They say the bus driver knew what was happening all along and, in fact, they allege that hazing like this happened on the bus routinely when the band traveled around.

But, again, whether the bus driver is involved in this, again, we have yet to see. We should learn more at 2:00 p.m.

Fredricka, I also want to point out another story that just came to light. The University of Florida, the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, has been put on interim suspension by the university, since people were charged with hazing. This is another hazing-related case, Fredricka, just coming to light today. We learned it from one of our CNN affiliates.

But, again, obviously schools are cracking down on hazing, and today we're seeing law enforcement step in on this case.

WHITFIELD: All right. George Howell -- thanks so much for the update on both of those stories. Appreciate that.

All right. Here is a question for you: do you have your money ready? There are reports that Facebook has set a date for its initial public offering. But will it be a good investment?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's the moment many investors have been waiting for -- Facebook's initial public offering.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with details on that.

Alison, so what date is Facebook setting?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: OK. So, May 18th, Fredricka, is the day that Facebook shares should begin trading publicly. "Wall Street Journal," "Reuters" are saying that date could also change depending on how well or poorly investors respond during the next couple weeks. Because what's going to happen is, since Facebook is in the final stages of its IPO, it goes on the road.

IPOs go on the road, meaning Facebook executives, they go around to institutional investors to try to convince them to buy into the company. That usually lasts about two weeks. So, that puts that date, that IPO date, around May 18th. You know, it shouldn't take much convincing for these investors to buy in. I'll tell you what? This definitely is the most anticipated IPO of the year -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Indeed, that's an understatement. People have been waiting and waiting and waiting.

So this is expected to be the biggest IPO as you just said in the technology sector. They value Facebook at apparently $100 billion. So, is Facebook really worth all that?

KOSIK: You know what, there is a big element of hype that's sort of built into this. But think about it, this is a really popular company. And as with any IPO, especially the ones that are hyped up as much as this one is, investors like to get in at a low price.

You know, with this IPO, as you said, Facebook is looking to be valued at $100 billion. Why wouldn't big investors want to get in on it, right? But remember, this valuation, there's a caveat here. It's not necessarily based on Facebook's hard advertising number. You know, it's more of a general bet.

And there are a lot of questions that remain. How is Facebook going to continue to make money? How is it going to grow over the long term? But hype or not -- hype -- with all this hype or not, you know, Facebook's IPO really could be historic, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alison Kosik, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

All right. President Obama spiking the ball in Afghanistan. Can the Romney campaign keep up with the incumbent's media blitz? We'll throw it to our political panel.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Here is a rundown of some of the stories we're working on:

A historic speech from the president turns the conversation from the economy to foreign policy. The Romney campaign looks to swing back.

Then, it's a dog lead dog world -- an amazing story of friendship between two canines.

And veganism -- how young is too young for your kids to cut animal products from their diet?

All right. It is a powerful image, the president of the United States addressing the American people from a war zone, standing in front of military vehicles and an American flag. The White House says President Obama's trip to Afghanistan was not political, but it does point out the benefits of running for office when you already have the job.

Let's bring in our political panel to talk about that and more. Democratic political consultant Ed Espinoza, and Republican analyst Lenny McAllister.

Good to see both of you.

OK. So, how difficult is it for an opponent -- in this case a Republican opponent -- to run against an incumbent with that backdrop, Ed?

ED ESPINOZA, DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL CONSULTANT: You know, it's always challenging for a challenger to go against somebody who's got the benefit of incumbency. But in this particular case, Romney's challenge is he doesn't have a wide breadth of foreign policy experience, and a lot of what he relies on are GOP talking points.

Now, the president has a pretty good record on this. I think the one-year anniversary of taking out Osama bin Laden is significant. And he's continuing that record. Look, stabilizing the region out there, it's always going to be a challenging place in the Middle East, but al Qaeda is at bay. The world is a little bit safer. And it's important to remind people of that.

WHITFIELD: So, Lenny, do you agree this is going to be tough?

LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN ANALYST: Yes, it's a little difficult, definitely. The power of incumbency means something.

