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President Obama Calls Virginia Governors; Deadly Wildfires Ravages Homes in Colorado Springs; Diplomats Try Again to Find Solution to Syria; Interview with Jada Pinkett-Smith
Aired June 30, 2012 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Want to get you up to speed on the day's news. Towering flames sending Colorado families fleeing for their lives. Just a week after igniting the Waldo Canyon fire is already Colorado's most destructive. Thousands of people are holding their breath nervously waiting to see if their home has been spared.
Nicole Fry (ph) let the camera roll as she set her goodbyes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I'm leaving my house. For probably the last time. Oh, my God. There's smoke in the air so bad. See if I can pull through here. This hill was on fire just a second ago. There are flames over here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Two people are now dead and 350 homes are destroyed. We'll going to go live to Colorado in just a moment.
Millions of people this hour are dealing with the effects of extreme weather. Power is out across parts of nine states at last night's wave of storms fueled by the intense heat killed at least 11 people. More on the heat and the storm damage in just one minute here on CNN.
Egypt welcomed a new era today. Inaugurating its first democratically elected president. But it's still not clear how much power Mohamed Morsi will have. Today's ceremony was overseen by the military, which has ruled Egypt since last year's revolutions.
Who knew what and when? New questions this evening in the Jerry Sandusky child rape case. CNN is the only network to uncover alleged content of an e-mail threat involving Penn State's president, vice president and athletic director. The messages seemed to indicate the officials knew they had a problem with Sandusky dating back to 2001. But decided to handle the issues internally.
Let's get back now to our big story, record heat. Deadly storms. And now the power is out. Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia under a state of emergency this afternoon and crews are trying to restore electricity to more than three-and-a-half million people. At least 11 deaths are blamed on last night's powerful line of deadly storms which got started in the Midwest and eventually barreled their way through the nation's capital packing 80-mile-per-hour winds.
Virginia's governor says, restoring power in his state will be what he calls a multi-day challenge. To make matters worse, the places hit hardest by last night's storms, places that now have no power, are the same areas enduring more triple digit record temperatures right now. That means facing the heat with no air conditioning, no fans, no refrigerators.
More on the heat in just a moment but first some of the worst damage we have seen in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
And our Athena Jones is in Rockville, Maryland for us now. Athena, I hear President Obama has been making calls.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The President spoke with the governors of Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Maryland. He wanted to get an update on the impact of these severe storms that had on each of these states and also offer his condolences for the loss of life. As you mentioned lots of people have been killed in just this area alone, there have been eight deaths. One man was electrocuted late last night in Washington, D.C.
When trees and then power lines fell on his home and he and his wife decided to go outside and check it out. They were both electrocuted. He was killed. She's in the hospital in critical condition expected to survive. Seven other people between Virginia and Maryland have been killed by falling trees. So, just one example of how dangerous these storms can be.
The president also got an update from FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate about the response activities in not just those states but in Pennsylvania and in Vienna and Kentucky. As you mentioned these are storms that swept through a broad swath of the country. And it's going to take a while for things to get back to normal all over the place -- Don.
LEMON: Athena, what about the power situation in that area?
JONES: Well, it's been pretty bad. So, you can see the debris behind me, this debris was falling off the trees last night, falling into power lines. We've seen branches hanging off power lines. A lot of the power down. About two-thirds of the people in Montgomery County were without power at one point today. Pepco the main utility here is slowly getting that power back up and running. They say that they're not able to give specific estimates to our block by block basis of when the power will come back on but they said that it will take a full -- about a week for a full restoration in this area because of the severity of the storm and as you mentioned this comes at a very, very hot time of year.
We reached a hundred, over a hundred yesterday in this area. Today it looks like it's topping out around 96 but I can tell you it feels a lot hotter. And so people without power are having to seek out shopping malls and cooling centers to try to cool off -- Don.
LEMON: Oh, my gosh. Athena, what a mess. Thank you very much, Athena Jones. People are dealing with storm damage. They were already facing record heat. Twelve states are under excessive heat warnings today. It is fitting that we go to our meteorologist now Bonnie Schneider. Bonnie, of course the question is, any relief in sight?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Don, it is not going to happen any time soon. Here in Atlanta 106 degrees. If that sounds hot, it's the hottest it's ever been in this city ever since record keeping has begun. And you can see that we have record temperatures in Raleigh, St. Louis, Little Rock, Colorado Springs and of course where the fires are burning, we've had six days of consecutive high temperatures breaking records.
