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Was Libya Consulate Attack Preventable? Romney's Rough Week; First Lady Talks Voting Rights; Prisoner Abuse at Bagram; Prisoner Abuse at Bagram; Emmy Awards Tonight; New Voting Rules Challenged; Replacement NFL Refs Struggle; Yankee, Orioles One Game Apart; Heisman-Trophy Winner Vince Young Supposedly Broke; Struggle to Get Afghans Off Drugs

Aired September 23, 2012 - 18:00   ET

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


DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you very much, ma'am. I'm Don Lemon. We're going to get you up to speed on the day's headlines.

A wall of snow has claimed the lives of at least 11 people on one of the world's highest mountains. More than a dozen climbers still missing on Nepal's Mt. Manaslu after an avalanche swept through their campsite.

These pictures show rescuers evacuating the injured. More than 200 people were attempting to climb that mountain which is considered one of the most dangerous to navigate.

A schizophrenic double amputee in a wheelchair shot to death by a Houston police officer. Brian Claunch allegedly had threatened people at a home for the mentally ill and then tried to stab the officer's partner with what turned out to be a pen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JODI SILVA, SPOKESWOMAN, HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: The officer, Officer Marin, in fear of the safety of his partner and the safety of himself, discharged his duty weapon, striking the suspect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, the man initially got upset when he was denied a cigarette and soda. Officer now on administrative leave.

A giant panda cub born a week ago at Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington has died. The cub's birth was seen as a big step in conservation, the first to be born at a zoo since 2005. Zookeepers heard the mother in distress this morning and then they ran in to do CPR, but the panda couldn't be saved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNIS KELLY, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL ZOO: This is devastating. This is devastating for all of us here. It's hard to describe how much passion and energy and thought and care has gone into this.

(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: It's still not known what caused the cub's death. They're investigating.

The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee says there is no evidence the consul attack in Libya was related to do an anti-Islamic film. That was the attack, of course, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans.

Appearing on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," Republican Congressman Mike Rogers said terrorists could have been targeting the ambassador, but he says the fact that it happened on the anniversary of 9/11 is a more likely factor.

The White House continues to say there is no proof the consulate violence was planned, but it has been acknowledged that it was a terrorist attack.

Immediately after the assault in the consulate in Libya one question on everybody's mind. How could this happen? How is it that the most powerful nation on earth can't even protect its own envoys in far away countries?

Hillary Clinton made it clear that security isn't optional for her State Department.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Good afternoon. When I briefed the Congress I made it clear that keeping our people everywhere in the world safe is our top priority. What happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack and we will not rest until we have tracked down and brought to justice the terrorist who murdered four Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, of course, this just begs the question if security is the priority, how could that happen in Benghazi? We may -- may know more soon. A State Department investigation into the consulate attack will begin this week.

And joining me now is Siobhan Gorman, intelligence correspondent for the "Wall Street Journal" and the "Wall Street Journal" has been doing some in-depth reporting on this.

So, Siobhan, Senator Susan Collins says security at the consulate was woefully inadequate. Is she right?

SIOBHAN GORMAN, INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, we're not in a position to judge that quite yet, but it was certainly quite limited at least in terms of personnel. The standard security there was four armed Libyan guards and four unarmed Libyan guards. On the day of the attack, there also were five or so armed diplomatic security officers, presumably because the ambassador was there as well.

But what was interesting as we looked into it was that security hadn't really changed, even though the threats there were escalating from about April on. And they also lacked some pretty basic precautions at the consulate including just basic firefighting equipment.

LEMON: Yes. Firefighting equipment you talk about in an article, many articles that you wrote, that there were miscues, and that there were signs before this the consulates had been attacked, the embassy in other places had been attacked. There were signs, and does it appear that the administration made some missteps here, underestimated security -- the security threat in Libya?

GORMAN: Well, the security threat certainly was increasing, and there were a lot of intelligence reports and just facts on the ground that showed that. The consulate itself had been attacked in early June and that actually led to a brief upping of security mainly for a week while they repaired a wall at the consulate. Shortly after that, the British ambassador was attacked -- the British ambassador's convoy was attacked, and the U.S. decided to stay there and they decided at the time that there wasn't any additional security needed.

Subsequent to that, the State Department was putting out travel warnings and things along those lines, and they did an assessment before September 11th, but each time they found that additional security measures were not needed.

LEMON: We have heard from the secretary of state, we heard from Susan Rice, she's the ambassador to the U.N., and from the president, the president saying for the first time last week that it was a terrorist attack. The ambassador has been saying all along that they don't believe that there was an indication leading up to this, that it was just an attack that came out of nowhere. They've been getting criticized for that.

