Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

NSA Leaker Still At Large; George Zimmerman Trial Commences; Immigration Bill Making Its Way Through Senate; Paula Deen Dropped from Food Network; Little Boy Gets Hearing Aid; Breast Cancer Expert Interviewed; New Cop Buddy Movie Features Female Leads

Aired June 22, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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


ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. It's 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 in the west. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's begin with some charges against Edward Snowden. He admitted that he leaked details of the NSA's surveillance program. He's in hiding in Hong Kong right now, but the extradition process, it may not be underway. CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian joins me now. Dan, what are the exact charges?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's being charged with espionage and the theft of government property. Under espionage, according to the complaint, Edward Snowden being charged for, quote, "unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence to an unauthorized person."

Now, this is all very serious. We knew that the Justice Department was investigating and that there could be these potential charges. This complaint, by the way, was filed in U.S. district court in Alexandria, Virginia, late last week, but only became public late yesterday. So now this is sort of the first legal step in ultimately getting Snowden back to this country and into court. But, of course, the U.S. still has to figure out exactly where he is. He's still believed to be in Hong Kong but unknown exactly where he is and work with authorities there to get him back here.

KOSIK: OK, Dan, so where does the extradition effort go from here?

LOTHIAN: Well, it's a very complicated process. A U.S. official telling CNN that the state department has sent the legal paperwork to its consulate in Hong Kong, and then officials there have to hand off that information to Hong Kong officials. It then has to get into the hands of a judge to issue a local arrest warrant.

Now, what's unclear is whether that whole process has played out yet, because, as I pointed out, this complaint was filed last week, and so did this all start playing out at the time or is it all just happening now? That we don't know.

And this is all very tricky, of course, because, you know, the U.S. does have an extradition treaty with Hong Kong, but there's an exception for political offenses, and so this could potentially fall under that, and then you add to this whole complicated puzzle that Hong Kong is a Chinese territory, and so at some point China, Beijing, could sort of step in and prevent any kind of extradition. We don't know that yet, but that's still a possibility. So we know that there are some legal steps that will take place, but how it will all play out, unknown at this time.

KOSIK: OK, Dan Lothian, thanks.

Last hour WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange released this statement about the Snowden case. He says "The charging of Edward Snowden is intended to intimidate any country that might be considering standing up for his rights. That tactic must not be allowed to work. The effort to find asylum for Edward Snowden must be intensified."

President Obama was dogged by the NSA surveillance scandal while on his European jaunt this week. It's also hurt him at home. Our CNN poll of polls shows the president's approval rating at 47 percent. That's a little better than our CNN/ORC poll that came out earlier in the week. In that one the president was down to 45 percent, which showed an eight percent drop since the NSA story broke.

The Food Network says it's dropping Paula Deen. The move comes after the queen of southern cooking admitted in a lawsuit deposition that she has used the "n" word in the past. Deen and her brother are being sued for sexual and racial harassment by a former manager at their Savannah, Georgia, restaurants. Deen apologized in two statements online, first in a professionally produced video, but apparently that was not what she wanted to say, so she removed it and then posted an amateur one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA DEEN, FOOD NETWORK HOST: I want people to understand that my family and I are not the kind of people that the press is wanting to say we are. I have spent the best of 24 years to help myself and others. The color of your skin, your religion, your sexual preference does not matter to me, but it's what in the heart -- what's in the heart, and my family and I try to live by that. And I am here to say I am so sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: CNN's Nick Valencia joins us now. I got to ask you, how is Paula Deen reacting to this news?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She's in full-fledged damage control right now. Her and her camp trying to just sort of better her image right now releasing that YouTube clip and then sort of clumsily taking that off and putting a more authentic, more sincere, they say, apology to her fans and supporters, her partners, begging for forgiveness. And despite all the criticism she's receiving, Alison, there are still people coming out to support her. One local pastor in Georgia says with all the work that she's done to help young black boys and girls, there's no way that she could be a racist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PASTOR GREGORY A. TYSON, SR., FIRST JERUSALEM MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: People going to jump on it and believe what they want to believe and they're going to add what they want to add, but one thing I can sit here today and look you in the face and tell you, that woman can't be a racist. She can't have a heart against black people with all that she's done and all that she continues to do. And that's why I'm here today with you, just to be a character witness for Miss Paula Deen, because she's a beautiful person, beautiful spirit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: But even beyond the use of the "n" word, there is really incriminating details given in this deposition that show her mindset and mentality. A lot of weird things really said in that 150-page deposition, Alison.

