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Merrill Lynch Gender Bias Lawsuit; "American Idol" Accused of Being Racist; Cruise Line CEOs Get Grilled; Violations Uncovered on "Silver Shadow"; San Diego Mayor Comments on Scandal; Sudeikis Not Returning to "SNL"; A Vietnam War Miracle

Aired July 25, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for being with me.

A lawsuit accuses Bank of America's Merrill Lynch of gender bias. It says bosses at the flagship Fifth Avenue office in Manhattan told the women workers to kiss up, not to customers, but to co-workers, specifically their male co-workers. Three former financial advisors allege a supervisor directed them to read this book. The name "Seducing the Boys Club: Uncensored Tactics from a Woman at the Top," and then attend a talk with its author.

So let me quote the lawsuit now. This is part of the lawsuit. Quote, "the author encouraged women to stroke the men's egos with flattery and manipulation in order to succeed in a male dominated environment such as Merrill Lynch. Plaintiffs each considered the message of the book to be highly offensive."

So let's talk about this, get a little reporting from CNN's Alison Kosik and then some - well, some reaction from Ashley Merryman. She is an attorney who co-authored the book "Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing."

So, ladies, welcome to both of you.

Alison, we know that these women, they filed a similar suit at the federal level. A judge ruled against them recently. What exactly are they accusing Merrill Lynch of doing?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK. What these three women are claiming is sexual discrimination and that men at Merrill Lynch got preferential treatment. They're saying that the company even handed out the book that you just showed, "Seducing the Boys Club" book, and actually they were required to join in, in a talk with the author.

Now, the suit also makes claims against a male branch manager. He allegedly told one of the plaintiffs to, quote, "stick to her knitting" when she brought a business opportunity

club book and actually they were required to join in with a talk with the author. The suit also makes claims against a male branch manager. He allegedly told one of the plaintiffs to, quote, "stick to her knitting" when she brought a business opportunity to him. He told her to just stick to her knitting, according to the lawsuit.

When you're a Merrill Lynch trainee, you typically get a mentor that's assigned to you, but the plaintiffs are saying that we weren't assigned a mentor for months even though male trainees got mentors within weeks, and we had to speak up and ask for a mentor. Now the suit does say the branch manager in question was fired -- Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Ashley, I know that you wrote a book -- you wrote this book on winning and losing on gender roles in the workplace, and you say, if women do try to act more -- and I hate, I don't know, girly, more flirtatious -- it works against them.

ASHLEY MERRYMAN, CO-AUTHOR, "TOP DOG: THE SCIENCE OF WINNING AND LOSING": Well, yes. Actually, Laura Cray, our researcher at U.C. Berkeley has done studies of negotiations, and she's instructed women to be flirtatious. And she finds they're rated as more likable, but they aren't any better in the negotiation. They don't get more work done. So not only was this offensive, the idea we should have them be girly, it doesn't even work.

BALDWIN: So this book -- I have to admit I've never heard of it. It's called "Seducing The Boys Club," this book these women say they were required to read. So Alison, this is to you, and we hopped on amazon.com. This is how Amazon describes the book, shows you that S&M seduction and manipulation is the secret to winning over the big guys. She asserts that women need to meld their female characteristics with male traits to expand their professional horizon. So that's Amazon talking about the book. You reached out to the author. What did she say?

KOSIK: That's Nina Desesa, she's the author of this book. She actually said, I'm surprised that I was brought up in this lawsuit. She said her speech that she gave to Merrill Lynch, to the 50 employees back in 2008. She says her speech was light hearted. Her book is a memoir. It's light hearted too. She says it's not a how-to book. She found that she was more successful when she was nice and made people feel good about themselves. You know, kind of catch more flies with honey than vinegar kind of thinking -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Well, then -- Ashley, what's your advice? I mean, there are a lot of men in tip top firms? What's your advice to women to break through?

MERRYMAN: Well, first of all, I think we need to understand that we have to -- there is discrimination, right. That does still exist. It would be easy to say, well, women should just act like the men, but that's not going to work because the men are expecting women to be nicer, to be coalition builders, but there are small things we need to do. Women in conversation tend to take turns. In a meeting, they may raise their hands. Guys don't do that. If you have an idea in a meeting, just yell it out. Seriously, I've had that conversation at meetings where women sort of dove under the table with embarrassment. My God, I did that. BALDWIN: That's so funny.

MERRYMAN: We also need for women to be more comfortable in group settings. You know, the sort of old boys club, boys grow up in groups. Girls grow up in pairs. And 6-year-olds spend about 74 percent of their time, boys, in groups. Girls, it's about 16 percent of the time. So the idea, let's all go to the bar after work and talk about what we're doing or go to the golf club, those are actually natural activities for men to do in groups. And women need to find more sports activities, more group settings, so they can become more involved in that environment.

BALDWIN: No one raises their hand in my morning meeting, I'll tell you that. Guys and gals, they jump in and get lively. Quickly, Alison to you, no word yet from Merrill Lynch, right, reaction-wise?

