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Spain Needs Cash Now; Man Arrested for Belting Stepson; Government Snipers Target Children in Syria; Woman Paid $900,000 After Date Didn't Go as Planned; Rand Paul Endorses Mitt Romney; Are Hospitals Dangerous?
Aired June 09, 2012 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Spain formally requests financial help from the European Union. What this means for all of Europe and for the U.S.?
Violence in Homs, Syria. Rebel forces battle it out with Syrian military. We'll take you inside a makeshift hospital where a doctor treats the wounded despite the horrific circumstance surrounding him. It's a CNN exclusive.
And a California City official is caught on tape abusing his child by playing a game of catch right in the backyard. We'll see a neighbor try to intervene here.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Thank you for joining us. Developments today in Syria to tell you about where on paper, there's a cease-fire in place and a peace plan at work, that's not what it looks like, though.
This is the City of Homs. Heavy artillery exploding in residential neighborhoods. Witnesses say, Syrian forces shelled a mosque and a church today. At least 25 people were reported killed in Homs today, including the mayor of this neighborhood.
And across the country, we're told more than 65 people were killed in street fighting and artillery fire. There was even a street clash in the center of Damascus where rebels reportedly killed 17 troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. And then later this hour, we're going to take you inside a makeshift hospital in the City of Homs where a doctor follows his commitment to healing the wounded despite horrific circumstance surrounding him. It's a CNN exclusive that you don't want to miss coming out.
Since the conflict in Syria started, Russia and China have both stood in the way of international intervention. Specifically military action. Today, Russia's foreign minister drew a dark underline to that policy. Sergey Lavrov on Russian television saying his country would never agree to foreign intervention in Syria, and Lavrov said, diplomacy, diplomacy, and diplomacy, the key to peace there.
Now, we have some breaking news to tell you about this hour and it's happening in Europe. But you better believe it will make a difference to you and me here in the United States and our wallets. It won't affect much of how things cost and how much dollars that we -- how much our dollar worth overseas. Another country in Europe, a big one, needs cash and lots of cash to avoid a major crisis. I'm talking about Spain here where the banks are in big, big trouble. So much trouble that the government is asking for a bailout from the European Union. Remember, Spain is part of the European Union. Seventeen countries that operate as one economy. If one country fails, the EU is weakened. And that makes the impact over here even harsher.
So, let's go to live to CNN's Nina dos Santos. She's in Madrid right now with more on this. So, Nina, what is a dollar figure that we're talking about here and who is going to have to pay up?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, first off, no money on the table because Spain, they haven't actually formally yet ask said for it. But after about three hours worth of telephone calls between Brussels, also Madrid, Berlin, you name it, the finance ministers of the 17 countries that you see here is that they need money, agreed to put aside around about $125 billion worth of potential financial assistance and also agreed basically get Spain to agree to say that it's going to be asking for some kind of bailout for its banks. What I want to point out is that we're talking about a bailout for the banks here but not a bailout for the country. That's key to confidence in the rest of the Eurozone -- Don.
LEMON: There is a distinction. Tell me why people here in the United States, consumers watching this program, why should they care about financial trouble in three or four European countries? I mean, these aren't American dollars bailing out Spain's banks here?
SANTOS: Fair point, but certainly this statistic will probably put it into context, Don. Europe as a trading bloc is the United States single most important economic partner here. So, there's a lot of trade riding on the table here. There's also a significant currency issue here. Because what we're seeing is a lot of weakness to the Euro, the ongoing Eurozone debt crisis has continued to push the Euro recently to a two-year loan. That may sound good for people thinking when I can spend my dollars abroad and get more for them, but what it does is it cycles exports in the United States exports a lot to Europe. As I said, it's its most important export partner, and so if U.S. goods become more expensive in Europe, Europe is contending with the recession and breakdown for the Eurozone, well, obviously, they're going to be buying less and you see and I know the United States is trying very, very hard to get more people back to work.
LEMON: And Nina, you know, just yesterday, the President of the United States, Barack Obama, took Europe to the wood chips saying, they better get their act together and do it quickly. Will this bailout help keep Europe from dragging down the U.S. economy, at least that is the hope. And dragging down the world economy, really.
