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Syria in Crisis; Interview with Congresswoman Janice Hahn of California; Syria's Place on the World Stage; Food Truck Serves Up Second Chances; Interview with Ben Jealous; NFL Is Back

Aired September 08, 2013 - 18:00   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. Don Lemon here. Top of the hour. You're in the CNN Newsroom.

We're going to begin with a very big week ahead. In just hours, Congress returns to Washington divided. Many members still unsold on the president's plan for a military strike in Syria as we look at these live pictures now from the capitol.

They're saying their constituents want a no vote. The White House chief of staff Dennis McDonough took to the Sunday shows today making the case for the Obama administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENIS MCDONOUGH, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: This is not Iraq or Afghanistan. This is not Libya. This is not an extended air campaign. This is something that's targeted, limited and effective so as to underscore that he should not think that he can get away with this again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Secretary of State John Kerry met with Arab League ministers in Paris today. He says Saudi Arabia has approved international military intervention in Syria. Other key regional support uncertain though. But Kerry emphasized urgency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Some of the other countries that weren't certain whether they could but might have wanted to, wanted to go home and consult with their leaders in order to get decisions, but everybody understood the decisions need to be made within the next 24 hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So the Obama administration is pushing forward with these intense lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill, but it's been very tough going for the administration. Chairman of the house intelligence committee says the odds are actually getting longer for the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. MIKE ROGERS (R-MI), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: I think it's very clear he lost support in the last week. Again, it's difficult to try to make a decision if you don't have access to the classified information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Our Pentagon correspondent is Barbara Starr and she is standing by with more on the White House lobbying efforts. It's going to take a really big effort, Barbara. What do they have planned this week?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, on this Sunday night, it is already under way. The Vice President Joe Biden meeting with key senators to talk to them, try and do a little political influencing for a military strategy in Syria. But, then, it gets even busier starting tomorrow.

Let's take a look at a couple of things here. The House members will view those very graphic, very disturbing videos on Monday. The senators will see them on Wednesday. The push will continue. President Obama on Monday will speak and do interviews with all of the key news networks including our own Wolf Blitzer, trying to push his case on Tuesday. He will talk to the nation about all of this. You've already seen today key White House officials out on the Sunday talk shows.

So, look for the administration over the next 48 hours to really try and seize the agenda and deliver their message that they believe military action is the only way to go. It will be very tough going, Don.

LEMON: OK. Barbara, this just into CNN here. It is saying a Senate leadership aide tells CNN President Obama will go to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to make his case for military action on Syria to Senate Democrats. That is he knows he has a tough sell.

STARR: He's got a tough sell all over Capitol Hill with Democrats and Republicans. Pentagon officials here are also making the case.

And, perhaps if we look at some of the numbers we've been tallying on the congressional votes estimates. That will tell you why the president is going to go up on Capitol Hill. Let's start looking for the Senate side -- 25 yes votes, 23 no votes, 52 undecided, a long way to go. But when you cross over to the House side of Capitol Hill, perhaps tougher going for the White House, 25 yes, 143 no, 256 undecided. You see the unknowns there, as well.

I think the numbers lay it out very clearly. The administration from the White House to here at the Pentagon to the State Department has a very long way to go on this -- Don.

LEMON: You know, one House Democrat told our Candy Crowley this morning on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION", that the president might as well drop his request before Congress. Tell us about that. STARR: Well, this was Democratic Congressman McGovern from Massachusetts, opposed to military action, not yet convinced, doesn't think it's going to work.

And have a listen to what he had to say to Candy Crowley.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: If I was the president, I would withdraw my request. I don't believe the support is there in Congress. I think people view war as a last resort. I don't think people think that we're at that point.

So, you know, I would -- I would step back a little bit. We have some other issues we've got to deal with Congress, domestic and international. But I think at this point, if you were asking me for my advice, I'd say withdraw the authorization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: One of the themes you keep hearing, Democrats and Republicans all over town is that the administration needs to make the case for military action.

