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Pivotal Point In Sandusky Trial; Greek Vote Key To Europe's Fate; New Documentary About George H.W. Bush; Developments in Immigration Policy

Aired June 15, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Suzanne Malveaux. Let's get right to it, the Obama administration announcing a major change in U.S. immigration policy that also has major political implications.

The U.S. will stop deporting young illegal immigrants who meet certain requirements and we will hear from President Obama live next hour at 1:15 Eastern time. And earlier, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano explained the change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Should the parents be concerned that potentially they could be deported, they would now be identified as illegal immigrants?

JANET NAPOLITANO, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: No, we are not going to do that. We have internally set it up so that the parents are not referred for immigration enforcement if the young person comes in for deferred action; however, the parents are not qualified.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. That conversation with our Wolf Blitzer, and you will hear more from him later on this hour, and of course he will be anchoring our 1 o'clock coverage of this policy as the president also is to go to a -- the Rose Garden to further on this policy.

So meantime, take a look right here, this is the policy applying to those who came to the U.S. illegally as children before the age of 16. They must have lived in the country for at least five years under this new policy, and they have to be in school, have graduated from high school or have served in the military.

Only those with felony or criminal records or who don't pose a security threat are eligible, and they must be younger than the age of 30.

As we said, this story will surely impact the presidential race, Wolf Blitzer joining us live now from Washington to talk more about the political implications.

Wolf, the homeland security secretary telling you that this falls within existing law, and it is the right thing to do, she says.

How much of this is about policy, how much of it about politics?

BLITZER: Well, it will immediately have an impact on hundreds of thousands of young people. They have grown up here in the United States, and they're -- for the first time in their lives, they will really be able to notify the U.S. government, alert them to their status, and then they will have a legal status. They'll be able to work, do whatever they need to do to, go to school in the United States.

And you just heard Janet Napolitano, the Secretary of Homeland Security, tell me -- I taped an interview with her just minutes ago, saying that the parents don't need to worry that, once their children go public and alert the U.S. government of their status, the U.S. government is not going to go after them, even though they do have still technically an illegal status in the United States.

So it is a dramatic obvious development for hundreds of thousands of young people and their families, for that matter, right now. Politically speaking, I think it will help the president solidify the base in the Hispanic/Latino community and several key battleground states certainly in Nevada and New Mexico, probably in Arizona, Colorado and Florida. He will get some increased support.

But there are significant Latino populations of states like North Carolina also in Virginia. So politically speaking, I think this will almost certainly be a net-plus for the president, and we will see how Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger, you know, comes up and reacts to what the president has decided today.

WHITFIELD: We do expect to be hearing from him as he has just embarked on the six-state bus tour, beginning with New Hampshire, the state in which he made his first announcement of his candidacy.

So I wonder, Wolf, too, this policy that Napolitano says falls within the guidelines of existing law, this is also very similar to what the DREAM Act would have done except for the DREAM Act was to create a plan that would offer a plan to citizenship. Is that what this would allow, a path to citizenship?

BLITZER: She says flatly this step, this executive order that the administration has announced today, does not result in a pathway to citizenship for these maybe 800,000 young people who will still have legal status to work or whatever in the United States, but she says it stops short of what the DREAM Act would have done, which is provide this pathway to citizenship for kids who have grown up in the United States, finished high school, gone off to college in many cases, or served in the U.S. military.

They would be eligible under certain conditions to eventually receive citizenship. This by itself, this executive order does not go that far. The Secretary of Homeland Security suggesting that will have to await comprehensive immigration reform legislation that would be passed by the House and the Senate, signed into law by a president. So she is holding off on that. WHITFIELD: And because this is an executive order, that is why the president was able to bypass any kind of congressional support.

We did hear from South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham by way of Twitter, and he tweeted, "Mr. President, I don't think this is a wise way to fix a broken immigration system. This decision avoids dealing with Congress and the American people instead of fixing a broken immigration system once and for all. This is a classic Barack Obama move of choosing politics over leadership."

