england. a little trivia because i have been doing any homework. queen victoria is the only monarch in the u.k. to be celebrating the diamond jubilee, 60 years with the crown and the other queen is queen elizabeth coming up marking 60 years of her reign and we will be in london for this. join us sunday, june 3rd, when it really begins here and join me and piers morgan and a number of others from cnn in london for this extravaganza sunday, june 3rd, beginning at 11 in the morning eastern time. now this. just in at cnn the manatee center of that international back and forth giving his first interview to cnn. anderson cooper jst sat down with chen gen chang, the blind activist and he is now in the united states and came home over -- i shouldn't say home.

came to the u.s. over the weekend and became a tugging match between the u.s. and china. here is part of what he told anderson about why he spoke out in the first place. i will quote these back and forth here. quote, natural for me, it was very natural for me. i feel it is in people's nature to want to stop evil and embrace the good. that's a quote and part of the interview transcript. we're working on turning around sound for you, but i can tell you chen talks to anderson about his escape, how that went down, his concern for his family and what it was like to feel the sun for the very first time in quite a long while. again, anderson cooper with that interview. be sure to watch anderson tonight at 8:00 for the full thing. in the meantime a new lead in a case that changed the way america deals with missing children from putting their pictures on milk cartons to parents warning their little ones about stranger danger. i am talking about the 1979 disappearance of 6-year-old etan patz who vanished while walking

to his school bus stop for the first time without his parents and now new york police are questioning and also new jersey here this man who allegedly has confessed to killing little etan and a source tells us the man's name is pedro hernandez, once owned a convenience store in etan patz' neighborhood and the source says hernandez claimed he strangled the little boy 33 years ago. gill alba is a former new york police detective and the founder of alba investigations. good to see you. let's begin with your reaction to this man coming forward 33 years later. what do you make of this? >> i think one of the things i am sure the detectives will do is take him to the scene where all of this happened and have him rundown everything that happened at that time. the more he talks, the more they either will believe him or not believe him. at this point you have to follow through on everything that he is saying and doing and so right

now it is credible up to a point and i am not so sure that the detectives would know if he is really telling the truth at this point but i am sure pretty soon they will know the result of that. >> i think to your point i was talking to susan who has great sources and says some people could say it could be a real deal and solid lead and other saying they're approaching it with a healthy bit of skepticism and certainly this guy was questioned and as i am sure everyone in the sort of radius at the time would have been questioned 30 plus years ago and so many years later confessing, gill, from the perspective of law enforcement. how do you handle that? how do you handle talking to someone so many years later? what kind of questions are you asking? >> it is really not that hard. if somebody comes forward and wants to talk to you, it is easy to talk to them and get all of the information and you know with this case it is so public that everybody knows the circumstances here, so he could say anything he wants and basically because it is out there, so really how do we know how he was killed? how etan patz was killed, if he

was killed, and we don't have that kind of evidence, so what you have to do is really talk to him and listen to him and let him talk a lot and the more he talks, the more it comes out. you know, one thing about police, they say they don't want to tell certain things. that's the reason they hold back stuff just because they may know something that, you know, somebody comes in and confesses and believe it or not people come in and confess. that's what they have. are they skeptical still? i am sure they are. otherwise they would have come out with something at this point. i am not too sure what's going to come out of this. >> i am sure they're careful because i can't help but think of the parents here. i think the parents of etan patz live in the same home they lived in 33 years ago when he disappeared walking to the school bus stop and how do you if you're a police officer here and you know these parents have dealt with leads that led to nowhere and dealing with the parents, keeping the parents informed, that has to be a tough part of the job as well. >> well, once i retired i did a lot of missing person cases with families, so i know how what --

how the families react, and every time they get some news of something like this, you know, it is heightened and it is really looking forward to something, and you have somebody, a 6-year-old that was murdered and there is no closure. there is nowhere do you say goodbye? where do you look? you don't go to a cemetery. have you nothing and you blame yourself. they say, okay, you can go to school bus by yourself at six years old and in new york, you know, that wasn't really that bad at the time but that changed everything in new york. i mean, this became history, one of history in new york. >> nationally. >> nationally. after that it was nationally, right. >> thank you so much. still no trice of human remains or forensic evidence. who knows if the confession will be proven per se. we'll keep the conversation going. thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. as we speak some of the loudest opponents of same sex marriage are in washington, d.c. sticking up for the defense of marriage act which defines marriage as between one man and