Through your reporting -- I'm not sure if -- you could probably answer this. Does it appear, again, that the administration is telling the truth, or is this just an investigation that's unfolding? Are they being truthful with the American people about what happened?

GORMAN: Well, certainly the investigation is still unfolding. What I've learned as I've looked into particularly the question of al Qaeda involvement, it's quite possible that the al Qaeda involvement came day of, if it did at all, because they've -- they're right now analyzing conversations that were held between al Qaeda and the Islamic Maghreb and Ansar al-Shariah which -- is believed to have been involved in the attack.

So it's actually possible for both sides to be correct that this did -- it was -- it did happen spontaneously but there was some sort of same-day orchestration or consultation that did occur.

LEMON: Siobhan Gorman, intelligence correspondent for the "Wall Street Journal." Thank you very much. We appreciate it.

GORMAN: Thank you.

LEMON: All right. Meanwhile, a leading figure from the Sunni Islam world has called for calm in the wake of the continuing protests. The Grand Mufti of Egypt, Ali Gomaa, well, he spoke with CNN and called for Muslim followers to act more as the Prophet Muhammad would.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI GOMAA, THE GRAND MUFTI OF EGYPT (Through Translator): I was one of the first to warn about the dangers of this film. In a statement to the Muslim world, I asked people to deal with the situation the way Prophet Muhammad dealt with issues, through patience and wisdom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: More on this story throughout this broadcast.

In the meantime, what does Mitt Romney need to do to turn his campaign around in these final weeks ahead? Or does he need to do anything at all?

We're going to talk about it, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before you get our vote, you're going to have to answer some questions. Questions like --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When is the election? How soon can we get to decide?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are the names of the names of the two people running? And be specific.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is the president right now? Is he or she running? Because if so, experience is maybe something we should consider.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Got to love "Saturday Night Live." The undecideds may still have some questions -- seems like a lot of questions there. But some pundits are in agreement, they say Mitt Romney is in big trouble. Is he though?

Let's ask the only pundit whose analysis we really care about, really matters to us.

WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: That's right.

LEMON: CNN contributors Will Cain and LZ Granderson. LZ, of course, also a senior writer at ESPN.

So this is about the Republicans. This is about Mitt Romney. I'm going to start with you, Will.

CAIN: All right.

LEMON: Romney has spent a lot of time lately just explaining comments about Libya, comments about the so-called 47 percent, fending off criticism from conservative critics. There are still six weeks.

CAIN: Right.

LEMON: And three debates to go. What's going on here? This is a little premature to be imploding.

CAIN: I think it's a little premature to be calling the race and I think that's what a lot of pundits and critics seem to be doing at this point. There's no denying that Mitt Romney has had an incredibly difficult to incredibly bad week or two. But that means that look, six and a half weeks to go. What drives elections? What drives news? Events. Events.

LEMON: Yes.

CAIN: Look, we saw the Middle East explode into changing -- you know, world-changing events over the past week and a half. Four years ago we saw the economy take a drastic turn just months before the election.

You know, I think we constantly overvalue, Don, the impact of all these gaffes when still there are plenty of -- there's plenty of days left and plenty of events left to happen before this election.

LEMON: Well, I always say you -- you know, don't count anybody out. You never know what can happen between now and then. But as you --

CAIN: Right.

LEMON: LZ, as you really to people, when you talk to folks, Democratic or Republican, may go, my gosh, last week, I don't know. This is not the defining moment or the moment that turned everything, I don't know what is. And that's what people are really saying. What do you make of that, LZ?

LZ GRANDERSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think you're absolutely right about that. That was a really horrific week. And not just in terms of, you know, the way video being leaked out, but the way that the entire confrontation was handled after that. It just seemed like, again, there was a lack of compassion and not really being able to be in step of what the American people were concerned about.

But, you know, I think we've been mischaracterizing the things that Mitt Romney has been saying over these past, you know, year and a half and describing them as gaffes. I think it's becoming very clear that this is just Mitt Romney. This is actually what he really feels in terms of class, in terms of socioeconomic status and people's work ethic. So I think we need to stop saying, oops, he shouldn't have said that, and start looking at the fact that he's been saying this pretty consistently and this is actually his policy and his values.

LEMON: Yes, and if that's what he believes in, that's what he believes. Maybe -- maybe the media are characterizing it as gaffes when it was really, you know, what he believes so --

GRANDERSON: This is Mitt. LEMON: Yes.

GRANDERSON: It's what he believes.

LEMON: And you know -- you know I don't mean that in a bad way.

