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Closing Arguments in Manning Trial; Nurse's Aide Claims Discrimination; Cruise Line Hides Food During Inspection; Bank Forecloses on Wrong House

Aired July 25, 2013 - 11:30   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's check the top stories on this Thursday morning.

Speed may have been the main factor in the crash of a Spanish passenger train. At least 80 people died in that crash. 36 people, including several children, are in critical condition this morning. Five of the injured are American citizens.

Attorney General Eric Holder says he's trying to stop Texas from passing a voter I.D. law. He wants a court order to force the state to get approval from the federal government or a court before making any changes to its voting laws. The Texas voter I.D. law was blocked by a lower court. Last month, the Supreme Court threw out that ruling and ordered the court to reconsider it.

Still ahead, a big day in the court-martial of Army Private Bradley Manning. If convicted of aiding the enemy, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. A live report on that, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: As Edward Snowden cools his heels in a Moscow airport, his impact is being felt on Capitol Hill. Last night, the House narrowly defeated a proposal to curtail the gathering of domestic phone and e- mail data. Snowden revealed the existence of the massive surveillance program before fleeing to Moscow a month ago. Snowden's status in Russia is in limbo. He has not received permission to leave the airport. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke yesterday with Russia's foreign minister saying the U.S. wants Snowden back in the U.S. to face espionage charges.

The other big spy story we are following is at Ft. Meade, Maryland, home of the NSA. That's where Bradley Manning is being court- martialed for divulging classified documents related to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Barbara Starr joins us now with the latest.

Hi, Barbara. Nice to see you.

BARBARA STARR CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Pamela. Yes. Closing arguments under way in Private First Class Bradley Manning's court- martial and everybody is watching to see what will happen. This is not a military jury trial. There is only a military judge. And she will be weighing the arguments. Was Bradley Manning a traitor? Did he betray his country? Was he a principled advocate and seeing things going on in the war that he did not like? Downloaded documents and brought them to the public eye? It is this fundamental debate going is on right now about the government's right to keep information classified and the public's right to know and personal issues of privacy. A lot of comparisons being made to Snowden, of course.

But a lot of people will tell you Bradley Manning's quite different. He disclosed intelligence about certain activities in the field, intelligence at a point in time. Snowden disclosed how the government tries to collect intelligence -- Pamela?

BROWN: Barbara, considering a military judge is deciding here, do we know how soon a verdict will come down?

STARR: Well, we don't. She is a pretty hard-working judge by all accounts. And is going the take this all under advisement and make her deliberations. One of the big issues on the table is whether Manning will be convicted of aiding the enemy. That could land him with life in a military prison. The death penalty has been taken off the table for that. He has already pled guilty to lesser charges that are likely now going to get him at least 20 years in jail -- Pamela?

BROWN: We will be keeping an eye on it.

Barbara Starr, at the Pentagon, thank you so much.

Just ahead, is it patient privacy or racial discrimination?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDREA BUTLER, NURSING ASSISTANT: Worked for many other facilities and companies and I never experienced it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: This nursing assistant was told she couldn't care for one patient all because of the color of her skin. Just wait until you hear what our legal panel has to say about this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: A nurse's assistant says it is blatant discrimination and a part of what many in health care call an open secret. Sandrea Butler, an African-American, says a Michigan nursing home where she works won't let her care for a white patient. She was told no African- American staffer could care for him. A civil rights lawyer calls that outrageous. Butler also says she and a black R.N. are given heavier work loads than their white counterparts. Take a listen

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUTLER: I love taking care of people. That's my passion. When it is stripped away from me, you know, because of the color of my skin, it's really disappointing. I worked for many other facilities and companies and I never experienced this. JULIE GAFKAY, ATTORNEY: In my legal opinion, a patient cannot request somebody not work with them based on race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right. Let's talk about it. Radio host and attorney, Mo Ivory, joins us from Atlanta, and attorney and CNN legal analyst, Mark Nejame, is here with us in New York.

Mark, this sounds pretty outrageous to me. Is this a violation of civil rights laws?

NEJAME: It sure seems like it. If it is not, then let's make it one. Because I think that we need to go ahead and I think these ladies -- specifically this one lady needs to simply bring a lawsuit and let the cards fall where they may. We cannot in any way, shape or form support racism or bigotry in any form it takes. If have you somebody that will not let somebody of a different color care for them, you can't not give them care. So I think you just go ahead and bring the suit and find out where it lands. And if the hospital needs to change their policy, says a patient doesn't have a right to choose somebody because of their color, then that's the grounds for your admission.

BROWN: Mo, The hospital is saying that they need to respect patients' requests for their care and treat the situation the same if they did month want someone of the opposite gender. Is that a fair comparison? What is the difference here?

