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Shooter Kills TSA Officer At LAX; Boston Red Sox World Series Champion; U.S. Attorney Announced Launch Of Federal Investigation Into Kendrick Johnson's Death; SNAP Program's Reduced Budget To Take Effect Friday

Aired November 02, 2013 - 18:00   ET

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

ANA HERNANDEZ, GERARDO HERNANDEZ'S WIDOW: My husband passed away. Here is a statement. He was born and moved to the United States at the age of 15. He graduated from high school. We met in 1994 when I was 16 and he was 19 and have been together ever since. We married on Valentine's Day in 1998 and had two beautiful children. He worked for the TSA organization since 2010. He was a security officer. He was always excited to go to work and enjoy the passengers at LAX. He was a joyful person, always smiling and took pride in his duty to the American public as well as TSA mission.

Gerardo was a great man who always showed his love for our family. He was always there to help anyone in need and always made people laugh with his wonderful sense of humor. He was a wonderful husband, father, brother, son and friend. Gerardo would have been 40 next week. I am truly devastated. We are all heartbroken. We will miss him dearly.

Thank you very much.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. That is the widow of Gerardo Hernandez, the TSA agent killed yesterday at LAX, speaking out for the very first time. Imagine how hard that was. The airport is honoring him today. And today, airport police are getting lots of help and beefed up security teams are watching LAX, one day after the gunman opened fire killing Hernandez and injuring several others.

The troubling clues really are emerging about suspect, 23-year-old Paul Ciancia. A source told CNN that the suspect had a note with an anti-TSA rant on it. The note also reflected his fear of a new world order.

Our affiliate got the exclusive video and they are reporting it appears to show the suspect handcuffed to a stretcher. CNN cannot independently confirm who it is. Now, stranded passengers are reclaiming bags abandoned in the panic in recovering every angle of the story.

I want to get to Kyung Lah at LAX with more information on the victim.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, we heard from the widow are the excruciating details of a man who by every measure was trying to live the American dream. You heard his wife there talking about how he was from El Salvador, that he moved here when he was 15-years-old. He went to high school here. He married his high school sweetheart. They had two children. They got married on Valentine's Day five year ago. They had two children and he was filled with pride had working at a job protecting America's airplanes. And then this happens.

So, this is a lot for his wife to digest and is certainly has been a lot for the workers here at LAX to digest as well. If you go up to a TSA officer here in Los Angeles at this airport, you will see on their badges is a black stripe. That is signifying one of their fallen officers. This is, Don, the very first time that TSA has lost an officer like this -- Don.

LEMON: And Kyung, TSA chief John Pistole met today with the grieving family of the slain officer. How is LAX honoring him this weekend?

LAH: Well, he flew here from Washington because he wanted to see this widow face-to-face. He did meet with her for about 30 minutes to express his deepest condolences. Here at LAX, beyond the badges with the black cloth, but we are also seeing our -- right when you fly into LAX or driving to LAX, there are 100-foot pile ones. And those pile ones normally are clear colored. They will be lit blue in honor of TSA and this fallen officer.

LEMON: Kyung Lah, thank you very much.

You know, apparently, the suspect, Paul Ciancia did not have many friends back in high school. Former classmate say he was quiet and he didn't really fit in. He moved to Los Angeles 18 months ago from New Jersey.

CNN's Chris Lawrence has more from Pennsville, New Jersey, the suspect's hometown.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, police are still here at the family's home in New Jersey looking for any sort of clue, anything that can help investigators piece together a motivation, something to tell them why this happened. One of the things that's going to make it somewhat difficult is outside of his family, we found that Paul Ciancia did not have a lot of close friends.

He just left this area 18 months ago, grew up here, spent his life here. But it's very difficult to find anyone who is a very close friend of his. He went to high school just over the bridge in Delaware an all boy's catholic school. Some of the people who went to school with him say he was sort of a loner, spent time to himself. There were other reports that say he was bullied in high school. We have not been able to verify those reports. So, a lot of the investigation is going to focus on the text messages, those angry, alarming text messages that Paul Ciancia sent to his family here.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, New Jersey.

