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Chrysler Agrees to Recall 2.7 Million Jeeps; Study: Autism Linked to Air Pollution; Etheridge: Jolie's Choice Not "Brave"; Chris Brown's Surprise Guest; Spurs a Victory Away from Title; "Standing Man" Inspires Protest; Protesters Crowd Brazil Streets; Woman Declares Street "Glock Block"

Aired June 18, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk business. Breaking news here, Chrysler and the government have resolved their standoff after requests that Chrysler recall Jeep Grand Cherokees and Liberties. Safety experts say the models are at risk of catching fire when hit from behind. Alison Kosik is standing by with more on this and why the change of heart, Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's a really good question. It looks like Chrysler is getting with the program. You know, the federal regulators, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had requested that Chrysler recall 2.7 million vehicles, those Jeep Grand Cherokees and Jeep Liberties vehicles because of that risk of fire.

But Chrysler said that its findings were incomplete and it didn't agree with what these regulators had said. In fact, it came down to the final hours that Chrysler had until midnight tonight to formally respond to this recall request and surprise. Chrysler said we're going to go ahead and do this recall.

In its press release saying they're going to do these visual inspections voluntarily and if necessary provide an upgrade to the rear structure of the vehicle to basically fix the problem. Chrysler agreeing with -- or apparently agreeing with federal regulators that this recall had to be done but it's been quite a saga because there has been a lot of back and forth. Chrysler has really pushed back so this is a surprise move here -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes, we did this story before. It's been since 1996 that car manufacturers have stood up to the federal government, I should say. Quickly then, if we're talking 2.7 million jeeps, what is NHTSA or what's government's advice for people who are driving these kinds of cars?

KOSIK: The best advice is to go ahead and call your Chrysler dealer. Bring your vehicle. I think we put up a full screen of the vehicles that are involved. They are 1993 to 2002 vehicles of I'm not sure which model that was. Go ahead and bring your vehicles in.

BALDWIN: Here we go. KOSIK: Have them inspected. So have them inspected. If Chrysler does see that there's a problem there, they are saying that they are voluntarily changing out what needs to be changed out and fix the problem -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, Alison Kosik, thank you very much. If we blew through that and you didn't catch the models, go to cnn.com and we'll have all of that for you there.

Now to all of you pregnant women, listen up, because where you live may determine if your child has autism. Researchers say they now have some pretty good evidence that air pollution and developmental problems such as autism are linked. Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is joining me, wow, pollution.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, the causes of autism, it's been such a mystery.

BALDWIN: Yes.

COHEN: So who would have thought pollution, right? But this study, it's a big study, people. We showed it to, they liked it. It's not definitive but it does seem to say something. They looked to 22,000 births and what they -- 22,000 women, actually, and what they found is that the women that lived in the most polluted areas, they were twice as likely to have a child with autism. So we're looking specifically at diesel. That seemed to be an issue. A lot of car exhaust and also things like heavy metals, lead, mercury seems to be an issue.

BALDWIN: Like where specifically? Just any --

COHEN: Yes, exactly. There were cities sort of all over the United States.

BALDWIN: OK.

COHEN: Different parts of different cities.

BALDWIN: Interesting.

COHEN: So it's all about the pollution.

BALDWIN: As you mentioned, it is such a mystery. What does cause autism?

COHEN: You know, they still don't know. We can add this to the things that might cause it or influence whether a child develops autism, for example, parental age. Older parents seem to mean that there's more of a chance that the child will have autism. That's another thing. When women take certain drugs while pregnant, they are more likely to have a child with autism. None of these are definitive. If you live in a polluted city doesn't guarantee you'll have a child with autism, thank goodness. But it does possibly seem to increase the risk.

BALDWIN: What if you are a woman living in an uber polluted city, and you don't move. You want to get pregnant.

COHEN: Right. I mean, it's tough. There are a few steps you can take. So for example, you can put certain kinds of air filters in your home and that can help. You can stay inside during the times of the greatest traffic, especially during the summer when it's really hot. So there are a few things. Even things like taking your shoes off at the door. Don't tromp around the house.

BALDWIN: So that really does make a difference?

COHEN: It can make a difference. I wouldn't say it makes a gigantic difference, but it can make a difference.

BALDWIN: OK, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

COHEN: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Coming up, Angelina Jolie's recent decision to have that preventive double mastectomy. Not sitting well with one celebrity. Call the decision, quote, "a fearful choice." We'll tell you who this is after the short break.

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BALDWIN: Singer Melissa Etheridge says she doesn't agree with Angelina's recent decision to go under the knife. Jolie opted to have preventive double mastectomy after learning she had that gene mutation that often leads to breast cancer. So here's a background, Etheridge was giving an interview to the "Washington Blade." That's an LGBT newspaper out of Washington, D.C. when asked about Jolie's announcement, the final question of the interview.

This is her whole answer, quote, "I have to say I feel a little differently. I have that gene mutation too. It's not something I would believe in for myself. I wouldn't call it the brave choice. I actually think it's the most fearful choice you can make," she goes on, "when confronting anything with cancer. My belief is that cancer comes from inside you and so much of it has to do with the environment of your body, it's the stress that will turn that gene on or not.

