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Odd Political-Season Search Results; Mitt Romney Stumps in Ohio; Mother Sentenced for Super Gluing Daughters Hands to Wall; Video Says Death of College Student Unjustified; Basketball Players Surprised by Iranians; "Endeavor's" Final Journey; Retired Space Shuttle Crawling Through L.A.; 14-Year-Old Girl Targeted by Taliban
Aired October 13, 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.
We have new developments in the deadly meningitis out break to tell you about. The CDC reports more than a dozen new cases of fungal meningitis and another fatality. The death toll now stands at 15, overall, 198 cases of fungal meningitis are confirmed across 13 states. The outbreak is linked to contaminated steroid injections used to relieved back and neck pain. Fourteen thousand people may have gotten tinted injections.
It is the biggest spectacle to hit Hollywood in a very long time, I want you to look at that, five stories tall, and crawling super slow through the streets of downtown Los Angeles. And now, retired space shuttle "Endeavour" heading for its final destination, you're looking at live pictures now. That destination in museum. Stay right there, we're going to go live to L.A. and check its progress in just a minute.
Oh, and you can follow along as it moves through L.A., see a little window in the corner of your screen there? There it is right there, that is a live picture, and we'll going to keep it up all afternoon for you here on CNN.
Syrian rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, are claiming a dramatic victory. The free-Syrian army says, it's shot down a military jet that was unleashing attacks from the air. Rebels in the video chanted, "God is great," as they celebrate but there was no let-up in the violence as the opposition says, 110 people were killed across Syria today.
A suicide bomb tore apart a busy market in northwest Pakistan today. At least 17 people were killed, 38 others wounded. Officials suspect that the target was a nearby building serving as a base for anti- Taliban fighters, the explosion during one of the busiest time of day at that market.
Some scary moments where volunteers working to reelect President Barack Obama. Police in Denver say, someone fired a single shot Friday into an Obama campaign office. No one was hurt, but people were inside the office at the time. No one got a look at the suspect. But police say, they do have a possible lead on a vehicle.
Republican Mitt Romney, mixing political rallies with debate prep this weekend. He has an event later this hour in Lebanon, Ohio, a few hours ago he went after President Obama over the economy at a rally in Portsmouth. Romney spent the morning in private getting ready for a Tuesday's second presidential debate.
I want to show you something, is that this used street sign in American history, show it for me. "Shuttle Crossing." Whoever made that sign waited a long time to use it. But you know, it sure came in handy today in Los Angeles. This is what we're talking about. The space shuttle "Endeavour," the workhorse space craft which zoomed through space 25 times is making its final journey right now. And it is super, super slow. Two CNN work horses are watching this story, in surreal moment, in time.
Casey Wian of course and our John Zarrella have been following - both of them have been following this story for us on the streets of Los Angeles today.
John, first to you, where is the shuttle now? And how fast are we moving? Is it still two miles an hour, or even slower?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's actually, and before that, I have to get us a couple of those signs, Don, boy, that would be great to get a couple of those. But, you know, it is moving less than two miles an hour, they actually ran into some difficulty with ahead some of those tight turns that you and I have been talking about the last couple of days, where the clearances were just a couple of miles. But we are on the roof top of a parking garage, parking deck of a mall.
And you can see the tremendous crowd that is gathering and continued to gather, and look down the street down there, Don. All lined up along the street here waiting for Endeavour, which is behind schedule about an hour behind. And I am joined by Stephanie Stilson, and Stephanie is with NASA. Stephanie has been responsible, Don, for getting all three of the space shuttle orbiters prepared for their museum homes and Stephanie, just look in at this crowd, spectacular, isn't it?
STEPHANIE STILSON, NASA: And really, it is actually more people than I even expected, and I expected a lot. So, it just made you see they continue pouring in, it's great.
ZARRELLA: And that has to make you feel good about, you know, the fact the shuttle is retiring, it's been, you know, gee, a lot of people, and of course, you, not wanting to let it go.
STILSON: That's right. Well, you know, past 20 years, space center has taking care of Endeavour. And so, to turn that responsibility over to someone else, is hard to do. But we know the California Science Center is up for the a challenge, they'll going to do a great job with it, and then see now a community and knowing that they're excited to get here is even better. ZARRELLA: You know, Don and I we're talking, he asked me once about, why don't we talk about it? People say, why don't you just take the wings off this thing? Not so easy.
