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Ohio Rape Case; Congress Introduces Gun Control Bills; Lance Armstrong to Confess?
Aired January 05, 2013 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: It is 4:00 in the East, 1:00 p.m. on the West Coast. I'm Martin Savidge, in for Fredricka Whitfield. Thank you very much for joining us. These are the stories we're following right now here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
And we start with new details about the disturbing rape case in small town of Steubenville, Ohio. Just last hour, city leaders talked about the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAFFERTY: Early in the case during the first week after we were made aware of this incident, we obtained this video. I too, as were all the officers who investigated this, was appalled by these morally inept statements made. The special prosecutors for the high attorney AG's office, everything was submitted to them. They decided what charges if any would be filed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: The charges to be filed are against two 16-year-old boys, Ma'lik Richmond and Trent Mays. They are accused of raping an underage girl while she was allegedly drunk or unconscious. The trial for them starts on February 13th.
National correspondent Susan Candiotti joins me now live from Steubenville, Ohio.
Susan, what's happening there at this hour? We know there has been that protest today.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, Marty. Well, it just wrapped up. This is a group of people who were here after this incident really rocked this town. And they gather here together, all of them seeking justice of one kind or the other. There are some people here who are here to support the alleged victim of this case, and all rape victims in general.
Other people here claim that the city and the investigators in particular are in the midst of a cover-up. That they aren't doing all they could be doing to get down to the bottom of this alleged crime. Allegedly having - two high school athletes here, all of them 16 years old and the 16-year-old girl, who everyone agrees was drunk. And according to testimony, was unconscious most of the night. The trial is set for next month. But this protest today, Marty, went on for nearly four hours. It began at noontime.
SAVIDGE: And I know you've got some exclusive new details of an alleged text message that was sent from the 16-year-old girl to Trent Mays, he's one of the boys accused of raping her. What did that text say?
CANDIOTTI: Well, the text says "I know you didn't rape me." And as you indicated this was allegedly sent by the young girl here who is the alleged victim in this case. Sent according to the client to her alleged attacker. And, you know, we have not seen it. We asked to see it. We don't know how many text messages there might have been before that or after it. So we can't tell you the full context. However, this is what the alleged attacker's lawyer had to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAM NEMANN, ATTORNEY FOR TRENT MAYS: The prosecutor's office had given them written verification that charges would not be filed against them if they agreed to testify.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): What are you saying?
NEMANN: Well, I'm saying very clearly. I think the inference clearly is that they will not be charged with a crime if they cooperate and if they testify regarding what they saw and whether or not it's truthful, that can taint the process. That's my concern.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: Now, that is the attorney representing Trent Mays, 16 years old. He is actually talking there about a claim that he is making that the Ohio attorney general's office, the prosecutors, in this case he claims sent a letter to some of the witnesses saying that they would strike a deal with them, that if they would testify, that none of the witnesses would be prosecuted.
The Ohio attorney general flatly denies that any deals have been struck. Now, we talked to the victim's attorney to ask him if he cared to comment about this text that his client supposedly sent to her accuse - to the attacker, accused attacker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB FITZSIMMONS, ATTORNEY FOR ALLEGED OHIO RAPE VICTIM: This young girl was unconscious, so she wouldn't have the ability to know whether she was raped or not on the day after or two days after or three. Whatever the timing of that was. We also don't know, and we don't know whether the defendants were texting, trying to coerce or talk people into making statements and trying to build up a defense for themselves after they started realizing, this thing kind of unfolded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Marty, we talked to the Ohio attorney general about this, and his spokesman. The spokesman says that the attorney general will not talk about any evidence in this case, and he says that he will not try this case in the media. People will have to wait to see the evidence at trial, scheduled to begin next month.
SAVIDGE: Susan Candiotti in Steubenville, Ohio. Thank you for the update.
Meanwhile, a plane carrying Italian fashion mogul Vittorio Missoni is missing off the coast of Venezuela. Missoni and his wife were among six people aboard that aircraft when it took off from an island north of Caracas Friday morning. Earlier, I spoke with CNN's Alina Cho and asked her to give me a sense of just how big a name he is, his family is, in the fashion industry.
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ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's very big. In fact, there are few names bigger than Missoni. It's a company that was founded in 1953, really an iconic label, built on knit wear, bold colors and patterns and you're talking about sweaters, essentially, that were made into dresses and gowns and blouses and pants, even swim suits. Really was a very, very hot brand for quite some time.