Today, the record was shattered. Records also for other cities across the south and the Midwest. And, unfortunately, this big dome of high pressure that's dropped to the South and spread across much of the country where one in three Americans are impacted by this heat, this continues to be a problem not just for today but for the next couple days with the heat indexes up to 105 to 115. When you look at the forecast for St. Louis or Louisville, even though it drops a little bit you're talking about from 104 to eventually 93 or from 96 to 98. Not much of a fluctuation.
So will the heat subside? It will. But it is going to be gradual, it's not going to be not quick. And it will gradually subside starting on Monday for many locations. But keep in mind, Don that the heat advisories that we have across the country, many of them have been in place since Wednesday and they won't expire any time soon. Some of them expire possibly tomorrow but they may get extended or new ones may be issued as the big heat wave spreads eastward.
LEMON: Yes. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate and stay inside in air conditioned place if you can.
SCHNEIDER: Absolutely.
LEMON: Thank you, Bonnie Schneider. We appreciate it. We want to go to Colorado now where two people have been killed and 350 homes destroyed in an out of control fire. And the flames, well, they just keep blowing.
CNN's Sandra Endo live now for us in Colorado Springs near the Waldo Canyon fire that we have reported so much on, Sandra. Are firefighters there making any progress?
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, actually, Don, they have been. And that is the good news for today. In the next hour, we are expecting another update from fire officials to tell us the very latest. But earlier today, Don, as you mentioned, they did tell us that containment right now is at about 30 percent which is double the size of containment from yesterday and we're here seeing the activity for ourselves. Firefighters trying to attack this massive blaze from the air.
We're right next to a base where helicopters have been taking off and dumping fire retardant and water on these flames. Take a look from our vantage point, Don. You can see the mountain ridge behind me and yesterday we saw plumes of smoke coming out of the mountainside and today what you're looking at right now are hot spots just smoldering.
So, certainly we're seeing it for ourselves from this vantage point that there is some progress being made but again we are expecting to hear another update from fire officials in the next hour or so. Certainly 30 percent containment. There's still a lot of work to be done -- Don.
LEMON: And we wait for that update. But in the meantime, can you tell us, you talked to us about the firefighting efforts. What about the evacuees that everyone is so concerned about as well. Is it getting better for them at all?
ENDO: That is the most tragic part of this story. Because tens of thousands of residents here in Colorado Springs had to be evacuated and we know as you mentioned nearly 350 homes completely destroyed. Neighborhoods torched. And we are hearing that officials will be taking around 4,000 residents tomorrow and Monday on a bus tour to look for themselves at their property. They're not going to be able to get off the bus but they're just going to take a tour of the neighborhood, see what's left from these devastating fires.
So certainly that will be devastating for a lot of residents who are just wondering what happened to their homes. In other areas, Don, we are hearing that evacuation orders have been lifted so some residents over the last day or so have been able to get back into their homes so that is certainly another sign of progress. But again, we're hoping to hear more in the next hour.
LEMON: All right. Then we'll going to hear more actually soon from someone who is affected by this as well. Sandra, thank you very much. Stand by.
Imagine living near a growing wildfire. Is your home in danger? Is your family in danger? It's a terrifying uncertainty and to Pam Jessen, this is what that uncertainty looks like. This is a view of her family, few of her family usually sees from their home just outside of Boulder, Colorado. And here is what it looks like today. The smoke from the wildfires swallowing an entire mountain.
Pam is on the phone for us now, she is from Loveland, Colorado. Pam, you know, we're all thinking about you, we can't imagine going through that. What is life been like for your family this close to these wildfires?
PAM JESSEN, LIVES NEAR COLORADO WILDFIRE (voice-over): Well, Don, (INAUDIBLE) information. We obviously known several people who have been affected by the fires. For us the indirect impact because we feel safe in our home here is that our normal routines are kind of out of whack. We can usually go on walks and go hiking. We have a brand new baby. So, we have not been able to go outside much this past month due to the safety of the baby and you know, breathing that smoke in. So, it is definitely been tough for us in some ways but not as tough obviously as the people leaving their homes. It was a hundred plus this past week. Our air conditioner went out.
LEMON: Oh, my gosh. JESSEN: We have a new baby. It was about 95 degrees in our house and one would say, well, the logical thing to do is open your windows. Well, when there's smoke already coming in your house about the windows open, that's not an option.
