Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Mahoney's Legal Deposition Battle; Canadian Tourist Found Dead in Water Tank; Forced Spending Cuts Loom; "How to Survive a Plague"; The Secrets of Happy Families; Body Confidence

Aired February 23, 2013 - 15:58   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. It's 4:00 on the East Coast. 1:00 out west. For those of you just joining us, welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the top stories that we're following.

The Vatican is hitting back at Italian media reports on why Benedict XVI became the first pope in centuries to resign. A newspaper and a weekly magazine say the pope made his decision on the same day he received a 300-page report on gay priests and financial corruption. A Vatican spokesman says it's just gossip designed to influence the vote for a new pope. I talked to CNN senior Vatican analyst John Allen about the Vatican's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Well, Fredricka, at least in terms of the PR level of things - so what this does is it gives the story legs. I mean, when this story first broke, charges of this shadowy gay lobby inside the Vatican, open to black male (INAUDIBLE) shaped Benedict's resignations, I think the first blush reaction a lot of people had was to sort of chalk this up to typical Italian melodrama and maybe take with a grain of salt.

But by issuing this blistering statement, among other things, suggesting in the media may be in on an effort to influence the election of a new pope, what the Vatican has done is insure this story is going to be with us for a while.

WHITFIELD: And will it influence the selection of the pope?

ALLEN: Well, I think it will. Not necessarily the notion that there is some kind of secret gay conspiracy inside the Vatican. But I think what this has done is that it has cemented a conviction among many cardinals from other parts of the world and even some inside the Vatican itself that this place long overdue for a serious housecleaning. And so I think what it will do is put many cardinals in a place where they'll be looking for a pope who can take the reins of governance in his own hands and push through a serious reform, which as I say, many of them believe should have been done a long time ago.

WHITFIELD: So ultimately, then, does this leave a mark on the legacy of Benedict XVI? ALLEN: Well, look, Fredricka, I think the first draft of history about Benedict already was that he was a great teaching pope, but a mixed bag as a governor. We have seen a series of kind of internal meltdowns and breakdowns and crises over the last eight years, including the Vatican's reaction to the child sex abuse scandals, the spectacular Vatican-leaks mess last year. You know, this latest eruption in some ways doesn't fundamentally change the picture, but it does mean in some ways that the papacy is ending on a somewhat sour note.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Vatican analyst John Allen. All right. So one of the men who will help elect the next pope, potentially, is Cardinal Roger Mahoney. He has been given a legal deposition today about alleged sex crimes by priests when he was archbishop of Los Angeles.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is in L.A. So Mahoney has been deposed before but this time it's a little different. Explain why.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The big reason why is there was a release of about 12,000 documents by the archdiocese released under court order, and it's the first time he's been deposed since the release of those documents. Those documents involving hundreds of victims of sexual abuse or at least claims of victim hood of sexual abuse, and over 100 priests, as well. He - that deposition may be over at this point.

I have tried to get a hold of every party that is in that room, and no one is saying anything, which leads me to believe that perhaps it has gone longer, perhaps there was an attempt at a last-minute settlement to avoid the deposition. But it's not very clear what's going on right now. The case that he was being deposed on or is being deposed on is - involves a priest, Nicholas Aguilar Rivera, who is charged or is said to have molested some 26 people. The lawyers may talk to him about 25 other clergy members. All of this against the backdrop of Roger Mahoney flying to Rome very soon, he says, to cast his vote, to take part in the conclave and cast his vote for the next pope.

The very conservative religious group, Catholic group, Catholic League, you would think they would come out on Roger Mahoney's side, say he can do whatever he wants, he is a sitting cardinal, after all. Not exactly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL DONOHUE, CATHOLIC LEAGUE: The fact that it's still in the news, because Mahoney is under the gun because of what happened in the 1980s does bring up the question, which is legitimate. Should he go over to Rome and join the conclave? I know he may have a right to. I don't think it's a wise decision for him to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: And at the moment, the only thing we know is that Roger Mahoney has tweeted about 20 hours ago now that he would be leaving for Rome in a few short hours. His spokesman saying that it is his canonical law that he go to Rome and cast his vote. It is still an open question, though, whether he will actually go there, whether he will cast this vote with this latest scandal at the Vatican. He may not be welcome at all, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So Miguel, would other cardinals weigh in and say we don't think that he should be able to vote? Or I mean how would that decision come about? Or would he have to just recuse himself?

