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Political Upset Follows Kelly Thomas' Beating; Sheryl Crow Battles Brain Tumor; Hollywood Gets Behind Obama's Support of Same-Sex Marriage; Drug Bust at Puerto Rico Airport; Day Two of Jury Selection in Sandusky Trial

Aired June 06, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 on the East coast, 8:00 on the West.

New this hour, federal agents making a big drug bust at Puerto Rico's airport. The massive effort included about 200 federal agents and 160 state police, as well as the Department of Justice.

At least 33 people were arrested suspected of smuggling millions of dollars worth of drugs. We're talking about cocaine, heroin. Apparently, they came on a commercial flight from Puerto Rico to several U.S. cities.

According to "The Miami Herald," three other suspects were arrested in the U.S., two workers of them were workers at Miami's international airport. Another worker in the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport.

Cops say they were members of two Puerto Rico-based drug trafficking organizations. That bust comes after airport officials recently installed a new system for checking cargo that makes it possible to track more drugs on the island.

We're expecting a press conversation this hour. We'll take you there as soon as it happens.

All right. It's day two of jury selection and it's moving quickly. The judge has made it very clear he wants opening statements in the Jerry Sandusky child rape trial to start next Monday.

Then comes all the witnesses, dozens for each side, but that's not all. The lawyer for the man known as Victim Four is confirming that Sandusky wrote his client letters and they'll likely be read in court.

Now, ABC News says they were love letters, though Victim Four's lawyer won't confirm that. We do know this accuser is 28 years old and is expected to be the first prosecution witness.

Sara Ganim won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of the Sandusky scandal and fallout. She's watching day two of jury selection in Pennsylvania. And, Sara, do we know whether any more jurors have been chose chosen? SARA GANIM, CRIME REPORTER, "HARRISBURG PATRIOT NEWS": We don't know, actually. They're in what they call one of the early phases here today. This morning they brought in a new group of 40 people who weren't questioned at all yesterday and they're starting to ask them broad questions.

Later on, they'll do individual questions in chambers with the judge, things specific to what they do, who they know, and whether or not they work at Penn State, which has been something -- an answer a lot of people have said yes to just because of the nature of this town, how small it is, and how large Penn State University is.

However, the judge isn't using that as a reason to dismiss anyone. In fact, yesterday a Penn State student, a rising senior, made it onto the jury and several people who said that they had some kind of affiliation, so they graduated from Penn State or one person's parents works there.

PHILLIPS: All right. So, Sara, tell us more about these love letters. ABC News broke this story, actually, calling them "creepy." We're not calling them that, but what more can you tell us about this victim and apparently these letters that exist between Sandusky and him?

GANIM: We don't know the content of them. However, Victim Four is expected to be the first prosecution witness when this trial starts next week, so it's expected that we'll will be introduced as part of his testimony.

We also know from someone close to Victim Number One who is expected to testify second from the prosecution that he also received birthday cards and notes from Jerry Sandusky. And the person close to him said they were not sexually explicit, would not call them love letters, however, said they did include the phrase, "I love you."

PHILLIPS: Interesting as this develops, that's for sure. Sara Ganim, thanks.

Prosecutors estimate one-in-three Centre County residents attends, graduated from or works for Penn State University.

PHILLIPS: Well, it's never made it into space, but the Space Shuttle Enterprise right now is still making its final voyage up and down the Hudson. Live pictures now as Enterprise -- we've talked a lot about this shuttle -- was the first-ever space shuttle orbiter that was built for NASA.

And it's making this slow river ride atop a barge heading to its new home in Manhattan and that will be the USS Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum. That's a former aircraft carrier, by the way.

CNN's aviation correspondent, Lizzie O'Leary, is tracking its trip, smashed shuttle wing tip and all, right, Lizzie?

LIZZIE O'LEARY, CNN AVIATION AND REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It had a little bit of a run-in or one of the wings did, just the foam on the edge with what would be kind of a wooden support on a bridge, so it got a little bit dinged up on this trip.

Maybe fitting because this, as you said, this shuttle has never made it into space. When you look at some of its sister ships like -- there, you go. There's the picture of the little accident that happened there.

Its sister ship, Discovery, when you look at it, has got the kind of singes and kind of, I guess, road scars of a craft that has been up in space and the two of them were actually nose to nose for a while down here in D.C. after Discovery made its last flight, looped over the city and came to the Air and Space Museum's Satellite Museum just outside of D.C.