LEMON: Yes. You can't do that. And so, basically you're trapped in your home with no air conditioning. What, unbelievable.
JESSEN: Yes.
LEMON: And people move there. I mean, I'm not sure if you did but many people move there because they like the outdoors and now they can't even go outside. And if you stay inside, as you say, it's been, you've had problems with power. Have you been ordered to evacuate? You haven't, right? Your neighbors have.
JESSEN: That's correct. Yes. Where we are, we're approximately 30 miles from three different fires that were going at the same time so we have a bird's eye view. But we know many people who are affected. We just kind of happened to be in the line of the winds coming through. And so, we just have to be cognizant of our windows staying shut.
LEMON: Are you thinking about leaving at all? Are you going to tough it out?
JESSEN: You know, we're not in any danger where we are. Knock on wood. But it definitely changes your mind. You start thinking about, gosh, what would we have to do? Because obviously we've had grass fires on the eastern plains. So, we're all susceptible to that with the extreme heat and the dry weather that we've been experiencing here. So, we've given that a lot of thought lately and it is crazy to think that we would just have to pack up and leave and how fast could we do that?
LEMON: Yes. Well, you know, you have to have an escape plan, people. But you never think about having an escape plan from a rushing fire like that. Pam Jessen, best of luck to you, your husband and your new baby, OK?
JESSEN: Thank you very much.
LEMON: All right. To find out how you can help those affected by the wildfires, make sure you go to cnn.com/impact, cnn.com/impact. Those folks need your help.
More than a year after the spring uprisings in the Middle East, Egypt's first democratically elected president is sworn in.
Meantime, violence continues in Syria as leaders of the international community forge an agreement to try to bring peace to the nation. Those reports, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Sixteen months ago, Egyptians came together to overthrow a dictator former President Hosni Mubarak. Today, they celebrated the inauguration of his replacement.
Mohamed Morsi was sworn in as Egypt's first democratically elected president. Morsi was the candidate of the Muslim Brotherhood. It is not clear just how much power the President holds. Some of Morsi's supporters want a confrontation with the military which dissolved parliament after a ruling by the courts.
Speaking after his inauguration, President Morsi said, quote, "The blood bath in Syria must be stopped." It's hard to see that happening when violence like this is still going on.
That was a bomb hitting a funeral in a suburb of Damascus. The crowd was chanting anti-government slogans when the blast struck.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROWD CHANTING)
Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: This? Well, this was moments after the bomb hit. CNN can't confirm the authenticity of this video posted online but activists say more than 100 people were killed today.
Well, that was happening in Syria. Diplomats huddled in Geneva, they're still trying to find a solution to the crisis. And once again, Russia and China blocked the U.S. from having its way.
CNN's Phil Black looks at what they've come up with and where it falls short.
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russia and China have once again held their line and blocked the international community from making tougher demands of the Syrian regime. At a meeting in Geneva, the foreign ministers of this Security Council's permanent members and other interested countries backed a plan that once again called for all sides of the Syrian conflict to stop fighting, pull back their forces, and to begin talking to each other.
It also said they must then begin working on the setup of a transitional government. Some sort of government of national unity that would include members of the current regime and opposition groups as well. But it made no mention of just who should be excluded from such a transitional administration. And that's the key point.
The U.S. and other countries had wanted the final document from this meeting to state pretty clearly that President Bashar al-Assad and those close to him can play no role in Syria's political future, that they have to go. But Russia and China stood by their often repeated positions. That being they believe very strongly that the international community must not, cannot demand a change of regime. That only the Syrian people themselves can determine what the political makeup of the country's future will be. In the end, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had to accept that she was not going to get what she wanted in that final document and she clearly wasn't happy about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: In deciding to accept the minor textual changes, we and our partners made absolutely clear to Russia and China that it is now incumbent upon them to show Assad the writing on the wall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: The plan states for political talks to begin in an environment where the transitional government can be formed, the violence must first stop. The plan contains no new ideas, no new initiatives on just how that can be achieved. Phil Black, CNN, Moscow.
LEMON: All right. Phil, former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir has died. Shamir actively pushed Jewish settlement in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. He helped oversee the deployment of tens of thousands of Israeli troops to occupy terrorists to try to stop a Palestinian uprising that began in 1987 known as the Intifada.
