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President Obama Backs Gay Marriage; Trial of Police Officers Who Beat Homeless Man; American Hostage in Afghanistan; Deadly Explosions in Syria; Federal Spending; Sex, Lies, and Campaign Cash; Gay Marriage and Faith in Obama; The Help Desk; Deadly Attack in Damascus; NASA: 2nd Most Massive Asteroid

Aired May 10, 2012 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, I'm Suzanne Malveaux. I want to get you up to speed. President Obama stirs up the national debate over same-sex marriage after announcing that he thinks gays should be allowed to marry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've just concluded that for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Political pundits are weighing in on what this means for the November election, and we're also listening to you what you're saying about President Obama's announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's time that he came out, so to speak. I mean, I think all of America has kind of been waiting for it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do not feel that I would support a candidate, no matter who they are, for -- if they support gay marriage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Going to hear more from supporters and opponents of gay marriage from all corners of the country. Find out how this hot button issue is playing out as well in the courts.

Two California police officers are going to stand trial for the beating death of a mentally ill homeless man last year. Now, this is very disturbing video here. This is surveillance video showing officers beating Kelly Thomas with batons, kneeling on his chest, punching, repeatedly tasering him. Well, Thomas died five days later and one officer is charged with second-degree murder. Both are facing involuntary manslaughter charges.

An army mom and dad say they don't believe the government is doing enough to get their son back. We're talking about the parents of Bowe Bergdahl. He is the American POW from the war in Afghanistan. He is the only one. Now, his parents are speaking publicly for first time since he was captured three years ago. And Bergdahl's family says -- tells "the "New York Times"" that the government has secretly been negotiating a prisoner swap aimed at freeing their son, but they are still frustrated by the lack of progress. They have not heard from their son in more than a year.

This is an enormous bomb crater in the center of Damascus, Syria. There were two explosions. Police say they were suicide car bombings. They killed at least 55 people, wounded almost 400 others. It is the single deadliest attack in Damascus since the rebel uprising began more than a year ago. More than 1,000 people have been killed in Syria since last month, that's when the U.N. cease fire went into effect.

Federal spending front and center now on Capitol Hill. House members are discussing a Republican-backed bill that would cut the deficit by $300 billion, that's over the course of 10 years. The GOP is trying to head off huge defense spending cuts that are scheduled to take place in January. Well, Democrats, they oppose the bill because it also includes significant cuts to social programs like Medicaid and food stamps, and there are no new taxes.

It is the defining social issue of our time, and President Obama no longer evolving on this issue. The nation is reacting today to the president's unequivocal support of same-sex marriage. Now, he says his daughters actually helped to influence his decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You know, Malia and Sasha, they have got friends whose parents are same-sex couples. It wouldn't dawn on them that somehow their friends' parents would be treated differently. And frankly, that's the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective. You know, not wanting to somehow explain to your child why somebody should be treated differently when it comes to the eyes of the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in CNN Legal Contributor Paul Callan in New York. Paul, the president brings up this point that people should not be treated differently in the eyes of the law, and I want everybody to take a look at these maps here with us. These are the states that allow same-sex marriage. I believe there are seven of them, and the other map here, this map showing the states that have some sort of amendments on same-sex marriage. When you look at these maps here, it's a confusing patchwork of laws. Do you think there needs to be one federal law that defines marriage?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It -- I think we have to get a consensus among the American people probably before the political force would be there to enact such a law. The only federal law -- now, people would think, you know, gee, federal law would say something about marriage one way or another. In fact, until 1996, federal law didn't say anything about it. It was strictly up to the states, and then they passed this defense of marriage act which defined it for the first time as marriage is something between a man and a woman. Prior to that, there were no federal laws defining marriage. And ultimately, I think, President Obama by using the bully pulpit of the presidency will start to push public opinion probably toward endorsing it nationwide either by state legislation or maybe federal.

MALVEAUX: So, Paul, in terms of what has been done here, the president says it's up to the states to decide. He's not introducing federal legislation regarding marriage equality. Is there really any change now that has happened today as opposed to yesterday when it comes to marriage rights?

CALLAN: I think you have to look at a broader picture. As the chart showed, we're up to about seven states, I think, now that actually legalize gay marriage. We have another group of states that allow civil unions. So, that's a huge change in a very, very major cultural issue. If you look at the polls in terms of public support, back in the early 90s, the 80s, less than 25 percent of people said they would support gay marriage. Now, most of the polls tend to indicate and even split among members of the American public.