SANTOS: Yes, this is a crisis that has endured throughout the course of the last three years. And it's now one that Don, people are putting a $1 trillion potential cost on. What I want to point out here is we've got a little bit of a nightmare situation brewing because we have the Greek elections coming up in a couple of weeks from now. And what the world leaders are trying very much to do is reset the Spanish problem before of course those Greek elections happen because what might happen in Greece, they choose a government that wants to leave the Eurozone or put Greece sort of a position to potentially have to leave the Eurozone. And that is why the United States as much as everybody else is saying to you as leaders, get this problem -- and get it sorted out.
LEMON: Nina dos Santos in Madrid, thank you. We appreciate it. We'll be watching. So stand by.
The Taliban say one of their suicide bombers set off today's explosion that killed four French soldiers in Afghanistan. Eighty seven French troops have died there over the last decade. In a statement expressing his shock and condolences, the new French president says, his plan to bring home combat forces by year's end will start next month.
Back here in the United States, Attorney General Eric Holder appoints two new lead investigators to help the FBI get to the bottom of intelligence leaks to the media. Leak information has included classified details of a cyber attack aimed at Iran and classified information on the U.S. drown program.
A California city official is caught on camera abusing his step son during a backyard game of catch. You'll watch it play out as neighbors try to intervene. It is an unbelievable story.
And then later, a young woman goes from being homeless to an Ivy League college. We'll show you how she did it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We have to warn you here, right up front, this next video hard to watch. It's also a good chance that it's going to make you really mad. Oscar Lopez grabbed a video camera when he saw his neighbor taking a belt to a little boy during a game of catch, it was on Wednesday in North Central California. Lopez eventually yells at the guy to make him stop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSCAR LOPEZ, NEIGHBOR: I'm having a (bleep) problem with you for beating the (bleep) because he won't catch the (bleep) ball.
UNIDENTIFIED FATHER: You know my son?
LOPEZ: I don't know your son, but I'm watching you. I'm (bleep) a father, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We kind of missed the bleeps in there. So Lopez posted this video online and then he gave it to authorities. Nick Valencia is here it talk about this. The guy with the belt, Nick, got arrested.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN EDITOR AND REPORTER: He did. He turned himself in. He found out that police were coming for him to charge him with felony child abuse charge. That's the strictest child abuse charge that law enforcement can charge against somebody. Carries a maximum sentence of six years in state prison. He chooses to turn himself in. Posted a $100,000 bond shortly after and he's now free on bond.
LEMON: What are people saying, you know what, everyone has a right to discipline their kids in the way -- does this look like an abuse case? Was he beating the kid?
There's a difference between whipping and beating. And I'm not drawing a distinction or condoning it, but there is a difference, there is a distinction I should say between beating and the whipping or spanking.
VALENCIA: And when we talked to his attorney a little while ago, that's the point that he was trying to make. He understands this video is hard to watch. Having said that, does it deserve this penalty. He doesn't think so. That's the case he's trying to argue right now. So far, the District Attorney hasn't officially leveled a charge, informally leveled a charge against him. He's waiting for review. They're waiting for that. No plea entered just yet by Sanchez.
LEMON: So, we don't know what happens next, except we have to wait to see how it plays out legally.
VALENCIA: We'll find out more on Monday.
LEMON: And there is no, as far as we know, history of him of abuse?
VALENCIA: I asked his attorney that, he says, no, up until this point, up until this incident, model citizen. What you would expect, the characteristics you would expect a leader in the community to have. He's a little league coach and a softball coach, according to local affiliates. Apparently, he just, this is one slip for him and his attorney things that he doesn't deserve to have that felony charge leveled against him.
LEMON: One slip that we know of.
VALENCIA: That we know of.
LEMON: Yes, that we know off. So, that's interesting story that we will watch. Thank you, Nick Valencia. I appreciate it.
What happens to your social media relationship when you talk about your romances and that relationship turns sour? Stay there, we've got some tips for you.
But first, I want to tell you about this.
More than 46 million people in this country live below the poverty line. That's according to the census bureau. So, how can this situation be improved? There's one word, education. CNN's Christine Romans reports in this week's "Smart is The New Rich."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCUS ALLEN, CEO, ACHIEVEABILITY: This is about tomorrow, this is about future generations.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Marcus Allen used to play professional basketball. Today, he's with a team that invests in foreign homeless families. It's called achievability. The program provides housing through a combination of federal tax credits and other public funding and it opens the door to an education with student loans, grants, and incentives.