MO IVORY, ATTORNEY & RADIO SHOW HOST: No, I don't necessarily think that's a fair comparison. You have to think about -- absolutely patients have rights. They have rights to have confidentiality as it relates to their information and their medical records. They have a right for certain -- you know, to keep people in the room that they want around them during their illness. They don't have a right to discriminate on their caretaker. Do I think in some instances where a woman would feel more comfortable if she was having, you know, evasive procedure or being touched, by another woman that might be better? She may not want a man touching her. That's completely different than saying I don't want somebody because they are black or I don't want somebody because they are Asian. Or the reverse, if a black person says I don't want a white person treating me, that's a whole different category than having a sensitivity to maybe a man or woman touching you. And sometimes I have been in the hospital before where I have said maybe I want, you know a woman. I realize this man is more sensitive than this other nurse that's a female. I will go with him.

Really at the end of the day, the only thing that should matter is how well the person can take care of you and put you back in a healthy place.

BROWN: That's what matters.

Mark, here is the reaction from the nursing home administrator who says, "We are protecting staff members from allegations and that the facility treats all employees fairly." At one point the patient claimed he had been bruised by an African- American staffer and recanted that. If a patient is concerned about being mishandled, does that give him or her the right to deny care from staffers of that race?

IVORY: That's so ridiculous.

(CROSSTALK)

NEJAME: So what I'm hearing is that a -- because an African- American's allegedly bruised this person one time that excludes all African-Americans. That's Monday sense. We simply do not tolerate that. That's just an excuse. It is overshadowing the real issue. The sack of skin that covers our soul and bodies and our organs should have nothing to do with treatment or allow anybody to make a decision based on the color.

IVORY: I would like to ask that patient, since he recanted that, it was an African-American nurse that bruised him, if he found it was white nurse that bruised him, would he say he doesn't want any white nurses tending to him?

NEJAME: Touche.

BROWN: Good question. Mo, if she does file a lawsuit, do you think she could win it?

IVORY: Absolutely. She has legitimate claim.

What worries me most is the supervisors are sort of protecting the idea that you can ask for whatever you want as it relates to your care. I would hope that these employers would stand by their employees to try to make their work environment a good work environment and not necessarily put a patient who drives the revenues' needs ahead of the workers that are there to protect the age and I make money for them.

NEJAME: And I would like to add that if a person needed a transfusion, I strongly suspect there may be some Asian blood and African-American blood and Latino blood that might go in there to help save the person. I think that we all bleed red and the skin color should make no difference.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Thank you for offering that perspective. We will check back in with you in just a bit. Thank you.

Salami and blue cheese stacked on trays in crew members' cabins, just some of the things one luxury cruise line did to hide hygiene complaints from the Centers for Disease Control. A CNN investigation up next.

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BROWN: The world's largest cruise lines are defending themselves once again. Heads of Carnival and Royal Caribbean told a Senate committee they are working to make their ships safer and do a better job of making the public aware of crime on the ships. They have a lot of ground to make up. Of the crimes reported to the FBI since 2011, only 31 have been reported to the public. Cruise ship companies are providing data for only those crimes no longer under investigation.

No matter how you slice it, it has been a rocky year for the cruise industry. Onboard fires. Now comes word after cruise line docking inspections about hiding food.

CNN's Drew Griffin has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Silver Sea Cruise Line bills itself as ultra exclusive: small ships and personalized service, and an intimate luxurious setting, a high- end experience that comes with a very high-end price. On average, the company says a little more than $5,000 per week per passenger. The all-inclusive tab comes with free drinks, sophisticated entertainment and a culinary experience the cruise line calls world class.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Every Silver Sea voyage is a feast for the senses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: But passengers didn't know that feast might include this. Look at these. Pictures taken by crew members showing meat stored in crew cabin sinks, pots and pans in crew hallways, wrapped food stashed everywhere except in the galley where it belonged. Why? It is all spelled out in this report from U.S. health inspectors from the CDC. It writes, "An organized effort was made to physically remove over 15 full trolleys of food, including milk, raw meats, pasteurized eggs, cheese of all types, all hidden in individual cabins shared by two or three galley crew members in order to avoid inspection."

The surprise inspection took place after the CDC was tipped off.

Adriana Cologna, an Italian pastry chef, says he had a 40-day contract on board the "Silver Shadow" and, night after night, he and others were ordered to hide food in his cabin in case of an inspection. It was so bad this chef wouldn't eat the food served to passengers.

ADRIANA COLOGNA, ITALIAN PASTRY CHEF: Absolutely, sir. That's why I didn't even eat. I just made a pizza for myself on a daily basis and that was all, because if you think about it, because of the temperature high, that would make everybody sick.

GRIFFIN (on camera): You personally had to sleep with some of this food in your very cabin quarters.

COLOGNA: Yes, sir, with the crew cabin members.

GRIFFIN: It was you, two other crew cabin members and a trolley full of salami.

COLOGNA: And two trolleys full of bleu cheese.

GRIFFIN: And bleu cheese.

