tonight, spike lee like you've never seen him before. >> he was a savior, black jesus. expectations were, i think, way too high. >> in the kind of interview only cnn's don lemon can do. >> don on camera two. >> running for the u.s. senate, a congressman tries to explain why he's against abortion even in cases in rape. >> if it's a legitimate rape, the female bodies has ways to shut that whole thing down. >> and now he's got some

explaining to do. not quite from the balcony. the wikileaks founder from a veranda breaks his silence. a new study says you want to be more attractive? be more playful. what if you're not a naturally playful person? is there a way to loose unup a little bit more? >> no. >> dr. wendy walsh pulls no punches that and more tonight on cnn. hello, i'm alison kosik in for don lemon. may have had ties to an extremist anti-government movement. two deputies were killed and two wounded in two separate shootings on thursday. authorities say some of those arrested had been under surveillance for some time. we'll have more on these developments just ahead. more deadly attacks on nato forces today in afghanistan.

three troops were killed when a roadside bomb went off in the eastern part of the country. also today, a man wearing an afghan policeman uniform killed one nato service member. u.s. distance swimmer diana nyad attempting another record swim. with a shout of courage, the 62-year-old jumped into the waters off cuba heading toward florida. if she's successful, the 103-mile trip is expected to take her 60 hours. this is her fourth attempt to complete the swim. the president of egypt plans to visit iran this month and that's a huge announcement because no egyptian leader has set foot in iran since the islamic revolution in 1979. he says he'll take part in a summit in tehran august 30th. first lady michelle obama will travel to wisconsin thursday. she'll meet with families of victims of the shooting rampage

at a sikh temple this month. a gunman killed himself. singer kid rock has surprised an injured soldier with a brand new home. the vet lost his right leg last year after being struck by an ied in afghanistan. rock and members of operation finally home waited inside the house which rock helped pay for to surprise the young detroit couple. julian assange, the founder of wikileaks emerged in public for the first time in months. he's at the ecuador embassy in london trying to avoid extradition to sweden. he says those are trumped up charges so governments can prosecute him for leaking world leade leaders' embarrassing messages. >> i ask president obama to do the right thing. the united states must renounce its witch hunt against

wikileaks. >> ecuador has granted assange asylum, but britain says the moment he leaves the embassy, he'll be arrested. to politics now, a six-term republican congressman todd aiken running against claire mccaskill. and he was asked whether he thought abortion should be legal in a case of rape. here's what he said. >> people want to make that one of those things. how do you slice this particularly tough sort of ethical question? it seems to me, first of all, from what i understand from doctors, that's really rare. if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. but let's assume maybe that didn't work or something. i think there should be some punishment, but it ought to be in the rapist and not attacking the child. >> akin released a statement saying in reviewing my off the cuff remarks, it's clear i

misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep empathy i hold for thousands of women who are raped and abused every year. but he went on to say that he's opposed to abortion even in cases of rape. governor romney and congressman ryan disagree with mr. akin's statement and a romney/ryan administration would not oppose abortion in instances of rape. we asked congressman akin to come on and clarify his original comments, but we were told he's unavailable. we're learning more about suspects in a police shootout in louisiana. two deputies killed and two wounded outside of new orleans. some of the seven people now in custody are on the fbi's domestic terrorism watch list. susan candiotti has more on the development of the case. >> two law enforcement officials may have ties.

sovereign citizens on the fbi's domestic terror list doesn't recognize the authority of law enforcement and has been known to use violence. seven people are charged in last thursday's shooting of four deputies outside of new orleans. two were killed and two were wounded. sheriff -- turned over its file to state police leading the investigation into the shootings further south near new orleans. about two months ago, the deputy set up surveillance on the group for about a week. he said investigators were working on a tip that the men had a.k.-47s and a lot of ammo in the trailer. but authorities never saw the suspects who were in the process of moving out of state. one of the suspects, terry lynn smith has a facebook page has a photo of smith holding a gun. and under the photo he appears to comment, for all you haters,

see the snake eye. it's unclear who he means by haters. under political views listed independent citizens whose stated mission is giving government back to the people. the sheriff says he believes the group is linked to sovereign citizens. law enforcement sources say it's too early to link the deputy shootings to the sovereign citizens extremist group. smith's son also charged in the case has a facebook page, as well. in it, he has pictures where he too is posing with guns, including what appears to be an assault weapon. >> the sovereign citizens united website says it does not endorse violence against police or the government. susan candiotti, cnn, new york. the presidential election is less than three months away and both sides are wrangling to control the conversation. but who's winning that battle? t. ya know, your rates and fees aren't exactly competitive. who do you think i am, quicken loans?