So you know, I think you're seeing a movement in American public opinion and when that happens, the politicians start to move and, frankly, the judges start to move as well, because, to a large degree, this has been effected by judges finding that there are rights that gay Americans have that aren't being properly enforced.

MALVEAUX: All right. Paul, thank you, appreciate it. Here is rundown of some of the stories that we're covering over the next hour. Tears and anger in the courtroom. We've got the latest drama in the John Edwards' trial as the prosecution prepares to rest today. And mortgage rates dropping to new lows. We're going to tell you if this means it's the right time to refinance.

Also, an African pastor who once supported President Obama now questioning that support because of the president's stance on the same-sex marriage. We're going to talk to him about how the congregation feels.

And don't forget, you can watch CNN live on your computer while you're at work live, head to CNN.com/T.V.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Prosecutors are expected to wrap up their fraud case against John Edwards today without putting his former mistress, Rielle Hunter, on the stand. Well instead, two federal agents, they are testifying along with a wealthy Democratic political operative. Diane Dimond, she's a special correspondent for "Newsweek" and "The Daily Beast." She is joining us from live outside the courthouse in Greensboro, North Carolina. Diane, you bring things in a very interesting and creative way. You always get to the inside of what is happening. Tell us -- paint a picture, if you will, what happened this morning.

DIANE DIMOND, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, "NEWSWEEK" AND "THE DAILY BEAST": Well, you know, this is the last day of the prosecution's case-in-chief, as they call it. They can come back and present more evidence later, but Leo Hindery took the stand today. He is a 60 something Democratic party operative from New York, a very wealthy man. He started the YES network, the Yankee network there in New York. He told the story of how hard he worked for John Edwards, how he was so enamored of his message, and how sad he was in Iowa, in Des Moines, the day of the caucuses when it was clear that their strategy had failed, and John Edwards was not going to be the president of the United States. They had decided that that early in the -- in the process. And he talked about how John Edwards and he got together and he -- they immediately started to broker a vice presidential spot for him in the Obama administration. Hindery actually called an Obama person and made this offer and, of course, it was turned down.

So, I think this was important because it went to the fact that despite what the defense says, John Edwards was still very interested in his public persona, in serving as a politician in some sort of way, and Hindery was the one that brought that to the fore. But what I really did was I think he participated in a sort of prosecution rehabilitate Andrew Young moment. Hindery told a very touching story about how Andrew Young came to him long after all of the scandal had broken in 2009, February, and he said to him -- you know, he brought his wife and he said, I don't know what to do with my life. And he told him the story, what he had done for John Edwards, claiming false paternity, I don't know how I'm going to support my children. He said he was as sad a man and troubled in his life as I have ever seen. I think he just wanted my counsel. He asked him specifically about writing a book and the hazards about that.

MALVEAUX: Right.

DIMOND: And this older man had written some books, and he had said, you know what? You need to do what is best for your family to support your family. So, this may have been a definitive moment for Andrew Young. Now, on cross-examination the defense attorney, Abbey Lowell, said, did he tell you -- he was so worried about money, did he tell you that he had gotten $725,000 from Bunny Mellon? No. Did he tell you that Fred Baron, the billionaire Texas guy, had given him $335,000. No. Did he tell you he bought -- he built a big million dollar house during this terrible time in his life? No. So you know, he made a good witness to sort of humanize Andrew Young, but it gave the defense a chance to come back, push back, and say, hey, don't forget, Andrew Young put a lot of money through his bank account.

MALVEAUX: Yes. How are we going -- how are they expected to wrap this case up? I understand they're going to rest today. What are we expecting this afternoon?

DIMOND: Right. Well, we've had two federal FBI agents on the stand. Not the way I would have chosen to go out. It's a little boring, it's a little dry, but it is important. It's a lot of telephone records showing how many people talked to who at the same time. This goes, of course, to the possible conspiracy charge. There was an interesting flurry of activity between phones in North Carolina and Fred Baron in Texas, the big adviser, on August 7th right before that big ABC interview which we now know John Edwards lied.