What is the military goal? What is the military strategy in Syria and what do you do the day after you stop lobbying the cruise missiles or the bombs hit Syria? What happens next?

That seems to be one of the key things that many members of Congress are still looking for answers on.

LEMON: Barbara Starr, Pentagon correspondent -- thank you, Barbara.

I want to bring in a member of Congress who has been very vocal in her opposition to any U.S. military action in Syria. That is Congresswoman Janice Hahn from California. She's a Democrat. She joins me now from Los Angeles.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Listen, I want to get your take on this. We are just getting in that the Senate leadership aide tells CNN the president will go to Capitol Hill on Tuesday and make his case to military action in Syria to Senate Democrats. What does that tell you, Congresswoman?

REP. JANICE HAHN (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, it tells me that the president feels very strongly about his take on this whole situation in Syria. And he believes very strongly that we as the moral leader of the world need to take this action against Assad to make sure that these chemical weapons are never used again. But we've all been in our districts for the last couple of weeks and I don't know about my colleagues, but I heard loud and clear from my constituents. They absolutely do not want us to get involved in this civil war.

LEMON: You haven't wavered. You've been very clear that you feel the military action against the Assad government wrong -- yes? HAHN: I have been. I have been in the no column from the very beginning.

LEMON: OK. Well, that said --

HAHN: I went to church this morning and prayed about it. I still feel like this is not the right course of action for us to take.

LEMON: After you were on yesterday, there were two analysts -- you know, they -- I think they took some umbrage in the fact that you were saying, listen, this is not the way my constituents want me to vote basically it wasn't like a Facebook page, I have this many likes. Therefore, I'm not going to. That as a leader, that you should have some sort of moral imperative that should guide you rather than what your constituents want. You were here to defend yourself.

How do you respond to that?

HAHN: Well, my family has been in politics a long time in Los Angeles. We very much believe we are elected to represent the people. I mean, I am to give voice to, you know, the over half a million people I represent in my congressional district. I mean, that's the way it works.

And just as the president should not make this decision, and he's not, divorced from Congress or the American people, I don't think Congress members should make this decision divorced from their own constituency.

That's how it works. That's how democracy works. And I think this show of democracy right now as the world watches is actually very important to show this is how a mature democracy acts in the face of a very difficult international decision.

LEMON: I'm asking this to every lawmaker I talk with today -- do you propose an alternative to military strikes in Syria?

HAHN: I -- you know, for me, I think we as the United States should take this moral leadership. Should take this energy, should take everything we know about bringing people together and take it to the international community. I know people say all the time that U.N. is a joke, but, you know, this is what the United Nations exists for, is for situations like this where there is a bad actor in the international community.

And I'd like to see us take the evidence when it's all in, show it to the other countries so that everybody sees it the same way and see if we can't find another way to hold this regime accountable for using these chemical weapons. We don't have the international support right now for a military strike. So I'm hopeful that if Congress turns the president down, he'll work harder on finding an alternative.

LEMON: All right. California Congresswoman Janice Hahn, thank you. Appreciate you joining us here on CNN.

HAHN: Thanks, Don. LEMON: Tuesday night, President Obama takes his case for U.S. action against Syria to the American people. He will address the nation from the White House. You can see and hear the president live 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

And before the president addresses the nation, he is sitting down with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. You can see that tomorrow 6:00 Eastern, on "THE SITUATION ROOM."

LEMON: Syria's president is waiting for an air strike and he's giving interviews to Western media. That's next.

And later, the president of the NAACP with a surprising announcement. Ben Jealous joins us live to talk about why he is resigning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: President Obama faces an uphill battle this week shoring up commitments for a strike on Syria. As he prepares to take his fight to Congress, Syria's president spoke with Charlie Rose in Syria, making clear that he is ready for action and warning America of what would follow.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CHARLIE ROSE, CBS: Obviously, that they were prepared as they could be for a strike. He said they would be -- suggested they would be -- among people that are aligned with him, some kind of retaliation if a strike was made that that would be, that he would not talk about any kind of nature of the response. He had a message to the American people that it had not been a good experience for them to get involved in the Middle East and in wars and conflicts in the Middle East, that the results had not been good.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, President Obama has said regime change is not his goal in any intervention in Syria. Is that plausible given horrific crimes President Assad is accused of?

