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President Obama Hammers Congress; Syria Crisis Continues; E. coli Outbreak
Aired June 08, 2012 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Top of the hour. I'm Don Lemon. Brooke is off today.
A mystery is unfolding right now, and it's got a lot of folks on edge. It's a strain of E. coli spreading across the South. And we're talking more than a dozen cases in at least six states. And it's already turned deadly, crews racing against the clock to figure out the source of the this.
CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is going to join me in a just a moment.
But, first, we want to talk about this, President Obama hammering Congress, telling it to pass long-stalled parts of his jobs plan. The president warned that couple in government spending coupled with any worsening of Europe's economic troubles could take a toll in the U.S. economy, but it's five little words, five little words that could add up to the gaffe the Republicans have been seeking to use against the president five months from election date.
Listen to this closely.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The private sector is doing fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The private sector is doing fine.
Brianna Keilar at the White House, private sector doing fine, will those words come back to haunt the president?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, they already have actually. The RNC within three hours had made an ad of this.
And Republicans, you better believe it, Don, will be bent on making this a defining statement for President Obama akin to something like the statements that you will recall from past elections, Senator John McCain when he said the fundamentals of the economy are sound because during the financial crisis, or for instance when John Kerry was talking about Iraq war funding and he said he actually did vote for it before he voted against it.
Now, you always know that there's more to the statement than just those few little words that you might see in an ad.
And in this case, what's being used now in an RNC ad and that Mitt Romney has latched on to is showing the president is the out of touch. You know that President Obama was talking about private sector growth being -- or increasing month after month for now more than two years.
And it's really public sector jobs that have seen -- really been a little more challenging over his term certainly. But it's a misstep and it doesn't really matter in the world of politics if there's context to it. It doesn't have to be included in the ad and it can be very defining.
LEMON: Listen, I know that you are not our business expert, but aren't there signs and other metrics and measures that show that private business, the private sector has recovered in many ways back to a pre-recession level? Or is that not so? And my question is this -- this is partisanship surely from both sides.
KEILAR: Sure.
I think the point is that private sector growth has been sluggishly improving, but I think if you were to ask Democrats and Republicans, none of them would tell you that it's where they want it to be. And that's why something like these five little words can really haunt President Obama.
LEMON: Good answer. Good answer.
Rough tough week really for president. This was not a good week of messaging for the administration.
KEILAR: No, it's been a very tough week here for the White House, President Obama, for instance, having to deal with the stories that we have seen recently involving some leaks as they have been reported of classified information, classified information that has been put out there in reporting, as well as there was the Wisconsin recall where the Republican governor prevailed and that may have certainly a lot of tea leaf readers are thinking implications for President Obama and his fight in that state.
You had the resonating bad jobs numbers from last week. We saw President Bill Clinton, one of President Obama's main surrogates, get off-message for a second time this week. And then Mitt Romney outraised him in money for the month of May, which was surprising. So, it's a pretty long list.
LEMON: One would think that a lot of people would get a talking to. Like, everybody get together in a room and say, hey, listen, shouldn't there be one message coming from this administration? This is an election year.
KEILAR: You know, and certainly that's something no doubt that the campaign is reiterating with its surrogates, that they need to all be sort of on the same page.
LEMON: Yes. Brianna Keilar, always appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Other news now. The head of coalition forces in Afghanistan gets personal as he apologizes for a deadly mistake. A coalition drone attack killed one 18 men, women and children in Logar Province on Wednesday while targeting a Taliban leader.
General John Allen was there today to speak to the survivors of the victims. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GEN. JOHN ALLEN, COMMANDER, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ASSISTANCE FORCES: We didn't see the civilians. As the force approached the building, they were taken under fire, a number of our forces. And this was a joint Afghan and U.S. force. They were taken under fire. A grenade was thrown. Three of our people were wounded.
We called for the people who were shooting to come out and then the situation became more grave, and the innocent people were killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Live to the Pentagon now and our Pentagon correspondent, Mr. Chris Lawrence.
Chris, the general also explained how the civilians were killed.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
Basically, Don, what happened was this force came to this compound looking for a local Taliban leader. But when they tried to breach the compound, that's when they started taking fire, and that's when they called in the airstrike. General John Allen said obviously it was unintentional to kill the old people, the women and especially the children that were inside.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: We are very sad.
