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Tropical Storm Debby Strengthening Off the Gulf of Mexico; A Wild Fire Continues to Scorch Colorado; Egyptians in Tahrir Square Celebrating the Election Results; Morsi is Egypt's New President; Supreme Court To Rule on ObamaCare

Aired June 24, 2012 - 16:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta. Welcome to the "Newsroom."

In Cairo, Egypt, there are huge celebrations taking place in Tahrir Square at the same time the new president, Mohamed Morsi is addressing the Egyptian public, reminding them, in his words that he is speaking to all Egyptians. He says he is calling this a momentous day and he has a message for Muslim, Coptics, Christians, workers, mothers, and fathers. Those are all my family in his words.

Our Ben Wedeman is there overlooking Tahrir Square. It is nightfall. There are cheering crowds. There are fireworks. And certainly it is like a sea of Egyptian flags there. People are feeling very celebratory. And is it being punctuated by the words of the president-elect? Do they get a chance to hear him as he is speaking right now?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you can hear that loud speaker putting out the speech. And what's interesting is he is very much trying to stress that he is not addressing his supporters. He is addressing all Egyptians. And interestingly, he specifically addressed the army which he called my brothers and my son. He addressed the police, interestingly, these were the same police that jailed him under the regime of Hosni Mubarak. He said he was addressing the judges, the judiciary, which just recently dissolved the parliament that the Muslim Brotherhood was dominating.

He is very much trying to address beyond the broad public but those specific parts of the Egyptian state which he may well have difficulties with. This is for Egypt a huge change. Basically, Morsi is a member of an organization that has been in the opposition since it was founded in 1928. Suddenly, he is the head of state, not necessarily with all the powers he would like but he is the man who people will address as president of Egypt. A man who, as I said, was in prison under Hosni Mubarak's rule. Now, Hosni Mubarak, himself, is a prisoner. So a day of historic reversals, so to speak. Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: Is the interpretation, Ben, that he will represent a uniter for this country? WEDEMAN: Well, certainly, if he is going to succeed in any way as president, that is what he must do. And I think what became apparent at the first round of elections, a month ago, was if he only appeals to the base, the members, the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. He runs the risk of alienated, basically 75 percent of the rest of the population, those who are opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood, women who are worried about the Muslim Brotherhood's attitude toward women, towards Christians who make up about 10 percent of the population but are very influential and wealthy minority. So he really must, if he is going to succeed in any way, he must be a uniter. Otherwise, it is going to be very rough going for him.

WHITFIELD: And Ben, while you were talking, we were looking at live pictures of what appeared to be fireworks and then it appeared that sparks or something seemed to hit a portion of the crowd there in Tahrir Square. It appeared as though there was going to be a fire. And then quickly, voila, it was put out. So there does seem to be this sense of harmony there in Tahrir Square, quite the contrast from about a year and a half ago when people were placing their demands on change in that country in a very big way, taking on the military rule. There still remains a bone of contention, a real potential conflict here, while you have the president-elect, the constitution was torn up. Parliament was dismantled. What will be the first steps for this president-elect? Will he have powers from this point forward?

WEDEMAN: Well, his powers have been severely limited. And in fact, they were limited by a constitutional declaration issued by the military just moments after the polls closed at the end of the second runoff election. So really his position is fairly ambiguous. It is not clear how much power he has. And he really has to come to some sort of understanding with the military, which is the real power in the country. Let's not beat around the bush so that he will have some way to influence the course of events. The military has given itself full legislative powers. It has the powers over the budget. It has basically anything to do with the military is simply the affair of the military. There is no real civilian oversight by the president. There is no parliament. Over the military's budget of promotions and whatnot. So the president really has to find out where he stands, what powers he has and how he can really make a difference and convince the people who voted for him, the people out in Tahrir cheering for him, that he was actually worth the effort and emotion to bring him to where he is right now.

WHITFIELD: Ben Wedeman, thanks so much from Cairo, Egypt. We will be checking back with you.

In the meantime, here stateside, the White House is reacting to Egypt's election. They released a statement today saying, in part "We look forward to working together with President-elect Morsi and the government he formed on the basis of mutual respect to advance the many shared interests between Egypt and the United States."

