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CNN: Special Investigations Unit
Right on the Edge
Aired October 03, 2010 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin at the CNN World Headquarters here in Atlanta. Here's a look at some of the stories at this hour.
First, the U.S. State Department is expected to issue a new travel advisory to Americans in Europe. An advisory we're hearing could come as early as tomorrow morning and U.S. officials say it will urge Americans to be vigilante, be alert in public spaces, tourist spots, transportation hubs.
One senior U.S. official is calling this, quote, "a serious situation." The official also says U.S. Military Bases are also taking precautions. The advisory, by the way, is based on an increase in terror threat information, not on any one specific threat.
Earlier, I spoke with CNN's Phil Black about how the British are now reacting to this new terror information.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We learned of a plot that was described as a possible Mumbai style attack like the one that took place in the City of Mumbai two years ago, with a team of people attacking multiple sites using small arms - guns and grenades, that sort of thing.
So we're told that it's no new intelligence pointing to that but we're told that officials in Europe and the United States are taking that potential threat so seriously that America would consider issuing a warning just like the one that we're hearing about.
This British Intelligence sources also told us there's another potential reason behind this. That is a feared backlash against France and its legislation to ban women from wearing the full face veil, the so-called burqa ban. But crucially, we're hearing in Britain that there are no plans for Britain to increase its security threat. That remains it's severe, which means a threat is considered highly likely it's the second highest level.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Again, to be clear, the travel advisory for Americans in Europe has not yet been issued.
And those are the headlines. CNN Special Investigation we're calling "RIGHT ON THE EDGE" starts now. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The type of business or service you provide. Let me make sure there's a code for it, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A code for prostitution.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dancing. Dancing is considered an art.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sex is kind of like dancing, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN HOST (voice-over): A new generation of Conservatives. Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe. They dressed up as a prostitute and a pimp to expose ACORN.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
BOUDREAU: Lila Rose.
LILA ROSE, PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST: (INAUDIBLE).
BOUDREAU: She's an anti-abortion activist who poses undercover at Planned Parenthood clinics around the country.
ROSE: (INAUDIBLE) right now. They were burned at the stake. They were shot for what they believed in. What are we going to do?
BOUDREAU: Christian Hartsock, works in Hollywood and directs films with a Conservative message.
CHRISTIAN HARTSOCK, FILMMAKER, ACTIVIST: Freeze.
BOUDREAU (on camera): How far do you think young Conservatives will go to expose the truth?
HARTSOCK: As far as we need.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Jason Mattera.
JASON MATTERA, NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR: Hey, Senator Franken.
BOUDREAU: Confronts Liberal lawmakers in the hallways of Congress.
REP. CHARLIE RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: Why don't you mind your god damn business?
MATTERA: No, I'm serious.
SEN. AL FRANKEN (D), MINNESOTA: You have to shut up right now.
BOUDREAU: And Ryan Sorba.
RYAN SORBA, ANTI-GAY ACTIVIST: Like do you want Pepsi Zero or water from a bigot?
BOUDREAU: He's an anti-gay activist, not afraid to stir up controversy.
SORBA: Sodomy is wrong. It's immoral.
BOUDREAU: And it seems to follow him wherever he goes.
SORBA: Do you hate Christianity?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do not hate Christianity. It's what you do.
SORBA: Then why are you yelling at me like that.
BOUDREAU: Armed with video cameras, ideas, and the internet, it's a new wave of good old-fashioned guerilla journalism.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who do you represent?
BOUDREAU: Many call themselves investigative journalists. Reporting on stories they feel others are too afraid to report.
ROSE: Abortion will end.
BOUDREAU: Disappointed and angry they say the mainstream media let them down. So they've decided to do the job themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Hannah Giles.
BOUDREAU: And they are rock stars of the movement.
HANNAH GILES, CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST: I love you guys so much. You have no idea.
BOUDREAU: And perhaps James, the most secretive of them all, would end up revealing the most about himself when he tried to turn the cameras on us.
SORBA: Do you hate Christians?
BOUDREAU: They're controversial -
MATTERA: You noticed you haven't answered my question.
BOUDREAU: -- and confrontational. And that's the way they like it. They are "RIGHT ON THE EDGE."
