Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Hospital Puts Teen on Transplant List; Manning Scheduled to Testify; Apple Stocks Rise; Ron Burgundy Releases Book and Returns With Movie; Actresses Testify Against Paparazzi Before Legislative Committee; Guidices Offer Pleas; Police Policies and High-Speed Car Chases

Aired August 14, 2013 - 15:30   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to this dramatic reversal at a hospital in Atlanta now making a 15-year-old boy a top priority for a heart transplant he so clearly desperately needs. Doctors had given Anthony Stokes just six months to live, but denied him a spot on the transplant list. And that caused a lot of outrage.

Only then did the hospital reverse course.

CNN's senior medical correspondent is here with this.

And first, just backing up, why was he denied a spot on the list in the first place?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: He was denied a spot in the first place because, in the letter they wrote to him, they said that he had been noncompliant.

And it's not entirely clear what that means. But doctors get very worried. They don't want to give you a heart if they think you're not going to take care of it afterwards. If you don't take care of the heart that you're given, if you don't take the medicines you need to take, if you don't go to the doctor's appointments, that heart could actually kill you.

And you wasted it. It now can't go to someone else. So, it appears that for some reason, they feared that he had been noncompliant or that he was going to be noncompliant. It's not entirely clear why they thought that.

BALDWIN: So, then if and when -- what are the chances I guess of him actually getting a heart?

COHEN: Well, he's now on the waiting list.

BALDWIN: Right.

COHEN: He's given the highest -- he's given the highest priority now.

So, his family says they have been told about three or four months that he should be getting a heart. But what's interesting about this is that he was told no. He was told, no, you can't have one. His family thinks it's because he was in juvenile detention for a short period of time because he got into a fight. He says he was defending his younger brother. And he also has bad grades.

And his family says that's why they didn't want to give it to him because they thought he was sort of a bad kid, and they were told no.

But when the media went crazy with this and it was all over the place, the hospital said, OK, we've changed our mind. We're going to put him on the list.

BROOKE BALDWIN, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": I'm just curious. And I just have to ask.

We've reported so heavily on the girl in Pennsylvania, right? That was a huge ordeal. She ended up getting the lung, the pair of lungs.

The fact that the media is getting involved, to you think that in that case that helped his case?

COHEN: Oh, absolutely. I mean, it certainly seems that way because nothing else changed, right?

We have the letter. The letter says, no, we are not putting you on the list for a heart at this time.

BALDWIN: Here he is on the priority list.

COHEN: Here he is on the priority list. A similar thing happened. There was a young girl who had autism was denied a new heart. All of a sudden, the media attention, they gave her a heart.

I think families figured out no doesn't necessarily mean no. They could go to the media.

I think some doctors would take issue with this and say, gee, why should the media play a role here?

BALDWIN: That this isn't fair.

COHEN: That this isn't fair. Others say these doctors wield an enormous amount of power. There aren't strict rules. Doctors make them up in some ways. It's a subjective decision about who they want to give an organ to.

Some people would say, isn't it great the family has a way to fight back? So it really depends on your perspective.

BALDWIN: Elizabeth, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Ad Private Bradley Manning scheduled to testify pretty shortly at his court-martial for leaking government secrets. He has been convicted, faces up to 90 years in prison. This is that next phase, the sentencing phase, we're watching here.

Earlier today, a psychologist told the court that Manning struggled in the military with issues of gender identity, and the Pentagon released this photograph of Manning that he had purportedly sent a superior.

CNN's Barbara Starr is live for us now at the Pentagon. What is the significance, Barbara, of this photograph? Why is that an issue here in the sentencing phase of this court-martial?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: We are waiting to hear from Bradley Manning and some of his family members.

This issue here at hand is just how troubled was this young man as he served in the military and struggled with gender identity issues? And did it play a role in his actions?

Apparently, this is part of an e-mail and a photo that he sent to his sergeant, talking about his, quote, "problem," saying that he'd been haunted for some time, and this picture emerging that can, perhaps, best be described as cross-dressing.

So the defense is making the case that Manning was a troubled young man with these gender issues and that the Army failed to identify it, realize it, cope with it, do anything about it.