one woman. family research council president tony perkins is holding a news conference right now along with south carolina senator jim demint and a number of other pastor from around the country and tony perkins spoke with me just before this news conference. >> have you ever been to the home of a married same sex couple, tony. >> i have not been to the home of a same sex married couple, no. >> if you were ever to do so and you're sit ago cross from them over dinner, how would you convince them that their life together, either two men, two women, hurts straight couples? what do you tell them? >> well, first, brooke, we don't make public policy based on what's good for me and my family or you and your family or -- >> i am just asking on a personal level. >> we're engaged in a discussion about public policy and what's best for the nation, not anecdotes or what one couple likes. look, i am sure, look -- >> it is personal as well. >> that's not how we make public policy.

certainly there are some same sex couples that are probably great parents, but that is not what the overwhelming amount of social science shows us. we have some great i think is he will moms that are doing great jobs. we applaud them and encourage them. we still know the best environment for a child is with a mom and can a and our policy should -- >> shouldn't public policy in part be dictated by evolving cultures, evolving demographics, reflecting that? >> we're not evolving to a better standard when we look at children growing up without those critical role models and, again, we have 40 years of public policy or the research that's come from the public policy that shows that we have not been moving in a better direction. by moving away from that standard of marriage being at the center of the family of a mom and a dad, we have actually incurred tremendous costs as a society emotionally and financially. >> i know you don't want to answer the personal questions but i will try again, tony. i will try again, and this is

really just it for me today. why do you -- you have never been to a home of a same sex couple. why do homosexuals bother you so much? would it be fair to characterize -- >> they don't bother me. >> they don't bother you? >> no. >> not at all? >> i am not going to be silent while they try to redefine marriage in this country. >> tony perkins, thank you. a lot more to cover here. watch. sex and war. two female soldiers say if they not ka be on the front lines, they're going to sue. do they have a case? i am brooke baldwin. the news is now. a traffic jam at the world's highest peak as crowds line up for mount everest. this new video reveals just how bad the conditions are. so, ah, your seat good?

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this is big news. i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. you might think the presidential election happening today and yesterday in egypt has little to do with concerns for us here in the u.s. consider this. the long lines of egyptians waiting hours to vote are

wrestling with what is a key somewhat troubling issue in the middle east, should they commit to strict islamic law or choose democracy and risk tightening the military's grip? these images, egyptians united in their arab spring last year held firm until they ousted hoshi mubarak. he ruled for 30 long years and remember this, he took in billions of u.s. aid each and every year and first let's talk elections and bring in hala who has been there for while covering this. what are you seeing? any issues? a lot of people out voting? >> reporter: well, a lot of people out voting for sure. the excitement is still there although we have a new number to share with you according to the supreme presidential election commission. turnout at 9 p.m. local which was 15 minutes ago at around

50%. there are 50 million eligible voters in this country, so that would be about 25 million people going to the polls and the number of people is large, of course, because this is a very pop lis nation and 50% may come as a disappoint to some. there were some forecast that is indicated that perhaps more people because this is the first time it is a free and fair presidential election in the country would actually show up at polling stations to vote. all of that being said, when you speak to ordinary voters they tell you they're still excited and for the first time their voice is being heard, brooke, in this country. now, topping their list of concerns, the economy and security, and you hear that a lot. we're more than 15 months into this uprising and many people say it is not safe anymore to walk out into the streets, especially after dark, and unemployment is becoming a bigger and bigger problem, and as many of our viewers know tourism is a key sector for

egypt and the number of foreigners in this country has dropped dramatically. brooke. >> i have read a lot about the lawlessness and the concerns in egypt since the revolution and i want to get back to the point about u.s. aide. under mu bark only israel received more u.s. aid than egypt's 2 billion a year since 1979. take a look at the breakdown of what the u.s. gave egypt, 1.3 billion to strengthen military forces versus just 250 million for economic aid and 1.9 million to militarying training so as we look at the numbers and as these egyptians and the 50% of them voting here i guess today or over the last two days, what's their stance on this u.s. aid? >> well, look, if you ask the candidates, for instance, what the relationship will be with the united states after this election or with israel for that matter, many of them will say especially among the islamists they would reconsider perhaps

