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President Obama Headed to NATO Summit in Chicago; NAACP Supports Same-Sex Marriage

Aired May 19, 2012 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

The stories you are talking about in just a moment.

But first, let's get you up to speed on some of the day's headlines.

At first, President Obama is headed to the NATO Summit in Chicago after hosting leaders to the world's largest economist at Camp David. The NATO talks are expected to focus on Afghanistan. And Mr. Obama said G8 leaders made genuine progress this weekend on efforts to create jobs and revive the world economy.

In Chicago, three men busted for planning what prosecutors call acts of domestic terrorism. They faced the judge today. Their bail was set at $1.5 million each and police says they were stock filling fire bombs and weapons and planning to use in Chicago this weekend. That's where the world leaders are gathering for that NATO Summit kicking off tomorrow.

More people forced to leave their homes because of the raging wildfire in Arizona. Look at those pictures. It's called the gladiator fire. It's one of four active fires that are spreading and intensifying. Four small towns are now under evacuation orders. Gladiator fire heads towards about 13,000 acres. A bit of good news, Ohio winds are easing and that helps firefighters just a little bit here.

Here's what else we are working on for you tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice-over): Enough already. The rhetoric heats up on the campaign trail, so, does the bull. Tonight, we caught right through.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest beauty queen of them all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like I always say, my family can understand to love and expect anybody else understand.

LEMON: It could be the one who is born amazed.

Getting a little fresh with the fresh friends, will get you smack.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: It's all the stories in all and we are going to begin tonight with politics and something that happened within the last few hours.

NAACP, the country's oldest and largest civil rights organization passed a resolution endorsing same-sex marriage as a civil right and opposing any efforts to quote "codify discrimination" or hatred into the law.

Julian Bond, the former chairman of NAACP is here.

Mr. Bond, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Last week I spoke to you with the group of reverends including yourself, also yourself backing the president in a letter. And today, the entire NAACP out with this provision. Why is that?

JULIAN BOND, FORMER CHAIRMAN, NAACP: Well, I think it is for a lot of reason. One is because the issue is before us. President Obama brought it to the fore when he spoke about it. In effect, giving people permission to talk about it and to think about it in ways they had not, and I think for our board, we were saying to each other, if the president can do this, then perhaps we can do it, too. It is a welcome surprise to me. I was just -- I can't tell you how happy I was that this happened.

LEMON: You realize that this is something that the majority of African-Americans are opposed to, same-sex marriage, and this, you know, the NAACP. Are you worried about any backlash? How might this go over with African-Americans?

BOND: I think thinking people will think about it and say well, I may not agree with it, but there it is. They've done it and I support the NAACP. I always have and will continue to do so. It's like President Obama. You know, people are going to say -- I don't think people are going to say I'm not going to vote for him because he took this position on same-sex marriage, unless you weren't going to vote for him originally. Then I think you would be encouraged to vote for him now and some people are going to be more encouraged to vote for him now. And I think people will feel the same way about this.

I've been flooded with congratulations from people all over the country, saying thank you, God bless you. We're so happy you did this.

LEMON: Mr. Obama in the polls, before he endorsed same-sex marriage, had been leading. It was in the small margin of error. And now, in some polls it is showing that it's neck and neck and Mitt Romney may be ahead as well. And that's after this end with women, there's been a turnaround in polling with women.

Do you think this is affecting the president's numbers, same-sex -- his endorsement of same-sex marriage? BOND: I wouldn't think so. You know, it may very well do so, but I wouldn't think so. And I think it's too far out. We're too far from Election Day to be placing much reliance on these polls. Give us a couple more months and then we can say yes, that's scary to hear or I'm happy to hear that.

LEMON: I think you bring up a very good point. I think most people decide within just a couple of weeks, a couple of days or maybe hours before the election just the same as before, you know, they pick who the actual nominee is going to be, right? And then everything is erased after that.

With all these bad things that they said about each other and everything is a race and we forget it. I think most people - I think you bring up a very good point, that most people don't decide until really close to the election and most of it is just media and political fodder.

But I want to ask you, since we're talking about politics, I want to talk about this proposal that came up this week, super PAC funded by -- proposal by billionaire Joe Ricketts to bring back the bogeyman of 2008, and you know who I'm talking about. That's Jeremiah Wright. What do you make of this?