And I have come here today to offer you my condolences and my regrets and importantly to apologize to each of you for this tragedy.
I have a family of my own and I see the faces of my own children. And I know that no apology can bring back the life of the children or the people who perished in this tragedy and this accident.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: The thing is, it was just last month when General Allen was issuing other apologies for previous airstrikes in May, so a lot of discontent among some of the Afghan people there, Don.
LEMON: Obviously, the goal, Chris, to kill Taliban leaders.
Was a Taliban leader killed? LAWRENCE: Yes, I just got off the phone with an ISAF commander there in Kabul. He says, yes, the Taliban leader was killed in that raid
These nighttime raids have been a real point of dissension between the U.S. and Afghanistan. They worked out a deal in April where the Afghans would take the lead on these operations. And the Afghans were part of this raid, but still Afghan President Hamid Karzai clearly laying the blame for these civilian deaths all on NATO -- Don.
LEMON: Chris, you have been reporting about this for a while now. There was a point where 2014 seemed to be a bit far off. Now it is rapidly approaching, and that is the withdrawal date for U.S. troops. How does this impact that?
LAWRENCE: One incident probably not going to change a huge strategy, a big strategic goal like that, but what it does do, Don, is it undermines the trust between NATO forces and the Afghan people.
And when that trust gets weakened over time, that means, when the U.S. does pull up stakes and leave, the Afghan forces may not be in as strong a position against the Taliban that is left there.
LEMON: All right, thank you very much, Chris Lawrence. We appreciate it.
Hey, we want to go to a live event, President Obama at the White House. There they are, New York Giants, the New York Giants. Listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
OBAMA: ... the last time the Giants were here was in 2008. A lot of folks thought that team didn't have a chance to win a Super Bowl.
They ended up winning with a circus catch in the fourth quarter, MVP performance by Eli Manning, a come-from-behind win over the Patriots. so this all is starting to sound kind of like deja vu all over again.
But every season is different. And last year's Giants were obviously a special bunch, not just because of where they ended up, but because of how they got there. Every team has to deal with injuries to the players. Not many teams have to deal with a late hit on the head coach.
(LAUGHTER)
You saw that Jets game. Now, coach Coughlin reminds everybody he did not go down. That is a tough guy. And you can see that toughness reflected in everybody else on this team.
The Giants took a whole bunch of hits this season, but they never went down. From day one, they followed a simple motto: finish. Finish the play. Finish the game. Finish the season. After week 15, sitting at 7-7, they knew that every game was a playoff game. But the players, the coaches, the staff, the owners, they didn't quit. They believed in each other and they kept winning all the way to Indianapolis.
The night before the Super Bowl, they watched the highlight reel set to Justin Tuck's good luck song "In the Air Tonight." I don't know about a little Phil Collins before a big game. I may try that before a big meeting with Congress.
But apparently it worked. The next night, Eli Manning led the way, earned his second Super Bowl MVP.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
So I would just advise the sportswriters out there the next time Eli says he thinks he is an elite quarterback, you might just want to be quiet.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Eli wasn't alone, of course. Justin Tuck got to the Q.B. Victor Cruz scored and salsaed.
Mario Manningham kept his feet in bounds for the biggest catch of his life. Nobody was perfect, but everybody did their job.
Now, people from New York and New Jersey don't just fall for just anybody. It is a tough crowd. Let's face it. You have got to earn their respect. They are never completely satisfied. You have got to earn it both on and off the field. And that is exactly what the Giants did, from fighting childhood obesity -- Michelle likes that -- to wrapping up leftover food for homeless shelters to working with the Make A Wish Foundation to brings kids to practices and games.
Big Blue supports the folks who support them. They certainly earned the respect of folks like Ray Odierno, who is here, who is obviously one of our greatest warriors, one of our greatest soldiers, because this team is always there for the men and women in uniform.
It is a New York Giants tradition that goes back to World War II.
Back to World War II, Wellington Mara served in the United States Navy. So there's a long tradition. And these guys have made it clear that no matter who you root for on Sundays, if you're a veteran, the New York Giants are on your team. Whether it's setting up tickets to games or inviting folks to practices, the Giants never forget the men and women who risk everything to protect our freedom.
And I especially want to thank and congratulate coach Coughlin on he having the Army's Outstanding Civilian Service Award. That's a great honor.
