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Young Entrepreneurs to Watch; CNN Listening Tour in Florida; Afghan Foreign Aid, Spent in Vain?; Brutal Heat, Monster Fire; Fate Of Afghanistan; Big Win For The Mavericks; Washington's Lone Wolf Weiner; Young Entrepreneurs To Watch; No Glare in Your Shades; Palin-Bachmann Battle Brewing?

Aired June 08, 2011 - 12:59   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Out of the frying pan, into the wildfire. While half the country bakes and records melt in weather more suited to August, Arizona's still fighting and fleeing a historic fire.

You may remember yesterday I told you the so-called Wallow fire in the Apache National Forest was bigger than the city of Chicago. Well, in 24 hours, it's burned another 240 square miles. So now it's bigger than Los Angeles, the second biggest wildfire in Arizona history. Another 3,000 people have packed up and cleared out. And our affiliate KNXV reports Arizona Senator Jon Kyl and his wife are among them.

I want to get the latest on the monumental task of fighting this fire with Suzanne Flory. She's with the incident management team in the town of Springerville.

Miss Flory, first off, is your command post in any danger there? I mean, isn't the fire very close now to Springerville?

SUZANNE FLORY, SW AREA INCIDENT MANAGEMENT TEAM: Yes. Actually command post is with (INAUDIBLE) between the evacuation zone and the pre-evacuation zone. And I also have some folks that (INAUDIBLE) reorganized that were in the evacuation zone. So, we're basically somewhere with just the residents, and we're keeping our stuff packed up and being ready to move if we need to.

KAYE: And is this fire still zero percent contained, as they said?

FLORY: That's correct.

KAYE: So, how are the winds going today? I mean, are they -- are the winds still your biggest enemy in trying to get this under control, and if so, what's being done to fight this?

FLORY: Well, we've actually been able to do really well because yesterday the winds weren't as bad as they had been, but today does look like we may have gusts up to 35 miles an hour. When you have that with the low relative humidity, it does make a recipe for the behavior for it to move around some more, so we're expecting that. We're going to have some more movement this afternoon, until that happens we're able to have the helicopters dumping large loads of water, so that's really (INAUDIBLE.)

KAYE: And last we heard, only ten buildings or so had been lost. Is that a testament, would you say, to the firefighters? Or has the fire just so far avoided the more populated areas?

FLORY: We've done a lot of really outstanding point protection, structure production. We've got resources from all over the country, lots more engines came in last night and they're coming in today.

So, we have ample resources right now. So, a lot of that protection, and a lot of the folks in the community clearing brush and being very fire-wise, as we call it, doing things ahead of time. Even ahead of time years ago, that's been really, really helpful to save a lot of structures.

KAYE: Suzanne Flory with a very big job ahead of you there in Springerville. Thank you very much.

And more now on the Arizona size heat that's spreading from the upper Midwest to the northeast corridor.

Chad Myers is watching that.

And, Chad, I knew was a big problem when Minneapolis hit 103 yesterday, Minneapolis. That's, what, the hottest day there in 23 years?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. It's just -- unbelievable. Not that they broke a record yesterday, they beat it by like 10 degrees. And you went back -- you go back all the way by 20 years just to find a day that was this hot. OK, and it's only the beginning of June, it's not summer yet. Dodge city, 102. Rochester, Minnesota, 101, even Sioux City, 99. Now, we've had just a huge snow pack in the rocky mountains. It is -- this was one of the biggest record years for snow pack in the Rockies ever -- from the Sierra to the Rockies, ever.

So, now all of a sudden, we have these 60, 70, 80, 90-degree days in the Rockies and 100-degree days in the east, but this snow is melting fast. And that snow melt is going to cause some flooding. We have flood watches and warnings over a lot of Colorado. You can't be outside in Colorado without knowing about all that, because the water is rushing everywhere.

Even for today, heat index, D.C. 101, tomorrow, the same story. New York City -- now we will get a slight cold front that will come through the northeast, and help out by Friday, look at that. By New York City standards, 82 is going to feel like you're in the ice box, because that's a whole lot better than where you've been.

The heat still on obviously in the west. The firefighters -- we look at this, this is from the satellite, the smoke coming in pouring over and into New Mexico. The fire line the problem, now the fire is getting so large, this being about ten miles or so, maybe a little bit more than ten mile, you have fire all the way around there. Firefighters don't even really know where to begin, there's just so many hot spots, and the wind will blow again today, 20, 30 miles an hour moving those sparks around.