STILSON: Not so easy at all, it's not an airplane. It has a thermal protection system on the outside made up of blankets and tile, very fragile components, to take the wings off, it would have to strip it down and take those blankets and tile off, be a big challenge. Could you do it? Yes. It is a smart thing to do? No. So that is why we had the route and it's taking too much time to develop the route and get us through the city.
ZARRELLA: And you know, Don, so Stephanie sits here with her fingers crossing, cringes every time she hears "tight corners," and you know, the part of the problem was, is there were some older trees in some neighborhood areas, they did not want to cut down, and we know the controversy where they had to cut down about 400 trees, Science Center saying, they put two trees back for everyone that they had to cut down. But there were some areas where these older trees, they did not want to cut them down. So, it's made the clearances literally just a couple of inches on either side. And that has slowed them down, but these people have been really great troopers, you know, out here for four or five hours already, waiting on the shuttle "Endeavour." So, you know just what a big event this is here in the Los Angeles area -- Don.
LEMON: All right, thank you very much, John, we'll see you in just a bit here. Hey, let's go to Casey Wian right now. Casey, you're a little bit closer to the shuttle now, tell us what's -- oh, yes, right there, right, pretty close to you, what is going on where you are?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I don't want to cause Stephanie any concern, but she and John were just talking about these tight clearances, and you can see over my left shoulder here, the shuttle "Endeavour, " and then some telephone poles that are only, yes, and probably no more than a foot on that side of "Endeavour," and then if we panic rush, you can see a tree that is on the other side, that they're actually training you, may be able to see that poll saw over there, cutting some excess branches off of that tree.
We have been watching this kind of activity all day long as we have been walking alongside the "Endeavour." You can also look back over here the left if you will. Like you can see a cable there that is going across. Twenty minutes ago, that cable was ten feet lower than it is now. They just raised it temporarily to allow the shuttle's wings to pass under. So the shuttle is crawling along, very, very slowly as you can probably see. And the most important man in this whole operation right now is the gentleman right here in the blue jump suit.
He has a joy stick controller in front of him. And he is maneuvering this platform that is holding this shuttle, just like it was a video game. Probably about the most expensive, sophisticated video game you could imagine. But so far, even though it is running a little bit behind schedule, everything has gone relatively smoothly. No significant damage to -- any trees or any power lines. And most importantly, no significant damage to the shuttle -- Don.
LEMON: That is so weird to see that thing right behind you on the street, Casey. All right, thank you, and I want to tell our viewers again. We'll going to keep that box up that we'll see in a little bit here on CNN. And then we'll going to carry this for you live tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN when it really gets closer to its destination live coverage of that for you. Let's go to politics now.
And of course, also a race for the White House, just 24 days until Election Day, Shannon Travis standing by in Washington. Shannon, we know Mitt Romney spent the morning getting ready for Tuesday night's debate. What is the President doing today?
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: The President is hunkering down, in debate camp, pretty much today. In Williamsburg, Virginia, obviously, he wants to win Virginia again as he did in 2008. But we don't expect to see him publicly today, he is hunkering down with his debate team, as you mentioned. Romney is holding two events in Ohio today. But around that, Don, he is also meeting up with his debate advisers, he did some debate prep this morning. And he's going to be returning back to Boston later on tonight to do some more preparations.
LEMON: I know that every time we come to you guys, it seems like you political guys, you and Paul Steinhauser, it's like, you got some new poll numbers.
TRAVIS: Always polls, always polls, we live by the polls.
LEMON: What do you have?
TRAVIS: A little bit of a surprise, Don. You might appreciate this one in Arizona, of all places, you know that Arizona is pretty much a republican state, right? No president, no democratic president or candidate has gotten its vote except Bill Clinton in 1996. And that goes back to 1972. But we have a new poll from Rocky Mountain, a Rocky Mountain poll that shows Obama 42 percent, Romney, 40 percent among all voters. That is surprising, because just a few weeks ago Romney was ahead. We rate Arizona as leaning Romney, and this poll was taken after the presidential debate that most people thought, even President Obama thought that he didn't bring his a-game. So, it is a little bit surprising at the poll that this poll shows Obama slightly ahead of Romney.
LEMON: Yes, at least it makes the contest a little bit more interesting and not predictable.
TRAVIS: That's right.
LEMON: So, let's talk about Tuesday's debate format. Our Candy Crowley, so excited for her. And Candy is going to be great, Martha Raddatz is great. We knew Candy was going to be great. So, how is this going to work? This debate?