Also, here in the U.S., tropical storm "Debby" is now strengthening off the Gulf of Mexico. The storm's path is uncertain. But people living along the Texas coast to the Florida panhandle are all getting ready. You are looking at a live picture right now at St. Pete Beach, Florida, where already they are getting pounded with wind and rain. All that rain is a major concern in Louisiana as well. So the governor there has already declared a state of emergency. (INAUDIBLE) parish president Billy Nungasser said that they can't take any chances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL NUNGASSER, PRESIDENT PLAQUEMINE PARISH (ON THE PHONE): If this thing hangs out there, we have never seen a storm with such different forecast. You know, one tract it has it going to Florida and one it's going to Texas. And here we sit right in the middle. So we are real concerned about it sitting out there and gaining strength. So we are preparing for the worst.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Very volatile this. This storm is very unpredictable. But this one seems unique in that it can go in any direction, really putting everyone - Alexandra Steele now in the weather center, everyone kind of at the ready.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Certainly, that is the good news is that the whole gulf coast is ready. But tropical storm "Debby," the fourth named tropical storm of the season. It's actually the earliest we've ever had, the fourth named storm. Does that portend a very active hurricane season? Who knows. But it certainly does mean a very robust start.

Here is the picture. I'm going to show you in detail coming up. Just a few of the big points certainly worth mentioning. It is a broad circulation, meaning everyone from Texas to Florida has the potential to be impacted. It is moving very slowly, meaning it won't come in, go out and be a quick hitter. It will be a deluge of rain flooding, 10-15 inches. It won't be out of the question. Right now, it is soaking western Florida. We just saw that picture of the beach from Tampa, St. Petersburg area. That will be the big start. Now the problem is the track as Fredricka was talking about. The track is so uncertain. This is called our spaghetti model. This is what we talk about when we see each one of these different colors is a different computer model. And each is spitting out a different potential track. You can see a few going to the west. A little more consensus moving into northwest Florida but that being said, the irony, look at the National Hurricane Center's now official track, it has it going northwest, making landfall, southwest Louisiana Wednesday and it does have it becoming a category 1 hurricane. So certainly we are going to see 70-mile-an-hour winds with this thing.

So here's really the biggest threat, the heavy rain, no matter where it goes, be it in Florida making its way to the Gulf Coast, moving west towards Texas, strong winds, heavy rain. Really this could be the biggest, the flooding issue. Isolated tornadoes. In southwest Florida, we have had a myriad of tornado warnings already today, which is really quite common with landfall tropical storm, or one off the shore. Dangerous rip currents and coastal flooding as well.

Just take a look at this, this is where the heaviest rain could be. (INAUDIBLE) looks like kind of a bullseye. Look at this, 10 plus inches there. So you can see Fredricka, the case of where it will go, certainly still uncertain but there's a wide terrain that certainly will be impacted one way or another.

WHITFIELD: My goodness, a lot of people having to brace as a result. Thanks so much. Alexandra, we'll check back with you.

All right. In the meantime, out west, right now, a very different problem. Firefighters there are battling wildfires in Utah and Colorado. The Walden Canyon fire near Colorado Springs has burned about 3,000 acres. It is threatening the nearby town of Manitu Springs. Ten thousand people living there and nearby have been told to evacuate.

And in south of Salt Lake City, a 6,000 acre fire is burning. But it is no longer a threat to homes. It is believed to have started at a target shooting range.

The president's health care plan. While the U.S. Supreme Court debates the law on constitutional ground, this young woman wants you to know what the reforms mean to her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. This is the week that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on President Obama's health care law. And as we watch and wait, CNN's Athena Jones looks at the stakes for those already being helped by the reforms.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA WHITE: My name is Christina. I'll be your server.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twenty three-year-old college student, Christina White, works two jobs to help pay the bills. Neither job offers health insurance. Like more than three million young adults under 26, she is now covered under her mother's plan because of the Affordable Care Act.

WHITE: I would have to have insurance. I mean I don't think I could go without.

JONES: One big reason, Christina, an avid runner and athlete suffers from asthma. She pays about $20 a month for her daily medication. Without insurance, it would cost her about 12 times that. And it is not just medication.

MARTHA WHITE, CHRISTINA'S MOTHER: A bad cold in an asthmatic can lead to an emergency room visit and an increased need for medication and increased cost.

CHRISTINA WHITE: If I wasn't able to be on my mother's plan, I would have to probably find a job where they did offer health insurance.