BOND: Well, this is part of the Republican playbook to wave the race card and to wave it widely. You know, Reverend Wright preaches no differently than dozens if not hundreds of black ministers. He's a well educated and well respected man in most church circles.

What he said and what you would have seen in the video about him, you hear on many churches Sunday morning. As the congregation would say this, thus just the reverend. He is emotional and he feels excited about these things.

I think this is a pocket of nothing, so, I believe it's nothing and I'm glad that the man who is going to do it has backed away. He realized it was a mistake and he's not going to do it.

LEMON: Why would you think that strategist would - I mean, this is something when we were talking about this when I saw it come up, Mr. Bond, I said, this is so five years ago. Why is Reverend Wright, the bogeyman, a big enough bogeyman for someone to bring him up again, to scare away voters or to scare Republican voters or conservative voters into voting for Mitt Romney and not Barack Obama?

BOND: Most of us never heard of Reverend Wright until four years ago and then the Republicans got him up and waved him in front of the electorate and said this is a terrible man, an awful man, an ugly man, a scary man, be afraid of him and he's close to Barack Obama, so watch out.

None of that was true about him. It's not true about Barack Obama. Obama never heard any of the sermons that Reverend Wright made. This is a mess in a small teapot. But the Republicans are good at this, waving the race card, talking about race, scaring people, and Reverend Wright, unfortunately, because he's a decent man, I know him, he's a fine man. Reverend Wright had contributed to this by the nature of his rhetoric, which is fine with me.

LEMON: You're saying there's no responsibility for Reverend Wright? Because some of the things he said are pretty damning. And listen, I wasn't there in the church. I did live in Chicago at the time. I didn't attend the church. I've gone there a couple of times only to do stories.

But, you don't think he's responsible for some of the rhetoric himself that he said, if you listen to those sound bites and some of those sermons that his - that, he says?

BOND: If you listen to the sound bites, they may be scary, but if you listen to the whole of the sermon, I bet you would feel very differently. If you listen to the beginning of him standing up to the time he sits down, you'll say, this is a thoughtful examination of our current day problems. If you listen to the sound bites, you will be scared to death.

LEMON: All right. Julian Bond, thank you.

We are going to talk more about this with our political players. Thanks again, Mr. Bond.

Next -- .

Enough already. The rhetoric heats up on the campaign trail, so does the bull. Tonight, we cut right through it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK, so Mitt Romney insists he wants to talk about the economy and only the economy. But somehow the focus seemed to stay on the president. Let's revisit recent days. We talked about it with Julian Bond.

After the president's same-sex marriage announcement, "Newsweek" labeled him the first gay president. Now he hear about a $10 million super PAC proposal called "the defeat of Barack Hussein Obama" and even calls him, get this, a metrosexual black Abe Lincoln.

So, what was the plan behind this ad campaign, to show voters quote, "Jeremiah Wright and understand his influence on Barack Obama for the first time in a big attention arresting way."

That's right, the Jeremiah Right. The Jeremiah Wright. The bogeyman of the last presidential campaign,

To the panel now. Alice Stewart first. You are a Republican strategist and a spokeswoman for concern women for America.

If Romney really wants -- if Republicans want to focus on the economy and policy, why are allies, why are Romney's allies resurrecting the bogeyman of 2008 again?

ALICE STEWART, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, you know the details behind this. This was an ad proposal brought ant Fred Davis. It was presented to Ricketts who is going to be the money man behind this. But it was clearly turned down. Ricketts didn't want to do anything with it. Clearly, Governor Romney said he repudiates the idea of doing this. He doesn't want to focus on Reverend Wright. He wants to focus on the economy. He, himself, is actually rolled out his first ad day one, but he would do as approving the keystone pipeline, doing what he could to repeal and replace Obama care and also rewarding job creators. And those are the kinds of ads that he wants to focus on. And this plan by Fred Davis is something he's repudiated right off the bat.

LEMON: Let's talk about -- I want you to weigh in on this, because first the administration -- the campaign, not the administration, they criticized Romney for his tepid response. And they needed to come back and be stronger about that.

Alice, do you think that was fair?

STEWART: I think the fact that he has come out, whether he was right of the bat or soft mode leader, he's repudiated this ad proposal. Here we're having a faux argument about a non-ad campaign when it not even going to get off - never get off the ground and never will get off the ground.

LEMON: OK.

