Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Unemployment Rate Unchanged; Pets Sets on Fire; Syrian General Defects; Potential Monday Malware Attack; Barack Obama and Mitt Romney Weigh In On Jobs Report; Town in Pennsylvania Takes Large Pay Cut; Someone Setting Dogs and Cats Ablaze in Philadelphia; William Lynch Acquitted of Charges; As Violence in Syria Continues, Top General Has Left Regime; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Aims to Bring Contraception to Millions of Women; Technology Behind Olympic Athletes
Aired July 06, 2012 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
KEVIN MITNICK, FORMER COMPUTER HACKER: Well, what will happen is, your computer will stop working because when you go to like www.CNN.com, it won't know how to get there.
But there's definitely something that we could all do. And there's a Web site that was actually set up, www.DCWG.org. That's D like David, C like Charlie, W like Wilma, G like girl, dot-org.
And if you go there, they actually have tools where you can click a button and it will tell you if you're infected with this malicious software. And then if you are, it has a button you can click called fix and it gives you these resources that you could use to fix your computer.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Let me ask you this. I hear the numbers are about pretty high, about 70,000 Americans out there right now -- globally, even higher...
(CROSSTALK)
MITNICK: It's 300,000.
BANFIELD: In the U.S.?
MITNICK: No, 300,000 worldwide.
BANFIELD: OK, 300,000 worldwide and about 70,000 across the U.S. who have no idea that they have actually been, for lack of a better description, riding on the coattails of the protection of the FBI, and the FBI has basically said we have tried to find you. We have tried to let you know. We have tried to send you messages.
If you don't help yourself, I'm not going to be there for you after Monday. Is that how this thing worked?
MITNICK: Yes. Typically the average user doesn't know about the settings. And these settings are pretty much given to you by your Internet service provider.
People don't ordinarily look there so they don't know what's happening. What happens is when they go the www.BankofAmerica.com, if they have this malware, it could redirect them somewhere else to a fake page. And then when someone enters their username and password, the criminals could capture it. That's how it worked before until the FBI took down this Estonian hacker group and then they set up the server that allows -- when people are infected with this malware, it will temporarily work.
They didn't want to just take the servers down because then it could interrupt people's Internet experience.
BANFIELD: Sure. That makes sense.
Just quickly, I have to let you go. We have the president who is at a live event and we have been losing time on that. But you say the address again on where you can go to fix this problem.
MITNICK: OK, Www.DCWG.org. And I really highly recommend four things.
Run antivirus software and keep it up to date. Update your operating system and use a tool like Personal Software Inspector and Google Internet security training.
BANFIELD: OK, Kevin Mitnick, thank you. I'm sorry I had to cut it short. We got a lot of breaking news today. Do appreciate it. Thanks so much.
MITNICK: All right, thank you.
BANFIELD: Dismal jobs report today sparking a Friday sparring match between President Obama and Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney charging to the cameras this morning within minutes, just hours actually after the Labor Department reported a paltry 80,000 new jobs last month. It took him 90 minutes to get out this response. It's important. This is campaign time. The rate of unemployment is unchanged at 8.2 percent.
First, Governor Romney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have seen the jobs report this morning, and it's another kick in the gut to middle-class families. It's consistent with what I have heard as I have gone across the country and met with families in their homes, in cafes and restaurants and in break rooms. American families are struggling. There's a lot of misery in America today.
And these numbers understate what people are feeling and the amount of pain which is occurring in middle-class America.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We tried it the decade before I took office. And let's look at what happened. We saw us fighting two wars on a credit card. The tax cuts turned a surplus into a deficit, and the lack of regulation resulted in what happened on Wall Street, and we ended up with the biggest crisis that we have ever seen.
It ain't right. It's not a smart theory.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: All right. That's the politics of it all.
I'll remind you once again we are four months to the day from the presidential election. Let's take a closer look right now at who has the jobs, who doesn't have the jobs, where the jobs are being created and everything else of that ilk
(FINANCIAL UPDATE)
BANFIELD: And speaking of jobs and what Poppy was just speaking of, a city in Pennsylvania has a big jobs problem on their hands.
They are so broke that every single city worker's pay has now been slashed to minimum wage, regardless of what they make, regardless of what they do. Almost 400 people who are employees in Scranton, Pennsylvania, opened up the paychecks today and that pay was cut to $7.25 an hour, minimum wage.
We're talking about fire, we're talking about police, we're talking about public workers. And get this. Scranton cut their pay even though a judge took them to task and said they couldn't do it.