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: What's amazing is the media is characterizing it --

LEMON: Hey, Will, but I think he says the same thing. I mean he actually said, that's what I believe. I believe in what I said about the 47 percent. I didn't mean to disparage anyone, but these are my beliefs. Why are you characterizing it as a gaffe?

CAIN: Yes, but the main thing is the media --

GRANDERSON: Right.

CAIN: And I'm going to point, you know, two boxes over to my left right here to my friend LZ, are just characterizing the 47 percent remark, for example, superficially. So we just can't say perpetuate this thing, oh, he said -- what he said is so bad.

GRANDERSON: Superficially?

CAIN: That's going to affect people on an emotional level. It will affect people in an emotional level if you never appeal to them intellectually. What -- he made mistakes. And I think we've talked about on this program, I've certainly talked about on others, but there were intellectual mistakes about mischaracterizing the numbers. It didn't reinforce some year and a half narrative --

LEMON: OK.

CAIN: -- about how he feels about people in different economic classes.

LEMON: All right. Let's move on now.

GRANDERSON: It's not about the numbers.

LEMON: All right. But --

GRANDERSON: It's about how he feels about the people.

LEMON: "Saturday Night Live" jokingly suggested that Obama should just stay quiet until Election Day and let Romney self-destruct. I mean does it feel like he's doing -- that was a pretty funny thing last night --

CAIN: Ball control, huh?

LEMON: Yes. When he said, Mr. President, what are you doing? Just be quiet. CAIN: I'll say this, and I'm going to toss this to LZ. I don't think ball control offense is ever a wise strategy. When you have your opponent, you know, I'm going to mix sports metaphors here, but when you have your opponent on the ropes, you have to put them away. I mean I don't know. Ball control is not the way to win an election.

GRANDERSON: He's not --

CAIN: It's not the way to win anything.

GRANDERSON: He is not in any position -- you're right, Will, he is not in any position to just be quiet and let Romney talk. And I'll tell you why. I think the most important dates of this election is November 2nd. I used to think it was October 3rd, the first debate, but now that I've seen how a narrative behind a job report can totally change a person's attitude about the president. If that job report is not strong on November 2nd, he's in a lot of trouble.

CAIN: Right.

GRANDERSON: He's in a lot of trouble.

CAIN: Events. Events.

GRANDERSON: So --

LEMON: I'll tell you what. I'm going to be watching those debates. That is going to be some good television.

But let's move on and talk about a very serious subject here. Voter rights and voter suppression. Republicans have pushed voter I.D. laws around the country. Democrats are crying foul. Here's the first -- here's the first lady last night at the Congressional Black Caucus dinner. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: We all get a say in our democracy no matter who we are or where we're from or what we look like or who we love. So we cannot let anyone discourage us from casting our ballots. We cannot let anyone make us feel unwelcomed in the voting booth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: She says "feel unwelcomed in the voting booth." are people really -- is there a strategy to make people feel unwelcome in the voting booth? I mean, the former President Bill Clinton, Will --

CAIN: No.

LEMON: -- said this was -- he has never seen it so blatant at trying to not let -- allow people to vote.

CAIN: Really? Really? He's never seen it so blatant as when they made African-Americans count jelly beans in a jar and get the number right before they cast a vote? Look, people feel strongly about this --

(CROSSTALK)

GRANDERSON: He wasn't alive then.

CAIN: So I'm going to put this strongly to you. This is the biggest bag in nothing designed to inflame voters and specifically minority voters into turning out this election. If you want to equate showing your I.D., an I.D. which if you don't have the government will provide you for free, and if you don't have that free I.D. they will provide you that you can still cast a ballot, a provisional ballot which will be counted later.

If that is equivalent of a poll tax or a literacy test on African- Americans in this country, then that -- then you're asking us to stretch logic to its furthest absurdity.

LEMON: LZ, go ahead.

CAIN: And you know what, most Americans agree because the polls show it.

LEMON: Go ahead, LZ.

GRANDERSON: You know, I'm going to try not to go off on my friend Will here. I'm going to try and keep my emotions in tact here. I'm just going to say that it's racist. I'm not going to dance all around it, it's driven by racism. And the fact that Will can't see it is fine. Everyone doesn't have to see the same story but I'm going to tell you what that actual story is.

This is driven by race. I was at the speech last night. I was at that dinner last night, and I will tell you, I didn't leave there thinking, oh, I need to vote for Obama because he's black. I left there thinking as an American citizen we all should be offended that these tactics are being used to curtail our rights, the rights that blacks and whites have died for.