JONES: Allowing young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plans is just one of several provisions of the law already in effect. Among others, insurance companies can no longer take away coverage from you if you become sick or impose lifetime dollar limits on essential visits like hospital stays. They also can't deny coverage to children under 19 with a pre-existing condition. But all that could change depending on how the Supreme Court rules.

At issue is a key provision of the law that starting in 2014 it will require everyone to buy health insurance or face a fine. The court could strike down all or part of the law.

STEPHEN WERMIEL, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW: The court might strike down the mandate and leave the rest of the law in place. Then it would be up to Congress to decide whether that works or whether Congress has to make more changes in the law to adjust it and get it right.

JONES: If the court strikes down the whole law, Congress would have to step in to keep other measures in place. And election year politics would almost certainly delay action, leaving people like Christina White hanging in the balance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: Now, Fredricka, as you know, the court has left this huge decision on health care until the very end of their term. Court watchers say that it could come down to two justices in this case, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is often the swing vote. He sides sometimes with his more liberal colleagues on some of these cases like in the past on abortion, on death penalty, and Chief Justice John Roberts, who had some pretty tough questions for the law's opponents in the March arguments. Fred.

WHITFIELD: So Athena, any indication what day of the week that decision may culminate?

JONES: Well, it could happen as early as tomorrow. Most people we talked to believe it could be a little later in the week, so Wednesday, or Thursday. We expect the court to issue some sort of guidance about the rest of its schedule during the public session tomorrow. It is unlikely this will end up being pushed off until next week but anything can happen, Fred.

WHITFIELD: That's right, anything can happen with the Supreme Court. Thanks so much, Athena Jones there.

All right. So the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on healthcare will have a big impact on the future of the Obama administration. Joining me now to talk about the political fallout is CNN contributor and Washington correspondent for "The New Yorker," Ryan Lizza. Good to see you, Ryan.

RYAN LIZZA, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, "THE NEW YORKER": Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: OK. This decision could go so many different ways. What if the court were to strike down the individual mandate, you know, does this mean imminent defeat or problems at the very least for the Obama administration come November?

LIZZA: Well, I think the expectation now is almost in the political world that that's the most likely outcome, that the mandate goes down. Frankly, none of us really know. That's where the political expectations are. And in that sense, I don't think that would be the, you know, the worst outcome at this point for Obama. As Athena pointed out in that great piece, what that would mean is that the Congress and the president would have to figure out what to do with these other insurance regulations in the law.

So the mandate and these regulations go together. And of course, the Supreme Court has to decide if they get rid of the mandate or get rid of those regulations as well or do they just get rid of the mandate and let Congress and the president decide what to do about those additional regulations. Nothing is going to happen this year. Let's be honest. If the mandate gets struck down, the president does not have the political capital to go back to Congress and fix that law this year. It's just not going to happen. It's going to get kicked to next year. And Romney or President Obama is going to have to figure out what to do.

WHITFIELD: But another option might be the U.S. Supreme Court, you know, does strike down the individual mandate but the rest of the health care measure as is remains the same. So those things like we saw spelled out in Athena's piece, like, you know, minors would be able to continue to, even young adults continue to stay on their parents' health care plan or those with pre-existing conditions will not be denied. That ultimately would help potentially, right, the Obama campaign, would it?

LIZZA: Those are the popular parts of the law. But let's take one for example, the pre-existing condition. That's one that the insurance companies argue. If you don't have the mandate, we can not accept customers with pre-existing conditions. Because that would do is that would create an insurance pool with mostly sick people. The whole point of the mandate is to get the healthy and cheap health care users into the system. Basically, you know, young people who don't use a lot of care. That's what the insurance companies and ultimately the Obama administration argued, the reason you needed the mandate, because you had to get the young and healthy people in to get a big enough pool so that the costs are offset.

So the insurance companies, if they strike down this mandate but keep the law requiring insurance companies to ensure people with pre- existing conditions, the insurance companies are going to come back screaming to Congress and saying, "Hey, we can't do that. You guys have to fix this problem." And that will be the first thing that the Obama administration will be facing if they just strike down the mandate but leave alone those other regulations.

WHITFIELD: So, you know, ultimately, then, that we are even at this juncture, does this mean that the White House has simply bet too much on health care reform. It was one of the first things this White House tackled. Is it now kind of backfiring?