So back to congressional support, the president didn't need it for this kind of executive order, period. Right?

BLITZER: Right. They have a lengthy legal memo outlining why this executive order is legal, why they don't need congressional action. The downside of doing this via executive decision, executive order, if you will, is a new president -- let's say Romney is elected, sworn in on January 20th next year, he could issue on day one a new executive order reversing it if he wanted to do so.

I am not saying he would. So presidents on significant issues like this, they always prefer legislation; it is much more difficult to reverse a law, if you will, than it is to reverse an executive order. An executive order can be reversed by a new president who comes in. So, those are some of the issues they have to balance in moving forward.

WHITFIELD: All right. Wolf Blitzer, thank you so much, we will see you at 1 o'clock Eastern hour. You're going to lead our coverage as the president is also take to the Rose Garden to explain more about this executive order. Thank you so much, Wolf.

BLITZER: (Inaudible).

WHITFIELD: Let's get some more perspective on this, continue to talk about this issue. Let's bring in Juan Carlos Lopez. He's a correspondent for CNN Espanol in Washington.

So how is this so far, Juan Carlos, being received in the Latino community?

JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, it's huge. It has been very well received. Everyone is going through the details and seeing how it is going to work and what the impact is. And there is a similar program already in place. It's called the Temporary Protection Status, TPS, eight countries have that, citizens of eight countries have that.

Citizens of El Salvador have been using this since 2001, renewing it every two years. So it is a concept that is familiar with the Hispanic community, but this is a big message to Latinos and it's something that a lot of organizations have been asking for, especially these students, the Dreamers.

They have organized themselves as the Dreamers. They have been lobbying. They have been lobbying Democrats and Republicans. They have been criticizing both the White House and Republicans and they have been able to go this far. It's a very, I believe a very important day for this group, and a very important day in the campaign for the Hispanic vote.

WHITFIELD: So while it permits allowance for these young people to stay in country, it does not, as Wolf was just spelling out and explaining, it does not mean that this is a path toward citizenship. So among the many who have lobbied for the DREAM Act is there any level of disappointment that this is not a path toward citizenship, but instead a permit to stay in the country?

LOPEZ: They are optimistically cautious and they're looking at the details and they're reading through, but they believe this is an important breakthrough, because after many years of being in limbo, once this is implemented, they can have -- they might be able to get a driver's license. They might be able to do things that they have not been able to do legally, get a job.

Many of these kids, Fred, you have to remember, were brought to this country when they were very small. They were under 16. They learned the language. Most of them know English more than they do the language of their country. Now the majority of them are Latino, but not all of them are Latino.

You have children from all over the world that would be covered by this program. So they are organized. They're savvy, they know what they are doing.

And I'm pretty sure that they are going to be taking the next steps necessary to go from having something that they didn't, at least this status that gives them the right to move around, to work and to not have to hide to move to the next step where they expect -- they expect should come through immigration reform.

WHITFIELD: Juan Carlos Lopez, thank you so much from Washington. Appreciate it.

LOPEZ: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: And just a reminder we will hear from president Barack Obama next hour about the changes in immigration policy that will allow some young illegal immigrants to avoid deportation. The president is scheduled to speak 1:15 Eastern time and of course we will bring that to you live right here on CNN.

Here is what we are working on for this hour.

You think the chaos in Europe is a world away? Think again. What happens in Greece could affect everything from the U.S. economy to the race for the White House.

Then Cairo ready to erupt again as promises of the revolution threaten to turn to sand.

And he was the 41st president of the United States. But there's more to George H.W. Bush than his politics. (MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: People all across the U.S. are reacting to the big news out of Washington today, the Obama administration's decision to stop deporting young law-abiding illegal immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.

Jose Antonio Vargas is a journalist and an illegal immigrant. He publicly revealed his status in a "New York Times" article, Jose joining me now from New York.

Jose, you and I just spoke yesterday about the article that you have authored in "Time" magazine, which not only outs yourself, as you put it, but many other undocumented, as you put it. The Obama administration making this policy change this morning, first let's listen to what the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAPOLITANO: There is this group, this group of young people, brought here through no fault of their own. They often have defended (ph) their country of origin. They don't speak the language.