You don't have to go all the way back to slavery. I mean, Jesse Helms, hello, he used very aggressive tactics to scare blacks from going back to the polls.

CAIN: And it's nothing like this.

GRANDERSON: Same thing that if you show up -- let me finish because I allowed you to finish. Same things like, if you go to these polls and you don't have XY and Z documents, you will go to jail. That wasn't a long time ago. You and I, Will, we were in college when that was going on.

LEMON: Yes.

GRANDERSON: And so if you think that this is some sort of ruse, then what you're just really saying is that I'm a little bit out of touch when it comes to things that address the minority and I need my friend LZ to tell me about them.

LEMON: OK. All right.

CAIN: No, no, I appreciate that, but look, the polls show, the majority of Americans support showing an I.D. at the voting booth to protect the sanctity of vote to as protect it from voter fraud --

GRANDERSON: What's the motivation?

CAIN: And the -- and the Supreme Court of United States also agrees with this provision.

GRANDERSON: What is the motivation?

LEMON: Hang on. Hang on. OK --

CAIN: So it's --

GRANDERSON: Will --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: I think that is a good question, Will. What's the motivation when it shows that there's really no fraud -- not much of a history of voter fraud.

CAIN: No, no, no.

LEMON: That's what -- hang on. That's -- it's not much of a history of that, and if it's not political, if it's not politically motivated or, as LZ says, racially motivated, that's his words, then why not wait until the next presidential election to put it into place where both sides --

CAIN: Well, you know, the answer to this.

LEMON: Hang on. Where both sides get what they want?

CAIN: You know the answer to this because you and I both just stated. It is to protect the sanctity of a vote against voter fraud. It is not something that is nonexistent.

LEMON: But what if there is no --

CAIN: You ask Norm Coleman.

LEMON: Voter fraud is pretty -- is pretty much nonexistent, Will. That's a talking point.

CAIN: That's nonsense. That is nonsense that it's nonexistent. That is not true.

GRANDERSON: No, what's nonsense --

CAIN: You can't say that.

LEMON: That people are going to --

(CROSSTALK)

GRANDERSON: What's nonsense is that you don't see it.

LEMON: OK. So -- let's just say 100 people --

CAIN: That's simply not true.

LEMON: Is it going to make that much a difference? It's not even that, it's like (INAUDIBLE) percentage is like basically nothing, That is not going to make that big difference for the votes.

CAIN: So the question isn't for me then. So the question isn't for me. It's for you two. How much voter fraud is acceptable?

LEMON: Listen. I'm not saying.

GRANDERSON: No --

LEMON: I'm just saying why not --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: So that it doesn't look political, why don't you wait until the next election so both sides will get what they want? You give people the time to get a voter I.D. card and then you sort it out between now and then.

CAIN: But this has been -- this has been a project -- this isn't a project that came up in the past three months. This is a project that states across this country have been - have been looking into for years and passing on a state level for years. And by the way, it's --

GRANDERSON: And got extremely aggressive when President Obama was in office.

(CROSSTALK)

CAIN: State after start voting -- what's that?

GRANDERSON: Did you know they also tried to keep President Obama off the ballot by having some sort of special rule that was just implemented regarding birth certificates?

Will, you need to stop it and see the light, brother. They are purposely trying to do anything they can to intimidate minorities. And what you really need to be upset about --

CAIN: Do you think -- I'm just curious.

GRANDERSON: -- is -- what you really -- what you really need to be upset about is the fact that years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a registered Republican because the Republican Party was actually the party that was fighting the racism in the south. And that has flipped. And it's flipped because indecisions have allowed that to flip. And They didn't speak up when the racism was there.

CAIN: Let me just -- let me just make a point --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Wrap it up, guys.

GRANDERSON: We need to speak up about the racism now.

CAIN: It's all small point in a question. It's small point to question. This conversation shows it's a useful conversation to inflame the voter.

LEMON: OK.

CAIN: Second, it's not just me. Are you suggesting the Supreme Court of the United States therefore is racist because they have approved and seen that every one of these laws is constitutional?

GRANDERSON: I'm saying that you need to look at the genesis as to why this law was created or why these people pursued in the timeline and in the fashion in which it was pursued. Were was this conversation being so nationally pushed when W. was running for reelection? Why is it that when the first black president of the United States is on the ballot that all of a sudden we're super motivated now to make sure there's no voter fraud.

LEMON: All good questions.

GRANDERSON: You can look at the motivation and the timing.

LEMON: All good question. We let this go about 10 minutes longer than it was supposed to.

CAIN: I know you did.

LEMON: Great conservation, as usual. Goodness.

CAIN: Thank you, guys.

