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FBI's UFO Memo Captivates Public; To The ISS In Six Hours; 7,000 Patients Warned Of HIV Risk; Jewelry Magnate Blackmail Case

Aired March 29, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: About 7,000 people will receive letters saying they could be at risk of getting Hepatitis or HIV. An Oklahoma dentist is accused of putting his patients at risk. Coming up, we're going to hear from one patient who could actually receive a letter.

Plus, students trying to prevent sexually transmitted disease and unwanted pregnancies, they are told to stop. A catholic university is saying no to condoms. Why the ACLU is now jumping in.

And, six hours. That is not quite enough time to actually fly from New York to London, but that is how long it takes to fly from Earth to the International Space Station. Amazing.

This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Boston College officials telling a student group now to quit giving out condoms in the dorms. Administrators say that contraceptives don't fit with the private catholic school's values. Well now the ACLU is getting involved, saying student rights might have been violated.

Elizabeth Cohen, she is joining us from Boston. And, first of all, the distributing of condoms, how is this working? And can they stop them?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, this network of distribution for condoms is really quite complex. They do it on campus. They do it a little bit off campus. They also have a system, a Web site that tells students what dorm rooms are considered safe sites. You just knock on the door, and you can get a condom. And this team of students, they say they have been very busy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZZIE JEKANOWSKI: We go through almost 2,000 condoms for students that need them. It is very much an important need here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: Right. She says the need is so important, Suzanne, because at campus health services, they don't give out any contraception because, well, they are a catholic university -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So, how are they responding? Obviously, the university is objecting to this. The ACLU has jumped into all of this. COHEN: Right. The university sent a very -- a pretty sternly worded letter to the students. I have it right here. And what it says is that distributing condoms is not in concert with the teachings of Boston College as a Jesuit, Catholic institution. And they say that if the students continue to do this distribution, there could be disciplinary action. Now, I spoke to a Boston College spokesman and he said, look, students have done this in other years too. This year got very public. And he said, if these students had been more discrete, perhaps none of this would have happened. They could have kept delivering the condoms. The spokesman said that he was given a condom when he walked out of Ash Wednesday services at the church and he thought, wow, this is really -- he felt that it had gotten out of hand.

MALVEAUX: OK. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much. Obviously, they are going to continue to fight that on campus.

COHEN: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Forget about the gangsters, the bank robbers, the most popular document in the FBI's public archives, it has to do with UFOs. Brian Todd's got the details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's called the Vault, the FBI's digital reading room where any of us can go online and view the bureau's most notorious cases. Guess which is the most popular file? John Dillinger's, Jimmy Hoffa's? No.

JOHN FOX, HISTORIAN, FBI: Since we opened the Vault, it has been this memo about flying discs or flying saucers. It relates to an allegation that we heard from that a third hand, you know, saying that the Air Force had found a couple of saucers out in the New Mexico desert.

TODD: No, no, can't be. I mean, most people want to read about Machine Gun Kelly and Al Capone, right?

FOX: You would think so. But this memo itself has gotten over a million page views since we put it up. Al Capone doesn't make our top 50.

TODD: The memo's all of two paragraphs. Agent Guy Hottle, then head of the FBI's Washington field office writes that an Air Force investigator stated that three so-called flying saucers had been recovered from New Mexico. They were described as being circular in shape with raised centers, approximately 50-feet in diameter. Not only that, each one was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only three feet tall dressed in metallic cloth of a very fine texture. Each body was bandaged in a manner similar to the blackout suits used by speed fliers and test pilots. John Fox is the FBI's historian.

(on camera): This was never followed up on, right?

FOX: No. In fact, it says right here, no further evaluation was attempted concerning the above.

TODD: Why not?

FOX: From what's written here, from what we can read, it certainly looks like they thought that this was, you know, third-hand information. That this was not necessarily a hoax, which it could well have been, but, you know, someone was simply promoting hearsay.