(APPLAUSE)
By the way, we have some wound warriors here today. Let's give them all a big round of applause.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Having these folks here today, seeing how much the Giants means to them is a reminder of how important sports and football can be, but it's also a reminder that there are some things that are more important than football.
And the Giants know that. They finished strong. They won six straight games with everything on the line. They made a difference in the lives of those around them. But, most importantly, they did it not just on Sunday, but every week.
So, again, I want to congratulate the New York Giants. Good luck this season. It looks like we have got somebody singing for you. Looks like we have got somebody singing for you.
(LAUGHTER)
That's how happy everybody is. Give the New York Giants a big round of applause.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
LEMON: Not only the New York Giants, give a big round of applause, also our wounded warriors. I'm glad the president pointed them out as well.
New York Giants won 17-14 over the New England Patriots Super Bowl Super Bowl XLVI. Guess what? The Giants won the last election year, 2008 as well. So, that's nice. It's nice on a Friday the see that happening. A little light news, we could all use that, so much serious stuff all the time.
Moving on now, we have a lot more coming up. So make sure you watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): Act now or expect civil war. As world powers meet about Syria, U.N. teams get closer to scenes of death.
Plus, they're called swatters, sophisticated prank callers, targeting conservative bloggers. Now new calls for the Obama administration to investigate.
And doctors operating on the wrong body parts, even the wrong patients?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: They messed up and did this eye and then did this eye.
LEMON: You're about to hear some shocking mistakes inside the hospital.
(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I really want you to pay attention to this story because it's an ugly prank. And it's really could get someone killed.
There's a way that someone can call 911 to report an emergency and make it look like it's coming from your house, even though it's not coming from your house. Next thing you know there are armed police officers at your home. It's called swatting.
Conservative blockers say it's being used to target them. And some lawmakers are demanding action from the Justice Department.
Here's the new part of this. Senator Saxby Chambliss sent Attorney General Eric Holder a letter reading in part -- he just did this -- "The use of swatting as an harassment tool is apparently not new, but its use as a tool for targeting political speech appears to be a more recent development. I'm asking you to please look into each of these cases as well as to determine if any federal laws may have been violated here."
Erick Erickson is a CNN contributor and he's a victim of swatting. And we know Erick is conservative, no secret here.
All right, let's start. I want to listen to part of the 911 call where someone is claiming to be you, Erick. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just shot my wife, so...
911 OPERATOR: You shot your wife?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think I could come down there.
911 OPERATOR: Where is your wife at now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's dead now.
911 OPERATOR: You just shot your wife now and she's dead and you don't know where she's located at?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I know where she's located.
911 OPERATOR: Where is she located at, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm looking at her.
911 OPERATOR: What's your phone number, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. I guess you're going to have to find out.
I'm going to shoot someone else soon.
(END AUDIO CLIP) LEMON: That's got to be chilling to hear that when you -- come on. This is about your wife.
ERICK ERICKSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, yes.
I get targeted all the time for harassment stuff. This is the first time my wife and kids -- and when the police officer first drove up into the driveway, he said it was an accidental shooting. It turns out he actually recognized me from CNN.
LEMON: Hold on. We're going to get to that.
ERICKSON: Yes.
LEMON: What was going -- seriously, when you hear that, what do you think?
ERICKSON: It's surreal to hear someone calmly pretending to be me saying they have shot my wife and they're going to shoot someone else again, calmly saying it and very intentionally doing that and pretending to be me. It's just -- it's surreal.
LEMON: That upset me and I'm not even involved. I can't -- it's terrible.
ERICKSON: Yes.
LEMON: After that, what happened? The police show up.
ERICKSON: Yes, the police showed up, and came into the driveway, blue lights flashing. My sister's family is in town. My wife is doing some dishes. We're sitting around chatting. The kids are running outside. My 3-year-old is enamored with the police car.
LEMON: Normal evening.
ERICKSON: Yes. We thought the kids must have done something with the relatives in from town, and go out, and the guy hops out.
And luckily he actually recognized me from being on CNN and was wondering. He comes out and says accidental shooting. I didn't know until yesterday with the 911 tape that it was actually someone saying shot and killed my wife.