LEMON: Thank you. See you next weekend.

GRANDERSON: Thank you.

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.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Taking a breath now and we're going to tell you about the big stories on the weekend.

From the White House to Wall Street, our correspondents tell you what you need to know. We begin tonight with the president's plans for the week. JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jessica Yellin at the White House. Next week President Obama will speak to the United Nations General Assembly. Among his topics, the attacks in Libya that killed the Americans and the instability in the Middle East. While in New York, the president will also address Bill Clinton's Clinton Global Initiative. Later in the week President Obama will continue his campaign travel visiting the battleground state of Ohio.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: I'm Paul Steinhauser at the CNN political desk. Mitt Romney starts the week campaigning in the swing state of Colorado. Tuesday, he speaks as is President Obama at former President Bill Clinton's Annual Global Initiative gathering in New York City. Then it's off to Ohio for a two-day bus tour through the battleground state. Romney picks up in the Buckeye State where his wingman leaves off. Running mate Paul Ryan campaigns in Ohio on Monday.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. We're looking ahead to the week on Wall Street, we'll find out just how much the U.S. economy grew in the second quarter of this year with the final GDP reading set to be released on Thursday.

We're also going to get the latest new home sales data and also look at consumer confidence. Of course, any economic news these days plays right into the election.

Meantime, Nike and BlackBerry make a Research in Motion. Both report their quarterly earnings this week. And Kraft will be replaced by United Health Care on the Dow. We'll track it all for you on CNNMoney.

AJ HAMMER, HLN HOST: I'm "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's" A.J. Hammer. Here's what we are watching this week. We are catching up with TV legends Carol Burnett, Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence. They're going to be right here with me on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT". We're going to be talking about how the ground-breaking "Carol Burnett Show" changed television forever. Plus I go one-on-one with Justin Bieber's mom.

LEMON: All right. Thank you, guys.

One man says he's hung from the ceiling for a week and he makes even more allegations of abuse by American forces. That's straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Claims of torture at the former U.S. run Bagram prison in Afghanistan have circulated for years. Public records are out there but few give details of the allegations made by prisoners. Now CNN has an exclusive interview with one of the men held captive there.

Anna Coren has his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mohammad Nasim has come a long way to tell me his story, traveling more than 300 kilometers from his home near the Pakistani border to Kabul, a story that began almost a decade ago when he was arrested in October 2002.

MOHAMMAD NASIM, BAGRAM PRISONER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

COREN: "They accused me of being involved with the Taliban, attacking Jalalabad Airport 40 kilometers from my home," he said. "But I told them, how was I involved when you arrest me in my house"?

According to U.S. records, Nasim had possession of rocket mortars and other equipment when he was detained. Nasim denies that. But his troubles were just beginning. He was taken to Bagram Prison, at the time, run by the U.S. Defense Department, and says he was soon tortured.

"They gave me electric shocks on my wrists. I was hung from the ceiling for seven days. Our faces were masked and we were handcuffed. Our legs were chained as well."

He says some of the prisoners committed suicide. He also thought about ending his life.

"I completely lost my mind. If a person doesn't sleep for seven days hanging from the ceiling, my body aching, what hope do they have? They would hit our head into the wall. I thought I was going to die."

After five months at Bagram, Nasim was shipped off to Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility where he was assessed as a medium-risk prisoner. Showing me his I.D. band, the 36-year-old describes conditions inside.

"Guantanamo was not like Bagram," he says. "Every prisoner had their own small room. Then, after three months, they took us to Camp Five where it was very strict. It was difficult to cope but not as bad as Bagram."

After four and a half years, Nasim was finally released.

"The foreigner said we're sorry, but what to do with this sorry? You take me away from my family, my children. I lost five years of my life."

(on camera): There are around 200 prisoners like Muhammad Nasim, who have been transferred from Guantanamo Bay back to their homes here in Afghanistan. Some of them were low-level foot soldiers. Others may simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Human rights groups say there was definitely a pattern of abuse at Bagram Prison.

(voice-over): And a U.S. military investigation into the deaths of two prisoners at the prison found that abuse had been widespread in 2002 and 2003, during the same period Nasim was there.

Unrolling the documentation given to him by U.S. authorities, he asks me to read it. (on camera): This declaration says that Nasim Muhammad" -- that being you -- "was detained in Cuba during such conflict." Then it goes on to say that he has agreed that "Nasim Muhammad will not be further detained by the United States."

(voice-over): There was no written apology and there was no compensation.

Nasim's anger has subsided over the past six years. But he believes it's time for foreign forces to get out of Afghanistan and let Afghans look after their own country.