In 1991, he took Israel to peace talks with Palestinians and with other Mideast heads of state. Shamir battled Alzheimer's over the last few years, he died today at the age of 96.
A majority of Americans say, they'd vote for an atheist president. Why the big shift from voting along traditional religious values? We'll going to ask a human behavior expert next. And she'll also tell us what our foot wear believe it or not says about our relationships. You may be surprised at some of the answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (INAUDIBLE) Kind of a personality.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I am an older woman so, you know, you would not know looking at my feet.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I think a lot of my shoes are very colorful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. Hope you're enjoying your holiday weekend. A majority of Americans say they would vote for an atheist as president of the United States. That is a change from traditional voting along religious values according to a new recent -- a new Gallup poll. New and recent is kind of the same thing. Atheists would face opposition from 43 percent of Americans. Muslims are opposed by 40 percent. And it is worth noting that 18 percent say that they wouldn't vote for a Mormon candidate which is of course Mitt Romney's faith. So, our psychologist Dr. Wendy Walsh joins me. So, Wendy, that is the strongest showing Gallup has ever registered for a hypothetical atheist candidate. You know, we saw this study about young people questioning the existence of god but why this now with the atheist candidate? Why the shift?
DR. WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Well, we should say that the big news here is that overall America has become more open, more progressive in every sing category. They're not discriminating against race, and gender and culture as much as they ever did. And in fact, the two most discriminated were Muslims and atheists but still the majority just over half said they would vote for these.
Well, I mean, the point is we now have mobility in our culture. Where we've talked about this before, Don. Where you can educate people all you want and say, don't discriminate, don't be prejudiced but if you actually move around and you have these people as your next door neighbor or roommate or in college dorm rate, it opens your mind.
LEMON: Yes. Yes. Knowing someone changes minds and hearts. But, you know, you did mention Wendy Muslims. And Muslims face almost as much opposition as atheists. Forty percent of the respondents told gallop that they wouldn't vote for a Muslim president candidate. Will you make of that?
WALSH: Oh, you know it's our new bad guy for people who aren't educated because as you know, those few terrorists practiced an extreme version of the Muslim religion and so now people seem to point fingers against the whole religion. It is very sad. There is always a bad guy in our culture that people like to hate whether it was the Russians during the cold war or the Chinese. You know, Vietnam. Vietnamese before that. The Japanese in the Second World War. Who knows? But it's time to like all right already. Enough. It is just a lovely religion like many of them.
LEMON: Yes. And people still have those strong feelings about 9/11 and they equate them probably to Muslim faith to that.
So, let's move on and talk about Mormons now. Of course, you know, because of Mitt Romney, 80 percent said that they would vote for Mormon but 18 percent would not Gallup says and that is the same level of opposition that a Mormon candidate would have faced in 1967, Wendy. So, why do you think attitudes toward Mormons really haven't changed in 45 years?
WALSH: It hasn't changed a whole lot. And it's surprising and it may be because maybe Mormons aren't as mobile. Maybe they're not getting around and being exposed. I really don't know as I think about it. But 80 percent is still pretty huge and that is big news because there are people wondering, could we have a Mormon president? Well, looking at these stats, we certainly could.
LEMON: Yes. And you saw there's been a campaign to try to get people to understand Mormonism. You know, the I am Mormon billboards that are all over in the commercials and everything. So, all right. We'll see. Stand by Wendy because when we come back, we'll going to tell everyone what your foot wear reveals about your confidence and your relationship.
And then later, you don't want to miss this. Actress Jada Pinkett Smith teams up with CNN on a tough issue of human trafficking. You'll going to see my interview with her. It's fascinating. It's straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Here is a question. What kind of shoes do you wear? Believe it or not, your foot wear says a lot about the confidence level in your relationship. That's according to a new study. People who wore drab new shoes were perceived as insecure about their relationships with other people.
In contrast, bright, well worn shoes signal confidence about relationships. I want you to listen to what some people said when we interviewed them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Shoes define the person, kind the personality.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I am an older woman, so, you know, you would not know looking at my feet.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I think a lot of my shoes are very colorful. Most of yours are very --
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Plain. That means I'm not confident.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. Well, I'm not sure about those last ones. Psychologist Wendy Walsh joins me again. So, Wendy, what is the study really tells us about our shoes and our relationships if anything? I mean, is this true? Can we go by this?
