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Syrian Officials Killed; Romney Nearing V.P. Announcement?; Worst Drought in Decades Continues

Aired July 18, 2012 - 15:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: It's the top of the hour and I want to update you on a story that's developing. It's out of Bulgaria. A bus carrying Israeli tourists exploded. The death toll has now grown to six. There's a great deal of speculation as to who is to blame for this.

CNN's Elise Labott is covering the story for us. And she joins us from Jerusalem.

Now, Elise, Israel is blaming Iran for this. Why is that?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, in recent months, they say the Israelis have thwarted attacks against Israeli targets in Thailand, India, Georgia, Kenya, and Cyprus. And they believe this bears the hallmarks.

And they say they have indications that it could be Iran. We have to be careful the note that nobody has actually confirmed that yet. But the Bulgarian Interior Ministry is saying the explosion was the result of a bomb in a tourist bus, that the bus exploded from a bomb within.

And eyewitnesses are just describing harrowing accounts of seeing victims on the ground. And, Don, Ehud Barak, the defense minister, left no doubt about who the Israelis think it was. Let's take a listen.

LEMON: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EHUD BARAK, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: This is clearly a terrorist attack initiated by probably Hezbollah, Hamas, Jihad, or any other group under the terror auspices of either Iran or other radical Muslim groups. We're in a continued fight against them. We're determined to identify who sent them, who executed it and to settle the account.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LABOTT: Don, we have to note that this is to the date exactly 18 years after the bomb attack on a Jewish community building in Argentina. The Israelis say that that was the work of Iran and they say that they are really under attack everywhere around the world.

And Iran -- as you know, the Iranians claim that the Israelis have killed some of their scientists working on their nuclear program. Obviously, the Israelis have not admitted that yet, but certainly the Israelis feel that they are under attack everywhere around the world from Iran, Don.

LEMON: And you mentioned that this is the 18th anniversary of that bombing in Argentina that killed 85 people in that Jewish facility.

You talked about that. And, Elise, I want to read this statement. It's from Kathy Manning of the Jewish Federations of North. Here what she said. She said: "We are shocked and saddened by the bus bombing targeting innocent young Israelis traveling in Bulgaria. On behalf of the Jewish Federations, we offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims and stand shoulder to shoulder with all of the Jewish people in condemning this horrific act of violence."

So, again, on the anniversary here, so tell me about this connection here in -- it's difficult, particularly this connection here in Israel.

LABOTT: Well, basically, the Israelis feel that it's definitely Iran. They say they have indications that this was Iran.

Obviously, officials are careful to talk about intelligence matters, but they say that this is a pattern. Some of the other attacks that have been planned against Israeli targets, they are the hallmark of these type of attacks. And if you remember, just a few months ago, some Iranians were arrested in Thailand for planning an attack against Israeli targets.

So certainly they feel that they have no doubt in their minds that this was Iran. And they have been able to thwart many attacks. But this one, they weren't able to, so Israeli officials telling me we missed this one, but really need to double down and make sure that we're impenetrable and also go after the Iranians wherever we find them targeting us.

LEMON: Elise Labott on this story. We will continue to follow this developing story here on CNN. Make sure you stay tuned.

Meantime, rebels are dancing in the streets after claiming a major blow against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his regime. A bomb exploded during a crisis meeting of top government officials in Damascus today killing four people including one from President Assad's inner circle.

Among the dead are Syria's defense minister and his deputy who is also Assad's close friend and brother-in-law. Syria's interior minister and President Assad's security adviser are also dead.

CNN's Arwa Damon tracking all the developments in Syria from her vantage point in Beirut, Lebanon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This attack most certainly was striking at the very core, the very heart of the Assad regime and sending a clear message to the president and those around him that they are not immune.

Amongst the casualties, not just the ministers and defense and interior and a national security adviser, but also the deputy minister of defense, not the highest ranking individual amongst them all, but perhaps the most significant.

Assef Shawkat was the president's brother-in-law, a very close friend and confidant, a man who many said was the strong individual, the iron fist behind President Bashar al-Assad himself.

The area where this attack took place is very close to what was the U.S. Embassy before it closed earlier this year and a number of other embassy not to mention where the president himself resides. There's been conflicting information as to who and what was responsible.