MARQUEZ: It is possible. One of two ways. They say that he could recuse himself, although his spokesperson says under law, canonical law, he has to go. But church watchers say that's not true. Or once he gets there, he could be given the sort of cold shoulder in that conclave and be asked to stand down, and not cast a vote.

WHITFIELD: All right. Miguel Marquez. Thanks so much from Los Angeles. Keep us posted.

All right. Meantime, police in Las Vegas say they are now looking for an SUV that was involved in that deadly shooting and crash earlier in the week. A black SUV opened fire on a Maserati, right on the Vegas strip. The Maserati crashed into the taxi - into a taxi, rather, which burst into flames, killing the cab driver and a passenger. An autopsy is under way on the Maserati's driver. He has been identified, however, as aspiring rapper Kenneth Cherry.

All right. On to Los Angeles again now. The coroner there is ordering a toxicology report for Canadian tourist whose body was found in a hotel water tank. 21-year-old Elisa Lamb was reported missing back in January. Her body was found in the water tank earlier this week. But so far, no suspects, no arrests. Nick Valencia is in the "Newsroom" with the very latest.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, it may seem unsuspecting from the outside, but the Cecil Hotel has a history of horrific incidents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): In a city of the famous and those who would be famous, the Cecil Hotel is best known for its infamy. Founded in the 1920s, the hotel sits in downtown Los Angeles, just a stone's throw from Skid Row. The neighborhood around the Cecil has changed over the decades. But despite the city's best efforts to gentrify it, the hotel remains a symbol of the area's dark past.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you for calling the European style Cecil Hotel, the best affordable hotel in downtown Las Angeles.

VALENCIA: Calling itself the premier choice of affordable downtown Los Angeles hotels, the Cecil attracts mostly low-income residents. In the '50s and '60s, it was known as a place where those at the end of their rope would end their life.

In 1985, it was the choice hideout for serial killer Richard Ramirez convicted of killing at least 13 people throughout Los Angeles. Ramirez reportedly lived at the hotel for months. An Austrian serial killer also found comfort at the Cecil. Jack Underweaker may have killed some of his prostitute victims there. It's even rumored that the actress known as Black Dahlia hung out in the hotel before her brutal murder in 1947.

And now this. The decomposing body of a Canadian tourist found in one of the hotel's water tanks. Guests here were noticeably upset.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Wouldn't you be? If there was a dead body in the water you were using and drinking?

VALENCIA: Canadian tourist Elisa Lamb chose the hotel despite its seedy past. Her body may have been there for weeks.

SABINA BAUGH, HOTEL GUEST: The pressure in the water was terrible. The shower was awful. The water - when you turned the tap on, the water was coming black first.

VALENCIA: The 21-year-old's death, just the latest mystery for a hotel with a haunted past.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Some of the hotel residents tell CNN that hotel management did not alert them that Elisa Lamb's body was in the water tank. CNN's repeated phone calls to the hotel have gone unanswered.

Now as far as the investigation is concerned, an autopsy was conducted on the 21-year-old's body earlier this week. The results of that prove to be inconclusive. Officials now will wait weeks on the results of toxicology reports to determine the official cause of death.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Valencia, thanks so much.

All right. Not even Microsoft is safe from hackers. It says hackers infected a small number of its computers with malicious software. The company is investigating and says there is no evidence customer data was stolen. Hackers also recently attacked Apple and Facebook.