HARTSOCK: There's some times when we're obligated to speak up. Controversy is marketable. Doing controversial stuff is going to turn heads.
BOUDREAU: Christian Hartsock is a filmmaker with a Conservative edge. He's 23.
HARTSOCK: We're artists, you know? Enough is enough.
Action!
BOUDREAU: He directs short films and music videos like this political rap video called "Victocrat."
HARTSOCK: That's something that got everyone talking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And now a word from our president.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Damn, it feels good to be a victim. Snoozing (ph) my way into the White House.
HARTSOCK: There's thousands upon thousands of YouTube comments that to this day as we speak there's probably people typing stuff.
OBAMA: So all I've got to say to you who want to be - want to be Republicans (INAUDIBLE). We're going socialist now so look at me and count out. Damn, it feels good to be a victim
BOUDREAU: We first met Christian at a Tea Party rally in Searchlight, Nevada.
BOUDREAU (on camera): How much of a role do you think you'll play in just being part of this Conservative movement?
HARTSOCK: I'm from a generation that was highly misinformed by pop culture. I grew up in an area in the San Francisco Bay Area where there's pervasive misinformation. And we need to see through all of it. I'm someone who happened to see through all of it and there needs to be more of that.
BOUDREAU: The role of young Conservative.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): We then spotted Sarah Palin in the crowd.
BOUDREAU (on camera): Sarah, young Conservatives.
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), ALASKA: Pardon?
BOUDREAU (voice-over): We asked her about the movement.
PALIN: Oh, I think the young Conservatives are being part of this movement. Young Conservatives are what it will take to take our country back.
BOUDREAU: There was another a crowd favorite - Hannah Giles.
GILES: And I'm dedicating my life to making sure that they're kept in check, to exposing truths, to bringing down corruption, keep up the fight, the good will always prevail, and this is hope right here, guys.
I think it's an exciting time to be a young person in America.
BOUDREAU: There's a reason Hannah Giles became an overnight sweetheart of the Conservative Movement. In September 2009, she and James O'Keefe used hidden cameras to expose ACORN. JAMES O'KEEFE, CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST: My girlfriend is a prostitute.
BOUDREAU: They asked for advice about setting up a brothel.
O'KEEFE: Like there's 10 girls.
BOUDREAU: ACORN helps low-income people register to vote, find housing and file taxes.
O'KEEFE: Basically put up the house for her and she can perform tricks in the house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
BOUDREAU: The video sparked a media firestorm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The controversy surrounding ACORN.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN HOST: You know, the committee organizing group, ACORN, under fire after these undercover tapes came out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joining me now is the person who posed as a prostitute.
BOUDREAU: Investigators found the videos were highly edited and in some cases misleading. Still ACORN essentially collapsed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's outrageous.
BOUDREAU: Hannah is the reason we went to Searchlight.
BOUDREAU (on camera): So what makes you so different? What makes you like this?
GILES: God, my family, mom and jujitsu.
BOUDREAU: OK. All right.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): But we wanted to know more about her message.
BOUDREAU (on camera): Are you specifically trying to attract young people or are those people who are attracted to you naturally?
GILES: I hope so. I hope that there's not a whole bunch of old creeps like attracted to me, but -
BOUDREAU: Attracted meaning interested in your message.
GILES: Yes.
BOUDREAU: Wanting to follow in your footsteps.
GILES: Oh, that's just what I would like to reach out and spread the message to young people my age. I - I think my generation is really cool. We're the internet generation. We're free. That's what we thrive off of it. Not being told what to do. BOUDREAU (voice-over): In the past, Hannah and James turned down interviews with CNN. For this documentary, she agreed to talk, but only if Andrew Breitbart were there.
ANDREW BREITBART, AMERICAN WEBMASTER, STOOD BEHIND JAMES O'KEEFE: What Hannah and James did was extraordinary in that it made its way on to South Park. It made its way on to the "Daily Show." I mean, what they did is they took the - the express elevator to the Penthouse.
BOUDREAU: Breitbart was widely criticized earlier this year for releasing a clip of Shirley Sherrod speaking at an NAACP conference. The video was used out of context, portraying Sherrod as a racist.