LEMON: Well, they know who's calling, but not really, because your address comes out and it says, oh, this is Erick Erickson's house, because they do it some fraudulent way they got around the system. Right?
(CROSSTALK)
ERICKSON: Yes. They got around the system.
I'm not sure if my address came up or not. He gave it to them for sure.
LEMON: OK. All right.
ERICKSON: Then a second police officer shows up and comes up the driveway with his hand on his gun as my 3-year-old is in the driveway, keeps his distance behind the trunk of the first police car.
And come to find out last night there were actually police surrounding the house as they were investigating.
LEMON: When something happens to me even at work, something weird goes on, and you go, I know who's behind this. Do you have your ideas?
ERICKSON: I don't know who did this call, but what's interesting is it's happened now three different people and the same voice the 911 call in all three of these.
And they all came -- the fact pattern is three of us have written about it an individual named Brett Kimberlin, who was a bomber in Indiana in the early 1980s. After we began to write about him, these calls happen.
LEMON: I have to say, that is not our reporting.
ERICKSON: Right.
LEMON: And there's no concrete evidence.
(CROSSTALK)
ERICKSON: In fact, I don't actually think it's him. But the fact...
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: You said what?
ERICKSON: I don't think that it's him.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: So why is this -- this has been all over. It's been reported.
ERICKSON: Right.
LEMON: You've seen it on conservative blogs. There are a number of people out there. I think even Michelle Malkin...
(CROSSTALK)
ERICKSON: Well, the fact pattern is it all came about after writing about this individual. Someone who, I guess, likes him decided to do it, which is a real problem that he's apparently got a fan club out there of some odd individuals.
But all three of us within weeks of writing about the individual, this happens. It's the same voice on all the 911 calls.
LEMON: And, again, I have to reiterate, again, that's what's out there in the blogosphere and being reported by some people. That has not been corroborated.
(CROSSTALK)
ERICKSON: Right.
LEMON: Do you think it's a bit premature to start claiming that it's some sort of liberal plot against conservatives?
ERICKSON: I don't think so, in that these are the three public ones, but there are other incidents following similar fact patterns. And the latest is an individual also writing about the same topic having his mother's home address and pictures put up online.
LEMON: The new thing about this, because you said it's been happening before. It's happened before. But having police officers and sometimes SWAT teams show up at your house, that's got to be chilling.
ERICKSON: Right.
LEMON: You must be relieved, this is a new thing, that Senator Saxby Chambliss of Texas wants an investigation.
ERICKSON: Georgia.
LEMON: Of Georgia, sorry, and then Texas Congressman Kenny Marchant. They're calling for an investigation in this.
Are you glad about that?
ERICKSON: I am, because the individual who had it happen in New Jersey and the other in Los Angeles, their police have met dead ends because it's clearly someone doing it over a voice-over I.P. system. So, the local police don't have the resources to track it. With it being the same voice in three cases, you have got to imagine there are some interstate issues involved.
LEMON: OK. I want to ask you. And I'm being serious here, not because -- we can't always be partisan and some of us call it political hacks, right?
ERICKSON: Right.
LEMON: When something like this happened, is this a call for people to understand that politics can sometimes, depending on the rhetoric and civility, can be life-or-death situations when it shouldn't be? Just because I disagree with you politically doesn't mean that I should call police. People take this stuff seriously.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Should we tone down the rhetoric? Should we become more civil? Should there be more civility and should we realize hey, listen, it's just politics at the end of the day; nobody died; stop it?
ERICKSON: Yes and no. Political rhetoric is always going to be heated.
It was much more heated in the 1800s than it is today.
LEMON: There's a difference between heated political rhetoric and putting someone's life on the line.
(CROSSTALK)
ERICKSON: This happens in Third World kleptocracies and banana republics. This is the United States. It shouldn't happen here.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: There you go. We should be a bit more careful. Come on, Erick, don't you think?
(CROSSTALK)
ERICKSON: Yes.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I'm not just -- I'm talking about liberals and conservatives. And we should realize most people are somewhere in the middle. You're very conservative. Don't you agree? Yes. And there are people on the left who are very liberal. Most Americans are somewhere in the middle. And they don't care about the extremes that much.
(CROSSTALK)
ERICKSON: It's not an issue of where you are on the political spectrum. It's an issue of the other guy, you may disagree with him, but you shouldn't be trying to summon a SWAT team to their house.