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

When the gunfire dies down, the second guessing begins and the questions about whether there's a way to stop another shooting like this, that is when the questions come. Here is to break it down (INAUDIBLE) is Mary Ellen O'Toole. She's a former FBI profiler. And Lou Palumbo, a retired law enforcement agent with the police department.

Thank you both for joining us.

Lou, I'm going to start with you. You know, on a scale of one to ten, how is the response at LAX yesterday?

LOU PALUMBO, RETIRED LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENT: Exceptional.

LEMON: There you go.

PALUMBO: Yes, I think there is pretty much a boilerplate response now, Don, regardless of where the incident takes place. It involves local agencies, federal agencies, fire, medical, air support, bomb squads. It's just a boil of how they responds that is very effective and very thorough.

LEMON: And what about, you know, Barbara Starr is reporting there were armed guards there at one point, but weren't there, had taken a break of some sort. What do you make of that?

PALUMBO: Well, I can't confirm that. You know, my experience in traveling through LAX is there are always a type of post just beyond the magnetometers that you walk through, the devices that screen you for weapons and which they are manned by law enforcement agency, the Los Angeles police department or the Los Angeles airport police.

So, any report that these posts may have been abandoned, I find unusual. I never traveled through once and they were un-posted.

LEMON: You know, Mary, we heard the same description of the suspect we heard before -- quiet, a loner, what are the real warning signs that someone might do something like this?

MARY ELLEN O'TOOLE, FORMER SENIOR FBI PROFILER: Well, being quiet and being a loner probably describes 50 percent of the American population. So, you can't take those traits and make those predictive. But the warning behaviors are much more specific and one of the most compelling warning behaviors is leakage. And that's when the shooter tells somebody either directly or indirectly what they are planning to do.

There's two things to keep in mind here. The motivation for these types of crimes occur months, if not years before the event. The thinking about it, putting the thoughts together that they don't like this part of the government or they are part of a conspiracy. But the triggering events occur sooner to the event or not too long before the event occurs.

So, that's where you see the warning behaviors is around the time of the triggering events. And that's what we want people to be aware of, are these warning behaviors. But we know the thinking, the mind set, really goes back probably years.

LEMON: Yes. Lou, we talk about this all the time. Newtown, we are always asking, what are the warning signs? We'll talk more about that.

Lou, Mary, don't go anywhere, because I want to continue the discussion after a quick break here.

And later this hour, we are going Boston to show how the Red Sox World Series victory is about more than just baseball. And for everyone who is tweeting me, I'm fine, just losing my voice on national television. That's it. I'll be OK, though.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: One aviation expert says Friday's LAX shooting will cause changes in TSA. But it's unlikely, she say, that the TSA will begin arming its officers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, U.S. TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT: So, Los Angeles is a tough place because they have so many portals into the airport. But I guess, I do think you need an armed guard, an armed personnel, law enforcement at the gate. And I do think it has to be law enforcement for many reasons. But you cannot arm all the TSA. Because when you arm a federal officer, it puts them in a different rank. You have to re-qualify on the fire arms. A lot of my employees were armed. You have to re-qualify every 30 days. It's very expensive and it is very difficult. Plus, the TSA needs to be protected with armed personnel. I think it has to be officers, police.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. Mary Schiavo also tells me one of the challenges at LAX is the fact airport entrances are close to security check points. Newer airports have been built with more buffers between the entrances and most checkpoints.

So, you know, I want to talk more about the shooting with Mary Ellen O'Toole again, the former FBI profiler and Lou Palumbo here in New York, a retired law enforcement agent.

So Mary Ellen, you know, it's surprising that we haven't seen more attacks like this one. Is it surprising. I mean, and do you think we'll see more? I hate to have you answer that question. Is it surprising we haven't seen more attacks like this one?

O'TOOLE: Well, no, it's not surprising. What we have seen over the last say ten years is that what we used to call school and campus shooters, the venues now have rally broadened. They have bled out into more public venue that is have nothing to do with schools or colleges. So, that's a trend that we're seeing being sustained right now.