TRAVIS: Well, it is a town hall format, right? So, it's different than just, you know, an audience that's quite with the moderator and the two candidates, right? You know, they're active audience, they're asking questions, they're engaging. The candidates are speaking directly to the voters themselves. They're having to gauge or maybe you know, modify their answers based on the reaction, right? It is a lot tougher, it presents a lot more opportunities for mistakes.
You remember, Don, in 1992, President George H. W. Bush looking down at his watch in a debate in a town hall format in 2000. Al Gore kind of invading George W. Bush' space. So, it presents a little bit more opportunities to mess up. Because the audience right there, you have to react to, as well as the audience at home. So it is a little bit harder to connect.
LEMON: Yes, but guess what? Who do you remember? The people who are relatable, and not perfect.
TRAVIS: That is true, that is true.
LEMON: Yes, there you go. Thank you Shannon.
TRAVIS: I don't know if I could do it, though.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, Shannon. I appreciate it. Moving on now again, we'll going to keep the space shuttle up for you in the corner of your screen there, and show its movements live throughout the day here on CNN.
A rock legend about to hit the campaign trail. Bruce Springsteen, the boss, will campaign for President Obama next week in Ohio and in Iowa as well, teaming up with another high profile supporter in Ohio none other than former President Bill Clinton. Ohio is a critical battleground state, and the President's lead in the polls in that state has narrowed since the first debate.
The presidential contenders will square off for the second time on Tuesday night. Our special live coverage begins at 7:00 Eastern here on CNN, the debate will be moderated by CNN's Candy Crowley, as I said earlier.
And coming up, prayers around the world for a 14-year-old Pakistani activist nearly killed by the Taliban as police make more arrests in her shooting.
And Google searches that yield a presidential candidate. Some of the search phrases will surprise you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: New developments about a 14-year-old Pakistani girl who survived an assassination attack by the Taliban. Malala Yousafzai moved her limbs today, according to a Pakistani military spokesperson. The children in Pakistan and beyond are praying for her swift recovery.
She is well known for blogging about how girls should have rights in Pakistan. Police in Pakistan arrested three more suspects in connection with Tuesday's brutal attack. Malala was riding home in a school van when gunmen shot her in the neck. Two other girls were wounded.
CNN's Reza Sayah talked to the friends of the teenager activist, and we have to warn you, some of the video in the story may be a bit too graphic for some of our viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Blood stains covered the seats of an old canopid (ph) pickup truck. Malala Yousafzai and her classmates rode together to get home from school. This is where Malala Yousafzai was sitting, police say, when gunmen shot her in the head. Kainat Ahmed, Malala's friend was sitting next to her, she says, when one of the attackers stopped the truck. Another came around the back, Kainat says, gun in hand.
KAINAT AHMED, SHOOTING VICTIM: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
SAYAH: When we saw the gun, we started screaming, Kainat says. He asked, "Who is Malala Yousafzai? I don't think anyone told him, but he recognized Malala and started shooting. Malala fell down, but he kept firing. That is when my friend and I got injured."
Kainat is recovering from a bullet wound to the hand. The 14-year-old Malala, who had a high profile blog, critical of the Taliban, is clinging to life, following major surgery. The passenger truck now part of an intense is investigation to find the gunmen, the Pakistani government, under increasing pressure to solve the case, has given conflicting accounts of the probe. The interior minister says, the two gunmen have been identified and arrests are coming soon.
The foreign minister told CNN 100 people were detained for questioning, a regional police chief says, 35 people are in custody for questioning, three blame Malala shooting on a man with suspected linked to the Taliban. The Taliban have already claims they plotted the attack, but police say still no hard evidence who pulled the trigger. On Friday, the outpouring of support continued with a message from the prime minister.
RAJA PERVEZ ASHRAF, PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: And we have to unite and stand together.
SAYAH: And vigils across the country, Pakistanis, young and old, praying for Malala, a 14-year-old human rights activist, whose legend grows by the day.
TAHIRA ABDULLA, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: She is a little child, gives older people hope and inspiration. And sanity, and brings us back from depression and dejection.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAYAH: A top government official says, in the coming days, doctors will be keeping a close eye on the swelling in Malala's brain, swelling after brain surgery, a big concern of course, the brain is enclosed in a hard casing, the skull unlike other parts of the body, the swelling doesn't have anywhere to go. That's why doctors they say, they'll going to keep a close eye on it. Much of this nation, much of the world keeping a close eye on Malala's health, as well. Reza Sayah, CNN, Islamabad.