COLOGNA: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): The CDC finally found out what was happening when a crew member sent these photos to federal health inspectors and maritime attorney, Jim Walker. Walker, whose law firm represents cruise ship employees and wrongful termination and injury cases, says he's been told what you're seeing here is a common game.

JAMES WALKER, MARITIME ATTORNEY: That's right, there's typically a scramble that takes place. This is what we learned from the crew members.

GRIFFIN: What is different this time is the CDC was tipped off and, on June 17th, staged a surprise inspection as the "Silver Shadow" docked in Skagway, Alaska. The federal health inspector shows a dismal grade of 82.

WALKER: I believe they were caught essentially playing a game. The CDC was alerted by crew members who were concerned about the hygiene on the ship and they went in and verified their complaints.

GRIFFIN (on camera): Silver Seas Sea Cruise Company, based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, wouldn't give CNN any interview on this topic but did send a statement saying, "It's deeply disappointed by this specific and only unsatisfactory score." The company cited its long track record with the CDC of good scores, some above 90 percent, some as high as 100 percent, and said in this case, it's taking action to fix the problem.

WALKER: They called it an anomaly basically. This ship scores 97 to 100.

Do we really think that this was the one time, the one time where they played hide and seek and they ran everything out in trolleys from the galley and we just happened to catch them one time?

GRIFFIN (voice-over): According to the CDC report, inspectors poured chlorine liquid over all the discarded food on board the "Silver Shadow" to prevent any of it from being reused. It may surprise you that that is all the federal health inspectors could do. No fines. The ship was not shut down. Instead, the cruise line filed a record of the corrective actions taken to fix the problems. Among them, the cruise line reminded its crew that hiding raw meat, cheese and eggs in non-refrigerated crew cabins was not allowed.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Says a lot, the chef wouldn't even eat the food given to passengers.

All right, if you have a tip for CNN's investigation team, go to CNN.com/investigate.

And coming up, a woman must crawl through the window of her own home, all to discover her belongings have been repossessed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE BARNETT, VICTIM OF WRONG REPOSSESSION: I did not tell them to come in my house and make me an offer. They took my stuff and I want it back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The problem, the bank took her stuff instead of her neighbor's. Our legal team weighs in on the possession -- repossessing gone wrong. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: All right the question is, what would you do, you come home and find your house ransacked and all of your possessions gone. Burglary, right? In Macarthur, Ohio, the culprit was a local bank. The bank admits it foreclosed on the wrong house but so far it hasn't done much to replace the $18,000 of stuff the homeowner says is missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: He got very firm with me and said we are not paying you retail. That's just the way it is. I'm not running a yard sale here. I did not tell them to come in my house and make me an offer. They took my stuff and I want it back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The president provided CNN with this statement about the dispute. It says, "The written list of items that Miss Burnett provided to us and the value she assigned to those items is inconsistent with the list and descriptions of items removed that was prepared by the employees who did the work."

All right. I have a feeling our legal panel has some strong opinions about this one. Once again Attorneys Mo Ivory and Mark Nejame.

Mo, let's start with you.

The bank is saying it made a mistake here. Tell us what the legal responsibility is in a case like this.

IVORY: Sure, if the bank admits that they made a mistake, which they have, they used the GPS, they went to the wrong home, they said that they realized it was the wrong home, even the president of the bank says, I admit it was the wrong home, the legal responsibility is to put the person back in the position they were in before the mistake was made, which would be to just give her what she is asking for. I don't think that you can say that the items, the list of items that she submitted doesn't line one the list of items that the people that went in and took the items says it does. These people were wrong for going in, in the first place. They're low-level employees of the bank who are out there collecting people's items. I wouldn't put any weight on what they're saying as it relates to value.

But let's say beyond the legal, you know, recourse that they have or what the law says. What's the right thing to do with these banks that are continuing to overreach when it comes to foreclosure and overreach. Listen, banks have paid billions of dollars in settlements because they've not done the right thing when it's come to this housing problem and our foreclosure problem. So just give her what she's asking for, $18,000 in the big scheme of things compared to what a bank, who are having record profits these days, make. I would try to make her whole and satisfied.

BROWN: Mark, the bank saying it wants to settle but the discrepancy is over the list of items. What do you think?

NEJAME: $18,000 worth of bad publicity for the bank. But what they're trying to do is rest their laurels on replacement value versus fair market value, which is something you dispute with insurance companies. Let's say a robber or burglary came in, stole the possessions, went to court for grand theft, they go, we only want to give her back what it was worth at a garage sale. Nonsense. The bank took it when they shouldn't have taken it. Own up to it. Do the right thing. But more importantly $18,000 you just lost that in bad publicity.

BROWN: Even if she is exaggerating about the cause, the bank should pay up.

NEJAME: They should do the right think.

BROWN: Mo Ivory, Mark Nejame, thank you so much.

And thank you for watching. I'm Pamela Brown.

AROUND THE WORLD is next.