WALSH: Well, with 90 percent accuracy apparently. This is a really fascinating --
LEMON: Oh, wow.
WALSH: -- out -- of, yes, by [Honore Guillot] out of the University of Kansas. And one thing we're able to do -- so picture this. They took a bunch of people and said like a few hundred send in a picture of your most frequently worn shoes.
Then separately they brought them in and put them through a battery of tests to determine their personality traits, et cetera. Then they had a whole another group who didn't know them, didn't see them, just looked at pictures of the shoes and took guesses about their personality and, boom, 90 percent accuracy because what we've evolved to have is we need a slice of life very quickly to judge whether somebody is friend, foe, is liberal, conservative, is like us,
Is not like us, is safe or not. And so we are able very quickly to pick up simple schema and make judgment. And humans are pretty accurate. So relationships, drab shoes, but clean, tidy drab shoes indicate relationship anxiety, meaning worried my partner might leave me. I don't want to really express myself in a big way. It's sort of it's a safe way to go.
LEMON: Yes.
WALSH: maybe people who are more comfortable to be able to be themselves are more confident with their relationships and wearing those bright colors.
LEMON: Oh, interesting because people will see shoes and say I saw that shoe and I immediately thought of you, but before we go there, though, why shoes and not some other clothing?
WALSH: Well, because the professor [Guillot] did the study on shoes. No, the truth is most studies that have been done on this simple schema are what they call moving part studies. You are able to sort of see people moving, talking, and gesturing, and trying to figure out what their accent says about them or their hair or whatever.
This is an inanimate kind of object. This is a picture of shoes. Could you really tell about somebody's personality just by one simple, stable thing? And it was shockingly accurate. That's what -- and think about speed dating. Think how accurate speed dating could be now.
LEMON: Well that's like what is it, Malcolm Gladwell when he calls it tipping point or like right away when you know something really quickly.
WALSH: Yes. Think.
LEMON: So just because you wear, people wore brightly colored shoes it didn't necessarily mean that they were extroverts.
WALSH: That was a very interesting finding is that many people assumed that bright colors mean you're this extrovert or wild, outlandish shoes, but it could be that you're just exercising your inner self. You could still be an introvert.
I found the most interesting part of the study is that if you tended to wear high tops or combat boots, specific to environment, around the streets, not when hiking or in the Army, you tend to be less agreeable, a personality that's less agreeable. And I think about my 9 year old that's a little bit that way sometimes. And she loves those Converse that go right up to the knees, interestingly.
LEMON: Oh I like Converse All Stars, the high tops. I have a couple pairs. But they're like designer ones. Can you see the monitor? Can you see air, Dr. Wendy?
WALSH: Yes.
LEMON: Okay. So this is my dress shoe. I'm not sure what it says. It's -- WALSH: hold it up. Hold it up.
LEMON: It's kind of a dress wear, very interesting.
WALSH: Very nice.
LEMON: Must be --
WALSH: A little worn there.
LEMON: I like them worn, but I like them to shine. And this is kind of a fun shoe that I wear. So --
WALSH: Uh-huh. It says you're gay. No, I'm joking. That was not in the study, but your shoes are very neat and tidy and that is a stereotype I'll just say.
LEMON: I love you. I love you.
WALSH: there are messy gay men too. I know that with really bad shoes. I know that, but do you have beautiful shoes and you have impeccable taste because I know that about you. You like your clothes.
LEMON: And Dr. Wendy and I are friends so we joke around like that. It's all good. Don't send hate letters. Thanks, Dr. Wendy.
WALSH: No. Please don't hate me. Take care.
LEMON: Thank you. Getting you caught up on headlines right now President Obama today called the governors of Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia, and Maryland. Those states are among the hardest hit by last night's wave of deadly thunderstorms that killed at least 11 people. Power is still out in more than three million homes across nine states. The same areas are also dealing with record high triple-digit temperatures.
Fear and anxiety in Colorado Springs as a raging wildfire continues to grow. 36,000 people have fled their homes. It's only been a week since the fire started and already the Waldo Canyon fire is the most destructive in state history. Two people have been killed, 350 homes destroyed. The fire is just thirty percent contained.
The students involved in the now infamous bus bullying case have been suspended from school for one year. The ruling by the Greece, New York School District also bans the four students from taking the school bus. The kids were seen on the video harassing a 68-year-old bus monitor, Karen Klein, earlier this month. The kids, well they have to take an anti-bullying program and complete 50 hours of community service with senior citizens.