The second agent, Suzanne, is going through a pile of bills that you can't even imagine that Fred Baron paid to hide these people, Rielle Hunter and the young family, $81,000 in private jet flights, hotels about $50,000, $200,000 in wire transfers to rent them a big fancy house in Santa Barbara and provide them with cash. It's a little dry but it's mind boggling when you add up all the numbers.

MALVEAUX: And Diane, you recount something that isn't so dry. This is John Edwards' reaction yesterday, right? When the prosecution said, hey, we're going to rest the case today.

DIMOND: Yes. Yesterday, I wrote this in my "Daily Beast" piece, after the prosecution announced its three final witnesses and none of them were Rielle Hunter, we all started to file out of the room, and I was gathering my things, and I looked over and I saw John Edwards kind of, smirk is too strong a word, but he sort of made a surprised face, he looked at his attorney and he said, that's their case? As if, you know, no Rielle, no nothing? That's their case? It came off to me, frankly, as a little bit cocky.

MALVEAUX: Do we think he's going to call -- might not call any witnesses then, the defense? I mean, what do we make of his -- what do we make of that?

DIMOND: Well that's a -- you know, if you are arrogant enough to think that's all the feds have on me, you might be arrogant enough to tell your defense attorneys, gee, just get up there and say no witnesses. Say, they had the burden of proof. They didn't prove the case.

I don't expect that's going to happen. They have to prove some things. They have to show, for example, that gift taxes were actually paid on all these donations from Fred Baron and Bunny Mellon.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

DIMOND: They have to -- I think they have to put on some witnesses. The big question here, though, Suzanne, is, will they bring Rielle Hunter? You know, you always put your most controversial person on first.

MALVEAUX: Right.

DIMOND: They -- you know, the prosecution put Andrew Young on first, and that was 14 days ago. They're probably hoping any negative feeling about Andrew Young is long gone. So if they're going to bring Rielle Hunter in, if, I'd say it would be Monday when the testimony resumes. There's no testimony tomorrow.

MALVEAUX: All right, we're going to be watching on Monday. A final question here. I know somebody who you and I both know, Jennifer Palmieri, who used to be the press secretary to Edwards, and also a very good friend of Elizabeth Edwards. Had a very tough time on the stand yesterday.

DIMOND: Right.

MALVEAUX: Can you explain what happened?

DIMOND: Yes. It was the most emotional testimony of the entire trial to my mind. She told how she never believed John Edwards. She never believed that Andrew Young was the father of this baby. She thought John Edwards had become delusional about becoming vice president or attorney general.

And then they asked her on cross-examination about Elizabeth Edwards' final days. And her voice began to crack. And she began to lose control, which is understandable, because she was there at the moment Elizabeth Edwards died.

She was asked about Elizabeth's priorities. And she said her priority was to get out of this mess with her family intact and she said she was most worried that she -- when she died, she would die without a man who loved her at her side. And as she said that, she was sobbing and told the jury, but I told her I would be with her. And, in fact, Jennifer Palmieri was with her and Andrew -- I'm sorry, John Edwards was also with his wife. But it sort of left the question hanging, was there a man who loved her with Elizabeth Edwards when she died?

MALVEAUX: Yes, such a tragic, tragic situation.

Diane, thank you so much. Obviously we're going to be following all the different twists and turns of this case. Really absolutely remarkable.

DIMOND: We have a day off tomorrow though.

MALVEAUX: Take the day off, Diane. You deserve it.

All right.

DIMOND: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Thanks. We'll see you on Monday.

An African-American pastor is upset with President Obama over his stand on gay marriage. We're going to talk to him and ask him why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: President Obama's public support of gay marriage could cause some in the African-American community to lose faith in him. While some black clergy support same-sex marriage as a civil right, others say they're disappointed with the president's decision. One of them is Reverend Ralph Martino. He is pastor of First Church of Christ Holiness in Washington, D.C., and he's joining us live.

Thank you for being here with us. First of all, what will you tell your congregation this Sunday? REV. RALPH MARTINO, FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST HOLINESS: To continue to believe and to stand on the promises of God's word. To trust him and to stay focused completely and solely upon him. We're biblically based and we're going to stand on the word because the word is our foundation. We will stay anchored to the rock, the Bible, Jesus, and we will stay geared to the times so that we can be positioned to love and to help individuals that find themselves in the struggle.

MALVEAUX: Will you encourage those in your congregation to support, to vote for President Obama, this go-round?