STEWART: This was an idea that was proposed and leaked to "The New York Times." So, I think this is the last we are going to see and hear of this idea and it will go to the graveyard of Fred Davis great ad ideas.

LEMON: So, all right. So, CNN contributor Lz Granderson. I have the same question for you. And then I will add to that a little bit.

Do you think it's convenient sometimes is when the right doesn't want to -- when they want to focus on the economy, they focus on the economy when they don't want to. They bring other things into the equation.

Do you agree with what Alice said?

LZ GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, for the most part though. You know the reason why this ad was even in discussion is couple of reasons. One, they don't feel as if Romney just stuck with the economy that is a sure deal he'll win the presidential election. So they're coming with other things to shore up his weakness in that area.

And then two, they believe it's going to work. And part of the reason why it's going to work is because there still is that fear, there is still that fear that President Obama doesn't really have his eyes set out for the entire country, but just a particular segment of the population.

And they want to play upon that fear. They wouldn't have proposed the idea if they didn't think it was going to work.

LEMON: All right Dean, I'm going to read this to you. This is going to be a video, it says, OK, customs score up. Call mail voice. John Void, then has a question mark?

But did we overlook any troubling signs? His spiritual mentor for decades, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. The sound bite from Jeremiah Wright. Not God. Bless America. God, damn America. How do we overlook that?

So, listen. I understand what Alice is saying, and I agree with her. It is a destruction in many ways. But then, you wonder why would people think that bringing up something like this would be beneficial to anyone?

DEAN OBEIDALLAH, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: I think honestly if Mitt Romney thought this was work, he would bring it up. And in fact, in February, he was on Sean Hannity's radio show and Mitt Romney did bring up Reverend Wright.

So, I think at this point, he was -- it just can't work. If it can work, he would do it. And let's be honest about the economy. And I want some politician to finally go on TV, either Romney or President Obama goes, we don't have a silver bullet answer. If we did, we never had a recession in America ever. You just put the switch and do the job and the economy will be going. The reality is, at some point Romney is going to come off the economy. He has gone to social issues. That is going to move people.

LEMON: I think we have -- do we have the Romney sound bite? Yes. Let's roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I'm not sure which is worse, him listening to Reverend Wright or him in saying that we -- we must be less of a Christian nation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK.

OBEIDALLAH: Exactly. That's exactly. Look, he brought it up on his own in February on Sean Hannity's show. I have no doubt that Mitt Romney will say anything to get elected. I know what he usually said about politicians. But this guy is a special case. He would use this Jeremiah Wright if he thought it would work but he knows it can't. It is not going to bring him. Barack Obama has unknown commodity anymore. It's not four years ago. He has record now to run on. President Obama, you like him or not.

GRANDERSON: You know, the thing that I find interesting --

LEMON: Go ahead, Lz, and then Alice.

GRANDERSON: I want to say to Dean. The thing I find really interesting too, is that I really doubted that Romney wanted to have this kind of discussion.

LEMON: About religion.

GRANDERSON: About religion, especially religion. I mean, Herman Cain talked about, you know, what influence did sitting under Jeremiah Wright for 20 years have on the president? And I'm sitting here thinking Romney was 31 before the Mormons allowed black people to serve and leadership in his church. So, 20 years is enough to bring questions in to what influence he has on the president. What is 31 years before you may run a presidential candidate. I don't think he wants to have that conversation.

LEMON: Alice, go ahead. This is something, Alice, I don't think Mitt Romney wants to wade into the religion pool, especially with Mormonism and all of that. Go ahead.

STEWART: It's not even that issue at all. What we're talking about is people already know about Reverend Wright. They know what he said about GD America and President Obama sat in his church 20 years during some of the most influential time when he shaped his political mind and his mindset and they got past that. It was not a factor in 2008.

And to Dean's point, this is not going to be about Reverend Wright. It is not going to be bout many or the social issues. As Dean said, this is going to be a reflection of President Obama's record, what he's done as president of the United States and how his policies have failed to make things better for the American people. All of this is a sideshow from what people are concerned about and who is going to be the best person to create jobs and turn the economy around.

LEMON: OK, all right, all right Alice. Just for time purposes here, remember short answers because we want to get to a whole lot.

Does this, Alice, highlight the impact of super PACs on this year's campaign? Because Super PACs, are pretty - that's a new thing. All this money that's going into this, and if the campaign had tighter restraints and oversight on exactly who put the ads out, might they not has this issue or this problem?