Jada Pinkett Smith like you've never seen her before, teaming up with CNN, the CNN's Freedom Project, and taking on a tough issue, human trafficking. I want you to check out her weapon in the fight against it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: Jada bears it all in her music video titled "Nada Se Compara" or Don't Sell Bodies. And I had the chance to sit down with the actress, the singer, wife of Will Smith and now activist on what drew her to such a cause.
What I thought you did was brilliant because I Iooked at the video and said, man, she's just hot on the screen. And then you look at again and you go, oh.
JADA PINKETT SMITH, ACTRESS: Yes.
LEMON: You know what I'm saying?
PINKETT SMITH: Yes, exactly.
LEMON: And then it's about at the end of the day it's about the body. It's about the urge to have sex.
PINKETT SMITH: That's right.
LEMON: It's about all of those things.
PINKETT SMITH: Right.
LEMON: And that's what you do in the video.
PINKETT SMITH: It's very multi-layered, --
LEMON: Yes. You did it.
PINKETT SMITH: -- very multi-layered. And I wish I could take credit for that, but my girl, Selma, she fought for that. I have to be honest with you because when Salma Hayek came to me, okay, and said we're going to do this video thing, but you are going to naked. I was like pause.
LEMON: Am I doing this?
PINKETT SMITH: Hold up. Salma, that's not happening. And she was like no. Let me tell you something. Jada, do not be mistaken. This is about our bodies and we had an extensive conversation about that video, but that is the genius of my sister, Salma.
LEMON: So it's an important issue. And people will think, oh, it's Hollywood. You wouldn't think that. Actors often take on important issues, but this one is -- seems a bit more [inaudible].
PINKETT SMITH: Well it is. It's extremely personal. I believe that the face of human trafficking in our country affects children, minors. And for me it is probably one of the most heinous forms of child abuse in my eyes, and children who are then looked up on as criminals and treated as criminals versus victims. And I think that that just has to do with how we have to reeducate ourselves about this particular issue.
LEMON: Well I don't have kids, but I have nieces and a great nephew. What did you learn from this because you learned from Willow?
PINKETT SMITH: That's right.
LEMON: Willow was like, mom.
PINKETT SMITH: Yes.
LEMON: What did she say?
PINKETT SMITH: Willow came to me and after she'd watched the KONY 2012 video that was viral. And then she started to do her own investigation on the Internet because she's so crafty on the thing. And she came to me. She's like, mom, you would not believe that there are young girls who are being trafficked in our country that are my age. I want to lend my voice to this. This is insane. This is impossible. She went off.
LEMON: We have our Secretary of State, who is a woman who is --
PINKETT SMITH: Yes.
LEMON: -- doing it. She is supportive of what you're trying to do and trying to stop this.
PINKETT SMITH: This has been an issue of hers since she's been the first lady. My husband and I attended her event at which she gave the -- she made the global human trafficking report.
LEMON: When people think about and when we talk about trafficking, and child prostitution and all of that we think about girls, but it's not just girls.
PINKETT SMITH: No.
LEMON: It's there are boys as well.
PINKETT SMITH: That's right, boys and men. And it is a growing epidemic with boys. And we really have to figure out how to combat that because the most unfortunate part is that our services and our shelters are not really prepared to necessarily deal with male victims.
LEMON: We don't use the same terms as rape, so it's something that we have to come to terms with. We don't -- somehow we separate boys from girls to this.
PINKETT SMITH: From right. We do. And rape is rape. It's just that simple. And we have to be able to confront it that way and handle it that way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Amazing passion from Jada Pinkett Smith. CNN is committed to the fight against human trafficking. You should know that. And you can learn more about modern day slavery including stories of survival at the CNN Freedom Project. The webpage is at CNN.com/freedom, CNN.com/freedom.
I should tell you this too. Coming up at seven o'clock tonight Eastern a political office is it in the cards for Jada Pinkett Smith? And we swap secrets. Here's a hint. It involves our biggest weaknesses, seven o'clock Eastern here on CNN.
She says she was fired for refusing to wear a skimpy skirt to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COURTNEY SCARAMELLA, EX-WAITRESS (voice-over): Right and it's not -- this was not fair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: But her employer says she quit. Does this ex-waitress have the grounds for a lawsuit? We'll talk with a former prosecutor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You've got to see this next story. A woman is suing a Southern California sports bar for what she calls an embarrassing and uncomfortable uniform. Former waitress, Courtney Scaramella, says she was required to wear a skimpy plaid skirt to work and that fans were placed were placed on the restaurant floor to blow up waitresses skirts. Scaramella says that after she complained her hours were cut and eventually she was fired.