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mitt romney's running mate paul ryan has changed the political discussion in his one week on the campaign trail and shifted much of the focus to medicare. earlier i spoke with will kaine, both cnn contributors and ellsy is a writer with cnn. i started asking will if medicare is a winning issue for romney and ryan or if they need to steer the conversation back to the economy.

>> obama care in the romney team's estimation changed the entire game as far as medicare debate and conversation. they feel like the $716 billion over the next ten years that obama care transfers over into the new entitlement and thus reducing medicare for seniors is a winni issue for them. that romney says he would not take that $716 billion out of medicare. changing this entire medicare debate for the first time, republicans feel like this is a winning issue for them. so, no, i don't think they're afraid to have that conversation. >> okay. is the day spent talking about something other than jobs a good day for obama? >> yes, it is. and i don't know what will is talking about. this is a side issue. the only way that romney is going to beat president obama is to hammer him on the economy and on jobs. he's not going to do it any other way. and he hasn't been talking about jobs since he left on his trip and started fumbling over in

london. i think this is a distraction for the romney campaign. i'm shocked they've allowed it to go this far, because in my opinion what's really going to happen is they're going to start dissecting the rest of ryan's plan and you're going to get further away from the conversation about jobs. medicare is a conversation for sure. >> go ahead. >> yeah, let me help you on what exactly i'm talking about. a, i think you'd be able to get back talking about the economy. there's still three months left to go before the november election. and b, i'll help you visualize what i'm talking about. stretch back in your memory about two years to the 2010 midterms and picture all the town halls with seniors upset about the fact that medicare was cut because of obama care. the romney team thinks we can use that again. >> in 2010, back when the tea party came in and they were supposed to help wheel in the economy and help cut back the spending and we had the budget crunch and the debt ceiling conversation. that 2010, is that what you're

talking about? >> yes, i guess. yes. >> all right. making sure. >> let's go ahead and move on now that we've got that settled. this morning on cnn "state of the union," the criticism the president is avoiding the national media. here's what she said to jim acosta. >> we're going to be talking to media all over this country. and i don't think -- >> "entertainment tonight," "people" magazine, are they more important than the national news media? >> they're equally important. i think that's where a lot of americans get their news and i think the president's going to continue doing that. >> will, is this a legitimate argument? does stephanie cutter have a point here? >> well, look, i think she might have a point when she says they're of equal value. i don't know. news media you would think would have a little more substance and value. that doesn't mean i don't think the president shouldn't be giving interviews, feel free, do that, you're right, a lot of americans watch it. but you might also fit in in

that time a press conference, an interview with cnn or some other news media outlet, which he hasn't done since may? >> since june, are you getting the feeling, will, he's avoiding the national media? >> i think it's more than a feeling. i think it's obvious. >> what do you say? >> i say that mitt romney had a photo op with him going grocery shopping, so clearly making sure that the american people feel good about you as a person is just as important to this campaign as what we say is the most substantive kind of conversation to be having. and no one between president obama and mitt romney has ducked the national media more than mitt romney. so i don't think this is a really good conversation for the republicans to be having. sure you can criticize him about "people" magazine, but mitt romney's been using fox news as his personal pr arm. and when we consider more legitimate news sources, i think he is barking up the wrong tree here. >> didn't he give a press conference on thursday? >> when he said he wasn't going to release any more taxes, that

press conference? >> that one. >> yeah, sure. i guess you can count that one where he said i paid at least 13%, i guess, we should give him a pat on the back. >> he gave one, you didn't like what he said, but he gave one. >> always a pleasure. a mob attacks japanese-made cars. ahead, frustrations are running high in a fight over territory with both sides claiming ownership.

now a court has handed down a verdict in a trial that's made headlines around the world. the wife of a former communist party leader and an aide were accused of fatally poisoning a british businessman. during the trial, they stunned court watchers by confessing to the crime. stan grant from beijing with more. stan, what's the verdict?