some of the portions of the treaty that is were signed some three decades ago between egypt and israel. as far as the fundamentals, as whether or not the person who wins will rethink entirely or destroy in fact treaties that were signed and that have held for all of these decades t doesn't seem like that's something that's in the cards at all. remember one thing about the united states and this region. the u.s. has some important allies. it is saudi arabia, the gulf nations and very importantly egypt. it is possible, for instance, that there may be some modifications to the way the united states and egypt conduct their affairs or come up with agreements in terms of how they discuss very important strategic matters. the united states needs egypt and in fact egypt needs the united states, so the expectation is not that there will be a dramatic rethinking of that relationship regardless of who is elected, brooke. >> thank you. we'll look for the winner. appreciate it in cairo for us.

a high ranking catholic priest faces a jury and takes the stand in his own defense and you'll hear about the drama going down and what it is he is revealing. plus, rush limbaugh accusing cnn of trying to scare white americans about the future of the country. [ male announcer ] we began with the rx. ♪ then we turned the page, creating the rx hybrid. ♪ now we've turned the page again with the all-new rx f sport. ♪ this is the next chapter for the rx. this is the next chapter for lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection. at liberty mutual, we know how much you count on your car, and how much the people in your life count on you. that's why we offer accident forgiveness,

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in philadelphia a high ranking catholic monday seenor stands trial not for child sex abuse but delivering children to the hands of priests he allegedly knew to be abusers. this is a landmark childen dangerment trial here and he is at the center of it. in this rare move he has taken the stand in his own defense. among his own admissions, i will quote him, uses the word pretty sick individuals to describe a list he has compiled of 35 suspected priests. prosecutors pounced on that. i want to bring in sara covering the trial in philadelphia. on the stand for two days. how did he do? >> well, he is actually still on the stand, and it is rumored that he could even take the stand again on tuesday. so yesterday he was really at ease with his defense attorneys

and then once it turned to the prosecution to do the cross-examination you can feel the tension in the room. again today cross-examination by the prosecutors and it is extremely contentious. he is repeating over and over again that i did the best that i could. i am not perfect. i did not lie. he just keeps saying that over and over and over again, so it is pretty interesting that courtroom is packed and everyone is hanging on to every single word. it is interesting today. >> so still testifying, could be back tomorrow, and again to be clear, this isn't a priest accused of abusing kids, accused of child endangerment for not keeping sex offending press release -- priests from these young kids. is this groundbreaking. >> it is huge. you're going after a priest and now after the brass, the hierarchy. this is the first time prosecutors in the u.s. have gone after a supervisor, a

high-ranking cler dl ic if you will. are you not only attacking the people below, are you going after the establishment and it will have ripple effects around the world. the catholic church is just not in the u.s. it is global. >> you put it in perspective. this is tremendous. prosecutors are calling him a key figure overseeing the sexual abuse investigations. what is at stake? what could happen if he is convicted? >> if he is convicted are you looking at jail time. we do not have the exact amount of years as the charges keep in flux and depends on what the jury would come back with, but it would be jail time and this would also kind of shake up the establishment. no longer can you just say here is somebody who had allegations and swept him away and now you are going after like i said earlier going after the establishment and the catholic church. you're going to set precedence. this is going to open the doors for prosecutors in other jurisdictions to go after supervisors, so this is going to be interesting and the ripple effect will continue for a long

time. >> sair hoye in philadelphia. appreciate it. now to a man not short on opinions, rush limbaugh and he see this is story about the growth of minorities in america as a threat. my next guest says minorities are not looking for payback. plus, the world's highest peak, what's being described as a traffic jam. crowds of climbers hoping to reach the summit of everest and this is a race against the weather and as we're learning it is very dangerous. ay. evening. you don't have anything on your calendar for this evening. fantastic..linguica. i found 5 restaurants whose reviews mention linguica fairly close to you. joke. two iphones walk into a bar.. i forget the rest. that's funny. was it something i said? yes it was.