ALLEN: Many of our families are the first in their family to graduate from college. We believe that, you know, once that first person goes to college and gets that education, that can break the generational cycle of poverty.
ROMANS: Allen is a walking role model.
ALLEN: I was homeless. You know, when I was a kid and came from a very low-income family where my mom raised me. And one of the things that set me apart from most people in my family, I was the only person in my family did go to college. And from there, things just begin to take off for me. And that's what we see with a lot of families in our program. All right. Those who are able to look at that the fear in the face and really go and do it anyway.
ROMANS: Harold Barrow knows that fear.
HAROLD BARROW, ACHIEVEABILITY ALUMNUS: I'm the same guy, running around the streets, nasty -- but I was terrified of books.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Barrow grew up on the streets of Philadelphia. Addicted to drugs at 11. An eighth grade dropout, homeless at 14.
BARROW: I just kind of got head long in the street life. And obviously, that came with, you know, issues with the police and then, you know, inevitably my incarceration.
ROMANS: At 31, it seems his choices were grim. A social worker at his homeless shelter told him about ACHIEVEability. Twenty two years later, he's sober and has a master's degree. He's a self sufficiency coach for the program that saved him.
BARROW: It is such a rewarding experience, you know, to watch somebody walk down the aisle who thought, you know, to get a degree, who thought that was never possible.
ROMANS: Elaina Howard pauses when looking back at her life five years ago.
ELAINA HOWARD, BOARD MEMBER, ACHIEVEABILITY. Hold on.
ROMANS: Dropping out a semester before graduating community college, living in a shelter with three children, to now a master's degree in social work.
HOWARD: I'm speechless. I'm grateful. I'm appreciative. You know, it was a long journey. I think ACHIEVEability for being that vehicle.
ALLEN: Many of us are only one piece check away from living in poverty. You know, poverty is only a circumstance of today, but it doesn't give you any indication of what it can be tomorrow.
Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: This, our online universe, relationships, friends, work, and fun are all part of it. A recent study from 17 magazine says that 60 percent of respondents look at their romantic interests' Facebook profiles daily. But what happens when that perfect relationship turns out to be not so perfect and what should you do about the digital remnants of that relationship?
Psychologist Dr. Wendy Walsh joins me now. Wendy, I hear it all the time, I had to, what it is -- single, went on and changed my status. And that causes a big issue. Could it be time for a Facebook purge, you think?
WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Well, I think so. You know, what, we have to understand is that sometimes the psychologically put people and events in our life in compartments is kind of healthy. I mean, obviously not if you're having affairs and you're putting them in different compartments. But if you have a Facebook life where it's so public, it's a giant billboard and your exist now there on his Facebook page, your news fed flaunting his new woman or new date, this can be psychologically unhealthy. So, yes, you got to purge negative energy and negative thoughts, so that when you logon to Facebook, it's mostly sunshine and flowers. Make you feel good.
LEMON: Oh, it's like a virtual reality. It's not real, it's all happy. Nothing bad happens in my life. So, then, how should you navigate this space, then? Give us some advice.
WALSH: Well, first you need to, if you find that your Facebook stalking in that you're going onto the walls of people that you used to date, you need to stop the habit right away. And the way to do it is to get them out of your newsfeed, you got de-friend people who are exes. Because the other problem that is happening for women is men don't actually break up. Men like to sort of keep a posse of opportunity out there. So they sort of -- they never really break up. They kind of keep in touch with a little Facebook messages and posts here and there. So, that makes you vulnerable to him pulling you back in just for sex, not really to build a relationship. So, there's all these kind of fragile, undefined relationships going on. Well, you have to take charge and define them yourself and cut it off if it's not working.
LEMON: Yes. Why keep beating yourself up by doing that? Why do it yourself go on and, what I'm doing now?
WALSH: Because women are in love with longing.
LEMON: You said it. I'm glad you said it because I would be called a sexist if I said that. Did you say stalking? Is it more -- it's more than just cleaning house. Is this stalking?