KOSIK: Yes. I mean, you look through that deposition and she even talks about this plantation-style wedding.

VALENCIA: That's the most weird thing about it all. You look and you flip through page after page and she talks about wanting her brother to have this southern traditional southern-style plantation wedding. When the plaintiff's attorney asked, what does that mean exactly to have this traditional southern plantation wedding? She said she wanted to be served by black men and women. And they asked her, how do you characterize that having a sort of plantation wedding during the Civil War era? Aren't these essentially slaves that would be serving you? She says, yes, they are slaves.

So a lot of bizarre things and, you know, there's a fallout that's going to be dealing -- she's going to be dealing with the fallout weeks ahead from now, Alison.

KOSIK: OK, thanks, Nick. Coming up, we're going to be taking a look at Paula Deen's body language in the snippets that she made. Is there more to this apology than meets the eye?

And coming up Monday, we are going to have opening statements in the George Zimmerman trial. He's facing a second-degree murder charge for the death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. It took almost two weeks to pick the six-person jury. They're all women, and yesterday the judge in the case made a decision on what words they're going to be allowed to hear. She denied the defense motion to ban prosecutors from using words like "wanna-be cop," "vigilante," but she did agree that the phrase "racial profiling" is out of bounds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: In the end of the judge sort of split the baby. He said no, you can't say "racial profiling," but I'll allow you to use the term "profiling" to the prosecutor, this is what the judge said. And her ruling in that respect, I think, really gave a lot to the prosecution because in most people's mind racial profiling and profiling mean the same thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KOSIK: And be sure to stay with CNN for complete coverage of the Zimmerman trial beginning on Monday.

NFL star Aaron Hernandez doesn't face any charges yet, but a murder investigation is already costing him. CytoSport is cutting ties with the New England Patriot's tight end. The nutrition company makes Muscle Milk. Police have issued three search warrants as they search for the killer of 27 year old Odin Lloyd. Lloyd's family says he and Hernandez were friends, who were at a Boston nightclub together last Friday night. Lloyd's body was found less than a mile from Hernandez's home. Hernandez isn't commenting publicly on the investigation.

Coming up, flooding is so bad in Alberta, Canada, houses are floating away. Streets are now rivers. People are being evacuated.

Plus, 6 million Facebook accounts compromised. What you need to know straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Look at this. This is the scene in Calgary, Canada. That's where flooding has left two people dead, and now there's a possible third victim. About 100,000 people have already been evacuated across the province of Alberta, and this video is new this morning showing downtown Calgary flooded with brown water. Some shelters in the city are already filled to capacity.

It was the trip of a lifetime. Now it's nothing short of a nightmare. Last Sunday, Father's Day, August Reiger of Oklahoma vanished while hiking with his family in the mountains of Ecuador. The trip was the 18-year-old valedictorian's graduation present. His dad says he's baffled because it's not a dangerous area and it's not like his son to wander off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS REIGER, MISSING TEEN'S FATHER: You know, we've done things like this a lot, and he certainly might have gone ahead of us and waited, but to go off, you know, not waited when it wasn't obvious where to go, nothing like this has ever happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: The family hasn't ruled out the possibility of a kidnapping so far, but says they have been to more dangerous places in the past and say none of this adds up.

(WEATHER BREAK)

KOSIK: Look at this. It's a full moon over Los Angeles. How pretty is that? This is ahead of tomorrow's super moon. Yes, we are expecting to see the brightest moon of the year early Sunday morning. So not only will you get up to watch, you know, me do the news, but you can watch the moon. This is because Sunday the moon is going to be closer to the earth than at any other time of the year. Nice. A medical condition cost a seven-year-old his hearing, but now there's new hope for Hayden thanks to a danger's kindness. That's coming up on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Immigration was the hot topic in Washington this week. The Senate's so-called gang of eight put out their compromise idea for comprehensive reform. They're calling for beefing up border security before doing anything else. Along those lines, their plan calls for 20,000 more border agents, 700 miles of fence along the Mexican border, and $3.2 billion in technology upgrades.

Joining me now is CNN contributor Maria Cardona and Amy Holmes, anchor for "Real News on The Blaze." the gang of eight said the increased border security should get enough Republican support to get passed. Amy, what do you think? Is that the winning strategy?