when we got married. i had three kids. and she became the full time mother of three. it was soccer, and ballet, and cheerleading, and baseball. those years were crazy. so, as we go into this next phase, you know, a big part of it for us is that there isn't anything on the schedule. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. opinions, rush limbaugh and he this is a race against the

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[ male announcer ] treat your frequent heartburn by blocking the acid with prilosec otc. and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. rush limbaugh accusing cnn of trying to scare white americans about their future in the country. an article on cnn.com addressed the latino population boom and what it means for the republican party. i want you to listen about really how worked up rush limbaugh got about this. >> it is clear that this and other similar stories like this are meant to serve as a warning to republicans and conservatives, and the warning

is you are on the wrong side of history and you are on the wrong side of demographics. you better do what the common majority wants right now or you'll suffer the consequences. there is an implied threat in this story. >> here is the part of the cnn article that limbaugh really was seizing on, a quote from a researcher and think tank that discusses politics. >> the republic z rpz problem is the voter are white, ageing and dying off and there will come a time when they suffer cat graphic losses are the realization of the population changes. ruben junior says limbaugh is way out of line and what he doesn't care for exactly is what positis said either. >> that's not my quote. i wouldn't have said that. it is inflammatory. it goes too far. beyond that as you say, what's to stop the republican party from getting religion so to speak and bringing in disfacts

into the party and taking this position from this point on? the dye is not cast and we're getting close to the point where it is. i think it was unhelpful and so was limbaugh's interpretation of the quote. he went way too far. >> i don't have rush limbaugh sitting next to me and can't say what he meant but it seems to me when you hear the whole thing, it wasn't that white people ought to be afraid, he was accusing cnn and the mainstream media of saying that. isn't he being more nuanced than you're giving him credit for here? >> i listen to rush every day and i really like a lot of what he says and agree with him on some issues and disagree on other issues and when he talks about race and ethnicity he tend to go off the rails and he did many this case. his messable was clear that cnn was trying to warn older white voters that you better fall back in line and give them what they want and amnesty for illegal immigrants or believe it or not one day you will pay for it because you'll be in the

minority and folks will do to you what you have done to folks over the last generation. i don't agree with that. it is not realistic. it is not something i heard from people. it is a paranoid fantasy that people like limbaugh are advancing and not fair and accurate. >> you can read the piece. go to cnn.com. we reported on the deaths of the four hikers on everest and now word of a traffic jam on i can heres that may have contributed to the four deaths, that long dark line in the snow here, you see this, sort of looks like ants. it is a line of climbers working their way to the top of the world's highest peak and it is estimated 150 climbers are lining upright now near the summit of everest rushing to use this brief window of good weather to reach the summit before bad weather hits a little later on in the weekend. that summit is adding elevation more than 29,000 feet. look at these pictures. it is gorgeous to look at. the jam is known as what's called the death zone.

this is an area where climbers because sluggish and temperatures can drop to 35 below zero. we know al qaeda uses the internet to send a message and recruit personnel and now the sus targeting the websites and changing the messages plus home sales are up. mortgage rates here at an all time low. if the housing market at the center of the economy, what does that mean for everyone? first, i love a good park. you look lounging in the park? here is the deal. we have a list of the top five cities with the best park. is yours on the list? got to love washington, d.c. we have a tie here for the next, boston tied with new york for four and three and the top two cities with the best parks after the break.

before the break we were counting down the top five cities with the best parks to enjoy. a recap. number five, washington, d.c., 4