In recent years, I would say not so much so. But last year as you mentioned, Missoni did a collaboration with Target, which sold out immediately. I would venture to guess that it is the most successful Target designer collaboration to date.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: And the search for Missoni's plane continues at this hour.
Now let's go to Venezuela itself where lawmakers just elected a national assembly president. So why should you care? Well, the impact of that move could be significant, if President Hugo Chavez's health doesn't improve. Chavez is still battling a severe lung infection. And Venezuela's vice president just said that an update on his health should be coming, "in the next few days". His inauguration is set for next week.
But the new head of the new national assembly could serve as an interim president if Chavez does not survive, or is somehow incapacitated.
Four people, including a gunman are dead in Aurora, Colorado, after a standoff inside a home. Police say that S.W.A.T. teams reportedly shot and killed the suspended gunman after he opened fire on police from a window. Three people were found dead inside that home. Aurora, of course, is where 12 people were killed and 58 injured when a gunman opened fire at a movie theater there last summer.
To Washington now, where on the very first day of the new Congress, lawmakers introduced nearly a dozen bills related to gun violence. They come in the wake of the Connecticut school shooting and promises from President Obama to take concrete action to prevent a repeat tragedy. But big political obstacles remain, as CNN's Athena Jones explains.
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ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As students at Sandy Hook Elementary return to class, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, nearly killed in a mass shooting two years ago, visited Newtown, Connecticut. And on Capitol Hill, lawmakers arrived to begin a new session of Congress, with members in both chambers taking aim at guns.
SEN. DIANE FEINSTEIN (D), CALIFORNIA: This is a fight that the American people are going to have to stand up and stiffen their spine.
JONES: California democratic Senator Diane Feinstein plans to introduce a bill to ban more than 100 assault weapons. Eight years after the old ban she championed expired. Another Senate bill would ban high-capacity magazines. And among nearly a dozen gun bills introduced on day one in the House are efforts to ban online sales of ammunition, and to require background checks for all firearm sales, including at gun shows. Two bills from freshmen Republican congressmen would allow more guns around schools, echoing the position of the National Rifle Association.
WAYNE LAPIERRE, NRA: The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are better than 32 more gun murders every day.
JONES: Pro gun control groups plan to keep pressing for action. But what are the prospects for their success?
JOHN GRAMLICH, CQ ROLL CALL: If you're talking about stuff around the edges, like maybe banning high-capacity ammunition magazines, that might be possible.
The NRA is the big issue, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily on the Republican side only. It's on the democratic side also. You have fully half of your new Senate has an either A-plus, A or A-minus rating from the NRA. So if you want anything to happen on gun control, you're going to have at least half of the Senate upsetting the NRA. So that's a very difficult proposition.
FEINSTEIN: There is no more uphill fight than this. The question is, do we fight or do we knuckle under?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JONES: President Obama says he wants action on gun legislation this year. He has asked Vice president Biden to lead a task force to come up with recommendations on gun policy. They're expected this month. Martin?
SAVIDGE: Athena, thanks very much.
Disgraced cycling legend Lance Armstrong, he has denied doping over and over again. But the "New York Times" now reports he may be considering a public confession. How likely is that? I'm putting that question to a legal analyst, straight ahead.
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SAVIDGE: Lance Armstrong and doping. The U.S. anti-doping agency cited overwhelming evidence that he was involved in a doping program, charges he has repeatedly denied. But the "New York Times" reports that Armstrong is actually thinking about confessing. Is he finally going to come clean?
Well, joining me now is Sports Illustrated.com legal analyst, Michael McCann. Thank you very much for being with us. Let me ask you, after so many denials, and we have heard them over and over and over, do you really think that Lance Armstrong now is about to confess something?
MICHAEL MCCANN, SPORTSILLUSTRATED.COM LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Martin, I think it's an interesting question. And it's a big risk for him to do so. Both on public relations level and on a legal level. On a public relations level, if he admits that he engaged in doping, he would need to give a reason why. Would it be that everyone else was doing it? How would the American public react to that? Or would it be that he felt the need to do so because in the recovery of cancer, this was the only way he could get back to the way he was? Well, again, there may be some sympathy, but I suspect there will be a huge backlash against him if he now admits what he's been denying for years.
