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Twister Hits New York City; President Obama Campaigns in Florida; Chicago Braces for Possible Teacher Strike; Turkey Rape Revenge Trial; Funds Help Ground Zero Workers; Taxpayers Pay for Prisoner's Sex Change Operation; Drew Peterson Convicted on Murder on Hearsay Evidence
Aired September 08, 2012 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Well, that just hit land. See the brown stuff? That's the rocks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Tornado. It hits New York City. This is Breezy Point in Queens, New York that you're looking at now. That funnel cloud today has now been confirmed as a tornado. It formed over the water this morning and moved inland about 600 yards. Nobody's reported hurt but the twister beat up some beach front houses in the Rockaways and tore down power lines. We'll take you there in a moment.
And talk about lousy weather. These are live shots of the national mall that you're looking at right now. Heavy rain, high winds, and basically a miserable day in Washington, D.C. And up and down the Atlantic seaboard today as a matter of fact. Make sure you see right there, the big picture from the CNN severe weather center in just minutes.
We want to turn now to presidential politics. The presidential race with just 59 days until the election, the campaigns are kicking into high gear. President Obama is in the swing state of Florida right now hoping to win a state he captured in 2008. His republican opponent Mitt Romney is following the same strategy. He is in another swing state, Virginia. Another state Obama won four years ago. But one republican thinks they can capture this one this November.
In Afghanistan a suicide bomber killed six civilians and wounded four others today near NATO's headquarters in Kabul. The police chief says, children were among those killed. The Taliban is claiming responsibility for the bombing. The U.S. Embassy in Kabul condemned the attack saying insurgents have no respect for life. Police believe the suicide bomber was a teenager.
Military planes bombarded Aleppo and other parts of Syria today. Opposition groups say at least 163 people were killed. Syria's state- run media say the military killed a large number of terrorists. The fighting may be spilling over into Iraq. Officials with Iraq's interior ministry say a 4-year-old girl was killed when rockets fired from Syria landed in an Iraqi border town.
Tonight at 7:30 Eastern, CNN's Nick Payton Walsh takes us on a journey to see what people living in the most populated Syrian city are facing day to day. Make sure you watch "Crisis in Syria inside Aleppo" coming up at 7:30 Eastern here on CNN.
In Pakistan, a 14-year-old Christian girl is back with her father tonight out on bail a month after her arrest by police. She was accused of blasphemy after burned pages of the Koran were found in her bag. Police now say they believe a neighborhood cleric planted evidence to link the girl to the allegations. In Pakistan blasphemy is punishable by death.
Two young children have been rescued from a stolen sail boat after allegedly being abducted from their home by their father. On Friday the sail boat was spotted off the Monterey California three days after both the children and the boat were reported missing. Police say, the parents had been involved in some type of custody situation. The father has been taken into custody now.
Talk about terrifying. A casual Saturday at the beach turns into a run for cover when a tornado rolls into the Rockaways in Queens, that's in New York City.
Susan Candiotti at Breezy Point right now, a little too breezy for comfort today, Susan. Any damage? Anybody hurt?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fortunately minor damage and no injuries, Don. Yes, this is Breezy Point, appropriately named here just outside of Manhattan. A beach front community. And just before 11:00 this morning, they were hit by a tornado. One man who lives in a Beachfront Cabana that was damaged said that it reminded him of a scene out of the Wizard of Oz when his house began to twitch. He, fortunately, as I said, was not hurt, but when that tornado formed offshore, the national weather service is calling it a water spout and then they said it quickly began to dissipate as it hit land but not before winds hit about 70 miles per hour and traveled a length of about six football fields.
Fortunately, again, we said just they had a few damages reported including roof tiles, one car on top of another. Some minor power outages. And the thing is the tornado watch is not over yet so they're not out of the woods just yet. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BRUNO, OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Tonight, we're expecting some heavy weather coming in. We know that there is a cold front coming through and -- cold front now for at least couple of days. And we expect that somewhere around this afternoon perhaps around 5:30 in New York City, we will see some more thunderstorms, some heavy weather, rain, lightning.
We're telling people, stay inside if you can. If you go out avoid any power lines that might be down. Don't drive through any under passes where water is present and you see any water present, do not go through. But the best advice I can give to people is stay inside. This weather will come through. We'll get through it as a city. And at 12:00 midnight or so we think that weather will go out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: And go out they hope with minimal damage. So, Don, back to you for now. It's a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon.