They're in school or they're in the military, they have not been in trouble with the law. We need to within our discretionary authority defer action against these individuals. And that is what I am announcing today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. So, Jose, you and I spoke yesterday about "Time" magazine, and you had mentioned, even in the article, you were wondering since you revealed that you were illegal in that "New York Times" article why immigration had not come after you, why you had not been deported.

So perhaps this was in the pipeline. Is this is a better explanation as to why perhaps you weren't deported?

JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS, JOURNALIST AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT: Well, because, again, I haven't committed any sort of criminal serious felony. You know, I went to high school, middle school, graduated from college in America. I have contributed to this country; I'm not a threat to this country. This country is my home. I grew up here.

And I think that is exactly the message that the Obama administration and President Obama is sending today. You know, these are Americans. And at the end of the day, giving them status to be able to go to school and live their lives and a work permit is good for all of America, it is good for all of us.

WHITFIELD: So looking at the criteria of this policy that is now effective immediately, and it seems as though, just from what you just riddled off, you qualify. You are law abiding, you went to school, you went to college, but you have to be under 30, and you are 31.

VARGAS: Yes. I'm 30 -- I -- actually today, I have to say, today is probably the day that I feel old. I haven't quite had that feeling before, but I feel old today.

But you know, again, given I have traveled since coming out in "The New York Times" magazine last year, I have been to 20 states and countless cities, meeting, face to face, talking and hearing the stories of the Dreamers, many of whom we feature on "Time" magazine.

WHITFIELD: So is it bittersweet though, for you?

VARGAS: No, this -- no, I mean, this is such a big win. And it is not -- it is beyond politics. It is not about Democrat, it's not about Republican, it's not about Obama's reelection strategy, at the end of the day, these are everyday people trying to live their lives and trying to live as fully as they can.

You know, they don't care about, you know, what is going on in terms of, you know, what the politicians are arguing about; they care about trying to make sure they are feeding their families and that they're educated.

WHITFIELD: Part of your story, you were brought to the U.S. at the age of 12 by your aunt.

VARGAS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: You didn't know you were illegal. You would eventually learn that along the way. When you talk about having the dialogue with so many Dreamers and this is everything that they have wanted, also what many of the Dreamers, so to speak, have wanted was a path to immigration.

This policy, this executive order apparently does not do that. So, is it just shy of what you and other Dreamers have wanted, or is this still a celebration?

VARGAS: Oh, it is a definitely a celebration. This is a definitely a celebration. And what it is, too, is a solution. You know, I mean, so often in this conversation, we talk about the immigration debate -- there is a lot of yelling that happens, people go into the corners, but we rarely ever talk about solution, and this is a solution. Is it fully what we wanted? No.

But at the end of the day, again, I care more about the kids that are in high schools and in colleges all across America. You know, every year, 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school, right? And they are one of us. And now, because of this directive, they are now going to be able to go to school, go to work and contribute. Why not? That is a great thing. That benefits all of us.

WHITFIELD: You are a reporter, you have covered all sorts of things, you say you were once an objective reporter, now you don't necessarily don't want to consider yourself an objective one, because of your status.

However, as you look at this policy as a reporter, do you see how this might greatly impact November elections?

WHITFIELD: Absolutely. I mean, the economy is a major factor in this campaign, but I actually would say that it is not just the economy. Demographics, you know, is a big, big factor in this campaign.

Four years ago at "The Washington Post," when I was a reporter there, I went to Nevada and Colorado and New Mexico, and the president would not have won without the Latino vote in those crucial swing states.

I mean, I understand looking at it from that perspective, but what I am even more curious about, frankly, is how Governor Romney is going to respond to this. He has to be really careful. He doesn't -- you know, do you really want to alienate not just the growing -- the largest growing minority group in the country, but a multiethnic America?

In America, in politics right now, diversity is destiny. It is inevitable. So how is the Republican Party and how is Governor Romney going to embrace that?