WALSH: Well, no, it's not stalking because we have to know this is a public billboard that everyone is putting out there. But if you find that you're reading your own Facebook feed and you find yourself drifting over to your ex-boyfriend's wall and digging deep into his latest photos from the weekend. That's called Facebook stalking, you know, in light a slang way. And it means that you're just messing with your own head. And why are you doing this to yourself?
LEMON: All right, Dr. Wendy, good advice. Thank you.
WALSH: All right. Thank you.
LEMON: Doctor, we'll see you at the top of the hour. We can be doing another very important hour with Dr. Wendy coming up at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN. Thank you, Dr. Wendy.
You have a question about etiquette in the digital world, we have some advice for you. We've got a place you can go. You want to read more about our conversation, check out CNN.com/tech and you can click on the netiquette link, netiquette link.
As the shelling continues in Syria in casualties. A field hospital when Homs struggles to save lives with little resources and little to no medical staff. We'll going to take you on a tour. It is a CNN exclusive.
And we want our viewers to stay connected to CNN, even when you're on the go, you can grab your mobile phone, you can go to CNN.com/live and if you're on a desktop or a laptop, you can also watch CNN live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: More deaths in Syria today. This is the City of Homs, heavy artillery exploding in residential neighborhoods. Witnesses say, Syrian forces shelled a mosque and a church today. At least 25 people are reported killed in Homs. More than 65 people killed all across the country. We have some video we're going to show you taken by a journalist named Robert King who risked his life to bring it to you. The video shows you the horror, the everyday horror that people in some parts of Syria are facing now. We've cut down the video because some of it is so gruesome we didn't even think we could show it to you. It showed children who have been cut apart, blown open by shelling, shot by snipers. We want you to see the video because for all of the talks and all the statistics and all the debates over what if anything can and should be done to stop the slaughter in Syria. This is the reality, men, women, and children dying. Some of them are firefighters, some are simply kids, some simply people who have demonstrated for freedom. I want you to take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: What is your name?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: My name is Dr. Katzin.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Dr. Katzin.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Go, go, go, go.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I am working.
(INAUDIBLE)
(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: This regime is a terrorist regime.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Doctor, what has happened here?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I don't know. The army, you see this child? They are terrorists. They cannot go to any hospital in Syria. They will kill you.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Even the children?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Even the children.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We are everyday very busy. We have more patients. Look at this child. Is he a terrorist of a fighter?
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: They see he is not a fighter, not old man, not young man. He is six-year-old only. Severe injury, and stomach and liver and kidney. What he did for this regime? The sniper, I think, this is a child. He is shooting him.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Will he survive?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I think God will help.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Allahu Akbar!
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: He got hit by a rocket.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We cannot stay in the same place for a long time.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Why can't you stay in the same place? Why do you have to keep relocating your hospital?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Because they will (INAUDIBLE) they will try to cut us off.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Are you worried for your own life? UNIDENTIFIED MAN: No. If I will die when I help people, it is good for me. Because I am a doctor. I must help the people. Especially in this very catastrophic time.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: After the revolution, before the revolution, during the revolution, I will help people.
(SPEAKING ARABIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We turn out to other stories making news today. Across the Atlantic, the financial crisis spreads to Spain. Spain's government will ask the European Union to bail out their banking system, possibly to the tune of up to $125 billion. The cash injection is meant just for the banks and is not a full bailout for the government.
Police in the Phoenix area are looking for whoever is responsible for leaving flashlight bombs around the country. Five people have been injured in three separate bomb attacks. An explosive is placed inside the flashlights and set to go off when the switch is flicked on. It has become such a problem, billboards have gone up to warn residents of the danger there.
Alabama police have arrested a man wanted in the death of 9-year-old twins and their 73-year-old baby sitter. Deandra Marquis Lee was arrested this morning in Selma. Investigators haven't detailed a possible motive or what evidence connected lead to the case. The bodies of twins Jordan and Taylor Dejerinett and their babysitter Jack Mac Girdner were found Tuesday on a dirt road.
How does a $3.4 million lunch tab sound to you? That is the winning bid to have lunch with legendary investor Warren Buffett. Bids ran all week and closed last night. That total again, $3,456,000,789 for lunch with the oracle of Omaha. All proceeds go to GLIDE, an organization that works to end poverty in the San Francisco Bay area.
Next, turning to legal matters. A woman is paid nearly a million dollars by the popular dating service eHarmony because her date didn't go as planned. Wait until you hear the experience she had.