But you have to remember, we were able to celebrate this on May Day yesterday, but we still have cringe Friday coming up. It's a good thing for Governor Romney that this election is going to be more about the national economy than it is going to be about foreign affairs.

And as long as you have cringe Friday coming up every first Friday, where this administration has to spin the fact that unemployment still stays high and try to brag about 120,000 jobs being added last month, Governor Romney has a shot because people, unfortunately, are distancing themselves just a little bit from 9/11, but when they go and see pink slips and not paychecks, they're going to still vote with their pocketbooks, not based on this presidential display that we had, a good one yesterday, but still it's going to be more about pocketbooks than presidential displays from last night in Afghanistan.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's shift gears a bit. Newt Gingrich officially ending his campaign for the White House in just a few hours. The handwriting has been on the wall for a while, and Gingrich finally decided to get out of the race last week.

Here's what he said then.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am committed to this party. I am committed to defeating Obama. We will find ways to try to be helpful. I do think it's pretty clear that Governor Romney is only going to be the nominee. And we're going to do everything we can to make sure that he is, in fact, effective.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So, Gingrich is expected to elaborate, perhaps, on his throwing of his support behind Romney later on today. But this is after months of very nasty attacks against Romney. Will people forget that, Lenny?

MCALLISTER: Well, it's going to be something that Gingrich is going to have to try to smooth over, over the next several months. I mean, they have gone after each other hard. But, again, if there's a template in play, it is from four years ago where Senator Clinton at the time and Senator Obama at the time really went after each other hard.

If you look at the administration now, you have Senator Clinton, who is now secretary of state, and you have another former rival in former Senator Biden who is now the V.P.

There is time to smooth this out as we get into late August. There's an opportunity for Gingrich to focus on President Obama and not so much on Governor Romney and pivot from here. It's a good thing it's early May.

WHITFIELD: Ed, do voters forget?

ESPINOZA: I -- well, voters can, but there are ways to remind them. The main difference between 2008 and 2012 is that Clinton was relevant in that primary process. Newt Gingrich has not been relevant since South Carolina, and what he has done is just gone on this slash- and-burn tirade where he's really tried to take down Romney with no benefit for himself -- sorry, no benefit to the party, no benefit to the process.

Gingrich might be able to smooth that over. I don't know that Romney has much incentive to do that. But these are things that can come unearthed in the general election.

More importantly, Romney has given Democrats plenty of things to go after on his own. He's the gift that keeps on giving from $10,000 bets to saying "corporations are people, my friend," and a litany of other things he said. We didn't need Newt Gingrich to remind people about Mitt Romney. We just needed Mitt Romney.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, finally, you know, Romney adviser who is openly gay, quits the campaign because of, in his words, "the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues," end quote. Richard Grenell having criticized for his sexual orientation by some on the far right.

And in the statement, t Romney campaign said, quote, "We are disappointed that Ric decided to resign from the campaign for his own personal reasons. We wanted him to stay because he had superior qualifications for the position he was hired to fill," end quote.

So is the Romney campaign leaning further to the right to appeal to social conservatives, Ed?

ESPINOZA: I'm going to give the Romney campaign a little credit here because I think they did the right thing, in that they're bringing people on board regardless of their race, or religion, or gender, or their orientation. And in this case, it's a situation where the far right really tugged at the campaign and, you know, made their voices heard and they weren't real happy about it.

It was the right decision to bring Grenell on board. It's too bad he had to leave, and it just shows that, hey, in certain parts of the Republican Party, they're 50 years behind the times.

WHITFIELD: And, Lenny, final word on that?

MCALLISTER: Well, this wasn't a Republican Party decision. This was a decision between Governor Romney and this gentleman, and what they should have done is been able to find a way to work this out.

This was something that was known about this gentleman when he came into the fold with the campaign. They should have kept him there and basically provided an environment where he did not resign, where they were able to shield him from some of this criticism.