Joining us now, CNN military analyst, Rick Francona.

Lieutenant Colonel, you spent three years in Syria as military attache at the U.S. embassy in Damascus. Do you think Assad must go?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Oh, absolutely. He's done so much to that country. I think he's gone too far down the road. There's been too much bloodshed for anybody to let this go. There needs to be a Syria without Assad in the future.

LEMON: If he does not get congressional support to strike, will it hurt him politically, do you think? Will he, I don't know, somehow hurt America's credibility?

FRANCONA: If we don't strike Syria, I think our credibility is on the line in the Middle East. In the Middle East, Don, it's more about perception than the reality. It's how we look there. I can tell you by reading the Syrian press, watching some of the reporting coming out of the Middle East that while it looks very good to the West and to us, for the president to go to Congress and seek the authorization, that makes us look strong. It makes us a reluctant warrior and doing things deliberately.

In the Middle East, however, it is perceived as weakness. And the Syrian headlines were the American retreat has begun in the face of our glorious President Bashir al Assad. It's just a different perception on both sides of the ocean here.

LEMON: Colonel, Secretary of State John Kerry says Saudi Arabia will back military intervention in Syria. What is the answer to getting more allies onboard?

FRANCONA: Backing us is one thing, but participating is something else it. And I expect the Saudis to back us and to support us morally, but I doubt they really bring much to the table militarily.

More importantly, there are other allies in the region that could help us, specifically Turkey. There is a huge NATO air base in southern Turkey, Incirlik Air Base, very close on the Syrian border. That would be an ideal place to station and launch American aircraft from. That would be the kind of support we need.

Moral support? It's nice, but it doesn't bring anything to the table.

LEMON: Thank you, Colonel.

Disturbing videos of aftermath of apparent sarin gas attack in Syria. Is the White House trying to get the media in doing its work convincing the American people that a U.S. assault is necessary? We're going to discuss that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The question of U.S. involvement in Syria headed to the halls of Congress in just a matter of hours.

Let's talk about this with our regulars. CNN political commentator Ana Navarro is a Republican strategist. And here in New York City with me is L.Z. Granderson, a CNN commentator.

Good to see both of you.

Congress officially gathers in Washington at 2:00 tomorrow, but a key Republican who supports the president on Syria says the administration is actually losing support and he says the White House has credibility problems that go beyond the current crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGERS: Part of the problem was, they started today or last week. They really needed to start two years ago on this process and really haven't done it. So, they don't have strong relationships in Congress. This tells you the relationship with Congress. It's not great.

They're sending Susan Rice to brief Congress on the year anniversary of Benghazi. And they are trying to win votes. I mean, the credibility gap there is huge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK, guys. CNN is just learning that President Obama is going to go to Capitol Hill on Tuesday and make his case to Senate Democrats.

Ana, he's got his work cut out for him. The president is going over to Capitol Hill.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN COMMENTATOR: He needs to, Don. This is not looking good. I think they lost a lot of momentum. This week, there's over 100 Congress people that have already announced they are no votes.

He needs to win it. He needs to get his Democrat base back onboard. He needs to play the loyalty card. He needs to make the case himself.

I think this issue on Susan Rice, frankly, is petty. At this point, she is the national security advisor. She is talking on behalf of the president of the United States. I think that's her role.

Frankly, the one that must change hearts and minds of Congress and the American people is President Barack Obama.

LEMON: L.Z., said -- you know, the representatives said the credibility here goes beyond just this Syria crisis. And now, he's going to make his way. What do you -- what do you make? Do you agree it goes beyond the Syria crisis and is there a credibility problem and he knows it and that's why he's going?