And then, we have the element of the copy cat effect. Years ago, the copy cat effect was really stimulating these cases. That's what we -- that was our premise for that. And now that it may continue. But we now think that the copy cat effect is really educating the next shooter that may be looking for a public venue and now understands if they ultimately decide on an airport, well, now I have learned how this case happened and how it ended up and that's really intelligence for the next shooter.

LEMON: All right, stand by Lou because I want to ask Mary Ellen one more question.

May Ellen, listen. You know, we talked about the kind of person. You are a profiler. And people, many people get upset when you say the word profile. But there are profiles for all kinds of different criminal activity. So, who should we be profiling in this particular instance? Is it young, white guys in their 20s and 30s, is it a certain kind of person, is it you know, ethnicity, or behavior, what is it?

O'TOOLE: Well, I'll answer like this. And this is a very genuine response. We don't have a profile of one of these offenders. Right now, the number of cases is small, which is a good thing. So, you can't use traits that occurred in the LAX shooting and make them predictive for the next shooter.

So, having said that though, we do know there's a small group of people that already are developing these ideas of wanting to carry out these extreme acts of violence and lethality against people. And then, along the way, because it takes so long to plan these, these are not impulsive, people around them will notice behavior that will, we call warning behaviors that we would want them to notify law enforcement about. And that probably occurs during that period of time when they make the decision they are finally going to act out. But to say there's a profile would really be inaccurate.

LEMON: Thank you for answering that.

Lou, you know, you heard Mary Schiavo talk about having armed guards or it would have to be law enforcement, military, whomever, but not the TSA agents. Do you think that should happen or do you think that it's asking for people to be caught in the cross fire?

PALUMBO: Well, I think the solution to this, don, is problem is to first of all reposition these weapon devices out to the main doors as you come off the street, number one. Number two --

LEMON: Like metal detectors when you come into an airport?

PALUMBO: Don, I think the intelligent thing is to address the problems or potential problems. And I actually said this ten years ago, when you pull up to an air terminal now, you kiss your loved ones good-bye, you put your bags on the side walk before you enter the building, you should be screened. The notion of wondering through a building of navigating a building regardless of purpose 200 or 300 feet is problematic as we just learned.

The additional question that we want answer here is do the TSA agents require to be armed? I don't believe necessarily all of them. But I think what people have to realize is the function with TSA now is that they are screening your luggage. Maybe we need to add a component where they have supervisory people there to assess the passengers as they come through, not necessarily their luggage or personal belongings.

LEMON: Yes. It's interesting. Someone who rolls up to the airport laid all the time, if that helps save people, you know what, I wouldn't mind it. Yes, even it get this with the screening at a curve.

Mary Ellen O'Toole, thank you very much. And we appreciate it. Lou is going to stick around a little bit.

You know, he was known as a subway vigilante after shooting fourteen agers nearly 20 years ago. Today, Bernard Goetz making headlines again. Our Lou Palumbo is going to talk more a little bit more about it after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Here is a headline from the past. And it was certainly interesting when we saw the new this is morning. Bernard Goetz arrested in New York. But isn't from 1980 (INAUDIBLE). This is new. The man who became infamous in the 1980s as the so-called subway vigilante is in police custody right now. He reportedly sold marijuana to an undercover officer last night. Gets served prison time for shooting black teenagers in a subway car in 1984. He claimed it is self-defense.

Bernard Goetz is now 65-years-old. The NYPD says he made a $35 pot deal in the west village last night and that he was arrested.

I want to bring back Lou Palumbo now. You are a cop in the New York City area. When everyone is talking about, you know, the subway vigilante, tell me what it was like being a police officer then. Racial tension was high and there was so much going on. Initially, he wasn't charged with attempted murder or shooting them, right?

PALUMBO: No, nothing. As a matter of fact, my understanding is he got pretty much a pass on this incident. And it was only the byproduct of him someone outspoken decided to tell people that more people should do what he did. They had they realized they had to harness him a little bit. And that's what they decided to prosecute him.

LEMON: He was sort of being -- he was very outspoken and sort of -- was he seen as a hero, initially, to many New Yorkers?