Plenty of people have the gene mutation and everything, but it never comes to cancer so I would say to anybody faced with that, that choice is way down the line on the spectrum of what you can do and to really consider the advancements we've made in things like nutrition and stress levels. I've been cancer free for nine years now and looking back I completely understand why I got cancer. There was so much acidity in everything. I really encourage people to go a lot longer and further before coming to that conclusion."

That was the full statement just so we're not taking anything out of context here. Etheridge underwent her own cancer treatment back in 2004. Remember this? Making that memorable appearance at the 2005 Grammy Awards when she took the stage without hair, she was bald, from chemotherapy.

Author and analyst E.D. Hill joins me from Austin, Texas. E.D., good to see you and I need to just say, listen, you know, we have reached --

E.D. HILL, BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR: Good to see you, too.

BALDWIN: We have reached out to Melissa Etheridge. They have released the statement to CNN saying this, quote, "I don't have any opinion of what she should have done. All are free to choose, I only objected to the term brave describing it."

E.D., we are coming to you. You are a breast cancer survivor. You have had a preventive double mastectomy. I hear you chomping at the bit to get in on this. What do you make of these comments?

HILL: I -- I was speechless was the first thing and then ticked because you know what it's not about being fearful at all. She's missing it totally. This is the bravest choice I think a mother can make. If you know anything about Angelina Jolie, if you read her op- ed in "The New York Times", I think it's very clear that one of the main reasons she made this choice is because of her concern for her children.

She didn't want them to be without a mother. I mean, think about what that would do to a child, and that's how I looked at it when I made my choice to have the preventive double mastectomy. It was do I want my kids having to suffer through seeing my like this? How can I raise myself properly if I'm trying to go through chemo and recover for months and months and months?

I watched my mother deal with breast cancer. I watched her then come out of having a double mastectomy. And I can tell you, if you can take any part of that away as a mom, you do it. And so I don't think -- that was Etheridge's choice, but I think her advice to people that it is stress and nutrition is flat out nuts. That's not all it is.

BALDWIN: I'm not a doctor so I can't respond to that. But, you know, I do know that there was fear after the Angelina Jolie op-ed and I think it was brave of her to pin that. There was fear that many women would run out to their doctors though because Angelina Jolie opted to remove her breasts and other women, I've talked to them on the show --

HILL: So what?

BALDWIN: Opting, opting to remove her uterus. I think and I'm not Melissa Etheridge, but part of her point, just to quote her again, "that choice," this preventive mastectomy is way down the line on the spectrum of what you can do. Just because you have this gene mutation doesn't mean definitively you will get breast cancer. It's spectrum. That's the other side of the argument.

HILL: No. Right. Just guessing, I don't think that Angelina Jolie woke up and said, you know what, I've got that gene. I'm going to have a double mastectomy. I'll see you for dinner. She didn't do that. That was I'm sure way down the list.

BALDWIN: Yes.

HILL: But she made that choice because of her concern about taking control. That is not fear. That is a powerful woman.

BALDWIN: E.D. Hill, you took control. You have been through it. What is your advice to people who do discover they have this gene?

HILL: I believe, like Melissa does, that everybody has to make their own choice, but you weigh so many things into that, your family history, your doctor's opinion, your family situation. I mean, can you afford to go through that sort of experience going through chemo and radiation? You know, do you have the strength? Do you have the support to do that?

If not and if you feel and your doctor feels that you're at an advanced risk level and you can do this, why the heck not? Why not? Just because I don't feel like having the pain of an operation or the hassle of recovery, that's selfish. I'm doing it because it's for my children. It's for their future and for a cohesive family.

I'm not going to leave my husband to raise our kids alone. It's not fear, it is bravery. I believe that it is absolute consideration for the needs of your family.

BALDWIN: E.D. Hill, thank you so much from Austin, Texas. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

Coming up, the trial of Whitey Bulger, explosive testimony from a man known as the executioner describing in detail some of the hits the reputed mob boss is allegedly responsible for. We will take you live to Boston next.

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BALDWIN: I'm Brooke Baldwin. This is the power block beginning with Chris Brown, taking some artistic license in the video for "Don't Think They Know," a song off his upcoming album. See if you recognize the woman in the hologram. That voice, that woman is the late singer, Aliah, who died in 2001. She sings "The Hook," appears in that projection. Brown's new album is out next month.

Twenty five sits, folks, that's all it takes to send a tweet into space. Who knows? Maybe aliens want to communicate in just 144 characters as well. There's a startup. It's called loan signal releasing an old NASA satellite facility on the west coast to send tweets towards a nearby -- this isn't an oxymoron, a nearby solar system. Tweets are 4 for $1. The first one is free.

Now to the video you saw here, basketball, getting ready for game six of the NBA finals, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs square off tonight in Miami. The Spurs have used a team first mentality to take the lead, best in seven series, 3-2 and Miami, of course, fuelled by the superstar power of Mr. Lebron James. The Heat will have to do two in a row at home to clinch the whole thing.

