Video and Transcript of CNN's Amber Lyon Helping Her Sex Trafficking Source, FAIR Fund, Raise Money

In February 2011, CNN's Amber Lyon aired a special on sex trafficking, "Selling the Girl Next Door" that attacked Village Voice Media-owned company, Backpage.com. At the end of the broadcast, Lyon's sources are singled out for "special thanks." We recently found out that Lyon is even closer to these groups than you could tell from that list. On May 4, 2011, FAIR Fund held a fundraiser in Washington's City Tavern Club. The event's emcee was CNN report Amber Lyon, and she didn't seem at all uncomfortable helping a source raise money. We know because we sent a reporter to watch and videotape her performance. Below are video clips and her transcribed remarks, mentioned in this week's issue.

PART 1

Hello everyone, and thank you all for coming tonight to Pearls of Purpose. And my name is Amber Lyon, and I'm an investigative and documentary reporter with CNN. This is just an amazing gala and an amazing way to really celebrate the empowerment of young girls all around the world. And last year, I was fortunate enough to be able to work alongside FAIRFund for a year-long investigation on child sex trafficking. And my producer told me:
"You have to meet this girl, Andrea Powell. She's just incredible. She's the kind of girl who really hits the streets to [[protect]] these child sex trafficking victims. She'll stand outside windows of pimps' houses and yell for them to release the girls and so when I first met her and saw her to be this petite little blonde, it was just amazing. I didn't realize that she was quite as tough as she was, and Andrea took us out to [[UNCLEAR]] K Street and really opened my producers' eyes and my eyes to the reality of domestic child sex trafficking. She was the first person we interviewed when we started on this journey and, and really helped us with the story, and we continue to use her as a source in all things sex trafficking. So, they're doing great work, and it's an honor to be here tonight hosting this. I'm definitely proud to be supporting FAIRFund as well. Uh, this evening FAIRFund is premiering a short documentary generously created by Justin Gutwein of ShineOn storytelling. And let's take a look at that.