So they're swapping places. Enterprise now getting this very lovely, long, slow barge trip up the Hudson and, if I were on one of those boats I would be taking a lot of pictures of this craft. It's been around since 1977 and this is, as you said, sort of the granddaddy, the prototype of the shuttle program.

PHILLIPS: You know what I love, and I didn't know about this and had to make sure it was right and run it by you, but apparently all the "Star Trek" fans back in the '70s wanted this to be named "Starship Enterprise" and they sort of got their campaign satisfied. Right?

O'LEARY: They did. This was originally supposed to be the Constitution. It was slated for Constitution Day and I guess President Ford kind of went along with this and said, all right, I'm partial to the name. That's how the legend goes.

And he had served on an aircraft carrier that had something sort of to do with the Enterprise. He was OK with this idea and he basically said to NASA, look, we're going to go along with this. We're going to do it, call it the Enterprise.

PHILLIPS: There you go. We'll follow the live pictures as it continues to make its way to its final home, the Intrepid Museum there, as it's cruising down the Hudson.

We'll follow the live pictures. We'll keep talking to you, Lizzie. Thank you is so much.

You can also continue watching the Enterprise's trip from your desktop. All you have to do is go to CNN.com/TV.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We are just getting word of the passing of a great author, Ray Bradbury. You may remember a number of his bestsellers, "The Martian Chronicles," "Fahrenheit 451," "Something Wicked This Way Comes," of course a number of literary classics.

He died this morning in Los Angeles, peacefully, we're told, at the age of 91. The governor of Wisconsin won't be moving on, at least not yet. The mayor of Milwaukee won't be moving up, at least not yet. So what exactly did months of campaigning and record amounts of money accomplish in yesterday's elections? It depends on which side you ask.

This much we do know -- first-term Governor Scott Walker fought off a challenge by the same Democrat who ran against him and lost in 2010, only this time a lot more appeared to be at stake.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is in Madison. Ted, Democrats there don't have a lot to brag about today, but they do have something.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, they did win a senate race here, so a state senate race, which was very important, because it transfers the balance of power.

So Walker keeps his job, but he doesn't keep his majority. He had a majority in the senate and in the assembly here in Wisconsin. He held onto power, so Democrats are saying, yes, we're very disappointed this morning.

But that is the bright spot on this whole recall, the fiasco, if you will. That's what Wisconsin voters will call it at this point, having to live through it.

But so Democrats are saying that's one thing they can move forward now with Walker, having at least a chip in the game and they believe that will help the discourse from this point on.

PHILLIPS: All right. So all the money, all the effort, all the bad blood, what was accomplished?

ROWLANDS: Well, again, talk to both sides, you get different answers. The Republicans believe a lot was accomplished. The tea party-types think they can replicate what has happened here in Wisconsin to other states because the unions didn't oust Walker.

Had Walker lost his job, it would have been a tough sell to go to other governors in other states to try to implement what he did here in Wisconsin, specifically cutting the collective bargaining rights on public employee unions.

So they think they've got the green light or possibly, especially as time goes by, and they believe Walker's plan will help the bottom line here in Wisconsin.

Democrats don't see it that way. They say it's just a -- they lost one battle, but the war continues.

Then the other side of this equation is how does this play into November? Will this help Mitt Romney? Does this look like Wisconsin is now ready to turn? Democrats say absolutely not. Exit polling does show that Obama had a seven-point lead yesterday despite the seven-point loss by Barrett.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ted Rowlands in Madison. Ted, thanks so much.

Well, aides to Mitt Romney are investigating the hacking of an e- mail account that Romney apparently used as Massachusetts governor. The website Gawker says the hacker claimed that he got access merely by guessing Romney's favorite pet, the so-called security question.

Well, "The Wall Street Journal" has published some of the hacked e-mails dealing with Massachusetts health care reform.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Following news now out of Afghanistan that a U.S. aircraft apparently has been shot down. CNN's Barbara Starr is working this developing story out of the Pentagon. What do we know now, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. U.S. military officials are saying that they do believe a U.S. Army helicopter was brought down by insurgent gunfire in Eastern Afghanistan.

This took place in an area called Ghazni in Southeastern Afghanistan, a place of a lot of combat over the years. It was a U.S. Army OH-58 Kiowa helicopter, armed. Both crew members on board, we are told, were killed.