Syrian state television saying it was a terrorist suicide bomber, possibly one of the bodyguards of one of those who were present at this emergency crisis meeting. The Free Syrian Army, one of its deputy commanders coming out saying this was a byproduct of careful coordination across of its own brigades, where they managed to place an explosive device inside the room where this meeting was taking place and then detonating it by remote.

Some activists throwing in a lot of speculation as well. This is just an example of how murky the situation in Syria is. They are saying that this was somehow the Syrian regime's undertaking to give it an excuse to crack down across the capital.

Either way, every since this news came out, there's been fierce battles across all of Damascus creeping ever closer to the president's seat of power. There have been reports of shelling, of clashes and more disturbingly just recently reports that pro-government thugs armed with knives are going through slaughtering residents -- scenes of chaos across the capital most certainly not an indication that the government at this is in control.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Beirut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Arwa, thank you very much.

Today's attack in Damascus drew an unusually candid response from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. It came in an answer to a question posed by our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

Barbara, there she is joining us live, Panetta really broke some new ground with his comments on Syria. Didn't he?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, he did.

Usually you get the answer we're relying on diplomacy. We're going to work with our allies to try and make this shift of power in Syria. Today, Panetta went in a different direction when I asked him about the implications of the fighting in central Damascus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Can you tell the world what you're doing so the world feels more reassured that you have an ability to do something about this, about the fighting in Damascus?

LEON PANETTA, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: This is a situation that's rapidly spinning out of control. And for that reason, it's extremely important that the international community, working with other countries that have concerns in that area, have to bring maximum pressure on Assad to do what's right, to step down and to allow for that peaceful transition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: The key words there when a U.S. defense secretary says a situation is spinning out of control, the world listens. It's the first time we have heard Panetta go this far.

He was standing there with his British counterpart, the British secretary of defense. Secretary Hammond from the U.K. joined in and said the U.K. agreed with that assessment. The feeling now is with the violence right in the center of the capital, striking at the heart of the Assad regime, nobody can really predict what's coming next and that is a big problem, of course.

LEMON: I don't know if this is a prediction, but is this a real turning point in the effort to get Syrian President Assad to step down?

STARR: You probably only really know that after the fact. Don't you?

But that's what people are looking at right now from the Pentagon to the State Department to the White House to the CIA. This is the kind of assessment that is now going on around the clock. What does it mean? What will Assad's reaction be?

This is what officials are telling us. They have got to make some assessment here and give the president their best advice, President Obama, about what may be happening inside Syria, especially after these events of today. And it's very, very tough. They don't know how Assad is going to react to this.

LEMON: Barbara, Panetta also warned Syria to safeguard its chemical weapons. How big is Syria's chemical weapons stash? Do you know?

STARR: Yes. When you talk about how Assad is going to react, the nightmare scenario, what if he does something with the chemical weapons?

They very large stores of chemical weapons. Several days ago, there was an acknowledgement that the Syrians had moved some of those chemical weapons around. That's very unsettling when you start moving that stuff around. What is it that you're planning to do with it? Could there be some effort or intention on the part of the Assad regime to strike out at their own people with a chemical weapons attack, as horrifying as that prospect is? That's what the administration is trying to determine right now. And the intelligence isn't great, we're told. The U.S. doesn't have a lot of assets. They have no assets that we know of inside Syria. So the reliance here is on overhead satellites to scan those sties and intercepted communications to try and determine what the regime in Syria might be planning next.

LEMON: Barbara Starr, much appreciated.

We have got a lot more ahead this hour. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice-over): It's starting to look a lot like November, at least in Ohio. Is Romney just days away from a big V.P. announcement?

Plus, the drought of a century wreaking havoc on our nation's crops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of our corn is so hot and dry that it tasseled early and all of a sudden there was no silks that came out because there wasn't any moisture.

LEMON: And we will all be paying for it soon.

And the Boy Scouts of America reconfirm their national message, no gays allowed. but that message of don't ask, don't tell is coming at a cost.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was asked to leave. I was told to leave, pack your things and go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Campaigning in Ohio right now, it's Mitt Romney.

And CNN's Jim Acosta joins us now from Bowling Green.

Jim, Romney has been talking to the crowd. We heard some of it here. What is he hearing from Ohio, though?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, we're hearing a feistier Mitt Romney than what we have seen in recent days.

