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PTSD Back in News Following Chris Kyle's Death; Obama to Discuss Gun Control Policies; Obama Weighs in on Boy Scout's Removal of Gay Ban; Housing Market Finally Making Comeback; In-Depth Look at Baltimore Raven's Ray Lewis.

Aired February 04, 2013 - 13:30   ET

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


COY WIRE, FORMER NFL FOOTBALL PLAYER: We know well about that saga, that journey, how that story has ended. But you have to look at guy like Ed Reed, and a guy like Joe Flacco, who has gotten a lot of flak for seemingly not being able to perform in a big game. He's your Super Bowl MVP. Went out, finished the season with a bang.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, Coy Wire, you led me to my next moment. Thank you for your input. It's good to talk to you.

I will tell our audience, since you alluded to it, an hour from now, Super Bowl MVP, Baltimore Ravens quarterback, Joe Flacco, is going to join Brooke Baldwin on her program here on CNN.

And then also coming up, we will take an in-depth look at the Baltimore Ravens linebacker, Ray Lewis. We just talked about him, that role in the double murder case in particular.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: As a Navy sniper, Chris Kyle was a killing machine, especially in Iraq. He served five combat tours in that country. And he had 160 confirmed kills. As a veteran, Kyle's legend only grew stronger. He wrote a best selling book. He became a reality TV personality. And he became a supporter of fellow vets, who are suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome. And ironically, that may have been exactly what killed him. Kyle and fellow veteran, Chad Littlefield, were shot to death on Saturday at a gun range on a Texas resort. The shooter allegedly was a military veteran. 25-year-old Eddie Ray Routh faces two counts of capital murder in Texas.

The killing has pushed PTSD into focus. I want to bring in Dr. Sanjay Gupta, my colleague, who knows more than anyone on this particular topic.

I have learned in recent history that PTSD doesn't necessarily lead to this kind of violence, can it?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It can. But it's typically a more reactive violence. So who knows exactly what happened here. This idea of being predatorial in any way or planning violence, it's typically not related to that. If you look at violence across the map, violence using guns, things like that, it's typically not in people, if you look at all comers that have PTSD. It's not sort of one of the first things you look for. But there have been cases like this. And if you look at returning veterans, about one in five, one in six of them have some form of PTSD. It's difficult to treat.

BANFIELD: Speaking of the treatment, I think the last thing I would have thought of that would be healthy is to go to a place where guns are being shot, but is there something to this?

GUPTA: There can be. We don't know the specifics. We don't know if that was the goal here, to try and expose somebody or immerse somebody?

BANFIELD: Exposure therapy?

GUPTA: It's called exposure therapy. It's this idea that -- they used to start off with, be very detailed in describing what happened to you. They would say that after a traumatic event, sort of forcing the person to almost expose themselves to it in a very controlled setting. And then it has sort of grown over the years. I did a story not that long ago about virtual reality, actually putting on helmets and exposing people into situations that may look like what they experienced on a battlefield, for example. That's a little bit of an example what that's like. Again, in a controlled setting.

So out of all of the various therapies out there, again, none are particularly effective. There have been small trials, looking at exposure therapy, using things like virtual reality, and it can be up to 80 percent benefit.

BANFIELD: I want to switch gears entirely into something on the other end of the spectrum. That's you with a very new role, like you needed more work on your agenda.

GUPTA: It's a privilege to work.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: You wrote a terrific book called "Monday Mornings." David E. Kelly teamed up with you to produce a new series on TNT called --

GUPTA: "Monday Mornings."

BANFIELD: "Monday Mornings."

GUPTA: We went back and forth on the title. We landed on "Monday Mornings."

BANFIELD: Aren't you clever? It premiers tonight on TNT?

GUPTA: It premiers tonight. I'm exited. It's taking people into a place in medicine I think very few people know about, a secretive meeting that takes place in hospitals where doctors openly discuss their mistakes. And it's been a lot of fun to put together.

BANFIELD: Is it easier to do the scripted stuff or to have to deal with the facts and work that stuff out on TV? Is it more fun to write whatever you want?