TODD (voice-over): And it was more for the Air Force to look into along with countless other reports of UFOs in Roswell, New Mexico and elsewhere, reports that were never substantiated. One reason the memo from agent Hottle went viral is because when the FBI Vault was set up online two years ago, tabloids seized on that memo saying it appeared to back up theories that aliens exist.

(on camera): And it's not just the Guy Hottle memo that's the favorite, there are hundreds of other pages of memos and files in the FBI Vault in the unexplained phenomenon section all about alien and UFO sightings that are more popular online than the FBI's files on Bonnie and Clyde, serial killer Ted Bundy and other famous cases.

(voice-over): Cases involving Osama Bin Laden, investigations into the murders of civil rights leaders, all part of FBI lure. Fox says, out of all the strange cases he's come across --

FOX: The descriptions here of, you know, 50-foot diameter saucers and human-shape three-foot tall metallic clothed aliens, that's unique.

TODD: And we can say a little frustrating for FBI officials who tell us it diverts attention from all the work they have done, all the dangers they have faced through the years to capture fugitives and solve the nation's most difficult crimes. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: All right, this is really cool. Imagine being able to travel from earth to the International Space Station in less than six hours. It is record-breaking time and took the crew Soyuz space capsule to get there. A New York to London flight, well, that actually takes seven hours. A person might be able to walk 18 miles in six hours. You can't even drive down to the state of Florida in that amount of time. Well, Chad Meyers tells us it took the crew two days -- it used to take them two days to get to the Space Station.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Now, we are talking just a little bit of time. How did that happen?

MYERS: The Space Station isn't that high above earth. So, it shouldn't take very long. But it's always that window that we talk about and they got it right this time. They really put the ISS right over the launch site. As the launch came up, the ISS grabbed it and it was kind of -- and you have to catch up to it because you are moving really fast. MALVEAUX: Yes.

MYERS: And so, we haven't been able to do that in the past. It takes a couple days to catch up to this thing because it's moving so fast. Today with this launch, yesterday with this launch, it went up, it was there, it was already moving and they captured it within six hours. A new record.

MALVEAUX: How are they able to do that again?

MYERS: Well, if you think about taking a ball, a football and you are throwing it downfield to a receiver, if the receiver is running across the field and it gets to him at the exact right time, it's a better pass than if the receiver has to go one way or the pass is going the other way. They've perfectly timed this out so that when they took the ISS, they've raised the elevation a little bit to get at the next orbit to be right over the cosmodrome. As it went over the cosmodrome, we plopped right up to it and it was a perfect catch.

MALVEAUX: Awesome. A perfect catch here. Is there any disadvantage, you know, --

MYERS: No, not really.

MALVEAUX: -- if it's going so fast, right? No?

MYERS: Not at all.

MALVEAUX: It's all good?

MYERS: It's all good and it's actually a little bit less costly because they have to use less fuel to catch up to it if they can do it so quickly (INAUDIBLE.)

MALVEAUX: Can they do it again?

MYERS: Oh, absolutely.

MALVEAUX: Will they do it more often? I mean, this is pretty rare, yes?

MYERS: It is rare. It's never been done this -- I mean, they have sent cargo ships up this fast but they've never tried it with six people inside. And so -- and so, you know, it's, like, hey, let's try it -- let's try it with people this time.

MALVEAUX: What were they going through?

MYERS: It's not a risk. It was no risk at all. It was just perfect timing for where the I.S. was compared to where the rocket went up.

MALVEAUX: Not motion sickness or anything else?

MYERS: Same speed, just a better catch.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Chad. MYERS: You're welcome.

MALVEAUX: Good to -- appreciate it.

Here is what's coming up for this hour. About 7,000 people will receive letters saying they could be at risk for getting hepatitis or HIV. That was because an Oklahoma dentist, he is accused of putting his patients at risk. We're going to hear from one patient who could actually be at risk.

Then, bracelets, earrings and dirty laundry, how the founders of Claire's jewelry store chain were allegedly targeted in a $3 million blackmail scheme.