He went right after the president during this town hall meeting here in northern Ohio. He's seizing on some comments that President Obama made last Friday at an event in Roanoke, when the president said if you have got a business, you didn't build that.

The Republican contender has been going after those remarks in the last couple of days. But he really did -- here a few moments ago asking private businesspeople in the crowd to stand up and raise their hands if it was them or the government that got their businesses going. But it's not just the campaigns that are getting personal with this revved-up rhetoric. Consider what this one woman, a supporter of Mitt Romney, said here at this town hall just a few moments ago and how Romney responded. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he has a string of stores. And because of this awful economy that Obama has created, now he has had to lay off people. And he may have to close some stores. And it's all because of what this monster has done to this country.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to have you as president.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's not a term I would use, but I...

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, Don, it's interesting that Mitt Romney had that response because it was a town hall here in Ohio not too long ago where there was a woman in the audience who suggested that President Obama should be tried for treason. At that event, Mitt Romney did not respond to that woman, didn't say anything about it. It was only to reporters afterwards that Romney responded to it.

It seems maybe he's learned his lesson from that experience. He didn't waste any time responding to that woman here earlier this afternoon.

One other bit of news that Romney made, he said he's not yet ready to make a decision on the vice presidential pick. But he did say to the crowd here, whoever it will be, it will be a conservative.

LEMON: All right, Jim Acosta, Bowling Green, Ohio thank you very much, of course, with the Romney campaign.

Two cousins riding their bikes disappear, their bikes found near a lake. Now investigators are draining a lake and family members are holding their breath right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The mother of one of the missing Iowa cousins tells CNN today she thinks her girls may have been taken; 8-year-old Elizabeth Collins and 10-year-old Lyric Cook have not been seen since Friday.

I want you to listen as to Lyric's mom explains why she thinks the girls have been abducted to CNN's Soledad O'Brien this morning on "EARLY START."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MISTY COOK-MORRISSEY, MOTHER: Because we haven't found them anywhere in the surrounding area, I feel like maybe they were taken. I'll be more comfortable in that theory once they drain the lake and we find nothing there. I'm glad they are draining it today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Want to bring in now CNN's Jim Spellman. He joins us now from the lake in Evansville, Ohio. You see it behind him.

Where are things now? I see the lake there behind you. It looks like it still has a lot of water to get out. They have got a lot of work to do there.

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's gone down a lot, Don, but it still has got a ways to go. They think by tomorrow they will have this lake drained.

Over the weekend they had about 1,000 volunteers searching all the wooded areas and everywhere around here. And they essentially police tell us found nothing that's really advanced the investigation. They want to drain the lake and be absolutely certain there is nothing in here that will advance the investigation.

But we also know that the other part of the investigation, more of the law enforcement angle, has been advancing a bit. They have been working on questioning members of the family. I spoke today with Daniel, the father of Misty, one of missing girls. He told me that yesterday, he was interrogated by police and they really were pressuring him, accusing him of having something to do with the disappearance. And he got up and walked out of the interview.

Tensions are sort of starting to ratchet up between law enforcement and the family. Now, we know that police are under no obligation in these interviews to tell the person they are speaking with the truth and it's very common of course for them to go through the family members.

We know that that's been going on in the investigation. They also took some computers from the family home today and wanted to get into an attic to search that. But we know that the family has been cooperating. He walked out of that interview, but police told us that otherwise they have been cooperating.

Publicly, anyway, though, we have no indication in the press conferences or anything else that they really have many clues to work on here that are pointing them in any other direction. So, it's still baffling. Just yesterday, an investigator here told me that it's like these girls just evaporated.

LEMON: Oh, my gosh. All right, Jim Spellman, good luck with them. I hope something turns up and it's not the girls, that they are found safe.

Thank you very much. In our technical world of cell phones, tablets, laptops and so much more, should you bundle or still pay by the minute? Alison Kosik shares some advice. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(FINANCIAL UPDATE)

LEMON: Ninety-six million acres, 96 million acres of corn planted this spring, millions of acres now dry as a bone.

It's the worst drought in decades.

Our severe weather expert, Chad Myers, joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It's one of the worst droughts to hit the U.S. in 100 years and that means your wallet will take a hit.