LIZZA: Well, you know, look, it is on the cusp of being thrown out by the Supreme Court, so in hindsight, yes, it looks like they did not take the constitutional arguments about the mandate very seriously at the time. And let's be honest. Nobody was really seriously debating that in the White House or up on the hill in 2009. The big issues were whether to include the mandate or not, on its constitutionality, whether to have a public option, what to do with cost control.

The constitutionality of the mandate really came out from right field and was not considered a serious threat. Look, Obama campaigned in 2008 on universal health care. The Democrats controlled Congress with big majorities. It was Ted Kennedy's number one priority while he was alive. It was Nancy Pelosi's number one priority in the House. So I don't think there was any chance that Obama could have said, "Oh, I'm not going to do health care in 2009." That train was leaving the station once the Democrats were in power.

WHITFIELD: All right. Just across the street from the U.S. Supreme Court, you got Capitol Hill there and this week, there will be a House vote on that very issue of contempt, whether the attorney general, Eric Holder, will be held in contempt. At issue here, you know, an admission that the program was a colossal mistake was made after initially denying that it even existed in the first place. Executive privilege then kicked in. So what really, you know, what is at stake here? You know, if the White House feels that it was an issue of protecting privileged information and that's why at first denial was there, does Congress really have, does the House really have a beef here to pick with Eric Holder and the attorney general?

LIZZA: Yes, look, the Justice Department sent a letter to Congress that they later retracted. Congress now wants to know, why did you do that? And they want to know that an internal decision making process of whether they misled Congress in that letter. So generally, historically, you get a contempt citation in a House committee and that gets the attention of the administration. They come back to the negotiating table and say, "OK, you want some documents. We don't want to give them to you. Now, you got this contempt thing in front of us. It is going before the full house this week. Let's reach a deal on some in between area.

And that's where we are right now. You saw Darrell Issa on the morning shows this morning. He is person leading this charge in the House of Representatives. And he has basically said, "Eric Holder, White House, come back to me. Let's discuss getting some of these documents and maybe we will put off that contempt vote this week." That's usually the way these things get resolved. But you know how they are and how ugly it is between the two parties right now.

WHITFIELD: Yes, there is nothing usual about anything these days on Capitol Hill and from the White House. That battle is ongoing. All right. Thanks so much, Ryan Lizza, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

LIZZA: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. Game show host, Alex Trebek, suffering a mild heart attack. We are following developments and we will have the latest on his condition. If you have to go out anywhere, just a reminder, you can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone. You can also watch CNN Live from your laptop. Just go to cnn.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: "Jeopardy" host, Alex Trebek, has suffered a mild heart attack. He should make a full recovery and return to the game show next month. A Sony Television spokeswoman says he is under observations but is in good spirits. The show won the best game show Emmy at the Daytime Emmy Awards just last night.

And in New York, the family of a bully bus monitor is asking for the harassment of all children to stop. Sixty eight-year-old Karen Klein got sympathy and support from people all over the world after this cell phone video of three boys verbally assaulting her on the job went viral. Police say two of the three boys and their parents have apologized to her. In the meantime, hundreds of people in Klein's community near Rochester came out for a rally against bullying and they showed their support for her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You made something that could have been awful into something good.

KAREN KLEIN, BULLIED BUS MONITOR: I never planned on being a celebrity. It's weird.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, Klein say that she is still not sure if she will return to work but she is taking her two daughters and six grandchildren to Disney World on one of the free vacations that she has been offered.

All right. A historic election in Egypt triggers celebrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square. But is the U.S. happy about the results?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories now.

Tropical storm Debby is strengthening off the Gulf of Mexico. The storms path is uncertain but people living along the Texas coast and all the way along the Florida Panhandle are getting ready. Louisiana is concerned about flooding. The governor has already declared a state of emergency

In Colorado; the firefighters there are battling a wild fire near Colorado Springs. The Walden Canyon fire has burned about 3,000 acres. It is threatening the popular vacation town of Manitou Springs. Ten thousand people living there and nearby have been told to evacuate.

Egyptians are packed into Tahrir Square celebrating the results of their country's presidential election. Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi is the winner. He made King a former prime minister in Hausin bombard (ph) regime. Won by about 1 million votes. This was the first Democratic election in Egypt's history.

So how will Morsi's victory impact Egypt's relations with the U.S? Let's bring in CNN's foreign affairs correspondent Jill Dougherty. So Jill, Morsi is an American-educated engineer who vows to stand for democracy but he is also a conservative Islamist. So does the White House have any concerns?