LEMON: All right. Reza, thank you very much. How much can people tell about you if they know your political affiliation? Well, apparently a lot. Including your sex life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So, I figured, you know, I have been doing this for a while and done just about every story. But not this one, here is a new twist on politics. Can your political views say more about you than just politics? For example, for example, on my music tracker Echo Nest breaks down, listener data for millions of songs on average they found if -- if you're a fan of Tim McGraw, OK, you're likely republican. Lady Gaga, democratic and this is kind of, you know, I guess generalizing, it's not just -- not always so apparent.
Former American Idol, what do you think? Kelly Clarkson, well, more of her fans identified with the GOP, than the dance. What about Pink Floyd? Actually, on average, their fans lean right, too. So, what other trends can we see using political beliefs as a filter?
Wendy Walsh is a human behavior expert. Of course we're going to ask her that. She knows a lot about relationships, and specifically, sex, that is actually in the prompter. So, is there a difference between red state sex and blue state sex?
DR. WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Yes, there absolutely is. OK everybody, turn up your TV, here we go. This from a fabulous book called "Pre Marital Sex in America," by Dr. Dr. Mark Regnerus of University of Texas who I love. You should get a copy of this book. His whole chapter on red sex and blue sex, and it's our mating strategies. Basically, conservatives tend to marry earlier, they most often have sex within the confines of marriage, except for evangelical teen girls because they have a high teenage pregnancy rates. But besides that, they tend to have since they get married earlier, have sex earlier, have more kids earlier, they have time to have lots of divorces, so they ultimately have more marriages. Liberals on the other hand -- I don't mean to say, the conservatives have sex earlier.
LEMON: Hang on. You said, ultimately have more marriages or more divorces.
WALSH: Yes.
LEMON: You meant more divorces.
WALSH: Well, more divorces and more marriages.
LEMON: OK, go ahead, liberal?
WALSH: So, Liberals have less time to have all those divorces because they delay marriages, because they have sex more often out of wedlock, they have more abortions, conservatives are more likely to have babies than have abortions. So, Liberals actually have fewer divorces but mainly because they're delaying it, and have as much time to have all of those marriages.
LEMON: Oh, OK. This one is from -- my writer, Rob Harbor, he says what about swing states?
(LAUGHTER)
WALSH: Of course, swing states, we're going to have all kinds of interesting sex going on there. No, but you want to know an interesting thing, Don?
LEMON: What?
WALSH: In on-line dating sites, did you know that political affiliation is the most least likely trait that someone will put in their profile, less than eight percent of the people do? And when they do, they usually say, they're an independents.
LEMON: Oh.
WALSH: It's almost like they're afraid to show case it. There is more chance that they will show their body fat, or their BMI, than their political affiliation when they're courting. It is fascinating.
LEMON: But even if they won't put it in there, but is this something that is important, should you know this before choosing a mate? Does it make a big difference, do you think? That big a difference?
WALSH: Well, did you know political affiliation is the most common shared trait among marital partners, next to religion? So my thinking is that daters don't put it in the upfront advertising, on the on-line profile. But they sass it out by asking questions like, what do you think about gun control? What do you think about abortion? Et cetera, et cetera.
LEMON: Right. OK, so what about families, marriages, and we have like, you know, James Carville and Mary Matalin, what about where they're both parents, both people embrace different parties? Does that happen a lot? And how do they resolve it? Do they just live with it?
WALSH: Well, it is really rare actually, it is very rare. It's one of the most common things that married couples share of course as a political affiliation. And it has been suggested that if couples don't start talking about this in the dating phase of their relationships, that they could be entering a rocky road. Because, it's tough, you know, especially if the conservative just want to get divorced after that fight, and the liberal doesn't, I don't know, because there seems to be more divorces. But the big question people always asked, Don is, if Liberals are having all these divorces --
LEMON: Are they going to become extinct? Right.
WALSH: Are they going to become extinct? Right. Our conservatives because they're having all the babies are going to populate. Is this going to affect the electorate? And the answer is absolutely no, because conservative generally acquire their ranks through birth. But as people become educated and mobile, meaning that they move around the country to pursue careers, they get exposed to different lifestyles, they become more educated, they become more liberal. So as a result, Liberals acquire their folks mostly through conversion, they convert to liberalism but you're born a conservative, I like to say that some of the best Liberals were born conservatives.