Crops across the nation already are taking huge hits. Natural disasters have been declared in 26 states. Let me tell you how bad it is. In the states that grow the most corn, less than one-third of the crop are in good condition. Less then one-third.

Farmers are devastated and worried that their harvest won't survive. And, today, the president is being briefed on how the country can recover from this.

I want to bring in Chad Myers now who tells us who is the most impacted. You said, most of these crops, it's a done deal. It's over.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's almost August really and it was so hot that the plants went very quickly. They tasseled quickly. There's talking about corn. The grass has dried up. There's literally no pasture left in some spots across parts of the country.

What happened was the flash drought. We've heard of a flash flood. That's when it rains a whole lot and then, all of a sudden, it just floods. Well, a flash drought happened when it just stopped raining as soon as the plants went in the ground. It literally stopped raining.

There was no rainfall from May into June and then finally into July. We know what happened there. Temperatures were above 105.

We have Indiana now at 71 percent of the areas here planted in corn. That's 12 million acres, 71 percent poor. Illinois, 56 percent poor. Why is that a more significant number? Because 22 million acres were planted there. Kansas, you're 51 percent done. Some of those plants in Kansas are being plowed under because they have no chance of even making it.

Also, you don't just feed corn to cattle when they are born. You have to put them on grass for a long time. There's no grass. There's no pasture in Missouri. Ninety-two percent of the pasture in Missouri is at poor or very poor conditions.

That gives you an idea that farmers are going to have to buy hay. They'll have to buy things and bring it to their cattle or get rid of their cattle altogether. Does it get better? According to the drought monitor, no. All those brown areas not going to see any significant rainfall at all.

Now, here's the next five days. This is what the map looks like for the next five days and this is good in some spots. For parts of Ohio and Indiana here -- at least right there -- parts of Kentucky, yeah, you do get maybe one, maybe one and a half inches, but the areas here that need some rain, back through here, Kansas, nothing, half inch at most. And you need a lot more than that.

That's what happens when you just have so much dry land that you're just not seeing it. We have something else going on, too. I know this was supposed to be a drought segment, but there's a lot of severe weather going on in the Northeast from Boston now to New York and eventually into D.C.

We've had 45 severe thunderstorm warnings at one time. I've been in my office just tweeting all of these warnings out. It's @ChadMyersCNN if you want to watch. The warnings are coming toward New York City into Philadelphia. These warnings will be with this area most of the day.

We have one more thing I want to show you, the airport delays, Don. Have you ever seen 12 airport delays on my map at one time? At an hour or more, the airports are now a mess because all of these thunderstorms are in the way, Don.

LEMON: It's -- people in the airports are going, whoa, more than we are. So, if you're watching, stay tuned.

MYERS: Take your time.

LEMON: Yeah, enjoy. Be patient.

Thank you very much for that, Chad.

Michigan detectives ask for the public's help to solve cold cases. Four kids killed and evidence is found in a 1966 Pontiac Bonneville. We're "On the Case," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right, so, once again, DNA has brought new life to a cold case. A string of child murders in Michigan from the mid-1970s to tell you about. The evidence led to a convicted sexual offender who is already serving life, but get this. He's not the killer.

So, how does Archibald Sloan play into all of this? This is video of him from our affiliate, WDIV. Prosecutors say DNA evidence which does not belong to Sloan was found in his 1966 Bonneville and is linked to human hairs found on the bodies of these two boys, 12-year-old Mark Stebbins in the turtleneck and then 11-year-old Timothy King. Investigators hope by going to the public someone may remember seeing Sloan with the person who could be the killer. A prosecutor told me in the last hour that Sloan is not cooperating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA COOPER, OAKLAND COUNTY PROSECUTOR IN PONTIAC, MICHIGAN: He really has no incentive. We can say we'll help you on that life sentence if you'll confess to something that's going to give you another life sentence.

He is a very sophisticated man. He has a considerable I.Q.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Let's go now to defense attorney Joey Jackson. He's "On the Case" for us today. So, Joey, can prosecutors in situations like this make a prisoner talk or is that just stuff that we see in the movies?

JOEY JACKSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Don, it's stuff we see in the movies. Normally speaking, there may be some inducement to get someone to speak. Why? What do you do?

You say, look, I'll lessen your jail term. I won't prosecute you. I'll give you some time of reduction. But absent that, when you have a person like this, Don, who is serving a life sentence, there's really nothing that could get the person to speak and there's nothing under the law which compels them to speak.