WHITFIELD: Jose Antonio Vargas, thank you so much for your time, and of course, at some point this midday we should be hearing from Republican presidential challenger, Mitt Romney, and of course, when we get his sentiment on this new policy change, we will be able to bring that to our audience as well. Thank you so much, Jose.

VARGAS: Thank you so much for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. In fact, let's talk a little bit more about what is taking place on the campaign trail from New Hampshire. That's where our Jim Acosta is, he is going to be following candidate Mitt Romney in his six-state bus tour, making its first stop at a place where he initially announced his candidacy.

So has there been a response from Mitt Romney on this new immigration policy?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. No, not as of yet. Reporters did try to ask Mitt Romney about this change in policy at the White House. He did not answer those questions or at least, he didn't hear our questions -- they were certainly being shouted at him, but the music was turned up quite loud, as is often the case at these campaign events.

But I will tell you that I caught up with Senator Kelly Ayotte. She is one of those names out there that has been talked about as a potential vice presidential running mate with Mitt Romney, and she also said that she had not seen the president's proposal so she did not want to talk about it.

But I asked her, you know, Marco Rubio, the senator from Florida, is drafting an alternative to the DREAM Act and how does she feel about that. Rubio's alternative apparently will provide some kind of legal status to children of illegal immigrants, children who may be illegal themselves, who are in this country.

And Kelly Ayotte said, well, she has not seen the proposal from Marco Rubio, but she thought that she appreciated -- she said she appreciated Marco Rubio's efforts to provide what she called greater legal immigration.

So it is interesting to hear, Fredricka, that the Romney campaign and that Republicans are not immediately -- or at least the leading Republicans on this issue are not immediately slamming what is happening over at the White House.

Now we are getting indications from the Romney campaign that the former Massachusetts governor, at a stop later on today, might have comments about this. We were told, well, wait for our next event, which is down in Milford, so that is what all of us will be doing in just a couple of hours from now.

WHITFIELD: Well, I wonder if the Romney camp is assessing -- this really is a delicate balance because this really -- this policy change could really create some new fissures within the Republican Party, because there have been many Republicans, including, as you mentioned, Marco Rubio, who have been working in some capacity on the DREAM Act.

ACOSTA: Well, yes. I mean, as you know, there are people inside of the Republican Party who are not going to like what the president did today. Obviously. And Mitt Romney himself, when he was running for the Republican nomination during the primary, said he would veto the DREAM Act.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Now later on at a Republican fundraiser in April he said -- that's right. He has. That's right, at a Republican fundraiser down in Florida, he said, now Republicans need to have their own version of the DREAM Act as a way to, you know, you know, broaden the appeal among Latino voters.

And so I think that was an indication that there is some wiggle room for the GOP contender, but we will have to wait to see what he says this afternoon.

I would say at this point it does not look like -- and if you also, Fredricka, I just want to call your attention to -- we just got this e-mail a few moments ago from Marco Rubio's office, who -- he said in this statement that this is -- this is going to be welcome news for a lot of kids and families who are in this situation, but he called it a short-term answer to a long-term problem.

So not necessarily slamming it, but at the same time, saying, you know, this is not the right approach. And that might be what we hear from Mitt Romney later this afternoon, but we will have to wait and see. WHITFIELD: OK. Jim Acosta, thank you so much. Beautiful backdrop there in Stratham, New Hampshire. All right, appreciate it.

ACOSTA: It is.

WHITFIELD: All right. (Inaudible) live we will hear from President Barack Obama next hour about the changes in immigration policy that will allow some young illegal immigrants to avoid deportation. The president is scheduled to speak 1:15 Eastern time and, of course, we will be bringing that to you live right here on CNN.

All right. This painful story out of China. The government there apologizing for forcing a woman to have an abortion.

