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Military Faces Hearings on Sexual Assault Problem; Interview with Rep. Jackie Speier; Woman Injured at Billboard Awards May Have Brain Damage; Miguel Fan Has Health Concerns; Concerns over Americans Safety; MLB to Pursue Drug Suspensions

Aired June 05, 2013 - 09:30   ET

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

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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thank you so much for being with us. I'm Carol Costello. Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM at 32 minutes past -- U.S. markets poised to open lower this morning after the Dow broke a 20-week long streak of winning Tuesday. Opening bell will -- actually, it's been rung by a group of executives that graduated from Yale, just FYI.

Domino's having fun much this new pizza delivery method. Yes, Dominoes is using drones instead of drivers. A franchise in the UK posted video of an unmanned drone actually delivering two pizzas in heatwave bags. But, you will not see any of this in the United States any time soon. Federal rules ban any type of unmanned aircraft for commercial use.

While we're on the subject of deliveries, Amazon says it will start rolling out its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service to as many as 20 urban areas by 2014. That's according to Reuters. Amazon Fresh Service will begin in Los Angeles later this week, before going on to San Francisco. Until now, the service was only available in Amazon's hometown of Seattle.

It was an impressive site. The top leaders of every branch of the military, sitting side by side at a Senate hearing on Capitol Hill. Each answering painful questions about the shocking number of sexual assaults in the military; 26,000 reported last year alone. At issue, legislation that would strip commanders of their power to overturn convictions in sexual assault cases. The generals, though, remain opposed to giving up that power.

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COSTELLO: Senator Kirsten Gillibrand wants to give military prosecutors, rather than commanders, the power to decide whether sex assault cases are investigated. She says the current chain of command system opens victims up to retaliation.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, (D) NEW YORK: You have lost the trust of the men and women who rely on you, that you will actually bring justice in these cases. They are afraid to report. They think their careers will be over.

COSTELLO: And she criticized how the military lumps all sexual assault and harassment cases together.

GILLIBRAND: Not every single commander can distinguish between a slap on the ass and a rape, because they merge all of these crimes together.

COSTELLO: Senator Claire McCaskill also had strong words.

SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL, (D) MISSOURI: Unwanted sexual contact is everything from somebody looking at you sideways when they shouldn't, to someone pushing you up against the wall and brutally raping you. You've got to, in your surveys, delineate the two problems.

COSTELLO: Senator Saxby Chambliss is catching flack from both political parties for his comments.

SEN. SAXBY CHAMBLISS, (R) GEORGIA: The young folks coming into each of your services are anywhere from 17 to 22 or 23. Gee whiz. That's -- the level of the -- hormone level created by nature, sets in place the possibility for these types of things to occur.

COSTELLO: Ohio Republican, Mike Turner, quickly issued a statement saying "criminals, not hormones, cause sexual assaults. Perpetrating this line of thinking does nothing to help change the culture of our military. We must be focused on combating this issue directly."

Military leaders all agree sexual assault is a serious problem.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's shameful, it's repulsive.

GEN. RAYMOND ODIERNO, CHIEF OF STAFF, U.S. ARMY: We're failing in our efforts to fully protect our people from sexual assault and sexual harassment.

COSTELLO: But they say, it's one commanders are equipped to handle.

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COSTELLO: Congresswoman Jackie Speier trying to solve the problem of sexual predators in the military for years. She herself has come under attack form a a Facebook page called "F'n Wook." The page appears to be run by Marines, and seems to be full of comments from Marines. It is also full of offensive, sexist humor. Like this one who says "this is my rape face" or this one that shows a woman with a black eye, and reads "she burned the bacon, only once." Another shows a female soldier lying on her stomach holding a gun. It reads, "Hee hee, I can bang even when I'm not on my back."

Ugh. Congresswoman Jackie Speier joins us now from Washington. Welcome.

REP. JACKIE SPEIER, (D) CALIFORNIA: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: You were able to get that page removed by Facebook, but not the military. Not the Marines. And today, I don't know if you know this, it's back up, and your photos are all over it. SPEIER: Well, Carol, I actually didn't try to take it down. It violated Facebook's own terms and usage, so they have been taking these pages down, because they violate their rules. They are offensive and they are full of hate, they are anti Semitic, anti women, and racist, and to think that any of these people who are placing these pages online are active military, frightens the life out of me. It speaks of a violent culture that is truly unacceptable. Not just in our military, but in our country.

COSTELLO: You sent a letter to the Marines and the Marines did denounce the page and also said that the page is not reflective of their sentiments toward women, yet they have failed to take any action against this page, because they told you, they lack the resources. Is that acceptable?

SPEIER: No, it wasn't. And I actually fired off a statement last night suggesting that you cannot hide behind the sequestration argument in terms of dealing with criminal acts or with acts that are violate of the creed of good order and discipline within the military.