LEMON: How quickly things can change. Thank you very much, Susan Candiotti.
Alexandra Steele is here in the CNN's severe weather center. Severe weather out Sandra, all up and down the east coast even here in Atlanta was like a monsoon when coming into work today for many of us.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, atmospherically, Don, it is just poised and ready. We have the strong cold front coming into all this warm, moist atmosphere up and down the eastern seaboard. So, just want to show you this map. These are the storm reports. So, come a little closer. So you could show the viewers. Each of these squares is a storm report. This is just today. You're looking at New York and Pennsylvania and Vermont and Connecticut and Massachusetts.
All of these of course just one tornado just where Susan Candiotti was of course in Queens. And that's the one tornado, the rest wind damaged. We have numerous reports of trees and power lines down and of course winds kind of the real calling card with this. Fifty, 60, even gusts to 70 miles per hour. Here is the current watch and warning box. These are tornado watches, the red. They're delenigated (ph).
So, meaning atmospherically it is still ripe for tornadoes to develop. And the yellow is showing you where thunderstorm watches are and just tone in. Connecticut really hit hard, seeing a lot of severe weather. Look at this line. Can you imagine? It's paralleling the New York State thruway. So, imagine driving the thruway from Kingston to Poughkeepsie to Woodstock north through Albany and in toward the Adirondacks. Certainly if you can wait it out certainly just wait it out. It is all pushing eastward moving about 30 miles per hour.
So we're going to certainly see it be done in a few hours. Here's Baltimore. Baltimore and Washington a lot, very strong storms in Washington. Had a tornado warning there earlier. This line now moving over toward Dover and Georgetown into the eastern shore. And farther south. You heard Don talk about it. Charlotte, 7:30 Nascar in town tonight. Most likely we will certainly see delays with this race. This all has to pass through.
So here is a look, big picture. Boston, New York, Washington. Don, it is a one day affair. Just a few more hours of this. This will all push to the east tomorrow. Sunny, breezy, cool. Even a taste of fall in New England. Highs only in the low 70s. So a big change of air mass. But kind of a big power punch as it moves through.
LEMON: Alexandra, thank you.
STEELE: Yes.
LEMON: If you want to know which states matter most in the presidential election, well just look at where the candidates are today. President Barack Obama spoke at two rallies in Florida. He won that state in 2008. Winning it this year could help him clinch another four years. The republican Mitt Romney is in Virginia which no one thought of as a swing state until four years ago when Obama won it. It is also up for grabs this cycle. Romney hammered the President over Friday's jobs report.
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MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now with the unemployment level having stuck above eight percent for 43 straight months, we remembered that the President promised that if we let him borrow almost a trillion dollars he'd never let it reach eight percent. It's been above eight percent ever since. This President has not fulfilled his promises.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Romney's number two, Paul Ryan, is in California. He took part in an online chat posted by Google. Now California isn't a swing state but donors in the state have the cash that fuels these campaigns. And neither side can win without money. Finally, Vice President Joe Biden is trying to win over voters in Ohio. You see him there jogging out to the stage. Four years ago the Obama campaign counted on Biden to deliver the blue collar vote and this year no different.
Of course, Florida is more than a nice prize. In the last ten elections the winner carried Florida nine times. The President is at an event right now and our chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin is traveling with the president now. Jessica, when it comes to re-election, Florida's obviously not just another state and there is a reason the President is hitting the middle of the state, isn't there?
JESSICA YELLIN, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don. There sure is. The President is traveling along what is called the I-4 corridor and that is the swingiest part of the state where the states, the voters who will decide which way Florida goes reside. He has been campaigning across from east to west and I should say from west to east. I'm a little tired today. And he has been getting some very enthusiastic crowds as you can hear behind me.
Right now we are in Kissimmee, Florida right near Disney world and there is a crowd of supporters behind me, you can hear who have been pretty excited. He has been talking to them for about 15 minutes so far, Don.
LEMON: Is there one key group there for the president, the elderly, Hispanics, they seem to be targeting specific demographics.
YELLIN: Yes. LEMON: Do the places he visited today give us any clue?