GILES: And I think Andrew Breitbart is coming up next, so give a warm welcome for the man who made this thing happen.
BOUDREAU: Still many young Conservatives think Breitbart is a media genius. He knows how to make a story go viral - just like he did with the ACORN videos.
GILES: I'm 21 years old. I had one story and that was a launching pad. And I hope it's a launching pad for other kids and our nation to say, hey, we can do something.
BOUDREAU: A new movement with few rules.
MATTERA: Do you ever feel dirty inside defending this administration of the thieves (INAUDIBLE)?
BOUDREAU: One young conservative -
MATTERA: Most of the country thinks Obama sucks.
BOUDREAU: -- is not afraid to push the limits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care about your partner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't you waste it.
FRANKEN: You have to shut up right now.
RANGEL: Why don't you mind your god damn business?
MATTERA: No, I'm serious.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOUDREAU (on camera): How old are you?
MATTERA: Twenty-six.
BOUDREAU: Twenty-six and you're already a "New York Times" best selling author.
MATTERA: Yes. Pretty neat. I'm totally humbled by that.
BOUDREAU: Obama zombies?
MATTERA: Obama zombies. Oh, the zombies are starting to wake up.
BOUDREAU: You're probably best known for your ambush interviews.
MATTERA: Do you ever feel dirty inside defending this administration of the thieves and the (INAUDIBLE)?
It's where I started to come on the scene most Conservatives.
FRANKEN: And if you would just stop talking for a second.
MATTERA: Senator - sorry, I'm listening, go ahead.
Would you like to issue an apology for saying that they killed innocent civilians in cold blood?
Does it took like it's a network production? No. But I think that adds even more of an appeal because this is a (INAUDIBLE) journalist who are fed up with the directions of the county and they are going out there and doing something about it.
MATTERA: Congressman Rangel, Jason Mattera. I'm from Brooklyn, New York.
I love buttering them up in the beginning.
Great to meet you, Sir.
RANGEL: What are you doing in Brooklyn?
MATTERA: You're a young kid or you're a young lefty, you're a fan of his. And then once they're buttered up you just go in for the kill.
RANGEL: What?
MATTERA: How you drive the taxi fares (INAUDIBLE)? You have four rent controlled apartments with all parking rate and fail to pay taxes on rental properties. Where does the tax go?
RANGEL: Why don't you mind your god damn business?
MATTERA: No, I'm serious. Why are you (INAUDIBLE)?
BOUDREAU: You look proud.
MATTERA: Oh, it's an adrenaline rush when - when you do it again, you're like caught them.
BOUDREAU: Do you think you cross a line, though, of just being disrespectful at a certain level?
MATTERA: I find disrespecting the left honestly?
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Jason's confrontation with Congressman Rangel was shot more than a year ago before the mainstream media was covering the story. Some of the issues Jason grilled him on would become the subject of an ethics investigation, a full blown Washington scandal.
MATTERA: Growing up here, you just learn how to defend yourself at a very early age. And I've just seen so many homes that's broken and devastated growing up here in Brooklyn. That's why I'm a big advocate of free market ideas and free enterprise, because the only way to lift somebody out of poverty is through capitalism. No other way.
BOUDREAU: On this day, Jason is in D.C. to talk to a group of young Conservatives, high schoolers, and to sell his book "Obama Zombies: How the Liberal Machine Brainwashed My Generation."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here he is, the author of "Obama Zombies" and editor of "Human Events", Jason Mattera.
MATTERA: So, you may be asking what is an Obama Zombie? For Obama zombies, it is style over substance. It's more about feelings, not facts. I think many Obama supporters forgot for a moment that they were electing a president and instead thought they were supporting Will Smith.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think are Obama's chances in 2012 if Obama zombies still do not see reason?
MATTERA: I'll guess I'll give you the good news first, is most of the country thinks Obama sucks. His campaign is one thing and he's giving us something completely different.
BOUDREAU (on camera): How do you hope to influence these kids?
MATTERA: Being a role model, to have someone who's closer to their age who's also very active and accomplished. It just shows that it's not so far off. It's attainable.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Jason's fan base is growing, even with high powered GOP veteran like Karl Rove at his fundraiser in Colorado.