AMY HOLMES, ANCHOR, "REAL NEWS ON THE BLAZE": Well, the strategy is to get 70 votes in the Senate, so that would be 55 Democrats plus all the extra Republicans. But I spoke with Senator Mike Lee this week, and he's skeptical that they're going to get to that number partly because of the structure, the architecture of this bill, of this deal.

You said that Republicans said this will be the trigger for legalization of the bill. Well, in fact, that's not the case. Legalization comes first, then border security. And a lot of Republicans they said, you know what, we have beefed down this road before, no pun intended, and border security never happens. So in order to get Republicans on board, particularly in the house, they're going to want to see that this border security actually happens.

KOSIK: Maria, what do you think?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think certainly that this gives momentum to the bill in the Senate, which we need, and it also takes away a huge talking point that Republicans have used, that Democrats don't care about border security when, in fact, this deal was a democratic idea. It came from Senator Schumer.

I am skeptical not because it won't happen but because it's complete and utter overkill. This represents, Alison, militarization of the southern border at a point where the border has been more secure than ever.

But I think it does represent a huge problem for Republicans, especially in the House, because they can't now talk about that there is no border security and they can't now talk about the fact that this bill will actually cost money because of the CBO numbers that came out saying that this bill will actually reduce the deficit by $1 trillion over the next 20 years. So Republicans are in a muddle here.

KOSIK: OK, Amy, John Boehner says he's not ready to bring immigration to a vote because there's not enough Republican support. Even if the Senate gets their version done, what do you think are the chances that the house and ultimately the president, you know, gets on board? HOLMES: I sort of think it's fascinating that Maria said that this amendment for border security was Mr. Schumer's amendment, he's a Democrat from New York, when, in fact, it was written by two Republicans, so that sort of undercuts the whole Republican support for the bill.

Again, Republicans are saying, look, in 1986 Ronald Reagan, he signed into amnesty in order to get border security. That never happened. The 700-mile, you know, fence along that border, that's already been -- the money has already been given over by Congress. That's never been built.

So, again, the opposition to this bill on the right happens to be because border security never happens. As much as Democrats say they want it, Maria just said it's militarization of our border. Meanwhile, we militarize borders all over the world, including Afghanistan and Iraq. So does this mean that border security is really a partisan issue? Again, back in the House, Mr. Boehner has said he's not going to pass an immigration bill that doesn't have majority Republican support. So even if Republicans come over the fence, so to speak, on this immigration bill in the Senate, it's very -- let me say I'm skeptical if this democratization-driven bill as Maria described, is going to be able to get passed in the house.

KOSIK: Go ahead.

CARDONA: I didn't say it was a Democratic bill. I said it was a Democratic idea --

HOLMES: You said the amendment was written by Chuck Schumer when it was written by John Hoeven and Bob Corker in Tennessee.

CARDONA: I said it was --

KOSIK: One at a time.

CARDONA: I said it was Schumer's idea --

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: He wants this done to give Republicans what they are asking for. And, in fact, Republicans are getting almost everything that they want here. And John Boehner is in a huge box because he either has to show leadership and do what is right for the country, a majority of Americans believe this is right thing to do.

HOLMES: A majority wants border security. You just called it militarization.

CARDONA: Exactly. And border security is actually in there now in a way it has never been there before. So Republicans have no excuse. And if they don't do this, they can say good-bye to the White House for the next 50 years.

KOSIK: We have to leave it there. Thanks so much for your time Maria Cardona and Amy Holmes. CARDONA: Thank you so much, Alison.

KOSIK: There was an unusual spectator at the James "Whitey" Bulger trial this week, actor Robert Duvall. Courtroom witnesses say he was sitting in the back of the room watching the trial and soaking up the atmosphere. Why? Well, Duvall is in the Boston area filming the movie "The Judge." however, he wouldn't say for sure why he chose to sit in on Bulger's trial. All he said was it was interesting.

Coming up this weekend Director Ridley Scott joins CNN with an all new series "Crimes of the Century," and that airs this Sunday at 9:00 p.m.

Paula Deen apologizes for using racial slurs, but it's costing her. Can her brand recover?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Welcome back. I'm Alison Kosik. Here are five stories we're watching this morning. Number one, the U.S. government has now charged admitted NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Snowden is in hiding and was last seen in Hong Kong. He's facing three charges right now, including theft of government property.