KAYE: Yes, those gusts are about the last thing those people need. All right, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

KAYE: Amtrak is suspending service across much of the Midwest today because of the flooding Missouri River. All along the river, dams are releasing record amounts of water and the high river levels are putting stress on flood control levees, including one in Iowa that's threatening to fail near the town of Hamburg.

State officials are scrambling to get pumps, sandbags, and drinking water to a half a dozen counties along the river. The flooding is likely to continue through most of the summer.

Accused killer Joran van der Sloot is in a Lima, Peru courtroom today, he's charged with first-degree murder in the death of 21-year- old Stephany Flores. Her body found in his hotel room in May of last year.

Today, his lawyers will try to convince the judge to consider a lesser sentence claiming it was crime of passion and not premeditated. Peruvian authorities have yet to file formal charges against him. Van der Sloot is also the prime suspect in the disappearance of Alabama teen Natalee Holloway in Aruba back in 2005.

President Obama's counterinsurgency strategy is only meeting limited success in Afghanistan. That is a sobering assessment of a two-year Senate foreign relations committee investigation. The report says that billions of dollars in foreign aid to Afghanistan over the past decade may have been spent in vain, because the country may not survive the U.S. troop withdrawal that's set to begin next month.

The report also urges President Obama to rethink his overall war strategy. Mr. Obama is scheduled to have a teleconference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai today. We'll have more on this story, live from Afghanistan, in about 30 minutes in our "Globe Trekking" segment.

On the hard court in Dallas, chalk up a big win for the Mavericks, they even their NBA championship finals at two games apiece with an 86 to 83 win over the Miami Heat last night. The big man for the Maverick was their big man, Dirk Nowitzki, fighting through a sinus infection, he scored 10 of his 21 points in the final period inside. Tomorrow night, in Dallas, not to be missed.

Congressman Anthony Weiner hasn't been able to say or do much of anything in the last week without a camera rolling, or a reporter trailing. But when it comes to the fight of his political life, seems he is all alone. We'll tell you who's calling on him to resign and what Weiner is saying in response, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Capitol Hill is a lonely place today if you're representative Anthony Weiner. The Congressman is fighting for his political life right now and he's not getting much, if anything, in the way of support. In fact, the pressure's mounting on Weiner to step down. The message came loud and clear from Republican house majority leader, Eric Cantor.

And it's the deafening silence from some of Weiner's Democrat colleagues is any sign, their message, well, it's pretty clear, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ERIC CANTOR (R-VA), MAJORITY LEADER: I think it is up to Congressman Weiner and his constituents to make that decision. I don't condone his activity, I think he should resign.

QUESTION: Could you say whether you thought Congressman Weiner should resign?

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: I'm not here to defend Weiner.

QUESTION What do you think he should do?

REID: That's all I'm going to say.

QUESTION: What advice would you give him if he asked you?

REID: Call somebody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Support or not, Congressman Weiner says he's not going anywhere. CNN caught up with him yesterday outside the front door of his apartment, and we asked about Cantor's call for his resignation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: How do you feel about that?

REP. ANTHONY WEINER (D), NEW YORK: He's entitled to his report -- careful.

QUESTION: Will you consider it?

WEINER: I'm not resigning, no.

QUESTION: Congressman --

QUESTION: Congressman -- how did you feel when you woke up this morning?

WEINER: Thanks, guys. Appreciate your patience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And buried in the whole mess, though, there is one bright spot for Mr. Weiner today, a new poll, a sampling, from his constituents in New York City on whether he should stay or go. Take a look at this one.

According to the "New York 1"/Marist Poll, a little more than half questioned want Weiner to stay in Congress, 30 percent thought he should step down, and 18 percent unsure.

Another big unknown, whether Weiner will officially be investigated. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to the ranking members of the house ethics committee requesting an official investigation, something they must agree on first.

The group released a statement saying, if and when an investigation is appropriate in any matter, the committee will carry out its responsibilities pursuant to our rules and with the utmost integrity and fairness.

And speaking of integrity, the whole Weiner debacle is again raising the issue of social media and fidelity. Can tweeting constitute cheating? We're going to hash out that argument in the next hour, you will definitely want to hear what our guests have to say about this one.

So, do you love tossing angry birds around or beating your friends at scrabble? Well, in two minutes, how playing your favorite games became a gateway to free stuff. I'll talk to a young entrepreneur who hit the jackpot with that gaming incentive, so don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is our final day looking at young entrepreneurs who are shaking up the business world. My next guest, well, makes us all feel just a little bit lazy. He was a college student at the University of British Columbia at 14, graduated at 18, and is a millionaire now at 20.