>> reporter: yeah, alison, what we're hearing now, a friend of the family, but she's been given a commuted death sentence. that is a two-year reprieve at the end of that two years they will then hand down a full sentence that perhaps will be live from prison. that's to be determined. her accomplice in this, as well, has been given a nine-year jail term. neither of them, we understand are going to appeal this verdict. this has been the most extraordinary story. it's peeled open the curtain here on the highest level dealings of the communist party. this is a secretive party. we never get to see or hear about the people at the top. in this case, this is the very top. gu kailai is married to the son of a revolutionary hero here in china, someone himself was talked about as a potential future president of china.

he ruled over the biggest city in the country of more than 30 million people. he was someone who dressed himself in the slogans and the songs, someone who saw himself as the very conscience of the communist party. well, now he's being stripped of his position. he's being kept behind closed doors. we've heard nothing from him. his wife, in the meantime, has admitted to murdering, poisoning neil hayward a british businessman who had strong and very close business links with the family. now, this is something that has involved both neil hayward, a person -- as i say a businessman in china, someone who apparently himself has links to spy agents in the united kingdom. the man who broke this story wide open, a senior chinese policeman ran to the american embassy with news when this story first broke. and, of course, a man touted as a future president of the country now held behind closed doors. and all of this playing out at a time when the communist party

itself is going through a once-in-a-decade leadership transition. an extraordinary story that has ramifications from the very top of this country. >> a fascinating case. stan grant from beijing, thank you. another headline out of china where today was a bad day to own a japanese import. a mob attacked japanese-made cars in one chinese city as anger over a disputed island chain grows. both countries claim the islands and a japanese group landed on one of the islands today sparking protests in several cities. japan deported 14 chinese citizens who landed on the islands last week. in south africa, the company at the center of a deadly miner's strike says they must go back to work tomorrow or lose their jobs. on thursday, police opened fire on the striking miners, many of whom were armed with machetes. 34 miners were killed in the shooting. the nfl referees are in a

contract battle right now. so while they're on the sidelines, it may surprise you where one of the replacement refs used to work. that's next.

one of the best hitters in baseball this season gets suspended, and the nfl prepares to begin the season with replacement referees. it's been one of those odd weeks in the sports world. john worthheim joined me earlier and i asked him about melky cabrera who was suspended this week. he was one of the league's leading hitters, the mvp of the all-star game, but john told me, this bust wasn't such a big surprise. >> a blogger in the bay area, andrew bagerly confronted him about these rumors a few weeks ago. cabrera denied them, but this was in the chatter. the report of this failed test was not a big shock. >> cabrera plays for the giants, the same team barry bonds played for. and we all know about the

allegations that shadowed bonds. is this a coincidence? or does this organization have a problem here? >> that's interesting. apart from bonds, there were other giants that figured prominently in the mitchell report a few years ago. i don't think it's an organizational issue. but the fact there is this history, there is this barry bonds cloud over the giants is certainly another component. this is just a strange case all the way, but the fact this is the giants is another angle to the story, definitely. >> there's a report in the daily news that says cabrera concocted this scheme to explain this test by creating a fake website with a fake product he could claim to have taken by accident. does this mean he could be in even more trouble than we thought? >> yeah, this is a definitely a case where sort of the cover-up is going to be clumsier than the crime. and i think what this shows is that players still think there are loopholes, ways to circumvent the policy. in this case, they were going to create this product and say look, it's mislabeled. i took this innocently. and the fact anybody would be

that bold suggests players may not be as serious as they need to be about the program. >> or there's a lot of ego involved. the nfl season just a couple of weeks away and the referees in the league are in a labor standoff. we could start the season with replacement referees. how much money are they fighting over, though? >> the money is very little. it's $2.2 million for this year. this is a $9.3 billion industry. they are really going to have replacement refs over a different of $2.2 million? i'm dumbfounded by this. a year ago we were talking about a player strike and splitting a pie. that made sense. this is pocket change. for a sport where the tv is through the roof and all this success and the franchise values are soaring, the one issue is player health and safety. this is the one issue that could hurt the league to have anything other than the best, most highly-trained officials is dumbfounding.