GUPTA: The left side of the brain does the facts. The right side does the creative stuff. It's fun to interplay between the two sides of the brain. Let the right side of the brain run free every now and then. That's what we did here.

BANFIELD: Just so you know what Sanjay and I were talking about off camera during the commercial break, he's also training for a triathlon.

GUPTA: I invited her. Put a little pressure on Ashleigh, all your fans out there.

BANFIELD: Ain't going to happen. Ain't going to happen.

I'm thrilled for you. I don't know how you find the time, my friend. You have a wife who needs to be sainted.

GUPTA: Yes, and seen more often as well.

BANFIELD: It's wonderful to see you.

GUPTA: Thank you. Thank you.

BANFIELD: Congratulations on the show. Looking forward to it.

Sanjay Gupta, one of my favorite people.

You can watch "Monday Mornings" tonight on our sister network, TNT, premiering at 10:00 eastern time. For a look behind the scenes of the show, which is even more exciting, you can visit CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Senator John McCain says come on, people. It was just a joke. McCain was responding to the flak that he has been getting for rather slyly calling Iran's president a monk eve. McCain made the joke in response to Iranian president talking about going into space. He tweeted this. "So Ahmadinejad wants to be the first Iranian in space -- wasn't he just there last week"? And the tweet included a link to a story about Iran launching a monkey into space. To all of those who were offended, McCain tweeted this, "Re Iran space tweet, lighten up folks, can't everyone take a joke"?

Speaking of photographs making big headlines, now to the photo proof for all of those who wanted to see evidence that President Obama does occasionally use a firearm, take a look at the picture of President Obama skeet shooting at Camp David. The White House released this photo over the weekend in response to critics who said they wanted photographic evidence after he talked about it during an interview that he likes to skeet shoot.

The president is about to talk about gun control policies. He's going to take the podium about an hour from now. There's the live event right now in Minneapolis.

Our Dan Lothian is standing by.

Dan, give me a feel for the president taking his new gun policy plan, the 23 principals on the road. Is it the road show, or just a one stop deal?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is part of a road show. The president trying to put pressure on members of Congress to really make some movement in order to curb gun violence, but also trying to get support behind his proposal, such as the universal background checks or the ban on those high capacity magazines of more than 10 rounds or the assault weapons ban. So that's what the president is doing here today.

But he's also wanting to listen to what local law enforcement and other officials have to say. So he'll be sitting down, taking part in a roundtable along with the U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder, also Todd Jones, the man the president recently nominated to head the ATF. Sitting down with these officials to hear what their story is.

There's an important story here in this state and certainly in the city of Minneapolis. They have been dealing with gun violence now for more than a decade. Back in the '90s, they had a record number of murders, but they have been able to reduce those numbers through a series of initiatives, such as beefing up background checks. There's been a youth violence initiative as well, which includes a mentoring program.

So the president is here to not only push his policies, but also showcase a city, that has had a major problem but has been able to deal with it.

BANFIELD: As you wait for the president's comments, I want to go back to that photograph of the president skeet shooting, because it's incredible. You know, Republicans were asking for proof of this claim, that he skeet shoots, then out came the proof. And the critics said this is a stunt, and those conspiracy theorists saying this is Photo hopped. What is the White House saying about this photo and all of the dominoes that have fallen since its release?

LOTHIAN: There's been a lot of controversy behind this photo. They want to se it. Now questions about the photo itself. Jay Carney was asked about that a short time ago. He said there have been a lot of questions about the photo. And so the White House decided to release it. They have been sitting on this photo for a number of days, and then finally decided to release it over the weekend.

One other interesting thing, he pointed out that the president has fired a weapon in the past in other places beyond Camp David, though he would not specify exactly where that was and with whom. He said the president enjoys going out, competing with folks, whether it's shooting a gun or other things. But I will tell you, I don't think this is the last we will hear of the photo controversy.

BANFIELD: I want to see more photos. How's that?

Dan Lothian, let us -- LOTHIAN: That's right.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: -- know when things get going in Minneapolis. We appreciate it.

The Boy Scouts, they are expected to vote on lifting a ban on gay members. And President Obama is also weighing in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: It is hard to imagine New York without Ed Koch, which explains why the tears were flowing at the funeral of the three-term New York mayor, who passed away on Friday at 88 years old. Mayor Koch was eulogized by New York's current mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who called him, quote, "an irrepressible icon."