They believe it was brought down by enemy small arms and rocket- propelled grenade gunfire. This is a helicopter that is very small, very fast, not easy to get to, but by all accounts now, brought down by enemy fire. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Is anyone claiming responsibility?

STARR: As you well know, the Taliban always claims responsibility, don't they? There has been a Taliban statement issued. They made a lot of claims about killing a significant number of military personnel.

We are told as far as the U.S. military and NATO knows, it is only these two -- sadly, these two crew members of the helicopter that were killed in this incident. They have no information, they tell us, about any personnel being killed on the ground despite Taliban claims, so we want to clear that up. That's where it stands right now.

But the Taliban claim that it brought the helicopter down, apparently, by all accounts, is true. The U.S. will investigate this, but they do believe now it was brought down by enemy fire, according to these reports. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Is this area known as a hotspot, Barbara?

STARR: Yes. Ghazni Province, if you put the map back up for a minute, this is an area of Southeastern Afghanistan where there has been very heavy insurgent activity all through this region over the years. It's a place where ISAF and other forces have been fighting over time. And what these helicopters do is they go in, basically, when we say they conduct reconnaissance, they look for enemy target positions, they look for where the friendly troops are. They radio down to troops on the ground.

They are armed. They do carry the ability to defend themselves, but this time it looks like the Taliban insurgent gunfire did get to them, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Barbara Starr, we'll follow all the developments with you. Thanks so much.

An advocacy group for Muslim Americans has filed suit against the NYPD over that controversial surveillance program. The group, Muslim Advocates, filed the action this morning.

It says the program, which targeted Muslim-owned businesses and houses of worship, was discriminatory and unconstitutional. They want the police department to cease and desist the spy program and destroy all the files that the NYPD has gathered.

The NYPD maintains it did everything by the law.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Fans remember Joe Torre as a former All-Star baseball player and manager, but he has another passion in life -- helping abused children find a place where they can feel safe.

In today's "Human Factor," Dr. Sanjay Gupta talks to him about his mission.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Joe Torre, he's one of the most successful baseball managers in the past 40 years.

JOE TORRE, FORMER BASEBALL STAR: I can't tell you what the emotions are. They're just running all into each other, and I can't tell you how happy I am. Never been this happy in my life.

GUPTA: Just as he was reaching the pinnacle of his career, winning four World Series titles in five years, he began opening up about his childhood and growing up with an abusive father.

J. TORRE: My older sister, Ray, came from the kitchen into the ding room and she had a knife, protecting my mom, and my dad was going into the drawer in the dining room to get his revolver.

And I did witness that and I still remember vividly going over the my sister and grabbing the knife and putting it on the -- on the table.

GUPTA: For young Torre, who grew up to be an All-Star player and is expected to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, baseball became his sanctuary.

J. TORRE: I had low self-esteem, and I was just lucky. I played baseball. I had an opportunity to go someplace to hide.

So what time do you guys have to be in class?

GUPTA: And today he's giving back by providing a real sanctuary for other abused children.

J. TORRE: The perpetrator, you know, we do them favors when we don't talk about things like this and awareness is so important in this.

GUPTA: Torre and his wife, Ali, started the Safe at Home Foundation, which funds dedicated spaces inside schools where kids can speak openly and get counseling and domestic violence.

ALI TORRE, WIFE OF JOE TORRE: It's very serious, what's happening to kids and the abuse and the people that are abused. And they don't have advocates for them, and we're trying to be those advocates.

GUPTA: Torre names each site Margaret's Place, in honor of his mother, who was physically abused by his father.

J. TORRE: Youngsters are strong. They bounce back a lot, but I don't think they realize that it hurts them. I get choked up when I start talking about that.

GUPTA: Now retired from managing from managing teams, Torre is still in the game, overseeing operations for Major League Baseball and also giving his time to end violence.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: For more on the Safe at Home Foundation, you can read Joe Torre's story in his own words at CNN Health.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The story begins with one man, Kelly Thomas. After nearly a year, controversy over his beating death has now brought down the city's top leaders and is reshaping Fullerton's city government.

The community's demands for accountability and leadership has upended the city's old guards. All three councilmen you see right here were ousted last night in a major recall election. We're talking a huge political upset in the wake of Kelly Thomas' death.