MARTINO: We will encourage those in our congregation to pray for him and to pray for the leaders, as we do anyway. We pray over 32,000 minutes a week. We lift up leadership. And we will pray fervently for him. And even for Mitt Romney, because we want to come to the balance of the truth. And we need a leader in place and a godly leader. Someone that will be biblically based and someone that will operate according to principles and doctrines that we can follow.

MALVEAUX: So, as you pray for both of these men, will you take a public stand in terms of turning to your congregation staying, I believe we should vote for President Obama?

MARTINO: What we will suggest to them is that the conscience of the believer is normally one of the determining factors to help them to understand who is it they're supposed to vote for? Who is it they're supposed to stand with? That is based upon the word of God. The word of God in their lives. Their own spiritual growth and maturity.

Now, if this stance continues as is, it will create some issues and challenges, and it will make it very difficult for individuals to say, I can publicly acknowledge and vote for the current president.

MALVEAUX: Will you urge them to sit out in the election this go-round if they feel that they can't support President Obama?

MARTINO: We will pray our way through that. We will try and strive to help them to make godly decisions. It's very important that we do vote. Voting is a privilege, therefore we want to vote. But we need to have someone that we can believe in. Someone that we can work with and work through if we're going to vote.

MALVEAUX: Reverend, do you think this is a kind of issue that you believe you can debate within the black clergy, within the black community and then ultimately get to a point where you will rally behind President Obama on voting day?

MARTINO: I believe so. There's a difference here. You have the conservative believers, you have the liberal. When we say conservative, we need to define what that is. A conservative believer is one that takes a biblical stance. They're biblically based, Christ centered. They're biblically focused. Liberals have a tendency to veer away from the foundation, which is the Bible. And so, therefore, if everybody comes back to that one foundation, that one source called the word of God, and we lift up Christ and we exalt him, then we will find out for ourselves what we need to do. And that's the only way that the two sides will ever come together and walk together. Because two cannot walk together except if they agree.

MALVEAUX: Is same-sex marriage the most important issue for you on the table? Are you looking at other things like the economy and the way the black community is doing when it comes to employment and other major concerns?

MARTINO: There -- all of these are contributing factors. There's no doubt about that. This one, of course --

MALVEAUX: But where does same-sex marriage rank in your mind?

MARTINO: Right now it's probably at the top of the list. And the reason being because it's evident that our moral compass has taken this ship a little further away from the dock than where we need to be and, therefore, we have to let those that are a part of the same-sex community know that we're here to love upon them, to help them, to show that level of compassion through the word of God towards them, and, therefore, in order to do that, again, we must take our stance, but let them know at the same time, friend, we're standing on truth, but we're operating in love. Jesus loves you, so do we, and we flow from there.

MALVEAUX: And will you be voting for Romney this go-round since he shares your views?

MARTINO: Well, there's some question marks there as well in terms of his own belief system and in terms of ours. So, again, as we share with you through prayer, consultation in the ministry with my mentor, my pastor, and with our group, our organization, that's how we're going to flow. We're going to flow. We're going to believe. We're going to pray. And God will give us the answer. And he will tell us who to vote for.

MALVEAUX: All right. Reverend Martino, thank you. Appreciate your time.

MARTINO: Thank you. Thank you, ma'am.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

Saving hundreds of dollars a month on your mortgage. Many homeowners, they're already doing it. We're going to tell you how.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Time now for "The Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. Joining me this hour, Greg Olson is a certified financial planner and partner at Lenox Advisors. Lynnette Khalfani-Cox is the founder of the financial advice blog askthemoneycoach.com.

Thank you both for coming in.

Greg, interesting question for you from Ann in Washington. Ann wrote in, "I have two credit cards and a credit score of 770. I always pay my bills on time and I never spend more than 10 percent of my total credit limit. I would like to open another credit card that offers cash back and points on gas purchases. Will opening that other credit card hurt my credit score?"

GREG OLSEN, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER: Well, Ann, first of all, congratulations for being so financially responsible.

HARLOW: Yes.

OLSEN: It could slightly negatively affect your credit score, so you want to really think about it before you open up another card. If you really need to, because of the benefits that go along with it, maybe ask for a lower credit limit. If it's just for gas, maybe $500 a month would be sufficient.

The other thing would be possibly look at the other two credit cards that you have if you really need this third one and say, which one don't I need.

HARLOW: Right.