Bill Clinton even joked about a letter that Mayor Koch once sent him in the effort to fight against smoking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He said, you know, we have to do something to convince these young people to quit smoking. And there has been a new study saying that it impacts virility. He said this Viagra is a big deal. This letter is hilarious. He said, politicians don't like to talk about this, especially among young people. But young people are way more sophisticated than older people and they get this. And it doesn't work to tell people they will get cancer or respiratory diseases. Go after the virility argument.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Bill Clinton was there as a representative of President Obama.

Mayor Koch died of congestive heart failure last week. And years after he left office in 1989, people were still asking him to run again. And he always declined by saying this, quote, "The people voted me out, and the people must be punished."

(LAUGHTER)

A wonderful guy.

I want to move on to another story making news today, the Boy Scouts, that organization could vote on removing the group's ban on gay members this week, when the national executive board meets in Texas. President Obama even weighed in last night during a CBS interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity, the same way everybody else does in every institution and walk of life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The statement from the Scouts says even if the national policy on sexual orientation is changed, organizations that oversee individual troops could still base their membership guidelines on their own principles and their religious beliefs.

Two former Republican presidential candidates, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum, have come out against the Scouts possibly lifting the ban on gay members. Rick Santorum calling this quote, "a challenge to the Scouts' very nature."

The housing market is finally making a comeback. Yes.

Christine Romans explaining how in this week's " Smart is the New Rich."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what a recovering housing market looks like. An inspector, looking things over before a final sale, and open house where 92 different brokers stopped by.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at this.

ROMANS: And home prices finally moving higher. In November, up 5.5 percent, the biggest gain in six years.

And many experts agree the recovery is just getting started.

STAN HUMPHRIES, CHIEF ECONOMIST, ZILLOW: 2013 should be a good year for the housing market. We expected the spring selling season to be quite robust. We got historically low mortgage rates with 30-year fixed below 4 percent. We have housing affordability, which in most markets is being reset.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some sort of stool or something, where you could sit there.

ROMANS: Those low mortgage rates are a boon for first-time home buyers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it is right time to buy right now.

ROMANS: And for refinancers. This guy has refinanced twice in two years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you can save even $100 to $150 a month, it seems worth it.

ROMANS: And you know it's real when the house flippers are back. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just love taking an old ugly house and bringing life back to it.

ROMANS: As we approach the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Snake, sure there is a long way to go, but Deutsche Bank calls 2013 the Year of the House.

Christine Romans, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Baltimore Ravens linebacker, Ray Lewis, ended his career on top of the football world with last night's Super Bowl win. But it's really what he did during Super Bowl XXXIV back in 2000 that may forever stain his legacy.

Ed Lavandera looks back at Lewis' central role in a double murder case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The epic football career of Ray Lewis almost ended 13 years ago, outside the Cobalt Lounge nightclub in Atlanta, just hours after the 2000 Super Bowl. A fight breaks out, and when the dust settles, Jason Baker and Richard Lawler are stabbed to death, left in the street. Ray Lewis and two friends, Joseph Sweeting and Reginald Oakley, are charged with murder. What unfolded next is a mesmerizing saga, and the truth is as elusive as ever, as you're about to see.

REGINALD OAKLEY, INVOLVED IN DOUBLE MURDER: I actually haven't been back to this area since that incident happened.

LAVANDERA: this is the first time Reginald Oakley talked on camera about that night. Oakley has written a book which we find he's eager to sell.

OAKLEY: From my point of view, I think, you know, it was self- defense.

LAVANDERA: Oakley says he was leaving the club with Lewis when the two victims started arguing with their group, Jason Baker broke a champagne bottle over Oakley's head and then it was mayhem.

OAKLEY: I had no idea that nobody had gotten stabbed or nothing like that.

LAVANDERA (on camera): So you didn't stab them?

OAKLEY: No, I didn't stab them.

LAVANDERA: How did the guys end up with stab wounds if you're the one fighting them?