But first, the emotional aftermath for U.S. troops returning home from war is so devastating, there's an estimated 18 veterans committing suicide every single day. This week's "CNN Hero" gives veterans who suffer from traumatic brain injuries and other invisible wounds a positive look on life by enlisting man's best friend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: When I got back from Iraq I stood away from large crowds, malls, movies.
UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: I wouldn't leave the house. Just didn't want to.
UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: I stayed inside. The windows were blacked out. UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: I was really numb.
UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: Didn't feel I had a purpose any more.
UNIDENTIFIED VETERAN: Nightmares constantly, flashbacks. Everything to me is still a combat zone.
MARY CORTANI, CNN HERO: Veterans with invisible wounds -- we can see a wheelchair a prosthetic leg. They appear like you and I. But their suffering goes so deep it touches the soul.
I learned how to train dogs while I served in the Army. I knew that a dog can add a lot to your life. I realized this is what I was supposed to do.
My name is Mary Cortani. I match veterans with service dogs, train them as a team so that they can navigate life together.
(on camera): Sam?
(voice-over): When a veteran trains their own service dog, they have a mission and a purpose again.
(on camera): Talk to them. Tell them they did good.
(voice-over): Dogs come from shelters, rescue groups. They're taught to create a spatial barrier and can alert them when they start to get anxious.
(on camera): You OK? You getting overwhelmed? Focus on Mandy.
(voice-over): The dog is capable of keeping them grounded.
(on camera): You're focusing on him and he's focusing on everything around you.
(voice-over): You start to see them get their confidence back, communicate differently. They venture out and they begin to participate in life again.
Being able to help them find that joy back in their life, it's priceless.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: To nominate someone making a difference in your community, visit CNNheroes.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: An Oregon woman was paid $900,000 after a date didn't exactly go as planned. She contracted an STD from someone she met on the dating site eHarmony and said the man was negligent by not telling her he had the STD for more than 20 years.
Criminal defense attorney, Holly Hughes, is here. Holly, how did the jury come to this decision?
(LAUGHTER)
I have never heard of anything like this.
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY & FORMER PROSECUTOR: Let's bear in mind, there's a difference between a civil lawsuit and a criminal lawsuit. This isn't something he went into criminal court and was charged for. She went ahead and sued him in civil court for battery, basically, which is an unwanted touching, which has undesirable results. She has now contracted the STD. The jury calls this contributory negligence, which means he's at fault. She is to a certain percentage. The jury figures that out. They say, you're 25 percent responsible for the fact that you got this. But by in large, this guy should have told you. He knew about it. He's had it for 20- some years. So he's got to pay.
LEMON: You touched on -- what -- I'm not taking sides.
HUGHES: Right.
LEMON: But isn't she ultimately responsible for her own health?
HUGHES: Yes, absolutely. All of us are. But when you get into a situation where somebody lies to you -- I mean, clearly, you know, he's saying to her, everything is fine. You know when he tells her? Right after they had sex, Don. So it's not like it's a big secret to you, dude. You all of a sudden remember? No, you told her afterwards. Why not tell her up front and avoid this very situation. It's the knowledge you're responsible for.
LEMON: There are a lot of online dating sites, including eHarmony and other sites.
HUGHES: Right.
LEMON: Do other sites like that have a reason to worry? Could they be named in this kind of lawsuit?
HUGHES: No. And they weren't named in this one. This was against the man because they're going to have iron-clad contracts saying, hey, we're not a sex site. We're an introduction, introduce to a nice person site. We're not involved in prostitution. If you decide to get intimate with somebody, it's your responsibility to find out what's their history, what's their physical and medical history, just like you would have to if you met somebody at the bar, sitting talking, at the country shop. They're not going to be responsible because they're going to make you sign every waiver known to man --
(LAUGHTER)
-- saying, by the way, this is not our fault if you make a bad decision.
LEMON: You don't sign a waiver when you go and meet someone at the bar.
HUGHES: Precisely, but you should still ask all those same questions.
LEMON: Protect yourself.
HUGHES: You should.
LEMON: The Internet, online, social media has added a whole new --
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHES: But to every element of our life, not just social media, but think of all the -- now there's intellectual properties. Who owns what if you post something on a bulletin board. Do you have a copyright or trademark infringement? It's just busted open all the different areas of our lives.
