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Armstrong Accused -- Again; Rodney King Dead at 47; Center Right Wins in Greece; Obama's White Voter Problem; Greeks Choose: Stay in Eurozone; Greek Parents Abandon Kids in Hard Times; Remembering Rodney King
Aired June 17, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to get you up to speed on the headlines right now.
We're going to start with this. Rodney King, the man whose beating by Los Angeles police sparked riots 20 years ago was found dead in his swimming pool this morning. King's fiance said she heard a splash and walked out to find his body at the bottom of the pool. There were no preliminary signs of foul play.
The acquittal of L.A. police officer seen beating King on videotape sparked days of rioting and looting that left more than 50 people dead; in just a few moments, we'll have a live report from King's home in suburban Los Angeles.
Election Day in Greece. Results are in and now, we wait to see how global markets will react tomorrow.
The Center Right Party got the most votes today -- that's the party that pushed for a European bailout and to stay in the Eurozone. It's complicated, but you need to know why this election has a big impact on our economy here in the U.S. We're live from Athens in just a moment as well.
It's also Election Day; Election weekend in Egypt. Voters there went to the polls to pick the first president since the fall of Hosni Mubarak. Polls are now closed. The vote counting is underway. Expect the results to be officially announced on Thursday.
Jerry Sandusky's defense will present its case this week, possibly starting tomorrow. His attorney is expected to argue the former Penn State defensive coordinator suffers from histrionic personality disorder. It is a disorder involving low self-esteem that requires approval from other people. Sandusky is charged with 52 counts of molesting ten boys for more than a decade.
Now back to the death of Rodney King. His brutal video-taped beating at the hands of police fundamentally changed Los Angeles and opened up a whole new race dialogue in America.
And as we just reported, King was found dead at his California home. His fiance discovered him at the bottom of the pool earlier this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAPT. RANDY DEANDA, RIALTO POLICE DEPARTMENT: Right now, the preliminary investigation is indicating that it appeared that Mr. King died of a drowning, however, the Rialto Police Department, the detective bureau is investigating the incident. And when Mr. King was removed from the pool, there were no obvious signs of trauma. However, that will later be determined once an autopsy is completed by the San Bernardino County Coroner's office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Now to California where CNN's Paul Vercammen, is live at the King home in Rialto. As a matter of fact Paul, it's got to be a shock to everyone out there, the neighbors -- all this activity going on in the neighborhood and no doubt, his fiance who found him, Cynthia Kelley.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don. People here are just heartsick. They know Rodney King as the good neighbor and somebody who would often go swimming every day, both for physical therapy and just sort of mental therapy. That's how he eased his mind often.
Well, this morning, a little bit after 5:00, authorities received the 911 call from Rodney King's fiance. Two officers from Rialto PD immediately were dispatched. They jumped into the pool with their clothes on and pulled Rodney King out. They were unable to revive him.
By all accounts Rodney's fiance is not a good swimmer. She tried in vain to pull out his body -- did not work. Rodney King later pronounced dead at a local hospital. And you were talking about the neighbors here and as you know here in Rialto a pretty close knit community and they obviously liked their neighbor, Rodney.
And let's listen to what one of them had to say to us earlier.
BOB CARLBERG, NEIGHBOR: I was shocked because of who it was. I thought you know he was one of those persons that you know would always be around. He's one of the icons that you would look up to because with the L.A. riot, he's the one that actually really stopped them, I think, by telling everybody there can we all just get along, everybody just started getting along.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: Now as far as this investigation is concerned, we have seen police pull out a lot of evidence and for what looked to be a marijuana plant. And I should say to you that off camera, one of the officers told me they really have no idea at this time what happened.
Because there were no signs of trauma or foul play, you know they don't believe for example that maybe Rodney King hit his head and fell in the pool. Heart attack, certainly a possibility in all of this, but right now, police here in Rialto, California unsure just of what happened to Rodney King -- Don. LEMON: All right, Paul Vercammen in Rialto, California. Paul, thank you very much.