And don't forget, you can watch CNN live on your computer while you are at work. Go to CNN.com/TV.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Japanese police have arrested an American man on suspicion of killing of an Irish exchange student. Twenty-one-year- old Nicola Furlong (ph) was killed in a Tokyo hotel room last month, police say she was strangled. The suspect is 19 years old and still a minor, according to Japanese law. Authorities have 20 days to decide whether to charge him with murder.

In China, graphic photos of a woman lying next to an aborted fetus sparked outrage and now a rare public apology from the Chinese government.

The 22-year-old woman from central China says she was forced to have a late-term abortion. She posted the pictures online in protest. The couple has one child and is not allowed another according to China's one-child policy.

The photos went viral, prompting public debate on this controversial policy, and the woman's husband told CNN he is angry and wants justice. Officials say three people involved have been suspended.

And this is Homs, Syria, today, covered with smoke and echoing with automatic gunfire. At least one person was killed in Homs in street fighting. At least 26 people died today across the country. The leader of the U.N. mission in Syria says the increased violence is keeping his observers from doing their jobs.

And a witness on the stand said he screamed for help from the basement, and no one listened, heartbreaking testimony from the Jerry Sandusky trial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And now to a pivotal point in a major criminal case here in the U.S., Jerry Sandusky's child molestation trial. After listening to horrific allegations of abuse from eight of Sandusky's alleged victims this week, the jury is about to hear from the defense. Sandusky's attorneys are expected to start calling witnesses Monday.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: -- Jerry Sandusky's child molestation trial. After listening to horrific allegations of abuse from eight of Sandusky's alleged victims this week, the jury is about to hear from the defense. Sandusky's attorneys are expected to start calling witnesses Monday.

Writer, Mark Brennan is the founder of fightonstate.com. He has been watching the trial all week in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and he's joining us live now.

Good to see you again, Mark. So the prosecution wrapped up its case yesterday with the witness identified as victim number nine. He gave a harrowing account of his encounters with Sandusky.

This now gives the jury an awful lot to think about over the weekend before the defense presents its case on Monday. Does the prosecution feel like this is to their advantage?

MARK BRENNAN, FOUNDER, FIGHTONSTATE.COM: Yes, I would imagine so. It was obviously some of the most graphic testimony in a trial that is featured an awful lot of graphic testimony.

One of the thing -- you know, people I think had become a little bit numb to all these descriptions in the grand jury presentment and some of the police reports. This week, we heard a lot of these alleged victims up on the stand.

And I think that it put a more of a human spin on it, because you saw the range of emotions from anger to crying to -- it was just amazing seeing these people up here going through this, and I think you really got a feel for, you know, how much it hurt them.

The other thing I thought was important yesterday is that they put Agent Cessano on and he really connected a lot of the dots for the prosecution, and actually put some new evidence out there. So the jury has a lot to think about and sleep about over the weekend.

WHITFIELD: And victim nine leaving the most lasting impression, what did he testify to specifically?

BRENNAN: Well, I mean, he has testified to -- and I don't want to get into the most graphic of it, but serious sexual, you know, sodomy basically is what it was.

WHITFIELD: This was in the home allegedly of Sandusky.

BRENNAN: Yes. And you know, screaming in the basement, and nobody helping him, and the whole courtroom was just rap in staring at him, and you could tell how impactful that was.

WHITFIELD: When that witness refused to look at Sandusky, what was Sandusky's reaction? What was the reaction of the jurors, the courtroom?

BRENNAN: Sandusky throughout most of the trial from my view where I could see him kind of from the back and looking that way, he has been kind of not showing a lot of emotion, and sometimes joking with his attorneys during down times.

But when victim nine or alleged victim nine was up there, he was doing a lot of the holding of the face, and he looked extremely uncomfortable, and the whole courtroom went silent when the alleged victim said he did not want to look at him.

Everybody was like, whoa, you know, you watch -- I think that you watch these things on TV and in movies, and it's almost as if that was a scripted moment. I don't want to say it was, but it was unbelievable how dramatic that was.

WHITFIELD: Something else that the jurors are going to be thinking about this weekend, one of the investigating agents from Pennsylvania's attorney general's office testifying about a photo album found at Sandusky's home. What was in that album?