YELLIN: Today, this morning he started at a college that used to be a two-year college has become a four-year college and he hit on a lot of the themes that would get out the young voters who were such a major part of his coalition in 2008 so you've got the youth vote. Here in Kissimmee, Hispanic, Latino voters are a huge population. They've exploded in terms of the number of Latinos who are here in the state and now they're trying to get them out to vote so somebody who spoke before the president was a Latino woman.
That's clearly one of the demographics they are targeting here. And then of course seniors. At every stop here, the President is talking about Medicare, trying to draw contrasts between himself and the programs that he said the Romney/Ryan ticket would push. Of course he uses the phrase voucherizing Medicare. You've heard plenty about that in recent weeks -- Don.
LEMON: Hey, Jessica, stand by a little bit here. We want to get to the President now. Let's listen in.
YELLIN: Sure.
PRES. BARACK OBAMA (D), UNITED STATES: Across Florida seniors are saving an average of $600 every year on prescription drugs.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
That's because of Obamacare. You did that. You're the reason a woman in Doral who is already working full-time during the day now can afford to go to school at night because she's got the financial aid that she needs. You did that.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
You're the reason there is a working family over in Hollywood who was able to save their home from foreclosure and keep their piece of the American dream. You made that possible. You're the reason that a young immigrant who grew up here and went to school here and pledged allegiance to our flag will no longer be deported from the only country she's ever called home.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
You're the reason why we ended, Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
OBAMA: President Barack Obama in Kissimmee, Florida now speaking to that state and hoping to win over some votes, win over some independents, and convincing people to come on his side. You did that. It's been a big, really talking point since the convention. The President used it in a speech and now is he using it on the campaign trail.
Coming up tonight at 10:00, I want to tell you, I'm going to be joined by the Democratic National Committee chair Debbie-Wassermann Schultz. We're going to talk about the democratic platforms, the amendment references to God and Israel. Her past comments on Mitt Romney's abortion stance and other issues. We're going to set the record straight with her tonight 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Make sure you join us.
Meantime, hundreds of thousands of students returning to school following the summer break. Well, they may be out of the classroom again on Monday. Teachers in the nation's third largest school system could be walking off the job and parents are trying to figure out what to do about work and child care.
And a woman scorned. She says she was raped repeatedly so when confronted again by the man she says tormented her, she cut his head off.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The clock is ticking. Chicago schools are two days away from a possible teacher strike, one that could create a tough situation for parents and students come Monday morning. CNN's Ted Rowlands reports on how the city is bracing for the first teacher walkout in 25 years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Etman is one of thousands of Chicago parents that has to figure out what to do with their children Monday morning if teachers go on strike.
MIKE ETMAN, PARENT: What is really going on, I don't know. I just know it is affecting my 6-year-old.
ROWLANDS: More than 400,000 kids will be affected if teachers walk. At issue is pay, job security, and how to deal with new, longer school days. Teachers say they know the rest of the country is watching closely because these issues are playing out in other cities. They also believe that playing a role here and in other cities is an anti- union sentiment that's recently intensified around the country.
BRANDON JOHNSON, TEACHERS UNION: It is playing a part. I think what's most disconcerting is that you have democratic mayors all over the country leading the charge, attempting to destroy the public sector, particularly, you know, public school teachers unions.
ROWLANDS: The democratic mayor in Chicago of course is Rahm Emanuel, who union leaders say is working against them. Emanuel declined an interview with CNN to address the accusation. He gave us a statement about Chicago's school children, which reads in part, every day they're not there is a day taken away from them that they just cannot afford. Leaders on both sides need to stay at the negotiating table and finish their job finding a solution that is fair for our teachers and keeps our students in school. Some parents we talked to believe the school board and mayor are playing hardball with teachers that deserve more respect. Others are not so sympathetic to teachers.
More days off, more vacations than any other profession that I know of.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ROWLANDS: Negotiations went into the evening Friday. Both sides are vowing to work over the weekend to try to come up with a deal so that a strike can be averted. Ted Rowlands, CNN, Chicago.
LEMON: All right, Ted.
With the anniversary of 9/11 coming up on Tuesday images like these will be back on your televisions but can over exposure to such images actually be harmful to you? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Hard to believe so much time has passed. The anniversary of 9/11 comes up on Tuesday. It was a terrible day to say the least. Eleven years ago causing deep emotional trauma for many Americans and for many people around the world. And a new study shows repeated exposure to such images like that of that day or other violent images can do some real harm too.