JILL DOUGHERTY, FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well in a way, yes. Because obviously the Muslim Brotherhood you know is an Islamic organization. But with that said they have been meeting with the Muslim Brotherhood for quite a long time. And you know if you look at what the incoming president, the president-elect Morsi, said in his speech; it tracks very much what the United States was hoping to hear.

Let me just read the top of that statement coming from the president secretary Jay Carney. He said that, "The United States congratulates Dr. Mohamed Morsi on his victory in Egypt's presidential election and we congratulate the Egyptian people for this milestone in their transition to democracy. We look forward to working together with President-elect Morsi and the government he forms on the basis of mutual respect to advance the many shared interests between Egypt and the United States."

So obviously, congratulations. They didn't hang back. They are actually saying this is a good thing. What they were looking for specifically, Fred, was some type of call to national unity. That was number one. That's exactly what you heard from President-elect Morsi, saying that he is president of all Egyptians, Muslims and Christians. That is important. That's also what the United States was hoping to hear specifically about the Coptic Christians and then human rights, women's rights, et cetera.

And then finally, Fred, the international obligations, the treaties that Egypt has signed and that, although it wasn't specifically said, could be a reference to the Camp David accords, which is peace with Israel. That is very important too. So, overall, you would have to say they must be breathing a sigh of relief.

WHITFIELD: What about Israel? President-elect Morsi says he wants to maintain peaceful relations with Israel. But in\n the past, he has called the Israeli leaders quote "Vampires and killers."

DOUGHTERY: Right. Well he is not doing that anymore. He is referring to international obligations. So that is good. I think you would have to say, though, the United States will watch that very closely. The rhetoric is one thing. The actions will be another.

WHITFIELD: Jill Dougherty in Washington thanks so much.

All right. The book is called "The American Bible" which documents speeches from U.S. history. Do you consider sacred enough to be included?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: From the Declaration of Independence to speeches by Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr., there are some things that Americans treat with the reference of scripture. Boston University religion scholar Stephen Prothero talks about how these words are used in his book "The American Bible."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN PROTHERO, BOSTON UNIVERSITY RELIGION SCHOLAR: There is this really common sort of anxiety in American culture that our disagreements are going to divide us. Part of what I am saying in the book corodity (ph) it is exactly just the opposite. Our disagreement is what brings us together to do something. What we do is that we argue. We find ourselves arguing about what is America; you know who are the true Americans.

My name is Steve Prothero and I am the author of "The American Bible, How our Words Unite, Divide and Define a Nation." "The American Bible" are the songs, the speeches, the letters, and the novels that Americans value enough to fight about. And so we don't know these texts in the American bible as well as we should. And so politicians can site them in ways that are just ridiculous and nobody stands up and says, Lincoln didn't say that, you know King didn't say that, Jefferson didn't say that.

So one key document in "The American Bible" is obviously the Declaration of Independence. That's in some ways what founded our country. We didn't really focus on preamble, the kind of philosophy that Jefferson injected in there about all men being created equal. What we did to Lincoln in the Gettysburg Address tells us that America was founded on the proposition that all men were created equal. All of the sudden, he says, America was founded in 1776. It was established on the face of the declaration. Nobody really believed that until Lincoln.

Then, Martin Luther King comes along in the I have a dream speech and this is the promissory note that the United States has given to all its citizens, that all men are created equal. You are not making good on that. We as African-Americans are coming here to the march on Washington to ask for the down payment, the payment of this promissory note. It hasn't been paid. But there are all sorts of people that say, no, no, no, the declaration isn't about equality and America is not about equality. America wasn't established in 1776 it was established in the late 1780s with the constitution and it is about order and it is about three branches of government, it is about those sort of things it is not about equality at all.

We go very quickly to you are an American and Obama should be tried for treason. Obama is a Muslim, whatever it might be. These strategies we use to essentially excommunicate one another from the American fold. I think that's what we need to unlearn, we need to relearn these texts that I am presenting in "The American Bible" and we need to relearn this tradition of conciliation, tradition of disagreeing without being disagreeable.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: So for more on this story be sure to check out our "Belief Blog" at CNN.com/belief. You can add your own comments as well.