During my interview with Rodney King, we went back to the scene of the police beating and you can see that interview in its entirety tonight. It's part of our special report, CNN Presents "Race and Rage: The Beating of Rodney King". It airs at 8:00 p.m. Eastern following this broadcast right here on CNN.
Rodney King was clearly much more than a beating victim. He became the symbol of strained race relations across America and CNN's Nick Valencia looks at the legacy he leaves behind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was this scene caught on camera that would turn Rodney King's life and Los Angeles upside down. In 1991, King led police officers from the LAPD on a high speed chase after leaving a friend's house during a night of drinking.
RODNEY KING, BEATING VICTIM: I had a job to go to that Monday. And I knew I was on parole. And I knew I wasn't supposed to be drinking. And I'm like, oh my God --
VALENCIA: What transpired in its aftermath changed the dialogue on race in America. King, 25, when the incident happened, was nearly beaten to death. He was in surgery for five hours. He admitted he should have stopped the car.
Following a three month trial, three of the officers involved in the beating were acquitted on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and excessive use of force. The jury was deadlocked in a case of the fourth officer.
The verdict sparked riots across Los Angeles and the United States. In L.A., riders ran through the streets, looting businesses, torching buildings and attacking those who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. At least 50 people were killed and $1 billion worth of property was damaged. As the riots entered their third day, Rodney King emerged to plead.
KING: Can we -- can we all get along?
VALENCIA: In the years that followed King struggled to leave his past behind.
DR. DREW PINSKY, HLN HOST: You don't want to be a part of history.
KING: No I wasn't expected to get tossed in -- tossed in history like that. You know, unfortunately, it happens to us -- unexpectedly to some of us and I was one of the unexpected ones to survive through it.
VALENCIA: In his later years, Rodney King battled addictions to drugs and alcohol, never quite escaping the demons that caused his infamous encounter with the Los Angeles police officers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: CNN's Nick Valencia joins us now here in studio and Nick, you were living in Los Angeles during those riots and I remember doing this documentary and talking to people of Korea Town. Remember they took up arms.
VALENCIA: Right. Yes.
LEMON: And so a lot of the city was lost, a billion dollars in damage and countless lives.
VALENCIA: It was a really scary time and I can't -- you know I can't say it enough and emphasize it enough. Six days -- at least six days of rioting. I remember being in northeast Los Angeles with my family and asking my dad if we can please move to Las Vegas because that was one of the closest big cities that wasn't really affected by it.
Even in my small block, a northeast Los Angeles neighbor block, it's not really a tough area gang presence, of course, but we saw the effects of the LA riots graffiti on houses and garages. We went to the supermarket to stock up on groceries Don because we didn't know what was going to happen.
LEMON: Right -- what was going to happen? Look, just to remind people, the beating happened a year before the riots.
VALENCIA: It took about a year.
LEMON: Yes and when those -- when those police officers were acquitted, of course, that set off -- that set off those -- the riots there.
But lots of changes have been made in the Los Angeles Police Department. The department is much more representative of the community now and -- and other -- there are -- there are minorities and women who are now in the upper ranks of the police department and much of that came from the scrutiny the department faced because of the Rodney King beating.
VALENCIA: As ugly as this incident was, there was a lot of good that came from it. L.A. was able to stand on its feet. Many people -- many people leaving at that time in Los Angeles, Los Angelenos will never forget it.
For me, it was a very formative year for me -- very formative experience in my life.
LEMON: Yes.
VALENCIA: And something that I just won't ever forget.
LEMON: Yes I just couldn't believe it was 20 years ago when I did that documentary and now, Rodney King, 47, died in his backyard pool.
Thank you, Nick Valencia.
VALENCIA: Thank you.
LEMON: We appreciate it.
On to politics now -- how Mitt Romney and President Obama are overlooking white people -- as we look at live pictures of Mitt Romney in Ohio.
