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Battleground Virginia; NFL Investigations Alleged Misconduct; Cleveland Kidnap Victim; Michelle Pfeiffer Reveals Cult Past

Aired November 05, 2013 - 07:30   ET

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

WILL CAIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't know how you can take national election or national story lines like the shutdown or Obamacare and say that's what this is about. It's about a lot more than that.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: In New Jersey, isn't Chris Christie kind of welcoming it? I mean, there is a sound bite from him. I think it was just from yesterday when he says the country is watching what happens in New Jersey.

MARC LAMONT HILL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's what you say when you're up by 40 points. This means everything.

CAIN: You have desires beyond just necessarily the office you're running for right now.

HILL: That's the only thing he desires, the office beyond what he is running for.

BOLDUAN: So you brought in your own newspaper today because you wanted to talk about --

CAIN: I love this. I love this.

BOLDUAN: Why should anyone outside of New York City care about it?

HILL: That's awful.

CAIN: This is the Democratic Party's it, Bill De Blasio running for mayor in New York City. He's going to win, running away. This is a true progressive. I mean, this guy honeymooned in Cuba, went to Nicaragua to take part --

HILL: He likes warm weather. He went to Cuba for his honeymoon.

CAIN: There is no beaches outside of --

HILL: He went to the USSR on a class trip with other people. It wasn't like he went there to study Leninism. I mean, come on.

CAIN: We can joke. I think this is hilarious, but actually I'm somewhat fashioned about this. I live in New York City. I have a kid that goes to charter schools. This guy is coming in, going to fundamentally change New York if he can, if he has the power to swing it. He wants to shut down charter schools and in my estimation take opportunities away from children of every economic status.

HILL: That's not true. He doesn't want to shutdown charter schools. He wants to have a more robust tradition public education system and use charter schools to what they initially intended as laboratories of experimentation. Not as a gateway drug into free market fundamentalism, which is the problem --

BOLDUAN: Looking at it from -- that's a problem, looking at it from the outside in though, if De Blasio wins, he'll be the first Democrat winning the mayoral since '89?

HILL: Right.

BOLDUAN: More than 20 years. What does that say? Does that say something? Just go with me on this. Does that say something to the country?

HILL: Yes. That's the part I disagree with you. In Virginia it's the first time a Democrat will be in office while there's a Democrat in the White House since '77. Here in New York as you pointed out. It will be the first time we had a Democratic mayor since 1989. That means that maybe people are ready not to have right wingers in office right now.

CAIN: David Dinkens was in Democratic-led administrations. Instead of making this about Democrat/Republican, left/right --

BOLDUAN: How do we not? It's Election Day.

CAIN: The question is not how is De Blasio winning today? But how did Republicans win in New York City for 20 plus years? The answer largely has to do with security. It was crime in the '90s, terrorism in the 2000s and people have seen those things go to the back burner, why, because of the success of Republican administrations. I imagine they might be remember pretty soon.

BOLDUAN: All right, we are going to leave it there. One thing we can all agree on, which I like to end on something that we can all come together on is everyone should go out and vote.

HILL: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Let's end on that one.

CAIN: Vote if you know what you're talking about.

BOLDUAN: OK.

HILL: Vote if you agree with Will is what he's saying.

BOLDUAN: A loyal modification. OK, Will Cain, Marc Lamont Hill, great to see you -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Will Cain advocating the Republican over the pure democracy here on NEW DAY. Coming up after the break, one of the Cleveland three, Michele Knight opening up about the difficult, difficult life she led as a captive of Ariel Castro. We'll tell you what she says.

And shocking new twists in the Miami Dolphins bullying scandal, turns out this may not be the first time. Is this the culture in the NFL? We're going to talk to two former players about the Dolphins situation and the league experience in general.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: Welcome back to NEW DAY. New developments this morning in the Miami dolphins alleged bullying case. There are reports that veteran offensive lineman, Richie Incognito, left voicemails on Jonathan Martin's phone loaded with racial slurs, threats. Now Martin has left the team and Incognito has been suspended. So is this Incognito's problem or is it a problem for the NFL in general?