I want to bring in Tom Jennings. Tom Jennings is the attorney that represents three of the unions in this case who were successful in getting that injunction from the judge to tell the city you can't do a pay cut across the board.
Mr. Jennings, I'm glad you were able to join me. As I understand it, you are fresh out of a meeting with the judge. How did things turn out when you took this issue to the judge today?
TOM JENNINGS, ATTORNEY: Well, our meeting today with the judge was a actually hearing for a preliminary injunction. That is to make the injunction that was issued yesterday essentially permanent.
We were very successful. The judge entered exactly the injunction that we requested. An hour later, the mayor violated it by issuing checks for $7.25. On Monday, we will be in court on pursuing contempt motions against the mayor and the city of Scranton.
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: Pretty shocking.
BANFIELD: It's shocking. It is. I'm sure a lot of people are surprised and I'm sure there are many others that say this is a bit of a sign of the times. Unions have had a pretty good run up until now and some cities have actually gone bust. Stockton, California, went bankrupt saying it's because of unions and pensions. They can't afford to pay these bills anymore. My question to you is this. The city and the mayor for their part say they got 5,000 bucks left. That's it, $5,000 left in the treasury after issuing all the checks today at that meager rate of $7.25. What more could you possibly expect if the money's not there?
JENNINGS: Well, that's not the facts of this case.
I don't know what's happening in California. But in this case, it was stipulated in court today that the reason the city doesn't have any money is that the mayor and the city council are currently involved in a war over how to finance the city's needs. The money is available.
The problem is that city council and the mayor have to agree on the terms of the financing. This is a political squabble. This has nothing to do with running out of money or going bankrupt or anything else. The moment that the two of them can play nice, employees can be paid properly.
BANFIELD: As I understand it, the political squabble stems from property taxes because they are proposing a whopping 78 percent increase in the property taxes of the people of Scranton in order to be able to pay these bills.
If I lived there in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and someone wanted to come up to me and say 78 percent increase or you don't get fire coverage or you don't get police coverage, I would be pretty mad. I might actually support the city and say we got to slash the costs and we got to slash the expenses. We just can't afford to live like there anymore.
JENNINGS: You would be pretty mad until you realize that you still pay probably the lowest taxes of any major municipality in Pennsylvania and for 10 years no one raised the taxes here in order to get reelected.
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: Let me ask you this. What's the action here? I'm not suggesting for a moment that you know what union action is, but you're the attorney representing these unions. Are they going to take action knowing full well their paychecks are their paychecks, injunction or not?
JENNINGS: Without a question they're going to take action.
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: Other than legal action? Will there be striking, will there be anything like that?
JENNINGS: Oh, no, no. These are professionals.
The police will continue to fight crime and the fire will continue to fight fires. No, these are professional employees. What they will do is what they have been doing from the beginning and that's following the law and hoping that the city of Scranton does the same thing.
BANFIELD: Tom Jennings, it's good of you to join us, especially on such short notice. I'd like to follow the story and find out how this legal battle resumes on Monday. Thanks for being with us.
(CROSSTALK)
JENNINGS: Thank you very much.
BANFIELD: Now to a story that is more than likely to enrage many of you. Someone is doing the unthinkable in Philadelphia. They are lighting dogs and cats on fire. There's no other way to couch this. This is one of those stories with victims that are helpless and one of the victims is a 4-month-old puppy.
Killing them in some senses and also rendering them in so much pain that they have had to go through surgeries. Coming up in a moment, we will tell you what the city is trying to do to track down the person responsible, if there's more than one and find out why on earth anyone would do anything like this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: We have a very sad and sick story to tell you about, pets burned on purpose and left to die.
Several have been found around Philadelphia in just the past few weeks. I really do have to warn you that what you're about to see is quite graphic. Hercules was found just yesterday. He's just a puppy four months old severely burned on his back, burned on his leg. He is expected to be OK. He's going to make it, but some of the dogs that have been found not as lucky as Hercules.
The next dog I'm going to show you -- and I do want to warn you again this is a graphic picture, more graphic than the last picture that you saw. Chloe was found with severe burns all over her body about two weeks ago. We have even had to blur out the worst parts because this is just a horrible attack.
Chloe didn't make it. Chloe died because of the attack and the injuries that she sustained from that attack.
Marc Peralta joins me now and heads the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Marc, it's just unbelievable to see a story like this. Do you have any idea at this point who might be responsible or if it is related, if these attacks against the dogs in the last month have been related?