Number two, an embarrassing overshare for Facebook. The company says it accidentally shared personal information like phone numbers and e- mails for 6 million of its users because of a bug in its download your information tool. The glitch only sent information to people who were already connected. Facebook apologized and said the problem has been fixed.

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling is getting a shorter prison sentence. He's agreed to pay $42 million to the victims of the Enron collapse. In exchange a judge has agreed to cut 10 years off his 24- year sentence. Skilling has already served seven years for fraud, conspiracy, and insider trading. Enron's collapse back in 2001 cost investors billions of dollars.

And number four, the daughter of former Yankees manager Joe Torre makes an amazing catch. Christina Torre caught a baby that fell out of a window in a Brooklyn apartment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I came over here. I saw the baby kind of straddling the pole -- the railing up there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: OK. Now, the father of the baby is calling her a hero. He released a statement last night.

And number five, it's been a little more than a month since an EF-5 tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma. The storm killed 24 people and injured more than 300. The town of Moore was practically wiped out. One of its residents is doing something to help those suffering from the storm. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: That's Toby Keith. He's holding an Oklahoma twister relief concert. It takes place July 6th and already tickets are sold out. Proceeds are going to be benefiting united way.

Paula Deen surrounded by controversy after admitting to using a racial slur. Now we find out Food Network is cutting ties with the queen of southern cooking. In a lawsuit deposition last month she talks about using the "n" word in the past, but denied accusations of racial and sexual harassment against a former white employee at her restaurant. Deen's response seemed bungled. She apologized in two statements online, first in a professionally produced video seen on the left. But apparently that was not what she wanted to say, so what she did was removed it and posted the amateur one you see on the right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEEN: Your color of your skin, your religion, your sexual preference does not matter to me, but it's what in the heart -- what's in the heart, and my family and I try to live by that. And I am here to say I am so sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: Now, Deen's got her own little empire. She makes millions of dollars off TV, books, and sponsorships. Now people are wondering can she bounce back? With us now to talk about this is Joey Reiman, a branding expert, thanks for being with us.

JOEY REIMAN, BRANDING EXPERT: Great to be here.

KOSIK: And Chris Ulrich, a body language expert joining me from Washington. Joey, let's start with you.

CHRIS ULRICH, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: Morning.

KOSIK: Is her brand ruined?

REIMAN: Well, her brand is not toast, but it's a bit burnt. But she can come back now. She's got a great opportunity. She's already doing it replacing the "n" word with the "m" word, which is "mea culpa," which is Latin for my fault.

KOSIK: But she's not specifically apologizing for one thing. She's saying I'm just sorry.

REIMAN: Well, she's trying to make amends. She's made a terrible mistake and for both marketers and her fans, this is a hard one to digest. But she is coming forth. She is being very sincere, and though she's done wrong, I think she's trying to make right. KOSIK: OK, Chris, let me turn to you. What did you notice about her body language? I know some people noticed her eyes. What did you notice?

ULRICH: Well, we see a lot in both videos, Alison. Out of the box in the first video we see micro-expression. Micro-expressions are expressions that happen within 1/15 of a second. We see a micro- expression of anger. This is where the brows come down and the mouth gets tight. And we see that, especially when she says "for these things I've done." So she's probably most likely angry at herself for that moment.

We also see a micro-expression of sadness when she is in the midst of talking about the people she's hurt. Here we see the eyebrows come in and up and the corners of the mouth drop down. So that's a sincere sign of sadness. We can't really fake that. If we compare that to Tiger Woods during his apology when he talked about really hurting people -- other people's feelings, we don't see any of that sadness in the face as well as in the eyes. So we can question that. But here we see genuine signs of sadness that are consistent with what she's saying out of the box in both videos.

KOSIK: Do you think, Joey, that people watching feel that sincerity?

REIMAN: Absolutely. Paula Deen was an agoraphobic. She couldn't get out of other apartment, and she's accomplished that. Now she has to come out and accomplish something even bigger, which is to be genuine in marketing, transparency goes hand in hand with great brands but she's being very sincere.