COSTELLO: What would you like for the Marine Corps to do? Would you like them to find out who's behind this page, or maybe invoke some kind of punishment for those who comment on the page?

SPEIER: You know, if this happened in the private sector, these individuals would be fired. I think first and foremost, the Marines need to determine whether they are active military, and if they are active military and if they have used government resources or government time, they should be kicked out. Pure and simple. Beyond that, I think that they've got to be much more rigorous in terms of making sure that there is not a hostile work environment, because that is a form of sexual harassment that is not acceptable in the private sector, nor should it be acceptable in the Marine Corps or in military service.

COSTELLO: In light of the hearing that took place on Capitol Hill. All the generals testified and they were questioned pretty harshly, but what does that Facebook page say about the continuing culture within the military, despite a Senate hearing that took place just yesterday?

SPEIER: Despite a Senate hearing, despite years of developing training programs and prevention programs, and throwing a lot of money at this program and this problem, the military has not effectively addressed it. So that is why so many of us feel that we've got to do things differently and it's important to note that we have countries like the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Israel. All who have taken out of chain of command, criminal acts. And there should be no exception in the United States either. Our system is based on the British system.

But somehow, our military brass can't bring themselves to recognize that commanders with no legal training have no ability, frankly, to ascertain whether or not a case is criminal and whether or not it should move forward. The system is rigged on behalf of the predators and that's why we have so many of them still serving. COSTELLO: And I assume you will continue to speak out and eventually the legislation will be introduced, taking power away from commanders.

SPEIER: It has been introduced by me and the House and Senator Gillibrand in the Senate and we'll take up the issue this afternoon in the House Armed Services Committee when we take up the national defense authorization act.

COSTELLO: And we'll be following it. Thank you, Congresswoman. Appreciate you being with us this morning.

SPEIER: My pleasure, Carol.

COSTELLO: Ahead in the NEWSROOM, fallout from the jump. Miguel's leap at the Billboard Music Awards may have caused one woman brain damage. We'll get into that story, next.

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COSTELLO: Miguel's leap during a performance at the Billboard Music Awards may have seemed like a bold and artsy move at the time, but now there is a lot of concern about the woman he came down on top of. A.J. Hammer following the story. She may have brain damage?

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what we're hearing at this point, Carol. I mean this comes from what was he thinking department this morning. We have been looking at the video this morning. I think just about everyone who saw this happen, figured there might be a lawsuit coming too. Just a brutal blow to the woman's head. Really a pretty shocking accident at the awards show.

And now according to a report by TMZ, a lawsuit is being threatened by the victim here, a lawyer for this young woman tells TMZ, she is suffering from cognitive difficulties, and is waiting for a doctor's report to determine if she has neurological injury.

TMZ'a also reporting that Miguel told not to make this jump at the awards show by producers, but he ignored them and obviously did it anyway we have reached out to Miguel about the reports. He hasn't responded to us just yet. But there's some speculation now that someone close to him is leaking a story currently on Hollywoodlife.com, saying the singer is more concerned about any possible injury that the woman suffered than a possible lawsuit. That would be good if that's true.

But again at this point, nothing has been filed. It's basically what we call a public negotiation here. Both sides trying to get a little positive publicity for their side. But most importantly, Carol, we can all hope this young woman hasn't suffered any permanent damage. I mean that was really quite a hit she took there.

COSTELLO: Well did Miguel ever have any contact with this woman?

HAMMER: That is unclear at this point. Again, these are just reports that are floating out there and what TMZ is saying. We would like to believe that he has reached out privately. But again we're waiting to hear back from Miguel and his people at this point and hopefully we'll be hearing from them soon and find out exactly what is going on and what he is doing about it.

COSTELLO: All right, A.J. Hammer reporting live for us. Thanks so much.

HAMMER: You got it.

COSTELLO: Coming up in the NEWSROOM, more fallout from the Planned Parenthood controversy. The Susan G. Komen Foundation has now canceled some of its events.

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COSTELLO: It's 49 minutes past the hour. It's time to check our "Top Stories."

We now know the cause of the blue bell fire in Evergreen, Colorado. The Jefferson County sheriff's office say power lines came into contact with a tree causing a fire to start -- started at the bottom of the tree. About 10 acres eventually burned. Power has since been restored.

The Susan G. Komen Foundation is canceling its 3-day walk fundraiser for breast cancer research in Washington D.C., and six other cities next year. The group's spokeswoman says economic uncertainty and competition from other groups were factors in the decision. Participation in the group has continued to drop more than a year after a controversy involving Planned Parenthood.

A second levy along the swollen Missouri River has failed and now flood waters are creeping up to people's homes. The river is nearly nine feet over its bank. Authorities have forced people who lived in 43 homes in West Alton, Missouri to evacuate.