How did he do it? Brian Wong noticed that people would play games on their smartphones for hours at a time. So he created Kiip, a network that offers gamers rewards for achievements, like winning a coupon for a can of soda after getting a new high score or completing a difficult level.

Brian Wong, CEO of Kiip, joins me now from Los Angeles.

Brian, thanks for coming on the show today. Tell me, just in simple terms, how Kiip works.

BRIAN WONG, FOUNDER AND CEO, KIIP: Yes. So Kiip is very simple. It's a rewards network. You play your game. You hit a high score. You get a level up and you get free stuff.

KAYE: And I'm curious how you raised the four-plus million dollars to get it all started.

WONG: Yes, so, you know, I think it comes down to a lot of venture capitalists invest in people rather than just the idea. And I was very lucky to have a great team around me in the beginning. And I think the concept of what we're trying to do and how we're revolutionizing mobile advertising around not just using banner ads or pieces of a screen, but rather when you're in a moment of engagement, when you feel like you've accomplished something. I think that was something that really helped them understand what we were trying to do to revolutionize this space.

KAYE: And is that what separates it from the traditional pop-up or full-screen advertisements that I know you weren't a big fan of?

WONG: Yes. I mean those are fine and I know they will have their place. But, frankly, what I really believe in is, I don't think people actually want to tap on those things when they're playing games. And we realize that when you're hitting an achievement and you're in that moment where you're happy, that moment is actually worth something. And that was ultimately the epiphany that I had.

And it was actually a 30 day long epiphany, is what I call it. And we worked through and understood all the different elements around a game and realized that the achievement is the universal currency of accomplishment. And that was really something that I think a lot of ad networks and monetization systems overlooked.

KAYE: Oh, yes, there's nothing like getting to that next level in a game and now actually getting something for.

So, but my question is, though, how do you get the right ads to the right people? I mean a teenager might not need a 1-800-Flowers coupon, for example. A husband in -- you know, might get in trouble for playing too, you know, too many games. So, I mean, how does it all work?

WONG: Well, that would be great, right, you get the flowers. You could make up for everything. But we look at demographics and we're able to target based on general -- gender, age, sort of -- and also interest in terms of the genre of the game that you're playing. So one thing that's very unique about games is that, you know, if you play a sports game, you're most likely interested in sports. So there's really unique factors that we can throw in there as well.

And there's one thing actually that's kind of our -- our little one more thing that we do that's actually pretty cute in that in sort of reward unit is the ability to gift the reward to a friend. So as marketers, we think that, you know, we have telepathy and we can predict what people want. But, frankly, sometimes you may not actually know if someone wants a latte from Starbucks or whatever. And the moment that they're rewarding, or getting the reward in the first place, you can take that reward and gift it to a friend that you know will like it.

KAYE: And what brands have signed on, just quickly?

WONG: Yes, there's a lot, but I'll give you sort of the highlight here.

KAYE: The highlights. WONG: So there's Vitamin Water, Pop Chips, Sony. 1-800-FLOWERS, GNC, Carl's Jr., Dr. Pepper. The list goes on. So some pretty good sort of CPG top tier consumer brands across the country.

KAYE: So I would imagine that it feels pretty good being a self- made millionaire, even though you can't even drink legally yet. You're not even old enough for that.

WONG: It feel goods. But I'm more feeling great about how we're able to at least change a space for the better. And I'm really excited about how we can make advertising actually mean something now.

KAYE: Well, I think, Brian, what you've done is really cool. So I look forward to checking it out. Thank you for coming on.

WONG: Thanks a lot for having me. Appreciate it.

KAYE: Well, this week, CNN is on a listening tour talking to people about the issues that will sway their vote next year. When we come back, we'll held to the swing state of Florida, where the economy, no doubt, will be key.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: All this week, CNN is taking a pulse of the people, crisscrossing the country with a listening tour to find out what issues will motivate voters in next year's presidential election. David Mattingly joins us live from the Villages Retirement Community in Florida.

David, I'm curious, what kinds of things are you hearing from folk there about this?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, it's all about the economy. The problems of foreclosure and unemployment have really come to roost here. And in the past couple of days as I've traveled across central Florida listening to concerns of everybody we could talk to, it all comes back to the economy and there's a certain amount of cynicism there that people believe that Washington just doesn't get it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Four different people, from four different walks of life, all feeling the pain of a down economy. In Kissimmee, the mortgage crisis hit Areliz Martinez-Rodriguez.

ARELIZ MARTINEZ-RODRIGUEZ, KISSIMMEE HOMEOWNER: I purchased a house for 255 and right now the house is worth $85,000.