In Turkey, he has become known as the standing man. Have you heard about this guy? He stood silently in Taksim Square overnight for more than five hours, just standing there, a defiant but peaceful protest against the clashes between police and anti-government protesters. Hundreds were inspired to join him. Police eventually hauled most of them off. It is unclear what happened to the standing man.

Anger over a plan to raise transit fares has exploded in Brazil. The demonstrations are spotlighting the tough challenges facing this country now getting ready to host the 2014 World Cup and then, of course, in 2016, the summer Olympic games. CNN's Shasta Darlington is in Sao Paulo -- Shasta.

SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, Brazil is bracing for yet another protest today here in Sao Paulo and this comes after these massive demonstrations that we saw last night, the biggest in 20 years. They were mostly peaceful especially here in Sao Paulo. We went out on the streets. There were more than 60,000 people singing, cheering, even people in cars who were going to be stuck in traffic for hours were there honking and cheering them on.

Now this started as a protest against the hiking bus fares, but it's really snowballed into something much bigger. We hear Brazilians demanding more accountability from the government, demanding an end to government corruption saying they feel they spend so much and get so little in return especially when it comes to big sporting events, the World Cup, while at the same time public transportation is a mess and almost nonexistent in some places.

Unfortunately, not all of the protests in Brazil were as peaceful as the one we saw in Sao Paulo. In Rio de Janeiro protesters were throwing Molotov cocktails. They burned a car. They were aggressive with the police. In the Brazilian capital, protesters march on Congress and you saw hundreds if not thousands of them standing on the roof of Congress.

Now the president came out today praising the peaceful aspect of most of these protests and saying that it's a sign of a stronger democracy. We'll see where that takes us tonight -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Shasta Darlington, thank you.

Coming up, people in one neighborhood say crime has gotten so bad they're forced to take crime into their own hands, taking up arms. They're calling their area the Glock Block. We'll tell you what local police have to say about that next.

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BALDWIN: There is this neighborhood south of Portland, Oregon, that is arming itself against petty crime. So says a lady who is printing up flyers calling her street a Glock Block. Local law enforcement doesn't like the idea. We'll get into that in just a moment. But first, have a look at yourself. This report from Brent Weisberg, of CNN affiliate, KOIN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRENT WEISBERG, KOIN REPORTER: The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office says they are still adding all of the numbers, but neighbors here along Southeast Hall Street say they have seen a spiking crime.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't feel neighborhood watch is sufficient and we don't feel the sheriff's office is sufficient.

WEISBERG (voice-over): Coy Tulson says she and her neighbors are worried that deputies are too busy responding to other emergencies and can't respond to property crimes. Just the other day --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was having a cup of coffee out my window there looking out and I noticed this fellow.

WEISBERG: There was a man stealing this statue. Coy tried to chase after, but the thief got away. Now neighbors want to take matters into their own hands and are even considering posting these signs warning, this is a Glock block, that some neighbors are armed ready to protect their property.

SGT. ROGER WURPES, CLACKAMAS COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Gun ownership is a right, there's no doubt about that, but it comes with a lot of dangers.

WEISBERG: The sheriff's office says they understand the frustration and wish they could be everywhere at once. They warn of the unintended consequences.

WURPES: Essentially you're bringing a firearm into a situation where maybe there wasn't one before.

WEISBERG: Instead deputies would rather have neighbors working with a crime prevention specialist. They also warn anyone who wants to have a gun for their neighborhood patrol needs to understand the law.

WURPES: That has dangers. You can get disarmed. The weapon can be used against you.

WEISBERG: Reporting in Clackamas County, I'm Brent Weisberg, KOIN News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Now the local sheriff's department seems to dispute this notion of a spike in crime in that particular neighborhood. We reached out and a spokesman told us from January 1st to June 16th, they have had six crimes reported within a quarter mile of that heat packing residence. Six reported crimes, that is half the number from the same time period late last year according to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Department.

Coming up, radio shock jobs fired for making a joke, multiple jokes about Lou Gehrig's disease. Was it fair? One of those hosts is going to join me live. Don't miss it.

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BALDWIN: Time now for one of the hottest videos of the day. Hit play.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BALDWIN (voice-over): An afternoon hike turns into a cliff hanger when these two teenage boys get stranded nearly 9,000 feet above the valley floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We thought we could walk across the ridge. That's when we realized we were in trouble.

BALDWIN: Rescue copters hit high winds, but after nearly four hours on the peak, the teens were rescued.

File this under worst baggage handler ever. Look at this. This airport worker in china manages to toss nearly every package on the ground. This video is going viral on the web.

India, torrential rains bring rivers to the brink and these houses on the river bank simply can't handle it, collapsing into the swollen flood waters.

Meet McNugget. He's a rooster who rules the roost in downtown Issaquah, Washington. He's been living in a parking lot next to a coffee shop.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a pretty big deal in Issaquah, actually. I was working and I watts sitting on my ledge.

BALDWIN: If he's hungry he flies up to the serving window for a treat.

Finally, my favorite, this little girl ends up with a foul ball at a college World Series game, but she lets everybody know exactly how excited she is. Unfortunately, during her epic celebration, she smacks this little guy and sends fruit punch flying in his face and that is today's hit play.

(END VIDEOTAPE)