Let's get straight to Casey Wian, who's been following all these developments for us for weeks and weeks, actually.

Casey, the community was loud and clear with all their votes. All three members of the city council, who were up for these recall elections, lost their seats.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kyra. It was quite a stunning message.

All of these margins of defeat were about 2-to-1 and Pat McKinley, who we spoke with yesterday, the current city council member and former police chief of Fullerton, said that he expected, actually, the recall effort to succeed.

He was sort of resigned to the fact he was going to be losing his job because of all the money that had been put into this effort, over $200,000 donated into this recall effort by one local businessman.

But it's definitely a sign that there is a lot of voter discontent in the city of Fullerton over the beating of Kelly Thomas.

One of the things that came out last night is Ron Thomas, Kelly Thomas' father, who doesn't actually live in the city of Fullerton, told reporters last night that he may move there and run for mayor one day, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What do you think is going to be the fallout from all of this?

WIAN: Well, it's interesting. All of the three candidates who were successful in ousting these current city council members have talked about some very sort of normal things that you would expect city government to be dealing with, things like a water tax that residents are upset about.

Many residents weren't even aware that this was going on until the Kelly Thomas beating. They started attending city council hearings, got more involved in their government.

They found out that this water tax, in their words, is being illegally collected, so a lot of the candidates are going to change that.

They want a top-to-bottom review of city expenditures and they also wan t pension reform, things that are very common for city government.

But one thing these candidates have not specifically talked about, but is definitely being discussed, is the possibility that they may decide to try to disband the police department, entirely.

That is something other cities in Orange County have done with police departments, fire departments, in an effort to save money. They disband the police department, turn those responsibilities over to the local sheriff and they're able to save some money. That's an effort we could see happen down the road, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: What exactly do we know about these men who are now going to replace the old guard?

WIAN: Well, none of them are political novices. All of them have served on different volunteer city commissions, so they're experienced people. We're just going to have to see what they're going to do down the road with this city's future. They haven't really given that many specifics.

There's also two members of the city council who were among those who spoke out against this beating immediately who remain on the council. We'll have to see how all that comes together, but they are all saying to expect big changes in the city, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: How about big changes at the police department and how the training goes forward with officers on how to deal with schizophrenic individuals?

WIAN: Well, there already have been big changes in the police department. The former police chief, not McKinley, the one who was ousted in this recall election, but the immediately previous police chief, right after this beating was put on some sort of a medical leave for undisclosed reasons. There is a new acting police chief in place now.

And I spoke with one of the recall supporters yesterday who was out carrying a sign in support of the recall, and she said that they're actually supportive of this new acting police chief. So we may not see changes there at least immediately -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. Casey Wian, thank you so much for staying on this story for us. We appreciate it.

And the three challengers who won last night's recall election will take their seats in the Fullerton City Council as early as July 17th.

Let's take you to Canada now. Police say what appeared to be a human hand and foot were sent separately to two schools in Vancouver. Now, cops say they believe the gruesome discoveries may be connected to the case of Luca Rocco Magnotta. He's accused of murdering a student and mailing the body parts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

First of all, talking about the same body parts we're looking for, the right hand and the right foot. Secondly, it was shipped from Montreal. We know that as a fact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And police say right now they have no evidence to believe that this was done by anyone else but Magnotta. The hand and foot are being sent to Montreal for a DNA test.

One of the contestants in last week's Miss USA Pageant is giving back her state crown, calling the pageant rigged. Miss Pennsylvania said the announcement -- or she made the announcement on her Facebook page. She says one of her fellow contestants saw a list of the top five even before the show had begun. Well, the Miss Universe organization, in response, says the allegations are false and that she changed her story. They say that she sent an e-mail opposing the organization's new policy allowing transgendered contestants as the reason behind her quitting. Meantime, co-owner, Donald Trump, didn't hold back his thoughts on the matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MOGUL & CO-OWNER, MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT: It is so ridiculous. And what we authorized today is we're going to bring a lawsuit against this girl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: She describes herself as conservative on her Facebook page. Miss Rhode Island was the winner of Sunday's Miss USA Pageant.

Paris was no paradise city for Axl Rose. About $200,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from the Guns and Roses singer while he was performing. Police did not say what was taken but that only invited guests and members of Rose's entourage were allowed in that area. Guns and Roses is touring Europe through late July.