1k3 3 a tie between boston and new york and the number two park, sacramento, california and there you go. san francisco. love san francisco. that's the best park apparently in the country. to this here. the u.s. takes a tactic against al qaeda. mortgage rates hit a new low and the forecast for the hurricane season because the voice you just heard time to play reporter roulette. >> we want to begin with you in washington with this look at this little known group that targets al qaeda online. explain. >> right, brooke. it is this group we haven't known a lot about inside the state department called the center for strategic counter terrorism communications. now, their mission is to go out and help curb the steady flow of al qaeda recruits, recruited from online and sort of monitor the social websites and the arab world and the muslim world and look for and going to chat rooms and look for messages posted and counter those messages with

anti-al qaeda messages of their own. what it doesn't do is hack into al qaeda websites. it doesn't do that. it says it is not in the business of doing that but they do work closely with the department of defense, intelligence agencies and special operations groups. >> okay. so with these ads what exactly do they look like the counter ads? how do they work. >> one posted most recently shows coffins draped u.s. flags and this is how we treat americans in yemen and the counter message was posted almost as a parody which had a bunch of coffins draped in yemen flags and says if we treat americans this way imagine how we treat the yemen dl se e and the very next day more than 100 soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber. the bottom line is online recruit support a big problem and getting more of a glimpse

into another way the state department is trying to head that off with the communications effort. >> susan kelly in washington. thank you. if you are thinking of buying a home get up and do it. a 30 year mortgage has never been cheaper. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange and i say hall le will you ya. >> so do i. they're creeping lower, hitting a record, going to 3.38% from 3.79% and it is actually is the fourth straight record low for 30-year fixed and over the past year look at this, mortgage rates have come down almost a full percentage point over the past year, year-and-a-half and that means if you're looking to refinance or buy a home, yep, it just got cheaper. freddie mac's chief economist says with the affordable mortgages and combine them with the lower home prices it should help the housing market. brooke. >> thank you. next, the new forecast for the 2012 hurricane season is out and

chad myers is talking about it. hello. >> hello. >> good to see you. >> like the table? >> i feel like a need a wine glass. >> you're not the first to say that. we'll keep that on the commercial break. talk about the forecast. how is it looking, good, bad, indifferent. >> below, normal or above. >> below, normal or above. what kind of answer is that? >> that's the no answer today. >> the no answer. show me numbers. >> i am want going to say this. it doesn't make sense. i will leave it at that. this is our national average named storms, we get 12 a year. forecast from noe with a says somewhere between nine and 15, so maybe below normal, maybe above normal. number of hurricanes, six. saying four to eight. maybe below normal, maybe above normal. >> non-answer. i am sensing a theme. >> this makes my head hurt already. two major hurricanes above 110 miles, 111 miles per hour, we could have one to three. the key is not the number, how

many actually make landfall. that is the key. we also have already had alberto, and now we might over the weekend have burl. we're seeing cloud cover south of miami and that little box there, about a 30 to 40% chance of becoming later on. you get the chris and the debbies and some of them sound familiar because they recycle the names every six years. >> come up with something original, right? >> yeah. >> thank you very much. hopefully we'll be safe and sound in our beach vacations this year with the hurricanes or lack thereof. we talked about this run aconvey teenager in texas mistakenly deported to columbia and is suing the government and we'll talk about the strength of the case and we're on the case. weather.

nice weather coming up today through this tuesday. evening. you don't have anything on your calendar for this evening. fantastic..linguica. i found 5 restaurants whose reviews mention linguica fairly close to you. joke. two iphones walk into a bar.. i forget the rest. that's funny. was it something i said? yes it was.

the family of the american teenager deported to columbia now suing the federal government saying her civil rights were violated. her name is adrian turner and her citizenship came into question when she gave a wrong name after police arrested her for shop lifts. the lawsuit says the name turned out to be an undocumented columbian national and in the two months she was incarcerated none of the local or federal officers checked turner's claims that she was american. turner also doesn't speak spanish. the lawsuit says that, quote, she told several ice officials her real name and that she was from dallas texas and officials did not believe her. she was afraid to call her

family and could not find the words to explain she was in ice custody and facing deportation and did not believe that her family would believe that to be even possible. defense attorney joey jackson on the case today. certainly no question here, this girl was deported to columbia, but she is a run away who lied to authorities multiple times so with all of that in mind, how strong is her case? >> yikes. talk about the parade of horribles here, brooke. this is unbelievable, right? you have a federal government and now a government and what do we expect? we expect due diligence. you can tell them your name is anything and they have to confirm and verify. there are both sides to this equation. for her part she is a runaway and arrested for shop lifting and lies to the authorities and says i am this cortez that up thats to be wanted as a columbia national and is deported and the real issue for the government is they should have confirmed they are story and in confirming her story they would have no doubt