LEMON: And something like this, if somebody is doing, it's just -- they got have some issues that goes beyond politics.
ERICKSON: Yes, very much so.
(CROSSTALK)
ERICKSON: You can hear it just in the tone of voice with the 911 call. There is someone with some issues.
LEMON: We're glad you're OK. Sorry about you kids. I can't imagine. When you're a kid, you think, oh, flashing lights. This is all great.
ERICKSON: Yes.
LEMON: And when you're an adult, the last thing you want to see at your house is a police officer, unless...
(CROSSTALK)
ERICKSON: Very much so.
LEMON: Right.
Thank you, Erick.
ERICKSON: Thank you.
LEMON: Good. Good. My thoughts are with your family. Again, I'm glad you guys were OK -- Erick Erickson, everyone.
Six states, at least 14 cases, a deadly E. coli strain breaking out across the South. And crews are hunting down the source before it spirals out of control. It's scary stuff. You're going to hear from the CDC and how it's racing to control it coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. An E. coli outbreak spreading in the South, six states, 14 cases.
Health investigators know the strain. It's called 0145. They know what it can do. Is that right? Zero or oh-145?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You can say it either way, right, yes.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: It has killed this toddler last month. Maelan Graffanini was from New Orleans.
But they do not know how people are getting it.
Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, of course helping me out with the correct name for the strain.
How sick are the other 13 people?
COHEN: Some of them have been hospitalized and some of them haven't.
And so it really depends to a large degree on age. That toddler who we just saw, older people, they're much more vulnerable to the effects of this bacteria.
Now, what's interesting is that for these sick people, they took the strain of the bacteria that they had and they put it under a microscope and they saw an identical molecular fingerprint. So what that means in plain language is that they're linked. There's likely some common source and they just don't know what it is right now.
LEMON: So they say linked, but do they know where this particular bacteria is coming from?
COHEN: They don't.
And what they need to do is some serious detective work. And so epidemiologists will sit down with each person and say what did you eat, when did you eat it, where did you buy this? And they will try to find what is the commonality here? Did they all get the same kind of beef? Did they all eat the same kind of produce? Did they shop at the same store or the same chain of stores since these are spread out across six states?
They just don't know right now.
LEMON: OK. I want to -- because we said six states, 14 cases. We said Louisiana.
COHEN: Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and two states that we don't know.
LEMON: Where is it exactly?
COHEN: There's two more states. And we're told it's six, but they won't tell us what the other two states are yet.
And what is interesting, Don, is this morning, they were talking about 11 cases. Now they're talking about 14. I mean, we're suspecting that this number is going to go up before it goes down.
LEMON: You always talk about being an empowered patient. Before you become a patient of this, what do you do?
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: Yes. There are certain universal things that you should always do no matter what. You should always be cooking your hamburger until it's medium. Do not eat medium-rare hamburgers.
You should always be washing your produce. You should always be washing your hands before you cook. So those are things we should all be doing. I can't say don't eat this, because we don't know what this is.
LEMON: Right. Yes.
As my mom said, cleanliness is next to godliness.
COHEN: And she's right. It can save lives.
And the other thing, to be an empowered patient here, especially if it's a child or an older person, if someone has diarrhea, fever, the other signs of E. coli, get yourself checked out. Chances are, it's just a virus.
LEMON: Right.
COHEN: But especially if you see blood in diarrhea, that's a huge, huge problem. And you definitely want to go get that checked out.
LEMON: Appreciate your information. Thank you, Elizabeth Cohen.
COHEN: Thanks.
LEMON: You know, this is a hot-button issue with many sides. Illegal immigration, how to keep undocumented immigrants out and what to do with the ones already here.
For his new special on how to fix the problem, Fareed Zakaria sits down with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who had some strong words about the fight. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": When you look at New York City's undocumented immigrants, illegal aliens, call them what you will, what lessons have you drawn?
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, MAYOR, NEW YORK CITY: Undocumented have very low crime rate. Why? Because they're scared to death they're going to get arrested and deported.
ZAKARIA: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a unique perspective on the situation. As the chief executive of a city with an estimated half a million undocumented residents.
BLOOMBERG: Undocumented are not unemployed. They take jobs. They may be in the cash economy, off the books, but they work. America is not a place to come put your feet up and just take welfare. It's a very competitive place. If that's what you want to do, you should stay home, wherever home is.
