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Campaign on Overdrive; Israelis Stop Ship to Gaza; Defense of Marriage Act to Supreme Court

Aired October 20, 2012 - 16:00   ET

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


MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the CNN NEW ROOM. I'm Martin Savidge, in for Fredricka Whitfield, and these are the stories making headlines right now.

We'll begin in Inglewood, California, where a gunman kills a 30-year- old father of six and his 4-year-son, in a shooting that left three other family members wounded this morning.

Here is what we know about the victims according to police. Three of them were children under the age of 10, two were adults and three of the victims are now in critical condition.

Police are searching for a 55-year-old black male who was last seen wearing a dark hat and painter's mask.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: ... about the victims, according to police. Three of them were children under the age of 10, two were adults, three of the victims are now in critical condition. Police are searching for a 55-year-old black male who was last seen wearing a dark hat and a painter's mask. According to our affiliate, KCAL, KCBS, he may have retaliated against the family after being evicted from a back house that he was renting from them.

Now to a shooting spree in Michigan, 15 shootings, to be exact, in two days, all in suburban area Detroit. The targets have been both people and cars and no one, fortunately has been injured but the shootings are stirring up fear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are getting shot all over the place, the kids are scared, the parents are scared. Someone has got to put a stop to it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank god, nobody has been shot or hurt, but it is still weird when you hear about stuff like this, it brings back memories of the sniper and the thing that was happening in D.C..

(END VIDEO CLIP) SAVIDGE: Now, police say they don't have any suspects at this point but they have formed a loose task force to investigate those shootings.

17 days, and counting now from the presidential election and the campaigns are very much in overdrive. President Obama, Mitt Romney, they are hunkering down, preparing for their last debate that's going to be Monday night in Boca Raton, Florida. But their running mates are on the stump, crisscrossing the country in key battleground states.

For the Obama team, Vice president Joe Biden is campaigning in Florida, where he rallied voters in St. Augustine, telling supporters that the president supports women's rights and that former Governor Mitt Romney does not. He also took a jab saying that the GOP is no longer in the mainstream of American thinking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: And now they're even abandoning the core organizing principle of this new Republican party. This is not your father's Republican party. I'm not being a wise guy, this is not the Republican Party of 10 years ago. It's not the Republican party of 20 years ago. This is not even Mitt Romney's father's Republican party. This is an alliance between the right in the Republican party and the Tea Party.

By the way, that is the Republican Party - that's the Republican Party today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The number two man for the Republicans, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan, he continues to press the case for the Romney- Ryan ticket. Ryan arrived this afternoon in northeastern Ohio and he's hoping to chip away at the Obama-Biden lead in Ohio. Before making his way there he spent the morning in Pennsylvania criticizing the Obama administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL RYAN, VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are not going to duck these tough issues. We're going to run at our country's economic and fiscal problems before they get out of our control. That is what leaders do. And when you look at the engine of economic growth and job creation in this country, it is small businesses, risk-takers, entrepreneurs, the workers who work overtime to make the small businesses work and succeed. We're going to champion these small businesses, we're not going to keep taxing the small businesses and regulating them and spending us into a debt crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: The last debate between Mitt Romney and President Obama happens on Monday night. You can watch that showdown right here on CNN. That will be at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. And as election day many are wondering if potential voter fraud will taint the election. CNN's Joe Johns has been covering that issue of voter fraud for us and he is here now with an update.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Marty, you may think that voter fraud is a massive problem given all the attention it has gotten this year, despite the fact that a Justice Department said it was an issue in less than one percent of votes cast between 2002 and 2005. So are new ads about voter fraud intended to inform voters or intimidate them?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): Voter fraud is a felony. Billboards with this simple and factual message are stirring up controversy in two battleground states. Here is why voting rights advocates like Eric Marshal are upset.

ERIC MARSHALL, LAWYERS' CMTE. FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW: Yes, voter fraud is a felony but it's the way they're being displayed, the fact that they're in almost exclusively areas or around areas that are predominantly African-American, sends a message to those communities, there is a problem with your voting.

JOHNS: The billboards have been popping up in cities in Ohio and Wisconsin, 85 in Milwaukee, 30 in Columbus, another 30 in Cleveland and 31 in Cincinnati.

Protests started almost as soon as they went up, demanding the signs come down.