Human behavioral expert Wendy Walsh is back with me again. Actually, you have been here while I was out. So, I guess I'm the one who is back. But Wendy --
WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIORAL: That's right. Welcome back.
LEMON: Yes. Thank you. Good to see you again. But we're seeing pictures like this over and over again, that can be harmful?
WALSH: The key is this repeated image. And, you know, this debate, you'll going to find research back and forth saying things like violent video games or witnessing violence is not so bad for you. But this new study really shows that repeated graphic images on a regular basis can cause not only long-term anxiety, depression, symptoms of PTSD but even physical ailments.
LEMON: Does this even go beyond as you said the emotional? You said it even, it can actually, you can have a physical reaction to this. What does that mean?
WALSH: Listen, I have a great example for you. While you were drinking wine in Venice I was in Poland with my teenager touring Auschwitz and Birkenau and while we were on the tour, it's a massive tour and then of course we watched "Schindler's List" for two days. I was feeling these terrible stomach cramps during the tour because the content was so overwhelming. I wasn't crying.
And then I looked around and I noticed two or three other women and girls holding their stomachs and being doubled over. And I realized that you know, stomachs we call our second brain. And that is a good place for physical ailments to come. And yes, repeated images of horrific things can hurt you physiologically as well not just psychologically.
LEMON: So, you were looking around at the women and girls. Do men and women handle these things differently? WALSH: Well, women tend to go more for the stomach when they have emotional issues, irritable bowel syndrome, et cetera. But men tend to get more heart attacks and high blood pressure and headaches. That's where it goes with men. A little more often. Not to say that there aren't exceptions in either way but yes, that's how our bodies work.
LEMON: All right. Considering what you do, you know, you would think that you would sort of know this is what happened, right? It would just be -- but are there certain professions that have to watch out for this like law enforcement for these types of images?
WALSH: Yes. And you're in one of them, Don. News reporters that are exposed to lots of horrific pictures on a regular basis, law enforcement, firefighters, emergency room personnel. They really are more in danger. Think of all the rescue workers and helpers that went to Haiti and how many had to get treated for post traumatic stress disorder themselves and they hadn't even been in the earthquake itself.
LEMON: Yes. So, listen, I have to run here but what about the opposite? Can watching nice, fun images, I mean, can that make you happier?
WALSH: Of course. Our environment. You know, we're feeding our brains with whatever we see. Stop and smell the roses. So, oh, there's my new favorite happy place. Got no style. I love to watch that video. I swear.
LEMON: Ride the pony.
WALSH: I laugh every time.
LEMON: Such an awesome video and the tune is quite catchy as well. Yes.
WALSH: My girls and I do the dance all around the living room, Don.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Hey, I'm glad to end on a happy note. So, anyway, stick around. I want to talk to you about something else. There is more information that has been especially going into this coming week that we want to talk about.
A little lighter story next with Dr. Wendy. It's the weekend. It's a good topic and the results of a new study are in now. Right? Married women drink more than single ladies. Why? We'll get into that. That's next.
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LEMON: Don't forget you can stay connected, you can watch CNN live on your computer, you can do it from work. Just go to cnn.com/TV.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So, here is a question. Do married women drink more than single women?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I thought you weren't sleeping with your husband no more.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: He's got drunk one night.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I should never drink, I do stupid things when I drink like sleep with my husband.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A new study says, yes, married women drink more than unmarried women. Remember, we're not advocating anyone. You should drink responsibly right Dr. Wendy? Drink responsibly.
WALSH: That's right.
LEMON: I have a feeling this is about to go south for the guys here. So, explain this one.
WALSH: Well, let's think about it. Much of our behavior is environmentally stimulated. Men tend to drink more because their body can metabolize alcohol easier. They tend to have more body weight. You start to hang out with a man every night for dinner. As I said to a friend of mine, how much wine do you drink? She said, well, I drink about as much as you can have when you share a bottle with an Irishman every night. So, but women are drinking because they're drinking with their husbands more often than they would do with their single girlfriends.
LEMON: OK, so --
WALSH: That would be a night out once in a while.
LEMON: All right. So the men, how do -- I mean, what about their drinking habits, has it changed, married versus unmarried?