MATTINGLY: The biggest investment of her life, whittling away in a market chilled by one of the nation's highest rates of foreclosure.

MARTINEZ-RODRIGUEZ: I'm stressed out because I need a house for my kids, and for me, and I'm trying to work with the bank and the bank doesn't want to work with me. MATTINGLY: Strawberry farmer Carl Grooms in Plant City knows what that feels like.

CARL GROOMS, FANCY FARMS: I'm like most folks, I feel it in the pocketbook.

MATTINGLY: Rising costs of everything from labor to fuel has him thinking there's a disconnect in D.C.

GROOMS: I don't think they got a clue. They've never walked in the shoe of the common person. They've never been down here at the level. They never her to wonder what they're going to eat tomorrow, or where they're going to live, or how they're going to get their fuel tank filled up.

MATTINGLY: Donna Thomas of the Villages worries about that all the time.

DONNA THOMAS, RETIREE: We basically had to give up our regular insurance and go an HMO. And we've had to cut back on everything.

MATTINGLY: When her real estate company of 40 years went under during the mortgage crisis, she lost everything she was saving for retirement. Harold Williams can't think that far ahead.

HAROLD WILLIAMS, FORMER TEACHER: Especially with this -- you don't want your family to be without. They look upon you to be the strong leader. And I don't want to let them down.

MATTINGLY: In two months this former Orlando math teacher has had just two interviews. William says the job market will affect his next vote for president.

WILLIAMS: I don't want him to have sympathy for me, but empathy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And make that a lot of empathy, Randi. The unemployment rate in this state is 10.8 percent. Well above the national average.

KAYE: So, David, what do people want officials to do? I mean, what do they think should be done here?

MATTINGLY: They want action, particularly when it comes to creating new jobs. A lot of people believe that as more people go back to work, then businesses will stabilize, real estate will stabilize, and a lot of the worries that we're seeing right now will go away.

And even the retirees who live here in this retirement community tell us that a lot of them are now supporting their adult children who are out of a job. So jobs, they feel, will help benefit everyone from top to bottom, no matter where they are in this economy.

KAYE: All right, David Mattingly for us there in Florida with all the issues. Thank you, David.

And in about just one minute, we're going to look at a major renovation of Russia's public toilets. It sounds strange, but we want to show you what they're doing to make bathrooms more comfortable and safer. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Time now to catch you up on some stories that you might have missed.

No letup in the massive wildfires sweeping through Arizona's Apache National Forest. Fire officials warn that unless high winds die down and low humidity rises, the blaze could continue to spread. It's already burned 389,000 acres and nearly 6,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes. Records show it's now the second largest wildfire in the state's history.

In Russia, the unveiling of what officials are calling bomb-proof toilets. They're to be placed in public bathrooms in Moscow by the end of the year. The toilets have basins made from ultra-strong fibrous concrete and fittings made from a mixture of steel and reinforced plastic. They'll also be heated. That will come in handy during those cold winters there, for sure. The move, though, follow as spate of deadly bomb attacks in recent years. So they're hoping to avoid those.

Delta Airlines is says it's sorry for bag fees of almost $3,000 charged to U.S. soldiers returning from Afghanistan. Delta says it was an issue of miscommunication. The incident sparked outrage online after servicemen spoke out about it and posted a video on YouTube. The soldiers involved say the military allows them to carry up to four bags free, but when they arrived at the airport in Baltimore, they were told by Delta they could check only three bags for free. The soldiers say they were charged $200 per each extra bag. Delta says it will reach out to each soldier and correct any issues they have faced.

In Germany, two more people have died from the E. Coli outbreak. That raises the death toll now to 25. Most of the victims have been in Germany. The outbreak has sickened more than 2,600 people. The cause of the outbreak still has not been determined. Today the European Union agreed to pay more than $300 million to farmers who have suffered losses due to the outbreak.

Coming up in 90 seconds, a stunning story about an experiment and a five-year-old boy. Kirk Murphy was his name. His parents thought he had too many feminine traits. He liked to play with dolls. A government funded research program at UCLA set about trying to change this little boy, punish him for being a feminist. Some have called it the Sissy Boy Experiment. It happened in the '70s, but the research is still being used. Kirk's brother is now speaking out. He says this so-called therapy ruined his brother's life.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only thing they did was destroy my brother. I mean they took him away from us. He was empty. Nothing -- nothing there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Over the next few days we're going to show you what happened to a little boy who got enrolled in a government-funded study aimed making effeminate boys more masculine. He was just five years old. Decades later, the research that was done on this boy is still being cited by those who think kids can be prevented from becoming gay.