LEMON: Where does it end? Careful.
HUGHES: It won't end.
LEMON: Be careful.
(LAUGHTER)
Thank you, Holly.
HUGHES: Absolutely.
LEMON: Appreciate it.
All right, turning to politics now. Republican stars fire up their base at a conference in Chicago and, buried under all that, Senator Rand Paul comes out for Mitt Romney. But wait. Isn't the Senator's dad Ron Paul? The man who ran against Romney and ripped him constantly over the campaign? Wait until you hear what Rand Paul told me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky made big news this week when he finally endorsed Mitt Romney for president. He's late jumping on the bandwagon because his father, Texas Congressman, Ron Paul, also was a candidate for the Republican nomination.
We caught up with Senator Paul just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. RAND PAUL, (R), KENTUCKY: You know, I have always supported my dad. He's always been my first choice and still is my first chose. I worked -- when I was 11 years old, I knocked on doors for him. I worked on every one of his campaigns. But the nomination is now done and Romney has achieved the amount of delegates necessary to be the nominee. Those are just facts. And I have decided to endorse Romney after meeting with him and talking about a lot of areas we have common ground on.
LEMON: You mentioned your father. I want to play something that your dad said on CBS in April. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RON PAUL, (R), TEXAS & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have no common ground on economics. He doesn't -- isn't worried about the Federal Reserve and he isn't worried about the foreign policy. He doesn't talk about civil liberties. So I have a hard time to expect him ever to invite me to campaign with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So has anything -- has something changed since then? Is your father going to -- do you know -- I know you can't speak for him -- but do you know -- you're his son -- is he going to endorse Mitt Romney?
PAUL: You know, I don't know. But I did talk with Mitt Romney about some of the issues that are important to me, my father, and many of his supporters, like audit the Fed. Mitt Romney supports audit the Fed, has, and came out for that during the campaign. Will he talk about the Fed as much or as eloquently as my father? Maybe not. But he is supporting audit the Fed, which is a big deal for myself and many of our supporters.
LEMON: Did you talk about the possibility of joining his ticket?
PAUL: No, we didn't talk about that.
LEMON: Would you consider it?
PAUL: You know, I would say what I have said before. I think it would be an honor. And I think anybody who said they wouldn't be honored by it isn't being honest. A year, a year and a half ago, I was a physician in a small town. And to be honored -- it would be a great honor to be considered as a vice president for the Republican Party. I think that would be something that anybody who said otherwise would not be being truthful.
LEMON: Listen, you're people -- I've told you this before, a lot of people love your father. He has rabid supporters, a lot of young people as well. And in March, "Time" magazine quoted an adviser for your father saying, "If you're talking about putting Rand on the ticket," and this is a quote, "of course, that would be worth delivering our people to Romney." So the question is, is there a possible deal, some sort of deal going on here? If you're on the ticket, will your dad send his supporters Romney's way?
PAUL: No, no real secret deal. I always tell people, if there's a secret deal, it's so secret tht I don't know about it. But I would say that my dad's supporters are very, very independent. Many conservatives and libertarians are independent people. And I don't pretend to speak for them. They make up their own minds. Some of them might be influenced to hear the governor out, listen to the areas of common interest. They're not going to agree with everything Governor Romney stands for.
LEMON: Did Romney's health care plan in Massachusetts that has been compared to the president's plan, did that give you pause at all in your support of Mitt Romney and did you discuss that with him?
PAUL: We didn't discuss Obama-care because I think he's been clear that he would give all 50 states waivers. And it does seem to be that he takes the 10th Amendment position, is that states are allowed to do things the federal government is not allowed. Now, had I been in Massachusetts, I probably would not have favored it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: And Senator Rand Paul says he would rather focus on the future than, in his words, "re-litigate" Romney-care.
Doctors in hospitals are not perfect. We know that. And you may be surprised to learn how many medical mistakes occur each year. We're counting down the worse of them. A live report, next.
We want our viewers to stay connected to CNN even on the go. Grab your mobile phone, go to CNN.com/tv. And if you're on a desktop or laptop, you can also watch CNN live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Medical mistakes -- two words. Enough to give you the heebies jeebies. Haven't said that in a long time.
Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.
You have a special tonight on this very topic. Are hospitals dangerous?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hospitals can be dangerous. And I think we forget that because you go there to get well. But this new report out from the Leapfrog Group, they graded hospitals, like traditional A, B, C, D, E, F -- A, B, C, D, F, rather, and half of the hospitals got a C or below.
LEMON: Really?
COHEN: Really. And that's not good. And they used a whole --
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: No, hospitals are not the cleanest places in the world.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: They're loaded with germs.
COHEN: That's right. And sometimes people get the germ in the hospital tht they didn't have going in, and sometimes people have wrong body parts operated on, and all sorts of things go wrong. And some of the most respected hospitals in the country did not do particularly well.
Let me give you some examples of the criteria they use.
LEMON: OK.
COHEN: For example, they looked at were surgical tools left in patients after the operation?
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: We see that. You have shown us x-rays before where that is so -- it's like, what? How can you do that? OK.
COHEN: Exactly. So some of the hospitals, that happened. Some hospitals have poor hand-washing policies and got low grades for that. Some have poor intensive care unit staffing. Those are examples of what you could get bad marks on.
LEMON: Doctors say us, you don't want to spread germs, don't want colds, wash your hands, wash your hands, and they're not doing it themselves.
COHEN: Right. Doctors --
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: Some doctors are fabulous about it. Others do not have such a great record.
LEMON: Here's a question. When you're like young and just out of medical school, are you a little bit more adamant about doing it or do you get lazy over the years?
COHEN: That is a good question. If I had to guess I would say newer doctors are better.
LEMON: More diligent, yes.
COHEN: Because more recently, medical schools are really pushing that and saying, wash your hands.
LEMON: You're all about empowering patients. How do you choose a hospital?
COHEN: There are a couple of web sites, and that's the best place so you can see ratings. First of all, you want to go to my web site, cnn.com/empowerpatients. That has information. And also hospitalsafetyscore.org. And that's from the Leapfrog Group. And they actually -- you can look up your hospital and find out the score.
LEMON: Once you're there, god forbid --
(CROSSTALK) LEMON: Once you're there, how do you stay safe once you're in the hospital? If you're going for a big procedure, many times, they're going to put you under, and you don't know if they are leaving in a tool in you or if they're washing their hands. You don't know that.
COHEN: The single most important thing you can do to stay safe in a hospital is to bring someone with you.
LEMON: It's not to go to one, first of all.
(LAUGHTER)
COHEN: Right. Right, that's true. That's the best policy. But if you have to go to one -- and hospitals save lives all the time -- bring a loved one with you. And probably not your shyest friend. You want someone who is going to advocate for you. There's a couple of things they can do. That person can request that doctors and nurses wash their hands before they touch you. That advocate can say, if my loved one has a catheter, like a urinary catheter, get it out as soon as possible. Those catheters are great places to introduce germs. And also get a medication list in the morning and say, OK, Donna is supposed to have a blue pill at 8:00 in the morning, and just one pill, and when someone brings two orange pills, you can say, whoa, wait a minute. Nobody told us about an orange pill. Is this right?
LEMON: Is there a place to sign of if they've given you the thing? Because sometimes they may even forget to do it.
COHEN: That's true. If 8:00 o'clock comes and goes and no one has brought you your medicine, you can ring that little bell.
LEMON: If I ever have to the hospital, I'm calling you because --
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: I would be happy to be your advocate.
LEMON: You help family members out and tell me what you will say, hey, doc, wash your hands.
COHEN: I have had to do that. And I must say, as assertive as I am, I'm uncomfortable saying to a professional, could you wash your hands. I just say, I'm kind of squeamish about this. I want to see you wash your hands. And that makes it easier.
LEMON: It says you're our senior medical correspondent at CNN. And you're still --
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: Yes, because --
(CROSSTALK)
COHEN: Exactly. But this is more like a human thing. It's hard to tell another adult, hey, you goofed. Do something right. LEMON: All right.
(LAUGHTER)
Not me.
(LAUGHTER)
COHEN: Then you're coming with me if I'm ever sick, OK?
LEMON: Thank you, Elizabeth.
Don't miss Elizabeth's special, "25 Shocking Medical Mistakes," tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. Elizabeth is back in at 7:00 tonight to give us a sneak preview. It's really interesting. I've seen some of it. She's going to give us an early look at two of the shocking mistakes in tonight's countdown. Don't miss it.