STEWART: Well, as you know, there can be no coordination between the campaigns and the super PACs. But what they can do, when this was - this as we said before, this was just an idea that was put out there, has tossed out there to see how it would play. And before it even became to fruition, governor Romney repudiated the idea of it. But super PACs certainly. It's too much money and what we need to be doing is focusing on positive ads to show the contrast between the candidates and focusing on what they can do to make things better as oppose to tearing down their opposition. And the Super PACs only contribute to that.

LEMON: All right. Good. Look guys, we have to go. So, either nod the head shake yes or no if you agree. But, we've got to move on.

OBEIDALLAH: Super PACs are horrible. We should have a whole show on them.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: All right. Thank you, guys. You guys are great. Some of you will be back, others will be gone. But, thank you very much. Alright?

STEWART: Thanks, Don. Good night.

LEMON: A little politics and next a big pageantry.

All right. Let me read this for you. "There she is, there she is. Your deal, walking on air. She's the fairest of the fair. "That sounds familiar? That is from the Miss America pageant.

But four years ago, this miss was a Mr. Her story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So we're wondering tonight if it would matter to you, if you're Ms. Universe, tiara and sash, most beautiful woman in the universe, wasn't exactly 100 percent a Ms. What if Ms. Universe at some point in her life was a Mr.?

This woman is a reason we are talking about. Her name is Jenna Talackova. She's tall, she's gorgeous, blonde, beauty pageant queen in Canada. And right now, she is competing for the title, Ms. Universe Canada. And get this, Jenna Talackova was not born a girl. Her very presence on stage right now is the end of a long legal battle.

CNN's Paula Newton in Toronto. Paula, the pageant happening right now. Do you have some early results. How is she doing?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She made it to the final 12. And she looked a bit surprised herself, but incredibly pleased. They're having the evening gown portion of this competition right now. And I think that even know she said she's in it to win it, she would be quite happy with the results so far.

I have to tell you though, Don. That we did hear from some family members here, once that was announced, that that backlash that many have been talking about is starting to happen. Some people are saying look, we don't know how she made it to be a finalist, if she's not really even a woman. I mean, Jenna Talackova and her family members will take great offense to that and many other people. But right now, it is a reality of this kind of a controversial situation with MS Talackova for many people pushing the envelope of this kind of a competition -- Don.

LEMON: OK. Paula, you are going to keep us updated, right, and let us know what's going on there?

NEWTON: Will do.

LEMON: All right. We'll be watching. Stick around. Thank you very much. You know, the Ms. Universe pageant initially rejected Jenna's involvement in the contest and initially so did some of her contestants.

A beauty pageant veteran is with me now. Her name is Kaylin Reque , right?

KAYLIN REQUE, 2011 MISS GEORGIA USA: That's right.

LEMON: So, I say it right?

REQUE: You know, I'm really impressed, because not a lot of people can get that on their first try.

LEMON: 2011 Ms. Georgia.

REQUE: Yes.

LEMON: U.S.A.

REQUE: Yes.

LEMON: Ms. Georgia. You were born a woman?

REQUE: You know. That's what the doctor tells me. I'm just going to go with it.

LEMON: You have a great sense of humor. We're joking about it. So, it is all in good fun. This is the crown right here.

REQUE: That is the croup I won in November.

LEMON: You have mixed feelings about the story?

REQUE: Well, actually I did at first. My first major reaction was, no. But I actually think that, you know, she's recognized legally as a woman in Canada. You know, even her birth certificate says it. And - so, I don't really have a problem with her competing. You know, she's a woman. She's legally recognized that way.

LEMON: You heard what Paula said. She said that some people were kind of upset, you know. We don't know how she got to be in the final 12. And so, they are kind of upset. What do you make of that? Is it ignorance? Is it bigotry? What do you make of it?

REQUE: I think everyone is entitled to their opinion. And really, I don't think anyone can be 100 percent right or wrong in this situation. But Jenna is doing what is right for Jenna. And, you know, I commend her for that, and I know that feeling of being called as a finalist. I got chills when I saw replays of the video. You could tell she was shocked. But, you know, she got flip in front of the stage. She did that little hip-hop. I think she's more prepared than people think she is. She's ready.

LEMON: OK. So, here's what it is. An you know, I don't know, I've been one of these people on this. I want to keep this going now. Because I want to bring in these guys comedian and CNN.com contributor, Dean Obeidallah. He is in New York. And then this Los Angeles psychologist Wendy Walsh.