PALUMBO: I don't think he was perceived as hero. But I will tell that you the social climate in the city was troublesome. Because you couldn't walk anywhere without concern for your safety whether it was through a park like Brain Park (ph) in the Square park or to ride on something. People were just alarmed. So, I don't necessarily think they perceived him as a hero, but I think a lot of people may have understood what he did. LEMON: And it is interesting, listen. Every city has a crime problem, right? People forget just how bad the crime problem was in New York City back then comparatively. New York City is like Disney now compared to back then. I mean, it was horrific. You couldn't walk through the park in late at night a certain times. You can't walk in Times Square. You can't walk in certain neighborhoods.

PALUMBO: Don, I can tell you the problem, for example, in going through the parks. You couldn't walk from one end, through or around any of a park without being solicited purchase control substance. Our subways were very dangerous. You know, the central park was dangerous. And through the deeds of police commission (INAUDIBLE), he implemented some very effective policies which involve quality of and zero tolerance and the implementation of stop, search and frisk policy that took homicide rate from roughly 2600 to 500.

LEMON: Yes. It's interesting when you think about the quality of life crimes. Because that's what started it with Bill Braden was quality of life, little things like, you know, breaking windows or breaking in someone's car, what have you. People would be arrested for those small things. And that sort of turn around, searching around the crime in New York City.

And also, I wonder if Bernard Goetz, did it change the way that we looked at weapons and the use of force in the city? That start something -- here in the city that spread around the country, was that sort of Bernard gets his legacy?

PALUMBO: I don't believe that his incident was necessarily a stimulant or an impetus to any gun issue in our country. I just think it was somewhat isolated instance that a lot of people, s I said earlier, they somewhat understood because the city was very dangerous. People were nervous. And they were nervous about being out at night and riding subways. I don't think he necessarily ushered in an age.

LEMON: Yes, OK. So, you mentioned stop and frisk. But I didn't talk about it. So, I want to drill on it a little bit more in just a couple minutes. Lou is going to stick around and talk about in just a few minutes about the controversial stop and frisk policy here in New York City. It is back on following a judge's ruling this week. And we are going to talk about whether that is a good thing.

The parents of a teenager are one step closer to finding out how their son died. His body was found in a rolled up gym mat earlier this year. Now, the feds are opening the investigation. We are going to dig into this deeper as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: There are some major developments this week for the family of Kendrick Johnson, the Georgia teen found dead last January inside a rolled up high school gym mat. Federal authorities have decided to investigate the case. U.S. Attorneys (INAUDIBLE) made the announcement Thursday.

CNN has chasing the story for more than six months now following more than 20 Georgia opening records requests along with our legal department pursuing action in court to force the release of key evidence. That evidence includes this surveillance video showing Kendrick Johnson walking down the hall of his high school and then into the gym. But it doesn't show his death.

Other evidence includes photos obtained by CNN that show Kendrick Johnson's face was bloated and that blood, some of have been spilled on the floor, had soaked his dread locks. Now, the Lowndes County sheriff's office has ruled his death an accident, a decision on a possible coroners' inquest is expected Monday.

We are going to continue to talk about this. Because joining me now is Colonel Defense attorney Paige Pate.

Paige, you know, what does it mean that the FBI now investigating this case, how does that change things here?

PAIGE PATE, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, it means, for the first time, we are going to have a full blown criminal investigation into the circumstances of his death. Now, we do not know if anyone is going to be officially charged with the crime, yet. All we have heard is the U.S. attorney is going to make sure that federal investigators get hold of the evidence, some of which CNN has obtained and review it to see, number one, can we tell how he died? And number two, if we can, is it a crime? And then finally, number three, if it's a crime, is it one that the feds have jurisdiction over. So, it's really a three things they have to answer before somebody is going to be charged with a crime.

LEMON: If a coroner's inquest is granted next week, the coroner would present information to a jury. What would happen next?