The story begins in the early 1970s when the little boy was treated at UCLA's Gender Identity Clinic under a pseudonym. His real name was concealed. His treatment was calm add success. But now, more than 30 years later, we finally know what really happened to him.

His name is Kirk Murphy and for the first time on television, his family is sharing his story -- their story with us. They're doing it because they want you to know who Kirk really was. They want you to know what he went through. And they want you to know what impact they say it had on the rest of his life. Here's Anderson Cooper's special report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK MURPHY, BROTHER OF KIRK: This is my brother, Kirk Andrew Murphy. This is what he was supposed to be.

COOPER (voice-over): This is the last time Mark Murphy remembers his brother, Kirk, as a happy child. The photo was taken when Kirk was 4, a year before he was placed in experimental therapy at UCLA to treat what doctors identified as exaggerated feminine behavior.

MARIS MURPHY, SISTER OF KIRK: It left Kirk just totally stricken with the belief that he was broken, that he was different from everybody else.

COOPER: Kirk's sister, Maris, and brother, Mark, say Kirk was never the same after therapy.

MARK MURPHY: The only thing they did was destroy our brother. I mean they took him away from us. He was empty, nothing -- nothing there.

COOPER: In 1970, Kirk Murphy was a smart, outgoing 5-year-old, growing up near Los Angeles. His mother, Kaytee Murphy, however, was worried about him.

KAYTEE MURPHY, MOTHER OF KIRK: Well, I was becoming a little concerned about playing with the girls' toys and stroking the hair, you know, the long hair and stuff. I was seeing effeminate mannerisms. It bothered me because I wanted Kirk to grow up and have a normal life.

COOPER: Mrs. Murphy says she saw a psychologist on a local TV program talking about behavior like Kirk's.

KAYTEE MURPHY: He was naming all these things. If your son is doing five of these ten things. Does he prefer to play with girls' toys instead of boys' toys?

COOPER: The psychologist was recruiting young boys for a government-funded program at UCLA, part of which was designed to reverse perceived feminine behavior, what one doctor involved with the program later called Sissy Boy Syndrome.

KAYTEE MURPHY: Him being the expert, I thought, well, maybe I should go ahead and take Kirk in. In other words, nip it in the bud.

COOPER: For nearly a year, Kirk was treated at UCLA, mainly by a man named George Rekers. Rekers was a doctoral student at the time but went on to become a founding member of the Family Research Council, which lobbies against gay marriage, adoption and laws that seek to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.

Rekers has also been a prominent proponent of the belief homosexuality can be prevented.

To treat Kirk's so-called sissy behavior, he was repeatedly placed in a room with two tables. He was observed through a one-way window. He was given toys to play with, and could choose between traditionally masculine ones like plastic knives and guns, or feminine toys like dolls and a play crib. He could also choose clothing to wear: an Army hat and military fatigues or a girl's dress, jewelry and a wig.

Kirk's mother would be brought into the room and told to ignore him when he played with feminine toys or clothes and compliment him when he played with masculine ones.

In a case study he wrote, George Rekers noted that when Kirk's mother ignored him, he would beg for attention from her, crying, even throwing tantrums. But Mrs. Murphy was told to continue to ignore him.

MARIS MURPHY: In this particular incident, they write that he becomes so upset. He's just beside himself that they actually had to remove him from the room. And after they remove him from the room, they come in and tell my mom that it's working, and then they bring him back in and start all over.

COOPER (on camera): Having read this -- this report, I keep coming back to the word "experiment".

MARIS MURPHY: Absolutely. Without a doubt.

COOPER: Because it doesn't seem -- this is not some proven treatment. This is --

MARIS MURPHY: No.

COOPER: This is experimenting. (voice-over): The experimental therapy even continued outside UCLA. In Kirk's home, his parents were told to use poker chips as a system of reward and punishment, to make Kirk act more masculine.

(on camera): Do you remember these chips?

MARK MURPHY: Yes, I do. Oh, yes, I do.

COOPER: Were you rewarded them, as well? You got reinforced (ph)?

MARK MURPHY: Yes, I was. My parents added me to it just so they could reinforce to my brother that, you know, big brother is doing it, too, so everything is OK.

COOPER: These are the actual chips?

MARK MURPHY: Yes. The actual real chips.

COOPER: So blue chips were for masculine behavior?

MARK MURPHY: Yes.

COOPER: And the red chips were a penalty for feminine behavior.

MARK MURPHY: Yes.

COOPER: So if Kirk played with one of your dolls, he would get a red chip?