We have two guests to take it on. Both know the situation well, Lamar Campbell, former cornerback for the Detroit Lions and Mr. Ricky Williams, former running back for the Miami Dolphins. Thank you both, gentlemen, for joining us this morning. Appreciate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Appreciate you having us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

CUOMO: Let's deal with the specific first. Ricky, obviously you were a Miami Dolphin. You knew and played with Richie Incognito at least in 2010. What is your take specifically on this man and this situation?

RICKY WILLIAMS, FORMER MIAMI DOLPHINS RUNNING BACK: Well, you know, Richie is one of those guys when you -- based on his history and getting to know him, he's one of the guys you get a sense it's a guy you don't want to mess with. I like Richie. We got along well and had amazing conversations and yes, I like Richie.

CUOMO: Bully? Somebody who is known for that? Somebody where it was allowed? Give me some perspective on this guy and what he would do.

WILLIAMS: So, you know, from playing with him, I noticed if we're playing in a game and someone took a cheap shot on me or took a cheap shot on him, he would retaliate to that. As far as initiating any kind of bullying behavior, I've never seen it from him.

CUOMO: All right, now Lamar, for the uninitiated you see a big, strong guy, you say, well, he can't be bullied. Give us some insight into what could be going on in that locker room that should qualify as bullying.

LAMAR CAMPBELL, FORMER DETROIT LIONS PLAYER: You know, Chris, the NFL locker room is a microcosm of society. You have a lot of gentlemen from different racial backgrounds, different social economical backgrounds, faith backgrounds so you have to be able to work with these guys and be conducive and be productive in a locker room. If you look at a 6'5" 300-pound Stanford educated millionaire that could be bullied. What does this say to the rest of society and the second or third graders whose peers may receive them as different or odd, and this is something that the Miami Dolphins have to take a stand on and NFL itself.

CUOMO: Any chance, Lamar, that you think the coaches and management were unaware of what was happening to this guy?

CAMPBELL: I think at some point they had to be aware. You know, I've always been a big believer that if your head coach is the leader of your locker room then you have a problem in your team. Let's not forget, Rich Incognito came to the Miami Dolphins in 2010 and General Manager Jeff Ireland had just came off a controversy where he actually asked a potential draft choice was his mother a prostitute? So championships are won from the front office down to the field. If that is the culture in that Miami Dolphins front office then we have to change that for them to be a productive team.

CUOMO: Ricky, when Lamar was talking about, you know, that this is a microcosm, bullying can go on in the locker room, you were making a face. What's your take?

WILLIAMS: Because you know, to me, it's not a microcosm. I mean, 99 percent of the people in society wouldn't last practice in the NFL. It's not. The people or the men in the NFL are different animal, a different kind of person, and what it takes to be in the NFL to survive in the NFL and especially to have success in the NFL is something that is extraordinary and you don't -- it's not a common occurrence. You don't see it very often.

CUOMO: So help me understand it. Other than the ability to run fast and hit hard, what makes it different to be in the NFL that the typical definitions of bullying and typical accepted behavior shouldn't apply?

WILLIAMS: Well, first of all, if you look at the culture of football and look at one of the greatest legends of football in Vince Lombardi, if you took the way that he managed his team and he was extremely successful and you put it under the microscope with social media and media coverage right now, he would fit probably, most people would put him in the category of being a bully.

I guarantee if you took the same criteria for bullying and followed each NFL team closely, I'd say 35 percent to 50 percent of the coaches would lose their jobs. And I'm not saying that -- I mean, it's just a different environment. It's a different way we function. It's a different way we do things.

I think when you watch the NFL on TV, everyone is happy with the end result. And I think the players that can make it and survive and make a lot of money, good for them, because they can do it. Like I said yesterday, the NFL is not for everyone. Everyone can't be an NFL football player.

CUOMO: Lamar, you're shaking your head. You don't like the double standard, why? CAMPBELL: I agree with Ricky that everyone can't be an NFL player. We've had the privilege to play on NFL stage. Let's be mindful when you look at the context of the racial text messages that were sent to Mr. Martin and we currently have an NFL player that just recently signed a huge contract with the New England Patriots on trial right now, what could be multiple murder, you have to take these type of situations seriously.

No, not everyone can play the NFL game, yes, it does take a different mindset, but no matter if you're 6'10" or 5'10", mentally we're all pretty much fragile. That doesn't matter whether you're on the football field or off the field football. So to think this cannot be taken seriously in the NFL locker room, I don't understand how we can say that.