Let's face it, Governor Romney's going to be the nominee and these hardcore conservatives are not going to vote for President Obama. Therefore, there was an opportunity to try to smooth this out and not force him out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Governor Romney's going to be the nominee and these conservatives are not going to vote for President Obama. Therefore, there was an opportunity to try to smooth this out and not force him out. Unfortunately, this resignation came down anyway.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Lenny, Ed, thanks so much, always good to hear from you. Thanks so much.

We've got some breaking news we want to go to Dallas now. Our Ed Lavandera there. You have been hearing about the NFL's New Orleans Saints alleged bounty program. Well, now, apparently some charges are being imposed. Ed has more on that -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, you know, several weeks ago, we reported on the punishment that was levied against the team officials with the New Orleans Saints, but now the NFL has announced the suspensions of various players involved in this bounty program.

Pay for performance scandal, if you will. Of course, all of this stems back to the NFL's investigation that it says had found that players were paying themselves and paid by the defensive coordinator in a pool of money that had been collected for hits that would end up with players getting carried off the field or carted off.

Well, now the NFL says that four players in all will be suspended. The main player here, Jonathan Vilma who's a captain of the Saints, defensive side of the ball, has been suspended for the entire season, Jonathan Vilma.

Will Smith has been suspended for the first four games. Defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove suspended without pay for the first eight games. Scott Fujita will be suspended without pay for the first three games.

Fujita and Hargrove no longer play with the Saints. They are with other teams. Remember, this is actually probably much better off for the New Orleans Saints compared to what it could have been.

In the initial investigation, NFL officials said they found anywhere between 22 and 27 players had participated in this program, but the commissioner of the NFL, Roger Goodell said in a statement here just released a short while ago.

That he wanted to focus the player punishment on those people that he believed were leaders of the team and were involved at a significant -- in a much more significant level in this pay for performance or bounty program, whichever way you want to call it. But that's what the Saints here are facing now, four players, two really that are only left on this team.

Two have moved on to other teams, but two players essentially that will be punished because of this bounty program, and one of them, Vilma, who will be out for the entire season -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ed Lavandera in Dallas. Thanks so much. Suspensions, not charges being imposed on at least four players of the New Orleans Saints. All right, thanks so much, Ed. Appreciate that.

All right, seeing is believing. A blind dog has his own guide. The heart warming video you just have to see.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the "Help Desk" where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Greg Olsen is a certified financial planner and partner at Lennox Advisers.

Lynette Khalfani-Cox is the founder of the financial advice blog askthemoneycoach.com. Thanks both for coming in today. Lynnette, first question to you. This comes from Aaron from Michigan.

Aaron is 30 years old a reserve member of the U.S. Navy. He wants to know how he can start planning for retirement, always good to start at 30.

LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: Right. And I have to say hats off to him for starting to plan at such an early age. That's a great thing.

I think a couple things he should keep in mind, one is to go ahead and get started with whatever it is you choose to do, whether it's mutual funds, individual stocks and bonds. Sometimes people are who younger think they have to have a big lump sum or a lot of money to invest.

Take the slow and steady approach. He should take advantage of any potential military benefits that might be available. Those kinds of things can really add up over time. He has decades potentially until retirement.

So just sort of take the slow and steady approach and make sure he's broadly diversified. Don't just jump into one asset class or one individual investment.

HARLOW: Even if it looks very attractive. Greg, your question comes from Tracy in Wheaton, Illinois. Tracey wrote in that she is planning on getting married soon. How should she and her fiance merge their finances? I guess maybe should they?

GREG OLSEN, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: Well, as a financial adviser and a happily married man, I'm qualified to answer this question. I would say slowly. Take baby steps. This is not a hard, fast rule here. This is more of a feel question.

Maybe start by opening up a joint checking account together and paying the bills. And then maybe switch to opening up an investment account together. The best advice I can give you though is do it slowly. And wait until she gets married. Planning for the wedding is really stressful enough.

HARLOW: It certainly is. I can tell you that. Thank you, guys both very much. We appreciate it.

If you have a question you want answered, just send us an e-mail anytime to cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, good friends can often guide us through tough times in life. Case in point, two good friends in Oklahoma that also happen to be man's best friend. Here is Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He is a 2- year-old Golden Retriever, but the one thing he can't retrieve is his sight. This is more or less what he has seen since birth, but now Tanner, the blind dog has a guide dog.