MARC PERALTA, PENNSYLVANIA SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: We're really early in the investigation process. What I can tell you is that we are not ruling that these two could be linked. They're within about a mile from each other both incidents. We're in the early stages of investigating.
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: Are the police helping?
PERALTA: They are. Yes, absolutely, the police are participating. But the Pennsylvania SPCA is at the forefront of the investigation right now.
BANFIELD: And about that investigation, are you able to find any surveillance video in the area where the dogs have been found? Is everybody being helpful in turns of turning over perhaps their personal business or surveillance video in the area?
PERALTA: At this time, we're even still trying to locate who the owner of the animal is. So, the puppy definitely was owned. We have the good samaritan that actually brought the animal in. We have conducted interviews with that person this morning. At this time, there's nothing like that that exists.
BANFIELD: One of the other dogs was a Yorkie poo and apparently the Yorkie poo had been asphyxiated and then set on fire. It was reported to police as a trash fire. But when they responded, they found the dog. Did that dog survive?
PERALTA: That dog did not survive, unfortunately, no.
BANFIELD: It's just unbelievable. This is such a strange string of events. Have you seen anything like this before in your city or anybody else's jurisdictions?
PERALTA: Yes, from time to time. We have seen it. Unfortunately, it's becoming a very disturbing trend this year and in the past, gosh, two months we have seen it a lot with Chloe and with Hercules alone in the same actual area of the city within 10 days.
It's really becoming alarming at the higher rates that we're starting to see this. We're really trying to get out into the community and hopefully make people aware this is going on and these people are in your community and that organizations like ours, the Pennsylvania SPCA, need help with information.
We're a 501(c)(3) nonprofit so everything we do is based on donations from the community. We really need the community's help in trying to find out who is behind these awful atrocities and so we can prosecute them.
BANFIELD: Do you know of any trends in crimes in terms of could it be possibly gang-related? Do you think it's more along the lone wolf kind of perpetrator?
PERALTA: Right now, I can't even speculate. In the past we have had things from disputes in a marriage, domestic disputes to someone who owed someone money. There's numerous reasons why this happens. I can't even speculate as to why this current situation happened yet.
BANFIELD: How is Hercules, the little puppy that we showed, the 4-month-old puppy? How is he doing?
PERALTA: That's the good news. He's a fighter. And even going through everything he went through, he was there waiting to be pet and wanted love from us. He's fighting. Prognosis looks good.
BANFIELD: Pennsylvania SPCA, I know people can find you online. I'm sure you're in need of people not only to give, but to adopt and be good parents to these dogs and cats and animals.
Marc, thanks. I appreciate it and good luck in this investigation. I hope you find whoever is responsible for this.
PERALTA: My pleasure. And thank you so much for your time.
BANFIELD: All right, Marc Peralta joining us from Pennsylvania, from the Pennsylvania SPCA.
My next guest admits he did it. He beat up a priest. He says that priest molested him and molested his brother when they were just children, ages 5 and 7. But a jury says William Lynch is not guilty of anything. Was justice served in this case? I'm going to speak with Mr. Lynch next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: A California man's acquittal has his supporters calling it vindication and his critics worried about vigilant justice.
A Santa Clara County jury found William Lynch not guilty yesterday of assaulting a retired priest named Jerold Lindner two years ago. Lynch today jurors that that priest had raped him and had raped his brother as well when they were just 7 and 5 years old.
Lynch said he went to demand the priest sign a confession and then punched him from an irrational fear that was triggered by memories of the abuse.
The jury, for their part, failed to reach a verdict on the misdemeanor assault charge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF ROSE, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This case is about Mr. Lynch and revenge outside of the law. Mr. Lynch drove 50 miles, used a fake name, put on gloves and beat up and bloodied an elderly man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: That was how the prosecutor saw it. The jury did not agree, so to speak.
The retired priest got on the stand and he denied that the abuse ever happened. But then in a very strange twist just two days into his testimony, his attorney stood up and said Father Jerold Lindner will not testify any longer, invoking the Fifth Amendment right to self-incrimination.
William Lynch joins me now live from San Francisco. And one of his attorneys, Pat Harris, is also with me live on the telephone.
Mr. Lynch, let me ask you, were you expecting to get the result that you got? There were three charges. One was, they were hung and the other three they said they didn't agree.
WILLIAM LYNCH, ACQUITTED: It was actually unexpected.