If your computer at work has been hacked, the hackers just might be in China? The inside story coming up. Plus, why these Chinese officials are chasing our news crew.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The Chinese military is suspected of thousands of computer hacks into American businesses and government agencies. Chinese officials apparently didn't like CNN's reporting on the hacking, as you can see right here, when our crew showed up at a building in Shanghai, they were chased down by Chinese military. So the report, which reveals allegations of the hacking, all but confirms what many have suspected. The Chinese are gathering information that could disrupt our power plants, chemical factories and transportation system. Even the president spoke about it in his state of the union speech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know hackers steal people's identities, and infiltrate private e-mails. We know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, our air traffic control systems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Veteran journalist James Fallows is national correspondent with "The Atlantic" magazine and has covered China extensively. James, good to see you.

JAMES FALLOWS, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT "THE ATLANTIC": Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So how seriously should this be taken? Is it beyond allegations that China maybe - the Chinese military may be involved in hacking some American businesses and government agencies?

FALLOWS: For decades - for at least a decade, there has been suspicion of hacking attempts coming from China, not only China, from Russia, from other parts of the world, too. I think this latest report last week was significant in having more concrete evidence never before of specifically Chinese military involvement here. That building in Shanghai which I've seen too is where the "New York Times" was reporting on this Mandian report.

So there is harder evidence than before. However, I think the important threat for people to bear in mind is less the sort of nightmare scenario of disabling the power grid than the ongoing theft of commercial secrets. I think that's really what Americans are really most concerned about, what the president was alluding to.

WHITFIELD: So you mentioned a couple times there evidence. What kind of evidence?

FALLOWS: There was a team that was able to trace all the - was able to sort of backtrack the source of a lot of assaults it had found on U.S. e-mail accounts, corporate accounts and government accounts, and it found they all were IP addresses within one very small area of Shanghai that also happened to be the home of a gigantic military encampment. So they said either this is some militarily planned operation - excuse me, or else the military in China has no idea what's going on right outside of its doors. So this was clear evidence that we've seen over the years of specifically People's Liberation Army involvement.

WHITFIELD: OK. And trade secrets. Like what? FALLOWS: Well, they range. For example, Lockheed Martin has said that a lot of their aerospace plans they feel have been under assault. General Electric. Everything from their jet engines to some of their clean power technologies. Coca-Cola was involved in a huge merger attempt a couple of years ago in China and it felt as if that fell through because suddenly its secrets were leaking out. General Motors and Ford also have had this complaint. So I think that it is attention-getting from the president and others to talk about this cyber assault that would liken some science fiction movie, turn off our electric grid. The real threat is all this intellectual property that is seeping out day by day.

WHITFIELD: And does this, like, create a real conundrum for some of these American companies who don't want to complain or, you know, reveal they suspect something like this is happening, because at the same time, China is giving them big business. They're a large consumer of, you know, their wares.

FALLOWS: Exactly. And I think this is a dilemma that American companies have been dealing with and other companies for a long time. You saw Google take a significant step about three years ago when they came public and said we are under assault by the Chinese government, we're going to change our policies within China, and they showed both the effect it could have to have this kind of whistle blowing by a prominent company but also the price they paid. They really had huge commercial setbacks in China because of that.

But I think this latest report, it may indicate that private firms in the U.S. and around the world thinking there is more in it for them to complain than just to kind of endure this quietly.

WHITFIELD: What do you think is next here?

FALLOWS: I think the next is probably the U.S. government will stop the public criticism, because that often backfires in dealings with the Chinese government, and make this one more item of negotiations for the ongoing talks.

WHITFIELD: And there was a lot of that on the campaign trail. Remember?

FALLOWS: There certainly was. And I think the Chinese at least are sophisticated enough to know, this is part of the American election cycle, as the counterpart is in Chinese politics, too.

WHITFIELD: All right. James Fallows, thanks so much of "The Atlantic" magazine. Appreciate it.

All right. Iran's leaders have been giving the U.S. headaches, but Iran's wrestlers have been giving the U.S. headlocks. They resolve their differences on the mat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. And this week on "The Next List," - UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like to work with electronics in fashion, and that's kind of what people stereotypically will think of as adding technology to a garment. This is a scarf I've created.