WALSH: Well, believe it or not, married men tend to drink a little less. Maybe because there is a wife sharing that bottle now. But also, remember that one purpose of alcohol is to reduce stress and men have a lot more stress, listen, guys, when they're in a healthy, happy relationship and have a woman around. Their lives are better. They live longer. They have better health. So, they don't need to drink so much.
LEMON: All right. OK. So do -- you said it's to reduce stress. But do women and men drink for different reasons or the same reasons?
WALSH: I think most humans drink for social reasons and for -- to reduce stress a little bit. Now, the question is do married women have more stress than single women? Some studies say we have a lot more house work especially with their kids on the scene. But that is certainly changing as gender roles are changing. But the interesting thing is that once women divorced they went back to drinking a lot less again.
LEMON: Yes. The study shows that women drink less after they left the guy, after they divorced him.
WALSH: Yeah.
LEMON: So, with the guy out of the picture they don't want to drink as much. This all sounds unfair to the guys.
WALSH: Or maybe those women just wanted to get back to dating weight. Because you know, alcohol is extra calories.
LEMON: Market weight. Market weight. That's what we call it.
WALSH: Right.
LEMON: Thank you, Dr. Wendy. Thank you.
WALSH: Good to see you, Don.
LEMON: Good to see you. And, you know, we're going to see you a little later.
She'll be back tonight for a really interesting segment. You want to tune into this one, "Remembering to Forget." "Remembering to Forget." What if you could wipe your mind clean of all those bad memories that are haunting your brain? Maybe your ex? What new research could mean for survivors of PTSD sufferers. That's all new. We're back here at 10:00 p.m. eastern.
It is half past the hour. We want a look at your headlines.
First up, President Barack Obama is in Florida, making a pitch to voters who delivered the swing state for the Democrats four years ago. He visited two cities in the middle of the state where Independent voters could help decide the November election. One was St. Petersburg, just southwest of Tampa, where Republicans held their convention last week. GOP candidate, Mitt Romney, campaigned in Virginia today, trying to flip a state that helped the president win in 2008.
A suicide bomber killed six Afghan civilians and wounded four others today near NATO's headquarters in Kabul. The police chief says children were among those killed. The Taliban is claiming responsibility for the bombing. The U.S. embassy in Kabul condemned the attack, saying insurgents have no respect for life. Police believe the suicide bomber was a teenager.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Military planes bombarded Aleppo and other parts of Syria today. Opposition groups say at least 163 people were killed. Syria's state-run media says the military killed a large number of terrorists.
The blood shed may be spilling over into Iraq. Officials with Iraq's interior ministry say a 4-year-old girl was killed when rockets fired from Syria landed in an Iraqi border town.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
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LEMON: Tornado -- that's right --a tornado hits New York City. This is Breezy Point in Queens. That funnel cloud you're seeing there was confirmed as an E.F.-0 tornado. It formed over the water and moved into the beach about 600 yards. Nobody is reported hurt but the twister beat up some houses and tore down power lines.
I want you to look at these streets flooded in Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Mesa yesterday and today. It's monsoon time in Arizona. And this was the biggest storm of the season so far. Officials pull stranded people out of cars and brought them to safety. You can see them doing it there. Monsoon storms are expected to continue into next week. At least one person has been killed, washed away by rushing water.
Rescue crews are looking for earthquake survivors in remote parts of China right now. At least 80 people were killed and 800 injured when a cluster of quakes hit yesterday. The quakes triggered landslides that left large rocks blocking some roads. The strongest earthquake was a 5.6 magnitude.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHANTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The city of Chicago, bracing for a possible teacher's strike Monday, the first in 25 years. It would impact 400,000 students in some 700 schools. The teachers union has filed unfair labor practice charges against the district, citing complaints with teacher working conditions. The city plans to open 144 sites to provide services for students if a strike does happen.
A woman's revenge. She says she was raped repeatedly, so when confronted again by the man she says tormented her, she cut his head off.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: This story contains graphic information and graphic pictures as well. It's a case that has stunned the country of Turkey, and now the world, that people are finding out a woman is awaiting trial after taking revenge on a man she claims raped her repeatedly. Monita Rajpal has more on this case.
Again, I warn you that the images in this story are quite graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MONITA RAJPAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nevin Yuderim (ph), a 26-year-old mother of two, claims that her husband's cousin, a 35- year-old man, tormented and abused her for months while her husband was out of town.
