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CNN Saturday Morning News

Obama Supports Same Sex Marriage; Reaction From Maryland on Obama's Same-Sex Marriage Statement; Adam Mayes Manhunt Ends With Mayes Dead; Romney Scandal: Admits to Committing Disturbing Bullying Act During Teen Years; Interview with Indigo Girls Singer Emily Saliers

Aired May 12, 2012 - 9:00   ET

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

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RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anyone else that was directly involved with Adam, pretty much lived in fear.

KAYE: That from the brother of Adam Mayes, the man suspected of kidnapping two girls and killing their mother and sister, who is now dead. New details in the dramatic conclusion to a massive manhunt.

And today we put same-sex marriage in focus. What President Obama's new stance on the issue means for his campaign and what critics are saying.

And Mitt Romney admits to a disturbing incident in his teen years. We ask our expert what is the line between hurtful prank and criminal bullying?

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KAYE: Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It is 9:00. Thanks for waking up with us. Let's get you caught up on the news.

President Obama giving his support to the issue of same-sex marriage and that support is giving a big boost to his fund-raising efforts. A democratic source telling CNN that the president raised $2 million in the first 24 hours after making his remarks. And that comes as a new "USA Today"-Gallup poll shows that a majority of Americans, 51 percent, approve of the president's position.

Let's bring in Athena Jones this morning. She's in Silver Spring, Maryland, for us with some reaction. Athena, what are folks telling you there?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we talked to half a dozen people here and they have all been in support of the president's move. And so we thought we'd talk to a few more people on camera. I have (INAUDIBLE) and I talked to him earlier about what he thinks about the president's announcement on Wednesday and what did you tell me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I basically was in support of it. And you know, I think it was about time that he came around and said it.

JONES: Does it change your -- the way you feel about the president? Does it make you more likely to vote for him? Does it not change anything? Would you have supported him anyway?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, I would have supported him. But you know, I think that he had sort of hinted around it for long enough that I think it was time that he came out and took a stand on it.

JONES: Do you think he went far enough? He still said it should be up to the states to decide on this issue which many will see as (INAUDIBLE) issue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do think that for now, you know, he did go far enough because I think it's a baby step process in that, you know, if he were to come out and say that an amendment should be made to the constitution or something, I think that would really be drastic and I think that might turn a lot of people off. But in this instance, you know, he just came out and said I'm in support of it and I think that was enough for now.

JONES: Well, one more thing you said -- you mentioned that you have a son who's about to be two years old. The president himself said that this is a generational issue. He talked about his own daughters influencing his opinion on this, influencing his decision to come out. What do you think will be the case for your son's generation? Will this be a non-issue in a few more years?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I certainly hope so. I mean, you know, I think that they'll look back on this in 20 years and say what was all the big deal about.

JONES: That's just a sampling of some of what we've been hearing as we talk to people around here. You know, in the state of Maryland Governor O'Malley signed in March a law that would legalize same-sex marriage starting in January. But there are opponents of that law who are trying to get enough signatures to get this issue on the ballot, to allow voters here in Maryland to block that new law from coming into effect.

And so far we're in a pretty liberal area, the D.C. suburbs. People largely support President Obama's move. But you know, there's no telling really what will happen if that ballot measure gets on the ballot. Randi.

KAYE: Very true. Athena Jones, thank you very much.

Mitt Romney travels into the heart of Christian conservatism this morning. He's giving the commencement speech at Liberty University. That is the school founded by television evangelist Jerry Dalwell. Romney's camp says the speech will focus on personal responsibility and hard work and, yes, the issue of same-sex marriage will come up. We'll bring you the speech live next hour.

Newt Gingrich will be among friends when he makes his first campaign pitch for Mitt Romney. The former candidate will speak on Romney's behalf at the Georgia state GOP convention next week. Gingrich, of course, was a long-time congressman from Georgia and won that state's primary earlier this year.

North Carolina's governor is upset with voters who passed controversial amendment 1 this week. Amendment 1 bans same-sex marriage and civil unions.

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GOV. BEVERLY PERDUE (D), NORTH CAROLINE: People around the country are watching us and they're really confused to have been such a progressive, forward thinking, economically-driven state. Folks are saying what in the world is going on in North Carolina. We look like Mississippi.