In fact, it's just the opposite. You can't be forced to say anything. And one interesting twist, Don, is not only that, but you can have a person that confesses in this country and if there's not independent corroboration on a confession, guess what. Then they can't be convicted or prosecuted. So, the Constitution is very strong in that regard.

LEMON: Oh, the law, the law, the law. OK, the DNA that links the killings and the car. It's not the type that singles out one person. I talked to the prosecutor about that. It's MT or mitochondrial DNA. How could it impact the trial if it leads to that?

JACKSON: Sure. Now, here's what happens. And not that I profess to be a forensic scientist, but just things you learn as an attorney trying to protect people.

What happens is you have this autosomal nuclear DNA, which is like a direct match, right? It's a print. It's you. But then you have the mitochondrial DNA and what that is, you can develop a profile, but all people, for example, siblings would have it. Everyone along the maternal chain would have that same type of DNA.

So, it doesn't directly match a person, but it could be used and it could be used very effectively, Don, in a prosecution by getting a profile and demonstrating that this person shares that unique characteristic of that DNA. LEMON: OK, now to another murder case where there's no question who did it in this case. Hans Reiser, already serving 15 years to life for the murder of his wife, he must now pay his two children $60 million.

Our affiliate KTVU reports jurors in Hayward, California, awarded each child, a 12-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl, $25 million and then another $10 million in punitive damages. So, he was a computer engineer, Reiser was, who owns a software company.

Joey, who defended -- this guy defended himself in trial. He says he has no money now. So, what's the point of this verdict?

JACKSON: Well, apparently, Don, he didn't do too good of a job nor did he during the course of his other trial.

LEMON: You know what they say about someone who represents himself, right?

JACKSON: Yes. Exactly. They have a fool for a client.

Look, the point is that jurors want to send messages. And I think this sends a message of deterrence to the general public in terms of killing anybody and I think the jurors were, quite frankly, very concerned, annoyed and, you know, they wanted accountability.

And so what they did is they said, look, $25 million for each child. They deserve it in addition to the $10 million for punitive damages. Also, however, you never know what assets he may be hiding or concealing.

So, if the attorney could find assets, those assets could be attached and, therefore, liquidated so that the kids have some funding. I don't know that there'll be $60 million, Don, but there could be some money out there and, therefore, the attorney has leverage to turn it into money so that the children can use.

LEMON: Joey, you get right to it and you're very concise. Appreciate it. Thank you.

JACKSON: My pleasure, Don.

LEMON: It's expected to be the blockbuster film of the summer, but some are claiming batman has a political message and it's all about Bain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Now, if it is interesting and happening now, "Rapid Fire," let's go.

First up, Syrian rebels dance in the streets after an explosion strikes a major blow to Syria's president, Bashar al-Assad. The blast killed four top government officials, including Syria's defense minister and his deputy who also happens to be Assad's brother-in-law. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta says it's time for the U.S. and other countries to put maximum pressure on Assad to quit and he warned Syria to guard its big stash of chemical weapons.

Kerry Kennedy says doctors believe a partial seizure was the cause of an accident that resulted in charges of driving while impaired. The daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy pleaded not guilty at a hearing yesterday and was released on her own recognizance. She was found by state police behind the wheel of her damaged SUV last Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY KENNEDY, DAUGHTER OF ROBERT F. KENNEDY: I remember getting on the highway and then I have no memory until I was stopped at a traffic light and a police officer was at my car door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Kennedy said she was tested for drugs and alcohol and the results were negative. And the doctors concluded she had suffered a partial seizure.

South Africans are celebrating nelson Mandela's 94th birthday today. Relatives, including grandchildren, gathered in Mandela's childhood village to share a meal with the frail statesman who has not been seen in public for years.

Former President Bill Clinton and his daughter, Chelsea Clinton, visited with Mandela yesterday. Clinton spoke with CNN's Robyn Curnow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: I learned a lot about living from him, about living with adversity, living with setbacks, living with disappointments and living without anger.

So, quite apart from all the magnificent contributions he made to free his country and to inspire the world, I learned a lot about life from him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: About 14 million students sang happy birthday in unison nationwide in honor of the man who reconciled the country torn apart by apartheid.