determined she is an american citizen, a minor, and should not have been deported and i think the give away may have been the fact she didn't even speak spanish. what do you know? >> you would think. the lawsuit has been filed and attorney general eric holder, homeland security secretary, janet napolitano and other officials asked for $15 million. our affiliate in texas says ice is not commenting so far and so far no response from the department of justice and do you think that the federal government should settle? >> well, i think ultimately what will happen is they will probably settle just because this is such an embarrassment, brooke. i see congressional inquiries and investigations and at the least the protocol being adjusted and i think whiched and amended so this never happens again, so get it out of the press, make it quiet, it is a little boo-boo that we had here and give the family a little bit of money and let it go away. don't let it get to discovery and the vicious details coming out. in these cases there are always factual disputes and irrespective of the factual disputes she was 14 years old

and as a result of that you have to ensure that things like this do not happen. >> joey jackson, thank you n a rare interview david letterman tells cnn about his personal politics and his surprising comments involve bill clinton and george w. bush. you will hear directly from the late night host next and a quick note, you have your phone, please keep watching. if you're heading to work, your laptop, desktop, here is where you need to go to keep watching. cnn.com/tv. oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen ♪

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icon,en ig ma, folk music, now add another title to bob dylan's amazing career, medal of freedom recipient. >> the music legend will receive the country's highest civilian honor on tuesday. this will not be his first visit to the white house. in fact, you're looking at his performance there back in 2010 from pbs dealing, keep in mind, one of 13 people who will receive the medal of freedom next week. check out this list, also includes novelist tony morrison, former astronaut and senator john glen and women's basketball coach, the lady voles pat summit.

david letterman opening up and talking about his personal politics. he sits down with regis philbin filling in for piers morgan next week. take a look at a preview. >> over the years talk show hosts have not gotten involved in politics because they fear -- >> it is all different now. >> if one portion of your audience is republican or democrat, they don't like what you are saying, they're going to tune you out. >> that's right. >> does it bother you? >> well, i know what your point is and i have been guilty of appearing to be playing partisan politics. however, i just like to say that for the record i am a registered independent. you go where the material takes you. poor bill clinton, no president that i am aware of got hammered harder than president bill clinton over the monica lewinski situation. we beat up on him. we still use him as a reference, and then we were desperate. we thought, well, this was so easy and then we got george bush, and within a matter of

days we realized our prayers had been answered and he is just as good in terms of material. it may appear to people that we have a slant one way or the other, but if a guy drops his dog or a guy straps his dog to the roof of his car or if a guy gets a shoe thrown at him, well, this is where the material is going to be. >> david letterman, rare exclusive interview and talking about his marriage, talking about 9/11, talks about johnny carson this tuesday right here on cnn. love seeing regis back on tv by the way. coming up at the top of the hour this man that has also filled in for piers morgan but has a lovely slot here. what do you have coming up? >> you're heading out to london with pierce. >> i am. i have a feeling i will be pinching a lot. >> remind our viewers what's going on. >> it is the diamond jubilee, 60

years on the thrown for queen elizabeth and i have been reading and reading and know it is queen victoria, really the only other british monday ar that celebrated 60 years in 1897. it is a big deal. >> you're becoming a royal expert, brooke. >> i am trying. i am trying. i will be there having fun, too. maybe i will bring you back a little something. we'll see. >> bring me something back from london. i am sure you will do shopping while you're there. let me tell you what's going on. anderson cooper you're there. you know anderson cooper has sat down and had the interview with the blind chinese dissident in new york. anderson will be with us talking about what he learned and what he saw. obviously, that's going to be in "the situation room" and we'll talk to anderson and we'll have the full interview later tonight at 8:00 p.m. on "a.c. 360." the son of the late prime minister benazir bhutto.