And that is a short skirt, isn't it? Now she is filing a lawsuit against the bar. A lawyer for the bar calls the claims baseless and says she wasn't fired and that she quit.
Criminal defense attorney Holly Hughes is here. Holly, I wish in the same room with you for this. I know she's taking it very seriously, but all the guys in the room said I love this story. So how does she have a case here?
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well I don't see that she does, Don. And let's break down why because this is a privately-owned establishment. And you have the right to make up your own rules. It's kind of like when somebody comes over to your house. If they are doing something you don't like you can put them back out on the street.
She doesn't have to work there. This is not a government agency. This isn't funded by the government. So essentially the owner can make up the rules as he likes.
LEMON: Yes.
HUGHES: And I don't see anything here that's the basis for an actual successful lawsuit.
LEMON: Especially if it's that kind of restaurant where --
HUGHES: Right.
LEMON: -- that's what they do like when you go to Hooters it's all about hooters.
HUGHES: That's the game.
LEMON: So you got to have the hooters.
HUGHES: Yes.
LEMON: So listen. Management actually dropped the new dress code after she complained. So does that do anything? Does that support her case at all?
HUGHES: No, not really. It's something called subsequent remedial measures. And we see this sometimes in lawsuits with a defective product. If they go back and they fix it it's kind of like admitting something was wrong, but that's not the case here. This just makes them look like nice guys. They didn't have to change the restaurant dress code because it's their restaurant.
So I think it kind of hurts her in the long run because what they're saying is we're trying to be reasonable and you're still suing us. You had to know the deal when you took the job here. If you didn't want to work in a Hooters type of restaurant go work at Applebee's. They don't that to you there.
LEMON: Yes. Go work at an establishment where you don't have to do that.
HUGHES: Right.
LEMON: We were talking about it's not just Hooters, but these places are they're so-called in the vernacular "breastaurants" is what they call them. And apparently they're on the rise. And are we going to see more of these types of lawsuits you think?
HUGHES: Well I think you will, but again I don't think they're going to be successful, Don, because the bottom line is you get what you pay for. That's why the customers go there. That's why they are on the rise, Don. Let's just use commonsense.
That's why that people go there and people are opening up more and more of these. There are several different chains with this type of a theme. And when you go and you apply for a job there you pretty much know that's why people go there. You don't go to Hooters for the food, no disrespect to the food, okay, but come on, really, Don, let's be serious.
LEMON: Holly, the wings are good. It's like I read -- people say they read Playboy --
HUGHES: Right.
LEMON: -- for the articles. The wings are good at Hooters. Come on.
HUGHES: Okay. But you know what? They're good at JR Crickets, so come on. What are you really going for, huh? Tell the truth, maybe not you, Don, but I'm just saying there's a public out there and when they go to Hooters it ain't for the wings.
LEMON: I can't believe I said "breastaurants" on TV and I didn't --
HUGHES: Yes. And I miss you. I wish you were here. We could have really duked it out in the studio.
LEMON: I wish you were here. It's interesting to look back at that studio from here and someone is sitting in it. That studio has a major echo too. It's weird.
HUGHES: Oh.
LEMON: Thank you.
HUGHES: Okay. Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you, Holly, appreciate it.
HUGHES: Have a great weekend.
LEMON: You too.
One hundred and three miles of water infested with sharks, one woman attempting to swim from Cuba to the Florida Keys without a cage or even so much as a wetsuit, an update on her progress straight ahead.
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LEMON: As a diver for 40 years Ken Niedermeyer has watched some of the beauty of the Florida Keys disappear. Now this CNN Hero has created the biggest coral nursery in the Caribbean to help bring marine life back to the area.
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KEN NIEDERMEYER, CORAL RESTORATION FOUNDATION (voice-over): I grew up diving in the Florida keys and it was just the most magical place. The coral reefs were so pretty and I decided that's what I wanted to do for a living is dive on coral reefs.
In an area where's there's live coral there's always more fish. The reefs provide protection for our coastal areas and recreational opportunities for millions of people. I was diving for 40 years and over time I saw those coral reefs start to die.