LEMON: Wow, I've often wonder why people get so passionate about politics, because I'm not political, you know, and now I see it. It is sort of in your genes I would imagine.
WALSH: Well, it is partly heritable actually. It is partly heritable and it's partly environmental. No, it is true, it is in your genes.
LEMON: All right, because we know we were talking about sex.
All right. Thank you. Dr. Wendy. We've got to move on. Good to see you, bye.
WALSH: Good to see you, bye.
LEMON: Have you ever Googled yourself and discovered some strange things pop up? Well, it turns out you can Google some off-color phrases and candidates pop up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Don't forget, you can stay connected. You can watch CNN live from your computer, you can do it from work. Just go to CNN.com/TV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Internet search engines are on political overload right now. But it is not often that the search engines themselves become a political story.
CNN's Athena Jones shows us what happens when you search the phrase "completely wrong" on Google?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Google, Yahoo! Bing, search engines are a part of modern life. The top searches on Google are on the vice presidential debate where Biden conflating malarkey and who is winning the debate? It is a window into the minds of millions of web users.
(on camera): But search engines can also raise eyebrows, for instance, when I type "completely wrong" into the Google images search, I a lot of pictures of Mitt Romney.
(voice-over): Google says, the gallery of photos was not unintentional, its algorithm simply picked up on news coverage of Romney's own description of its 47 percent remarks. We saw a similar trend on Bing and Yahoo, but to a lesser degree.
DANNY SULLIVAN, SEARCH ENGINE LAND: For a search engine, they really rely on the words that are around in the image to understand what's it's about. If you put a picture of Mitt Romney next to words that say like "completely wrong," then they think I guess it is relevant for completely wrong.
JONES: Still, sometimes it is unintentional, these are called Google bombs, in the mid-2000s pranksters created links that post a Google search for the word "miserable failure" to put President George W. Bush at the top of the results page. Google later tweaked its analytics to limit the practice.
Intentional or not, a search for the phrase "debate fail" brings up images of President Obama, but also of people like Romney, Governor Rick Perry, and one-time presidential hopeful, John Kerry.
And speaking of Kerry, who was accused of flip-flopping on the issues, conservative bloggers managed to push his campaign web site to the top of Google search engines for the word, "waffle."
(on camera): Is this just part of modern reality, something that candidates are powerless to do anything about?
DANNY SULLIVAN, SEARCH ENGINE LAND: One of the things they can do to protect themselves is to make sure that they have multiple web sites that are about themselves, officially.
JONES (voice-over): The good news? Search results usually fade over time.
Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Half past the hour now. A look at the headlines here on CNN.
New developments in the deadly meningitis outbreak. The CDC is reporting more than a dozen new cases of fungal meningitis and another fatality. The death toll stands at 15 now. Overall, 198 cases of fungal meningitis are confirmed across 13 states. The outbreak is linked to contaminated steroid injections used to help back and neck pain. 14,000 people may have gotten tainted injections.
Thieves stole a whole bunch of brand news Benjamins from the Federal Reserve. The FBI says thieves took a large amount of newly designed $100 bills that were headed for a federal facility in New Jersey. The money was transported Thursday from Dallas with a stopover in Philadelphia. A courier realized money was missing after the cargo reached New Jersey.
It's three days until the next presidential debate, and candidates are hard at work getting ready. President Obama headed for Williamsburg, Virginia, today for some intense debate preparations. And meanwhile, Mitt Romney holds an event soon in Lebanon, Ohio, his second rally of the day. Live pictures now of Mr. Romney at the podium. But he spent a couple of hours this morning getting ready for the debate. And this is a live shot here, another live shot here. This one is from downtown Los Angeles. That is space shuttle "Endeavour," of course. Doesn't it look weird on the streets? And you don't want to get stuck behind this in traffic. It's going really slow, slower than average walking speed. Destination, the Science Center across town from LAX. It should arrive late tonight. And we're going to carry it for you live.
And this may be a first. A mother Super Glues her daughter's hands to the wall. We'll tell you how much prison time she is going to get.
But first this.
Well, when it comes to your 401K, how would you describe yourself? Christine Romans has advice on what to do with your savings plan in today's "Smart is the New Rich."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: In the stock market today, there are bulls, bears and scaredy cats. Stocks are up this year big time. The Federal Reserve is stimulating the economy, keeping interest rates super low. Riskier assets like stocks and commodities have been rising. But is the rally for stocks over?