NINA TURNER (D), OHIO STATE SENATOR: This billboard is nothing but a symbol of pure unadulterated voter suppression, to target an African- American community.

JOHNS: But the two advertising companies that sold the space Clear Channel and Norton Outdoor say the buyer was not out to target minorities.

MIKE NORTON, NORTON OUTDOOR: There was no request for any specific demographic target at all. They wanted the best location they could get for the four weeks leading up to the election.

JOHNS: The big mystery is who is behind them? The billboard itself does not tell. It reads paid for by a Private Family Foundation. And neither company will say who that is. After declining an on-camera interview, here is what Clear Channel wrote to CNN. "The advertiser put to the contract to remain anonymous. It is our policy to require advertisers including political advertisers, to have disclaimers which identify them. Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in this case." But Marshall sees that as a red flag.

MARSHALL: Nobody is stepping up, taking responsibility for these billboards and explain the reason why. That is part of the problem, if these were innocuous, then why would you specifically negotiate in your contract with Clear Channel the confidentiality clause to stay hidden? JOHNS: But bottom line, Mike Norton, whose family owns Norton Outdoor sees nothing wrong with the content of the ads.

NORTON: The thing that is stipulates from political advertisers is that, a, it is accurate, and b, that they're not attack ads and they fell well within the realm of reason of those benchmarks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: The billboards are scheduled to be up through election day, and neither company has any plans to take them down before then. Voting rights groups have raised $30,000 to put up their own billboards in Cleveland and Milwaukee encouraging everyone to vote. Marty.

SAVIDGE: Thank you, Joe. Joe Johns.

And with just two weeks to go until the election your right to vote may be at stake. There are new voting bills across the nation that have sparked an intense battle over who counts, does everyone really have a voice. Watch CNN's documentary special, "Voters in America, Who Counts." That will be Sunday night, 8:00 Eastern.

And just a short time ago, we learned that the numbers are up again in that deadly fungal meningitis outbreak, the CDC now reporting 13 new cases. They are also now reporting 284 overall cases with 23 deaths. The FDA rated that company in Massachusetts that is blamed for causing the deadly outbreak this week. Most patients got sick after being given contaminated steroid injections that were used for back pain and neck pain.

Daycare programs in high schools? Yes, part of a growing effort to keep teen parents in schools. We'll show you how it is working.

The NFL record for longest field goal is 63 yards but a high school player left that record in the dust. That is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Let's get you caught up on international headlines, shall we? In England, Mala Yousufzai, the Pakistani school girl activist who was shot in the head by the Taliban, she is showing signs of a remarkable recovery. Standing for the first time in her UK hospital since the attack, and even communicating with doctors, doctors do say however that she is by no means out of the woods just yet.

A soccer fan in England takes his anger straight to the field and attacks one of the goalies. You see (INAUDIBLE) trying to compose himself after giving up the goal and then run towards him and shoves him right in the face, knocks him down on the ground, amazingly the guy wasn't caught. Police are still looking for the man who is yet to be identified.

Israeli forces stormed a ship trying to break the Gaza strip sea blockade today, and took passengers into custody. It is the latest incidence of activists trying to deliver and draw attention to the humanitarian concerns in Gaza.

CNN's Sara Sidner is in Israel with more.

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Marty, it has taken more than 10 hours for the ship, Estelle (ph), to come into the port here in (INAUDIBLE). Now, the activists on the ship had hoped to get into Gaza with humanitarian items such as medical equipment, toys and books as well as tons of cement to help to rebuild Gaza.

Now they are saying that this is also a trip to highlight the injustice against Gaza, that Israel should not be allowed to have this blockade, not be allowed to treat more than a million people the way they have treated them. Israel though has countered that, saying there is no humanitarian crisis there. And I want to read you what the prime minister of Israel has just released in a statement. He said that "Even the people who are on the ship know that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Their entire objective was to create a provocation and blacken Israel's name," and went on to day more very strong words "If human rights were really important to these activists they would have sailed to Syria."

Now those on the ground, the United Nations is active there, say there is indeed a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. That there is a lack of educational items, a lack of medical equipment, some of the things that were going to be brought in by this boat. But the government says it is really just a provocation. These activists knew that they would be stopped and they were just trying to get the world's attention in any way that they could.