PATE: The coroner's inquest is kind of an unusual process. It is something that, you know, has been around since the common law back in England. But, it's rarely used in Georgia. What happens is the coroner can summon six jurors, five who actually listen to the chase, one who is an alternate and the coroner can subpoena witnesses and present evidence. And all they determine is the cause of death. They don't charge anyone. They don't try to convict anyone. But they can determine whether it's a homicide or an accident or if he died of natural causes.

LEMON: You know, this case is going to be difficult to investigate since this happened nearly a year ago. It is November and happened in January. Does that add to the difficulty here?

PATE: I think so. You know, a criminal investigation like this really should have been started at the time of death. That's when the evidence is the freshest. That's when the witnesses could have been interviewed, probably would have had very good information, timely information. Once a case gets cold, it gets much tougher to try to determine exactly what happened.

But, you know, better late than never. At least now we know that federal criminal authorities will be looking into this, reviewing the evidence and perhaps, if there's something there, they will pursue it. LEMON: Do you think we'll get to the truth here?

PATE: I think so. I have known Michael Moore, the U.S. attorney for quite some time. He runs a very good office there. I know that if they say they are going to look into it, and they are going to be diligent, I expect that is exactly what they will do.

LEMON: Paige Pate, thank you very much. We appreciate it.

I want to talk about another case here a controversial stop and frisk policy. Back on in New York City. It's back following a judge's ruling. We are discussing that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: There have been a lot of people who have been vocal about New York's stop and frisk policy. And New York's police commissioner, Ray Kelly heard them loud and clear this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Racism is not for debate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Ray Kelly was shouted off the stage in Rhode Island on Tuesday. But an appeals court gave him the last laugh. Pressing pause on some order changes to stop and frisk. And letting the city keep the program as is for now.

So for more, I'm joined by Glenn Martin, he is a former prisoner and director of the David Rothenberg center for public policy at the fortune society and then Lou Palumbo is back with us. He is a retired law enforcement agent at NASA County police department.

Glenn, I want to start with you because the new program says the program actually saves lives of Blacks and Hispanics, especially men. Do you buy that?

GLENN MARTIN, FORMER PRISONER: Zero evidence to show that stop and frisk works. That it's reduced crime. That has been effective in getting guns off the street. There's recent research, however, that clearly shows that it diminishes public safety by diminishing police legitimacy. Every time a young person of color stops according to their institute of justice report, there's an eight percent less chance of them calling the police when they actually witness a crime.

LEMON: Lou, what do you think? Does it save lives?

PALUMBO: Absolutely. And I think the fact that we went through an era that culminated with 2600 homicide a year, that were reduced to roughly 500 through the use of stop and frisk supports the need for the tool. I think what we really need to address is how the tool is implemented and possibly revisiting as aggressive a need we had with 2600 homicides to support it. We are down to 500. Maybe, we need to revisit exactly how further we are. But I think it's irrefutable statistically that the individuals that benefit from the program the most, the young, black American males.

LEMON: He says there's no evidence to the case that young black males and Hispanic males benefit most from stop and frisk.

PALUMBO: Well, that is simply is not correct. You just really have to revisit the city of New York and the '80s and '90s in particular and take a look at the individuals that would have --.

LEMON: Glen,, he makes a very good point.

I live in a neighborhood that was now, you know, it has been (INAUDIBLE), that it was crime infested for a long time as was the entire city for awhile here in New York City. If you go to some of these neighborhoods and if you talk to some of my neighbors, some of these old ladies of all ethnicities who have lived there forever, they welcome stop and frisk. They think, they are under the impression, rightfully, wrongfully so that stop and frisk actually helped their neighborhoods lower crime in 10, 20, 30 years.

MARTIN: Yes.

I don't think it's fair to compare where we are today in New York or anywhere in the country to the 1980s and 1990s when we were in the middle of the crack epidemic. We were not enjoying the economy that we enjoyed over the last ten to 15 years or so. The fact of the matter is that those people, those communities who support stop and frisk, have been sold a poor bill of (INAUDIBLE), many other ways to get to public safety as oppose to racial profiling which is what stop and frisk is here in New York.

LEMON: How is it racial profiling?