Then there is the legal issue. Could he be charged with perjury, because the "New York Times" reports that he has given sworn testimony, saying he never doped. He could say well maybe the Justice Department will agree not to indict me, but the problem there is why wouldn't they? What's in it for them to not pursue him if in fact he did perjure himself. And then there are civil claims that he's facing where he may have to pay millions of dollars in damages because again he would admit to things that he said that he hasn't done. It's a very complicated situation and it would be a very risky maneuver.
SAVIDGE: Right. We should point out that the attorney that represents Lance Armstrong has said emphatically that there are no discussions of the nature of which we're kind of discussing here. In other words, that Lance is going to somehow make a confession. But the thought of this is very enticing to many people, because I think until he says something publicly, that we're all -- there always will be doubters, won't there, don't you think?
MCCANN: Oh, absolutely, Martin. I think we've seen other celebrities and athletes alleged to have done wrong things and there are always people who will stand by them. There were people who stood by Pete Rose for many years, although he ultimately admitted that he did engage in some of the gambling activities that baseball alleged of him. But I think there will always be supporters. But if Lance Armstrong comes out and says, you know what, I actually was doping, I was doing all of these things, it would be pretty disastrous for his reputation.
Now maybe that's the first step in a healing process both internally in his own mind and also publicly and at 41 years he has many years to go and he certainly could recover part of his reputation. But I think the damage would be pretty substantial.
SAVIDGE: And that was my next question for you. What would possibly be the up side, the motivation, if he were to make such a confession?
MCCANN: Well, one, Martin, I think would be a clean slate. That his conscience would be relieved of a burden that the "New York Times" suggests that he has in terms of he's thinking about admitting to doing things that he has said he has never done. Also, he wants to get back and compete. He wants to compete in triathlons. He wants to compete in running events. The lifetime ban prohibits him from doing so, at least in most of the major tournaments, he isn't able to do so. And also he has to be thinking about the long-term strategy. Does he always want to have a cloud over his head, allegations that he did something and always to insists that he didn't do it, if, in fact, he did. I would imagine that would be a source of stress for anyone.
SAVIDGE: And real quick, before I let you go, what do you think the impact would be on his Livestrong organization? You know, that is a focus of so much good.
MCCANN: Well, Martin, I think whatever happens, I hope people continue to support that organization. We separate that organization from whatever allegations have been made against Armstrong. It's a crucial organization for finding out ways of curing cancer and other terrible diseases. I think it would probably help on some level, because, again, it would provide that clean slate. But it's crucial that we separate the two entities.
SAVIDGE: Michael McCann, thank you very much for joining us.
MCCANN: Thank you, Martin.
SAVIDGE: It is a fact of life. Mistakes can have a much greater impact in some professions than others. And sometimes those errors can be deadly. We'll take a look at the growing numbers of medical mistakes and then talk about what you could do to maybe prevent them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Art is what can't be proven mathematically.
Right. It's where science ends. It's the part that makes you feel good, but you don't know why. The way the object feels in your hands and looks. And you can almost perfectly created, explain it to somebody else afterwards. But in the creation part, you can't.
You can see how the glass is constantly moving. My job is to basically shape it. Balance it at the same time. If you can do that, you get these wonderful shapes. Glass really rewards risk. A lot of times with glass you're just waiting for the piece to cool down or for some temperature to adjust and then these split seconds when you've got literally a fraction of a second to make a particular move in a particular way. And you don't get to repeat it if you do it wrong. So there is a performance to it. It's sort of like dancing. You can't really think about it and do it well. You just have to do it enough that it becomes sort of mechanical and then you can sort of free your mind to design.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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SAVIDGE: Medical mistakes. They are, well, a nightmarish possibility for anyone under going surgery. And now a new study shows that they are much more common than perhaps we first thought.
CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen has a special and it's airing tonight on 25 shocking medical mistakes. And she joins me now. And I have to say, you know, just some of the discussion we had on the couch here before, it's very, very worrying.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is worrying, because you go to the hospital to get better. And, you know, millions of people end up injured or end up dead, because of errors. And Marty, what really gets this - gets me about this, is that so many of them are avoidable.
And so let me go through - there's a new study actually out from Hopkins this week that takes the look at some of the most common ones. And these numbers really are just horrifying. So first of all, when you talk about a wrong procedure, 20 patients a week get the wrong surgical procedure. Let's say they go in for a tonsillectomy but the guy after is getting an appendectomy, the chart gets mixed up and it happens to 20 patients a week in this country.