Nerotin Kadash (ph) entered her home while she was asleep and raped her at gun point, threatening to kill her children if she screamed. She says he subsequently raped her many times and took pictures of her with his cell phone, and threatened to publish them. She says she was too afraid to tell anyone about the rapes.
Then, last Tuesday, Yuderim (ph) had enough. She said Kadash (ph) called. She was sure he was going to rape her again. When he arrived at her house, she grabbed a rifle and shot him repeatedly. Then she cut of his head and carried it to the town square.
Witnesses say she held the severed head in front of men at a coffee house and said, quote, "Don't play with my honor. Here is the head of the man who played with my honor." And then she tossed the severed head on the ground.
Her father explains why she did it.
UNIDENTIFIED FATHER OF VICTIM (through translation): He had been abusing my child for a long time and using a weapon, saying he would kill her and kill her children. My child reached her wit's end because she couldn't handle it anymore.
RAJPAL: Witnesses in the square called police and Yuderim (ph) was arrested. She says she regrets what happened but says her reputation was in jeopardy and felt she needed to clean her honor.
Now she is five months' pregnant and insists the rapist is the father. According to a local clinic, she first tried to get an abortion when she was about 14 weeks' pregnant but was told abortion was not an option. Turkish law does not allow abortions after 10 weeks of pregnancy, except in cases of rape or when the mother's life is in danger.
Yuderim (ph) says she still wants an abortion and she has the support of Turkish women's groups. She says she is ready to die.
Monita Rajpal, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: 11 years after 9/11, many of those who rushed to the scene and worked for months at the site are still waiting for money to help cover their medical expenses for illnesses they've suffered since. Some of the illnesses have been fatal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: In recent years we've reported too often on people losing their jobs and homes. During the financial crisis, many pet owners have had to abandon their furry friends. That is where "CNN Hero" Marlo Manning steps in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good boy.
(voice-over): Charlie means everything to us. He was diagnosed with cancer about two years ago. We went with the amputation and he's been doing great.
(on camera): A couple of days ago, he had this other growth on his chest.
UNIDENTIFIED VETERINARIAN: Given the fact that he had an aggressive type of tumor, things like this should really come off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): I recently got laid off and we're expecting our first baby. We were faced with this huge vet bill and we were just at a loss.
MARLO MANNING, CNN HERO: I think we'll be able to help you out. I know how much you love your dog.
MANNING (voice-over): With the economy being what it is, people are faced with the choice of having to give up their dogs because they just can't afford them anymore. They're doing their best to get back on track.
(on camera): And then a crisis happens with their dog, and it's just one more thing.
(voice-over): I'm Marlo Manning, and I lost a beloved puppy named Lady Bug. Now I provide temporary aid to dog owners, keeping the dog healthy, out of shelters, and with loving families.
(LAUGHTER)
Dogs live in the moment. They bring you to their place of happiness no matter where you are in your life.
(on camera): Here you go, Mary.
(voice-over): If we can help with food, medical visits or even surgery to keep this family together, they are able to take the burden away.
(CROSSTALK)
MANNING (on camera): We're going to put our maximum amount on Charlie, which is $800.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was such a blessing and we'll be forever grateful Charlie gets a second chance.
MANNING: What we do is a tribute to Lady Bug. If I had to get through the grief to find this path, then we were meant to lose her so we could be inspired to help others.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Marlo has helped nearly 400 dogs in Massachusetts alone. Visit CNN.com to learn more. In two weeks, we'll announce the top-10 "CNN Heroes" of 2012.
They were the first people on the scene in the minutes after the 9/11 terror attacks. And for more than a decade, they have been trying to get financial help to cover illnesses resulting from their work at Ground Zero.
Athena Jones explains why the wait may soon be over.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERNIE VALLEBUONA, 9/11 FIRST RESPONDER: I lived on Staten Island at the time and could see the smoke coming from the tower.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ernie Vallebuona rushed to the world trade center site on September 11, 2001, to help with rescue and recovery efforts.
VALLEBUONA: There was a lot of confusion, a lot of smoke. You couldn't see. When you were trying to walk through the smoke to search for survivors, you know, you could barely see your hand in front of you.
JONES: Then, a New York City police detective, Vallebuona spent six months at the site. A few years later, he was diagnosed with cancer.