He became, obviously, a man who then moved to the next step in his behavior issues and made the decision to download some three-quarters- of-a-million pages of documents and give them -- classified documents -- and give them to the anti-secrecy site, Wikileaks.

The defense saying it was part of the Army's problem they did not recognize it and didn't deal with it. The prosecution, of course, has a very different view.

Brooke?

BALDWIN: And, again, we are awaiting for Bradley Manning to testify.

We know you're watching closely. Barbara Starr, thank you very much.

Coming up, the one and only "Anchorman," Ron Burgundy, has a tell-all book coming up, everything you ever wanted to know about staying classy.

Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you have been ignoring Apple stock during its recent fall from grace, it's time to pay attention because Apple is on a tear, up more than two percent just today, topping 500 bucks a share for the first time since late January.

Why is this happening? Let me tell you, one single tweet.

Here is Christine Romans. Christine?

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Brooke, Apple shares are in just about everybody's 401(k)s, one of the most widely held stocks in the world. Now a billionaire investor wants you to know, hey, he owns it, too. Carl Icahn sent a tweet yesterday saying he currently owning a large position in Apple. He thinks the stock is undervalued. He thinks it should be at $700 a share.

Apple is still a long ways down from there. It's been a terrible year for shareholders in Apple. There has been a stealth rally since April. The stock more recently up about 30 percent.

Apple has a big selling season coming up. Expectations are that on September 10th it will unveil the iPhone 5s and a new operating system. Analysts have been calling for a cheaper version of the iPhone.

One Apple executive has said it will be a very exciting fall. Who knows? Maybe we'll finally see the iWatch or Apple TV.

Carl Icahn is well known as someone who can pressure boards to unlock shareholder value. He's done it before. He's likely to do it again. Perhaps he'll push Apple for a bigger stock buyback. No one knows for sure.

What we do know is Carl Icahn, the activist billionaire investor, wants you and Apple executives to know he owns an awful lot of Apple stock. Brooke?

BALDWIN: Christine, thank you very much.

Coming up, paparazzi, they are nightmares for a lot of celebrities. Jennifer Garner and Halle Berry are trying to get a bill passed to keep them and their children safe.

Coming up, we'll talk to a veteran paparazzo.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: America's fake newsman returning to the big screen, Ron Burgundy, classier than ever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're starting a 24-hour news channel, and we want you.

WILL FERRELL, ACTOR: I'm going to do the thing God put Ron Burgundy on this Earth to do, have salon-quality hair and read the news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: But wait. There is more, Ron Burgundy also releasing a, quote, "tell-all" memoir entitled "Let Me Off At the Top."

The tongue-in-cheek book will tell the story on TV's greatest living news anchor, due to be published in November, of course, just ahead of the release of the "Anchorman" sequel.

Coming up, pretty classy man in his own right, Jake Tapper. Like that segue? Jake is joining me.

Before we chat, I know, Tapper, you're talking today about this big show a lot of people are huge fans of, "Duck Dynasty." Roll the video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some wooden ones. Some plastic ones. You have a barrel, an end piece, a reed and a wedge. Put all those together and it makes a duck call.

And we make everyone and blow every one, so they're all hand-tuned and tested before they leave here.

I've gotten all my ideas -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, sorry I didn't bring my duck call for this segment, Tapper, but are you a big --

JAKE TAPPER, ANCHOR, "THE LEAD": I have a few I could lend you a few if you -- the next time you --

BALDWIN: Good to know. I hear you're buddies. I've seen the picture of you at the White House correspondents' dinner with --

TAPPER: With Willie?

BALDWIN: Yes. Yeah, we have the picture. We'll show it in a minute.

What are you doing with this today?

TAPPER: You know, this show is a huge business phenomenon. This show, "Duck Dynasty," got about 10 million viewers for its season finale last season.

The season premiere is tonight. It's the most watched show in the history of A&E. It has numbers that any broadcast network executive would love to have.

We're looking at what is the reason behind the success of the show. A lot of people, television executives and critics in New York and Los Angeles, they do not understand this phenomenon. We'll take a look at the Robertson family.

Of course, we'll also talk about Egypt, we'll talk about that horrific plane crash, the conviction and sentencing of Jesse Jackson, Jr., former congressman, and a lot more coming up on "The Lead."