Thermo

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thermo chromatic. One of my favorite materials to work with is thermo chromatic which means it changes color with temperature. So this one, when you wear the scarf in cold temperatures, snowflakes appear. And the snowflakes -

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... grow larger as the temperature gets colder. So I just put an ice pack underneath.

When the temperature drops below 65 degrees, a small snowflake will appear on the scarf. But at 32 degrees, it's colder and the snowflake on the scarf will grow larger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my gosh! How do you do that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the thermo chromatic.

GUPTA: It's next Sunday on "The Next List."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hollywood's biggest night is tomorrow, and the movie "Argo" is one of the front runners for Oscar gold. It's about a daring rescue during the Iranian hostage crisis back in 1979. President Jimmy Carter was in the White House at the time. He told our Piers Morgan what he thought about the film's accuracy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PIERS MORGAN, CNN ANCHOR: You've seen "Argo" I take it.

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I have.

MORGAN: How accurate is it from your memory?

CARTER: Well, let me say first of all it's a great drama and I hope that it gets an Academy Award for best film because I think it deserves it. The only thing I would say was that 90 percent of the contributions to the ideas and consummation of the plan was Canadian. And the movie gives almost full credit to the American CIA. And with that exception, the movie is very good.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we're all anxious to see who wins at the Oscars tomorrow night. But even the losers don't go away empty-handed. Nominees who don't get an Oscar go home with a goody bag worth more than $45,000. In this year's swag bag includes trips to Australia, Mexico, Hawaii. You see the list right there. Plus circus lessons for the nominees' kids. A bottle of tequila, and yes, you read that right. Condoms. Don't get it. OK. Acupuncture, aromatherapy sessions. Get that. And free face injections to help keep a youthful glow. An L.A. marketing firm has been providing loser gift bags for more than a decade. There's a whole lot of other stuff too. That's just a little bit of the list.

All right. You can catch CNN's Oscar coverage tomorrow night. Our red carpet special, "The Road to Gold," begins at 6:00 Eastern time.

All right. Now let's talk about another kind of competition. The United States is wrestling with Iran, literally wrestling. The U.S. Wrestling Team went toe-to-toe with the team from Iran this week, and our Reza Sayah was there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Tehran's (INAUDIBLE) arena, under the gaze of Iran's supreme leader, the showdown fans were waiting for. Iran taking on the U.S., two countries whose governments are bitter rivals, locking horns in the Wrestling World Cup.

(on camera): The atmosphere is electric here. But here's what's remarkable. Despite the fierce competition on the mat, there's no sign of bad blood between Iranians and Americans. And here's how you know. Right after their own wrestlers, these Iranian fans are cheering now for this man, American gold medal winner Jordan Burroughs.

JORDAN BURROUGHS, USA WRESTLING: You know, it was pretty cool. Every time I step out there, once they see me they're excited to see me. You know, cheering my name, screaming my name and giving me praise, it's pretty cool.

SAYAH (voice-over): True to form, Burroughs dominates his match, but in the end, final score, Team Iran is king, final score, Iran six, U.S. one. After each match, a show of mutual respect. Something Washington and Tehran have rarely shown, since 1980, when they broke off diplomatic ties.

(on camera): What you're looking at is Iranian fans now chasing after Jordan Burroughs like he's a rock star and the entire USA team as they get on the bus.

All these guys just love Jordan Burroughs. They love the fact that the American team is here. And this is the power of sports. Look at this. This is -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love you!

SAYAH (voice-over): There is little love in the U.S. for the Iranian government. In a Gallup poll last year, one in three Americans said Iran is enemy number one. (on camera): Iran is still viewed by a lot of Americans as a dangerous place.

NOEL THOMPSON, USA WRESTLING: Sure.

SAYAH: Does that message match with what you see here and all the love you guys get?

THOMPSON: No. I tell you, athletes, right? You go lactic acid. We work, we train together. It enables us to engage with each other.