BRENNAN: Well, it was not just photos at his home, but also from the on-campus office where a search warrant was executed. They found photos of many of the alleged victims, including one specific victim over and over.

They had photos of this person when he was a young man, and in Penn State jerseys, at ball games, on the sideline and unbelievable. The other key piece of evidence that they found were Second Mile camp rosters, and that is the charitable organization that Jerry Sandusky ran with names of hundreds of campers.

And they had little Xs or little asterisks by the sides of the names of a lot of these alleged victims, and it appeared to be in Jerry Sandusky's handwriting and that really seemed, again, sitting in the courtroom, you get a sense of what the people are zeroed in on.

It was up on a huge screen on the wall and they would show the whole list and then zoom in straight on into one name with two Xs on it or a notation, and really hit home when you saw it with the name of an alleged victim.

WHITFIELD: Mark Brennan, thanks so much for bringing that to us. Again, the defense is going to be bringing its case come Monday in the Jerry Sandusky trial. Thanks so much, Mark.

I think that what is going on in Greece doesn't matter for your family? Well, think again. We will tell you why the chaos there could affect everything from our economy to the race for the White House.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there. Thanks for joining us. We are talking about student loans on "Help Desk" today.

Joining me this hour, Lynnette Khalfani Cox is a personal finance author and founder of the financial advice blog askthemoneycoach.com.

David Novick is a certified financial planner and adjunct professor of Finance at NYU. David, take a listen to this question about student loans that we got on the streets here in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is there a particular student loan organization or whatever that would be the best one to take my loans through right now?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: What do you think?

DAVID NOVICK, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER, PROMETHIUS CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Well, most of the student loans have been taken over by the federal government. It used to be that you could do them through the banks, but the banks mainly do the supplemental loans.

And really you want to start with the federally guaranteed student loans and these loans especially the Stafford loan and the subsidized Stafford loan allows for the interest not to be accrued while you are in school.

That way, they are essentially subsidizing that interest and allowing a lower cost over time for the student. I recommend starting with that and those programs before looking at other options.

HARLOW: There has been a lot of talk recently that student loan debt as it piles up in this country is the next shoe to drop, especially when the graduates have a harder time finding jobs, et cetera.

When you look overall at student loan debt, how much is too much? What are we seeing on average and what are the kids getting into?

LYNNETTE KHALFANI COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: I think we are clearly at the tipping point right now to say as a nation, we have way too much student loan debt. The numbers are staggering and we have $1 trillion in student loan debt and more than credit card debt.

The average college grad comes out of school according to the College Board with more than $25,000 in student loan debt. I think any time it is unaffordable. Any time you can't repay based on the salary. You have taken on too much debt so people need to think about taking on only as much is commiserate with their income.

HARLOW: What are you doing after you get that degree is absolutely critical. Thank you both. We appreciate it. If you have a question that you want our financial experts to tackle, just upload a 30-second video with your "Help Desk" question to ireport.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It is a potentially volatile weekend in parts of Europe and Northern Africa that could have a ripple effect right here in the U.S. Important elections in Greece, Egypt and France, but what may most impact your world and your bank account and your investments is what happens in Greece.

It is a vote that will decide whether the eurozone stays intact or falls apart, and if you think it is a bureaucratic exercise that only Europe should care about, well, you need to think again. CNN's Tom Foreman lays it all out for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Almost 22 percent unemployment, drastic cuts in services and a shrinking national economy. Greece is a mess right now, and that is a problem for the rest of the world, because of this, the euro.

It is the common currency for many of the 27 countries and 500 million people in the European Union, the biggest trading partner of the United States. This is the biggest trading alliance on the planet. So any upheaval is a worry.

KEMAL DERVIS, DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL ECONOMY AND DEVELOPMENT: The European banks get into trouble, and that has an effect on the whole world's financial system including the U.S.

FOREMAN: But even the economic experts like Domico Lombardi and Kemel Dervis readily admits Greece is tiny.