KARL ROVE, SENIOR ADVISOR AND DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF OF FRM. PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH: Let's get big. Will you send me a copy of this autographed?
MATTERA: I will.
ROVE: And maybe describe like I learned everything I know from you. Thanks.
BOUDREAU: Based in D.C., Jason is the editor at "Human Events", the oldest Conservative publication in the country.
MATTERA: We need to block the monster mosque from being built blocks from Ground Zero.
BOUDREAU: He's trying to attract a younger audience with these videos he post online.
MATTERA: Kind of weird.
Does Club Obama have any chunky White House interns I can talk to?
BOUDREAU: Now with a fulltime job -
FRANKEN: You have to shut up right now.
BOUDREAU: he has less time for his infamous YouTube ambush interviews.
MATTERA: I ain't the one wasting taxpayer dollars. That would be you.
BOUDREAU: And just when you thought you've seen the best of Jason Mattera.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care about your partner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't you waste it.
BOUDREAU: There's one more confrontation that's never been seen before.
MATTERA: We're going to go visit Dr. Steven Chu. You may know him as the Energy Secretary of the United States.
BOUDREAU: He gave us the unedited footage.
MATTERA: He wants us to paint the roof of our home white. That's what (INAUDIBLE) global warming. We're going to go visit.
Hi.
STEVEN CHU, ENERGY SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Hi.
MATTERA: Oh, Dr. Chu.
CHU: Yes. What's up?
MATTERA: Hey. Jason Mattera.
CHU: What's up?
MATTERA: With this solar - the solar panels, do you have any here?
CHU: No, we don't.
MATTERA: You don't have any solar panels?
CHU: Thank you.
MATTERA: What about - the brother doesn't have any solar panels.
BOUDREAU: Later - ROSE: I'm just driving back from what was supposed to be meeting with James O'Keefe.
BOUDREAU: I'll find out firsthand that politicians aren't the only targets of certain young Conservatives.
ROSE: (INAUDIBLE) you're about to be punked.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOUDREAU (on camera): You're 21 and how long have you been doing these videos?
ROSE: This, I guess, will be my fourth year because I started when I was 18. We take the video camera and we use them because in a way they are a weapon.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Lila Rose is an undercover activist.
ROSE: They can reveal truth and show what's really happening inside an abortion clinic.
BOUDREAU: She creates short films from her undercover work, mostly from inside Planned Parenthood clinics. Lila poses as a young teenager and pretends her much older boyfriend got her pregnant. She wants to see if counselors advise her to get an abortion or call the authorities to report statutory rape.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. I didn't hear the age. I don't want to know the age.
BOUDREAU: After this video was released, this employee was fired. Still Planned Parenthood calls her videos misleading.
STUART SCHEAR, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Those tactics to us are unacceptable and we think they're unacceptable to any reasonable person.
BOUDREAU: But Lila has no plans to stop. She and her team continue to go undercover. Lila gave us more than seven hours of unreleased video, a glimpse into the movement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So this is what it looks like when you go undercover, huh?
ROSE: Where's the remote then?
(INAUDIBLE) which means that it wouldn't show the clinician that she's being taped.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's so important that you want this sort of social change to look historical. ROSE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And say, who are the people who actually accomplish?
ROSE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
ROSE: They spent time in jail. They spent time being ignored. They were burned -burned at the stake. They were shot for what they believed in. What's - what about us?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
ROSE: What are we going to do?
You know what? This is a great adventure. I never had blonde hair before and I really never dyed my hair before expect to darken it a little bit.
They now have a poster with the clinic with my picture on it saying undercover reporter. So Visha (ph) had brown hair and, I mean, I can't have brown hair (ph).
And my word for the (ph) day, well, I don't know if I have a word. Actually, maybe the word would be "power." This is a cause that few people are fighting for and to be surrounded constantly on the strip with using credible allies, which is what you all are, has been just a thrill for me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you live here?
ROSE: I moved here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name?
ROSE: Lauren.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lauren. What's your last name?
ROSE: Williams.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you?
ROSE: Fifteen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fifteen. You're pregnant?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You're good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good. So if you ever feel like there's something wrong pull back (ph).
ROSE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. I have my phone. Love you girls.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: See you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.