So Wendy and Dean. Let me just say, Wendy, you were in a beauty pageant. I said this is just my sort of male view like, you know beauty pageant it is in the right. Who would want to interrupt beauty pageant anyway? I want to see the first transgender secretary of state, not some beauty pageant contestant. Is that a bias on my part?

WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: Of course, it is. People can be whatever they want to be, Don. I think we need to really look at what our definition of gender is, because there aren't just two genders. We talked about this all the time. It's a big wide scale and where do we draw the line?

LEMON: Listen, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that she -- listen, I believe in transgender rights. What I'm saying is, some people find these beauty pageants superficial. And we were talking about it, it's like - there are people in the room who said, are they even - are these beauty pageants even - did they even do this anymore? I know you wouldn't take offense to that.

REQUE: Absolutely. I would take offense to this. This is a job opportunity. You are working for Donald Trump. And you have international exposure. You know, these girls are not stupid. You know, there are all times of stereotypes. But -- we're hardworking girls.

LEMON: Goo. School me. All right Dean, what do you say to that? Donald Trump. They are working for Donald Trump.

REQUE: That's right.

OBEIDALLAH: Donald Trump doing a good thing, the media whore doing something positive. Not because he wants to, I think. It's great publicity for the pageant. Let's be honest. Look, there's an evolution. And going back, you know, what she has said about. It's a job opportunity, that's exactly it. There are only 15 states right now in the United states and protect people who goes for sexual - sex change operation from a gay discrimination, only 15 states in 35 states you can be discriminated against because you've had a sex change or gender reassignment surgery. So it is a struggle for people like that and I think this is great. This is just a job opportunity. She shouldn't be discriminated against. Doesn't mean she's going to win, just give her a shot. That's it.

LEMON: Listen, you should see some of the things that people are saying about this. It's destroying society, bla, bla, bla, on and on and on.

OBEIDALLAH: She's kind of hot. I mean, I will be honest. That's great surgery. I don't know who his surgeon is, but he should be on TV show or something. His surgeon is amazing.

WALSH: People are afraid, Don. They're just afraid.

OBEIDALLAH: Look at the before pictures. LEMON: Listen. She's a beautiful young lady. And, you know, and y thing is not about transgender people. It's just about beauty pageants. And, you know, Ms. Reque has schooled me here and now I am -- I have evolved on the beauty pageant issue.

REQUE: Yes. Absolutely. If Jenna gets nothing else out of this, she's a role model for transgender people everywhere and she's already won in my eyes.

LEMON: Very nice. Thank you, guys. All right, thank you. Appreciate it.

And the former beauty pageant contestant as well, Wendy Walsh. And Dean, I'm sure he was some sort of beauty pageant. He is not pretty, but, he is kind a smart, so --.

All right. Living in sin. Shacking up. Whatever you call it, not married. France's new president has a live-in girlfriend, but would that fly here? Well, maybe they're on to something, I think.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: More of the stories you're talking about in a moment, but first the news you need to know right now.

In Chicago today, three men busted for planning what prosecutors call acts of domestic terrorism. They faced a judge who set their bail at $1.5 million each. Police say they were stockpiling firebombs and weapons and planning to use them in Chicago this weekend. That's where world leaders are gathering for a NATO summit that kicks off on Sunday.

All right, this just in. Mark Zuckerberg is having quite the week today. The facebook founder married his long-time girlfriend Priscilla Chan. The newly-weds announced their wedding where else? On facebook.

On Monday, he turned 28-years-old and Friday facebook went public, making Zuckerberg worth more than $19 billion. Congratulations to the lovely couple. And we'll share in the wealth if you will give us some of that.

OK. So I'll have another is a win. One win away from horse racing's triple up crown. I will have another. The Kentucky derby winner took the Preakness today in another drilling victory. The 3- year-old was purchased last year for the rock bottom price of $35,000. No horse has won the triple crown in over 30 years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marriage. Marriage is what brings us together today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. I don't know what that was. But any way, our panel is here again and we're talking marriage. Dean Obeidallah and Wendy Walsh are joining us. And then from Los Angeles, Steve Santagati. I didn't scream name of this time, Steve. How's that?

STEVE SANTAGATI, AUTHOR, THE MANUAL: No. Well, you got my memo. You got my tweets.