Plus, the unthinkable Greece's struggling economy forcing some families to simply abandon their children. A sobering report is ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Heard anyone talking about white voters lately? Me either. It sounds kind of funny but can you name the last time Mitt Romney or President Obama made a direct appeal to white folks? Whites still make up three quarters of all voters, so when I talked about it with CNN contributor Ana Navarro and Stephen Moore of the "Wall Street Journal", I asked Ana why it seems like there is no love for white voters in this campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANA NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, I think there's plenty of love for white voters. You've got Mitt Romney doing a bus tour right now through New Hampshire, through Ohio, through Pennsylvania. I've got to tell you Don, I've been to New Hampshire, I've been to Ohio and there's a lot of white people there so I think -- I think they're getting plenty of love.
They -- they are, and it's -- and it's a good voting group for Republicans. We actually have a white male gap that Obama has got to overcome.
LEMON: Yes. And that's why we're talking about this and trust me, you know, I was at the Iowa state fair and so your point is well taken there, Ana Navarro.
Stephen, a new Gallup survey finds the President pulling in just 38 percent support among white voters.
STEPHEN MOORE, "WALL STREET JOURNAL", EDITORIAL PAGE: Right.
LEMON: Is that a white voter problem? And you wrote about that this week, didn't you?
MOORE: Yes, yes it is and it is a big problem for President Obama. And you know I wrote this story Don because everybody -- as you said as the outset of the show, everybody always talks about the Latino vote, and the black vote and the senior vote and the soccer mom vote, but nobody ever really looks very closely at the biggest voter bloc of all, which of course is still whites, it's about 70 to 75 percent of the electorate.
And when I started to kind of look at those numbers in the polling, low and behold it shows that Barack Obama does have a white voter problem. It's worse than it was back in 2008.
And let me say this. I actually believe, Don, there's no question that in 2008 that Barack Obama's race was actually an asset. Americans loved the idea of electing the first black president. I think that really helped him in the election. It was cool to be for Barack Obama.
It's a little bit of a problem though, it's -- it's -- let me put it this way. It's not as big as an asset now as it was then because Barack Obama has a record to run on and so you do have more skepticism of white voters.
By the way the polling also shows that Barack Obama is doing unbelievably well with black voters. I've seen polls as high as 94 percent, 95 percent of the black vote is for Barack Obama.
LEMON: Yes but the interesting thing this time is that will the black electorate be as passionate about going to the polls as they were the last time?
(CROSSTALK)
MOORE: Right great point, great point.
LEMON: And if that doesn't happen then, I think it's going to pose a big challenge for President Obama.
But it's interesting Ana and Stephen because last time you would think -- Barack Obama is the President of the United States -- you would think that he garnered most of the white vote and as I showed, he didn't. John McCain did.
So Stephen I want to -- I want to also talk about something that you -- you've mentioned a little bit earlier.
You talked about -- you know, about people last time were proud to go to the polls and vote because of the idea of a black president.
MOORE: Sure.
LEMON: Do you think some liberals have white guilt? And I'm just being honest because we've talked about this. And when they go into the polls this time they may be reluctant to deny the first black president a second term?
MOORE: I think there's a little bit of that. I think no question about -- look, the American people like Barack Obama. Not just because of his race and being the first black president, but he's just a likable person.
LEMON: But does the economy outweigh that, though?
MOORE: Yes, definitely it does and I think that's the reason that Barack Obama has a white voter problem. Because, you know, where the problem is most severe -- and I looked at the kind of cross tabulations in this polling data -- there's a kind of white middle class anxiety out there.
And a lot of white middle class voters did vote for Obama in 2008, but they're feeling the stress in their pocketbook. They're feeling financial strain. They know a family member who doesn't have a job --
LEMON: Right.
MOORE: -- and yes, I think Don, you put your finger on it. That the economic issues now are trumping these issues of well, it's cool to be for Barack Obama.
LEMON: Yes. Ok. So --
NAVARRO: I think, you know, Don, I think it's a lot less about race, I think, than it is about history. Four years ago, Obama was a phenomenon.
MOORE: Right.
NAVARRO: Obama was a historical moment, a historical opportunity. The thing is you can only make history once. And he's made it. So now, he's no longer the historical figure. He is the gray-haired president who's got a four-year record that he's got to defend and contend with.