We're about to pick up the girls. They were not in there very long. Oh, Jesus, I pray they got some access. Oh, Jesus, I pray there's something on that - on that tape.
ROSE: It was an (INAUDIBLE) trip. Awesome. This tape recorder is recording just fine and this baby is still recording. Praise god.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Master (ph).
ROSE: Praise God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think about this place?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A range of emotions. It's hard to have just one thought about it. Here it is in Middle America. We just drive right by.
BOUDREAU: Lila teamed up with James O'Keefe for her first undercover sting. James is known for his own set of controversial hidden camera projects. But they hadn't worked together for quite a while.
ROSE: Line the camera people and make sure that the cameras are on and rolling.
BOUDREAU: Lila now has her own team and her own mission.
ROSE: OK. We go that way right there. Hey, not so. That one right there that's a good image sign.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have nothing to do with me accidentally or intentionally putting a body into my body.
ROSE: That's true.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So why is it any of your business?
ROSE: Because in a country that I want to live in is a country that protects all people's right. All people whether they are old or young.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This country (ph) will not. You're telling me what I can do with my body.
BOUDREAU: Lila is a paid guest speaker around the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please welcome, Lila Rose.
BOUDREAU: She promotes her organization live action. ROSE: I get concerned sometimes because I want to say everything in the best way and I want to really communicate what I - what I know to be true.
Thank you.
Martin Luther King, Jr. brought him a letter and he said the world is in dire need of creative extremists. And that is a call for al of us here today that the world is in dire need of young people, especially, who will think creatively, think courageously.
BOUDREAU (on camera): You said something about being a creative extremist.
ROSE: Yes. Yes.
BOUDREAU: And what exactly do you mean by that.
ROSE: Exactly what Martin Luther King, Jr. meant when he wrote it in a letter in Framingham Jail, and those people that I were thought to be extremists will be seen as the streaking (ph) in life advocate. Just as Martin Luther King, Jr. who was thought to be an extremist is now recognized as hero.
BOUDREAU: Lila hopes to one day produce movies or better yet be an actress. But for now, she's happy being an activist.
Another activist.
CHRISTIAN HARTSOCK, HOLLYWOOD VIDEO DIRECTOR: This is a definition of tolerance right here.
BOUDREAU: A different mission.
HARTSOCK: Sodomy is wrong.
BOUDREAU: And he's ready to take a stand.
HARTSOCK: Do you hate Christians? Then why are you yelling at me like that?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARTSOCK: And then we switch pan over here. Steady cam up to him as he stands up. What's that sounds. Freeze. Going to get cigar (ph) and then switch pan back over to James.
I'm a filmmaker who's passion about movies, who's passion about art, and I happen to be a conservative.
BOUDREAU: For months, we documented Christian Hartsock --
HARTSOCK: The disco lights come on.
BOUDREAU: A young conservative trying to make it big in Hollywood.
HARTSOCK: Zooming in, zooming out. Boom.
BOUDREAU: Today, he's prepping for a music video he's directing. At first, he wouldn't tell us much about the video he's making, but did he tell us James O'Keefe is starring in it. Turns out, James is a good dancer. He made a cameo in one of Christian's other music videos. James O'Keefe arguably one of the most prominent people in the young conservative movement has been busy the past couple of years.
First, he made headlines with the ACORN. Undercover project, but his next big idea months later, fell short and landed him in jail. James accompanied colleagues disguised as phone repairmen and entered Senator Mary Landrieu's office. They wanted to see if the senator was ignoring her constituent's phone calls about concerns over the health care bill. His sting backfired. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, and he's been on probation since.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have anything to say about the charges against you.
JAMES O'KEEFE, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: The truth shall set me free.
BOUDREAU: We would learn the new music video Christian Hartsock is directing is where James O'Keefe is set to make his come back. It's a big diss (ph) to liberal media, law enforcement, and the government.
HARTSOCK: I don't necessarily want to change people's minds. I'd rather turn heads and get people talking. My job is to make provocative content.
You're going to say get against the car.
BOUDREAU: And he does that with controversial people. Ryan Sorba is rehearsing the part of an FBI agent in the music video.
RYAN SORBA, ANTI-GAY ACTIVIST: First of all, there is a scene where Mary Landrieu is going to be here.