This woman went from being homeless and working as a janitor to getting into an Ivy League college. We'll show you how she did it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Finally, good news. And it just keeps coming at the gas pump. Prices fell almost a full penny marking the 24th straight day that it's gotten cheaper to full up. A gallon now costs just now $3.55 on average. But you can still be jealous of drivers in South Carolina. They have the cheapest gas, 40 cents lower, 40 cents lower, than the national average.
Abandoned, left behind, one teen girl didn't know what to do until a community rallied behind her. CNN's Martin Savidge has the incredible story of the girl who was going from homeless to Harvard. Watch this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While other teens still sleep, Dawn Loggins is in the hallways, classrooms and bathrooms of Burns High School, where she's a senior and janitor. Each morning, she cleans the rooms where she'll later return to learn.
DAWN LOGGINS, STUDENT & JANITOR: That I myself should be the root and father of many kings.
SAVIDGE: Then comes seven hours of advanced placement classes and honors classes. Then two more hours of dumping trash and picking up after her classmates.
LOGGINS: I don't mind cleaning because if you have to wade through trash to get to your desk, you're note going to have an environment that encourages learning.
SAVIDGE: Finally, she tackles homework until 2:00 a.m.
Besides being dedicated, school officials knew something else about Dawn, life at home wasn't exactly perfect. There were the eviction notices. The family moved -- a lot. Burns High was Dawn's fourth school in eighth grade. When she asked about candles, her boss realized the teen was living in a house with no electricity.
JUNIE BARRETT, BURNS HIGH CUSTODIAL SUPERVISOR: She came to me and she said I need something to be able to do my homework by. I said, OK, we'll get you some candles. We'll take care of that.
SAVIDGE: There was also no water.
LOGGINS (ph): We would get water jugs and fill them up at the park, liking using the spigots in the bathroom and we'd use that to flush the toilet and cook with and things like that.
SAVIDGE: It got worse. Last year when Dawn tried calling home from summer school in Raleigh, the phone was disconnected. Her mother and stepfather had moved again. This time, leaving her behind.
LOGGINS: I never expected my parents to just, like, leave.
SAVIDGE: You were homeless?
LOGGINS: Yes.
SAVIDGE: Dawn would crash a few days on a couch here or a night or two on a floor there, but still cleaning and still keeping up her grades.
LOGGINS: I think what motivates me is the fact that when I was younger, I was able to look at all the bad choices, at the neglect and the drug abuse, and I was not going to have to have ask myself, am I going to buy food this month or am I going to pay rent?
SAVIDGE (voice-over): What makes this story so amazing isn't just Dawn Loggins, it's what this school, it's what the community did. You see, the moment it was realized that Dawn was abandoned and homeless, she should have been turned over to the state, the Department of Social Services. That didn't happen. That didn't happen on purpose.
ROBYN PUTNAM, BURNS HIGH GUIDANCE COUNSELOR: We kind of took it upon ourselves to become her village.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): So teachers and staffers made sure she was clothed and fed and had a place to live.
SHERYL KOLTON, BURNS MIDDLE SCHOOL BUS DRIVER: The people are nice, so we have good people in Longdale. Yes, it's a nice community.
SAVIDGE: It didn't end there. That same village was now out to get her to college, and not just any college, Harvard.
History teacher, Larry Gardner, wrote the recommendation letter and simply told Dawn's story.
LARRY GARDNER, BURNS HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY TEACHER: This young woman has, unlike most of us, known hunger. She's known abuse and neglect and homelessness and filth, yet she's risen above it all to become such an outstanding student.
SAVIDGE: Months passed. Thick acceptance letters arrived from state schools but nothing from Cambridge. Then one day, an envelope with a Harvard seal arrived.
GARDNER: I am delighted to report that the admissions committee has asked me to inform you that you will be admitted to the Harvard class of 2016.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: As Martin Savidge reported, Dawn graduates from high school on Thursday. Harvard is giving her a full-ride scholarship, including help finding an on-campus job. You can read more about Dawn's story, by logging on to CNN.com. It's on our home page. It's a great story.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. See you back here an hour from now.
"THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer begins right now.