So we're talking about two completely different Barack Obamas. He's not less black or more black today than he was four years ago. And it's not about that issue. It's the historical component that I think is the determinant factor.
LEMON: Great conversation --
MOORE: You know the one point -- one last point.
LEMON: Go ahead.
MOORE: Barack Obama does have to get 40 percent of the white vote. It's hard for him to go over the finish line if he doesn't get at least four out of ten. And as you said right now, he's at about 38 percent. So, he has some work to do.
LEMON: Fascinating conversation. Thank you Stephen Moore and Ana Navarro.
The struggling economy in Greece creating a nightmare scenario for some parents-- we'll tell you what they're being forced to do about their kids, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Greek voters today elected a conservative government, but the election swung on economics, not on politics. The people were essentially deciding whether Greece would agree to harsh budget cuts and stay in the Eurozone or reject a bailout and risk going it alone.
Greece is in a bona fides financial -- a bona fide, excuse me, financial emergency, deep recession and huge unemployment. It's suffering the worse from the Eurozone and from the European-wide debt crisis.
None of the reports we have brought you on the Greek financial crisis captures the human toll like the next story I'm going to tell you about -- desperate parents no longer able to care for their children and dropping them off at orphanages.
Here's CNN's Matthew Chance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the youngest victims of Greece's economic despair -- abandoned not through lack of love but money. We gained access to this orphanage in Athens where care workers say they've witnessed a surge in the number of Greek families unable to feed and clothe their children.
STELIOS SIFNIOS, SOCIAL WORKER: I think that it's the first time for us. And I'm working for (inaudible) villagers since 1982, so for first time, I see so many poor families ask for help for their own children.
CHANCE: Austerity and years of recession are literally breaking up families here.
(on camera): Of course, there's always been orphans -- children in care in Greece. But what's changed over the course of the past two years is this. Previously, children in care came from problem families -- parents who were drug addicts or alcoholics.
But over the past two years, that's transformed dramatically. The vast majority now come from families who simply can't afford to look after their children.
(voice-over): Parents like Kassiani Papadopoulou, a single mother, unemployed and unable, she says, to care for her three children. We caught one of her rare visits.
(on camera): Pleased to meet you. How are you?
KASSIANI PAPADOPOULOU, MOTHER: Mikaela.
CHANCE: Hello Mikaela, good to see you.
(voice-over): Giving up this family, she told me, was painful, but in Greece's economic climate, still her best option.
PAPADOPOULOU (through translator): It's really difficult. Really tragic for a true mother to leave her children, but when you understand they are not at fault and deserve a future, it's better to make a move like this than have them beside you without even a plate of food.
CHANCE (on camera): Who do you blame for putting you and your family in this situation? Do you blame the government? Do you blame the economic crisis? I mean who do you hold responsible?
PAPADOPOULOU: For me, it's all those who govern. They've all looked out for themselves instead of the people and the poor like us should be the responsibility of the state.
CHANCE (voice-over): But this is a terrible social plight of Greece's economic crisis. Even for its youngest, most vulnerable. The state can barely afford to care.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Athens.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right Matthew.
Remember Rodney King. I spoke with King just last year. He says he was fortunate to have survived the beating.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RODNEY KING: We did that, I just looked and then I went up like that and ran this way with my hands up. And so no threat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: My conversation with Rodney King just ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So you're out and about. And you're not in front of the television to stay connected to CNN. You can. You can pull it up on your cell phone like I do. Or you can watch in front of your computer even at work. Just go to cnn.com/TV. Tell them Don Lemon sent you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Coming up on half past the hour.
Want to get you caught up on your headlines right now. Rodney King, the man whose beating by Los Angeles police sparked riots 20 years ago, was found dead in his swimming pool this morning. King's fiancee said she heard a splash and walked out to find his body at the bottom of the pool. There were no preliminary signs of foul play.
The acquittal of L.A. police officer seen beating King on videotape sparked days of rioting and looting that left more than 50 people dead.