DERVIS: Greece is small however, it is also an example. It can be scary. What happens in Greece people feel they're maybe contagion. It may happen in some other countries.

FOREMAN: So how would such a contagion work?

(on camera): Imagine this trade relationship between the U.S. and the E.U. as a great big family. Let's make America the dad and Europe the mom. Now as long as all the kids, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Greece and Ireland play along nicely, we have no problems.

But now imagine that Greece grows up and goes off to college and buys a new car and a new wardrobe and new briefcase. Greece wants to compete in the great big world, but Greece is piling up debt.

To a degree, mom and dad can put up with that, but at some point they have to say, what if all of the other kids start to think that they, too, can play fast and loose with their credit, now the whole family is in danger of bankruptcy.

(voice-over): If that happens investors won't invest, and businesses can't grow, consumers can't buy, and millions of jobs including many in America that rely on all of the trade with Europe could be destroyed.

(on camera): You absolutely believe that what happens to the euro can have a huge effect here?

DOMENICO LOMBARDI, SENIOR FELLOW BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Yes. If it is something extreme, no doubt that it will have a spill over and significant repercussions on the U.S. economy.

FOREMAN: Do you think the euro will survive this?

DERVI: I think the euro will survive. I am not sure that every country that is not in the euro will stay in the euro.

FOREMAN (voice-over): For now, if the euro can survive the Greek crisis and the potential contagion is contained, that may have to be enough. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So it all begins in about 36 hours, and we will go live to Athens, Greece. CNN's Matthew Chance is there. So Matthew, whichever way the Greeks vote, it is a potentially rough road ahead, isn't it?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is certainly for Greece, because remember, they have faced five years of recession in the country. They are absolutely sick to death of the austerity measures imposed upon them.

They have seen the salaries slashed and the unemployment running at well over 20 percent across the country, and more than 50 percent amongst the country's youth and having a tough time of it.

And the truth is that there is no real light at the end of the tunnel if they keep making the austerity cuts, and if they vote for that, and the government will do that, there is more pain in the future, but the alternatives that we are hearing could be much, much worse for the people here.

WHITFIELD: What are the latest polls say?

CHANCE: Well, it is still very much divided. There haven't been any opinion polls for the past two weeks, because they are banned officially under the election laws here, but basically the votes has fall into two camps.

On the one hand, the people who are sick to death of the, again, traditional parties who have governed this country for the past 40 years and they feel they have let them down, and they want to u- turn on the austerity.

Others feeling scared of the consequences of what that might be. We will just have to see.

WHITFIELD: All right, Matthew Chance in Athens. Thanks so much. All right, he has been both a U.S. president and the father to a U.S. president, but there is more to George H.W. Bush than politics.

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WHITFIELD: So we know him as the 41st president of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush, but a new HBO documentary airing now sheds light on the intensely personal and private side of the former president. The documentary premiered last night. And earlier I talked with producer Jerry Weintraub about what it reveals, like President Bush's comedic side.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Do you feel that he kind of kept that close, that he didn't want people to know how amicable and funny he was while a sitting president?

JERRY WEINTRAUB, PRODUCER, "41": No, no, he was amicable. He was a lot of fun. But he had a big job. Remember, people forget this or maybe some don't know it, he was shot down in the Second World War. He was in a little fighter plane. He was a young man. He got shot down. He should have been dead. Luckily, a submarine came along and picked him up and rescued him.

So he was very serious about his job as president of the United States. He wasn't cavalier. And when he sent the kids to war, he knew what that was, because he went, himself, and he almost died.

So he was a serious man, very, very serious man. There was a great -- he has a great sense of humor, and he can't putt very well, but other than that, he was a very serious guy.

WHITFIELD: The Bush legacy, was it his intention to groom his sons to become governors and the president?

WEINTRAUB: No, I don't think so. I have never had that discussion with him. But I don't think he groomed them to be anything except to serve the country and serve themselves and be decent people and citizens.