All right. Get paid to break out of jail. That was the offer made to some Georgia inmates.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hundreds of sailors and marines are back home after a six month deployment conducting maritime exercises. No one is happier to see them than their families. One group of kids got an extra special surprise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was it fun?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw you crashed a couple times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How about you, my dear, was it fun?

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Who is that guy in the blue suit? Let's see. What's up? Hi.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: Daddy!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is OK, it is OK, honey. We did it as a surprise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Out of San Diego.

All right. For years, the Fulton County Jail here in Atlanta was having a problem with the locks on some of its prison cells. It was so bad that prisoners could just jam the locks with soap or a piece of cardboard and simply get them open. Now, the jail wants to see how good the new locks work, how well they work. They put a bounty on them. Anyone able to pick a new lock gets free credit at the prison commissary. Nick Valencia is here with details on this. A very strange kind of challenge to the inmates. But in the end, I guess the jail feels more secure and so do the inmates.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well. Some of these inmates, apparently this is a problem, this is an epidemic there at the jail and it goes all the way back to the '90s. We spoke to a chief jailer there back in the 90s and he said all the inmates know about this but only a few of them practice it. In fact one of our affiliates WSB caught up with a couple of the inmates. This is what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA (voice over): You know how to beat the locks and get out of your cell? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

VALENCIA: How often does this happen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: So as they mentioned there this is an everyday problem. Thankfully, only a few of them want to get out. Especially this is an internal security problem. According to the chief jailer there, a couple of the guards back in the '90s did get beat up over this. Having said that, a lot of these problems are internal problems never a risk to public safety.

WHITFIELD: So is this something that is done in other jurisdictions or is this unique to Fulton County?

VALENCIA: According to the chief jailer that worked there back in the '90s, he has worked from every where, from Chicago to Florida and he never heard of a program like this. In fact he says he is unequivocally opposed to it. He doesn't think it is a good idea. There should be a guarantee from the manufacturer that the locks won't break or that they will work. But that is just another case.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Valencia thanks so much. Appreciate that.

All right. A photographer who is legally blind has just won a CNN ireport award for his amazing work. I talk to Kurt Weston about what inspires him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A Chinese spacecraft carrying three astronauts docked with an orbiting space lab today. The man docking is Riddick mission in China's ambition five year plan for space exploration. The crew will conduct scientific experiments and physical exercises while on board the space lab. The astronauts include China's first woman in space.

All right. Graduation, it is a special occasion but when it becomes a family affair like this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: William Leigh, local diploma.

(Applause)

RUSSELL LEIGH, GRADUATING GRANDFATHER: I think this is right in there as one of those days that I will remember for a long time.

MIKE ALLEN, GRADUATING WITH GRANDFATHER: It is an opportunity that not many people get. It is one of those once-in-a-lifetime things that you will never understand until after the fact.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: So it is grandfather and grandson, Mike Allen and his grandfather, Russell Leigh. They both picked up high school diplomas Saturday at North Creek, New York. Here is how it came about. Leigh dropped out of high school back in 1961 to join the U.S. Navy. He recently found out about a program that let's vets from World War II, Korea and Vietnam get their diplomas if they have a high school equivalency. Well Leigh qualified for the program so Saturday, he joined his grandson for commencement. Congratulations to both!

All right. Kurt Weston is a photographer and he is also legally blind and has been living with HIV since 1991. Weston's work and personal story have earned him a CNN ireport award. Earlier, I spoke with him about what inspires him and how he copes living with HIV.

KURT WESTON, LEGALLY BLIND PHOTOGRAPHER: I was so thrilled to be here in Atlanta and meeting the CNN ireporters. The others that were involved with the award ceremony and meeting the staff here at CNN. It was very exciting.

WHITFIELD: You won the personal story category. Your personal story is extraordinary. You were diagnosed with HIV back in 1991. In '96, you became legally blind. But you were a fashion photographer well before that and you managed even through the loss of your vision, to maintain this art form of photography. You are telling stories, your story about seeing the world through your blindness, through HIV, in a very powerful way. It has touched a lot of people.

WESTON: Well, thank you. I do want my work to speak to my own personal life experiences. I developed a certain technique in some of my work, which I call my blind vision work, which illustrates the emotional and psychological weight of sight loss. It does represent a lot of that through the way I created the work with obstructions and things like that.

WHITFIELD: How are you able to do that? We are looking at some of your images now and these are your self-portraits. How are you able to convey what it is you are seeing internally and what it is you are seeing externally into your photography?