The most powerful man in North Korea has picked up yet another title. Kim Jong-un has been named marshal of the country's army. Korean state TV is reporting that.

The move was intended to give the new leader an even tighter grip on the nation's military. Kim Jong-un's father, Kim Jong-il, held the title when he ruled the country.

Have you heard Rush Limbaugh's latest cause celebre. He's all in a dither about the latest Batman movie. The one that comes out in just a couple of days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Gotham's reckoning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It is called "The Dark Knight Rises." Rush is having trouble with the village in the movie, specifically, the name of the villain. The name of that villain is Bane. So, let's listen to a bit of Rush's radio diatribe on this one.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The villain in "The Dark Knight Rises" is named Bane. B-A-N-E. What is the name of the venture capital firm that Romney ran and around which there's this make- believe controversy? Bain.

The movie has been in the works for a long time. The release date's been known, summer 2012, for a long time. Do you think that it's accidental that the name of the really vicious fire-breathing, four- eyed, whatever-it-is, villain in this movie is named Bane?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So, I'm hearing a lot of Batman movie lovers. And I want to bring in our showbiz correspondent, Nischelle Turner. Nischelle, I know the answer to this because they have all been getting in touch with me on social media, e-mailing me, texting me, saying, "Oh, what is Rush talking about?"

Is -- you know, what's the Hollywood scoop on this? Is he on to something here?

NISCHELLE TURNER, SHOWBIZ CORRESPONDENT: You know, here is the thing, Don. I appreciate a good conspiracy theory just as much as the next person, but this one, I don't know. A bit of a stretch.

Now, we should say, though, that Rush Limbaugh isn't the only one that made this leap. There was a columnist for "The Washington Post" that did and, interestingly, so did a former Clinton aide, Christopher Lehane.

Now, the coincidence here, yeah, it's undeniable. But here's the thing. According to DC Comic's official website, the Bane character was actually created back in 1993. He was already featured in the "Batman and Robin" movie back in '97, battling George Clooney's caped crusader. Plus, "The Dark Knight Rises" was shot last fall and the plot was reportedly outlined already back in 2008, long before Mitt Romney was even the nominee.

Now, although none of this would actually matter if Romney's company, named for its founder, Bill B-A-I-N wasn't a homonym for B-A-N-E, which means, of course, means a curse, poison, death, destruction and woe.

And that actually does make for a pretty good name for a comic book character really.

LEMON: Oh, my goodness, my goodness. This is one of my favorites. It will remain nameless.

"Hey, Don, just an FYI from a self-proclaimed comic geek. Limbaugh is crazy." This is what someone else is saying. "The character, Bane, was created in the Batman comics nearly 20 years ago and he appeared played by a different actor in the last set of Batman movies in the late '90s. Limbaugh's suggestion of some tie to Romney is absurd signed -" I won't say. So, go ahead.

TURNER: I was just going to say, you know, if you want to go the way of the conspiracy theorists, then you could actually look at it like this. Because Bruce Wayne, if you look at him in the movie, he's a very successful man. He comes from a successful family. He's got a lot of money. He's the CEO of a corporation and he's just trying to do the best thing for everyone in Gotham.

So if you want to put that on Mitt Romney, that's kind of his persona. So he could actually be looked at as the hero, if you want to go there for the conspiracy theory.

LEMON: Or we could just say they went back in time, figured it out, knew it was going to happen and then came back through a time machine and now we all are here. I mean, I think that's plausible to me, Nischelle Turner. Appreciate it. Thank you.

TURNER: Hey, you know, all right, Don.

LEMON: A former Scout leader puts a Boy Scouts ban on gays to the test just one day after the Scouts reaffirmed their policy to keep gays out. She shows that 300,000 people are behind her, so did it make a difference? We'll find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So take a look at these cardboard ads featuring David Hasselhoff. They are a hit with these, that is. The ads featuring the former "Baywatch" star apparently being stolen in droves from stores across New England. People are even coming in and asking if they can buy the cardboard picture of "The Hoff."

The company that makes the ads, well, it says that they are flattered by the popularity, but they don't encourage theft.

I actually tried to buy one like that of Wolf Blitzer on the Turner store. They turned me down the other day, Wolf Blitzer. We're just minutes away from the top of the hour. So, Wolf, what do you have coming up in "The Situation Room"?