And some parents, they are outraged over the Victoria's Secret bright young things collection. The campaign features phrases like, call me or let's make out. And some parents say this lingerie line geared towards teens is over-sexualizing girls and they are protesting. Tell us what you think, tweet us CNN@NEWSROOM and it is all happening now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Visits to the dentist turn into a health scare for thousands of people. Investigators say about 7,000 patients of an Oklahoma dentist, his name is Scott Harrington, might have been exposed to HIV and hepatitis. They say they were shocked by the violations they found inside Harrington's office. So, what are we talking about here? The state health department is offering free HIV and hepatitis screening to the patients who had dental work done there over the past six years.

Ed Lavandera has got the latest on the investigation. Also, we've got Colton Scott, he was one of Dr. Harrington's patients. So, Ed, I want to start off with you. The nuts and bolts of this case, what kinds of health problems, health violations are we talking about in this dentist office?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a long list of allegations that are going to be made against the doctor. When they came in here just a couple of weeks ago and they started taking a closer look and inspecting the tools and the instruments that the doctor and his assistants were using. And in some cases, they found that some of the instruments had been rusted away. They say that is important because it is impossible to sterilize those after they have been used. And, remember, this is an oral surgeon.

This isn't someone who isn't just doing -- isn't doing simple cleanings. These are -- these are invasive procedures. A lot of blood involved and it is impossible to sterilize equipment that has been rusted, health officials say. So, that is a big problem as well as assistants who were not properly qualified to do some of the work and giving some of the medications that they were doing. But investigators say that on the couple of days that they came to inspect this office, they literally walked out of the dentist office you see behind me feeling sick.

MALVEAUX: And, Ed, what happens next here? I mean, where is this guy? Where is this dentist?

LAVANDERA: Well, we haven't been able to track him down. We have reached out to his office here. We've reached out to his attorney. So far, they have not responded. We've been told that he's not in the -- in the city of Tulsa, that he has left the state. But we have tried desperately to try to reach out to him. And what happens next is it looks like health officials and health investigators are preparing for possible criminal charges, not only against the doctor but also his assistants. No charges have been filed yet but health investigators say that they are in contact with the district attorney's office and prosecutors here in Tulsa.

MALVEAUX: All right. So, Colton, we've got to talk to you here because, I mean, this guy, he was reputable, right, in your community? How did you find out about him? He was your dentist, right?

COLTON SCOTT: Yes. Actually, I was referred to this surgeon from my family dentist. I had to get my wisdom teeth pulled and so my family dentist sent me to him to get my wisdom teeth taken out.

MALVEAUX: So, Colton, you're in the dentist chair, you're in the office here and you are getting your wisdom teeth pulled, did you suspect there was anything wrong? Did you see dirty instruments? I mean, what was your experience with this guy?

SCOTT: No, not at all. I mean, this guy, when you walk into his office, I mean, his office was immaculate, I mean, it was really nice, a super nice place. And then, he, himself, I mean, he was very 00 he wanted to make you feel very comfortable, you know, make you feel at ease and not anxious whatsoever. And his assistants as well, they were all super nice, very, very professional.

MALVEAUX: So, Colton, now, there is the possibility that you might have been exposed to HIV or hepatitis. Has anybody talked to you about this? Have you -- are you going to get tested? What is your reaction to what be down the road?

SCOTT: Actually, they are offering free testing tomorrow from 10:00 to 2:00 here in Tulsa at the Tulsa Health Department. But I'm sure with, you know, what, 7,000 plus people being, you know, possibly exposed to this, you know, it will just be crazy. I mean, it will just be madness. So, but, yes, I do plan on getting tested as well as my mother, my uncle and my cousin were all exposed to this as well because we all went to this doctor.

MALVEAUX: Colton, does it make you angry? I mean, does it -- you know, I mean, the fact that your own health might be at risk here?