OAKLEY: You have to read the book to find out.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): After the fight, Lewis and his entourage piled into a limo and sped off.

(on camera): I was never clear how two guys end up in a fight with two other guys --

(CROSSTALK)

LAVANDERA: -- and two of them end up dead, right? No one is ever convicted, and how they ended up with stab wounds.

OAKLEY: If you end up with stab wounds, what does that mean? Somebody stabbed you.

LAVANDERA: Right. But you're saying you weren't the one that stabbed them.

OAKLEY: Correct.

LAVANDERA: So who could have stabbed them?

OAKLEY: You have to read the book and find out if I knew or not.

LAVANDERA: Are you saying you know who did it?

OAKLEY: You to read the book and find out.

LAVANDERA: There are a lot of people who think you got away with murder basically.

OAKLEY: Well, that's why I wrote the book, to clear up all that.

LAVANDERA: You know everyone watching this is going to think that's a weird answer.

OAKLEY: No, it is not. I think it is an appropriate answer.

LAVANDERA: All right. If that's the way you want to play it.

(voice-over): We'll come back to Reginald Oakley. There is another element of the story you probably have never heard before, the story of what Ray Lewis was wearing that night. Prosecutors said there was a blood trail, eyewitnesses, and a cover-up of lies that would prove guilt. The limo driver told investigators he heard Oakley and Sweeting admit stabbing the victim. Both men deny this. Other witnesses said Ray Lewis yelled at everyone inside the limo. There were 11 in all, to keep their mouths shut and not say anything. And that, "My football career is not going to end like this."

But the white suit Ray Lewis was wearing that night has never been found. Prosecutors suspected it was stained in the victims' blood and someone took the knives and suit and threw them all away, which brings us to Ed Garland, Ray Lewis' attorney.

(on camera): Where is the white suit he was wearing that night? ED GARLAND, RAY LEWIS' ATTORNEY: It went to the cleaners and was in the suits that were in his closet. The prosecution didn't do the things they needed to do to get access to the suit.

LAVANDERA: So it exists somewhere?

GARLAND: I don't know that it exists now.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Prosecutors denied our requests for interviews about this story.

(on camera): The murder trial crumbled on live television, witnesses back tracked on their stories, defense attorneys eviscerated the credibility of many witnesses, it got so bad that prosecutors had to drop murder charges against Ray Lewis in the middle of the trial and offered him a plea deal. Lewis pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice in exchange for testifying against Sweeting and Oakley. But even that didn't help. Both of those men were acquitted.

(voice-over): Ray Lewis claimed he was the peacemaker but Oakley says that's not the case.

(on camera): Was Ray involved in the fighting?

OAKLEY: In my opinion, yes. I don't know if he was wrestling or fighting, but I know he was right in the mix there with everybody else.

LAVANDERA: Because his lawyer and his side have always kind of said, hey, he was trying to be the peacemaker in that situation.

OAKLEY: I didn't see that. When the police asked him what happened, he wouldn't, you know, come clean.

GARLAND: He was not involved in the fight. He didn't cause it. He didn't take an act, a step or a statement to make this happen. He was no more guilty than the other 100 people on the street.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): No one has ever been convicted in the deaths of Jason Baker and Richard Lawler.

For Baker's uncle, Greg Wilson, it angers him to see Ray Lewis basking in the glow of football glory and redemption.

GREG WILSON, UNCLE OF BAKE: Redemption? You know, stop acting like you're one of the people to come out of the Bible.

LAVANDERA (on camera): So you think on this day Ray Lewis knows what happened that night?

WILSON: Oh, yes. I hope it haunts him for the rest of his life until they die and then until they burn in hell.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The most painful irony of all for Greg Wilson is that, in a few years, Ray Lewis will likely be forever immortalized in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, not far from where Jason Baker and Richard Lawler were laid to rest.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, Akron, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Live during this show, President Obama addresses the nation about gun control. And it comes as the White House plays defense.

Plus, it certainly appears the man holding the young boy hostage is listening to media. Wait until you hear how police are now changing their tactics.

And in just minutes, I'll speak live with the Super Bowl's MVP. Boy, do I have lots to ask of Joe Flacco, from the blackout to his big announcement after the game.

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