VALLEBUONA: 2004 is when I was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
JONES: His cancer, now in remission, Vallebuona had to use retirement savings to pay bills his insurance didn't cover. And he is hoping to recoup some of that money.
VALLEBUONA: It's been something they've been talking about for 10 years now.
JONES: Vallebuona and other first responders, made sick by the chemicals and dust, are still waiting for compensation from the government.
Payments to some who developed respiratory, digestive, and other conditions should begin in the next couple of months under a law President Obama signed in January of 2011, the Zadroga Act, named after a New York Police detective, James Zadroga, who died of a respiratory illness after working at the World Trade Center site. It sets aside some $2.8 billion to cover their claims.
The government will announce soon which of more than 50 types of cancer and illness left off the original list of ailments will now be covered under the act.
Attorney Noah Kushlefsky represents Vallebuona and nearly 4,000 first responders who became ill.
NOAH KUSHLEFSKY, ATTORNEY, KREINDLER & KREINDLER, LLP: Now people are terribly sick. People can't support their families. This program is, in a very real sense, a life line that is going to help people put their lives back together after they stepped up and did things that nobody else was willing to do.
JONES: For those just now getting sick, Vallebuona hopes the fund will ultimately send this message.
VALLEBUONA: Just fight your cancer, man. Don't worry about money. Don't worry about copayments or medications. We got your back.
JONES: Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Taxpayers forced to pay for an inmate's sex change surgery, something that could cost tens of thousands of dollars. We'll look at why a judge says this is the only adequate treatment for this prisoner.
Don't forget, wherever you go, well, we go to. You can take us anywhere. You can watch CNN live on your computer while at work and even on your Smartphone. Head to CNN.com/tv.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: For the first time, a judge has ordered a prison to provide sex-change surgery for an inmate, paid for by taxpayer dollars. Michelle Kostalick (ph), previously known as Robert, is serving a life sentence for murdering his wife in 1990. Kostalick (ph) had tried to commit suicide twice during his time in an all-male prison.
Attorney Karen Conti joins me from Chicago.
Karen, you went back from him to her --
KAREN CONTI, ATTORNEY: Hi, Don.
LEMON: -- because, at the time he was a male, he murdered his wife. Now he's a she because of the operation. So a judge ruled that the surgery was the only treatment for the mental illness that she was dealing with. What is the government's obligation to inmates here?
CONTI: We look here to the Eighth Amendment of our Constitution, and that prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment." And a lot of your viewers are saying, how could it be cruel and unusual not to give this person a sex change. But in this situation, if it's a serious illness and the only treatment that's adequate for that, then it's constitutionally obligated to take that action. And these courts -- you know, courts have been very willing to do these kinds of things, once they recognize that this is a serious illness.
LEMON: And what people -- people are looking at this and say, oh, my gosh, I can't believe my taxpayer dollars. But transgendered people legitimately feel that they were born in the wrong body. So imagine if you're a woman and you're in a male prison, or vice versa.
CONTI: Yes. And these kinds of things -- if you look at the American Psychiatric Association, these are definitely syndromes that have been documented. And the incidence of people committing suicide and actually self-castrating is very, very high. And although we're not really familiar with this and it's so strange to us and odd to us, it is a true syndrome that's very dangerous to people.
And, like it or not, if you're locked up, our government has an obligation to take care of people in an adequate fashion. Not top of the line, not Mayo Clinic, but enough to keep that person alive and well.
LEMON: Yes. And even in Chicago. I think it's the mayor -- we have to move on -- is now saying that people should be more sensitive to transgender issues in prisons and jails, correct?
CONTI: Yes. In fact, this week, Don, we just had our mayor issue an edict to the police department saying, you've got to treat these people fairly. They're more subject to jail violence. You can't ask them their identity. You can't look at their genitals. you can't do those things. We've got to be a little more sensitive to these people. They're more out there than we think.
LEMON: Yes. And not everyone agrees with this. Senator, Scott Brown, a Republican from Massachusetts, says that the court's decision is an outrageous abuse of taxpayer dollars, is what he's saying there.
But I want to move on. We have a number of other topics to talk about.
Former Chicago-area police sergeant, Drew Peterson -- this has been going on for a long time, Karen. Drew Peterson has been found guilty of murder in the 2004 death of his third wife. He was convicted mostly on hearsay evidence. So what does this mean for other defendants?