The Greek people elected a government today. A conservative won that promises to keep Greece in the Eurozone. Most of the financial world including the United States is holding its breath right now waiting to see global market reaction in the morning.
Syria's opposition says 51 people were killed today and it accuses the U.N. of abandoning civilians in the conflict. United Nations observers suspended their mission yesterday. Democracy activists say the decision reflects a failure by the U.N. to address the crisis.
Jerry Sandusky's defense will present its case this week, possibly starting tomorrow. His attorney is expected to argue the former Penn State defensive coordinator he suffers from histrionic personality disorder. It is a disorder involving low self-esteem that requires approval from other people. Sandusky is charged with 52 counts of molesting ten boys for more than a decade.
We learned today that the man killed setting up for a Radiohead concert yesterday was the band's drum tech. Scott Johnson died when metal parts from the rigging over the stage collapsed a few hours before a show in Toronto. The concert was canceled. Still no word on what caused that accident.
There is a high fire danger across these nine states today where soaring temperatures and strong winds are making for some dangerous conditions. In Colorado, firefighters are trying to get the upper hand on a mammoth wildfire. Almost 200 homes have already been destroyed and thousands of people have been evacuated there.
It was just last year that I sat down with Rodney King in his living room in a one-on-one conversation. He told me about his nightmares and his regrets and he walked me through step by step what happened along a California road back in 1991 on a night that changed America.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): A city in flames. Entire neighborhoods burned to the ground. Now, two decades later, what's it like to be the man whose beating seen around the world ignited one of the worst race riots in U.S. history?
(on camera): Do you still have nightmares?
KING: Yes, yes, I do.
LEMON: What's the nightmare?
KING: You wake up like tossing and turning, sometimes even hearing the voices, you know, that was going on that night. "Get down, get down. Get down you f-ing" -- you know those words, you know. And so I'll have to wake up and it's all right. Look outside. It's all green, blue.
LEMON: King's nightmare begins just after midnight; he and two friends out celebrating head west on the 210 freeway.
KING: I had just gotten word that my old construction company had called me to come back to work that following Monday.
LEMON: But the celebration is cut short. State police caught King's car going 110 miles per hour and immediately start a nearly eight mile high speed chase through L.A. neighborhoods.
KING: I was doing 100. I did every bit of 100 and I'm not proud of it.
LEMON: Following our interview, Rodney King agrees to relive those terrifying moments by taking me back to the scene. As we retrace his steps, we discuss those split second decision.
KING: I exit here on Paxton.
LEMON (on camera): Where did you pull over?
KING: I've seen all those apartments over there, so I said, "Oh, man, I'll stop right here. If it goes down, somebody will see it."
LEMON (voice-over): Once he stops, they are surrounded by police. King's two friends are arrested without incident, but Rodney King would have a much different fate.
KING: When I opened the door, three steps away from the car, which I did. Took three steps back. Said lay down. So when I laid down, I laid down like this. And my face was facing this way, but I could see them and they said "No, put your head face down." When I finally face down, bam. Took a blow. Bam. A real hard blow to the temple. When he did that, I just looked and then I went up like that to run this way with my hands up, to show no threat. And that's when I didn't know but my leg was broken.
LEMON (on camera): When Rodney King had the blood on his face, that mug shot with you with the blood on your face, who was he then?
KING: A guy that was almost dead and just like happy to be able to still have that face, to be able to see that face.
LEMON: And Rodney King now, all cleaned up, trim goatee, beads around his neck, who is Rodney King now?
KING: I'm a, I consider myself a decent, you know, good human being.
LEMON: Are you able to forgive those cops?
KING: Oh, yes, I've been given a break many times in life. Everybody is entitled to a break. I didn't die, do you know what I mean?
LEMON: No animosity.
KING: No.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: You can see that interview in its entirety tonight. It's part of our special CNN present "Race and Rage, the Beating of Rodney King" again that's at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
Now I want you to listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I said enough already. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From lawmakers -
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... the reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who were here illegally.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To reporters.