Anna Coren, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: CNN has called and e-mailed the Defense Department to get a comment on Nasim's torture allegations but they haven't answered as of yet.

To the lighter side, diamond and jewels, the likes of which have never been seen before. These are is a live scene of the red carpet -- the glitz, the glam, the understatement. Primetime Emmy Awards going on in Hollywood tonight. We'll take you there live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is the latest clip to go viral. Green Day front man, Billy Joe Armstrong, having an on-stage meltdown, trashing Justin Bieber, and his guitar. It all happened at the I-Heart Radio Music Festival in Las Vegas. Armstrong wasn't too happy when he got the cue that he had one minute to wrap up his set. Take a look at it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLY JOE ARMSTRONG, GREEN DAY FRONT MAN: Look at that time right there. One minute!

(CHEERING)

ARMSTRONG: I'm not (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Justin Bieber, you (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!

Let me show you what one (EXPLETIVE DELETED) minute does for me.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That is good TV. Well, anyway. A serious note. Just afterwards, Armstrong apologized and he announced that he is seeking treatment for substance abuse.

OK, man. It's that time of year again. The Emmy Awards happening out in the land of glitz and glamour.

In Los Angeles, our Kareen Wynter is there.

Kareen, I understand you have someone very special with you, someone who has been nominated a lot of time for Emmys, a very accomplished actress.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: 10 nominations, four wins, not bad. Take a look at who we have here -- the gorgeous Edie Falco from "Showtime's" Nurse Jackie.

This is so amazing to have you out here. You look fantastic. Tell us about the dress.

EDIE FALCO, ACTRESS: Stella McCartney. Very comfortable. I loved it the second I saw it.

WYNTER: Are you managing to keep cool under the sun and the pressure? I mean --

FALCO: I don't know why, but I am. I feel like I should knock something.

WYNTER: Tough category tonight. A lot of competition. You're going up against Tina Fey, for example, from "30 Rock." When you go into shows like this, are you able to sit back and relax or do you have your eye on taking home that Emmy?

FALCO: Gosh, really. Really. No, I'm so lucky. I'm so happy to be here. I love the work of the women that I'm in this category with. There is nothing unsettling about any of this, I hate to say. I just love being here.

WYNTER: Women are kicking butt in Hollywood. They're not only in front of camera doing their comedy. They're writing. They're producing. For example, Lena Dunham with "Girls." You see so much talent out there. They're wearing the pants now, not just men.

(LAUGHTER)

FALCO: I think they're still wearing dresses but they're doing a lot of work, too.

WYNTER: When you look around you, do you get star struck? Is there anyone you're dying to meet?

FALCO: There are a couple, who shall remain nameless. And some of them I've met and I still get star struck.

WYNTER: I'm sure they get star struck with you. Quite a bit of fans. You've done "Sopranos," but there is something about Nurse Jackie and going into work every day that you're finding now that you didn't find before in terms of the rewards.

FALCO: It comes with years of having done it, of confidence in knowing how to choose a group of people and all that. It's just a great work environment. It's not hand picked. It has been truly a joy. WYNTER: Well, Edie, so great talking to you. There is tons of press awaiting you down on the red carpet.

Good luck tonight. You won't need it.

WYNTER: Thanks.

LEMON: Kareen --

WYNTER: Oh, wait. I can't let you go. Don Lemon --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: We want her to turn around. We want to see the back of that dress.

WYNTER: We would love to see the back. Can you do a little twirl for us? Don is very much into fashion.

LEMON: Wow. I just think she looks hot. That's it.

WYNTER: Bye-bye. Working it.

She gets the best dress award down here, Don. It's early, but Edie is rocking it.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: We'll be watching. Stand by.

I see CNN's Nischelle Turner behind you. We've dubbed you guys when watching the feed the twin towers, CNN's twin towers on the red carpet. Beautiful ladies.

All right, girls, thanks you.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: See you later. See you later.

Well, changes in the rules could change what happens to you on Election Day. We've got a look at the new voting rules. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: New tweaks in voter rules could affect a million people on Election Day. Before you vote, check to see if your state has changed any voting procedures, like do you need a photo I.D.? Have early voting options changed?

CNN's Joe Johns has more on the partisan battle over voting rules.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: In the past two years, almost every state in the country has introduced or passed some type of change or restrictions to the voting laws. 41 out of the 50 states since the mid term last election. We're talking about all kinds of changes to the voting laws here, for early voting, for voter registration, for absentee ballots. And some of the most controversial changes of all are to laws requiring voters to show photo identification. 11 states have already gotten the photo I.D. laws in place and another six states have photo I.D. laws that have now been challenged in the courts and are under review. This is going on mostly in Republican-controlled states.