he is here, he is now chairman of the political party in pakistan. his mother was assassinated, as you remember. he is here to defend, among other things, pakistan's decision to sentence that doctor who helped the cia help find bin laden in abbottabad, 33 years in jail. members of the senate are taking action to try to punish pakistan. there's a lot going on and we'll talk to the young son of the president of pakistan on that. we're going in-depth on u.s.-cuban relations with our own donna brazile. alex castellanos is here and he's cuban-american and there's a lot going on in u.s.-cuban relations including a visit from castro's daughter and she's basically endorsing president obama if you're interested. it's in "the miami herald" and there's a lot going on and the

continued imprisonment of alan gross. >> wolf blitzer, we'll see you in a few minutes. >> how does that sound, by the way? >> pretty good. see you soon. thank you. >> coming up here, we're talking sex and war. women cannot fight on the front lines so these two female soldiers are suing. coming up next, we'll talk to the brigadier general who says she's always hoped for active combat. don't miss it. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... medicare supplement insurance card, too.

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two female army reservists are now suing leon panetta and the u.s. military for its restrictions on women serving in the front lines. let me show you some of the restrictions they want gone. women are banned from infantry, armor and special operations forces. they have also limited women to troops assigned to combat. these policies are solely based on gender and they violate their right to equal protection under the fifth amendment, but the pentagon has opened up 15,000 positions to women so they can serve a little bit closer to the front lines. the policy would allow women to serve near the front lines as temporary attachments, that's what it's called. which means they aren't officially assigned. as the defendants told the u.s. district court, that means, quote, this limitation on plaintiffs' careers restricts their current and future earnings, their potential for promotion and advancement and future retirement benefits.

with that said i want to bring in retired brigadier general wilma vaught. you hear what they're saying. do you agree that they're unconstitutional? >> i know the restrictions do exactly what they have said, that they do prevent you from having some of the experiences that you need to compete for the top jobs in the military and, of course, you can translate that to meaning that you are not going to get promotions and your not going to get the highest promotions that will affect your retirement benefits. >> when youio say all of that, does that make you angry or do you understand it? >> i understand it. you know, one thing we've never really done is really go out and do an actual test where you train women to be combat

soldiers and train them to be an armored in artillery or infantry to see if it works and there are other countries that have done that. we have not. >> let me jump in because we did some digging because i wanted to understand what the reason is and i know there is a good reason from the perspective of the u.s. military and here's what we found. the 1994 u.s. defense department ruling, physically demanding tasks that would exclude the ability of women. this is based upon experience with the leadership and experience in combat. so your idea of having a training run, train them to see if they could be up to the task physically speaking. why don't we do that? >> well, i've long personally advocated that we do that. it -- it tacks time to really

test it and try it out, and probably what we would find is that the majority of women would not necessarily be able to meet the physical demands. on the other hand, as we change technology and it keeps changing so fast anymore, who knows? they might be able to do it far better than they think they could. >> do you think, brigadier general, that that really is it? that it's simply about the sheer physicality of the soldier, for example or is there more that they're not saying? >> i think that's only part of it because i think there is a feeling within the defense department and probably rightly so that the american public hasn't really totally moved to the point where they would like to see women doing that and so that's a part of the picture and there are members of congress who clearly would not be in favor of that. so one of the other aspects of

it that i've always felt, i've always felt that a commander out there in the field should be able to use his resources, his troops, his or her troop, however he or she needs to to get the mission accomplished. now having said that, they have to be qualified and they have to be trained. >> tell me about, while i have you for one more minute, just your own experience, whatever glass ceilings you saw at the time when you entered the air force. >> i was fortunate, however one chooses to look at it. i served in vietnam, and at that time, women other than nurses were very limited as to where we could be, but we've made enormous progress in the last 20 or 30 years as far as women being assigned to places. they're in submarines now, so there are breakthroughs. it's slowly coming, but there

are those who would like to see it speed up. >> let me jump in and say defense department spokesperson joseph little said secretary panetta is ex panneding the roles for women in the u.s. military as evidenced by the recent step of opening up thousands of more assignments to women. i thank you. >> thank you. >> that is it for me. i'm brooke baldwin at cnn centers in atlanta. now "the situation room" with wolf blitzer starts right now. mitt romney makes promise of what he'd do on day one as president, is it realistic? we have ael rooity check. does president barack obama really have the lowest spending level of any president in more than half a century? republicans sure don't think so. we're crunch the numbers for you. a woman lies in a