OLSEN: This way you'll keep your overall credit limit about the same and that shouldn't negatively affect your credit score.

HARLOW: But closing one, that could hurt her credit score?

OLSEN: It really depends -- I mean, in that situation, over time you -- you're constantly opening and closing cards. So I would seriously consider it depending on how good that next -- really you need that next card.

HARLOW: Yes. Got it.

All right, Lynnette, your question comes from Joe in Arizona. Joe wrote in, "after a short sale on a bankruptcy, how long do I need to wait to buy another home?" I don't know, should he even buy another home?

LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: Not immediately, certainly.

HARLOW: Yes.

KHALFANI-COX: You've got to get that credit cleaned up and sort of get back on track financially.

Generally speaking, the short answer could be as little as one year, believe it or not, or as long as maybe three years. It depends on two things. One, the type of loan you get. If it's an FHA or a government backed loan versus a conventional mortgage. And also, two, the type of bankruptcy proceeding that he was in. Believe it or not, you could be in a Chapter 13 where you reorganize your debts and pay them off over a period of three to five years. You could actually get a mortgage one year after you file bankruptcy. You can get it while you're in bankruptcy proceedings. You have to show a lot of stuff to the bankruptcy court and your trustee, I've been making all my payments on time. I've sort of gotten back on the right track. But legally you can do it.

HARLOW: Wow.

KHALFANI-COX: The government wants to make sure, obviously, that people don't just, you know --

HARLOW: Keep doing it.

KHALFANI-COX: Walk away from homes and foreclose and then get it again. So that one to three year time period is the general rule.

HARLOW: Got it.

Thank you, guys.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Amazing news if you're shopping for a mortgage or looking to refinance.

Alison Kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange.

Alison, you have some good news for us, yes?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's the second straight record low for mortgage rates. If you look at a 30 year fixed it is at 3.83 percent. This is coming from Freddie Mac's weekly report. Look how cheap it's become to borrow money. Look over the past 20 years. We saw these rates at 8 percent in the 1990s, not to mention you think about the '80s when they were in the double digits. You have seen the rates fall dramatically after the recession -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Why are they falling like this?

KOSIK: Because, to be honest with you, the economy is not in such great shape. You look at the jobs market. We got that jobs report on Friday. It shows that momentum for the recovery in the jobs market is slowing down. Also you have that uncertainty after the weekend elections in France and Greece. You have investors getting out of stocks and going to what's considered safer investments, less volatile investments like bonds. That pushes mortgage rates down.

It's a double-edged sward. We want the economy to improve but we also want lower interest rates, mortgage rates, but it usually doesn't come hand in hand that way -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Alison, bottom line here, how much -- if we refinance, how much would I save?

KOSIK: So it really depends on when you bought, when you bought your home, when you bought your apartment. So give you an example, let's say you bought in 2007 at the end of the housing boom, and there was a 6 percent rate on a $200,000 loan. If you refinance, you will save about $3,700 a year, so it comes out to about $300 a month. Of course, there's a catch here. You've got to pay closing costs and, of course, you have got to qualify. It's not easy these days, especially if your home has dropped in value. But my suggestion is, go ahead, call your lender, call other lenders and see if you can get a good deal -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right. I'm going to make that call today.

Thank you, Alison.

(LAUGHTER)

KOSIK: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: Looking overseas now, it is the deadliest attack in the city of Damascus since the fighting in Syria began.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: This is a residential neighborhood. This is in central Damascus. It is near homes and schools and shops. Police say that two cars packed with more than a ton of explosives blew up today. At least 55 people are dead, almost 400 people are hurt. A cease-fire agreement between government forces and rebel fighters is less than a month old, and already more than 1,000 people have been killed since it took effect.

CNN's Arwa Damon is in Beirut watching all these developments in Syria.

First of all, Arwa, it's hard to even wrap my head around this, that so many people have died during this so-called cease-fire. What do we know about this bombing that happened today, first of all?

ARWA DAMON, INTERNATIONAL CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, the target most certainly seems to have been one of the branches of the Syrian military intelligence apparatus, the notorious Palestine branch. But right behind that building that had its entire front blown out by the force of the blast, is a university complex. And right across the street is a residential area. This was a multilane highway where the attack took place and the blast went off right during morning hour rush-hour traffic. You can just imagine the scale given how many explosives were employed, a ton of explosives. Vehicle after vehicle. Their car is entirely burnt out.