Now let's look at surgeries done on the wrong body part. Same number of patients. 20 patients a week, you go in to have your right knee replaced, and you get your left knee replaced again because someone, there was some kind of confusion. And here's the third one. Tools left in the body. 39 patients a week have some kind of a surgical tool left in their body. And, again, what's so frustrating about this is that so many of these are avoidable, and the patient really has to play a big role.
SAVIDGE: Well, in defense of the industry, I suppose this is still a small percentage, roughly.
COHEN: Absolutely.
SAVIDGE: But you do show how easy it can happen.
COHEN: Right. People wonder, how in the world could it happen? For example, how in the world could a surgical sponge get left inside a patient. So we ask that question to Dr. Peter Pronovost, one of the co-authors of the study. Let's listen to his answer.
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DR. PETER PRONOVOST: There is often blood, tissue, it's very difficult to see. And sometimes sponges are tucked under an organ inside you that they're not in clear view, but they're soaking up some fluid or blood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: I get it.
COHEN: You can see how it happens. And nurses, there is supposed to be a nurse who keeps count, you know, 10 sponges went in, 10 should come out, but you miscount and that can happen.
SAVIDGE: Well, what I like, real quickly is that you do provide ways to protect this.
COHEN: We do. We just don't want to scare people. We want to tell you to be an empowered patient and to do something. So here's one tip that's near and dear to my heart, because it's something my husband and I did with our daughter. That is, before you go in for surgery, just as close as possible to the surgery, ask to speak with the surgeon, in addition to a nurse.
The surgeon is the guy or the gal with the knife. You want to talk to the surgeon. And you want to say, let's review it. My name is Elizabeth Cohen, I'm here today to have my left knee replaced or whatever it is. My husband and I insisted on doing this when our daughter had surgery. It was tough. The doctor was busy, they didn't want to pull him out. And we said, she is not going to have surgery unless we meet face-to-face with the doctor and go over these facts.
SAVIDGE: Smart.
COHEN: Got to do it.
SAVIDGE: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks very much.
Well, he risked his life to get an inside look at the war in Syria. In a minute, the story of the documentary film maker's journey.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAVIDGE: This next story has some disturbing images, no doubt. The carnage in Syria's civil war is staggering, it's difficult for most of us to even imagine that kind of violence. One documentary filmmaker sought to capture that reality in the rebel side of this fight in his newest film. Once again, a viewer warning. Some of the images in this report are disturbing. Nick Valencia has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I joked that I always keep one bullet left in my gun for myself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You must keep one bullet. You keep it for yourself. It's better then if the regime catches you, you guarantee that way. You must keep one bullet.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): American activist and film maker Matthew Vandyke dodged a lot of bullets while filming his latest project in Aleppo, Syria. A pro rebel documentary aimed at raising funds for the Free Syrian Army.
For two months, Vandyke embedded himself with rebels in the cross fire of the country's civil war.
MATTHEW VANDYKE, FILMMAKER AND ACTIVIST: I strongly believe in the cause of the Syrian people. I fought in the war in Libya in 2011. And I saw the effects of what we accomplished and I want Syrians to have freedom, as well.
VALENCIA: In August, 2012, CNN profiled a 33-year-old from Baltimore, Maryland who has a masters in middle east security from Georgetown University. He just returned from eight months in Libya where he fought alongside anti-Gadhafi rebels but also spent six months in a Libyan prison. The former journalist turned self-proclaimed freedom fighter and now filmmaker believes he can also make a difference with rebels on the ground in Syria. His film, he says, helps humanize the revolution.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I used to wear fancy dresses and high heels. But not anymore.
VALENCIA: Vandyke's documentary, titled "Not Anymore," a story of revolution, profiles two protagonists risking their lives to draw attention to the deadly conflict. One of the characters, Nor, a producer, says everyday life for many Syrians is a living nightmare.
NOR: I'm not going to give up. Even if I have to die. I'm going to do this.
VANDYKE: It's a shame, you know. Nor is a young woman. She was 24 when I filmed her. She is going to spend her 20s in war. This war will likely go on for years.
VALENCIA: But with more than 60,000 civilians killed in the last two years, according to the United Nations, many wonder if they'll live to see the end of it.
VANDYKE: They're a little bit shocked, disappointed. They thought after Libya that help would be coming to them. They don't understand. They feel abandoned. They feel abandons to their deaths and largely they're right.
(on camera): Vandyke's film is set to debut online in February.
Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAVIDGE: And CNN "Newsroom" continues at the top of the hour with Don Lemon. And right now, keep it here for "SANJAY GUPTA MD."