CUOMO: Ricky, you have the facial expressions working again. Let me ask you something, if somebody sent you a voicemail like this guy got, you'd dismiss it as football?

WILLIAMS: No, I would send it back and say shut up, you redneck and we'd laugh about it. They're both offensive linemen. The amount of time they spend together. Essentially they're brothers. You know, the stuff that happens inside a family is the stuff that happens inside of a family. You can't put it on a large stage and expect it to meet societal criteria. It doesn't work like that.

CUOMO: So why do you think the guy left the team?

WILLIAMS: Honestly, why do I think he left the team? It's the same reason I left the team back in 2004 because football might not be his thing. The NFL might not be a good fit for him. If you look at his history, he was a high pick. He hadn't had the kind of success that he is wanting to have. You'll see he has all these messages and text messages instead of leaving when he got the text messages he recorded them so he could use them at a later date. The one event that made him leave the team, he went to sit down with a bunch of guys and the guys got up and left. Something about that just seems kind of strange to me.

CUOMO: Anything strange about it to you, Lamar?

CAMPBELL: I think when you -- I do agree with Ricky. I've always been in my culture and my experience in the NFL, the locker room policed itself. The leaders in the locker room policed the locker room. The fact that it got to this point, shows lack of leadership in the locker room. When he initially left for guys sitting down and standing up, that's something you'll see all the time as far as jokes in the locker room.

But you would think to yourself, there had to be more going on. Once the NFL investigates and NFL P.A. as well, there have to be long- standing issues he was dealing with. That on the surface didn't seem like anything to leave a football team over. I will say that.

CUOMO: Bottom line, is this a situation that deserves investigation or are we being hyper PC, let me get a response from both of you, Lamar?

CAMPBELL: I think it has to be. At this level with the media attention it's getting, this has to be taking as a responsibility by the NFL, but also an opportunity to take care of this problem head on.

CUOMO: Ricky, is this a problem or is this hyper P.C.?

WILLIAMS: Well, I think there is a problem, but I don't think what we're addressing has very much to do with the problem. You can say it goes back to the locker room leadership. If I was in the locker room and I'd say this situation escalating. I'd say Richie take it easy on the kid. You're pushing him to the point. It's done just like that.

CUOMO: All right, Gentlemen, I appreciate your perspective today. It's complicated. It's going to get more attention. Maybe I'll bring you back. Please feel free to let us know your thoughts as we go forward.

BOLDUAN: One of the women held captive for a decade in Cleveland is speaking out. She's describing in an interview the torture she endured at the hands of Ariel Castro.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone. Cleveland kidnapping victim, Michele Knight, is speaking out. The 32-year-old survived more than a decade of rape and torture. Now in an interview with Dr. Phil, she relays her incredible story as one of Ariel Castro's prisoners. Martin Savidge is at the CNN center with much more. Good morning, Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. Yes, Michele Knight has been the most outspoken and visible. She really has not given a lot of detail as to her ordeal. That is until now.

(BEGI VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): Michele Knight says she was lured into Cleveland's so-called "House of Horrors" by Ariel Castro, telling Dr. Phil about the moment she realized she was his prisoner.

DR. PHIL MCGRAW, HOST, "DR. PHIL": Did you fight him at that time?

MICHELE KNIGHT, KIDNAPPING SURVIVOR: At that time, no, because I was shocked.

MCGRAW: You panicked, just froze?

KNIGHT: Yes, and the only thing I could do was cry, begging him to let me go back to my son --

MCGRAW: What did you say to him?

KNIGHT: I said, please don't do this to me and he said, again, he can't take me back and then he throws money at me.

MCGRAW: What was the significance of him throwing money at you?

KNIGHT: He was obsessed with prostitutes, and he thought I was a 13- year-old prostitute. When he found out my real age he got mad.

SAVIDGE: It is the first time that Knight has spoken in detail about the decade of rape, deprivation and torture she suffered inside Castro's home. What happened in the home was known from police reports, but hear Knight recount it herself is almost unbearable.

MCGRAW: What did he tie you up with?

KNIGHT: One of those orange extension cords. I was tied up like a fish, an ornament on the wall. That's the only way I can describe it. I was hanging like this. My feet and I was tied by my neck and my arms with an extension cord going like that.

MCGRAW: My God, so he tied your hands and feet and also around your neck and hung you?