The military says it was a peaceful mission, the activists say they were attacked. Although we have heard there were no indications there were any injuries on this boat. Now we do know that the boat will be brought in to (INAUDIBLE). It will - the people on the boat will be questioned. Those answer will be deported if they are not from this country. Although there are several Israelis on this boat. But all in all this boat has taken quite a while to get here, but the Israeli military says they did so without incident.

And that is latest from here in (INAUDIBLE), Israel, back to you, Marty.

SAVIDGE: Thanks, Sara.

The Defensive Marriage Act has been struck down again. In a moment, the legal guys give us their take.

Keeping teen moms in school, one high school is the latest to open a daycare program to help them out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Humans were made to make things. That's why we have thumbs. We've gotten away from making so much that there's that instinctive drive to create. I like to think that tech shop helps rekindle that in people and get them back to being makers. There are so many things to come out. It could be little tiny things, it could be big world changing things. And all the things that people do here is just really, really lighten me up, really excite me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The legal guys are next. An Appeals Court strikes down the Defense of Marriage Act. Richard, lets get your thoughts on that.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER: Marty, does the government now be required to treat gay marriage and straight marriage the exact same? I don't know, it looks like it is going to the Supreme Court.

SAVIDGE: Avery?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYER: 32 states bar same-sex marriage, so is the question, will this decision, a precedent setting one be the law of America or does it get resolved in the Supreme Court?

SAVIDGE: Back in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: In New York, a federal Appeals Court has struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal benefits to married same-sex couples. It is the nation's second court to do so. The court ruled of an 83-year-old lesbian widow.

So let's bring in our legal experts, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor. He's in Washington. And then Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor and he joins us from Las Vegas. Avery, let me start with you, just ask you, how significant is this now second ruling in the case?

FRIEDMAN: It is probably the most significant constitutional ruling when it comes to the rights of gay people. It went far beyond the federal appeals decision in Boston. This week, the chief judge wrote an opinion that government does not recognize holy matrimony, but rather, it can only look at civil unions. And there is a heightened scrutiny looking at government that prohibits it. The decent however Marty said that this is a political decision, political issue that should continue debate. 32 states bar same-sex marriage, so my view of this is that it is heading to the U.S. Supreme Court.

SAVIDGE: Yes, Richard, do you share the same idea?

HERMAN: Well, it is going to the Supreme Court, Marty, absolutely. And it is a real lesson in constitutional law. The New York court not only went against the Defense of Marriage Act, but they instituted a higher stricter standard to interpret the law, and by doing that, Marty, I think they've laid the groundwork for the Supreme Court to reject the New York decision here and go back and uphold the Defense of Marriage Act. I think the New York courts went above and beyond where they should have gone in making this ruling. Avery is right, it is a significant ruling by the New York court. It will pave the way to the Supreme Court and Justice Kennedy here again will be the swing vote again.

SAVIDGE: All right. What happens in the meantime now, in the states, what do they follow? What policy do they follow then? Avery?

FRIEDMAN: That is a very wonderful question and it's a complicated one, because you got 32 states which bar it. This decision says that its unlawful for the federal government not to recognize gay marriage. So what effect it has on other state laws, we don't know the answer to that and all that comes out of it specifically is that this widow now gets her spousal deduction which she was prohibited from because of the 1996 Federal Law. So there a multitude of implications in this. And no one has the slightest idea the effect of what this is going to have on state governments and same-sex marriage.

SAVIDGE: Richard, what do you think the arguments will be in defense of gay marriage, and supporting the rights of those, that would be made in the Supreme Court, how would you argue this?

HERMAN: What the argument will be is that there is a compelling state interest in the upholding and recognizing gay marriage, and therefore since there is that compelling interest, this law as it is written, the Defense of Marriage Act, is unconstitutional, because the government does not, by virtue of that law, treat straight and gay couples the same. What the court will argue, what the argument will be for upholding the New York law is that the New York law provides and mandates that the government treat gay marriage and straight marriage exactly the same.

SAVIDGE: We have to leave it there. There will be a lot more discussion on this. Thank you, gentlemen, very much.

HERMAN: That's for sure. See you soon.

FRIEDMAN: Thank you, Marty.

SAVIDGE: And you can catch the legal guys every Saturday right here on CNN, that is at noon and again at 4:00 Eastern.