SAYAH (voice-over): This was Team USA's 10h visit to Iran. Each visit stirs speculation that sport might help build bridges between the two countries.

ZEKE JONES, FREESTYLE HEAD COACH, U.S. WRESTLING: When we got here, they had their arms wide open to our wrestling program, and to Americans, because they realize that it's a better world with us together.

THOMPSON: Well, if wrestlers can get together, anyone can get together.

SAYAH: So far, the exception to that wrestler's rule has been Washington and Tehran.

(on camera): During our visit to Tehran, the Iranian government's deep-seated suspicion for the international media was evident. A few hours into our shoot, security officials confiscated our videotape and erased interviews with both U.S. and Iranian wrestlers, saying we were not allowed to ask questions about politics. We ended up doing the interviews over again. It was a reminder that U.S.-Iran relations remain very complicated.

Reza Sayah, CNN, Tehran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: We'll have much more from the "Newsroom" right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALE ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: All right. In the middle of big anticipation at Daytona where the big Daytona 500 takes place tomorrow, today is the nationwide race. We understand there's been some firing explosion at the track today. CNN employee John Newsome is there, and also helped capture these images. John, you're with us on the line right now. What's your understanding about what happened here?

JOHN NEWSOME, CNN EMPLOYEE (ON THE PHONE): Fredricka, it was the last turn of the race and as the cars were coming around turn four, it was sort of the big moment of the race that there was a pretty significant crash. At one point some of the debris actually coming through the fence right there. The finish line.

(INAUDIBLE) now (INAUDIBLE) evacuate the area. I mean I can tell you right now there are a couple of injuries. I can't tell you the severity of them. You can see a couple people - they're kicking me out now so I have to walk out. But I have to tell you what I saw just a second ago. A couple people they were lying down there. They were sort of running triage. There were a couple of ambulances in the area. They had a couple stretches in the area and also people on the second level, if you can imagine that. We're talking 20 and 30 feet above the track where the debris blew up. I mean you're talking cars that are going 190 miles an hour, debris flew up to the second level.

Some of the most notable if you can see in the pictures, there was sort of an engine as well as a tire that actually came through the fence so it's fairly substantial. I've been coming to the race with my family for a couple of years and haven't seen debris of this magnitude fly through the track just because the safety measures put in place.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. OK. I know many are trying to piece together the what happened here. But help me, John, understand the picture that we're seeing. When we see a white vehicle, we see the track. And then about where the banner is on our screen, that almost covers up. Now we've reduced the picture, shrunk the picture a little bit. On the other side of what look to be those poles that are bent is the crowd of spectators. And when you mention there are people lying down, you're saying some of the spectators may have been injured. Now was this a crash between vehicles, or was this an impact of a vehicle into some sort of track?

NEWSOME: It was the vehicles as they were coming around turn four under the front, straight away and as a result of that crash, they hit the fence with such velocity, it was able to puncture the fence and debris was able to come through, even up to the second level. So I mean, it's hard to say, at least to the extent of the injuries. But for sure, we can se ambulances now that have rolled up on to the front straightaway. They've been taking off people to the less-crowded areas. Not where the crowd is exiting, but on to the track and in the private area. Inside the track where they can have ambulances and it's unclear at this point if they'll take them to the infield medical center, which they have one here on site or to the nearest hospital in the area, Fred.

WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: OK, OK. So John, thanks so much.

We understand that this is a working scene here. Again, this image coming from CNN employee who was there with his family, enjoying the Daytona race, nationwide race. And we're hearing a variety of names of drivers that may have been involved in this crash from Kyle Larson to Brad Keselowski and we also understand that there may be injuries based on what our CNN employee is saying there, involving spectators in the crowd from this collision.

We'll have much more throughout the afternoon. That's going to do it for me in the "NEWSROOM." I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Much more continues at the top of the hour with Don Lemon in the "NEWSROOM."

But, first, how your health could be impacted if Congress doesn't find a way to stop those forced spending cuts from kicking in.

SANJAY GUPTA, M.D. starts right now.