ZAKARIA: Bloomberg says the undocumented don't use public schools because they usually leave their kids in their home country and they don't use health care much because they tend to be young and healthy and, to top it all, he notes about 75 percent of New York City's undocumented immigrants pay taxes.
BLOOMBERG: Employers withhold and then the government says, well, this guy didn't earn enough, so we have to send a refund. To where? The documentation doesn't exist or is fraudulent.
ZAKARIA: That certainly defies conventional wisdom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Make sure you watch Fareed's special, "The GPS Roadmap for Making Immigration Work," Sunday night, 8:00 Eastern only here on CNN.
Act now or expect civil war. As world powers meet about Syria, U.N. teams get closer to scenes of death.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: A threat of civil war in Syria remains imminent as reports of more killings surface today. And now the pressure is on. It's on the United Nations to figure out a plan to end the year-long violence. U.N. envoy Kofi Annan met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just a short time ago and stressed that his peace plan isn't the problem, Syria is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. JOINT SPECIAL ENVOY TO SYRA: Some say that the plan is the problem. Is the problem the plan or the problem is implementation? (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Jill Dougherty is CNN's foreign affairs correspondent. Jill, what have we learned about the meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Don, what they talked about is this so-called contact group. Don't worry about the words. Just think about what they're trying to do.
Nothing is happening at the United Nations because these countries can veto and it gets very, very complicated. What they want to do is, in effect, take it offline. Put a large group of countries together, the main players plus others, and they would try to work on the idea of this political transition.
Because even though a lot of people say they want the violence to stop, many countries, Russia included, keep saying, look, if Assad goes, even if we don't like him, it's going to get worse.
So what Kofi Annan is working on, his idea and also discussing with Clinton, is you lay out how it would be, what could happen to make it better? If Assad -- and it's a big if -- were to step aside, that's the plan, he steps aside, there's a transitional government that comes in, then they move to elections, then they move to democracy.
And it sounds almost like a pipe dream at this point, but the idea is, put this out there and maybe some of the people who support Assad who think that it's going to be game over if he's gone would be able to see some possibility.
It's a long shot, but at this point, Don, it's about all they've got.
LEMON: All right, Jill Dougherty, thank you. We appreciate it.
So listen up. Just a short time ago, the president said the private sector is doing just fine. This is for people in the social media saying, wait a minute, the president said more than that. Why'd you have so many conservatives responding to the president's speech?
OK, the Republicans have already pounced. We know that. And you guessed it. In this political climate, the president has just responded. So now here's his response to the response, coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK, you heard the president this morning say the private sector is doing fine. Republicans bounced on that saying wait a minute, what's he talking about?
We had someone on from "The Wall Street Journal," saying, "I think the president misspoke. What is he talking about?"
The president said he didn't misspeak and he has a response to their response. Let's listen to it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: The economy's not doing fine. There are too many people out of work, the housing market is still weak and too many homes underwater and that's precisely why I asked Congress to start taking some stepping that can make a difference.
Now, I think if you look at what I said this morning and what I've been saying consistently over the last year, we've actually seen some good momentum in the private sector.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Stay tuned for the response to the response to the response. It's a continuous cycle. Why do people get so bent out of shape about politics?
And speaking of Republicans now, let's go live to our political reporter, Shannon Travis, at the Conservative Political Action Committee gathering in suburban Chicago. We know it as CPAC.
So Shannon, it's been a big day for Rick Santorum there.
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right, Don. It has been a big day. He's emerged from a little bit of a private stretch out of the public eye, but he made some news. He announced a political action committee where he's going to promote some of his pet issues.
But one other thing. He had an interview with a local radio station here in Chicago, just outside of Chicago, WLS, and he talked about Mitt Romney, holding Mitt Romney's feet to the fire on conservative issues.
Obviously, you know that Rick Santorum has stressed that being staunchly conservative is the way to win in this 2012 election, so that raised a few eyebrows that he would say he needs to hold Mitt Romney's feet to the fire on conservatism.
Again, let's qualify that he is staunchly behind Mitt Romney. He's endorsed Mitt Romney. He even said today he's going to campaign for him. But that comment raised a few eyebrows.