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KAYE: That last part didn't sit so well with Mississippi's governor. He said he's disappointed with the comments and said that apparently North Carolinians are more in tune with his state's traditional values than with the values of Governor Perdue.

Today Syria's prime minister is visiting the city where two deadly suicide bombings killed 55 people this week. He's blaming the attacks on so-called terrorists but opposition leaders say the government is responsible for killing innocent people.

Meanwhile protesters calling for regime change have been marching through the streets. CNN cannot confirm the authenticity of this video because of restrictions on journalists in Syria. A human rights group reports more than a thousand people have been killed since last month's ceasefire.

More than 7,000 birds have turned up dead in South America. Officials say in Peru alone, 5,000 birds have starved because warm weather has forced some anchovies and sardines south. At least 2,300 birds have been found dead in Chile. It's believed instead of migrating north, as the weather gets colder, they're sticking around to feast on the influx of fish from Peru and that is what's causing them to get caught up in these fishing nets.

She once thought it would be political suicide for President Obama to come out in support of same-sex marriage, so how does Emily (INAUDIBLE) of Indigo Girls feel about that now? She's joining me from Toronto and I'll ask her just that.

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KAYE: Just a few tweets there from celebrities weighing in on Obama's speech about same-sex marriage. His evolution, if you want to call it that. You'll recall when President Obama came out in support of it this week on ABC News, he said his position had evolved over time.

And according to recent polling, the nation's views are evolving as well. In 1996, just 27 percent of Americans supported gay marriage. That number has now risen to 50 percent.

Last hour we talked with the executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, a group that supports same-sex marriage but not President Obama. But my next guest supports both.

Emily Saliers is a singer and songwriter and one-half of the widely popular Grammy-winning folk rock duo, the Indigo Girls. Emily, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

EMILY SALIERS, INDIGO GIRLS: I'm glad to be with you.

KAYE: I know this is an issue as you've said that is near and dear to your heart. You said in an interview back in 2009 that it would be, "political suicide for a president to come out in support of gay marriage."

Do you still feel that way or do you think that the nation has changed in just these last few years and the nation is ready for it?

SALIERS: Well, I think, obviously, it's not political suicide for Obama or else he wouldn't have come out and spoken publicly about it even if his heart was in the right place on the issue. I mean politics is all about strategy, we know that. I don't have any -- you know, I'm not romanticizing that anymore. But it's a tremendous day for gay people, for queer people in the states. And it's highly symbolic. There have to be legislative and tactical changes obviously for us to get our full civil rights, but the fact that he has come out in support of same-sex marriage is huge. He's on the right side of history in my opinion.

KAYE: Some people have said that they'll always remember where they were when they heard the president approve of same-sex marriage and say that he supports it. Do you remember where you were? What was your reaction when you heard this announcement?

SALIERS: I was home in Atlanta. And we thought well, we heard an interview was coming. And we ran home and we started getting texts from our friends. I literally stood there, I was at my partner's desk, and we read the news. Then I went online to look for snippets of the interview. You know, it's goosebumps, it's a sense of this is a moment in history, I'm thankful to be alive, I'm thankful for all the people who paved the road for us up to this point. Just a tremendous moment, I'll never forget it. And now we just need to see the rest of the changes being implemented.

Let's talk about some of the accomplishments for the LGBT community under President Obama. Just looking at a few here. He repealed don't ask, don't tell. He signed the Matthew Sheppard and James (INAUDIBLE) hate crimes prevention act. He extended benefits to same-sex partners. To federal employees. He extended domestic violence protection through LGBT victims and his administration has also stopped defending, as you know, DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act.

So the thing is, though, despite all those accomplishments as some might see them, there are some in the LGBT community who say the president hasn't done enough. I mean do you feel that the president should have gone a step further in his statement this week, perhaps saying that marriage for gays and lesbians is protected under the equal protection clause of the constitution, that it is more than just a state's issue, or was this enough?