KOSIK: Is this going to be enough? You know, the apology was lovely --

REIMAN: No, words are not enough. Now Paula Deen has to take actions. She needs to dedicate or donate the millions of dollars of her next book to the NAACP. She needs to become the Deen of soulful cooking. She owes so much to African-American, Native Americans, people who were persecuted who boast some of the greatest cuisine in the world. So she should take on proteges, open a school, give back. She's also a diabetic. Write a book on diabetes for children. There's so much she can do.

KOSIK: Chris, this is sort of the burning question a lot of people have. What about that second apology she came out with? Does she look uncomfortable to you and how wise was it to sort of have the first one and then the second one so we could all kind of go back and put them side by side and compare?

ULRICH: Well, the second video I think hurts her and it hurts her in terms of watching her body language as well as some of the statements. We talk about statement analysis. So we're literally taking a look at the words she uses, and she uses words like "I totally, totally am sorry for this," or "I beg you, I beg you." That's a bit of an oversell. Does it mean she's lying or being deceptive? Not here, I don't think so. But it does hurt her in terms of coming across.

In addition she's usually when she's on Oprah she has open body language. Here we see her fidgeting with her hands. We call these manipulators or self-touch gestures, signs of anxiety here playing out for her as she deals with this situation that she's put herself in that you can tell through her body language.

One other thing she does is as she's talking about this situation, what's happened, she uses minimizing language and distancing language, where she says I was going on Matt Lauer on the "Today" show to talk to Matt Lauer about these statements that I made or that were very hurtful to others. She's distancing herself from what actually she may have said or what was said. And she's also minimizing it.

We also in that second video see her using minimizing language or character testimony where she talks about the good she's done over the last 24 years. You can tell that she here is speaking to her character and looking out to make herself look better than she's coming across.

This video I think hurts her. There's a lot of hotspots in this video, and it has the opposite effect of the first video. So sincere apology but also an overcompensation and overselling of that apology.

KOSIK: Very interesting. Thanks, Joey and Chris, very interesting.

REIMAN: Thank you so much.

ULRICH: Thank you for having me.

KOSIK: Coming up, have you seen this sweetheart? A child born deaf hears for the first time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daddy loves you. Daddy loves you. Daddy --

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: And he has insurance but it wouldn't cover his hearing aids, so this seven-year-old boy has been partially deaf until now. In a follow-up to a CNN exclusive, the heart-warming story of Hayden's hearing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daddy loves you. Daddy loves you. Daddy --

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hear that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: That is three-year-old Grayson after hearing his dad's voice for the first time. The North Carolina boy was born without a nerve that connects the brainstem to audio waves. He's the first child in the U.S. to receive an auditory brainstem implant. And, as you can see, it worked. His parents are thrilled and tell CNN Grayson loves music.

The family of a seven-year-old Georgia boy could not afford costly new hearing implants for him. Then a viewer saw their story right here on CNN and he made it his mission to help. CNN's George Howell tells us more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When your teacher turns away from the class and turns to the board, can you hear her?

HAYDEN MCKENZIE: No.

HOWELL: Why?

HAYDEN MCKENZIE: Because when I don't have my hearing aid on and somebody is turned away from me, I don't know what they're saying.

HOWELL: How does that make you feel?

HAYDEN MCKENZIE: Sad.

HOWELL: When talking to seven-year-old Hayden McKenzie, you have got to speak up.

HAYDEN MCKENZIE: So I can hear.

HOWELL: Hayden has one used hearing aid that still works. His parents say they can't afford a new pair and they learned that insurance in most states won't pay to cover hearing aids for kids. When we first shared Hayden's story three months ago, his mother was frustrated.

AMANDA MCKENZIE, HAYDEN'S MOTHER: We make too much money to, you know, to do the Medicaid route, and we can't use them -- can't get any kind of supplement, so it's just all out of pocket. And $6,000 is a lot of money.

HOWELL: The problem the McKenzie family faced in Georgia is a problem many other working class families struggle with when raising hearing impaired children. A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that five in every 1,000 children in the U.S. age three to 17 suffers from some form of hearing loss. Amanda said when she called looking for help the insurance company told her hearing aids are elective.

AMANDA MCKENZIE: So if we had bigger suitcases, then we would have put him on there.

HOWELL: But now there's new hope for Hayden. This kid from Atlanta found it in Minneapolis.

AMANDA MCKENZIE: It feels like we've been on this road for about three years now, and it only feels like you're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

HOWELL: It's an opportunity this family never asked for, never expected.