Meet Blair, a 1-year-old female. Not only is Tanner blind, he has epileptic seizures to cause him to lose control of his bodily functions.

After his adoptive owner died, Tanner's seizures got worse. A retriever rescue group brought him here to the Woodland West Animal Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can tell you it was more than one time I have recommended putting Tanner to sleep.

MOOS: Though the situation looked black, so did the solution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just your everyday street dog.

MOOS: Blair was a stray bought in with a gunshot wound to the leg. She was a nervous wreck until she and Tanner bonded in the play yard. Take it from a singer whose eyesight matches Tanner's.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The two of them together have had a remarkable effect.

MOOS: The sight of a sighted dog helping a blind one reminded us of a special kind of fetch played by a deaf dog and a hearing one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the dog that's not deaf fetching the dog that is deaf over there. Fetch Benson.

MOOS: Buffy fetched Benson by grabbing his collar in her teeth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good girl, Buffy.

MOOS: Blair prefers to use the leash.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's a service dog for another dog.

MOOS: Does she realize he's blind?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I don't think there's a doubt.

MOOS: One thing is for sure. They're up for adoption as a two- fer, and offers are pouring in. Tanner's seizures used to come every day or so, but after two months of togetherness, he's only had a couple.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're pretty much inseparable at this point.

MOOS: In this case love really is blind, and Blair keeps Tanner on a short leash. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Something tells me you adopt one, you must take the package deal. They go together.

Fighting in the streets of Cairo today was so violent that at least 11 people were killed. We'll tell you why this new wave of violence is happening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Eleven people killed in the streets of Cairo today. Furious Egyptian protesters and an unknown group threw rocks and fire bombs at each other. Here's what they're fighting about. Egypt's military government officially banning some candidates from running for president in three weeks. The protesters say the generals are steering the election.

Let's get to Michael Holmes with CNN International. Banning candidates doesn't sound very democratic in a new Egypt. What's going on?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, ironically, these were rules that were laid out for candidates. They had to do things like get enough signatures to be qualified. They had to not be recently out of jail. They had to not be the offspring of foreign nationals.

And a couple of these people have fallen victim to these rules. The rules basically excluded people, and it was all laid out. What this has shown though is the fragility I suppose of the social and political situation in Egypt at the moment.

And that the people who didn't qualify get their people whipped up like this, and it also shows what the military rulers at the moment are prepared to do to quell that sort of dissent. This was the group that was fighting them was said to have been plainclothes thugs allied with the military.

WHITFIELD: So this is a first election post Hosni Mubarak's rule.

HOLMES: Well, first democratic election in Egypt ever, presidential.

WHITFIELD: So is this what Egyptians say they expected to take place? These are kind of the growing pains in a new democratic society.

HOLMES: It's a historical thing. You're talking thousands of years of history. This is the first truly democratic election if it goes ahead as planned to be held in Egypt's history for the presidency.

The parliamentary elections were held a few months ago and the surprise there was the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultra conservatives got the majority in parliament, which was a big surprise to everyone. So it's a very big deal for Egypt.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Got the majority in parliament there, which was a big surprise to everyone. And so, yes, it's a very big deal for Egypt.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So we have seen, you know, this spring uprising period that crowd protest promote change. So protest over what is and isn't happening in this democratic process, might it promote some change? Might those candidates who are trying to run find their way into the process after all? HOLMES: Well, actually, the answer to that is a very simple no. There is no appeal. The electoral commission that decides on who can be on the list and who can't, there is no appeal to that. You know, there is concern that the electoral commission, there's some doubt about whether they are, you know, completely free or fair. That they are completely impartial. But they have made the decision. There is no right of appeal.

The most controversial one, and some of these people who are protesting today were supporters of Abu Ishmael (ph). He was disqualified because his mother held an American passport for a period of time. And that disqualifies him. But a lot of his people are out there on the streets, you know, protesting like this (ph). The irony being that he's a solafist (ph), he's an ultra conservative who supported this rule when it was introduced. He just seemed to have forgotten his mother had an American passport at one point. And also, ironically, he is fervently anti-American in his rhetoric.