MARTIN: Look at the data. Look at the amount of people stopped, the majority are people of color. And in about 85 percent of the cases, nothing has found. So, that's hundreds of thousands of innocent young black men, Latino men and women stopped in New York City because essentially color, the color of a person's skin has now equating to a reason to stop people on the street.

PALUMBO: Well, I just want to say one thing to you so that we are clear about this. There's nothing in it for a white policeman to approach a minority and express interest in searching them because the immediate response is you are doing it because I'm black or you are doing it because I'm Latino. The simple truth of the matter is the concentration of shootings that occur in the city occur in a particular area, for example, like Brooklyn north or the precincts in the Bronx.

So, if you are going to talk to this thing factually, you have to acknowledge the fact the majority of the shootings occur in these communities.

MARTIN: But Lou, it's not fear to talk about communities that have high crimes as if the entire community is committing crimes. Even in communities that have the most significant amount of crime, very small amounts of people are engaged in that criminal activity. And idea that you do blanket policing across the board is going to serve the diminishing --

LEMON: I just spoke to a profiler for the former FBI profiler. They profile a certain type of serial killers. They are starting a profile now and people who going into airports considering what happened in LAX. There are profiles for different types of activities, criminal or otherwise. So, if a certain number of people or certain demographic, I'm just being devil's advocate here, if a certain demographic is committing most of the crimes, then why not profile that demographic? That's the question.

MARTIN: I don't think it's a fair place to start. If you look at the statistics, people commit crime in proportion in representation in society. If you stood in bay ridge New York and any other white neighborhood and did as much stop and frisk as you did in Harlem, New York where I'm from, you would come up with a ton of arrests as result also.

LEMON: That's a good point.

PALUMBO: But the need in those communities doesn't support the tactics. That's the problem. We don't have a concentration of shootings in bay ridge the way we do in Brooklyn. We don't have a concentration of shooting in bay Ridge the way we do in the Bronx.

But I do want to ask you just one question, acknowledging that we have a homicide problem and a gun problem, can you give me the tactic to get the gun off the street?

MARTIN: Well, you have to ask what's happening in Bay Ridge to keep the gun shootings down that's different in other communities.

PALUMBO: You're right.

MARTIN: So Mayor Bloomberg, obviously, is a big supporter of stop and frisk. It's one of his hallmark policies. But yet, he is also someone who is investing $30 million in young men initiatives which is all about connecting young men of color to jobs, education and employment.

LEMON: I talked about that. I did a very controversial no talking points where, you know, we talked about what people can do to empower themes. And in that same broadcast, we mentioned the mayor's initiative to help, especially minority young men at least to feel better about themselves, as if they, you know, that they own their own being, they owned they owned neighborhoods, and that they are worth something. And this is something New York City is doing that the rest of the country should be and some are. It's a very good policy.

MARTIN: I believe you can do more to stop bullets with education and employment that you can never do with stop and frisk.

LEMON: Here's what I want to --

PALUMBO: I agree with that, Don. But in short term, when you have an immediate problem, you need to immediate address it. And I do agree with you and I think what we have to do is try to change the environment in which are all already slip. And that is a systemic issue. Let's be very candid with you.

So, I don't think the fix to this problem is anyone one dynamic. Stop and Frisk, I think it's cumulative addressment (ph). I think it's the mayor's program. I think it's stop and frisk, until we tone it down, and then we can revisit it again.

LEMON: I just need one minute, producers. I know we have to go. But let's talk about people, we often talk about people voting against their own interest, right, even some conservatives who vote against health care. Poor segments of the population who vote against who need health care. If stop and frisk, you know, I'm just asking a question, if stop and frisk is actually reducing crime, if it is saving lives of Blacks and Hispanics, are blacks and Hispanics voting against their own interest by saying that they don't want stop and frisk?

PALUMBO: They are. But the reason that they are is because there's a failure by the administration to educate people. I mean, Don, it isn't just that you walk into a community or any demographic and you start to implement a policy. You have to afford them the opportunity to understand what it is you are doing and why.

LEMON: And if it stops, if it actually stops the shooting, I would rather, I'm just going to be honest here. I would rather be able to walk down my street without getting shot than if someone, a police officer stopped and frisked me. I'm sure I would not be happy about it. But I would take that rather than get shot.