WESTON: Well, one of my biggest challenges was how do I illustrate the actual obstructions that I see in my vision, because I have a condition called floaters on top of the damage that was done to my retina. So I decided to experiment with various photographic techniques. I actually ended up with using a flat bed computer scanner, which I was then -- I put different objects and foaming glass cleaner on top of the scanning glass and then I end up scanning my face through this obstruction of different materials and foaming glass cleaner. It becomes kind of performative in a way. But it is very illustrative of how it is that I kind of what I have to look through.

WHITFIELD: That is the story that you are trying to convey, that you are telling. How do you articulate to people what it is you are seeing, how your view of the world has changed and in some ways become even more enhanced by way of the loss of your vision?

WESTON: Yes. I think what it is is the whole story behind it, the fact that HIV-Aids is still with us in our society. There is still no cure. People can and are still unfortunately getting infected. And that one of the unfortunate aspects of living with a compromised immune system, a full-blown Aids, is that you can have this horrible virus that can attack your eyes and create blindness.

WHITFIELD: When you look at these beautiful landscape images that we just saw and we will see again, how are you able to do that? How are you able to see with that kind of clarity?

WESTON: Well now the interesting thing, Fredricka, about the landscapes, is that was a whole other body of work that I generated due to an unfortunate diagnoses that I got several years later, which was a rare form of abdominal cancer. I was actually told by a medium that my sister requested that I speak to her. I had a teleconference with her. She said that I could overcome the cancer but I needed to be in and around nature as much as possible.

WHITFIELD: So this was part of the healing for you?

WESTON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Is there a message that you are sending to those living with HIV?

WESTON: Yes, definitely. First of all, HIV-Aids, there is no cure yet and it is still present in our society. When I got infected, we didn't know there was an HIV-Aids. Now, people know that there is. They know how it is spread and there is a way to avoid it.

WHITFIELD: Ambrose is more than your Seeing Eye dog. Ambrose is your partner.

WESTON: Yes. Ambrose is with me all the time. He watches out for me. He gets me to where I need to go. He is just an amazing dog.

WHITFIELD: Kurt Weston, congratulations to him.

All right. Presidential candidates and their secret weapon on the campaign trail.

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WHITFIELD: Sometimes the strongest supporters of a presidential candidate also happen to be the people that they are closest to. Here is CNN chief political correspondent Candy Crowley.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, they are brought in by their parents, often given no choice in the matter. They arrive in a world where the language is foreign. If they make a mistake people are ready to pounce. We are talking, of course about the children of presidential candidates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT ROMNEY: I didn't want him to do it. I tried to convince him not to. I think there were a few of us that tried that. CROWLEY: Yet there they were, reluctant but game, Matt with brothers, Tag, Craig, Ben and Josh, aka, the Romney boys.

M. ROMNEY: We are brothers but you know some people call us boys so whatever.

CROWLEY: So Romney ensemble was light hearted and devoid of policy and controversy. Or as any campaign would describe that, just perfect. Ditto the huntsman ladies, Abbey, Libby and Mary Ann, the prodamey (ph) of one-time presidential hopeful, John Huntsman. In this Youtube and really satirized and now infamous smoking video put together by a Herman Cain advisor.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: We strongly believe that our dad has the experience and proven track record to revive America's economy and create jobs, even if we didn't believe that, we would still have to be here.

CROWLEY: That may be more truth than satire. Some kids don't take to the limelight. When was the last time you saw Amy Carter?

And when Chelsea Clinton showed up on her mother's campaign the word went out she is not available to reporters. Chelsea is now of course a reporter. Some offspring thrive in the area though, John McCain's daughter, Meghan was out there and talkative during the '08 election cycle and she still is.

MEGHAN MCCAIN, DAUGHTER OF SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: I just visited him in D.C. and he was like, we don't need to get dinner, because I went grocery shopping. In his fridge was a bucket of fried chicken and Wonder bread and pudding pops. And I was like this is not a meal.

CROWLEY: The Obama girls and they are girls, are too young for solo campaigning or late night TV. But there has been no public misbehaving much less misspeaking.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: All right. Daddy!

CROWLEY: Of course they were bribed.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House.

CROWLEY: We are not sure what Mitt Romney has promised his boys if they behave and he wins. But all the Romney men are married so a puppy may not be the best idea.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Candy.