WHITFIELD: And so he stands the best chance.

HOLMES: Well, he's not getting in. No. He's one of the ones that's been band.

WHITFIELD: I see.

HOLMES: So, yes, no. No, the best chance, the Muslim Brotherhood has a candidate in who's highly regarded, Kalad Alshata (ph). And also the former Arab League boss, Ama Mussa (ph), he's also one of the front-runners at the moment with the list that they've got. You know it's -- whether the presidential elections actually happen now is a concern. If this sort of protest continue and grow, will they be able to hold the election under those conditions?

WHITFIELD: A painful process. You feel for the Egyptian people. They've been through so much.

HOLMES: Yes. They just want a little democracy.

WHITFIELD: All right, Michael Holmes, thanks so much. Of CNN International.

HOLMES: Good to see you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you as well.

All right, so how young is too young to go vegan? We'll look at the health concerns the diet could pose for your kids.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A controversial children's book that advocates veganism is upsetting some parents. It's called "Vegan Is Love: Having Heart And Taking Action." Eatocracy editor Kat Kinsman joins me now from New York with Details on this.

So, Kat, what's the most upsetting thing about the book for some parents?

KAT KINSMAN, CNN EATOCRACY EDITOR: Well, as always, whenever we talk about veganism, there is tremendous umbrage and outrage, not about the message necessarily, because it's a fundamentally good one that animals should be treated with respect and care, but rather how it's delivered. There are a lot of pictures in the book that depict sort of cute and cuddly animals in laboratories with running sores and bruises and, you know, the author is taking a fair amount of t heat for that, but she really does stand behind her message saying that it's important that kids really understand the price that animals are paying to be part of the food chain.

WHITFIELD: All right, and it's more than that. It's not just about, you know, what anyone should eat, but apparently the book also spends some time talking about kids not going or discouraging them to go to zoos, circuses, or aquariums. Is that right?

KINSMAN: This is true. Not all vegans believe this. They're not all getting together and having meeting and talking about their standards, but there are a lot of vegans who believe that animals shouldn't be used for entertainment. And, you know, there are a lot of ethical and moral issues around how animals are treated in circuses. But I think there are probably a lot of people in the zoo community who would say that what they're doing is actually helping foster a better life for a lot of animals and preserving a lot of species.

WHITFIELD: And how is a vegan different from vegetarianism?

KINSMAN: Well, vegetarianism fundamentally means that you pay some attention to the amount of animal products that are going into your diet. Veganism takes that a step further. And there are different sorts of vegans. Some of them are basically dietary. A lot of them won't use fur or wool or leather in their homes or in their furniture or in their clothing. A lot of them also will avoid products that they know to be tested on animals. And some even go further and, you know, cut out things like refined sugar because sometimes animal bones are used to refine that. A lot of beers and wines are used also in the process. So -- and that they also will stay away from things like circuses and zoos.

WHITFIELD: And is there any way of knowing how many parents think their children should be raised vegan?

KINSMAN: Well, we took a poll asking people's attitude about this and it's pretty much in line with what I tend to find whenever we discuss veganism on Eatocracy. We had this great article by Emily Smith where she interviewed the author of the book and 48 percent of the respondents said that they felt as long as kids were getting adequate nutrition in their diet, they didn't see a problem with that. It was about 30 percent said that when kids are old enough they should be able to decide for themselves.

Now, again, you know, it's a very fraught issue and people aren't arguing with the fact that animals should be treated better and we really do need to take a look at what goes into ours and our children's diet. They're really worried about how the message is being delivered and feel that there's a lot of brain washing and scare tactics that go into it.

WHITFIELD: So what's believed to be some of the health concerns as it pertains to kids who might become vegans?