>> they have experience, but one replacement ref reportedly used to work for something called the lingerie football league. there you go. there's a serious safety issue here. >> i mean already we have seen one ref called atlanta arizona and there was a call for holding against a punt returner which is not easy to do. and the lingerie will get a lot of laughs, but the nfl has this very serious issue that's shrouding the whole league. you have this litigation and liability issues. you hate to go there. but if there's one incident or injury that's a result of these sub standard officiating, it's going to be a disaster. >> the people go to the games to watch the players, but the ref could make a call that decides who wins or loses. right? >> absolutely. anyone who watches football knows it's true.

this is what they keep saying. no one pays to go to see the refs, but no one pays to go see the owners either. the refs have an indispensable job and especially for a product where health and safety is really at the forefront, i just can't imagine why they are playing hardball over a couple million dollars. >> and that was jon wertheim of "sports illustrated." ahead, our ben wedeman takes us what it takes to get the story from inside the war zone. north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing generations of cleaner-burning energy for our country, drilling thousands of feet below fresh water sources within self-contained well systems. and, using state-of-the-art monitoring technologies, rigorous practices help ensure our operations are safe and clean for our communities and the environment. we're america's natural gas.

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half past the hour now. let's take a look at the headlin headlines. missouri congressman todd akin is clarifying remarks he made on abortion and rape. he references what he calls cases of "legitimate rape." then he said this. >> the female body has ways to

try to shut that whole thing down. but let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. you know, i think there should be some punishment. but the punishment ought to be in the rapist and not attacking the child. >> congressman akin issued a statement today, in reviewing my off-the-cuff remarks, it is clear i misspoke in this interview and it does not reflect the deep elm thi i hold for the thousands of women who are raped and abused every year. he's running against claire mccaskill in the november election. some families who lost loved ones in the world trade centers have a big problem with plans for the 9/11 memorial and museum at ground zero. memorial organizers are planning to keep some unidentified human remains underground between where the twin towers once stood. that plan is on hold while the considers an appeal by some families who insist those remains be kept aboveground.

the new york mayor's office is involved in the decision too. a young canadian swimmer has had an unforgettable weekend. last hour, the 14-year-old finished a swim across lake ontario becoming one of the youngest to complete the feat. her swim lasted more than 24 hours, over more than 30 miles and isn't just a personal accomplishment, she also raised more than $70,000 for a camp for children with cancer. there's another death in the worst west nile virus outbreak the country has seen in eight years. this time, the mosquito-bourne is blamed for a death in illinois, one of 26 deaths nationwide. dallas, texas hasn't seen this sight in 45 years. a plane taking off to dust the city with mosquito pesticide. city leaders began spraying this week and hoped to finish soon. it was a controversial decision, but one city leader felt they had to make. most of the west nile deaths have come in texas. earlier i asked nick valencia about the decision. >> the spraying's been pretty

controversial in texas, how safe is it? >> all signs point to yes, allison. we're hearing from epa officials and health department officials there's no reason for concern, nothing to worry about here. having said that, we spoke to residents who were blogging about this and had concern about what the spraying targets. is it the larva, is the it mosquitos? this doesn't kill the larva, this only kills the mosquitos. we had the dallas mayor on earlier last hour with fredericka whitfield, he disputed that. so right now, we just don't know. >> you wonder how effective is it going to be? to start spraying and spraying before you know, what's the point? >> sure, but they think it's the best bet right now to help the residents right there. >> okay. let's talk about what happens when someone contracts the west nile virus, what are the possible outcomes? >> this is the scariest part about it. sometimes there's no symptoms at all. there's an incubation period for about two weeks where people don't have it. we talked to the mother of one

14-year-old who doesn't really fit the mold of someone who would contract this virus. usually toddlers, elderly, people with pre-existing health conditions. this 14-year-old jordan connor had none of that. her symptoms were vague. she told her mom she had a headache the one day, next day she had a fever, that night she ends up in the emergency room. in fact, one of the concerns that ebony connor had, the mother of the 14-year-old was that the vague symptoms weren't diagnosed properly by the doctors. she's talked to us about what difficult time she's going through her family yesterday. >> the symptoms play peek-a-boo with you. we were seven to ten days into it. jordan never said she had a headache. so when the mention of a headache became a complaint of a headache, i was very concerned. and when a complaint included vomiting, well, the next day we had a doctors appointment. but coincidentally that night, that's when the sedation came in. and i took her straight to the emergency room.