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN COMMENTATOR: I think that this entire conversation, the messaging of all of this has been bad in most part. I agree it should have happened two years ago. When he was saying things that this guy needs to go, Assad needs to no. He should have been educating the American people and working with Congress about why he felt that way. Last year when we knew there were chemical weapons being used, that conversation should have happened.

And I feel like at this point, what he is doing now is scrambling for the most part. It makes the messaging even more clouded.

I agree with Ana. He's lost a lot of momentum. Perhaps he should have called Congress to come back to D.C. when he first addressed the American people. And now, it seems like he's behind the 8-ball.

LEMON: Yes, there is an issue with your microphone, so we'll share it here. You saw those terrible videos, those videos that came out yesterday. Retired General David Petraeus among popular Republicans issuing a statement backing the president, the president speaks with our own Wolf Blitzer on primetime on Tuesday, I mean -- on Monday night and then he speaks to the American people on Tuesday night. This is a full scale PR offensive and the question is, is it going to work?

GRANDERSON: No, it's not. It's not because I feel as if the initial messaging was off to begin with. It should not have been about the U.S.'s interests. It should have been about this international law that has been violated. He should appease, he should appeal to international leaders about defending this international law, because the American people are war-weary.

If you engage the international community and talk about the importance of defending this international law, then you come back home and say this is what we need to do as part of the international community. The messaging has been backwards and I feel that is why this is largely ineffective.

LEMON: Yes.

So, Ana, I want to ask you, you know, let's talk about those graphic videos. CNN obtained yesterday those videos. Some critics are saying that the White House is trying to get the media to do its work, influence public opinion by airing these horrific videos.

Do you -- do you agree with that?

NAVARRO: No. I think it's outreach 101. I think it makes all the sense in the world for them to put out these videos if they are trying to put the reality out there and remind the American people and Congress just how horrible these images are and what exactly we are talking about.

Part of why momentum has been lost is because for the last 10 days, every time we are talking about Syria, it's a politician giving a speech or testifying in front of a hearing. Let's go back to remembering why we are doing this in the first place.

And I agree with L.Z. a lot of what's happening right now is that there is a lot of frustration on the Hill, particularly by some of the members who have been asking this administration for two years to do something on Syria, to give support to the rebels. And they just -- you know, there is this feeling that this president boxed himself in with the red line comment and is now trying to check off a box. He has got to change that perception. And the only way President Obama can change that perception is by saying why we're doing this, how we're doing it, what we hope to achieve, and just being determined and resolute about the action in Syria.

LEMON: L.Z., how do you see this playing out? A split in Congress, a double defeat in the House and the Senate? Then what?

GRANDERSON: I think we're a little too early to figure out whether or not, you know, there is going to be a double defeat. But I tell you what math look --

LEMON: Can I ask you this? Because we keep saying this, and a lot of people -- a lot of people I'm talking to average everyday Americans say this isn't about the president. This is really about Syria. There's too much emphasis on the president making his case or what- have-you. Is this about the Syrian people, the Assad regime, and is it being framed the wrong way that it's about President Obama? I think that's a better question.

GRANDERSON: Well, yes. I mean, it goes back to some of the points that I made last week when Ana and I were here. And this isn't a win or victory for President Obama, but whether or not how the U.S. wants to be perceived internationally, and our credibility internationally.

But I want to go back to how this is going to play out in Congress.

LEMON: Yes.

GRANDERSON: I think we really need to pay attention to who is up for re-election in the 2014 mid-term election. And the reason why I say that there are a lot of vulnerable Democrats who do not want to do anything to further upset their constituents.

LEMON: Right.

GRANDERSON: And just as the congresswoman you had from California who talk about the voices from her constituents, that, too, is going to play into how this vote is going to come down. No one wants to go back home in the 2014 election having gone against the will of the people they need votes for. And, unfortunately, that too is going to impact how this plays.

LEMON: You're talking about Congresswoman Janice Hahn. Thank you, guys. Unfortunately, we are out of time. I have a hard break. I appreciate you, Ana and L.Z.