Shortly after the blast took place, elements of the U.N. monitoring mission did, in fact, visit the site, including the head of the mission itself. And take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT MOOD, MAJOR GENERAL, U.N. OBSERVER TEAM COMMANDER: I would like to express to all Syrians my deepest condolences, my warmest thoughts to all the victims, and to all the families, the whole population of Syria. These are deplorable acts. It needs to stop. Whomever, whomever inside Syria or outside Syria that is supporting this, they need to understand that it's only giving more suffering to the Syrian people. They have to stop and give the Syrian people a chance to move in a peaceful direction without having innocent people being killed in the streets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAMON: Of course, finding a way to move down that peaceful trajectory, well, that continues to remain elusive because, at this point, as we were saying, effectively, any sort of cease-fire has not even materialized, so we can not even begin talking about a peace plan.

MALVEAUX: Most people, I imagine, Arwa, think this idea of a cease-fire is a joke. Do they have any other ideas, anything that they think will actually work?

DAMON: Well, that's the problem. When it comes to anything that the international community is going to agree upon the way it did, when it came to Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan, that doesn't exist. There is no internationally-backed plan "B." When it comes to people inside Syria, there are incredibly different divergent opinions about what should actually take place. When it comes to opposition activists, some of them believe there could be greater economic political pressure being put on the regime. They believe western countries could somehow pressure Russia and China to pull their backing of the Assad government. There are others calling for military intervention, NATO-style, like what we saw taking place in Libya, although there is no appetite for that at all at this point in time.

But the bottom line is that there is no viable solution right now to end the bloodshed in this country. The issue is that when it comes to Syria, what happens inside Syria is not going to stay confined to that nation's borders. It most certainly is going to have a regional and potentially, perhaps even a global, spillover effect.

MALVEAUX: Arwa, last question here. If this fighting continues the way we have seen it go, is it possible that these U.N. monitors are just going to pull out altogether and say forget about this, this is way too much, we can't handle this, and leave the Syrians to deal with it themselves?

DAMON: That most certainly could be something we see taking place, especially if they find themselves in the midst of the violence. Remember yesterday, one of the U.N. convoys that was carrying the head of the mission was very close to where a blast took place outside of a city. And some of the monitors, we've been hearing them talking about how this is the most dangerous mission that the U.N. has undertaken in recent history.

And the great concern, of course, is that no matter how infective many might say the presence of the observers on the ground is, at the very least it is better than having no one on the ground. It is better than the alternative of having everything take place in Syria in some sort of a vacuum.

MALVEAUX: All right. Arwa Damon, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Obviously, a very difficult and dangerous situation there still.

This story, one of the largest asteroids in the solar system, a NASA spacecraft is actually circling around it. And we're going to be able to see some remarkable images of this mysterious, mysterious world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(FORTUNE 500)

MALVEAUX: NASA is about to reveal new information about the second most massive asteroid in the solar system. A news conference starting in just about 20 minutes.

Chad Myers is here to talk about the asteroid and what it means to us.

Is this a dangerous situation?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: What do we know about this?

MYERS: We knows asteroids, parts of asteroids do hit the earth every once in a while. This asteroid, the big one, the one of the big two, is an asteroid belt in kind of an orbit all by itself in the asteroid belt, just to the outside of Mars. Not going it hit earth. That would be a good thing. That would be the next extinction, because this is a big guy. It really is.

(LAUGHTER)

Vesta is the name. And, Dawn, the spaceship, has been out there looking at this thing for a year, circling around, orbiting this thing. It is a large rock, nowhere near as big as the moon. But at one point in time, it was proposed that it could be a planetoid, a small planet, a dwarf planet. But what we see as -- there's the Dawn going around it and around it. We will find out if it has layers. We think it has a mantle, an inner core, a crust. We are thinking even parts of this broke off when another asteroid hit it and it broke off and did get to the earth and became meteors. And they have been found on the earth, picked up, and examined. Now we have the spaceship out there looking at this thing for a year. And NASA is going to have some big news for us.