OBAMA: Excuse me, sir. It's not time for questions, sir. Not while I'm speaking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it about this president that makes some people so darn angry?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I didn't ask for an argument. Item answering your question. It is the right thing to do for the American people and here's why. Here's the reason. Because these young people are going to make extraordinary contributions and are already making contributions for our society.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Really? Interrupting the president in the White House Rose Garden? No one can remember that ever happening before. I talked about it with Dean Obeidallah and Ana Navarro and I asked Ana if there's something about this president that well, just angers people.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANA NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I don't think it's anything about Obama specifically, Don. We've become a very polarized society. Politically. You'll remember that people really detested George W. Bush as well. I remember my Democrat friend, so I just think it's become, politics has become emotionally laden and it's become increasingly polarized, but I do think that this is a rare case and it's a case that's completely inappropriate. And you know, to tell you the truth, maybe Obama needs to get heckled more often because he shows such conviction and emotion and anger. And he tends to be somewhat emotionally aloof sometimes. I thought it made him look actually quite good.
LEMON: You know, I want to, I get your point. I want to laugh about it, but when it happened as we were watching it in the news room, people in the control room, even our reporters in the Rose Garden said that they were stunned by the incivility and lack of respect.
NAVARRO: It was completely impolite and you know, you have to respect the president of the United States. Regardless of who it is and the reason you're respecting him is because of the position. Because of what he represents. He's representing our entire country. Whether you like him or not is not the issue. The fact that he's representing all of us and the position itself carries respect and should be respected.
LEMON: OK. So Dean, I know that you wrote about this and I know that you were, you were very upset by it, so I'll just ask you, because everyone has been dancing around it. I saw many people on a number of different networks dance around it and I saw some people just hone in on it right after. Wasn't on this network and said did this guy feel he could do this because the president is black and I will ask you that question.
DEAN OBEIDALLAH, POLITICAL COMEDIAN: You know, I think there's a campaign against President Obama that I've never seen. It's not about having a presidential push. This is a campaign to delegitimize the presidency and to me, and to me, I think race is a component. I'm not saying, Neil Monroe, the reporter who yelled at the questions are racist. I'm not saying that people were against the policies of President Obama are racist and people saying President Obama's an other. He's not American like the rest of us. He wasn't born here. I don't believe his college education. He's a Muslim. To me, there's a racial component that we've never seen before and it angers me because he's the president of the United States. Not the democratic president and not a Republican president, but George Bush, the president of the United States of America. And he deserves the same respect as any other president.
And having a congressman yell, you know, you're lying during a joint session of Congress, no one's ever done that. Conservative reporter yell out and heckle the president twice. I'm a comedian. You heckle me once, it's a mistake. You heckle me twice, it's an agenda. This man, Neil Monroe has an agenda. He should have been deported. (INAUDIBLE). Deport him.
LEMON: Here's the thing that I think is interesting and having being in the workforce, and working with - I grew up in a family of all women, so I know the plight of women and how women sometimes deemed as other and women in the workplace don't get respect and men will question women in a way that they won't question men. And I think that there is an undercurrent, the same thing that's happening with the president.
While people may not be out and out racist, they don't treat him with the same respect that they would treat a white man in that position and that is simply because of the way we look at black or brown people in this country. It's no different than the way we deem some women. Look at some women in this country.
OBEIDALLAH: There's a history of discrimination against blacks. I don't have to go through it but we had to have a Civil Rights Act, a Voting Rights Act. We had had the National Guard accompany black students to go to school with white students in the south and today, just today, a Republican host in Arizona called President Obama the first monkey president. That's the term he use, the first monkey president. So if you're going to say race isn't involved, then you're lying to yourself. And again, I'm not saying people against the policy of President Obama, there's plenty (INAUDIBLE) against. This campaign of delegitimization is clearly about, to me, there's a racial component. Not only race is there and the only way we're going to heal, to get through this is to talk about it honestly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Dean Obeidallah and Ana Navarro, thank you very much.
It has been 40 years since the Watergate break and that eventually forced President Nixon to resign. Now, the (INAUDIBLE) gate has become a symbol of something more. Ahead, you will see why.