LEMON: Steve is the author of "a true bad boy explains how men think, date and mate."

All right. First, we looked at the definition of monogamy and it's not what you might think. You see the second part of the definition doesn't mention anything about marriage at all. All right.

It says -- you know, here's what marriage is. Its monogamy is about marriage. I thought it was about being in one relationship at a time.

So Steve, the act of marriage. Listen, I've got to tell you guys this. I wrote about this when we -- show the panel again, because I want to see their reaction. I wrote about this, about same-sex marriage. And I said, not every gay person wants to get married. Then I joke as my friends like, what's wrong with people, why do they want to get married, I mean, do you want an alimony, job support. That's part of the fun of not getting married.

SANTAGATI: Right.

LEMON: So is marriage a thing of the past, Steve?

SANTAGATI: You know, it doesn't make sense -- if I go out with a woman and we're in a relationship and then it implodes, that someone else is going to come in and tell me how much I owe her, who is right and who is wrong. If they want to stay in the relationship from the beginning to the end, then they can have their opinion and tell me what to do. Keep your life simple, don't sign contracts you can't keep up with and basically think marriage through. We're living a lot longer than we used to.

LEMON: Preach, Steve. Wendy, let him have it.

WALSH: Don, let me in.

LEMON: Let him have it.

WALSH: He has got merely doesn't have a room.

SANTAGATI: Wendy is not married either, so.

WALSH: Yes. but let me tell you this. Steve doesn't have a womb, he doesn't breastfeed and he doesn't have a fertility window. Let me tell you this. If you choose to live --

(CROSSTALK)

WALSH: If you live together, there's far more chance that you will not get married, ever. There are lots of great things about marriage, but the main thing is it's the best nest we have right now to raise children in a helpful way. I'm not pro marriage for everybody. It's not about, you know, co-mingling assets or worrying about cheating. I'm worried about how do we make the best nest to rise the next generation of Americans.

LEMON: Go ahead, Steve.

SANTAGATI: Who says you have to have children? Not everybody wants children but a lot of people get married.

WALSH: If you want to have a --

(CROSSTALK)

WALSH: But marriage is mainly for having children nowadays.

LEMON: All right. Steve, listen, don't dig yourself into a bigger hole. Just say, yes, dear. Wendy is going to kill me for that.

WALSH: I trained you well, Don.

LEMON: But listen, Dean. You know, they bring up some good points. But, I wonder about this. You know, the French president has chosen to live with his long-term girlfriend. She's even been called France's first girlfriend. Would that ever happen in the United States? We've had unmarried presidents before.

OBEIDALLAH: Not in modern day, we have. And think about it. His last girlfriend - first, how long - his last girlfriend he dated for 30 years. So, he's never marrying this girl. She had forbid marriage at this point.

But I have to go back to monogamy. You know, there's only about 12 or 18 species of animals that believe in monogamy, in the entire species like a million species. So that's - monogamy is actually unnatural when you think about it. The only one is black vultures. If they cheat, the other one kills them. So that's the stakes we should have now. If you cheat, I'll kill you.

LEMON: No, no.

OBEIDALLAH: I think I want to be clear about.

LEMON: OK, you are lucky -- let me tell you guys. Steve, you're in the same city as Wendy, right? You are in the same studio.

WALSH: He's in the next room, don. Don't you worry, I'm after him after this.

OBEIDALLAH: Dean, you're lucky you're in New York, thousands of miles away from Wendy or else you might be in for some trouble, as well.

OBEIDALLAH: I'm against cheating. LEMON: Don't go anywhere, guys because my next guest just says he can tell if a couple will stay married or get divorced. His test is right 80 percent to 90 percent of the time. If you are married or getting married, you need to hear this. Or if you want to get married.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Round two right now of our marriage conference.

And joining me now is Doctor John Gottman. He is the author of "the seven principles for making marriage work,"

All right. Dr. Gottman. You heard, you know, caused the big fuss about whether with monogamy issue, to be married or whatever.

Does having a slip of paper that says you're legally married, really matter or is being in a committed relationship enough? Is that enough?

DOCTOR JOHN GOTTMAN, AUTHOR, SEVEN PRINCIPLES FOR MAKING MARRIAGE WORK: It appears to really confer a lot of a very good things. Longevity, good health, children turn out better if you have children. If you have two parents than if you have one parent. It could be two lesbian parents, or two gay parents.