CONTI: Interesting. This was almost exclusively a conviction based on out-of-state testimony of someone who couldn't be there. You know, we have a right to confront our witnesses under the Constitution. But the law says that a defendant will forfeit that right if he does something to silence the witness. In this case, the judge determined that Peterson killed his fourth wife, in order for her not to testify against the third wife. So therefore, all of those statements from that fourth wife could come into the trial with her not being there.
And although it seems a little unfair, it does make sense that you forfeit your right to confront a witness if you've been the one who killed her. So this doesn't --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: You're talking about Kathleen Savio. But do you think that the -- that they'll charge Peterson for the death of his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, who disappeared five years ago, by the way? But how will Savio's murder be used in that trial, if there is one?
CONTI: Well, very interesting, because, as I said, if he killed Stacy, not to testify against the third wife. Now they might bring in Savio's statements and Savio's conviction to show that he killed Stacy.
The problem here, Don, is there's no body. And as you know, when no body is there, it's very hard to charge and convict, because we don't even have -- we don't even know if she's dead.
LEMON: That's --
(CROSSTALK)
CONTI: We presume she is, but we don't know.
LEMON: That's what I was getting at. This one was hearsay, but then there's no body for -- so that's -- you just got to, what I was trying to ask.
So, listen, does Drew Peterson have any chance of overturning the conviction?
CONTI: You know, they always say bad facts make bad law. If this were not Drew Peterson, a very hated man here in Illinois, I think his conviction could be overturned, because there just was no evidence -- no confession, no hard evidence, no eyewitness, no really anything except hearsay. But will the courts do that? Politically, it's going to be very difficult to convince a panel of judges to let this guy out of jail.
LEMON: And as you see from the video, Drew Peterson smiling through most of it there.
All right. Thank you, Karen. We appreciate it.
It is being called the hottest moment of the Democratic convention. Two Hollywood stars -- petting?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I didn't see this. The things you miss when you go away sometimes. Some excitement of a different kind at the Democratic National Convention. Former "Desperate Housewives" star, Eva Longoria, spoke at the convention on Thursday night. But it's what she did before the speech that had more people, especially the guys, talking.
Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just another convention speech. The cameras panned around, looking for interesting shots before cutting back to the speaker. Wait a minute! Wasn't that Eva Longoria, petting Jessica Alba? Petting her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we are coming back. Not as fast as we want or need --
MOOS: What we need is to know what that was all about.
"I am so turned on right now," tweeted one guy. "It's like I dreamed it and it came true."
Someone tweeting under the name, Chloe the Dog, whined, "I wish she would pet me like that."
And to think that mere moments before, Piers Morgan was making Longoria cough up a high heel.
PIERS MORGAN, HOST, PIERS MORGAN: Look at the size of these.
EVA LONGORIA, ACTRESS: Took off my shoe.
MORGAN: Absolutely extraordianry.
LONGORIA: I have to stand taller here. There's a lot of important people.
(LAUGHTER)
MOOS: But importance pales compared to what the web site "Buzz Feed" called "easily the hottest moment of this year's Democratic convention."
Though it's got competition from this --
(CHEERING)
MOOS: What "Gawker" called a tender bro hug between Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, consisting of a hug, accompanied by six black slaps, a rub, and one more slap for good measure. Still, that wasn't petting.
Jessica Alba started it by pointing at her arm. Chances are these two were discussing, say, a new skin cream or laser hair removal or maybe a tennis injury.
LONGORIA: The energy here is incredible.
MOOS: Jessica sent out a twit pic posing with Eva.
We got hold of Jessica's husband, Cash Warren, but neither he nor any P.R. reps got back to us with what instigated the petting.
(on camera): Now, Eva Longoria is a political activist. She's an Obama campaign co-chair. The convention is serious business for her.
Stop it! Get your minds out of the gutter!
(voice-over): If you're that desperate, watch re-runs of "Desperate Housewives."
LONGORIA: Oh, for god's sakes, was it this or was it this?
MOOS: This isn't a convention of desperate voyeurs.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Did you see the guys in the studio? You could -- I have never seen you watch a story that much.
(LAUGHTER)
What did you say? Sprite needs to run with that, because of the two Sprite cans right there.
All right, guys, wave me out. See you later.
I'm Don Lemon. See you back here at 7:00. Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" right now.
(LAUGHTER)