Well, it is a done deal, actor and musician, Justin Timberlake, and actress, Jessica Biel, they are married. "People" magazine reports they tied the knot at a private ceremony in Italy. It's been a long time coming. Biel and Timberlake dated for five years. "People" magazine says it will have wedding details and the picture spread in next week's issue, which will be out if you can wait.

And after making history as the first openly gay boxer, Orlando Cruz has retained his featherweight title. Friday night, Cruz beat Jorge Pazos at a match in Kissimmee Civic Center in Florida. That according to "USA Today." This is Cruz's first victory since coming out earlier this month.

And a daredevil feat with a political twist. Two skydivers wearing masks of President Obama and Mitt Romney leaped out of a plane, 12,000 feet in the air, upside down. They staged the mock debate as they plummeted toward earth and the jump was organized to promote an upcoming parachuting competition in Arizona, happy landings to all.

Daycare programs in high schools. It is part of a growing effort to keep parents in school. We'll show you how it is working in one city.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: This is CNN breaking news.

This breaking news just in, from Libyan state television, official sources confirm that Moammar Gadhafi's son, Hami Gadhafi, was killed. We're hearing this news, reportedly thousands of residents in Tripoli went to the streets to celebrate. Also today it marks the one year anniversary that Colonel Gadhafi was captured and was killed. Again, repeating reports that one of his sons has now been also killed.

Well, there is no doubt that being a mother in high school can be difficult. But it is getting easier now for teen moms at one high school in Richmond, Virginia. It opened a daycare program and Athena Jones has more on an effort to keep teen parents in school.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Teen mom Alexus Barbee has big goals.

ALEXUS BARBEE, TEEN MOM: I would like to be a nurse or a lawyer.

JONES: But when she got pregnant at 16 she feared she would have to put them on hold.

BARBEE: I thought that I'm not able to go to school every day, who is going to be there to watch my child? Like, am I going to be able to finish, like, I had a lot going through my mind.

JONES: Now she brings her nine month-old daughter with her to Richmond, Virginia high school. While Alexus goes to class, her daughter goes to daycare downstairs. Alexus also gets parenting classes, which includes spending time at the daycare. The program was funded with local and federal dollars.

(on camera): Administrators here at Armstrong High School hope this program will help raise graduation rates.

(voice-over): Just 38 percent of teen girls who have a child before age 18 get a high school diploma. Armstrong High's program is a win- win for teens like Alexus, says her principal.

APRIL HAWKINS, PRINCIPAL, ARMSTRONG HIGH SCHOOL: just to think back, I have known Alexus for four years, and this is such a different, mature type of student who really wants to get her high school diploma, so the child care lab affords her that helps opportunity.

JONES: While it is unknown exactly how many high schools offer daycare, these programs are available in states across the country. Studies show that providing teen mothers with access to child care at school not only increases their likelihood of graduating, it also lowers the chance of having another child while in high school.

(on camera): When do you think you will have another child?

BARBEE: When I get my own place, and when I finish good and when I have a good job.

JONES (voice-over): But some critics say these programs are not a good use of taxpayer dollars.

NEAL MCCLUSKEY, CATO INSTITUTE: It is something that we should be looking to charitable organizations, philanthropists, lots of people who are interested in these things, to fund it.

JONES: On the contrary, says the director of federal grants for Richmond city schools, she believes the program is invaluable.

ERNESTINE SCOTT, RICHMOND CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: The data for parents don't graduate from high school is going to be ripple negative impact on their children's education.

JONES: The daycare gives Alexus peace of mind. And Alexus is in a better place, too, determined to graduate on time next spring.

Athena Jones, CNN, Richmond, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: And we're going to leave you with an amazing kick at a high school football game. Check it out.

Wow, a high school senior in Spokane, Washington, nailing the 76-yard kick to tie the record for the second longest field goal in high school football history. The NFL record, by the way, just 63 yards. Austin (INAUDIBLE)'s team was team was losing, with seconds on the clock. But his kick sent the game into overtime, and yes, they won. What a way to finish.

That will do it for me, "CNN's Newsroom" continues at the top of the hour with Don Lemon. Right now, keep it here with "Sanjay Gupta MD" at CNN, and he will reporting on a natural remedy to healing the brain after a traumatic injury.