But it appears that a committed relationship really gives people a lot. They're healthier, their immune system works better. So yes, it is really overwhelmingly the natural way that our species really works.

LEMON: So, how do you know if a couple is meant for each other or going to stay together? I think you said it's within 80 percent to 90 percent accuracy, you can tell. How do you know?

GOTTMAN: Well, you can tell in the way they relate to each other. You know, when they talk to each other about how their day went, you know, if there's interest and excitement and they're really good friends. When they argue, they present the problem as our problem as opposed to pointing their finger in their partner and saying, as far as I can tell, I'm the only perfect, you're defective. So, criticism contempt those things really predicts the relationships are going to be break up.

LEMON: All right. So then, what do we do to fix it, then? This is good advice for couples because our divorce rate hovers around 50 percent, so what are we doing wrong and then, how do we make it right?

GOTTMAN: Well, there are three things we need to do. One is we really need to stay good friends. We need to continue courting one another and loving one another and not leaving one another in pain or loneliness.

The second thing is we need to deal with inevitable conflict constructively. And the third thing is, we have to realize that when we create a relationship, we're building a life together with purpose and meaning. And we have to work on those three things. And then we let - it surely works well.

LEMON: All right. Dr. Gottman, good information. Thank you. Hope we can get it right. Fifty percent and that's not - that's not so good. Thanks for joining us.

All right. We'll be right back after the break and we want our viewers to stay connected to CNN, even on the go. Make sure you grab your mobile fun and go to CNN.com/TV. If you are on the desktop or laptop, you can also watch CNN live.

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LEMON: It was the last dance this week for a special lady, revered by many.

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LEMON: Sometimes called a diva who defined the disco movement, Donna Summer died this week. Lung cancer killed the 63-year-old but she wasn't a smoker.

Let's bring in the panel right now. So, Dean is here. Lz is here and Wendy is here as well.

What do you think Donna Summer meant to women in music, Lz?

GRANDERSON: Wow. I mean, she was power, right? I mean, she was power. She was someone who wrote her own music, who talked about her sexuality in a way that was empowering. But she also talked about women's lives in ways out of the bedroom.

I mean, I can remember being a young kid and seeing her perform on the American music awards, singing "she works hard for her money." But first, you know I'm just a kid. I'm just listening to the chorus and I'm not really comprehending what she is saying. But then, when I saw the (INAUDIBLE) and I really listened to the lyrics, I thought, this woman is talking more than just disco dancing.

LEMON: She liberated a lot of women, and, yes, "she worked hard for the money," we know what that was about when you saw the video, Wendy. And when I hear her songs, it takes me back to the '70s when I was a young kid, and listening to "last dance," and "she works hard for the money," and "bad girl, talking about bad girls."

WALSH: And you know - hey Don, a lot of people don't that she promote like talented artist.

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WALSH: He still does that, I've seen him do that with the dance and everything. Listen, Don, people didn't know she was multifaceted. I went to an art gallery opening in the late '80s, early '90s and she had a whole gallery display of her artwork. She was also a visual artist and worked in that median, as well. She was very, very, very talented woman.

LEMON: Dean, you know nothing about disco, right?

OBEIDALLAH: What are you talking about? I grew up with this is the soundtrack of my childhood. I don't even know it was discos. All of the music I knew, until "last dance" reminds me of every high school dance and it meant it was the last song and I had to get the guts up to get a girl to dance with me. I go up in sweating and try to ask her a dance. And sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. That's what I remember about that song "last dance." That was the last song, you got to get up, you know, put up or shut up type.

LEMON: So you were a nerd?

OBEIDALLAH: I was a nerd.

LEMON: And Donna Summer defined your time as a nerd.

OBEIDALLAH: I'm on CNN on a Saturday night. Of course I'm a nerd, Don. If I had a life, I would be out doing things. You know, I'm here. I look forward to it. It's the best part of it.

LEMON: All right. Let's move on and talk about another feisty lady. We didn't know she was this feisty, Halle Barry. The actress had a bit of a meltdown on the paparazzi outside her daughter's school this week. And now she wants help from all places, the oval office.

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HALLE BARRY, ACTRESS: It's just wrong, wrong, wrong. And I'm going to continue this fight and I'm going to, you know, I think I'm going to call Obama and say look, can you help us? I know this seems like a little issue to you right now, but it's big in our lives at the school and our children being protected. And I think it's really, really important.