MARTIN: And I prefer the risk of getting shot than see the civil rights of young men of color and women of color in communities that are (INAUDIBLE).

LEMON: That's legitimate as well. It is. It's a really tough -- it is a tough thing.

Very great conversation. We could have it all night long but I have to move on.

Thank you. Appreciate both of you.

MARTIN: Thank you.

PALUMBO: Thank you.

Millions of Americans who rely on food stamps will be putting less food on the table. Billions of dollars are being cut from the program. Why is it happening? And the bottom line for those affected. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Forty-seven million Americans on food stamps just saw a decrease in benefits for a family of four, that is $36 less per month to put food on the table and more cuts and benefits loom as Congress continues to push and pull on the strings of the farm bill that funds food stamps. CNN's Rosa Flores joins me now.

And Rosa, what is driving the cuts in benefits this time?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's always something, Don. Remember the 2009 American recovery and reinvestment act? Well, it included a boost in food stamp benefits and the money has run dry. Now, when we talk about cuts in food stamps, Republicans are usually blamed. Well, here this folks, this time, the finger is pointed at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice-over): It sounded like a great idea when it was launched. A program aimed in part at making school lunches healthier.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We are determined to finally take on one of the most serious threats to their future. That's the epidemic of childhood obesity.

FLORES (voice-over): But to fund the war on obesity, the White House borrowed money from the war on hunger.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some of the funding comes from rolling back a temporary increase in food stamp benefits or SNAP as it's called starting in the fall of 2013.

FLORES (voice-over): That's now, when the SNAP program runs out of money from the 2009 American recovery and reinvestment act.

STACY DEAN, CENTER OF BUDGET AND POLICY PRIORITIES: After the cuts, the average benefit per person per meal is $1.40.

FLORES (voice-over): The cuts impact 47 million Americans, including 22 million children on food stamps and nine million elderly or seriously disabled people, according to the center of budget and policy priorities.

Like Kathryn McCannon, who went from grandma to single mother of three when her daughter died. Each month, she gets $358 in food stamps to feed a family of four. About $4 a meal in a city where a box of cereal at her local store is 4.50. She sells cans to make ends meet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No matter how people look at you, they will your head up.

FLORES (voice-over): The president said he'd negotiate more funding with Congress. But negotiating with Congress right now seems unlikely.

OBAMA: I know a number of members of Congress expressed concerns about this offset being included in the bill. And I'm committed to working with them to restore these plans in the future.

FLORES (voice-over): His gamble even upset some congressional Democrats. REP. ROSA DELAURO (D), CONNECTICUT: I did not want to do that. This was a bad choices to make.

FLORES (voice-over): Mackinnon (ph) already supplements food stamps by eating two meal as day at a soup kitchen. A Senate version of the next farm bill which funds food stamps proposes cutting nearly $4 billion more over ten years. The one in the house cuts $39 billion more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to reform the food stamp program with better policies. I'm not concerned with the planned spending as getting the policy that is promote work and dignity.

FLORES (voice-over): For Kathryn McCannon (ph), it's about making ends meet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm learning how to survive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: Now, food banks are feeling the pinch, folks. The one in New York City tells us they feel like they are the first line of defense against hunger. And they are seeing more and more veterans unemployed and believe it or not, college educated people. So, it is a dire circumstances, Don.

LEMON: There was a report just this week that shows that the number of homeless people in cities are going up. I have noticed you are seeing more homeless people in cities. Times are really tough. So, what is Congress going to do? Are they doing anything to reverse this?

FLORES: You know, that's what's really tough. Because like you heard in my report, there's the farm bill. They negotiate it every five years. And in this case, there's cuts in both proposed bills. In the Senate, the proposed bill has $4 billion in cuts over ten years. In the house, it is $10 billion in cuts over ten years. So, regardless of how you slice and dice it folks, that means cuts.

LEMON: Yes.

Rosa Flores, thank you. Appreciate that.

FLORES: Of course.