HARTSOCK: She's going to be freaking out on us.
SORBA: She's going to be freaking out like --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You tell a little bit about the tea party.
BOUDREAU: We first met Ryan at a meeting for young conservatives in California. Christian introduced us.
I've heard you, guys, all kind of like moan and groan about liberal media. What's so wrong -- first of all, do you view CNN as liberal media?
SORBA: Yes.
BOUDREAU: OK. So, what's in like to have me sitting right here. What are you thinking?
SORBA: The communist news network. I feel like I'm under fire right now. I feel afraid a little bit.
BOUDREAU: When you're watching --
SORBA: I don't watch CNN or MSNBC except once in a blue moon.
BOUDREAU: At age 28, Ryan Sorba is the oldest young conservative we've met.
SORBA: I'm Ryan, nice to meet you.
BOUDREAU: He invited us to a Chicago suburb for an anti-gay event called "Americans for Truth Academy."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rising star at the conservative movement, and he hasn't sold out on whole sexual activism, Ryan Sorba.
(CLAPPING)
BOUDREAU: He's one of the speakers and wants to promote the book he's writing, "The Born Gay Hoax."
SORBA: It's a psychological disorder, and a psychological -- what does psyche means like you mean soul. It's disorder of the soul, of the nature of man.
BOUDREAU: Some in the movement tell us he's extreme, yet, like the others, he's not afraid to speak his mind and push his views even if it offends people.
SORBA: There's absolutely no scientific evidence for this notion that people are in some way born quote "gay."
BOUDREAU: He's best known for this one minute rant at a conservative conference.
SORBA: I'd like to condemn CPAC for bringing go pride to this event.
BOUDREAU: He denounced conservatives for allowing gays to attend.
SORBA: I love it.
BOUDREAU: After the speech outside Chicago --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want?
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Equal rights.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do we want?
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Now.
BOUDREAU: A group of gay rights protesters is ready to take Ryan on, and Ryan is ready.
SORBA: Do you guys hate Christians.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
SORBA: No? Then why are you protesting a Christian church for promoting their most fundamentally held beliefs?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to put us in the gas chambers (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
SORBA: No, we don't.
Hey, do you hate Christians? Why are your yelling at me like that.
This is a definition of tolerance right here. Ideological (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Right-wing bigots go way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep smiling all the way to hell pretty boy.
HARTSOCK: And then we do the Landrieu shot and then we're done with this.
BOUDREAU: It's nine days before the video shoot, and there's a problem. Christian tells us James no longer wants CNN to be on set. He says James is convinced this documentary will be a gotcha piece and does not trust CNN. My phone call with James O'Keefe, a called he recorded.
O'KEEFE: Those days I'm down, it's near Solomon's is the name of the town. It's in Maryland.
BOUDREAU: That would be good.
He wanted to meet me in person, alone.
O'KEEFE: You know, I just feel more comfortable if it's just me and you, and we set a face to face meeting.
BOUDREAU: This is when things took a very strange turn. It's when I saw firsthand a different side to this movement. One with no rules and no boundaries.
His goal is to get you on that boat.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOUDREAU: This is an audio recording of a phone conversation between me and the elusive James O'Keefe.
I'm glad that you called because I'd rather just be open and honest. It's just sort of evolved, and it's come like what we're focusing on it like a glimpse into this young movement.
I would find out later, he was recording the conversation. I had no idea.
I understand if you want to meet me alone, I guess, but I feel like it would be a benefit to you to meet producer who's been like working on this since day one with me, but you must have reasons for only want to meet with me. So, whatever you want.
James would be starring in a music video, his come back moment. He didn't want us there. But the director, Christian Hartsock did. Christian convinced James to give me a call to ease his concerns. James wanted me to meet at his office in Maryland to talk.
O'KEEFE: I'd say I'd feel more comfortable, honestly, just my personal preference if it was just you. That's my preference.
BOUDREAU: OK.
O'KEEFE: I just want to talk. I just want to have a, you know, a meeting with you and talk to you face to face about this because I don't -- you know, I feel sort of -- let's just say reserved about, about letting people into my inner sanctum.