SCOTT: Yes, for sure. For sure. I mean, that's the last thing in the world that you're going to think going in to, you know, get your wisdom teeth taken out that you're going to be exposed to HIV or hepatitis. I mean, you know, that's just something that never would have crossed my mind in a million years.

MALVEAUX: How is your family reacting to this? They must be very worried as well? SCOTT: Yes, yes. We are all very concerned and apprehensive. We just don't know until we do get tested whether or not. It is just one of those things. We are all very, very concerned.

MALVEAUX: You say the dentist was a nice guy. He treated you well. Do you have anything to say to him? We've been trying to reach him. Nobody can get a hold of him. I know there's an answering machine that he's not in the office. Do you have anything you would like to say to the dentist?

SCOTT: Yes, why? Why would you let these practices go on for so long and not take the proper precautions in sanitizing your equipment, your tools, the things that you perform form surgery on people? How could you do this to so many people for so long?

MALVEAUX: Colton, thank you very much. We certainly hope that you and your family when you get tested, that everything is okay, that you are healthy and everything comes out okay in all of this. Thanks to Ed Lavandera as well. The latest on the investigation. We are going to keep in touch with you and see where the dentist is and what kind of charges he faces next. Thanks again, Colton.

Republican Congressman Don Young used a word widely that viewed as an ethnic slur. Well, now he is trying to head off the controversy. But is it really too late? How his comment could impact the Republican party's outreach to minorities.

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MALVEAUX: Pope Francis presided over his first Good Friday serviceHe read the Passion of Christ, which recounts Jesus' last hours before his crucifixion. Later, the pope will head to the coliseum where he will lead the Stations of the Cross. Holy Week will conclude on Easter Sunday when he delivers a special blessing.

Republican Congressman, Don Young, used a word widely viewed as an ethnic slur. Now, he is trying to head off the backlash. Here is what the lawmaker from Alaska said during a radio interview earlier this week.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. DON YOUNG, (R) ALASKA: My father had a ranch. We used to hire 50 to 60 wetbacks and pick tomatoes. It takes two people to pick the same tomatoes now. It is all done by machine.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So Young stopped short of issuing an apology. He said he meant no disrespect but a non-apology might not sit well with some of the Republican leadership who have been speaking out saying the party needs to be more effective in reaching out to all kinds of groups.

I want to bring in our chief political correspondent, Candy Crowley. So, Candy, what's the inside discussion, the scoop, if you will, among Republicans that are looking at this and thinking, okay, this doesn't sit well? We've been moving ahead making some progress, now it is one step back.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You don't have to go inside anything that's happening in secret. You kind of just have to look at your e-mail, incoming. You have to look at Twitter. We've already heard from Reince Priebus denouncing what Congressman Young said, saying this does not represent the beliefs of Republicans.

John Boehner has come out and said, I don't care what the excuse is here, what this needs is an immediate apology. John McCain, who, as you know, is one of those working on some kind of bipartisan immigration legislation, came out and said, there needs to be an apology. John Cornyn who helps elect Republicans to the U.S. Senate came out and said, you know this is just not what we want to say.

So you don't need to know what they are thinking, good heavens. It sort of hearkens back to Bobby Jindal, governor of Louisiana, coming out and saying, we have to stop being the stupid party because so many statements that were deemed so outrageous during the campaign, that they just made headlines and took away from what Republicans felt they were really trying to do on the good side. So this is unhelpful.

MALVEAUX: Unhelpful. That's a diplomatic way of putting it, I'm sure. The president is focusing on the economy as well. This is something that he is trying to push forward. What is on his plate for the weekend?

CROWLEY: What he is doing actually now is he is heading down to Miami to sort of highlight an infrastructure project at a port there, port Miami. A sea port where it has taken federal funds, I think some state and local funds and also some private investment. He is trying to highlight the need for infrastructure investment. That means spending on roads, and buildings, and schoolhouses, and bridges, and sea ports.