From the beginning I knew I was going to come forward and tell the story honestly and take responsibility for what I had done, unlike the church and Father Jerry. I was expecting to go to jail.
BANFIELD: I think a lot of people at this stage would be asking the question, if that priest did what you say he did, why on earth isn't he in jail? Why aren't there criminal charges against him? What's the answer?
LYNCH: The answer is the statute of limitations. At the time of when I was violated, I had until I was 13. And the current law just prevents anybody from having a voice and being empowered.
And that's all that victims want. We just want to be able to seek justice any way we can. I think the jury made a decision in the face of a system that's failing the people and it's failing to protect children. That's the whole reason why I acted and did what I did.
BANFIELD: Tell me a little bit about what you did. I heard the prosecutor in his words say you drove 50 miles and then you just let him have it. But is there more to it than that?
LYNCH: Yes, there's more to it than that.
My time with Father Jerry is a frozen moment in time. My growth has been stunted on many levels around that. He's always had a hold over me. He haunts me in my nightmares. I have always known I needed to confront him. And finally got the courage to do that. I always had a fear doing it because I was afraid of what might happen, frankly.
BANFIELD: Are you at all concerned that this message that the jury sent, while clearly good for you because you're not going to have to face the music for it, might inspire vigilante justice among others? And that could lead to something far more serious than say a bruise or a broken nose or some kind of a superficial injury. It could lead to something far more serious than that.
LYNCH: I can see the potential for that. And that's why I'm encouraging people to not do what I did. I just want people to understand that I acted out of desperation, because this man was still down and children's lives were at stake.
I feel that the jury made a decision that reflects the consciousness of society right now. And I would actually love to talk to them and encourage them to come to my Facebook page at William Lynch Defense Fund, because I would like to find out what they were thinking and why they made the decision that they made.
But I think they're sending a message. And you're seeing it around the country with the William Lynn situation and Sandusky and whatnot that people are tired of what's happening. Really, the main problem, the main issue that needs to be resolved is the statute of limitations, because otherwise if the law fails and children are at harm, people are going to act.
(CROSSTALK)
LYNCH: They're going to do what they need to do to protect their children.
BANFIELD: I think you make a very good point. There's been a lot of outcry about just how short that statute is given the fact that the victims in these cases are kids who don't even know oftentimes that's what's happening is wrong until much, much later and outside of the statute.
Let me ask your attorney, Mr. Harris, if you could for me, sir, in cases like this -- and your client just mentioned the Sandusky case. Do you think that this was a case of jury nullification?
And for our audience who might not know what that is, that's a situation where a jury really, truly believes that there was an infraction, but they just can't find it in their hearts to say guilty.
PAT HARRIS, ATTORNEY FOR LYNCH: Ashleigh, part of it was definitely jury nullification.
There were four counts in all, four possibilities they voted on. Three of them, they voted not guilty. I don't believe those were jury nullification because the evidence quite frankly wasn't there. But the simple assault was what Will admitted he did, a misdemeanor assault. He admitted he did that.
The jury basically said we don't care. We think what he did, he did for a reason. We think this priest is -- he's one of the worst of the worst. He's not just somebody that raped Will and his brother. This is a man who the church has paid out at least we know 12 victims and there's at least 20 more that are out there that are claiming that he's raped and sodomized them.
The jury got to hear a little bit of that. They got a sense of what kind of a person this was. And I think that's why you did see the jury nullification.
BANFIELD: Mr. Harris, I do need to add that there have been no criminal charges against him and he's never been convicted of the accusations you make. So at this point, those are strictly allegations.
And I must absolutely enforce that what you're saying are allegations, despite the civil lawsuit that your client prevailed in back in 1998 in which he was awarded $625,000 and his brother as well.
I do need to ask you this. When Father Lindner was on the stand and talked and talked and talked until he stopped talking and invoked his Fifth rights, was there anything that he said that could lead to perjury charges? Could Father Lindner actually end back in court and be charged criminally?
HARRIS: Absolutely.
And the Santa Clara DA's office need to do it because at the very end of his testimony, he was asked, did you molest Will Lynch? He said no. He said, did you molest his brother? He said no. The district attorney had already in her opening statement told the jury that, in fact, they knew he had molested them and that he would lie about it.