MARIS MURPHY: Yes.

COOPER (voice-over): According to George Rekers's case study, the red chips resulted in physical punishment by spanking from the father.

(on camera): Do you remember the beating?

MARK MURPHY: Oh, yes, sir, I do. Many times did I move the stacks around.

COOPER: How do you mean?

MARK MURPHY: I took some of the red chips and put them on my side. I did see the beatings. It was just like, you know --

COOPER: You would take Kirk's red chips?

MARK MURPHY: Yes, sir.

COOPER: The things he had been given for feminine behavior. You would take them yourself so that he wouldn't get beaten?

MARK MURPHY: Yes. We would come home from school, and you'd turn in, and that's the first thing that you did when you walked through the door, is you looked and what was the chip count today? What happened? What changed? How bad is it going to be? And it was always bad. A whipping every Friday night.

KAYTEE MURPHY: I do remember one time he spanked him so hard that he had welts up and down his back and on his buttocks. And I remember Mark saying, "Cry harder and he won't hit so hard." Today it would be abuse.

COOPER (voice-over): According to Kirk's brother and sister, his outgoing personality changed, and he began to behave in a way he knew his parents and George Rekers wanted him to. His family says the impact of the experimental therapy lasted his entire life.

MARK MURPHY: He had no idea how to relate to people. It's like somebody just walked up and turned his light switch off. And we got what we wanted, and we'll see you later.

MARIS MURPHY: He actually ate his lunch in the boys' bathroom for three years, when he didn't have to put himself out there, even just to have a friend.

COOPER: In his case study of the UCLA experiment, George Rekers called Kirk "Kraig" to protect his identity. He considered his work with Kirk a success, writing Kraig's feminine behavior was gone, claiming Kirk became "indistinguishable from any other boy".

In numerous other published reports and studies over his nearly three-decade career since, George Rekers has continued to write positively about Kirk's treatment, using it as proof homosexuality can be prevented.

Kirk's family has only recently discovered Rekers' writings, and they're outraged. They say Kirk was gay, but because of the treatment he was subjected to as a child, struggled with his attraction to men his whole life.

MARIS MURPHY: He acknowledged himself as a gay man in 1985 on. He never had a committed loving relationship, because he wouldn't allow himself to.

COOPER: Unable or unwilling to have a committed relationship with a man, Kirk focused on his work and chose a career where being openly gay wasn't even possible. He spent eight years in the U.S. Air Force and then held a high-profile position with an American finance company in India.

MARIS MURPHY: Kirk, what do you think of your nephew?

KIRK MURPHY, SUBJECTED TO EXPERIMENT: Are we on camera?

MARIS MURPHY: Yes.

KIRK MURPHY: Are you taking pictures?

COOPER: This visit home in June of 2003 was the last time Kirk's family saw him alive.

Nearly six months later, he took his own life, hanging himself from a fan in his apartment in New Delhi. Kirk Murphy was 38 years old.

MARIS MURPHY: I used to spend so much time thinking why would he kill himself at the age of 38? It doesn't make any sense to me. What I now think is I don't know how he made it that long.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And tonight on "AC360" you can see part two of Anderson Cooper's special investigation. How does the Dr. Rekers respond to the family's allegation, that his therapy led to Kirk's suicide? We tracked him down in Florida to find out. You'll find that tonight on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

Is U.S. foreign aid to the tune of $320 million per month being spent wisely in Afghanistan? Don't bet on it. Results of a stinging congressional report coming your way, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: U.S. efforts to get Afghanistan on its feet and survive in post-war world has met only limited success. That's the stinging assessment of a two-year congressional investigation released today. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee report also says that the more than $18 billion in foreign aid to Afghanistan over the past decade may have been spent in vain because the country may not survive the withdrawal of 100,000 American troops which is scheduled to begin next month. The report urges the Obama administration to reconsider its nation-building program which is a key part of President Obama's counterinsurgency strategy.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins us now from Kabul.

Nick, President Obama is expected to have a teleconference with Afghan President Karzai today. Do we know if that has happened yet, and if so, any idea on what they talked about?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was supposed to have happened and we have not heard from Washington or Kabul what the topics were, but clearly this telegraph (AUDIO GAP) a few days in advance and I think it's fair to say it's part of preparing Afghanistan and frankly the American public for the announcement we're expecting to hear soon from the White House about this troop withdrawal. This could be when Obama tells Karzai what he wants to do, or more than likely they're perhaps going to discuss a plan, because obviously, the White House will want to present things as having been kind of a joint, agreed discussion, Randi.