SAVIDGE: Noticeably absent from the interview were Knight's co- captives, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus. Together, those two have decided to speak out in the form of a book, slated to come out next year.Knight was also the only one to speak at Castro's sentencing in August.

Dr. Phil talked to Anderson Cooper on "AC 360."

MCGRAW: She said she was referred to as the unbreakable one. She fought him every step of the way. She would fight back. She would challenge him. She would argue with him and she would pay the price for it.

SAVIDGE: Martin Savidge, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Dr. Phil also says that that interview, which he did with Michele Knight was personally moving. In fact, it changed his life, which I can understand. I've been in Michele Knight's presence and there is something about her remarkable story of going from captivity to now a very strong, outspoken inspiration to so many people. It's inspiring to everyone -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, just constantly amazed at her incredible strength during this ordeal the more and more we learn about it. Martin, thank you very much for bringing us more of that interview and you can watch the full interview on the Dr. Phil show, of course. Tune in to ac 360 tonight. Dr. Phil will be sitting down again with Anderson and bringing much more of that interview to viewers at 8:00 pm eastern here on CNN.

PEREIRA: We are following an unusual entertainment story making headline this is morning.

Revealing information by Michelle Pfeiffer that she was in a cult, it's not a new revelation. Something she was talking about in her past, but it's making headlines again now. Why is that?

NISCHELL TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: She was talking about it when she promoted her last film "The Family" and in the '90s. This happened some 35 years ago, when she was 20 years old, moving from her hometown to pursue acting. She met this couple who took her in and they were believers in Bretharianism. I had to go straight to the internet and start reading about it, do research about it.

I had never heard about it. People believe you do not have to have food and water to live. You can live off light or energy. There are people who have died from it. There are people who practice it. She came into contact with this couple. They drew her in and she started practicing the same thing. It wasn't until she met her first husband, she said, and he's the one that got her out of it and broke her from it.

He couldn't believe she was eating such small portions of food and living in this manner. It's a very shocking revelation, especially like you and I -- I don't know if you guys have heard of it. But it really sent me looking and searching like, what is this? What is going on? And do people actually exist like this?

CUOMO: Not for long.

TURNER: There you go.

BOLDUAN: Good point. She said this isn't the first time she's talked about it, but it has been a very long time. Why is she talking about it now?

TURNER: That's a good question. She was doing an interview with a magazine that was doing a profile on her and she started talking about it then. She is a strict vegan now. She talked to Sanjay Gupta about it and said she actually started thinking this way and started practicing veganism when she saw his interview with Bill Clinton.

And some people were wondering is she doing this because of the Bretharianism? That is part of it, too. People say you become this by gradually going from vegetarian to vegan to eating raw foods to fruits and liquids to prana, living off light. The founder of this -- what she calls a cult, hasn't had food for years.

CUOMO: Please, please.

TURNER: I just saw an interview with her and looked at her and said if you haven't eaten for years, there's no way you can look like you do.

PEREIRA: Or be sitting here.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

TURNER: She got drawn into it.

PEREIRA: It's going to be generating some Google searches today.

TURNER: It was for me.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Nischelle.

TURNER: Thanks.

CUOMO: We'll take a break on "NEW DAY." When we come back, we'll update you on the latest information of the shooting at a New Jersey mall. The gunman is dead and we'll tell you more about the note left behind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard four gunshots and everybody was scared. Everybody was panicked.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: Breaking this morning, a New Jersey mall, the latest target for a potential mass shooting. This time, a different ending as police find the shooter's body just hours ago. We hear from those who were trapped inside.

BOLDUAN: He shot me twice. One of the TSA officers shot at LAX is talking about what happened that day as we learn new details about just how close police came to stopping him beforehand.

Big day in politics, he races across the country, go to the ballot boxes, each carry carrying implications for the nation. We're tracking them all.

CUOMO: Your NEW DAY continues right now.

BOLDUAN: Good morning and welcome back to NEW DAY, everyone. It's Tuesday, November 5th. It's 8:00 in the east. New this hour, the latest on a frightening shooting at a mall in New Jersey, police say the man who opened fire, thankfully hitting no one, is now dead after turning his gun on himself. The scare for shoppers and workers in the lockdown for much of the night and we're gaining new insight as to why he may have done it.