Don't forget, you can stay connected. You can watch CNN live on your computer. You can do it from work. Just go to cnn.com/tv.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Forty years ago today, a minor crime in Washington led to one of the greatest scandals in recent American history. Candy Crowley looks back at the scandal and the way it changed our modern vocabulary.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST: Today is the 40th anniversary of the arrest of five burglars for breaking into the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee. Sound familiar? Well try this. It's the 40th anniversary of Watergate. That day, Watergate was the name of a building complex housed in the DNC offices. In the history books, it's the name of the scandal that brought down Richard Nixon. So great was the impact that the Oxford English Dictionary devotes considerable space to the word including the modern use of just the suffix, gate.
The continued success of - gate, it reads shows how English speakers have welcomed the means to describe any sort of scandalous event with a snappy suffix. Indeed, over the decades, there has been travelgate, billygate, monicagate and -
ANTHONY WEINER: Obviously someone got access to my account. That's bad. They sent a picture that makes fun of the name Weiner. I get it. Touche.
CROWLEY: Weiner-gate.
WEINER: Today, I'm announcing my resignation from Congress.
CROWLEY: There's been climategate, Koreagate, NAFTAgate and -
OBAMA: I think it's fair to say number one, any of us would be pretty angry. Number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly.
CROWLEY: Henry Lewis Gates gate. That was about a Harvard professor, a cop and a president who stepped in it. No resignation, just a round of beers and an awkward photo op closed the books on that one. An initial Google search turns up more than 120 gates. Contragate, memogate, nannygate. Examples range beyond U.S. borders and the confines of politics. There's nipplegate, tigergate, camillagate and -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there's one thing that followed you negatively -
SARAH PALIN, FMR. VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tasergate. Right. Right
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You call it tasergate.
PALIN: We sure do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Troopergate. Whatever.
CROWLEY: Palin's trooper gate is not the same as former president Clinton's. That one dealt with four Arkansas state troopers, an alleged extramarital affairs and federal jobs.
After 40 years, sometimes, it's just hard keeping the gates straight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Apple and Google are duking it out. Both want to have the best high res, high def photos of our streets, but is there equipment so high-tech that it can look right into our homes? That's next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEO MCCARTHY: October 27, 2007 was a beautiful autum day, Mariah, she's with her two friends. I didn't know the last time I kissed her would be my last time.
Later that night, they were walking down this path when an underage drunk driver, swerved off the road and hit them. Mariah landed here. She died that night. They're only a block away from my house. Mariah was only 14. I'm thinking how did this happen. It is so preventable.
My name is Leo McCarthy. I give kids tools to stay away from drinking.
Our state has been a tourist top five in drinking and driving fatalities in the country. The drinking culture, it's a cyclical disease that we allow to continue. Mariah's challenge is be the first generation of you kids to not drink.
In the eulogy, I said if you stick with me for four years, don't use alcohol, don't use elicit drugs, I'll be there with a bunch of other people to give you money to go to a secondary school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I promise not to drink until I am 21.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I promise not to get into a car with someone who has been drinking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I promise to give back to my community.
MCCARTHY: I think Mariah's challenge is something that makes people think. A little bit more. They say we can be better. Mariah's forever 14, I can't get her back, but I can help other parents keep their kids safe. If we save one child, we save a generation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: If you look up, you may catch a glimpse of a war. It's a battle between Apple and Google fighting for which one can get the best high resolution maps. Google showed up its new 3D maps recently and this week Apple showed it was ready to shrug off Google maps with its own. As they duke it out, some privacy advocates are raising some red flags, saying the technology being used could potentially peek right into your home. Nobody wants that.
Our tech pro Katie Linendoll joins us from New York. OK, Katie, this past week, we got news about something near and dear to many people's hearts, the internet, specifically, you know, the dotcom or dot.org we put at the end of web addresses. That looks like it's going to get a lot more complicated right now. We like ease. What's going on?