"CNN Money" surveyed 37 investment advisers. Most CDS in the S&P 550 ending the year right here. What is the problem?
STACY FRANCIS, CEO, FRANCIS FINANCIAL: We have got some big, dark clouds ahead of us.
ROMANS: America's fiscal cliff, Europe's mess, China's slow down, it has been a good rise. Time for a pause.
FRANCIS: We expect somewhat a flat year from here on out.
ROMANS: (on camera): And next year?
FRANCIS: And next year, the growth will be nowhere near this.
ROMANS: If you're an investor, should you consider not having so many stocks in your 401K?
FRANCIS: Well, actually, now could be a good time for you to change your overall profile and your overall risk tolerance and become a more conservative investor.
ROMANS (voice-over): But bulls say pause now, and you're a fool.
NED RILEY, CHAIRMAN, RILEY ASSET MANAGEMENT: I'm definitely a bull in this market today, next year and the year after. I think the economics is going to change dramatically in about nine months. This should be a time where people should be buying, increasing their risk tolerance, increasing their exposure to the stock market itself.
ROMANS: And for the scaredy cats out there, you should expect virtually no return on your money sitting in the banks or in bonds.
RILEY: For the longer term, the average investor will need a much, much better return than the zero percent they are getting in T-Bills or the 2 percent they might get in bonds.
ROMANS: Whatever you do, bulls and bears agree.
FRANCIS: Don't let the headlines drive you for the choices in how you invest. It is more about the long-term and it's more about where you want to go, and what type of portfolio you need to support you to get you there.
ROMANS: And you won't get there is you don't know the log-in to your 401K.
Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, live now, there is presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, speaking right now in the battleground state of Ohio. He's in Lebanon, north of Cincinnati. We want to listen in for a minute.
MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- cuts to the military.
(BOOING)
ROMNEY: And with the sequester that the White House authored as well, why there's hundred and millions on top of that for roughly a trillion dollars in cuts to our military. That doesn't just cost jobs.
(BOOING)
ROMNEY: That threatens our national security.
(BOOING)
ROMNEY: The secretary of defense said the cuts would be devastating. I can tell you this. If I get -- when I get elected president, we're going --
(CHEERING)
(CHANTING)
ROMNEY: -- we're going to make sure that we do not cut our military budget. Our military must remain the strongest military in the world by a wide margin.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: One of the biggest differences between the two of us relates to jobs, rising take-home pay. I mean, with 23 million Americans out of work and struggling to find a good job, with the median income in America having gone down each of the last three or four years, down now $4,300 a family, at the same time gasoline prices up, food prices up, utility prices up, health care costs up up. But this has been a tough time for middle income Americans. The vice president said middle incomes have been buried. He is right.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: And against that backdrop, against that backdrop, when the president is asked, what are you going to do to get people jobs, he has nothing to say. It is another stimulus. How did the last one work out?
(SHOUTING)
ROMNEY: Then he wants to hire government workers. Nothing wrong with government workers. But that is not going to put America back to work. And then, of course, he wants to make his investments in various businesses, and so forth, and then he wants to raise taxes. He doesn't have a plan that will get America working.
Paul Ryan --
LEMON: Mitt Romney speaking to supporters in Lebanon, Ohio, and you know the rhetoric will get stronger as we get closer to Election Day. Mitt Romney there, down three points from the president. The president's 50, Romney's at 47 in Ohio. Romney got a bit of a bump after the last debate, but still trailing Obama. If you want to watch the rally in its entirety, you can watch it on CNN/live.
On to other news now. 99 years behind bars, that is the sentence a Texas mother is facing after she admitted Super Gluing her two-year- old daughter's hands to a wall and then beating her. At the sentencing hearing, prosecutors showed pictures of the girl's hands and bruised body and her forehead.
Criminal defense attorney, Holly Hughes, joins me now.
Holly, how did the judge -- first of all, this is ridiculous. How did the judge come to this sentence?
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY & FORMER PROSECUTOR: What he said was, you savagely beat your daughter almost to death. So basically, what he is going to do is give her the max for every offense she has been convicted of to ensure she doesn't get out and have access -- remember, Don, she has other children. And in her plea for the judge to be lenient, she said, well, I have to get out and take care of our other children. I think the judge sent a clear message that we don't want you taking care of children --
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHES: -- anybody anymore.