Sure enough, he got on the stand and he lied about it. As soon as he answered those questions, it was the very next day that his attorney got up and said, we're not going forward. He knew very well. His attorney knew what happened. He committed perjury and the DA in this county in their closing statement got up and told this jury the rule of law must be followed. In all cases, it must be followed.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Well, a crime was committed in that courtroom. They saw it, and we want to see the rule of law followed now and Jerold Lindner indicted for perjury.
BANFIELD: Pat Harris, I just have to reiterate, despite the fact that you make this claim that there was perjury committed, we have to also add we don't have any proof that there was a crime committed because there was never a charge of crime due to the statute of limitations.
But I will be fascinated to see what happens going forward and if the prosecutor does decide to come forward and pursue a perjury case against Father Lindner.
In the meantime, I do appreciate the both of you.
Mr. Lynch, thanks very much for coming on and sharing your story with us.
LYNCH: Thanks for having us.
BANFIELD: And, also, Pat Harris, thank you.
Thank you, both of you. I hope we can continue talking to you about this and where this story goes. Thanks.
(CROSSTALK) BANFIELD: We got a stunning blow to Syrian President Bashar al- Assad. One of his top generals, he's out of there. He has defected. Doesn't get any worse than that for a president. But could it be the beginning of the end? Could it be a domino effect? Will more walk from that embattled president?
The story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Shelling neighborhoods in Syria. CNN just learning that 73 people have been killed today, that according to opposition groups, and, now, a huge blow for Bashar al-Assad's regime.
It turns out one of his top generals has walked, left, took off for Paris. His name is Manaf Tlas. He's right next to the president on this picture on your screen. He's to the right of Bashar al-Assad.
And the reason he says he's out? He says he's disgusted over the killings of so many Sunnis. That's what we've been told anyway.
CNN's Jim Clancy is joining me now. So, Jim, obviously, the question would be, is he really disgusted with the killings or is he really in fear that this whole regime is going to fall and he better get out while the getting's good?
JIM CLANCY, ANCHOR, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Great question. Because we need to hear it from the man himself. What is he going to say? We are already told that he's gone into Turkey, that he's going to be going to Paris where his father lives.
Now, there's pluses and minuses here. On the plus side, yes, he was a member of that golden circle, that elite around President Bashar al-Assad. He's from the Tlas family, one of the three most powerful families inside Syria.
His father was the defense minister and a ferocious supporter of Hafez al-Assad for 30 years as defense minister. So, he's got all of these connections. His defection could have a very significant effect on others that are still inside the elite, that are still advising the president.
But on the minus side and you have to look at that, it's unclear what his involvement has been in this crackdown. Some say he's been against it. It's known that he tried to negotiate. The government described this has an escape and that is perhaps because there are reports out there, unconfirmed by CNN, that he was under house arrest.
So what kind of effect it has on the rest of the inner circle, we have yet to see.
BANFIELD: And just quickly, Jim, not to suggest you or anybody else at this early of this story that's breaking would know, but could he have exposure in the International Criminal Court?
CLANCY: Well, that's a very good question. Because when you look at things, you know, a lot of people today talking about, is he going to join the opposition? Our correspondent in Istanbul who's talking with the opposition members there tells me one of them told him, we don't want him in the opposition. We want him up in front of the International Criminal Court, facing charges of crimes against humanity.
He is involved and some people say this is where the accountability should begin, at the top.
Ashleigh?
BANFIELD: Wow. What a story. All right, Jim Clancy, thanks so much. Do appreciate that.
And back here at home, as Americans woke up this morning to a pretty disappointing jobs report, I think we can all agree on that, more and more just want answers about their money and where it's going. Here is CNN's "Help Desk."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW: Hey, there, everyone. Here on the "Help Desk" today, we're talking about your home, likely your biggest asset.
With me, Ryan Mack and Carmen Wong Ulrich. Ryan, take a listen to this question.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you own a home in today's market, does it make sense to continue to rent it or actually try to sell it?
HARLOW: And where is the home?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In New Jersey.
HARLOW: All right, so, this matters state-by-state, definitely, and you can't just say all New Jersey is one way or the other, but overall, what do you think in this market?
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: First of all, I like to think what are your long-term prospects for that home? Did you plan on owning that home for a long time in the first place?
Are you ready to be a landlord? A lot of people don't understand -- a lot of property maintenance expenses. Do you want to pay a maintenance company in order to provide maintenance on that piece of property if you want to be that landlord?
Or what are financial implications from selling that piece of property right now? Are you going to have to do a short sale? Are you going to have to pay a capital gains tax if you made over $250,000 as a single-filer on that piece of property?