We have to say here, again and again, polling shows voter I.D. laws are very popular. They make sense to people. Republicans who tend to support these laws say they're needed to avoid voter fraud. But in previous elections and in the primaries this year, we've not seen a significant number of people charged with voter fraud.

Democrats, who are fighting these laws state to state, say it doesn't have anything to do with fraud. They say it's just a plan to try to keep voters, and especially minority voters, including blacks and Latinos, away from the polls on Election Day.

As you might imagine, some of the biggest battles over these laws are being waged in some of the most important battleground states, namely Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida, where many think the presidential election could be decided if it's a close race.

The battle is over early voting in Ohio. The Obama campaign is fighting it out in appeals court with Ohio's Republican secretary of state over whether all voters will be allowed to go to the polls on Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Election Day.

In Pennsylvania, we're waiting for a state judge to reconsider a ruling he made allowing a voter I.D. law to stay in place. The state Supreme Court told him he had to make sure there is enough time for voters to get I.D.s.

And in Florida, it's been a bruising battle over voting rights for the better part of the year. Democrats have won a few parts of this. Republicans have as well. Now it's coming down to a lawsuit filed by Democratic Congresswoman Corinne Brown over how many hours polls will be open for early voting.

And why is all of this important? Well, it's about electoral votes. Ohio has 18, Pennsylvania has 20, and Florida has 29. The candidate who wins or loses these states has a leg up in the race for the White House.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Joe Johns, thank you very much.

The replacement refs are getting almost as much attention at the NFL games at the games as the players. But have the refs set a new low? And how much longer will this go on?

Don't forget, wherever you go, we do, too. You can watch CNN live on your computer while you're at work or even on your Smartphone. Head to CNN.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The NFL replacement refs get more experience every week, but the results don't seem to get any better at all.

Jon Wertheim is back, senior investigative reporter for "Sports Illustrated."

Good to see you. It has been a while.

There you see, on the new S.I., with Oregon's De'Anthony Thomas. He is on the cover.

Jon, I was listening to a game today on the way to work. There was a bad call. Caused the game. The NFL referee issue we've talked about before. Monday night's game set a new low. Refs couldn't keep order. Denver coaches freaking out. Have you ever seen anything like this?

JON WERTHEIM, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Yes, the NFL is such a buttoned-up organization, and then we have these replacement refs and one team gets too many timeouts and one gets too few timeouts. We had a team got nine yards and still got a first down. We had Atlanta play Baltimore and somehow Arizona got a timeout. It's been a comedy of errors. The Players Association had a good point. They had a release the other day that said, look, health and safety of these players is absolutely paramount importance. Someone is going to get hurt. They have to settle this thing fast.

LEMON: Well, is there any chance we're going to see regular refs anytime soon?

WERTHEIM: Yes. I think this bad publicity is something the NFL didn't prepare for. They say about $60,000 per team is all that's separating the two sides. And I think that, you know, another week, another few games of these bungled calls, a player with the ball getting called for holding, just kind of mind-blowing calls, I think, you know, the old refs are going to come back and people are going to treat them with a new sense of respect. It's a tough job and that's what we're seeing.

LEMON: I'm wondering with all these bad calls, is this going to be the season where people go, that season didn't matter because this team shouldn't have won that game, blah, blah, blah. Is everything going to have an asterisk by it for this season?

WERTHEIM: Yes. That's another reason why this needs to be settled. I think a lot of people are questioning the legitimacy of some of this. We're going to see a game that absolutely goes to the wrong team because of a bungled call, and I think -- again, the NFL, this is a $9 billion, "B," billion dollar industry. It's amazing to me they're letting this happen and really kid of devalue the brand. LEMON: OK. Let's talk baseball now, the playoffs. The Yankees and Orioles, one game apart. How amazing is this Baltimore team?

WERTHEIM: The Baltimore team is amazing. This was a team people thought they would lose 100 games. It's been -- that Baltimore is a great story. We're going to see something interesting with the post- season this year. We're going to have five teams. for the first time, this sort of play-in game. I think among purists that's ruffled some feathers. I think it's great. I think you look at the NBA, more than half the team makes the post-season. In baseball they play 162 games. Why not let more teams have a chance at the playoffs? It's a new wrinkle this year. We have some good races. And I think these playoff drives, it's always good for the fans, and I think this is a move that was overdue.

LEMON: Finally, a sad story here of Vince Young. He's a former Heisman-trophy winner, signed a $26 million contract when he joined the NFL just a few years ago, and now he's supposedly broke. How does that happen?