KOSIK: Right. Merrill actually is pointing back to the 2010 case, noting that these allegations were made before and thrown out by a federal judge earlier this year. Now the same women are suing in a state court. So what they're basically trying to do is find a new way to move this case forward. Merrill is standing its ground, also saying diversity and inclusion are a part of our culture and core values.

We actively promote an environment where all employees have the opportunity to succeed. No doubt about it, as I sit here at the New York Stock Exchange, it's clear, if you do a quick look around the stock exchange here, the finance industry, Brooke, it is a male dominated field. Women are slowly coming in a little bit more, but it is a male dominated field.

BALDWIN: Well, Alison, you bring it every day, and we appreciate it. Alison Kosik and Ashley Merryman, ladies, thank you so much for the conversation. I appreciate that.

Coming up, ten former "American Idol" contestants file a lawsuit charging racism. They want $25 million each. That story after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now to that exclusive lawsuit filed against the hit singing competition show "American Idol," the suit claims the show is racist. All ten of these former contestants reportedly want $25 million apiece from the show and its producer. A lawyer for the group says his clients were kicked off the show because of their race and that is just the beginning of the story.

Let me bring in our entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner live in New York. Nischelle Turner, good to see you. If they claim the show is racist, what are the specifics they are offering?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, this lawsuit is actually accusing producers of discriminating against black contestants. The suit is being filed by those former ten contestants that you talked about. They were kicked off of "Idol" over various seasons, and they claim that producers exploited them for ratings by illegally using arrest records to kick them off the show.

Now we have reached out to the attorney who filed this lawsuit for comment. We haven't been able to speak with him today, but we did talk to him back in January when these accusations first surfaced. That's when he filed the letter with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, saying the discrimination wasn't just that these men were disqualified from idol after their arrest records surfaced.

But he alleges there were actually also white contestants with convictions, actual convictions, who were allowed to compete on the show. We, of course, reached out to Fox and Fremantle 19, they produce the show, and they simply told us no comment today.

BALDWIN: So but the show, there are -- let me look at my list, four different African-American winners, Fantasia, Jordin Sparks, Ruben Studdard, and just last season, Candice Glover, racist?

TURNER: I mean, that's a great point. It's a very good point, four of the actual top 10 this season were African-American, two men and two women. It's not just that idol has had African-American winners, but also runners-up on the show, i.e. Jennifer Hudson, who have gone on to super stardom. Fox would probably counter with we've got a very diverse show and a very diverse audience, and we try to represent that.

BALDWIN: Nischelle Turner, thank you. Good to see you up and at them in the afternoon hours. Thank you.

Coming up next, a high-end cruise ship experience, but guess what, does not live up to the price tag. You have meat stored in the sinks? Food stacked in the hallway and cheese hidden from inspectors in crew members' rooms.

CNN's Drew Griffin joins me live next with the health inspection report from the CDC you don't want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: CEOs from the cruise ship industry grilled yesterday on Capitol Hill. The memories linger from February's Carnival triumph cruise when the ship was stranded for days and days. Remember this one, inadequate toilet facilities for thousands of those passengers. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), WEST VIRGINIA: I have been assured repeatedly by the industry that things will get better. Take a look at the events over the past 16 months and tell me if this is what you think better looks like.

GERALD CAHILL, PRESIDENT, CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES: We really seriously put our guests in an uncomfortable position, and that bothers us a great deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Meanwhile, we just learned about a luxury cruise ship, one of the most expensive in the world actually, flunked a surprise health inspection by the CDC. Drew Griffin with CNN's special investigations unit has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Silver Sea Cruise Line builds itself as ultra exclusive, small ships, 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 endless free drinks, sophisticated entertainment and a culinary experience, the cruise line calls world class.

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

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 galleys, where it belonged. Why? It's all spelled out in this denting report from U.S. Health inspectors from the Centers for Disease Control.

It writes an organized effort was made to physically remove over 15 full trolleys of food, including milk, raw meats, pasteurized eggs, cheeses 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.

Adriano Colonna, an Italian pastry chef says he had a 40-day contract on board the Silver Shadow and says 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.

ADRIANO COLONNA, FORMER CREW MEMBER: Absolutely, sir. That's why I didn't even eat. I used to make a pizza for myself on a daily basis and that's all. Because if you think about it, you know, the eggs that you got to eat with the omelette with the temperature a temperature of almost 70 degrees that would make everybody sick.

GRIFFIN (on camera): And you personally had to sleep with some of this food in your cabin quarters?

COLONNA: Yes, yes, sir, with three crew cabin members.

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

COLONNA: And blue cheese.

GRIFFIN: And blue cheese?

COLONNA: Yes. GRIFFIN (voice-over): The CDC finally figured 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 in wrongful termination and injury cases says he's been told what we're seeing here is a common game.

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

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

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

GRIFFIN (on camera): Silver Seas, the cruise company based here in Fort 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. They called it an anomaly, basically. The ship scores 97 to 100.