All these things have to come into play before you can make that proper, sound decision on that piece of property.
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, PRESIDENT, ALTA WEALTH MANAGEMENT: A second residence, an investment home, is very different than your primary residence. There are everything from the tax implications to, you know, is this part of your whole investment portfolio? You need to look at it for the long-term, along with everything else where you have your money, in terms of investing for retirement.
Is this a smart thing? Is it an asset that you want to keep? And it's a lot of work and a lot of upkeep and can be very expensive, like you mentioned, so you've just got to really pay attention to it.
MACK: And having a home that's underwater if you planned on owning it for 30 years any way is not the worst thing in the world.
WONG ULRICH: Right. Right. It's your home.
HARLOW: Yeah. It's a big, big, big difference. Guys, thank you very much.
If you've got a question you want our financial experts to tackle, just upload a 30-second video with your "Help Desk" question to iReport.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: So, we've been talking during this program about the city workers in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Police, fire, public works, they are all getting their paychecks today because it's Friday and they're going to open them to a surprise if they haven't opened them already.
They are all getting minimum wage, no matter what they do, no matter what they've been paid in the past. The city says we don't have enough money to make payroll unless we cut everyone to minimum wage.
Didn't sit well the unions. They went for an injunction. They got one. The judge said the city had to pay the regular wage. Those checks went out any way because they were already processed on Tuesday.
But joining me now to give the other side of the story -- because we had the union side not long ago -- is the city solicitor in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Paul Kelly. Mr. Kelly, this is very serious. You are issuing checks despite the fact that the judge told you you couldn't.
How are you going to cope with the action you may face on Monday? The unions are saying you're in contempt and they want to take you up on that and how are you going to handle that going forward to make payroll in the coming weeks?
PAUL KELLY, JR., SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA CITY SOLICITOR: Well, first, let's set the record straight, Ashleigh. There is not a surprise here. It was last Wednesday when the mayor pulled the union heads into his office, gave them and issued a letter to them indicating that because service providers have threatened to cut off services, he had no choice. There simply is not enough money. The council's budget was never properly funded. We can't get enough money to pay everything. If the mayor did not, as is his right under the home-rule charter, pay the health care providers, no city employee, union or non-union would have health care coverage.
If the mayor did not pay the landfill, no city resident would be allowed to put their garbage to the street because the DPW would not be able to dump. If the mayor did not pay for diesel and gasoline fuel, fire trucks, police cars and DPW trucks would be grounded. That would create chaos. That would create ...
BANFIELD: I understand what you're saying and I understand from the statistics I've seen that you've got about $5,000 left in the bank. That's a pickle, without question.
It doesn't stop litigation and your mayor is facing it. In fact, contempt could be coming at you on Monday. So what's the impasse answer?
KELLY: There is no contempt. There was no wrongful act by the mayor to try to do anything to harm any employee city.
BANFIELD: No, but you did send out the checks even though the judge said you couldn't pay minimum wage to people who earn more than minimum wage.
KELLY: That's not accurate. The payroll had been processed before the court order was issued.
BANFIELD: But the checks went out despite -- I mean, you're not sending out -- I get that. I understand what you're saying. But the judge said you got to pay them, regardless.
So what I'm asking you is, if the judge says what the judge says, how are you going to protect your client, the mayor, on Monday from a contempt charge?
KELLY: We have filed a notice of appeal from the judge's order to an appellate-level court in Pennsylvania and we are going to do our very best to make all employees whole. That was made very clear to them. There simply is no money in the account to comply with the court order. It's not there.
BANFIELD: Mr. Kelly, do you know if your client is going to have to go the route that Stockton, California, did and declare that Scranton is bankrupt?
KELLY: That's something we're discussing now. I'm not at liberty to really discuss that with you on air. It's a viable possibility, though.
BANFIELD: Well, I do hope that we can continue this conversation with you, certainly on Monday, as this process continues and as that possibility rises of bankruptcy. Paul Kelly, thanks very much for being with us. Paul Kelly, Jr., the city solicitor of Scranton, Pennsylvania. Catholic bloggers slamming Melinda Gates, saying that Bill Gates is all over her plans to send lots of money in the way of contraceptives to women around the world. Now, she is responding. Hear what she has to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Now to the controversy involving the billionaire's wife and birth control. I'm talking about Melinda Gates and her husband, Microsoft founder, Bill Gates. They are hoping to bring contraception to 120 million women all around the globe and they want to do this through their foundation.