BRANDON SAWALICH, STARKEY HEARING TECHNOLOGIES: Hearing technology is what we do. We're the Mayo Clinic of Hearing Help.

HOWELL: All because Brandon was listening.

You reached out to me over Twitter.

SAWALICH: I got an e-mail from a former colleague that said check out this story. I was sitting in a hotel room one night, watched your story on Hayden and instantly said we have to help this kid.

I'm Brandon.

BILL AUSTIN, FOUNDER AND CEO, STARKEY HEARTING TECHNOLOGIES: When he has both ears functioning, when he's hearing the way he should, he should hear as good as anyone.

HOWELL: You're crying.

AMANDA MCKENZIE: I am already. We have just started. When bill was talking about the birthright of a child to hear, you know, you don't think about it that way until somebody who sees this so much is the one that says it. You know, you don't feel like -- you feel like he gets it. He understands. Finally somebody does.

Listen real close.

HOWELL: Hayden received a full evaluation at Starkey and the vital tools his family's insurance company wouldn't cover.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think, Hayden? Is it good? You can hear me better?

HAYDEN MCKENZIE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes?

HOWELL: A new pair of custom designed hearing aids free of charge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So now are these better than the other ones?

HAYDEN MCKENZIE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now they're better. OK. We just had to turn them up.

HOWELL: The McKenzies know they're among the lucky ones. It's an opportunity most families don't get. Through Hayden's stories they hope insurance companies and regulators will be listening to reconsider the status quo so more kids like Hayden --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hotdog.

HAYDEN MCKENZIE: Hotdog.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Baseball.

HAYDEN MCKENZIE: Baseball.

HOWELL: -- can hear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: George Howell joins us now. What an incredible story. How is Hayden doing?

HOWELL: I just got a text from his mom. He got to watch the story. She watched the story. She was emotional about it. This family's life has changed forever. Hayden can now hear. He can hear the television at a normal level now. He's watching cartoons at a normal level this morning. That's kind of cool.

KOSIK: It's really life-changing. I found it amazing that insurance doesn't cover the hearing aids. What are the chances of insurance ever picking it up?

HOWELL: Well, when you hear from the insurance companies from their standpoint, they say, look, they would love to cover things like hearing aids for kids but they can't, they say, because of the costs. The costs are too high. That's what you hear from most insurance companies.

But you find, for instance, in the state of Georgia, there's a movement, there's legislation that's been proposed, House bill 74 that's still in the insurance committee. It has not been voted out yet but there's a movement to get changes in states like Georgia and other states that don't cover hearing aids.

KOSIK: All right, interesting. Thanks. I guess Twitter you can think for that, not just for insults.

HOWELL: People will reach out and do good things on twitter.

KOSIK: Go figure.

Now this, move over men.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What part of "out" do you not understand?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to go out? We'll take you out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Women are taking the lead in this upcoming action film. We're going to talk with the screenwriter live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Special Agent Sarah Ashburn.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am an officer and that's my perp.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could you close the door on the way out?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll shut the door on you. You lay down here and put your head in the door and I'll slam it about 157,000 times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Girl, you better run.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: That's a scene from the 20th Century FOX new buddy cop film "The Heat." It stars two females. While most buddy cop movies like "Lethal Weapon" and "Bad Boys" have had male leads, Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy are paving new ground in the male dominated genre. The heat screenwriter Katie Dippold joins me live from New York. Thanks so much for joining us. First, I want to say congratulations. This is your first film. What made you think of the story in the first place?

KATIE DIPPOLD, SCREENWRITER: Well, I grew up loving buddy cop movies like "Running Scared" and "Lethal Weapon" and "48 Hours." And they're always so funny together and they're tough and awesome and I always thought I want to do that. So I just sort of wrote whey wanted to see, and luckily it's all moved forward.

KOSIK: So, you know, a lot has been made of the two female leads in this film, but, to you, what is this film really about?

DIPPOLD: It's about their friendship. It's about female friendship. I feel like characters like them, you know, they have worked really hard at their jobs and they're great at it, but they haven't had a female friend their whole lives. So it's about these two people, these kind of tough personalities, just letting someone in.

KOSIK: Even if a scene we showed it was pretty funny. Was this written for any specific audience in mind?

DIPPOLD: It's really for everyone. I mean, I just wrote the funniest -- I tried to write the funniest thing I could, and hopefully everyone finds it funny. So the female stuff I think them being females, it brings a new kind of experience to show people, but hopefully everyone can laugh at it.