LEMON: Boston strong. We heard that a lot. Six months after the marathon bombings, the city of Boston has a reason to celebrate. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Today, Boston enjoyed the city wide celebration it was denied on April 15th. Thousands of members of the Red Sox nation lined the streets to celebrate the third World Series title in nine years. The scene was similar to the day of the Boston marathon before bombings sent people running for their lives. Alexandra Field has more on the day Boston had waited months for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So excited. Go Red Sox!

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was a day not only for Bostonians, but the entire country to celebrate.

Red Sox nation came out to celebrate a million people strong, a sea of red and blue, Red Sox beards and Boston Strong signs lining a four- mile long parade route.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's good, totally good. I'm really happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have never been to one of these before. I've had a ball. Got up at 4:30 this morning and drove down from New Hampshire.

FIELD (voice-over): As it has sounds of excitement and confetti flew through the air reveling in the victory of the St. Louis cardinals, it was clear, this was a moment much bigger than a World Series win. Today, it was a reminder of the city's resilience.

GOV. DEVAL PATRICK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: It's also kind of a poetic end to a season that began with tragedy. We are Boston strong.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: How you feeling right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like a million bucks.

FIELD (voice-over): Inside Fenway, the team paid tribute to the victims of the Boston marathon bombing that killed three and injured 264 others.

CROWD: Boston strong! Boston strong!

FIELD (voice-over): And as the rolling rally round its way through the city streets, there was this. Red Sox own Jonny Gomes placing the World Series trophy at the finish line of the marathon drape in a 617 Boston strong jersey.

Alexandra Field, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Very nice. Congratulations, Boston.

In Los Angeles now, bizarre new details are emerging about the suspected LAX shooter. 23-year-old Paul Ciancia and the anti-TSA note he left behind. A source tell CNN that Ciancia made a derogatory reference to former Homeland security secretary Janet Napolitano near the end of that note. It also says TSA treats Americans as terrorists. Meanwhile, LAX will honor the TSA officer killed with 100-foot high blue pylon (ph) lights near the airport's entrance. The blue lights will shine through Sunday. His widow spoke out saying she was heartbroken and devastated. Terminal three is now reopen one day after the suspect allegedly opened fire there, killing Gerardo Hernandez and injuring several others.

A man infamous in the 1980s as the so-called subway vigilante was in police custody earlier today. Bernard Goetz reportedly sold some marijuana to an undercover police officer last night. And he was arrested. Goetz served time for shooting for shooting four black teenagers in the subway car in 1984. He claimed that it was self- defense.

Goetz was arraigned today and released. That was according to a spokesman for the Manhattan District attorney's office. He was at a court appearance, I mean he has a court appearance, I should say, for December 18th. December 18th, a court appearance is set for Bernard Goetz.

The healthcare.gov will be down again tonight. But in this case, the outages are deliberate one. The department of health and human services says starting at 9:00 eastern, the Web site will be offline to work on making enhancement to the system. The outage will last 12 hours and you can still sign up for health insurance, a plan by using the toll free phone number.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz said his dad told a joke he shouldn't have and people making a big deal out of it are trying to smear the senator. It's posted on the liberal "Mother Jones" magazine Web site showed Cruz's father speaking to groups and criticizing President Obama. At one point, he said the president should quote, "go back to Kenya." Senator Cruz was asked about the remarks yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Well, I love my father. He is a pastor. He is a man of deep integrity and he made a joke. It was ill advised joke. And sadly, those who are trying to play the politics of personal destruction are trying to smear him and use that to attack me. It's a shame but it was an ill advised joke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Senator Cruz's father Rafael, has a strong following in Texas especially among tea party groups and campaigned often alongside his son.

I'm Don Lemon in New York. Thank you so much for joining us.

Remember, tonight is the end of daylight saving time. You fall back this time of year setting your clock back an hour. Set your clock back an hour. Daylight saving time officially starts at 2:00 a.m. eastern. OK? It's daylight saving, no "s." Leave the last "s" off for saving.

The much acclaimed CNN "Black Fish" begins in a moment here on CNN.

I'm Don Lemon. Thank you for watching us. Be back here tomorrow night.