But there is controversy. Some people are questioning Melinda Gates' commitment to her Catholic faith. In fact, one blog called LifeSiteNews.com is writing that Gates' plan is, quote, "a blatant attack on Catholic sexual morality."
For her part, Melinda Gates told CNN's Sanjay Gupta that she was not going to back down from this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If you were meeting with the pope, what would you tell him?
MELINDA GATES, BILL AND MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION: I would tell him that I think this is right for all women. That if you believe in helping poor women, if you believe in children living and thriving, I think this is a necessary tool in this day and age.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Let's go now to CNN.com religion editor, Dan Gilgoff. Nice to see you. Two times in two days, Dan.
Let me ask you this question. How far off is Melinda Gates from the rest of American Catholic women in the viewpoint that I know that contraception is against the Catholic church, but I don't care?
DAN GILGOFF, CNN.COM RELIGION EDITOR: Melinda Gates is certainly at odds with the leadership of the Catholic Church, but she's squarely in the majority when it comes to rank-and-file Catholics.
So, a recent Gallup poll found that among American Catholics, 82 percent say it's morally OK to use birth control. Just 15 percent said it was morally unacceptable and it turns out that Catholics in this country aren't too far off from where the rest of America stands.
BANFIELD: Do those poll numbers matter one iota to the pope, to the Vatican? Could this be a seminal moment -- pardon the pun -- in the Catholic faith when it comes to birth control?
GILGOFF: I don't think it matters much to the pope and to the hierarchy. You know, this is an institution that thinks in terms of centuries, not political cycles and a lot of people were surprised, even in 1968, when the Vatican reaffirmed the ban on birth control.
You know, since then, a lot of Catholics have left the American church. One in ten Americans right now is a former Catholic and, still, the Catholic Church has taken steps like, you know, as recently as last month, to reprimand America's nuns for giving a platform for what they called "radical feminism."
So it doesn't sound -- there's no indication that the pope or the Vatican is concerned about the views of American women on this issue.
BANFIELD: With numbers like that, maybe they should be. I'm just saying. Ben Gilgoff, nice to see you. Have a lovely weekend, my friend.
GILGOFF: Thank you, Ashleigh.
BANFIELD: And you can see more of Dr. Sanjay Gupta's interview with Melinda Gates. It's coming up on "Sanjay Gupta MD" which is on this weekend, tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. Eastern and Sunday at 7:30 a.m. Eastern.
And, cheers, Mr. President. There he is, enjoying a brewski, a cold one. However you call it, a little happy hour on the campaign trail and he is definitely not the first to do so. What is the history of campaigning and beer and politics and hops? We're going to get to the video in our "Political Pop."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: There's nothing quite like a nice cold beer after a long day on the campaign trail. So I'm told anyway. And so the president thinks.
This is the president last night. He's, of course, on the bus tour. And it made an unexpected stop at a bar in Amherst, Ohio. Shared a couple pints with some of the patrons there. Light beer was on tap. So he had a Miller Light. And then he had Bud Light in a bottle.
And this is really not an unusual scene. Oh, the kissing. Sweet. We've actually seen a lot of politicians and citizens knocking back the cold ones. So for today's "Political Pop,: we decided to compile a recent history of beer and politics for you.
Back in 2009, there was the beer summit. It was the president's idea of how to ease tension between a Harvard professor and the police officer that arrested him after a dispute over racial profiling.
And then do you remember this? Hillary Clinton, famously -- is she going to shoot it? No. Just a sip. A sip of Crown Royal whiskey back in 2008, but she did the chase with a nice jug o' light beer. Stein. A nice stein of light beer.
Let's not forget the Republicans. Here's Rick Santorum spotted dabbling in the hops, tasting a beer on the campaign trail a little earlier on this year. And then beer brought the United States and England together back in 2010. Here's the president and Prime Minister David Cameron exchanging bottles of beer after the United States and England World Cup game ended in a tie. Looks like a really serious summit in Toronto, doesn't it?
Wolf Blitzer joining me live now. I always love stories like that when you see them being a little more human than politician-like. Do you think we can see more of this? And maybe particularly when it comes to Mr. Romney? Maybe none.
WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Well, you know, he's not going to drink beer because he's a Mormon. No alcohol, no beer, no wine, no caffeine, no coffee, caffeine for that matter, so you're not going to see any beer summits with Mitt Romney if he's elected president of the United States.
He does have a lot of other moments. I traveled with him out in Iowa -- or almost a year ago, I should say. And, you know, he liked peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches. You know, a little cold drink with that.