WERTHEIM: Unfortunately, it's not a new story. I mean, we see guys getting a lot of money, not always a lot of financial sophistication. In this case, if you read about this case, one of his agents was a criminal defense lawyer. The other was a relative who was a middle school teacher. Unfortunately, there's a long list of these athletes. Here's Vince Young, not yet 30 years old. He tweeted -- this is playing out on Twitter. He said, "Yes, I could use a job." And I think most people sit back and say, how could you blow through $26 million.

LEMON: $26 million.

WERTHEIM: But, you know, again, not a lot of financial sophistication. Some bad ideas. There are charges here of fraud and, you know, forging his name. It's a sad story. And, unfortunately, it's not at all, in the sports world, not unique to Vince Young.

LEMON: There was a story that Will Smith tells -- it's always stuck with me -- when he lost his money when he first started out. Now he's gained it back. He said his dad would tell him, why do you have so many cars. You only have one butt.

(LAUGHTER)

You don't need to live in a house that's 30,000 square feet. And it's a good story. And, you know?

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Good advice.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Thanks, Jon.

WERTHEIM: Thanks, Don. LEMON: See you next time.

You know, their country has been torn apart by war, pushing many Afghans into another battle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREN (voice-over): With the syringe in one hand a vial of heroin in the other, this 28-year-old man begins a ritual that's been part of his life for the past seven years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Up next, the struggle to get Afghans off drugs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Warning up top. The next story, some pretty graphic pictures. So when you think of Afghanistan, many think of war, but few think about a drug war. In a country known as the opium capital of the world, people use drugs on busy streets in broad daylight.

And again, a warning. The story you're about to see contains graphic photographs, graphic pictures.

Anna Coren now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (voice-over): In a park in downtown Kabul, huddled under the trees, are a group of Afghans ignored by society.

With a syringe in one hand, a vial of heroin in the other, this 28- year-old man begins a ritual that's been part of his life for the past seven years. He draws the liquid out. What's left over, he drinks. And then he gets into position.

Health workers give him sterile swabs to clean his skin. He doesn't use the crook of his arm because his veins have collapsed. Instead, he chooses the back of his hand. For the next five minutes, he slowly pumps heroin into his veins.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

COREN: He then collapses with the needle still sticking out of his hand.

This is a tragic scene repeated throughout the country with up to a million Afghans addicted to drugs.

(CROSSTALK)

COREN: That's 8 percent of the population, double the world average.

(CROSSTALK) COREN: With Afghanistan producing 90 percent of the world's opium, the main ingredient of heroin, drugs here are pure in quality and very cheap.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

COREN: 28-year-old Reza injects half a gram a day, which costs around $4 U.S. He started a year ago after being introduced to it by a bad friend. He says he'd like to give up but, at the moment, he can't.

"Using drugs made me leave my home, my family," he tells me. "If I didn't use drugs, I would have a family, a good life."

VERN VISSA (ph), RUNS PREVENTATIVE DRUG PROGRAM: I will show you --

COREN: Vern Vissa (ph) runs a preventative drug program for medicine's demand in Kabul. It's the only clinic that provides methadone, a substitute for heroin, but can only legally cater for 71 drug users.

VISSA (ph): I would describe the drug addiction problem in Afghanistan as enormous and growing.

COREN: The clinic also helps addicts who walk in off the street.

VISSA (ph): This is his first day that he's not used any other drugs --

(CROSSTALK)

COREN: He introduces me to this 38-year-old Azadullah (ph), who has been an addict for 14 years. The father of four says his family has had enough.

"I want to use methadone until I forget drugs completely," he says. "I want to be a healthy person to find a good way to start a normal life."

(on camera): Two years ago, there was a real sign the Afghan government and the international community were serious about tackling drug addiction in this country. A methadone program started but, two months later, it was shut down. Officials saying they're still trying to work out the best form of treatment.

(voice-over): According to the U.N., it is. But that means little to the countless number of desperate Afghans who can't access the methadone program.

25-year-old Messoma (ph) is willing to try a more basic form of treatment. She and her entire family, including her two young boys, are addicted to opium.

"I started to use the drug like a medicine for pain relief after my husband died, but when I became an addict, I had to search for a way to stop this."

They're staying at Mother Camp, an organization founded by a local Afghan woman which tackles drug abuse through counseling.

"I feel shame and say to myself, why did I do this? Why didn't I think of my children, my future"?

A powerful motive that for now is keeping her addiction at bay, but for so many other Afghans, that battle is already lost.

Anna Coren, CNN, Kabul.

(END VIDEO CLIP)