What would U.S. military action in Syria mean for the rest of the Middle East? How does Iran, Lebanon even Israel fare here? We're talking about that next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This week on "THE NEXT LIST", we talk to two remarkable innovators, Ben Kaufman, founder and CEO of quirky.com. Kaufman's passion by giving would-be investors a way to get your products to market.

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GUPTA: And he's using the talents of half a million online members to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are now a quirky inventor.

GUPTA: And Saul Griffith, he's an inventor, scientist, and winner of the coveted MacArthur Genius Award.

SAUL GRIFFITH, INVENTOR: Sometimes you just have an idea and you're like, oh, no, I've had the idea, now I have to do it.

GUPTA: Griffith and his team are revolutionary robotics, creating a whole new field of soft machines.

GRIFFITH: When fully pressurized, an arm can lift a human at arm's length.

GUPTA: This Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Eastern, on "THE NEXT LIST".

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In a rare interview with U.S. media, Syrian President Bashar Assad is again denying he had anything to do with the alleged chemical weapons attack on August 21st. Speaking to journalist Charlie Rose, Assad pointed the finger at Syrian rebels.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

ROSE: He did, however, say that if in fact we do have them, and I'm not going to say yes or no, they 're in centralized control so no one else has access to them. He suggested, as he has before, that perhaps the rebels had something to do with it. He basically says there has been no evidence that I used chemical weapons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So nations are divided over whether military action is needed in response to these alleged chemical attacks in Syria. But what is Obama's stance, the president's stance, say about America's place in the world?

Joining me from Washington now, Mideast analyst and co-author of "Going to Tehran," Hillary Mann Leveret.

You know, you've spent a lot of time in the Middle East, you're a former State Department official, you've interviewed al-Assad, you've interviewed his father. Help put this into perspective for us. What is -- what is the world impact if the U.S. does strike Syria?

HILLARY MANN LEVERET, CO-AUTHOR, "GOING TO TEHRAN": Well, there's been a lot of talk about how potentially Syria's allies like Iran, Hezbollah and Lebanon, could counterattack, could retaliate against the United States. And that is true. But the greater strategic problem for the United States is that after invading Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, each one of them less and less effectively with more and more blow back.

We are now in the position, I think, that if we attack Syria with what President Obama has planned, it will show the world that U.S. military might, our political power and our economic power are seriously on the -- seriously declining.

LEMON: You said if we do decide to strike or if we don't?

LEVERET: If we do. If we decided to strike. There is no victory. There is no military victory. It will be a failure. Even President Obama is not claiming there is a military solution to this that he is proposing. He is saying that there just needs to be a message sent, punishment. Nobody out there claims, puts forward that there is a victory.

And what this shows the world is that after Afghanistan, after Iraq, after Libya, the United States is less and less able, less and less capable of pulling off what it says it needs to pull off militarily, politically and economically.

LEMON: It sounds to me like you're saying that -- I don't want to put words in your mouth, that American intervention will be sort of the last end for U.S. influence in the Middle East. And why is that?

LEVERET: Yes. I actually think this could be the nail in the coffin for American influence in the Middle East. We have seen a precipitous decline in U.S. influence over the past decade. We have squandered so much, so fast, that I think historians will look back and -- and be stupefied that we have used our military force unconstrained to go into countries that we don't understand trying to force political outcomes that time and time again were shown are not possible.

We couldn't do it in Afghanistan. We couldn't do it in Iraq, we couldn't do it in Libya. And we keep trying. And each time we try, we come out weaker. And I think that I am afraid that, concerned that our attempt to do it yet again in Syria will be the last nail in that coffin.

LEMON: You know, you've heard the president earlier in the summer talking about, you know, Benghazi and other things. He called them made-up crisis, right? This particular crisis, though, seems to be of his own doing. And you said the words stupefied. Are you stupefied that --

LEVERET: Yes.

LEMON: -- somehow the president has gotten himself here?