KAYE: And Nick, I was just talking about this report from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I'm curious if there's been any reaction there, any Afghan government reaction, because there were some pretty tough wording, especially on the way Afghans are using money from the United States.

WALSH: Absolutely. I mean, often when you hear Afghanistan officials criticizing American aid projects here, they tend to actually point out the same thing the Senate report is pointing out. That money is wasted by contractors, much of the percentage, a sort of profit overheads or cost, as you might say of ex-pats running operations here is going to squander. The money better spent if it was handed directly to Afghans.

But, the key point, really, I think, here in this report is criticizing that the style of behavior here. So much that the money spent is really about persuading Afghans here to work for what many see as the occupation and risk their lives in the face of the insurgency rather than actually on the project itself the Afghan contractor has to achieve.

One other thing, really important though to see in that report is that buy their estimation, 97 percent of the Afghan economy is related somehow to the war. Be that military or development. So the idea of the NATO presence there coming to an end soon, that really could be catastrophic for what's left of the Afghan economy, Randi.

KAYE: Yes, it certainly sounds like that.

Nick, give us a brief update on the Taliban spring offensive, if you can. From your vantage point, is it fully under way or where are the hot spots right now?

WALSH: I think absolutely it's on the way, and the Taliban call it "Operation Barter." They seem to have been quiet the last few days, to be honest, compared to the week before that, which was particularly violent. We have seen, I think -- it's something like about 13 to 15 NATO casualties, forgive me if I'm wrong, so far this month, which is obviously awful for everyone concerned.

But I think really we're really seeing the Taliban having to push this summer to show they're not on the back foot after last summer's NATO surge into their heartland in the south.

And really we're going to have to wait and see in the next couple of months as to whether or not they keep momentum going or whether NATO's progress in the southern areas seem to be effectively challenged by an insurgency, frankly, which sees its enemy as leaving town -- Randi.

WALSH: Nick, thank you.

Even been driving down the street and you get blinded by that sunshine? Well, stick around to see a new invention that could take the glare out of your shades.

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KAYE: Welcome back.

We are all about big, new life-saving innovations on the show. Today's "Big I" is about the aggravating glares from that sunshine. With this heat wave sweeping across parts of the country, the sun, as you know, is a beast.

We've all been there. You're driving down the street and, bam, that sun right in your eye. It can be especially dangerous, too. A company has now figured out a way to make your sunglasses focus on the glare and automatically block it out without, of course, creating any blind spots in your vision.

Now, here's a picture of what we're talking about. It's called Dynamic Eye, and it's called that because it dynamically blocks the glare from the sun, depending on position of the sun compared to the sunglasses.

It was recently highlighted as one of the top inventions of 2011 by "Popular Science." Here to tell us all about it is the inventor himself, Chris Mullin. He joins us live from Pittsburgh.

Chris, thanks for coming on to talk about this.

First of all, I want to ask you, what inspired you to come up with this technology?

CHRIS MULLIN, INVENTOR, DYNAMIC EYE: Well, I was living in California and I was commuting east in the morning and west at night, and every time I'd be facing into the sun. And I knew enough about physics and liquid crystal displays to realize that I could do something about that. And so I had the inspiration from facing the situation myself.

KAYE: And so explain to me in just simple terms, if you can, how this works.

MULLIN: Basically, we've put liquid crystal displays into the lenses of the glasses. An LCD is something that you use every day on your computer or your telephone, and it is something that can darken one portion of the field of view without darkening everything else.

So we put a spot on the lens that dims down the bright areas that could block out that light on me there without blocking out everything else. Because we only darken the one part of the field of the view, we can darken it more than any other sunglasses technology.

KAYE: And how do you see when you see through them? Just fine?

MULLIN: You see through them just fine. We have taken out the bright parts, and so that your eyes are not as strained anymore, you don't get a headache, but everything else is just like looking through regular sunglasses and without that interfering glare.

KAYE: And we are showing just how it compares here in video. I'm not sure you can see it from your studio, but it is interesting to see the difference.

What is next for this technology? I mean, when might we see it in the stores available to everyone?

MULLIN: Well, as you say, what's next is taking this prototype and turning it into a real product. We think that will take anywhere from 12 to 18 months. We need to develop the manufacturing process, because the LCDs we are building are different from other LCDs that you have on your phone. Those are made with glass, and these have to be plastic, they have to be curved, they have to be extremely lightweight.

KAYE: And I'm curious, you must have a pair for yourself by now I would imagine, so how are your commutes going these days?