LEMON: Well, that was kind of the point of the sentencing.
HUGHES: Correct.
LEMON: But didn't -- her attorneys say this sentence is excessive. Obviously, an appeal will be made here.
HUGHES: Right. They will appeal, first of all, on a lot of different grounds. And they will appeal that it is too harsh, given the nature of the offense. But typically, we don't see those appeals being successful. It is within the judge's discretion. That is why the law is wide open. And when you consider all the damage that was done to this little girl and the fact that she barely survived it, I don't think the appeal will be successful.
Interestingly enough, what she tried to say and her attorneys tried to put up, well, I was sexually abused as a child, so that is why I did all of this. But then the prosecutor came back and said, OK, but you consistently, constantly beat this child. And the defendant herself, Don, when they said, did you beat her, she said "constantly."
LEMON: That is something you work out with therapy, not with your child.
HUGHES: Exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Just because you can have children, doesn't mean you should.
HUGHES: Absolutely.
LEMON: I knew this next story was going to -- we didn't hear the last of it. We reported it last week. At family of a University of South Alabama student, who was shot and killed last weekend in a late-night confrontation with a campus police officer, said the death was absolutely unjustified. Part of the incident was captured on surveillance camera. The video has not been reviewed by reporters or the public, but the family's attorney did get to see it. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERE BEASLEY, COLLAR FAMILY ATTORNEY: I can tell you, without reservation, nothing we saw in the videotape justified the use of deadly force in this case. Something happened that caused him to act in an unusual, distressed manner. The fact that he came to the police station indicates that he was not necessarily looking for trouble. In fact, I think he was looking for help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So Mobile County police are investigating. So first, do you think this surveillance video will be released?
HUGHES: It will be, because there is a lawsuit that is being filed, so it will become part of the discover packet. Once it is out there, unless they get a special order sealing discovery, it will be available to the public. LEMON: Where is the liability here? Is it with the university in this case? Who is it with?
HUGHES: It is with the officer and the department he works for. Because we know, from all accounts, the boy was naked. Which means what, Don? He didn't have a weapon of any kind. So use of deadly force against a person who has no weapon whatsoever, to me, is going to prove to be inexcusable. And that is why the liability will rest.
LEMON: Unless they say he was hopped up on drugs or something where he was --
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHES: Right, but called for backup, two officers can take him down, use pepper spray. There are many alternatives short of deadly force.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, Holly.
HUGHES: Absolutely.
LEMON: Appreciate it.
It's unfamiliar territory for an American basketball star but he is scoring points with the people of Iran.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I have an incredible story for you really. A lot of Americans hear Iran, they think nukes, Ahmadinejad, rhetoric. That is what one American basketball player thought. In fact, he feared Iran, but accepted a gig there anyway. And that is where he got a huge surprise.
CNN's Nischelle Turner explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even when you know you've got game --
I'm not even breaking a sweat.
TURNER: -- the game here --
KEVIN SHEPPARD, AMERICAN BASKETBALL PLAYER: What I thought about Iran was, hell no.
TURNER: -- it's complicated.
(SHOUTING)
SHEPPARD: I don't know what the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) they're talking about. TURNER: -- and downright comical for American point guard, Kevin Shepherd, the subject of the new documentary "The Iran Job."
(CROSSTALK)
SHEPPARD: You love black people, too?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.
SHEPPARD: Everybody in Iran love black people. People say, you're my man.
(LAUGHTER)
TURNER: After college ball in Florida, Shepherd played on pro teams around the world. Then in 2008, he was one of 13 Americans recruited by the Iranian Super League.
SHEPPARD: I said to myself, well, if I get there and it is everything like the news said it was, weapons of mass destruction, these people are crazy, they have bin Laden over there hiding, then I'm just going to get on the next plane and come right back home.
TURNER: The six-foot star joined Iran's only non-government sponsored team in the cultural center of Sharas (ph).
SHEPPARD: Here I was, you know, in a country where they have all of these signs, "Down with USA," and "USA is the evil one." And then I met with the people, and they were like, oh, man, I love Kobe Bryant, I love Lebron James, I want to go to America and be a superstar.
TURNER: An American found himself at home, and a filmmaker found a story.
TILL SCHAUDER, FILMMAKER: I had read about the handful of players who do this in Iran, and was right away inspired to find somebody who could be our tour guide there.
SHEPPARD: They love Americans there, especially black Americans, really.