KOSIK: You know, a lot was made of the U.K. movie poster photo shopping Melissa McCarthy to look slimmer. What did you think of this controversy?

DIPPOLD: Well, I'm in charge of all marketing, so -- just kidding. I thought, you know, they're both beautiful ladies and I'm just excited for everyone to be able to see them just be so funny and awesome together. You know, I just think they're both very special.

KOSIK: So you are in charge of the marketing, so did you OK the photo shopping?

DIPPOLD: Oh, I was totally joking. No. If I was in charge of marketing, it would be a nightmare, so luckily for us all I am not.

KOSIK: So "The Heat" is premiering June 28th. You're already writing a sequel. How did that come about?

DIPPOLD: We're very hopeful. I think it could be really fun. We're waiting to see what happens with the first one but we're very hopeful.

KOSIK: So the first one clearly it stars two big Hollywood actors, budget at $40-plus million, and released by FOX in the heart of the summer. It's going to go head to head with the big blockbusters. I don't know, are you feeling any pressure there?

DIPPOLD: Oh, absolutely. I mean, I feel pressure every day with not even that kind of thing happening. So, yes, there's a lot of pressure, but I'm hopeful.

KOSIK: OK. So my producer Harrison is in my ear. He wants to know, he wants me to ask, are you single?

DIPPOLD: Oh, my gosh, I am not, but thank him, thank you very much. That just made my day.

KOSIK: There you go. Katie Dippold, the writer of the new movie "The Heat" coming out next Friday. Thank you so much for your time.

DIPPOLD: Thank you.

KOSIK: After a court battle, 10-year-old Sarah Murnaghan was able to undergo a lung transplant last week. Coming up we're going to have an update on how she's doing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like Harry Potter.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Harry Potter. Did you read the books?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All seven of them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I read all seven.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK: A lung transplant following a court battle. After surgery she was in a medically induced coma. Now she's awake and she's responsive. Sarah remains on a ventilator and she's unable to talk, but a family spokesperson says she's nodding and shaking her head.

Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer, but not everyone has a chance to be proactive. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a look at one woman who found out she had breast cancer while studying the disease in medical school.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Her research got national attention.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Cases of advanced breast cancer in younger women are actually on the rise. That is the alarming headline just published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association."

GUPTA: But it was Dr. Rebecca Johnson's own diagnosis of breast cancer at age 27 that motivated her to conduct the study in the first place.

DR. REBECCA JOHNSON, SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: When I was diagnosed and read the medical literature, I was trying to figure out how common breast cancer was in young women and it was hard to do because all the articles I read at that time, this was back in the late '90s, said breast cancer is rare in young women.

GUPTA: Dr. Johnson was a medical resident in 1995 when she discovered a lump in her chest. A biopsy confirmed it was a malignant tumor.

JOHNSON: I looked at the surgeon and his eyes were just huge and stricken looking, and I said what? He said I think this is cancer.

GUPTA: A mastectomy and four rounds of key though therapy quickly followed and that put Dr. Johnson in the unique position of being a patient in the same hospital where she worked as a doctor.

Today Dr. Johnson heads the adolescent and young adult oncology program at Seattle Children's Hospital. Her patients are typically in their teens to mid-20s.

JOHNSON: Take a big breath in.

GUPTA: When she's not at the hospital she's conducting research. She wants to be able to give her parents vital information that she didn't have when she was in treatment.

JOHNSON: How are you doing today?

GUPTA: I'm good.

JOHNSON: The chance to be able to do something for these patients that are having a hard time in a way that I understand very well. It's a tremendous opportunity, a tremendous gift to be able to help.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: All right, look at this. You don't see this too often. Thousands of people practicing yoga write in the middle of Times Square in New York. The sun salutations were in honor of the summer solstice. It was led by a group called Mind of Madness. They challenge yogis to find the tranquility in the chaos of New York City. Good luck with that.

And I want to end this hour with this. We showed you their pictures last week, but pictures, I don't think they do these adorable little guys justice. These are the brand new additions to Tampa's Busch Gardens. These lion cubs arrived from South Africa last month. The three cubs are just a few months old and they sure are playful, though I don't think I'd want to get too close. And if you want to see them in person, you can see them all summer long and beyond at the park's Edge of Africa attraction.

Thanks for being with us. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now.