MULLIN: Well, to be honest, my commute is very short, and so I don't really use it on my commute. And my prototypes are the first products will be plainer sunglasses and not corrective, and as you see, I need corrective vision, so I can't use it for everyday driving, but I can use it if I am out enjoying the outdoors.

KAYE: Well, that is great. I look forward to seeing them on the market one day. Thank you for coming on to talk about it.

MULLIN: My pleasure.

KAYE: And to check out more on Dynamic Eye and to see the complete list of top inventions from "Popular Science," head to our blog, CNN.com/Ali.

Is there a divide between two Tea Party darlings? Jim Acosta will bring us the details live right after the break.

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KAYE: It is getting close to the top of the hour, so it is time now for a CNN Political Update. Jim Acosta joins us live from the Political Desk in Washington.

Jim, good to see you.

I know that you have new CNN polling on President Obama and the economy. What do you know?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I do. Well, you know, Randi, this has been a very interesting week when it comes to polling, because there is an avalanche of new polling coming out not only on the race of the 2012 among the GOP contenders, but on President Obama's handling of his job as president.

And there is a new poll out, a CNN/Opinion Research poll, that shows that Osama bin Laden bounce that the president has enjoyed over the last few weeks has basically vanished. If you look now, his approval numbers, 48 percent approve and 48 percent disapprove.

Those are not terrible numbers historically, this is not something he cannot overcome, but check out this the next number, I think it's really striking, because it says something out there about the nervousness among Americans about the economy.

"Another Great Depression likely in the 12 months?" Americans say that no by a margin of 51 percent to 48 percent, but, Randi, that is nearly 50/50. Half of Americans, according to this survey, are afraid that another Great Depression will happen.

Obviously, if you talk to a lot of economic experts out there, they are not sure that a double-dip recession will happen. Obviously, if you talk to a lot of economic experts out there, they're not even sure a double-dip recession will happen, let alone a Great Depression, but it shows you just how nervous people are out there.

And this is sort of an inside of the Beltway, inside the baseball story, this dust-up that is going on right now between the team that is forming around Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Team Palin. You know, some people say this is sort of a contrived media story, but Ed Rollins, who is expected to jump on board the Michele Bachmann campaign when that is announced, has said in recent days that he thinks Sarah Palin is not serious, that she did not handle the vice president nod from Jim McCain very seriously. And now the Palin camp has fired back and pretty seriously.

Michael Glassner, who is in charge over at Sarah Palin PAC, that's Palin's political action committee, fired this off statement. Check this one out, it is a doozy. Basically he says, and I'm just quoting here, it's just because it is stark, "Beltway strategist Ed Rollins has a long, long track record of taking high profile jobs and promptly sticking his foot in his mouth. To no one's surprise he has done it again."

So that from the Team Palin folks on Ed Rollins. They claim that this is just a contrived fight between these two candidates, but it is starting to sound like a real one if you just take a look at that statement right there, Randi.

KAYE: Well, it does, but there is no question that the political base does overlap. So, it could be pretty interesting if they are both involved here.

ACOSTA: It does overlap. That is right. Ed Rollins has said, look, if Palin runs, we will deal with it, but you have to realize that -- just looks at that bus tour last week, it's hard to believe that if Michele Bachmann hopped in a bus and went up the East Coast that she would generate the same amount of media attention. So she has to be thinking about that, her team must to be thinking about that.

And Sarah Palin is certainly taking a closer look at Michele Bachmann. This is somebody that Sarah Palin has supported in the past, she has gone out and campaigned for Michele Bachmann. So it will be interesting to see how it develops.

KAYE: Do you think -- I mean, you know how this works better than I do, do you think that they are each watching to see which one -- if either one of them jumps in first?

ACOSTA: I do. I think that it is a fight between the strategists, which makes it sort of like the inside of baseball inside of baseball. But publicly, if you look at the recent interviews that Michele Bachmann has done, she has said kind things about Sarah Palin and saying, well, basically it does not matter if she jumps into the race, and Sarah Palin has basically said the exact same thing.

So at this point, they are keeping the powder dry. Not so sure about the strategists, they are obviously very nervous about going up against one another, because of the fundamentals that you talk about there. They are both very popular in the evangelical, Christian conservative community and both have a lot of Tea Party support.

So it is definitely going to be a knockdown, drag out if both of them get into this just basing it on what we have seen in the last 24 hours.

KAYE: Yes. Boy, this could get really interesting.

Jim Acosta, thank you.

ACOSTA: It could get interesting. You bet. Nice to see you.

KAYE: You're next update from "The Best Political Team on Television" is just one hour away.