>> so what jordan contracted, less than 1% of those who get the virus end up getting this neurological disorder. it controls -- it hits the brain functions, alison. so the mother right now is worried about seizures, and the guidance she's been given from the doctors, if you can believe it is wait it out, we'll see what happens. >> and that was cnn's nick valencia on the west nile outbreak. across syria, at least 170 people were killed on sunday in street fighting and shelling in cities across the country. and we're including in that number, 20 burned bodies found in a town close to the border with jordan. you're about to see the civil war in syria from a brand new perspective. it's through the eyes sometimes hiding from sniper fire of our senior international correspondent ben wedeman. >> reporter: we're going into a

limbo. very round about route. so we had two cars going, but the other car apparently got bad gas in it. and therefore it's kaput, it's not going to make it. so now we're six people crammed into this little van. >> it is right here. >> yeah. >> we are literally just a few meters from our destination here. the car's run out of gas. so we're pushing it up a hill. all right.

we made it. we left our safe house at 11:00 in the morning. it's ten minutes past 10:00 at night and finally made it. >> all right. we're now going in the direction where all the fighting is taking place. he's saying at the intersection, go faster. okay. we're going through an intersection where he says to drive fast. so time to get on the gear. and he's saying, saying here

there's a sniper that's shooting. okay. he's saying you want to go back and drive fast through the intersection because there's a sniper. he said get down. >> there's a sniper. >> get down. get down, get down. that's all right. you're fine. come down. just get down. even if it's uncomfortable, just get down. >> how are you going to do it? >> all right.

okay. we made it past that one. okay. maybe now is a good time to get out, get our bearings. >> okay. what are you doing? okay. he's going to take us between the buildings. probably we'll park the car there and -- >> not sure about you, but we're all holding our breath. ben wedeman's dangerous journey to aleppo continues in a moment.

we left cnn's ben wedeman hunkered down in the back of a van in syria with bullets flying over his head. he hasn't even arrived in aleppo, we go back now to our senior international correspondent in the middle of syria's fighting.

>> reporter: i met hanaddi who insists she and her family will not leave. i ask her where the front line is but she brushes off the question saying she's become accustomed to the shelling. her son, 1 1/2-year-old abdel seems confused and squeezes my hand tightly. a two-minute walk down the street, an apartment building was hit in an air strike. this building or rather what's left of this building which really isn't much is in an area where civilians are still living. and of course, among the ruins, we found a french book and somebody's studying english. the life of william shakespeare.

residents say two bodies remain buried inside. here's the somewhat absurd nature of the situation. here we are. we came in this door just because there was -- there were air raids going on in the neighborhood. we came inside this nice gentleman first gave us water, then gave us juice, and now gave us tea. now we're staying inside because they're shooting up the street, but the hospitality does not stop when the fighting goes on. we're leaving aleppo for the second time. we're taking a route we're hoping will get us to our safe house faster, but looks like the route we were going to take they're saying don't go that

way. we're hearing some shooting in the distance and some boom booms. all right. plan "a" is quickly melted into plan "b." and now i don't know where we're going. okay. now we're going on to plan "c." and looks like -- okay. he was saying mizam means two things, system, normal, or regime. so we thought we were driving through a regime area. plans a, b, and c, melted, evaporated, we're shot at by snipers. so now we're going back to plan

"d," which is the long way out of here, which takes hours, however, it is relatively safe. no way is really safe, but anyway, we'll cross our fingers. >> amazing stuff. don lemon sat down with film maker spike lee. he's been a political voice over the years and he asked him tough questions about the obama administration. that's ahead. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, producing cleaner electricity, putting us to work here in america and supporting wind and solar. though all energy development comes with some risk, we're committed to safely and responsibly producing natural gas. it's not a dream. america's natural gas... putting us in control of our energy future, now.