And many of us are familiar with Amelia Earhart, the brave woman who tried to fly around the world in 1937, and the mystery surrounding her plane's disappearance in the central Pacific. Now researchers say amateur radio operators got 57 radio signals believed to be originating from Earhart's downed aircraft. They say she may have landed on a remote island and then continued to send those signals till she finally lost her battle at sea.

And a revealing and intriguing report from the first doctor to reach President Abraham Lincoln after he was assassinated. It details his rush to the presidential box where he found Lincoln paralyzed, comatose, and leaning against his wife. Charles Leo was in the Ford Theater in D.C. when he heard the gunshots. Now the 21-page handwritten copy was discovered in the National Archives in Washington. It's not the original report but a copy made by a clerk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Our servicemen and women heroically put themselves on the front lines all the time. We want to introduce you to a war veteran who's hoping to be on front lines of change. This is Specialist John Ackley. He served with the Minnesota National Guard for six years. He was deployed to Iraq in 2009, and after choosing to not re-enlist, he was honorably discharged just last year. Why did specialist John Ackley not want to re-enlist? Because John is now Ashley Ackley.

Ashley joins me now live from Minneapolis.

Ashley, you waited to make the transition from John to Ashley after your active duty was over. Why?

ASHLEY ACKLEY, TRANSGENDER DID NOT RE-ENLIST: Because I knew that the military had a very negative look on transgenderism and anyone who would even mention that they would like to go through it, through the process.

PHILLIPS: And you've been trying to re-enlist into the military and get back into active duty, but you've been denied. And this obviously raises a lot of questions about your rights as a transgender. What was the Army's response to you? And how did you respond to that?

ACKLEY: In trying to re-enlist, I was contacted by many recruiters. They were very excited to get me back in and tried to get me back in, until I mentioned that I was transgender. There's a specific policy against my enlistment or re-enlistment, and they would -- they would be all excited and then I would tell them, and they would go, oh -- click.

PHILLIPS: Really? They would just hang up on you?

ACKLEY: Yes. I finally found a recruiter that would take up my case, and we hit a definite brick wall with that one very specific policy.

PHILLIPS: And let me -- I'm going to ask you, because I do have that exact policy here. I want to get back to the recruiter, if you don't mind, that picked up your case and find out why -- well, actually, why don't we start there. Was it a male or a female?

ACKLEY: It was a female recruiter, a Sergeant Steele, and she really takes her job seriously and was really intrigued by my -- by my story and by my case and wanted to see if she could get me back in.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. So you actually did have an experience within this whole process that was positive. Somebody did support you and wanted to make things happen for you.

ACKLEY: Yes.

PHILLIPS: All right. So here's what we did. We reached out to the Minnesota National Guard and the Army just to let you know. I want to get your response to this. And the MNG gave us this statement that confirmed your honorable discharge and told us that the reason that you're not back on active duty is exactly what you were saying the reason was, due to Army Regulation 40-501, the Standards of Medical Fitness. And this is what it says exactly, this regulation: "A history of or current manifestations of transsexual, gender identity disorder, to include major abnormalities or defects of the genitalia such as change of sex or a current attempt to change sex or dysfunctional residuals from surgical correction of these conditions, render an individual administratively unfit."

How did that make you feel to be described as administratively unfit?

ACKLEY: I thought it was sort of funny, almost ironic in that this didn't just crop up. This gender identity disorder has been an issue my entire life. But I managed to, with this disorder serve for six years and have a successful tour in Iraq.

PHILLIPS: You could still be called as a Reserve, though, right?

ACKLEY: It is possible but very, very unlikely. The inactive ready reserve, which is what I'm in now, they are the last ones to be called in any situation. All other resources have to be exhausted.

PHILLIPS: So it is possible -- have you been told that it is possible, then, that you could in a worst-case scenario or a desperate scenario be called in to help?

ACKLEY: Yes. I would be called in and be looked at for my deployment readiness but most likely be denied and sent back home.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. Let's talk about why you're going to continue to fight this and why you want to see change. What do you -- how do you express to those in the military what is important about whether -- I mean, already, Don't Ask, Don't Tell has been abolished, and you can serve in the military as a gay American. Now you're taking it to another step and saying, look, I want rights for all LGBT. And tell us why it should be OK to have transgenders serving in the military.