MALVEAUX: They'll have some details about this. What else do we know about it already, going into this news conference? MYERS: It's a dead rock. It doesn't have oceans. It doesn't have -- things aren't coming -- it's not going to be a planet at any time. There's not enough stuff out there anymore, but it's this big thing circulating around in the asteroid belt. It's cool. It has a big part of the bottom of it knocked off. It's hard to see on this picture, but a huge crater, almost one-third the size of this thing, has been knocked off of it because of an asteroid impact making a crater, like our moon crater. There's a crater system called the Snowman -- because there's three craters in a row looking like a snowman, boom, boom, boom. And we'll see all these pictures in probably 17 minutes from NASA.

MALVEAUX: Wow. Anything else you can predict NASA will tell us, more details.

MYERS: They try to stay relevant now that they can't shoot the shuttle off every time.

(LAUGHTER)

They try to stay relevant.

(CROSSTALK)

MYERS: It's ironic because we have had all of this great spacecraft stuff out there collecting data but the shuttle always took precedent. The shuttle was the big story.

MALVEAUX: Sure.

MYERS: Now these smaller stories have become the big story. We say, wow, why didn't we know about this. Because the shuttle was always the story. Now littler things become the big story.

MALVEAUX: Yes. It's all cool stuff. I love it.

OK, 17 minutes you'll get back to us and let us know.

MYERS: OK. I'll be tweeting about it.

MALVEAUX: Good, good. We'll follow your tweets.

MYERS: OK.

MALVEAUX: Thanks.

The president's evolution on same-sex marriage comes as movies and TV have added more and more gay characters. We're going to take a look at how our image of gay America is changing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The vice president is reportedly getting flack from top White House officials for pushing the issue of same-sex marriage. But was he right when he said the media is responsible for America's growing acceptance of same-sex couples? (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The president sets the policy.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At first, it sounded like another classic Bidenism, a rogue remark from the vice president that highlighted the dividing lines between the White House.

BIDEN: I'm absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Comedians were quick to pounce on the comment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, THE COLBERT REPORT: This hilarious gaffe wasn't Joe Biden's fault. You see, he was influenced by powerful cultural forces.

BIDEN: I think "Will and Grace" probably did more to educate the American public --

(LAUGHTER)

-- than almost anything anybody has ever done so far.

COLBERT: And he's right, folks.

(LAUGHTER)

He's right.

(LAUGHTER)

These kinds of TV shows can change our minds. Until I saw "Frazier," I refused to accept the existence of Seattle.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: But in retrospect, it's not that crazy an idea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It meant a lot. Because it didn't come from pie peers, it came from the gay head of the drama department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: From Billy Crystal's openly gay character on the '70s TV show soap --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Why do you sell to him some Fruitt Loops --

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- to musical acts --

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: To movies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HANKS: I was diagnosed with AIDS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Popular culture has always been territory where same-sex taboos are broken bringing alternative lifestyles into the earshot of the mainstream.

And while the vice president wasn't the only one in the White House to out themselves as a supporter of gay marriage --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you believe that same-sex men and women should be able to get legally married in the United States?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, come on. You're going to start there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I do.

(SHOUTING)

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- the American people as a whole have been swaying on the issue as well. But it wasn't until the president himself said it --

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- that a clear line was drawn in the sand for the administration and for the looming election in November.

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Mitt Romney issued an apology today after "The Washington Post" reported that the Republican presidential candidate bullied two classmates while in high school. The article recounts two incidents at a prestigious all-boy's prep school that Romney attended in the 60s. In one, Romney and other students pinned down a boy and cut off some of his hair. This is according to "The Post." "The Post" also quotes a closeted gay classmate who says Romney would respond to his comments by saying, "Atta girl." Romney insists he does not remember these incidents, but said he is sorry if anyone was offended by anything he said in high school.

So is the guy who played Borat putting on a more modern-day minstrel show? We'll talk to an Arab-American comedian who says Sascha Baron Cohen's latest character has gone too far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Some Arab-Americans are outraged over the latest movie by comedian, Sascha Baron Cohen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SASCHA BARON COHEN, COMEDIAN: Ah, America, the birthplace of AIDS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It is called "The Dictator," and Cohen's character is a hybrid of Saddam Hussein and Gadhafi. Many Arab-Americans say the movie sends an ugly message.

I want to bring in comedian, Dean Obeidallah, who has written a CNN.com op-ed piece about this movie. He joins us from New York.

Dean, tell us about why you think -- you say that this is modern day black face. Really? How so?