Coral reefs worldwide are in decline. If coral reefs die completely coastal communities would be bankrupt. Tourism would be virtually gone. The billion in the world will be impacted. I started thinking how can we fix this problem?
My name is Ken Niedermeyer and I grow, protect and restore coral reefs. We've developed a system that's simple and something that we can train others to do.
We start with a piece of coral this big and we hang it on to trees. And after about a year or two it becomes this big. And then we cut the branches off and we do it again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ken's coral nursery is one of the largest in the wider Caribbean. It's ten times larger than the others that are in existence.
NIEDERMEYER: It's been there since [three]. We originally planted six corals here, but now there's over 3,000 growing in this area alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Before I felt helpless watching it die. Now I think there's hope. It's not too late. Everybody can help and I see all those corals and all those fish, so it's like this whole reef is coming back to life. And making a difference is exciting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: If you know someone who is making a difference in your community go to CNNHeroes.com. Your nomination could help them help others.
A long distance swimmer is out to break her own record in shark- infested waters. She began her swim in Havana, Cuba and it's all in hopes to make it all the way to Florida. We'll see what happens.
And we want viewers to stay connected to CNN even when you're on the go. Make sure you grab your mobile phone and go to CNN.com/TV. Just pick up your phone. And if you're on a desktop or a laptop you can also watch CNN live.
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LEMON: If she makes it this will be an historic feat. And she is off. And it's Australian marathon swimmer Penny Palfrey is on her way from Havana, Cuba to Florida. And as of just an hour ago Palfrey had already swam a little over 69 miles. And that's just the first day. She hopes to swim 103 miles breaking her own distance record for an unassisted open water swim.
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PENNY PALFREY, AUSTRALIAN MARATHON SWIMMER (voice-over): It's a really big challenge. It large, so it's 103 miles, a bit longer than I've ever swum before. And I expect it to be very challenging, but I'm very excited about it. So I'm looking forward to it.
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LEMON: She's already been scorched by the sun. She's been stung by jellyfish and she is inspected by sharks. They've been watching her to see what she's doing, but this 49-year-old grandmother keeps on swimming. Good luck to her. Good luck to her.
A defense contractor gets caught illegally sending China software to build attack helicopters, a report on the fallout you don't want to miss next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: An attack helicopter with the capability of blowing through the armor of a full-size tank it's fairly new to the Chinese military fleet. And as it turns out a North American company illegally sent China the software which made that helicopter a possibility. CNN's David Ariosto has the details for you.
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DAVID ARIOSTO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a state-of-the- art attack helicopter much like the U.S. Apache Gunship, capable of carrying 30 millimeter guns and delivering deadly strikes against ground targets.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Target [stress] locked.
ARIOSTO: And like the Apache, China's first modern attack helicopter seen here on YouTube may have actually been developed with the help of a little American ingenuity. According to the U.S. Justice Department, United Technologies and two of its subsidiaries deliberately broke sanctions and sold software to the Chinese military, helping build an advanced engine that China has long struggled to develop on its own.
DAVID FEIN, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR CONNECTICUT (voice-over): Although executives in all three companies had learned of the export violations by 2004 or early 2005, UTC, Hamilton and Pratt & Whitney Canada failed to make a required disclosure to the United States government for several years.
ARIOSTO: It is not the first time that this has happened. During the Clinton years a New York based company illegally sold satellite technology to China. It was here in this South Bronx complex years ago the company produced radar detection equipment often used in U.S. fighter jets.
As China flexes its military might officials say defense contractors might be tempted by the promise of lucrative new markets despite U.S. sanctions that date back to a brutal Chinese crackdown at Tiananmen Square.
JONATHAN POLLACK, SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION (voice-over): The Chinese obviously are a major market for aviation, civilian aviation and given where Russia has been able to provide a lot of technologies and weapons systems to China for military aviation. That really shouldn't be a surprise.
ARIOSTO: But this time exporters who skirted the rules got caught. Pratt & Whitney Canada pleaded guilty to violating trade sanctions this week, pledging to tighten their standards. The three firms agreed to shell out $75 million in a settlement with the government over its dealings with China, one of the largest resolutions of its kind with a defense contractor in the Justice Department's entire history, David Ariosto, CNN New York.
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LEMON: All right, David. Thanks very much. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN headquarters in New York. We'll be back here an hour from now.
"THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer begins in just a few moments.