BANFIELD: What does he order? Does he have a milk? What does he have, a milk or lemonade or ...
BLITZER: I could be wrong, I think he did have a glass of milk with his peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich. Which I love, too. I love peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, a glass of skim milk, chocolate milk, regular milk. That's fine. But no beer for Mitt Romney.
BANFIELD: Although, I will say, Wolf, I'm not as partial to the peanut butter and jelly right now because I've a 5- and 6-year-old, so I'm literally having the rest of what they don't eat every day.
But we're going to see you on "The Situation Room" in just a couple of minutes. Wolf Blitzer, my friend.
BLITZER: You are indeed.
BANFIELD: Good to see you. Have a great weekend, too.
BLITZER: Thank you.
BANFIELD: All right, Wolf.
The Olympic games are almost here. And this year, the athletes are using some really, really cool stuff. Stuff you may not have ever seen before in training and in practice. So much so, we're going to see an amputee competing in track and field for the very first time. You'll find out how, why and you'll see the very cool gear in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: The Olympics are almost here. Yay. This year the athletes are using some extremely cool technology to train and also to compete.
And our tech expert, Katie Linendoll is here to talk to us about two very special athletes. Start with the -- America's top 5,000- meter runner, Julie Culley. She using some really neat that she's been using to train.
KATIE LINENDOLL, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Julie Culley is a 30-year-old distance runner. She just took the U.S. trials last week in the 5k, 3.1 miles.
And what intrigued me about her and other professional athletes and also ultra-marathoners is here's a girl that's running 85 to 95 miles a week. She's constantly been plagued by injuries, especially in her knees, her back, her hamstrings, pounding that pavement.
So what they're doing is they're actually turning to this tech device. It's called an ElliptiGO. It's created by two Iron Men and what's awesome is it's a hybrid between a bike, as you see it there, and also a bicycle. It actually burns 33 percent more calories than a bike. Pretty amazing. It goes 15- to 25-miles-per-hour.
Now, I had a chance to speak with Julie. She said she is in the best running shape of her life. This year she was actually setting records. She has a chance to stay off, not be injured, and actually get a cross-fit workout in.
She's the American hopeful in London. So spotlighting a device that not only high level Olympic athletes can use, but I actually had a chance to take it out myself. And it was pretty amazing.
BANFIELD: Is that you?
LINENDOLL: That is me. I took it out on the pier in the Hudson. So it was really cool.
BANFIELD: You're doing a good job. Was it tricky?
LINENDOLL: It was tricky. It was like a bike. You know, it took a few seconds to get your balance, but I mean, in terms of that cross-fit workout, laying off the knees and back, pretty cool.
BANFIELD: ElliptiGO, I want one. I officially want one of those. Although people would laugh at me and I'm sure I wouldn't be able to do as well as you.
Move me onto our next case of Oscar Pistorius.
LINENDOLL: Oscar Pistorius, get used to hearing that name. He's known as "The Blade Runner." He's a 25-year-old South African and he becomes the first amputee to compete in the Olympics in track and field.
Love this story. Oscar, as you see there, was born without a fibula in both legs which eventually led to that double amputation. He uses a Cheetah Flex-Foot. It's made of carbon-fiber and has this kind of J-shape like a cheetah's hind leg. And 75 percent of elite athletes that are paraplegic are using this device.
Now, I will tell you, it hasn't come without controversy.
BANFIELD: I was just about to ask you. I seem to recall that this is something they said, I'm sorry, too bad. It doesn't level the playing field. It gives you an advantage.
LINENDOLL: Yeah, the ruling body of the track-and-field, actually, in 2007 said, no go, unfair advantage. In 2008, Oscar took them to court. It was overruled and, last week, he was in the trials. He missed qualifying for the Olympics by .1 seconds this year.
South Africa said, you know what? We're going to overrule that. We're going to see Oscar competing with that Cheetah Flex-Foot made of carbon fiber come London. He'll be competing in the 400 and also the 4x400.
BANFIELD: Blade Runner.
LINENDOLL: Blade Runner.
BANFIELD: So cool. Katie, thank you.
LINENDOLL: Thank you.
BANFIELD: Great stuff. Appreciate that. And you are fabulous in your form, lady. Have a good weekend.
LINENDOLL: Thank you.
BANFIELD: Let's toss it over to Wolf Blitzer. He's in "The Situation Room." Go, Wolf.