ACKLEY: It is more than OK because we're not broken. We are -- I have had been reached out to by many, many prior servicemembers who are now going through this transition who have had very distinguished -- very distinguished careers. I believe we are just as capable as any other person of supporting our country.

PHILLIPS: Do you have a plan B or is there not a plan B? Are you going to battle until you can change this policy?

ACKLEY: I've realized that it is logistically impossible for someone who is pre-operative, pre-sexual reassignment surgery to be enlisted as the genitalia's still in a middle state. So as a plan B, I'm really now fighting for the postoperative men and women to be able to serve as -- as there is no excuse and no part of that document that should discriminate against someone after those procedures have been done.

PHILLIPS: You know, you're not alone. I was looking at the National center for Transgender Equality where more than 6,000 transgender people, just like yourself, were surveyed, and 90 percent, Ashley, of those surveyed experienced harassment or discrimination. Aside from this, what's your experience been like as you've been making this change and just trying to be out in the community and live your life normally?

ACKLEY: I have actually not received as much discrimination as I was led to believe would happen or that I was prepared for. Everyone has been very good. I think a big part of that is putting yourself out there and being friendly and just being talkative, but I haven't really, especially in public situations, received any problems.

PHILLIPS: Well, I sure appreciate you talking with us, Ashley. And keep us updated as you go forward. Thank you.

ACKLEY: No problem. Thank you for having me on. PHILLIPS: You bet.

The advocacy group, the Transgender American Veterans Association, estimates that there could be as many as 300,000 transgendered people among the millions of U.S. veterans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, she battled and breast cancer in 2006. Now Sheryl Crow is sharing news about another health issue, a brain tumor. The good news is it's noncancerous.

Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here.

A lot of interesting comments made about this. One in particular, apparently, her rep came forward and said this type of brain tumor is very common, quote, "half of us are walking around with them but you don't really know." That's a bit exaggerated, isn't it?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is. I understand what the rep was trying to say, which is that this perhaps is more common than we think, but half of us are not walking around with tumors. Some of the best studies have found something like 3.7 percent of us may be walking around with these. They're more common in women. They looked at 1,600 women and 3.7 percent had these and didn't know it, had these benign brain tumors and didn't know it. That's a fair number of people but it's not half.

PHILLIPS: Now, there are a number of people in my life who have been impacted by brain tumors, cancerous and lost my grandfather to one, one of my best friends had one very similar to Sheryl Crow's, and I remember his eyesight was affected, his balance was affected, his memory was affected. So let me ask you something, because there was this much publicized moment when she forgot her lyrics. Do you remember this, the song "Soak Up the Sun"?

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: A song they sung a gazillion times.

PHILLIPS: Let's take a look at this woman, OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

SHERYL CROW, SINGER: Oh, what's the words?

(CHEERING)

CROW: It's live. Nothing on tape here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: No. Now looking at the situation that she's in, is there a connection that's been made between losing her memory and this tumor?

COHEN: She says there's not. She actually spoke with our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and she said, "Sanjay, my doctor told me there was no connection. I just had this momentary memory lapse. I'm 50 years old, I have two small children, I don't get a lot of sleep."

PHILLIPS: Baby brain.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Exactly. Sometimes you just forget things so it didn't have anything to do with that. I think it's important to remember, as Sanjay pointed out this, tumor is between the outer layer of the brain and the skull. It's not in the brain. It's between the outer layer of the brain and the skull, so what Sanjay said, is it's not anywhere near where her memory would be impacted.

PHILLIPS: Got it. And the fact she's a breast cancer survivor, could there be a connection here?

COHEN: This is a really interesting medical question because some studies have found that breast cancer survivors do have an increased risk of getting a tumor like this later in life. Other studies have found it doesn't really matter. The reason why it's interesting is women tend to get these tumors more and that may be because there are hormones involved and, of course, there are hormones involved in breast cancer. So breast cancer patients, you know, might be at a higher risk for getting these and certainly they need to do more research and breast cancer survivors should probably have that in their mind, that it's possible.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: If you want to learn more about brine tumors, specifically with children, please log on to braintumorkids.org.

I mentioned losing my grandfather to a brain tumor, and that's when I got involved for the Brain Tumor Foundation for children. And we have all kinds of information and resources for you right there on the web site.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: President Obama took a lot of heat and a lot of praise when he came out in support of gay marriage. Today, he's going to be at a fundraiser in California for gay and lesbian supporters. At the same time, a new CNN/ORC poll show that people are changing their views on gay marriage. 54 percent say gay marriage should be recognized. 60 percent say they have a family member or close friend who is gay.