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": We have an exclusive interview with the king of Jordan, King Abdullah II, speaking about a lot of subjects, but Syria, specifically, what's going on with neighbor to the north of Jordan. He's got some strong views. He speaks directly in our interview to Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian leader. So, that interview's coming up.

Also, a lot on this attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria. You've been reporting on it, Don. The Israeli ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, in our 4:00 p.m. Eastern hour. He'll be standing by to join us, live. We'll get the very latest from him and his government on what is going on.

All the day's political news, all the other important news, as well. So, we got a lot coming up over the course of the next three hours.

LEMON: Hey, Wolf, can I talk to you a little bit about this King Abdullah interview because we have a quick preview and I want you to listen to King Abdullah when you asked about Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian regime. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KING ABDULLAH II OF JORDAN: The issue is not Bashar. If Bashar was to leave tomorrow and the regime stays, then what have we achieved?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: What have we achieved? Wolf, what do you make of that?

BLITZER: Well, he's worried about what happens afterwards. He's also saying, specifically, there are al Qaeda pockets in Syria right now. Because I asked him what about Jordan and other countries arming some of these rebels.

And he says, you know, it's not as easy as it looks because you don't know where these arms will wind up and you certainly don't want them to get into the hands of al Qaeda in Syria.

So, it's a complicated situation. He is blunt though, Don. He does say that if the Syrian regime of President Bashar al Assad starts using chemical weapons or what he called weapons of mass destruction, mustard gas or any kind of poisonous gas, if you will, sarin, he says that's a game-changer for all practical purposes and that all bets are off.

LEMON: A must-watch interview and we will be watching, of course. Thank you, Wolf Blitzer.

The Boy Scouts of America today showed it's not backing down on its ban on gay members. It did not reinstate Jennifer Tyrrell. Her petition asks she get her job back as den leader of her Cub Scouts troop and that the Scouts end their policy on keeping out homosexuals.

Well, Tyrrell told me she was not surprised the organization followed through on its policy which it reaffirmed just yesterday after two years of re-examining the issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JENNIFER TYRRELL, FORMER CUB SCOUT DEN LEADER: I didn't expect to change anything today necessarily, but it was still nice to be heard. Along with those 300,000 signatures were thousands, tens of thousands of comments from Scouts, former Scouts, current Scouts, all across the board who disagree with the decision to keep this policy in place.

So, during our meeting I asked for proof of this two-year 11-person committee and I just wanted to see some records saying, you know, where's the proof that people want this? And they couldn't produce it.

LEMON: And they wouldn't show it to you. Let me ask you this because you said, you know, that you disagree with them. They disagree with you and they said that doesn't mean that they are disrespecting you, but do you feel disrespected?

TYRELL: I don't think that it was their intention to personally disrespect me, no. Unfortunately, it's just a policy that we need to update a little bit.

I love Scouts, as everybody probably knows by now. Cruz loves Scouts. We don't have any ill feelings towards the Scouts. We just want to be included.

And just because we delivered the petition today, definitely doesn't mean we're done. We're going to continue that petition.

LEMON: How is Cruz doing? Because he's 7-years old, he loved being a Boy Scout. I loved being a Boy Scout when I was a kid and if I had been pulled out it I would have been heartbroken. So how is he ...

TYRRELL: I loved being in Boy Scouts.

LEMON: I'm sure you were torn about even taking him out and just continuing your crusade and leaving him in or taking him out. How is he dealing with this? Does he understand what's going on?

TYRRELL: He understands to the best of his ability. He doesn't really understand discrimination because he's not been taught to discriminate. He treats everybody equally and doesn't quite understand why people aren't treating us equally.

He's sad because he doesn't get to do the things he thought he was going to get to do this summer with his friends and Scouts, but ultimately, we can't continue to support this organization that doesn't support our family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Of course, my thanks to Jennifer Tyrrell.

A renovation celebration happening in Texas. Governor Rick Perry and his family are moving back into the governor's mansion in Austin after four years of repairs that cost $25 million. The arsonist who threw a Molotov cocktail into the building in 2008 causing extensive damage has not been caught. The mansion had no sprinklers then, but it does now, along with state- of-the-art fire protection.

That's it for me. You saw him just a few minutes ago. Mr. Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" takes it over right now. Wolf?