And I just want to draw your attention very quickly to one thing. Here at the CPAC conference, there's going to be a CPAC v.p. straw poll where they're going to vote on who they want to be Romney's running mate.
I have it right here in my hand. Take a look at the very first name. Senator Kelly -- and it's a little bit of a misspelling there, Don -- A-Y-N-O-T-T-E. I suspect they mean the New Hampshire senator, Kelly Ayotte.
Don?
LEMON: People get the point, Shannon. They get it. Who else has a similar name?
Shannon Travis, thank you very much. I say people get bent out of shape about politics. I meant Democrats and Republicans. When I said, speaking of Republicans, I was talking about the response to the response to the response.
Thank you very much, Shannon Travis.
TRAVIS: Use spell-check.
LEMON: We appreciate it.
OK, so, a more serious story now. Here's the situation. A marine down on the battlefield with a live grenade in his leg. Do shoulders leave him there or risk their own lives to save him, knowing the grenade will probably explode?
You're about to hear what happened in a fascinating CNN report.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Harrowing moments caught on tape. A U.S. Marine has a rocket-propelled grenade embedded in his leg. As doctors race to remove it, they know at any moment it could explode in their faces.
This video shows 23-year-old Marine Corporal Winder Perez on a gurney and Navy nurses fighting to pull out the foot-long live grenade. Think about this -- he's at risk of blowing up at any minute and so is anyone around him.
But finally, luckily, they manage to safely remove the grenade and during all of this, Corporal Perez maintained his high spirits.
Barbara Starr actually sat down and spoke with Perez. That's amazing. Tell us how described this ordeal, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: You know, it is. What can you say, your jaw just drops.
You hear so many stories over the years of the courage and valor on the battlefield. This young man hit by a foot-long, live rocket- propelled grenade embedded from his left thigh into his back, basically suffering immediate life-threatening injuries.
Yet his own Marines, knowing it's a live munition in him, pick him up off the battlefield. The Medevac helicopter crew, knowing that it could blow up on him at any minute, transport him to a field hospital. That Navy nurse and that EOD explosive specialist lean over him, knowing at any minute it could all blow up.
We finally were able a couple of days ago to sit down with Corporal Winder Perez, talk to him about it and hear firsthand about his experience. I want you to have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CORPORAL WINDER PEREZ, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I just saw the RPG coming towards me and it hit me and, you know, I was hit. My boys knew exactly what to do and they came down, no hesitation, no nothing.
And they picked me up, got me to safety. I tried to call in my own Medevac, but I couldn't because the RPG struck the battery in my radio.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: So, you know, this 23-year-old young Marine tried to even call in his own Medevac. This happened in January, but the video has just emerged in the last few days and we were finally able to sit down and talk to him.
Yesterday, he had his final surgery and, believe me, when I opened my e-mail this morning and saw a note from him that he was doing OK, I couldn't believe it. That's what being 23-years old is about. You're having surgery and you're still on your e-mail account.
This young man is truly remarkable and the others who were with him. We're going to bring everybody his full story this weekend on Sanjay Gupta's show, 4:30, of course, in the afternoon, on Saturday and 7:30 Sunday morning.
LEMON: The epitome of what heroes are, right there. Thank you very much, Barbara Starr. Appreciate it.
We're going to turn now to our "Help Desk" and CNN's Poppy Harlow for answers to your financial questions. What do you have, Poppy?
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hey, there, thanks for joining us.
Today on the "Help Desk," we're talking about student loans and joining me to help explain all of it is Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, a personal finance author and founder of the financial advise blog, AsktheMoneyCoach.com, and David Novak is a certified financial planner and adjunct professor of finance at NYU.
So, David, we got this interesting question on the street from someone who just graduated. Take a listen to what he asked.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFED MALE: I'm a teacher and I have quite a bit of student loan debt. I'm trying to find out what programs are available to help me pay down that debt.
HARLOW: How much debt do you have?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quite a bit. Enough to buy a BMW.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: All right, so, let's say he has $30,000, $40,000, $50,000, at least, in student loan debts. What's your advice?
DAVID NOVAK, ADJUNCT PROFESSOR OF FINANCE, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY: Well, first of all, depending on the type of school or institution he's working for, there may be programs where they may forgive some of the debt, but assuming that's not the case, he should probably take a look at what debt he has and focus on paying off the highest interest debt.