SALIERS: You know, for me it's enough for today. I understand politics, I understand that you can't shove change down people's throats. If you look at the history of civil rights and any particular movement in the United States, first there had to be the belief system, then came the implementation of the rights. You can't take this to a popular vote. If you ever did, we'd never get anywhere as far as the advancements of civil rights for people in the United States. So I'm very pleased and proud of our president.

You know, it's like I 'm very thankful for him to come out and make this statement. And the fact that he doesn't want to have DOMA any more is huge. Because once DOMA is gone, then we can really move forward with federal rights. I think it's very easy to be a naysayer about how far we haven't come, but I'm taking the tack this time, this is huge.

We've come a long, long way. We have a lot of people we're to be grateful for. This is my president, President Obama. I can't wait to get out there and vote for him, can't wait for work for his campaign. I feel very, very excited.

KAYE: Let me ask you then about Mitt Romney. He doesn't support same- sex marriage or civil unions. Do you have a message for him and maybe the GOP on why you might think Republicans should consider their stance?

SALIERS: Well, as we all know and as you've reported, attitudes are changing about same-sex marriage. We are in the midst of an evolution of beliefs. You know, I feel saddened for people who can't see the necessity for civil rights, for gay people in the United States. I think there's a lot of political fear with Christian conservatives, other religious conservative groups that affect how Republicans run their campaigns generally speaking.

And all I can say is deep in my heart I believe that Obama is on the right side of history and those who want to legislate oppression are on the wrong side of history. Time will prove that to be true, that's what I believe. So you know, I wish Romney were for same-sex marriage. I'm sure years down the road he'll regret it. If he's still alive to tell. I don't mean that in a dark or weird twisted way, like Ted Nugent.

I just mean people will see -

KAYE: I would never compare you to Ted Nugent, don't worry.

SALIERS: Thank you. Thank you very much. I didn't mean anything weird about that.

KAYE: On a personal note though, do you hope to one day get married?

SALIERS: Yes, I do. I'm speaking to you from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. My partner is Canadian. We haven't been able to get married for fear of immigration repercussions. We will definitely be married by god's grace, and I look forward to that. I would love to be able to get married in my home country and I would love to not have to move to another country simply so that I can live my life out with my civil rights protected with the person that I love and have a family and have all the things that heterosexual couples are able to enjoy.

KAYE: Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls, great to talk with you this morning. Thank you so much.

SALIERS: Thank you so much.

KAYE: Mitt Romney apologizing for something he's accused of doing when he was a teenager. Was it bullying? Or a harmless high school prank?

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KAYE: As we've been telling you this morning, "Time" magazine's new cover is making some people a little uncomfortable. It features a mom breastfeeding her three-year-old son. Doctors say it's fine. Other moms say it's gross. So we wanted to know how old is too old for a mother to breastfeed her child.

I asked and, yes, you answered. Here are some tweets from the folks at home. Heather tweets "It's time to stop when kids get teeth. That's nature's way of letting you know." Kevin writes "A mother should be the one to decide when she should stop breastfeeding her child, not the world." And Catherine writes "I'd say that once the child can verbally express hunger, it's time to keep the nursing bra on lockdown."

We would, of course, like to hear what you think about this. So keep sending those tweets in. I'm on Twitter this morning. You can tweet me @randikayecnn and we'll read some more of your comments on the air.

Mitt Romney has been apologizing this week for something that he's accused of doing when he was a teenager, so we wanted to know was it bullying or was it a harmless high school prank?

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KAYE: This weekend on CNN's "The Next List" they call it urban bee keeping and it's getting a ton of buzz.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's bizarre. When a bee keeper goes into his hive, he'll find a queen, she's healthy, laying eggs. Find maybe food, some honey, pollen stores. You won't see many signs of a disease outright, but the bees are gone. And it's so mysterious. Where did they go?

We just don't know. That's what we call colony collapse disorder. My name is Noah. I'm a bee keeper.

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KAYE: That is "The Next List" this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

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KAYE: Mitt Romney's apologizing for what he insists was a high school prank that he doesn't even remember. Witnesses say as a teen in the '60s and a group of friends held down a student who was thought to be gay and cut off chunks of his blond hair. One classmate told "The Washington Post" he'll never forget the look in the victim's eyes.