LEVERET: Unfortunately, both Libya and Syria were self-inflicted errors by President Obama. In both cases, for Libya he said right away Gadhafi must go. And the same thing for Assad in Syria. He said Assad has to go. So much so that when Gadhafi was trying to negotiate with others in Africa we squashed that. And here, too, Assad has been willing, with the Syrians, with the Iranians, with others that we demonized to have some sort of political way forward and we quashed it.

The most recent thing is that we've quashed this U.N. investigation to actually see who is responsible for this apparent chemical attack on the ground? It doesn't seem that we're interested in actually finding out objective reality. We're interested in forcing a political outcome with our military force. Something that we have now seen over and over and over again is not working.

LEMON: Hillary Mann Leveret, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

LEVERET: Thank you. LEMON: The president of the NAACP is resigning. Ben Jealous joins us live with his first TV interview since making that announcement just a couple of hours ago. That's ahead.

Also, a chef giving back to his community, his food truck is serving up second chances.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In the days after 9/11, a photo of an American flag being raised by firefighters at the World Trade Center became a symbol of national unity. The new CNN film "THE FLAG" investigates a mystery of what happened to the ground zero flag and explores the deep emotion surrounding the American flag itself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's just consider what old glory is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It stirs a different sense in all of us. I think there's one meaning of the flag, but many interpretations. And each of us can have a personal connection with that symbol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not a country based on religion or ethnicity or even cultural heritage. We're a country based on ideas and a philosophy, and that's what that flag is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It makes us all feel united. It makes us feel like we're bigger than just ourselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's not until we're challenged that we reach back at what makes us Americans and what that is and what the symbol is, is the flag.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And to follow the mysterious journey of the ground zero flag, be sure to watch the CNN film "THE FLAG" tonight 9:00 Eastern here on CNN. Then immediately, immediately after, the director of the program is going to join me to talk about new leads in the search for the flag. That happens at 10:30 Eastern. Again right here on CNN.

A chef and his food truck are changing lives in a city with its share of struggling residents. We expect chefs to serve up good meals, but for this chef, that's just a start.

CNN's Tom Foreman has this week's "American Journey."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FORD FRY, RESTAURATEUR: What you'll have? What you'll have?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Of all the food trucks working the streets of Atlanta, few draw customers as quickly as Ford Fry's.

FRY: How's the grill working?

FOREMAN: No wonder, he is the star chef behind some of the city's best restaurants and this latest passion is not just another business.

FRY: I never really wanted to have a food truck for, you know, a business. It's too hard work. To go back and serve the city was just something I really had a fashion of doing.

FOREMAN: Every meal sold here provides the money for two or three serve-for-free here. This is the nonprofit City of Refuge, a center to help some of the city's neediest residents with housing, health care, education and of course, meals.

TONY JOHNS, CITY OF REFUGE: On a daily basis we have about 200 residents that live on campus, another 100, 150 will come on campus each day to receive the services that we provide.

FOREMAN: It is also a job training center in which people who are struggling like Rasheedah Nichols learn all the skills needed to work in the restaurant industry and how to put their lives on a positive track.

RASHEEDAH NICHOLS, STUDENT, CITY OF REFUGE: I've learned basically everything that you could learn about cooking. And I've learned also a lot of managerial type of skills and I've learned how to be a better person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She pays attention, she gets it right the first time. That's why she is here with us today.

FOREMAN: Is it working?

NICHOLS: Step right up.

FOREMAN: The program claims a 100 percent success rate in placing its graduates in jobs, in restaurants, catering companies and at least for a time, in the tasty truck that helps make it all possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That makes me literally say --

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Thank you, Tom, for making me hungry.

The president of the NAACP with a surprising announcement this afternoon. Ben Jealous resigning. He joins me live to tell me why. And you. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So as we told you last hour, the president and CEO of the NAACP is stepping down. Ben Jealous says he'll leave on December 31st to spend more time with his family.

Ben Jealous joins me now live.

Thank you, sir. You know we hear that --

Hey.

LEMON: I've got to be honest. We hear that "I want to spend time with my family" all the time. And it sometimes usually means someone got kicked out.

JEALOUS: Right. No.