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LEMON: All right. That was a little tongue in cheek there.

OBEIDALLAH: She's kidding.

LEMON: And she's kidding. But Wendy, you're in L.A. You see this all the time. There's very little privacy.

Listen. That comes along with being a star. But should the kids be off limits? Should it be at her daughter's school. You can understand why she was ticked off.

WALSH: I can totally understand. That's why so many celebrities raise their kids in Europe or spend a great deal of time there. Bradgelina, Madonna. It's because here in L.A., the children, these innocent little children are put in this fish bowl that they never asked for and it's unfair and absolutely dangerous, too, what lengths paparazzis will go to.

And I say, I'm all behind Halle. I'm sure, she has got Barack's number in her cell phone. Call him, I'm with you girl. I got kids too.

LEMON: Lz, she was not a whole thing. She was like, wait a minute, you.

GRANDERSON: Well, she went off to listen. Leave the whole call Obama thing out of it. Because you know what, a lot of these celebrities are caught in the paparazzi themselves to make sure they show up at certain places so they can keep their names out there.

And then, every time you look, someone is showing pictures of themselves, that, you know, covers fragments, or, you know, my first baby photo. So let's not pretend that if these are helpless celebrities who are contributing to this. There's a lot in it for them as well to make sure that brands stays out there. So, I'm not really getting the whole, you know, we are trap sort of thing.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Only, if it is crucial, Dean. Because we have another topic. Is it crucial that you get this one?

OBEIDALLAH: Yes. you are absolutely right.

LEMON: Dean, thanks for joining. Get out of here, no kidding.

All right, the next topic is Will Smith. I don't know if you guys saw this. And the male reporter who tried to lock lips with the movie star. Here it is.

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LEMON: That was hit in Moscow for (INAUDIBLE).

Listen. That's the guy's thing. He tries to kiss celebrities. But he got a little smash there from Will Smith. Go ahead Dean.

OBEIDALLAH: I think it was a fun reaction. I mean, he didn't punch him. He looked shock. That's so much worse than taking picture of your child, when a reporter comes up and kissed you. I mean, come on. It's ridiculous. That's beyond the scope of anything. Let's get a camel in his mouth. He is going to do a special photo. It's not defensible at all?

LEMON: Did he overreact, Lz?

GRANDERSON: No, he didn't overreact. Some dude trying to kiss you. I mean, he is no strange woman caused and tried to kiss you. He's a married man. I get it. Will is fine. I'm going to put it out there, Will is fun. But you need to control yourself up on the red carpet. Pull it back together, man. That was just wrong.

LEMON: Hey, Wendy, we've got to run. WALSH: I had to stop myself from kissing him, but you do. That's a boundary violation, absolutely.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, guys.

The president heads to the NATO summit in Chicago. Waiting for him, protesters. More on that, next. It's happening now.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you OK? Here, let me help you. My mom has been sick for as long as I can remember. We need more methadone. Helping her out is a bigger priority than going to school. Because I don't know what I would do if something happened to her. I wouldn't really be able to live.

CONNIE SISKOWSKI, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN: In the United States there are at least 1.3 million children caring for someone who is ill, elderly or disabled. They can become isolated. There are physical effects, the stresses of it, and the worry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you so much.

SISKOWSKI: But these children suffer silently. People don't know they exist.

I'm Connie Siskowski. I am bringing this population into the light to transform their lives so they can stay in school.

We offer each child a home visit. Has the ramp been helpful? We look at what we can provide to meet the needs. We go into the schools with a peer support group, and we offer out-of-school activities that give the child a break. So they not alone. We give them hope for their future.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nicholas?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now I'm getting a's and b's and I feel more confident.

SISKOWSKI: We have a long way to go. There's so many more children that really need this help and support.

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LEMON: All right. Get ready for one of the all-time favorite questions asked at a beauty pageant. Take a listen to this.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?

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LEMON: OK. The answer to that question quite simply, one of the most memorable beauty pageant answers ever. That's next.

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LEMON: So the Ms. Universe candidate contest got us thinking about some of the all-time greatest blunders by beauty queen. Here now is one of the best.

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LAUREN CAITLIN UPTON, MISS TEEN SOUTH CAROLINA: I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don't have that and that I believe better education like such in South Africa and -

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LEMON: OK.