The problem with this is while the president is stressing let's bring in the private sector here and they can do some investment. Because of course improved infrastructure helps businesses. The problem here is, any time the Republicans hear this sort of thing, like let's improve the infrastructure, they say great. Where are you going to find the money? This requires money. It isn't that people differ on whether America's infrastructure needs improving. This is a spending fight. It will continue to be at least part of the spending fight.

MALVEAUX: No doubt. Candy, appreciate it. As always. Of course, you can watch Candy Crowley, "STATE OF THE UNION," this Sunday at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. She will be talking with a special guest, Senator Lindsey Graham. Thanks, Candy.

The daughter of former presidential candidate John Edwards says she was devastated by her father's affair with Rielle Hunter. Kate Edwards talked about the scandal that ended her father's political career in an interview with NBC's Savannah Guthrie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE EDWARDS, DAUGHTER OF JOHN EDWARDS: Yes, I was devastated and disappointed. These are my parents. I had grown up with a lot of love in my family and it was hard to see them go through this.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC CORRESPONDENT: Were there times when you didn't talk to your dad?

EDWARDS: I don't think we ever went through that, no. We're a family of talkers. So we try to talk through and get through things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Edwards says she is now happy her dad has been at least cleared of illegal charges.

And in bracelets, earrings, dirty secrets, how the founders of the Claire's jewelry store chain were allegedly targeted in a $3 million blackmail scheme. Up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M,ALVEAUX: The Jodi Arias murder trial costing taxpayers a lot of money. Official documents show that Arizona's Maricopa county has paid more than $1.4 million so far for Arias' defense. The trial is expected to last for several more weeks. So how much is it going to cost? Capital murder suspects in Arizona are guaranteed two lawyers that can handle death penalty cases. They are also allowed to hire an investigator and other experts to help in their defense.

There is also big money in trinkets, earring,s for tweens and teens. One woman is being accused of trying to get at some of that money by blackmailing the founders of a huge jewelry chain. Sara Ganim has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You probably haven't heard of this family of multimillionaires but it is likely you have seen, shopped or got your ears pierced at one of the accessory stores they created. Now, police say they are the victims of a blackmail plot all caught on videotape.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $3 million?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's the minimum that's the minimum.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are not going to agree to $3 million.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GANIM: The woman on the tape is Camille Brown, the daughter of the long-time housekeeper for Roland Schaefer, the man who first opened Claire's accessory stores.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CAMILLE BROWN, MOTHER WORKED FOR ROLAND SCHAFER: I feel that the family shouldn't even think twice about paying that amount to get this material back.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GANIM: The material? Brown says she has embarrassing letters and journals detailing domestic abuse in the Schaefer home.

These court documents say that Camille Brown came to this hotel thinking she would be meeting with a family representative instead, she met with an undercover officer who recorded their conversation.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't doubt that you have the documents but what we're saying is we want the documents back so they're not a threat to be released anymore.

BROWN: Right. You will have them as soon as I have my payments.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GANIM: Brown was arrested in the parking lot charged with extortion. Police say the blackmail began just days after Brown's mom was fired. In an e-mail, Brown's attorney denies any extortion and says Brown was given the letters by Roland Schaefer's own wife. Not true, Schaefer family attorney, William Shepherd, told us, adding this is about taking advantage of an elderly couple.

WILLIAM SHEPHERD, SCHAEFER FAMILY ATTORNEY: Many family members rely and trust on the help of trained professionals that are going to look after the needs and day to day needs of elderly parents. This was one of those situations. Unfortunately, it ended the way it did with trust betrayed.

GANIM: And, they want their journals and letters back.

Brown isn't talking but, in the court file, a draft agreement she signed, she promises, if she gets the $3 million, all efforts to coerce, control, blackmail or extort the Schaefer family will end.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GANIM: So that letter I just showed you, that document actually came from a civil suit filed by the family. Why? They want those letters and journals back.

As far as the criminal case goes, if Camille Brown is convicted, she could face up to 15 years in prison -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Sara. I appreciate it.