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, COMEDIAN: I do. I mean, I will be honest, I am not here to complain about it or get an apology or boycott it. It is true, it is modern-day black face and a minstrel show. And people not familiar with a minstrel show, they were late 1800s, early 1900s, white people put on back face and played black characters as the fools, the worst stereotypes for white audiences to laugh at. That's what this is.

My point, Hollywood, if you're listening, if you're going to mock Arabs and Indians, which you love to do -- just like last week, Ashton Kutcher, for brown face -- let us be in the movie. Let us be a part of the creative process. It is not just the writing. We can add something and make the movie or project go from superficial and cliche jokes, which basically we see those, to something nuanced and entertaining and original, which would be great from Hollywood, something original.

MALVEAUX: Dean, do you have anything original, any ideas, recommendations, for this flick? Do you think it might help with the nuance and not have people take away with the worst, the ugliest of it all?

OBEIDALLAH: I have tons of ideas. If someone would call me, Suzanne --

(LAUGHTER)

-- I am available to give the ideas.

MALVEAUX: You're on TV. You're on TV. You can tell them now. Give us your ideas now.

OBEIDALLAH: If there is a "Dictator 2," I hope people at Paramount will come talk to me. This is an example that's truthful and it shows it is good business. In the '60s, different studios made movies about the mafia, no Italians in it. Paramount, the same one that made this movie, said, have Italians involved. Hired Francis Ford Coppola, unknown guy, hired Al Pacino, and made cinematic history because it bring nuance, it's brings Italian culture, even in a mob movie, in a way that is not cliche, that's beyond the superficial. That's the same thing for Arab-Americans and Indian-Americans. We would be in projects. If you're mocking us and you're profiting from us, I think we can add to it. I am not going to say you can't have someone playing an Arab. Of course, you can. If you're going to make him a buffoon, at least have a positive sidekick is Arab playing an Arab character.

MALVEAUX: I want to read a quote from the article. You said, "Arabs and south Asians have long been ghettoized in Hollywood, playing exclusively almost cab drivers, deli workers, terrorists and the occasion good guy who works with law enforcement and who is usually killed later in the movie brown the bad brown guy."

OBEIDALLAH: That's us. That's us.

MALVEAUX: Is it really that bad?

OBEIDALLAH: That's -- I get auditions for cab drivers and my last name is Arab. And to be honest with you, in most Hollywood movies, those are the roles we're ghettoized to play. And there are a lot of Arab-Americans and Indian-Americans making their own projects. And let's be honest, Hollywood movies have a great reach. They're the ones that define a culture.

You jut had Vice President Biden talking about "Will and Grace" informing people about gay Americans. Entertainment media has that impact and has the ability to inform people and has the ability to further stereotypes, and also break down stereotypes and invite people to learn more about the culture. It is exposure. That's what it is about.

Look, African-Americans went through it. Spike Lee changed the way they're perceived. Tyler Perry has done it. So we want to be in the game, that's all. Hollywood, let us be in the game.

MALVEAUX: Dean, you're in the game, the comedian world. And obviously, you know this is one of these things where he is picking fun at Arabs, but before he made fun of people from Kazakhstan, we remember that character when he was a flamboyant gay fashionista. Did you have objections then? OBEIDALLAH: Well, I think the people in Kazakhstan certainly objected. I recall that well. They didn't like being labeled as anti-Semites and primitive cave people. And I didn't see "Bruno." I think each community fights their own fight, you know. We're out there now. I think no one is portrayed the way Arabs and Indians are portrayed now. No white person would put on a black face now and pretend to be a black stereotype of anyone. Let's be brutally honest. Do you think a group of Arab Americans could pitch a story to a Jewish leader and play the worst stereotypes of Jews? Of course, we can't get a green light for that. We're asking for fairness. Want to mock us? Have us in the movie. We can help the movie be better. It won't be cliches.

MALVEAUX: Dean, we have to go. End it there.

Thank you, Dean, as always.

OBEIDALLAH: Thanks. Thanks for having me.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: Some doctors have a bone to pick with President Obama. It has nothing to do with politics, about his diet, at least when it comes to when he is out in public. There are a million pictures of him chewing down on cheeseburger, hotdogs, big fat sandwiches, ice cream. The group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine would like the president to set a healthier example. They sent a petition to the White House asking the president to be aware what the cameras when he is eating and to skip the junk food. Good luck.

CNN NEWSROOM continues after the break with Brooke Baldwin.

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