BALDWIN: Little bit of everything.

Jake Tapper, thank you very much. We'll see you in 15 minutes.

Meantime, she is the fiery reality star who is known for her outbursts, a table flip or two. Today the real housewife of New Jersey made her way into the courtroom, Teresa Giudice and her husband entering pleas of federal fraud charges.

We'll tell you what happened inside that courtroom, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You know they make you look -- you've turned your head -- those glossy celebrity magazines staring at you at the grocery checkout aisle, scandal, stars without makeup, exclusive photos of their kids.

Do you know what it takes to get those pretty or pretty ugly pictures? Listen to Jennifer Garner, actress, wife of Ben Affleck, mother of three. She describes what a typical day with her children and the paparazzi is like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER GARNER, ACTRESS: Large, aggressive men swarm us, causing a mob scene, yelling, jockeying for position, crowding around the kids while running over other parents and children unfortunate enough to be nearby.

My 17-month-old baby is terrified and cries. My four-year-old says, why do these men never smile? Why do they never go away? Why are they always with us?

Then there are violent, mentally-ill stalkers who can now get close to my kids by simply following mobs of photographers and blending in, like the very man who threatened to cut the babies out of my belly and who was arrested waiting behind our daughter's preschool, standing among the throng of paparazzi.

I love my kids. They're beautiful and sweet and innocent. And I don't want a gang of shouting, arguing, law breaking photographers who camp out everywhere we are all day, every day, to continue traumatizing my kids.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. Sorry. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Jennifer Garner, also actress Halle Berry, there she was, sitting to Jennifer's right, both of them testifying in favor of this new bill to punish paparazzi who hound stars' kids.

Frank Griffin is a veteran celebrity photographer, owns a paparazzi agency, joins me from Los Angeles.

With me in Studio 7, defense attorney Mike Gottlieb.

Welcome to both of you.

Frank, let me be clear. One paparazzo is not the same as another. But clearly the big business is take the shot and get a lot of money. Why do you do it? FRANK GRIFFIN, VETERAN PAPARAZZO: First of all, where did you get the impression there was a lot of money involved? Did you ever see a check?

BALDWIN: I have never received a check. Correct me.

GRIFFIN: The average cost of a picture in one of the magazines, I have a bunch of them here in front of me, is about $2 to $20. OK? So let's get that straight.

What's the next question?

BALDWIN: So the next question is, reports, though, of -- let's give examples of famous couples' babies, and they're paid, you know, I've read something -- tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. Is that not true?

GRIFFIN: I've heard stories myself of offers being paid where there's a setup, most famously Angelina Jolie in Namibia, when she did a setup with the twins. There was a figure of $5 million.

But that's specifically when the parents give up the children, or as we in the trade say, they sell the kids to the magazines, paying a substantial amount of money for the first rights.

BALDWIN: Frank, OK, let me just come back to you in a second.

Mike, let me just bring you in because we're talking about possible legislation. What would this bill entail?

MIKE GOTTLIEB, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, I'm not certain that there's really a need for this bill. There are already other bills out there that protect. They're just not being utilized by the -- by law enforcement in California.

And I think that, you know, hearing Jennifer's story, it's obviously horrific. Nobody wants that to happen to anybody's children, but I think there needs to be a balancing between the media's right to publish and the stars' children's rights.

You know, that's what the balances is all about. If they had not subjected their children to the public eye, then the paparazzi should really not be following the children, jumping out of bushes, scaring them.

I think it depends on whether or not the children have become celebrities themselves. And if they haven't, then their privacy rights should be protected.

BALDWIN: Do you agree with that, Frank?

GRIFFIN: There's a couple of points he made that I do agree with.

I don't think under any circumstances children should be scared or frightened. I also have in front of me -- I don't want to show you, but I have in front of me a pile of this week's tabloid magazines. Not one single image of a scared child.

Most of the celebrities are holding their children and posing with them, so there is a kind of double standard.

There are those celebrities that choose not to put their children in the limelight and they go and live somewhere else. I'm thinking, for example, of Andie McDowell. You don't even know what her daughters look like.

She chose not to expose them to the limelight. They have millions and millions of dollars and are able to protect those children where necessary.