KINSMAN: Well, I'm not a health expert myself, but all the health experts that I've consulted have said that, again, kids don't necessarily eat that much. So it's not even a matter of what they're eating so long as they're getting the right nutrients into their bodies. Enough protein. They might have to take some "b" supplements. They have to -- they just have to watch out and making sure they get enough calories in their diet. But if that is indeed the case, it doesn't necessarily matter if there's animal in there or not. So it really is up to a very informed parent to decide how they're going to be raising their children.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kat Kinsman, thanks so much, joining us from New York. Appreciate that.

KINSMAN: Hey, thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: A blind activist is out of hiding in China. We'll tell you why he says he wants to kiss Hillary Clinton.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're watching what's happening in China today where it's still not clear if a prominent human rights figure left U.S. protection on his own. I'm talking about Chen Guangcheng, seen here today in a hospital in Beijing. He had been at the American embassy ever since escaping from house arrest where (ph) he was convicted of leading protests against the Chinese government. A friend of Chen's tells CNN that the blind activist was forced to leave the embassy by officials who threatened his wife. Those questions are hanging over today's official visit to China by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She is there to talk strategic and economic policy, but she has been a firm advocate for Chen Guangcheng and his human rights causes. In fact, Clinton called Chen after he left the U.S. embassy today. Chen reportedly told her, quote, "I want to kiss you."

And you're about to see just how sensitive this human rights case is in China. CNN's Stan Grant has been following all sides of Chen's story, from his conviction, to his house arrest, and his escape. Watch this report. Stan and his crew are followed, chased, and left beside a road and physically confronted by Chinese police.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. It seems that a car is following us. We've turned down this dirt road and we're going to try to lose him.

GRANT (voice-over): We're trying to get to Chen Guangcheng's village in Shandong province. This area is in lockdown. It has been for 18 months while the blind activist was under house arrest, guards visible still today. This is where Chen's supporters say his family is being held. We want to speak to them. But we don't even get close. A car is quickly on our tail. We've picked up a local driver. He took a lot of convincing. He knows about Chen and knows the risks.

"Yes, I've heard of him," he says. "Local people should know of him. He campaigned against family planning policy. I know he was under house arrest."

GRANT (on camera): The car is still following us and we've been driving now for about 20 minutes. This just goes to show how difficult it must have been for Chen Guangcheng, the man they were actually holding under house arrest, to have managed to escape.

GRANT (voice-over): Our driver is becoming more nervous. He won't slow down. We go down dirt roads, past local markets. It gets dangerous. Sometimes ending up on the wrong side of the road.

GRANT (on camera): Whoa.

Well, the cat and mouse game is continuing. We're back in our car. I think as you've just seen, as we pulled out, that same vehicle pulled out and they're following us again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Still behind us, Grant?

GRANT: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Same car?

GRANT: Yes. Yes, it's fallen into a routine now.

GRANT (voice-over): Finally, our driver has had enough and pulls over. We're left by the side of the road.

GRANT (on camera): Is the driver going to leave us here?

GRANT (voice-over): As police approach, he speeds off. We get the sense people here are scared. Even if they're aware of Chen Guangcheng, they won't admit it.

"I'm just a truck driver," this man insists. "I spend a lot of time away. I don't know what's going on."

No sooner are we inside another car, the chase is back on.

GRANT (on camera): This gives you an indication of just how seriously security take this issue and the lengths that they will go to, to stop us trying to tell the story of what's been happening to Chen Guangcheng and his family.

GRANT (voice-over): When we stop, they stop. Where we go, they go.

GRANT (on camera): That's them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they're coming.

GRANT (voice-over): We stop at a local watermelon stand and hope to throw them off the scent. No chance. Watching on, the same black car. At no point have the people inside identified themselves. Watermelon in hand, we decide to ask some questions.

GRANT (on camera): Is this about Chen Guangcheng?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, TRANSLATOR: I don't know who Chen Guangcheng is. I'm just driving around for fun.

GRANT: But you've been following us the entire way.

GRANT (voice-over): We don't get back to our car before they pounce. Eventually we get free.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get in the car, Stan, go.

GRANT: As Chen Guangcheng knows too we will, in China, security doesn't give up so easily.

Stan Grant, CNN, Shandong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)