(SHOUTING)
SCHAUDER: It struck me that these players could potentially be bridge-builders.
TURNER: Bridge-building was not this player's priority. Winning was.
(SHOUTING)
(CHEERING)
SHEPPARD: I always try to stay away from politics, because I'm just a basketball player, you know.
TURNER: But on his way to practice during the playoffs in 2009 -- SHEPPARD: Like this long streak, just as far as your eyes can see, no turns, just straight. One side was Hezbollah, which is like their military police, and the another side was the Green protesters.
TURNER: The country's Green movement was beginning. Demonstrators protesting the presidential election results. And the athlete found himself in the middle of an uprising.
SHEPPARD: I am caught between basically almost a million people. That's when I said, man, this thing right here is no basketball. This right here is starting to get serious.
(MUSIC)
TURNER: The government quickly swept the protesters off the street.
SCHAUDER: The people were -- at the end of the day, they were denied. But you can also see that seed of change already in them.
(MUSIC)
SHEPPARD: This story here needs to be told.
TURNER: To get it told, they put footage on crowd funding site Kick Starter and raised more than $100,000 online from regular people worldwide to finish the film.
The protesters may have been quieted but a movie capturing their movement has been made possible by a point guard and the loud voice of the people.
(SHOUTING)
TURNER: Nischelle Turner, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Very cool.
Also, is this. It can fly nearly 17,000 miles an hour, but today the shuttle "Endeavour" on a slow-mo mission. The snail's-pace journey to its new home. That's next. Those are live pictures.
And don't forget, wherever we go, you go too. You can watch CNN live on your computer while you're at work or even on your Smartphone. Head to CNN.com/tv.
That shuttle picture is better than me. You should have kept it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It's a very cool thing to cruise down the streets of Los Angeles. Not even Hollywood directors could pull this off. The space shuttle "Endeavour," that's the star of the show, taking its sweet time crawling to its final destination. Isn't that beautiful? This is a very awesome machine. It's flown 123 million miles through space. And NASA is in no hurry to get it home to the California Science Center.
Casey Wian, on the street, walking along side "Endeavor," and John Zarrella is there, too, watching from a roof top.
So, John, to you first. Just a little while ago, the shuttle had not made it to your position. What about now? Where is it?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it still hasn't. And you can see the crowd behind us. There are thousands and thousands of people who have gathered here by a shopping mall, which was the second designated area where they were going to have a ceremony. They are one-hour behind schedule right now. It would have been here an hour ago. It looks like perhaps another hour another hour now, we're hearing, before they make it here. Not likely that they can make up much time. But they did run into some areas where there were very close quarters. So many people pressing in. Really having problems with crowd control in some areas because of the throng of people getting close to the vehicle. They had to keep them back. And also even, Don, cutting down some trees themselves, and trimming some branches back from some of the trees. So they've run into some snags along the way that they didn't quite anticipate -- Don?
LEMON: OK.
Let's go to Casey Wian.
Casey, you heard what John said, they've ran into some snags. Some people were wondering, is this really necessary or was that something more theoretical here, something a little larger than life that they were trying to create around this. It could be a bit of both. What do you say?
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, they say they've really studied every potential way, including bringing in the shuttle on helicopters, and this was the best way to do it.
And you asked John just a while ago where the shuttle is exactly and it just passed the corner of Florence. And we are on Crenshaw Boulevard.
And it struck me -- I want to point out something to you, Don -- that just about a mile to the west of here is the corner of Florence and Normandy which, of course, was the flash point of the Los Angeles Riots 20 years ago. What we have seen in this community today is an outpouring of patriotism, celebration. We saw a spontaneous singing of the "Star Spangled Banner" several minutes ago as the "Endeavor" passed one section of this crowd. So it has really brought this community together. And I think if you ask those hundreds of thousands of people who have seen the "Endeavor" go through their neighborhoods, they would say it's all been well worth it -- Don?
LEMON: John Zarrella and Casey Wian.
That vest is not a fashion statement. It's a safety statement by Casey Wian.
Thank you, guys. We appreciate it.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Here is exactly what you don't want to happen when performing acrobatics near the edge of a cliff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Richard Hendrickson (ph) was said to be only centimeters from death after he attempted this stunt. The stand broke, flinging him over the edge of the cliff 1200 meters above the ground. One witness said everyone was certain he had died but he managed to open his parachute just seconds before smashing into the ground. Wow!
I'm Don Lemon. See you back here in an hour.