so what's the best way to attract a mate? good looking, successful? sure, none of that hurts, but he may need to be playful? >> hey, so just threw a snowball at us and let's have some fun! >> yeah! >> hey, kids, come on. kids hitting me like that. hey. hey. any of you up for adoption? >> that's bill murray trying to impress a girl with his playfulness in "groundhog day." and i'm thinking that may be too playful. so i spoke with wendy walsh and she told me a bit of playfulness can actually go a long way. >> it's always been that women often look for a sense of humor in men because it is linked with intelligence. believe it or not you have to be really smart to be funny. you've got to anticipate how your audience will take it, you've got to think in double

meanings, and for that, you have to be pretty smart. and women like smart guys because they could be good providers, right? they can bring in the bucks, as well. >> for women, does humor trump what's outside? you know, how hot the guy is? is the sense of humor really the utmost importance? >> right. well, the study we're talking about is a new study out of penn state. and it showed for women it definitely does. a sense of humor, playfulness, and fun trumps looks for women. not for men because men always like that youth and beauty, of course, is always a signal of reproductive fitness in our past, so that's where they go. but, yes, women love funny. have you ever heard the saying women fall in love with their ears and men fall in love with their eyes. >> so guys don't even care if the women have a sense of humor? is that what you're saying? personality doesn't count? >> well, you know how much i hate to generalize, alison, there are guys that care about personality more than anything and there are guys that care

about a nice rack more than anything. you're going to have a range there just like you are with women. but this particular study showed there's a tendency for women to choose fun and playfulness over good looks in men. >> what happens as you get older? does that playfulness come across as too immature? >> like in the clip we showed from "groundhog day?" absolutely. what kind of humor displays intelligence? is it smart, clever humor or sarcastic diggy humor. are you making your audience feel better? are you helping them, or are you putting peel down with your humor? or are you being completely immature? is it time to grow up? >> what if you're not a naturally playful person. is there a way to loosen up a little bit more? >> no. >> basically no faking it. >> you can't fake intelligence and you can't fake humor. but what you can do is reduce the amount of stress, anxiety,

and depression in your life. and for that, we can all do the work of personal therapy, personal growth to get rid of the baggage, the cloud, that black cloud over your head, you can get rid of that. time now to look ahead to the week's top stories. it's going to be a week packed full of campaign events and looking back at one of hollywood's biggest weddings of the year. we begin tonight with the president's plans for the week. >> i'm dan lothian at the white house. this week, president obama heads back out on the campaign trail flying west of nevada, a state that has been hit hard by the mortgage crisis. he'll also visit the state of ohio, a key battleground state where he currently leads in the poll. both of these states could decide who wins the white house. then the president heads to new york city, a fundraiser to raise much-needed campaign cash. >> i'm paul steinhauser on the campaign trail in florida. after campaigning separately for a week, mitt romney and paul

ryan reunite. they team up tomorrow for a big rally in new hampshire, a crucial battleground state. later in the week, both men held a lot of fundraisers in this crucial last week leading up to the republican national convention in tampa. we have a packed week ahead full of economic news. first off, though, wall street will be watching for key corporate earnings. we'll hear from dell, hewlett-packard, lowes, and barnes and noble. we'll get the final minute, shedding light on where we stand. also ahead, the new and existing home sales reports. any signs of continued recovery in those numbers. then on friday, we wrap up the week with the latest durable goods numbers. that's all ahead, we'll keep an eye on it for you on cnn money. it's the one-year anniversary of kim kardashian's wedding bonanza. we take a look back at the

72-day marriage that had us ul trying to keep up with the kardashians. and we're counting down the biggest, most shocking stories of the summer of 2012. >> don lemon sat down with the always political and always opinionated film maker spike lee and talked about president obama with him. >> do you think he's lived up to the promises? >> spike lee's answer may surprise you. we've got that next.

in a special one-on-one, our don lemon sat down with spike

lee known for films that often make political statements and he asked if the president has lived up to his promises. >> do you think it was too high, the expectations? >> he was a savior, black jesus. and i don't care who it was. expectations were, i think, way too high. knowing how politics works and knowing you have to deal with the congress, in my opinion, a congress that's solidified as saying whatever you do, we're blocking that. we're blocking. we're blocking. and every breath we take, we're going to do what we can that you don't get a second term. bottom line. and if it hurts americans in the process, tough business. >> do you think he's lived up to the promises? >> look, the man's not perfect. who's perfect? but my wife and id