BOUDREAU: So, I agreed. And a week later, I flew to Maryland for the meeting. James had founded a new organization called Project Veritas, and Izzy Santa was the executive director. The group is supposed to be dedicated to exposing corruption and supporting James' undercover endeavors.
When I pulled up to the property, there was no office. Just a blue house. Izzy Santa was waiting for me.
BOUDREAU (on-camera): And she said, I need to talk to you. Can I get in the car? And I was like, OK. So, I noticed that she had like a little bit of dirt on her face. Her lip was shaking. She seemed really uncomfortable, and I asked her if she was OK, and the first thing that she basically said to me was, I'm not recording you. I'm not recording you. Are you recording me? No. And she showed me her digital recorder. It was not recording.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): And this is when the story takes an unexpected turn. I recount the details in this video I shot of myself in the car that day.
BOUDREAU (on-camera): And she says I need to tell you something. And I said OK. Is everything okay? You're making me nervous. She said no, no, not everything, not everything is OK. I'm a moral person. I need to tell you something. What is about to happen. Tell me what is going on. And she said, you're about to be punked.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Izzy told me the plan was to bring me close to the dock and then asked me if I would consent to having my meeting with James recorded on an audio recorder. If I said yes, she would get me on the boat or James was waiting and where she said hidden video cameras were rolling.
BOUDREAU (on-camera): And she said, well, his goal is to get you on that boat. I said I would not get on the boat. She said that's his goal. I said, why is his goal to get me on the boat? She said, because on the boat, he's going to be there, dressed up, and he's going to have strawberries and champagne waiting for you. And he was going to hit on you the whole time. BOUDREAU (voice-over): She said the sole purpose of the punk was to embarrass me and CNN. I went to the backyard to see the boat for myself and to try to meet James, but he didn't get off the boat, so I walked back to my car. Then, right before I left, James walked up to me. He explained that it would make him feel more comfortable if the so-called interview were recorded.
BOUDREAU (on-camera): And I was like well, you know, that's just not something I'm comfortable with is to have this conversation recorded. Plus, it's not an interview. I mean, I'm just here to try to, you know, answer your questions and answer your concerns, address your concerns about this upcoming shoot.
But you ended up wanting me to come all the way out here and told me we're going to be at your office and instead you want me to come on some boat with you, and you wanted to be recorded. Those were ground rules you should have said over the phone and you didn't. And he said what are you ashamed of? And that's when I said, all right this is where the conversation ends. And I said to him, it was a pleasure.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): We never wanted to be a part of the story, but now, it felt James had changed the script. We were now involved whether we wanted to be or not. I drove away with so many questions. But soon, most of them would be answered. And this document would show us what was really supposed to happen on that boat. Fuzzy handcuffs. Pornographic magazines. Hidden cameras. And so much more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOUDREAU: I had just been tipped off that I was about to be punked by James O'Keefe.
BOUDREAU (on-camera): I was trying to, you know, talk to someone who I thought was important part of this movement who a lot of the other people in our documentary look up to, and so, I felt like I needed to give him a fair shake and hear him out.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Instead his colleague, Izzy Santa, stopped the punk before it happened. She said her moral compass had kicked in. Izzy says the plan was to get me on James' boat, and that he would seduce me on hidden camera to embarrass me and to make CNN look bad. We would soon learn there was a lot more to the plan.
Introduce the CNN Caper document, a detailed 13-page document that spells out how James would try to trick CNN into reporting a false story about Sarah Palin or the tea party movement and then give their allies, Fox News, or as they like to call, their friendly (ph), the chance to pounce. A good way to undercut CNN's credibility.
And then, part two of the plan. How to embarrass me on his boat? A detailed sexual escapade involving hidden cameras, a blindfold, fuzzy handcuffs, a sex tape machine, pornographic magazines and so much more. He was supposed to film himself ahead of time and record this script. My name is James. I work in video activism and journalism. I've been approached by CNN for an interview where I know what their angle is.
They want to portray me and my friends as crazies, as non-journalists, as unprofessional, and likely, as homophobes, racists or bigots of some sort. Instead, I've decided to have a little fun. Instead of giving her a serious interview, I'm going to punk CNN. Abbie has been trying to seduce me to use me, in order to spin a lie about me. So, I'm going to seduce her, on camera, to use her for a video.
This bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who comes on at five will get a taste of her own medicine. She'll get seduced on camera, and you'll get to see the awkwardness and the aftermath. Please sit back and enjoy the show.
But when we asked James about the CNN Caper document, he emailed us this statement. Quote, "that is not my work product. When it was sent to me, I immediately found certain elements highly objectionable and inappropriate and did not consider them for one minute following it." But that doesn't appear to be true. CNN has obtained a series of emails from Izzy Santa that she says reveal James' true intentions.
In this e-mail, seven days before the meeting in Maryland, James forwards the audio recording of my conversation with him to his colleagues.
You must have reasons to only want to meet with me. So, whatever you want.
O'KEEFE: Well, I guess, first thing is can you do the 16th, the 17th or the 18th? Do any of those days work? I mean, that's the first --
BOUDREAU: Yes.
And then writes getting closer. Audio attached of conversation with Abbie. What do you think of her reaction, guys? Then, do you think I could get her on the boat? Ben Wetmore is a fellow activist and mentor of James. The document lists his name as the author. James is listed as the activist. Ben did not respond to our questions about the document. Instead, he post to the YouTube video criticizing CNN's coverage of the ACORN story.
But there are more e-mails from Izzy Santa that she says she received from James about the plan on the boat. In this e-mail, she says, he gives her specific instructions. It reads, please go to FedEx and print out pleasure palace graphic on large banner. Needs to be ready by late tonight if possible. Izzy says, this is the poster he's talking about. It was supposed to be used on the boat.
Then the following day, another e-mail, Izzy said, James sent to her, quote, "could you come down Tuesday for the CNN operation? I'll need another person around." She arrives at 12:30. We asked Izzy about the CNN Caper document, and she says it's authentic. She tells us when she learned the details of the plan, she tried to stop it. She says she sent this e-mail to someone who donates money to Project Veritas only hours after receiving the document.
She writes, I have a problem on my hands. James has staged the boat to be a palace of pleasure with all sorts of props, wants to have a bizarre sexual conversation with her. He wants to gag CNN. Izzy concludes that the idea is incredibly bad. She insists she tried to get James to not follow through with the plan, but there was no stopping him.
BOUDREAU (on-camera): It is August 17th, 1:57 p.m., and I'm on my way back to the airport.
BOUDREAU (voice-over): Since that strange day at the boat in Maryland, Izzy has hired an attorney. She says her job was taken away, though she's not been officially fired. Her attorney, Christopher Markham says, quote, "she didn't want what could have happened to occur. She thought it may have been a threat to the organization."
We were never allowed on set for James' big come back music video.
Anything else you want people to know about you, about this growing movement?
HARTSOCK: Well, I have to get in there right now, but we can talk at a later time, possibly. Nice talking to you.
BOUDREAU: Weeks later, Christian gave us some behind the scenes video. He says the shoot was quote, "very successful" and that the edited version will be posted online soon.
HARTSOCK: That's cut. Ladies and gentlemen, that's a wrap. (INAUDIBLE) James O'Keefe.
BOUDREAU: He hopes to team up with James again on more projects.
ROSE: I'll be gathering letters outside of the clinic.
BOUDREAU: Lila Rose is planning her next series of undercover stings inside abortion clinics. She's one credit shy of graduating from UCLA.
JASON MATTERA, RADIO HOST: This is your New York weekend. I am your host, Jason Mattera.
BOUDREAU: Jason Mattera is hosting a weekend radio show on WABC. He's also working on a second book he describes as a tinsel town take down of liberal celebrities. He's not ruling out a future in politics.
SORBA: Is that homosexuality involve to the generate mind?
BOUDREAU: Ryan Sorba continues to promote his views on what he calls the born gay hoax.
SORBA: What's the nature of the reproductive organ and act? It's reproduction.
BOUDREAU: He speaks around the country and plans to some day soon finish writing his book. SORBA: Gay identity is a social construction.
HANNAH GILES, JOURNALIST: Keep up the fight. The good will always prevail.
BOUDREAU: And Hannah Giles. She's keeping quiet about her future plans, but promises there's more to come.
GILES: This is hope right here, guys.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love you, Hannah.