WALKER: Do we really think this was the one time, one time they played hide and seek and 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Drew, I hope no one was eating lunch while we were watching this piece, and you're talking to the chef, and he says, I'm not eating this stuff, sleeping with the blue cheese and a trolley full of salami. A lot of people love cruising, though.

GRIFFIN: They do.

BALDWIN: Despite all of the bad press. What do you tell people? What is the advice?

GRIFFIN: Well, I mean, what is the advice, go and see if people are hiding food in the galley. You can go, the CDC, although it is somewhat powerless in these situations, which is there are hearings on Capitol Hill in part, they do post these scores online. So you can look up your specific boat that you're about to cruise on, look at its latest inspection, and read the inspection to feel comfortable or to maybe not feel so comfortable.

It's really buyer beware type of situation, but there is information out there. What is troubling about this is they were actually hiding the health problems from the health inspector. It's not just that they had health problems. They were hiding it deliberately.

BALDWIN: That's the scary part. Educate yourself. Educate before you cruise. Drew Griffin, eye-opening, thank you very much. Great, great story.

Just into CNN here, the mayor accused of sexual harassment by three women so far has just now spoken to reporters. Hear what he told our own correspondent Casey Wian about all these accusations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Next, in San Diego, the mayor there has called himself a hugger. And just in to CNN, Bob Filner has responded to accusations of sexual harassment not by one, not two, but three different women. Casey Wian is live in San Diego for us where he has just heard from the mayor. Casey, what did he say?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, not much, Brooke. It was a really bizarre situation. You see behind me. We've got a trolley station. There was an opening for this new trolley station, a redesigned trolley station, and the mayor actually showed up at this event, apparently not completely prepared for the throng of reporters, including me, who were going to be asking him questions about these allegations of sexual harassment.

It was really a bizarre situation. As we shouted questions and asked questions of the mayor, he walked around sort of in circles, basically aimlessly, refusing to really even acknowledge us, refusing to answer any questions. Finally, after several minutes of this, here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BOB FILNER (D) SAN DIEGO: There is a legal process by which all this will be decided and that's what we'll be dealing with. There will be no other statements regarding it except for the legal process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: So very clear that the mayor is not going to say anything at this time about the allegations that have been made public by three women so far who accuse him of highly inappropriate behavior. Some of those women actually work for the mayor -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Quickest sound bite ever. I know you were trying. Casey Wian for us in San Diego. Casey, appreciate it.

Coming up, more on the suspect arrested in the chilling murder. Police say this man here killed at least once, was about to kill again. He was allegedly targeting sex offenders, and in just a matter of minutes. We'll talk live to the sheriff investigating this case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON SUDEIKIS, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": This is the situation room, which three nights a week also doubles as my bedroom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The "Saturday Night Live" actor who played our very own, our beloved Wolf Blitzer, is sadly not returning to the show. Jason Sudeikis joining a long line of cast members leaving. He is famous for playing Joe Biden, Howard Dean, and, of course, Wolf, who by the way tweeted, with Sudeikis leaving, who should play me next? Got to watch, "SITUATION ROOM," 5:00 Eastern to hear Wolf's thoughts.

You know, it is a miracle that an infantry sergeant came home from Vietnam alive and he has started a program designed to help other vets. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has his story in this week's "Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was 1968. Infantry Platoon Sergeant Urban Miyares was on patrol in Vietnam.

URBAN MIYARES, VIETNAM VETERAN: As we were going out, going by the rice paddies in the delta, I hear mortar shells going off and machine guns going off. Next thing I know I found myself falling face first into a rice paddy. That's it. Two days later, I woke up in a Saigon Military Hospital. They told me I was lucky. They found me in a body bag.

GUPTA: You heard that right. Urban was put in a body bag presumed dead because he was found unconscious. An astute combat medic had discovered him still breathing.

MIYARES: The diagnosis was diabetes.

GUPTA: Urban hadn't been hit by the enemy. He passed out from the effects of the disease. He was the only soldier in his platoon to survive.

MIYARES: If it wasn't been for diabetes, I probably wouldn't be here.

GUPTA: The 45 years since had been a roller coaster ride as well. Urban has been legally blind since the '70s. He lost most of his hearing. He needed a kidney transplant, but one thing, sailing, that kept him afloat.

MIYARES: When I went to Vietnam and came back so sick and especially with the eyesight loss, I never thought I'd get into sailing again until I met two gentlemen in wheelchairs, Vietnam era veterans.

GUPTA: The three of them together started Challenged America. It's a therapeutic sailing program for people with disabilities, primarily veterans.

MIYARES: Sailing is therapy. There's nothing like being on the water, being with nature.

GUPTA: The program now has 27 modified sailboats based in San Diego. Urban's goal is to help the world see people with disabilities as equals.

MIYARES: It's nice. You get front of the line privileges, as I like to say. That's not what we're doing here. We want to be equal with you. Give us a chance to prove that we can do it, and you may be surprised.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)