Recent high profile kidnappings and other crimes have many wondering whether it's safe for Americans to head south of the border.

And the false arrest of an Arizona mother on drug charges in Mexico is only adding to the confusion. CNN Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence has more for you.

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CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Americans flock to Mexico for its beaches and bars. But bloody murders have stained the image of all that sun and sand. And some Americans have seen their trips turn terrifying.

This Arizona mom was recently released after a week in jail, after Mexican authorities accused her of smuggling drugs.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm innocent.

LAWRENCE: For weeks, authorities have been searching for this young Marine kidnapped while visiting his father. And so-called express kidnappings are on the rise.

DUNCAN WOOD, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: Well you'll be picked up maybe in a pirate taxi, taken off to a -- an ATM. They would drain your account as best they could. And then at midnight, they go back to the same ATM using your card and take more money out and then they'd let you go.

LAWRENCE: Take away terrorist attacks of troops at war in the last decade, more Americans have been murdered in Mexico than any other country in the world. And that number jumped from 35 in 2007 to 113 two years ago.

WOOD: There are certain places in Mexico that you would not want to go on vacation.

LAWRENCE: The State Department warns again just about anywhere in these red zones, including Tijuana and Acapulco. The areas in green like Puerto Vallarta and Cancun are considered safe spots.

ROBERT REID, TRAVEL WRITER: We're not seeing these things happening if you're in Cabo San Lucas or you know or even Cancun, which has a safer record than Orlando actually.

LAWRENCE: Travel writer Robert Reid says you heard right. As recent as a year ago the murder rate was actually higher in the city considered Disney World's front door.

REID: So it doesn't necessarily mean that anyone should consider cancelling their trips because of this.

LAWRENCE: And American tourists show no signs of doing that. In fact, part of the reason so many U.S. citizens are killed in Mexico is that so many of us go there. This year, 20 million Americans will go to Mexico. That's the entire population of New York, L.A., Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and Phoenix.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, the Pentagon.

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COSTELLO: Up next in the NEWSROOM, Major League Baseball's highest paid player and a former national league MVP reportedly at the center of a new doping scandal. "Bleacher Report" is next.

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COSTELLO: A huge off-the-field story in baseball that could stain the reputations of a number of players that impact the very sport. Joe Carter has it all in today's Bleacher Report.

JOE CARTER, "BLEACHER REPORT": Hi, Carol. Yes. This could be the largest doping scandal in American sports history. 20 players, including two of the biggest names in baseball could be suspended up to 100 games.

Now at the center of the scandal, the highest paid player in baseball history, Alex Rodriguez and former MVP Ryan Braun of the Brewers. Now the link to the performance-enhancing drugs and these players is this man, Tony Bosch. Now he ran a Miami clinic that allegedly supplied those performance-enhancing drugs to all those players. ESPN says that he's going to testify to Major League Baseball this week and bring with it the evidence needed to hold up these suspensions.

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RYAN BRAUN, MLB PLAYER: I will not make any further statements about it. The truth has not changed. I don't know the specifics of the story that came out today. But I have already addressed it. I've already commented and I will say nothing further about it. I hope that you guys can respect that as I said in spring training. Thanks.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it comes down to it, I think the game has come down to something that really isn't fair. And I think everyone should really be on the same level.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're sending the wrong message to kids that it's ok to do drugs.

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CARTER: Now, A-Rod has denied any links to Bosch but has not commented about this latest news. Earlier this year Braun did say that he only used Bosch as a consultant.

Well, a bit of good news for the people of Oklahoma. The Sooners are the champions of the Women's College Softball World Series. The tournament was hosted in Oklahoma City and because of all those devastating storms over the past couple weeks that, tournament was delayed multiple times. But the Sooner softball team, they did honor the families in Moore, Oklahoma and those that lost their homes all around the state of Oklahoma.

And what a game it was. The two-time national player of the year hit a three-run home run which led Oklahoma to victory. Now last year the Sooners were runners up. This year they're the champs.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a strong city. These people here, their phenomenal support. They're inspiring us. We're trying to inspire them. It was great to come together as a state to be able to just bring joy to everyone.

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CARTER: And finally, manager Marty Brown of the AAA Buffalo Bisons brought a new twist to how you react when you get tossed from a baseball game. What did he do? He just decided to, well, pop a squat. Sat down right in the middle of the field, took off his helmet, spent about 40-45 seconds just sitting there continuing to get his point across. This actually caused the skipper some trouble. He has been fined and suspended three games for this -- quite a performance. Toddlers everywhere, Carol, should be very proud of this pouting performance.

COSTELLO: I so much prefer when they get in the face of the umpire and spit a little bit.

CARTER: That works, too.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Joe Carter.

CARTER: You bet.

COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM, after a break.

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