Our Kareen Wynter takes a look at Hollywood's reaction to the president's endorsement. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When President Obama made his bombshell announcement on gay marriage, Hollywood rejoiced.

ELLEN DEGENERES, TALK SHOW HOST: President Obama just came out in support of same-sex marriage and I say, wow.

(CHEERING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could not be more proud that he is my president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was ecstatic.

WYNTER: Now it's time for the president to reap some rewards, financially speaking. Hollywood's gay community is welcoming him not with one, but two fund-raisers that should rake in millions.

STEVEN ROSS, HISTORIAN & AUTHOR: By coming out for gay marriage he has mobilized his base.

WYNTER: Historian Steven Ross, author of "Hollywood, Left and Right," says the president's reversal energized many celebrities who had been threatening to sit out the 2012 contest.

ROSS: The minute he announced his support of gay marriage, they publicly changed their mind. Norman Lear, immediate le he and his wife donated $40,000 each and will be active in the campaign again.

WYNTER: Rex Lee, best known for "Entourage," admits Hollywood had been disenchanted with the president before his announcement.

REX LEE, ACTOR: A lot of people that want to support him were disappointed that he hadn't said anything up until now, so we're all glad he did it. As a gay man, I'm glad he did it.

OBAMA: I have been going through an evolution on this issue.

WYNTER: Some in the industry believe the president didn't go far enough.

HOWARD STERN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: It's a baby step. I wish we didn't always have to take baby steps.

WYNTER: Howard Stern faulted the president for leaving the future of gay marriage for individual states to decide.

STERN: I wish he would have been stronger about it. I would like the president to really get behind this and push it.

WYNTER: By being so outspoken, celebrities may continue to drive the debate on same-sex marriage, but Hollywood's biggest influence on the public and the president may come from tv shows like "Glee," "Smash," "True Blood," and "Modern Family."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We happen to be a very traditional family.

ROSS: It's the repetition of certain ways of looking at the world over and over again until they seem normal. I think this does begin to change the way people look at the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right, Kareen, you mentioned two of my favorite shows, and I know they're two of your favorite shows -- "Glee," and "Modern Family." Could we see more of these types of shows on the horizon where gay marriage is a part of the conversation?

WYNTER: Kyra, absolutely. In fact, Ryan Murphy, the creator of "Glee," he's also hosting his own lavish fundraiser for Obama. He's coming out with a new series this is fall, and check out this title, it's called "The New Normal." It's going to be a series where they look at a same-sex couple, two men, and their quest to have a baby. He's trying to explore those themes so many Americans can relate to and an issue that's at the forefront now. These men are going through things that everyone goes through, whether it comes to relationships, finances, and trying to have a baby. You'll also love this, Kyra, ne leaks is also cost in this new series. She always makes for an interesting story line. One thing Ryan Murphy wants to make sure that he doesn't do here is try to package this family, this whole concept in a perfectly packaged format. So guess what? He's going to have characters there who are opposed to this whole issue of same-sex marriage. They will be throwing in those story lines as well and it will be interesting to see how the audience receives this.

PHILLIPS: All kinds of good conversation. So apparently, Ryan Murphy is also hosting his own lavish fund-raiser where the president's going to be involved?

WYNTER: Absolutely. It's a big night ahead for President Obama, not just here. He will be stopping here, outside the Regent Beverly Hills where the LGBT Council will be hosting their found razor. Ellen DeGeneres will be on hand. After that, Ryan Murphy and his partner will be hosting their fund-raiser at their private home in Los Angeles. A big night for the president. And while it's so interesting for us to cover this as the media, of course, we're talking the president here. It's very challenging for us to try to see who is on that guest list. It's kept under wraps. Not every celebrity, like Eva Longoria, who is one of Obama's national co- chairs, is so outspoken in terms of her support. You have those players in Hollywood, those VIPs, who like to do their work behind the scenes. Again, big night for Obama -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Kareen, thanks so much.

If you plan to attend, the price tag for tonight's gala goes up to $25,000 per couple.

Thanks for watching, everyone. You can continue the conversation with me on Twitter @KyraCNN, or on Facebook.

CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Suzanne Malveaux.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Kyra.