I want you to meet Jodee Blanco. She's a bullying activist and the author of best-selling memoir "Please Stop Laughing at Me Stepping Beyond the Specifics of the Romney allegations." Jody, with kids today is there a clear line, do you think, between being a prankster and being a bully?

JODEE BLANCO, BULLYING ARCHIVIST: Well, there's a difference between kids being kids and kids being cruel. What I always say as a survivor turned activist who travels to the nation's schools and speaks to student audiences all over the country is that too often the bully never remembers and the outcast never forgets. I think that's what happened in the case of Mitt Romney and it happens in schools all over the place today. And it's not just the intention of the bully. So often these bullies don't mean to be cruel. I'm sure Mitt Romney wasn't necessarily trying to damage his victim for life. But the sad reality is that it does damage them for life.

KAYE: And you've actually written some op-eds for our Web site, cnn.com, about your personal experiences that you mentioned. Just let me just read a bit of one here. You wrote "I was threatened, beaten, dragged across parking lots, burned with lit cigarettes, teased, taunted and spat upon at lunch, mocked in gym, snickered at in class, "ambushed at sleepovers and spit balled on the school bus. My adolescence was a living hell."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

KAYE: So what are the long-term ramifications? I mean if you say that it stays with people into their adult life, what are the ramifications?

BLANCO: Well, first of all, the adult survivor of peer abuse is someone who was either bullied as I was as a kid or just felt invisible, and they carry those insecurities and doubts into their adult lives. It makes them either overachievers, because you're constantly trying to prove to yourself that you're worthy, or it can be the opposite. You can never achieve all that you're meant to achieve.

And I can tell you from experience there are millions of adult survivors of peer abuse in this country, like a ghostly population, that are afraid and insecure and doubt themselves because of how they were treated in school. If any are listening to this interview right now, I encourage you, see a therapist, get some support and help because otherwise your school years can haunt you deep into adulthood, as they have with Mitt Romney's victim from high school. KAYE: So how do you recommend -- I mean for kids today, I mean you got through it when you were younger. I mean how about the kids? If they can't go to a therapist, is there anything that they can do? Is there any advice or anything that you might have for them?

BLANCO: If you're talking about kids in school today, if you're a parent and your child is struggling to fit in or feels invisible at school, find them a brand new social outlet. Completely separate from school, through a park district or a library or a dance studio, where they can make new friends with new faces. It will give them more confidence, it will diminish some of their desperation for friendship and it will help them through the lonely school days. And it can literally save a life, because the hardest thing about being bullied isn't necessarily the abuse you take, but the loneliness and the isolation.

So if there are parents watching, find your child a new social outlet. Let them make friends outside of school. It can change their lives.

LANCE: That is really just change their environment, that is really great advice. Let's talk about bullying.

BLANCO: Thank you.

LANCE: Is bullying any worse today, do you think, than it was 30, 40, 50 years ago? I mean with social media and cyber-bullying, I mean, or are we just hearing more about it?

BLANCO: Well, you know, it's funny, I get asked that question all over the country when I go into schools to speak. Bullying is no worse today than it was 30 years ago. As we've seen in this new story that's sweeping the nation about Mitt Romney. What's different is that the weaponry to achieve it is far more sophisticated. Thirty years ago if someone wanted to start a rumor about you, they would write it on a piece of notebook paper and pass it around the class. And that would be the end of it.

Today that same rumor can be uploaded to YouTube or posted on a Facebook wall for thousands and thousands to see. I mean imagine 30 years ago if they had the internet or 40 years ago if they had the internet, I wonder if this kid would have had a lot more happen to him than just have his haircut off.

KAYE: Yes, Jodee, I appreciate your time. I could talk to you for hours about this issue.

BLANCO: Oh, thank you.

KAYE: It's important to me and a lot of our viewers, so we hope to have you back. Thank you very much.

BLANCO: Thank you for inviting me.

KAYE: if you'd like to sound off on stories about bullying, you can tweet me now or any time. Just use the hash tag bullying stops here. You can find me on Twitter @randikayecnn. I'd love to hear from you. Thanks for watching today. "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" starts right now.