His family is a wonderful, wonderful family. Barbara Bush is a great partner for him. She's an extraordinary woman. His children are terrific. And he's -- I don't think he ever set out for his son to be president of the United States, I think he was extraordinarily -- I know he was extraordinarily proud of the fact that his son was president twice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was it like to see your son elected president?

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, 41ST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Very emotional for me. Very proud father. First time it has happened, I guess, in the history of our country, except for the Adams. But it was mind boggling, it was enormous, and a source of great pride for the family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The documentary "41" is now airing on HBO. It debuted two days after President Bush's 88th birthday.

What does this new immigration policy really mean for the country's Hispanic population? We will take a deeper look.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Updating you on a big story this hour, a major change in America's immigration policy, some young people in this country illegally will no longer be deported to their homeland. Rafael Romo is our senior Latin American affairs editor.

So who are -- who makes up this 800 million, right?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Eight hundred thousand.

WHITFIELD: Eight hundred thousand. Sorry, I am getting ahead of myself, 800,000 young people who would qualify for this new executive order, this new policy?

ROMO: The majority are by far Hispanics. Hispanics have been very much involved in this, and you can think of examples for -- like Jessica Colotl, here in Georgia, an undocumented student who got arrested because she didn't have a driver's license, for being undocumented. And that case was profiled nationally.

But again we're looking on the screen, some of the criteria that the Department of Homeland Security is outlining today, and all of these kids have to be of a certain age, have to have an education or be enrolled in a school, have served in the military, very specific criteria, and one of the main differences between this and the Dream Act is that this does not include a path to citizenship.

All of the revisions of the Dream Act included that, and that was a major contentious point. This is only a deferred action which means that these kids who might otherwise be subject to deportation can stay in the country without any fear for the next two years.

WHITFIELD: They could get a work permit or get a driver's license or could continue on with college if they wanted to?

ROMO: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: No questions asked.

ROMO: The most important thing here is the work permit which didn't exist before. And many of these cases, we have seen kids who are going to college and for whatever reason many of these kids have been arrested while driving. So we are not talking about a felony or major crime, it's but a traffic violation. They get picked up, and that is when authorities realize that they are in the country illegally. And this decision, essentially an executive order, is meant to protect those kids.

WHITFIELD: And this is effective immediately. We know the president is going to be coming out in the 1:00 Eastern hour, and roughly 1:15 Eastern time to talk from the Rose Garden to spell out a little bit more about this policy, and his feelings behind it. But this is effective immediately.

ROMO: That is exactly right. It is effective immediately, although, you have to keep in mind that it all depends what happens in November. If President Obama wins, then he can submit a bill to Congress, and then they can go through the process again.

WHITFIELD: Would he need to? Not for this act, but if he were to pursue the Dream Act in order to get congressional support?

ROMO: To include a path to legal...

WHITFIELD: To citizenship.

ROMO: To citizenship, he would have to do that. If Romney wins, he has -- and I'm not saying that he would do this, but he has the ability of day one saying, I'm repealing this executive order, it is dead as of now.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rafael Romo, thanks so much, appreciate that.

ROMO: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Again, we are going to be hearing from the president of the United States in roughly about 20 minutes from now to elaborate more on this policy.

Billie Jean King, and you know the name, the tennis legend, she has been fighting for women in sports for nearly half a century now, you will hear part of her interview with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Forty years ago, 1972, a Title IX was introduced, making it illegal to exclude girls from educational programs that received federal funding. Well, tennis great Billie Jean King championed the fight for that legislation.

She is still just as passionate and vocal about equality in sports. I spoke with her earlier this week about Title IX's 40th anniversary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLIE JEAN KING, TENNIS LEGEND: Our job is to keep the women in the game, to have the same opportunities. There is 1.3 million less opportunities at the high school level still for girls. We have to make sure that they are in it. It is very important because we have got the obesity, we want to keep the girls in the game, because it is just so important just for our overall health.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Fantastic. Billie Jean King. Of course, you can watch the rest of my interview with Billie Jean King tomorrow afternoon, 2:00 Eastern time. We talk about women's rights, health, and tennis.