That doesn't excuse bad behavior or the behavior of a certain number of those photographers that may cause distress or may interrupt their passage.

BALDWIN: Let me just play you this other sound bite. And I hear you loud and clear, Frank, but this is what Halle Berry says.

She was talking with -- you know, about her five-year-old daughter in a car, being chased by 10 to 20 paparazzi, and she, you know, talks about sort of some of the inappropriate questions that are thrown at them and her daughter's response.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HALLE BERRY, ACTRESS: She doesn't want to go pre-school anymore. Why? Because these 25 gang of grown men are there. They're allowed to be so close to her that they can shout obscenities to me. They can ask her questions that are inappropriate for a five-year-old to have to answer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Do you think, Frank, that that is an anomaly and not the norm for people who work in your profession?

GRIFFIN: Yes, I think it's one-sided to the -- from the point of view that you're only listening to one angle there. I can't see anyone in their right mind posing improper questions of a child.

I do know that Halle Berry tried to move to France to be with her French husband, and is using this as a kind of aid or a crutch to give her the ability to take her child, despite the parent of her child trying to combat it.

And there was, of course, quite famously, the fight between the now husband and the father of her child, which was made very public and was almost done in public with, I think it was Gabriel Aubrey walking around with black eyes.

That kind of thing makes -- it becomes newsworthy, and it didn't happen in (inaudible). It happened in Hollywood where there are -- sadly, there are people around that will -- are ready to take photographs on virtually every street corner.

I feel for her, and I don't want the child to be upset, and we have strictures that magazines will not accept it.

BALDWIN: OK, Frank Griffin and Mike Gottlieb, thank you very much.

Again, it's a bill. Who knows if it will actually pass muster?

Thanks to all of you.

Now, a dose of reality for one of the real housewives, we're talking about New Jersey's Teresa Giudice, best known for lavish lifestyle, table-flipping antics. Remember this?

We have some new pictures for you this afternoon, pictures of Teresa and Joe Giudice heading into federal court in New Jersey. This is just from last hour.

They entered pleas of not guilty to 39 charges in a six-minute -- six minute -- court appearance.

The feds allege the couple conspired to forge tax returns and other documents to trick banks into giving them mortgages.

The trial is set for October 8th. They face 50 years in prison, if convicted, and her husband could get kicked out of the country, sent back to Italy, if convicted.

Coming up, a wild, high-speed car chase leaves a family of six dead. Now questions are being asked. Are high-speed police chases that killed a family -- are they necessary? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A family of six was killed during a police chase near the Mexican border.

John Zarrella reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Six dead, all from one family, four of them children, state troopers were pursuing a stolen pickup truck Monday in Hidalgo County, Texas. It blew through an intersection, hitting several cars.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just in shock, knowing that it could have been anybody, a whole family that just died.

ZARRELLA: Last month outside Atlanta, another stolen vehicle, another high-speed chase, captured on the dash-cam, police say in excess of 100-miles-per-hour before the driver crashed. He's dead.

MAJOR DON WOODRUFF, DULUTH, GEORGIA, POLICE: He was creating the danger, and we were trying to get him stopped.

ZARRELLA: It seems we hear about high-speed chases all the time. Oftentimes, question is raised, are they really necessary?

A 1997 National Institute of Justice study found that, beginning in the '90s, a growing number of agencies were making their policies more restrictive, chase only in response to a violent felony.

But here's the down side. Researchers say most pursuits, as many as 90 percent, are still for non-violent crimes.

GEOFFREY ALPERT, RESEARCH, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF JUSTICE STUDY: What we know about pursuits is that most of them, even in today's world, are for traffic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A very dangerous situation right here.

ZARRELLA: Not in Dallas, which has one of the toughest chase policies in the nation and has reduced the number of deaths to police officers and civilians, says former Chief David Kunkle who instituted the changes.

DAVID KUNKLE, FORMER DALLAS POLICE CHIEF: We wouldn't allow officers to pursue people that didn't stop or took evasive action.

We would keep them from chasing after those individuals and find other ways to catch them.

ZARRELLA: John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Thanks so much for watching. I'm Brooke Baldwin at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

Now to "The Lead" with Jake Tapper, starts right now.