Although, he may have a lot of student loan debt, many of those debts may be tax deductible as well as at a fairly low interest rate, so if he sets up a repayment schedule that's reasonable, he should be able to pay that off without too much trouble.
HARLOW: And the highest interest first, obviously.
Lynnette, a lot of student debt isn't forgivable, even through bankruptcy.
LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: That's right and it doesn't matter if you have private loans or federal loans, you really can't discharge that through bankruptcy court.
Another strategy to think about is picking the shortest repayment plan. If you enter the standard loan repayment plan for federal student loans, you'll knock out those student loans in 10 years.
But if you just can't afford your student loan debt, pick the income-based repayment option and it lets you essentially pay about 15 percent of your discretionary income to repay your student loans.
HARLOW: But he's a teacher, so obviously he's not making that much money, but he's doing good. That's for sure.
All right, thanks, guys.
If you have a question, you want our financial experts to tackle, upload a 30-second video with your "Help Desk" question to iReport.com.
LEMON: Poppy Harlow, thank you very much.
A huge shocker at the Belmont Racetrack on the eve of the final jewel in racing's triple crown. A live report from the track, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: This is a triple shocker. The horse favored to take thoroughbred racing's rarest honor drops out of the Belmont Stakes.
Richard Roth, live at the track. What up, Richard?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, a stunner at the track. "I'll Have Another," first, withdrawn from the Belmont on the cusp of racing glory, and then retired.
He was walked before media cameras. His trainer, Doug O'Neil saying it was an injury to the left tendon, the onset of tendonitis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG O'NEIL, TRAINER, "I'LL HAVE ANOTHER": it's just a freakish thing. He has been showing a little bit of a -- you know, he's been a little quiet the last few days of galloping, but his legs have been great.
He galloped great, but in the afternoon, we noticed some loss of definition in his left, front leg.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: "I'll Have Another" will be on the track moments before the Belmont Stakes, but he'll be in the post parade with jockey Mario Gutierrez, walking the contenders that he won't face to the gate for this historic race, now diminished by the withdrawn of the Triple Crown contender.
Back to you, Don.
LEMON: Now, that's a report. Just the facts. CNN's Richard Roth, appreciate it.
Doctors operating on the wrong body parts, even the wrong patients. You're about to hear some shocking mistakes inside the hospital.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You go to hospital to get better, right? But each year, more than 250,000 people a year die from medical errors and many others have to live with the aftermath of medical mistakes.
Our Elizabeth Cohen has been digging into the problem and here's an excerpt from her special report, "25 Shocking Medical Mistakes."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Jesse Matlock has a wandering right eye. The 3-year-old needs surgery to have it fixed. He goes in for the operation and the surgeon cuts into the left eye instead of the right. TASHA GAUL, JESSE'S MOTHER: My husband and I were in awe. We're like, can you repeat that again? She said, frankly, I lost sense of direction.
MATLOCK: They messed up and did this eye and then did this eye.
COHEN: Surgeons are supposed to initial or mark the correct side, like they did with Jesse, but here's one way they can still get confused.
UNDIENTIFIED MALE: We place drapes over the entire area to make it sterile. Mistakes can be made, very rarely, when you have draping that obscures the mark.
COHEN: In the U.S., seven patients every day suffer body part mix-ups
Just before surgery, make sure you confirm with the nurse and the surgeon the correct body part and side of your operation and don't be shy about doing it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What the -- How is he doing?
COHEN: His vision is still impaired in the good eye, the one that shouldn't be impaired, but his parent says that he's beginning to adjust. It's getting to better.
LEMON: And it happens all the time. Elizabeth, you're going to have some solutions coming up.
First, we're going to hear about the issues and then we're going to hear about the solutions. You're going to tell us how to be an empowered patient.
But don't miss Elizabeth's special report called "25 Shocking Medical Mistakes." It's tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
And, Elizabeth, sometimes it's things that are so simple it's like baffling, mind-boggling.
COHEN: It is possible to avoid a lot of these mistakes, but you have to be an empowered patient.
LEMON: Tomorrow night at 8:00 and you're going to join me here live, as we do every weekend. Thank you.
Thanks for watching, everyone. We appreciate it. I'm Don Lemon.
Now, here's Mr. Wolf Blitzer.