LEMON: I'm just being honest. No. When I just saw you a week ago, you were very happy and I wondered why. And?

JEALOUS: Yes. And there you go. And there you go. You know, I -- my chair asked me when I called her, she said, well, is there somebody who's luring you away, and I said yes, there is. His name is Jack and her name is Morgan. My son is 14 months, my daughter is 7 1/2. My father has been a leader in the feminist movement in California for 40 years. And when I was 2 and my sister was 7, he took off two years to really just spend with me and my sister and help raise us.

And even though he and I had often had sort of a cat's cradle sort of relationship with him being very driven and me, as well, we've shared a strong bond because we had that time together when I was so young. And so this just seems like the opportune time.

I told my daughter 4 1/2 years ago when she asked me, when are you coming back, daddy? You know, give me five years. I explained to her how important this organization was. Our family had belonged for five generations. How I had an important role to take it to the next level. And having done that, there simply was no excuse not to keep that promise to my daughter.

LEMON: Yes.

JEALOUS: And be able to spend that time with both of them.

LEMON: We talked a little bit about that when I interviewed you. We did a thing on American African First on you, and that was about four, five years ago.

JEALOUS: Yes.

LEMON: When you -- you know, when you first became leader during that time. You mentioned Jack and Morgan. I met Morgan. Jack wasn't around then.

JEALOUS: Yes.

LEMON: But you better mention your wife or you're going to be in trouble before we get to this --

JEALOUS: You know, I'm the only civil rights leader that when the Supreme Court decisions came down had to watch his wife on CNN to get the talking points and then go on after her. So yes, I have a very serious wife. Her name is Lea. And, you know, Jack was an aspiration then and he's here now. And there you go.

LEMON: All right. Let's talk serious stuff now. The biggest civil rights challenges still remaining as you decided to step down.

JEALOUS: You know, look, we are in a real fight on voting rights. And it's likely to be a generational battle because it's being waged against us by people who are, you know, fully cognizant that in 2043 this country becomes a majority people of color. And they're trying to hold on to the old order for as long as possible.

I would not have stepped down if I wasn't confident that the leadership of John Lewis and the leadership of Jim Sensenbrenner, and Nancy -- Pelosi and Eric Cantor is all going to add up to us getting the re-authorization of section -- excuse me, the restoration of Section IV, handling of --

LEMON: The Voting Rights Act. Right.

JEALOUS: Yes. And in the Senate. But I also wouldn't be leaving if the NAACP across the country wasn't rising to the challenges of this day so effectively. I mean, just last year, five miles from here up in Maryland, in one year we played a critical role in abolishing the death penalty, passing sensible gun safety reforms, passing the Dream Act, expanding voting rights and passing marriage equality.

And our folks have joined great work like that across the country. And the national law office now, we've doubled the revenues in five years from about $23 million in 2007 to about $46 million in 2012. We have expanded our grassroots donor base about eight times up here from 16,000 people to 132,000 people.

LEMON: Yes.

JEALOUS: So we are stronger, we are more powerful and we are -- financially more sustainable.

LEMON: Yes.

JEALOUS: So it just seemed like the right time.

LEMON: There is taped programming after this. There is no more show. So I have to run. But I have to ask you, what are you going to do next if you can do it very quickly for me?

JEALOUS: Sure. You know, I plan on teaching and really investing my time in training the next generation of people who will lead this country.

LEMON: OK. Short answer. Thank you. Thank you very much. Good luck to you. And I'll talk to you soon.

JEALOUS: All right.

LEMON: Ben Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, soon to be the former. He is stepping down on December 31st. Thank you, sir. First television interview since announcing that. Appreciate it. JEALOUS: Thank you.

LEMON: All right. It's back, the NFL, back on the field and one of the league's biggest stars just seems to get better with age. We are talking week one plus the U.S. Open.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The NFL is back with all of the stars, spectacle, the controversy that we have come to expect.

Terence Moore is back with us. He's a sports contributor to CNN.com and a columnist for MLB.com.

We want to start with this. Give me three things to look for in the new NFL season.