KATIE LINENDOLL, TECH REPORTER: Yes, pretty soon, you may be typing in, instead of dotcom or dot biz, maybe dot Google or lol, my favorite that's been applied for, dot ninja. And the process has been going on since January. Ican has actually accepted applications for custom domain names. Now understand that there are 22 generic top level domain names out there right now. Those are the ones we know, the dot com, the dot orgs, dot info and 258 country code dot us, dot uk. But now, companies since January have had the chance to apply for custom domain name and you see a few of those on the screen there. Companies like Google 101 applications, Amazon 76 applications and of course the Apples of the world.
Now here's the deal, Don. It costs $185,000 to apply for one and also it comes with a $25,000 renewal process. And I want to show you too because it wasn't just companies that applied. 230 extensions were applied for, by at least two entities, that goes for the word dot app, dot home, dot inc, dot art, dot design. So these companies are now battling against each other. And what's going to happen is if they can't agree and negotiate as to who earns that customized extension, it actually goes into a bidding war. So it won't just be $185,000, it could be actually much more than that. What hurts here is small businesses trying to pony up again on those process, probably not able to afford it.
LEMON: Every time I'm ready to jump in and want you ask a question, you will just answer it because you're so smart. But 185,000 bucks each, wow. That's a lot. OK. Katie. Thank you. You're the best. Appreciate it.
LINENDOLL: Thank you. I'll talk to you soon.
LEMON: OK.
You know, it looks like a movie stunt, but this attempt at highway heist on a moving truck is real.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: The phrase that seems like something out of a movie is often exaggerate. But the highway robbery attempted by some thieves in Europe is so daring, so crazy, it does fit the mold of a Hollywood script. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here's how not to rob a truck. A vehicle pulls up right behind the target at night, headlights off, two guys pop out of the sunroof and one holds onto the other as the first guy tries to break into the truck. Looks like a heist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's make some money!
MOOS: Out of the movie "The Fast and the Furious" only not quite as fast. Definitely not as furious, no harpoons, no driver packing heat. And definitely no driving underneath. But that's Hollywood.
This happened on a highway in Romania as the Romanian organized crime unit was monitoring gang suspects. The video was released after 15 gang members were busted for stealing $375,000 worth of TVs, cigarettes and coffee for resale. We went to a New Jersey turnpike rest stop and showed the video to truckers?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has got to be the two stupidest people I've ever seen. Either one of them falls off, they're both dead.
MOOS: Eventually the thief gets the door open up enough to see inside.
(on camera): They open the door using tools.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've heard of this happening.
MOOS: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never seen it but heard of this.
MOOS (voice-over): Nothing as crazy as this ever happened to Don who travels with his dog, Brandy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just can't get her to drive.
MOOS (on camera): From the driver's viewpoint. There really is a huge blind spot back here. You see those sign, if you can't see my mirrors, I can't see you.
(voice-over): And the Romanian trucker probably never saw these guys. Maybe now he has seen the aerial footage. As for the would be robber.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's he going to do once he gets inside the trailer?
MOOS: Good point, tossing stuff back to his vehicle doesn't seem practical. Once he got a look inside, he decided to abandon the mission, impractical, crawled back the way he came.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To do that in real life?
MOOS (on camera): But this is real life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He got a lot more (INAUDIBLE) than I've got.
MOOS (voice-over): Not quite the "Fast and the Furious," more like the daft and the nefarious.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: To see more stories from Jeanne Moos, go to CNN.com/video and search "moos."
Rodney King, the man whose beating by police set off one of the worst race riots ever in this country has died. King was found unconscious in his pool early today by his fiancee, Cynthia Kelly. Kelly called 911 and police arrived to find King unresponsive on the bottom of his pool.
Just last year on the 20th anniversary of his beating, I spent time with King and his fiancee at their suburban Los Angeles home. They talked about the struggles King faced in the wake of the beating, the high-profile trial and the riots that followed.
King told me he still had nightmares about the pummeling he suffered at the hands of LAPD officers, and for the first time since the beating he went back to the scene to relive that hellish night.
Here now is that interview, in the CNN documentary, RACE AND RAGE: THE BEATING OF RODNEY KING.