TERENCE MOORE, CNN.COM SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, number one. There's going to be a lot of whining for players and coaches over all these new rule changes involving tackling in particular and hitting in general. And that's because nobody understands what this is all about. Specifically, they're very confusing and -- they're a result of the fact the NFL is somewhat panicking over all these lawsuits involving concussion.

Number two, the NFL, Don, has been around since 1920. This will be the most competitive year ever. There are at least 12 teams out of the 32 with a legitimate chance, not only of making the Super Bowl, but winning the Super Bowl.

And number three, this involves where you're at right now, your new hometown of New York City, throughout this year every hour on the hour we'll be getting a New York weather report because the Super Bowl is in New York in February.

And there are already reports, Don, that there's going to be a major snowstorm for that Super Bowl.

LEMON: Boy, you know, I mean, there's New York and then there's everywhere else. New Yorkers go, there's -- you mean there's, you know, a whole another world out there beyond the boroughs here?

(LAUGHTER)

You know, one of the most hyped up -- up-and-coming stars, I should say, is Washington's quarterback, Robert Griffin III.

MOORE: Yes.

LEMON: RG3 as he's known. What should we expect from him this season?

MOORE: You know what, I mean, there is nobody that can live up to this hype including RG3. Right now people are looking at this young kid as being sort of a combination of Superman and the Holy Trinity, OK? And let's start with this, Don. There is a guy named Dr. James Edwards, James Andrews, I should say, a noted surgeon who has been around for a billion years. Dr. Andrews has never said anything about his clients, but he has said about RG3, he is concerned about how the Redskins are going to use him this year. OK? That's number one.

Even if he were 100 percent, there is nobody that can live up to this hype. But he's in Washington, D.C., with one of the most rabid fan bases that there is. He could be a big disappointment because of all the people expecting too much.

LEMON: OK. So, listen, I want to talk about your early Super Bowl prediction. I should have asked you that because you said it's going to be in New York. But did we get a preview of it with Peyton Manning's performance on Thursday night? Because I was so happy as a man of a certain age, I was like, yes, us old guys, we can do it.

(LAUGHTER)

MOORE: Yes, I mean -- I mean, when the guy throws seven touchdowns against the defending Super Bowl champions.

LEMON: Yes.

MOORE: You've got to like Denver's chances of winning the AFC. NFC, I'm going to go with the 49ers simply because they were so close of being there last year. They've got fewer weaknesses of any team in the National Football League. So go with Denver and San Francisco in the Super Bowl. Always go with the quarterback. Kaepernick is good. This guy, John Elway is great. Go with Denver as the new world champions.

LEMON: Peyton Manning, all I'll say this. I love it. Time on the planet wisdom. There is -- that's the best.

MOORE: That's exactly right.

LEMON: So amen.

MOORE: Just -- if he had gray hair, I could go with that.

LEMON: Is there hair up there? OK.

MOORE: A little bit.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Thank you, sir.

MOORE: Thank you.

LEMON: Appreciate it. All right.

A day at the festival ends in horror after a ride stops suddenly sending kids hurtling to the crowd -- to the ground. Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Congress gets back to work officially tomorrow. House and Senate members all jumping full bore into one main issue and that's Syria. President Obama wants their authorization to launch military strikes. But opposition is fierce and coming from both sides of the aisle. He'll go to Capitol Hill Tuesday to talk to Senate Democrats.

And don't miss the president's interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer tomorrow 6:00 p.m. Eastern on "THE SITUATION ROOM."

In Connecticut, an accident on a swing ride has left 13 children injured, two seriously. It happened at the Oyster Festival in Norwalk. Police say the ride apparently lost power and threw the children to the ground. One witness says he heard a big boom and then a whole bunch of screaming.

I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you back here 10:30 Eastern Time. Following the CNN film "THE FLAG" which investigates the mystery of what happened to the ground zero flag. I'll be talking to the director of the film about new leads in that search. Meantime, "BEYOND 9/11: PORTRAITS OF RESILIENCE," begins right now.