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Will Female Viagra Drug Be Approved?; Trump Rising; Clinton Answers Voter Questions. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired August 18, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:05]

ANA CABRERA, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Ana Cabrera, in for Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for being here.

Any moment now, Hillary Clinton will take the microphone in Las Vegas, but will she talk about those e-mails? More than 300 documents we now know on her private server are coming under closer review to see if they contained any classified, any secret information.

Let's get right to our CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.

Jeff, I guess it's a gamble either way. Will she talk or is she going to ignore it?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Ana, this is a town hall meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's really an opportunity for voters to ask what is on their minds. It's an open question if any of them will ask her about this.

Certainly the Democrats we're talking to -- and in fact our Dan Merica producer was talking to some voters in the line outside there. A few of the voters told him that they do want to hear her address this. We will see if any of them answer -- or actually ask this question or not.

But the Clinton campaign is taking on a slightly new strategy on this whole e-mail controversy. They are trying to cast it as simply an old partisan fight, similar to other Clinton controversies from days gone by, trying to rally Democrats behind them at this point as Republicans keep asking these questions.

So we will just have to wait and see over the next hour or so if she's asked and if she answers any questions on these e-mails.

CABRERA: All right, Jeff Zeleny, we will wait and see. It should be interesting, as always. There have been lots of twists and turns along the campaign trail. We will talk to you soon.

While Trump is widening his lead and setting the campaign agenda for the GOP, Donald Trump standing tall as the clear leader in the race for the Republican nomination, at least according to the latest CNN/ORC nationwide poll taken, the first one taken since the Republican candidates' debate. Now 24 percent of registered Republican voters, you can see here,

choose Trump. Jeb Bush comes in second. He's still 11 points back with 13 percent. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson in third with 9 percent and they're followed by Marco Rubio, Scott Walker at 8 percent. Trump is also doing very well among Republican women. And 60 percent have a positive response compared to 57 percent of Republican men.

Let's get some more insights on Trump from someone who has seen him up close in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Erin Elmore is a former contestant on "The Apprentice." Here is a clip of Erin and Donald Trump in action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Isn't she tougher and smarter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's absolutely not tougher or smarter than me.

ERIN ELMORE, FORMER "APPRENTICE" CONTESTANT: I'm tougher and smarter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's so tough and she's so smart that she didn't work to the best of her ability yesterday and that's a fact.

ELMORE: Chris needs adult supervision 24/7. He's hot-tempered. People in the suite have been afraid of him and he's not a professional. He should not be working for you. He should not even be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Tough words, Erin.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Donald Trump's favorability among GOP women is way up, as we showed in the latest poll. This is after all of the criticism about some of his comments on women. You know him personally. How do you feel about Trump?

ELMORE: I think he's wonderful.

As a boss, he treated me with nothing but respect. I saw him respecting women every single day that I worked for him. His right- hand person was Carolyn Kepcher, who is woman. Treated her with respect and his daughter as well worked within the organization and he treated her great, too.

CABRERA: So what do you make of those comments about women in the past, calling them slobs and pigs and really throwing insults that are degrading to our gender?

ELMORE: I think he's a pit bull when attacked and sometimes he may not always say the right thing, but when it comes to the presidential campaign, the numbers are what they are. He seems to be leading because people think he's a breath of fresh air in what seems to be a little bit of a broken system.

I think the fact that he's not a career politician is really making people look at him twice and think, wow, he's saying something that matters, he is going to help the American people and I think that's wonderful.

CABRERA: Would he be a good president?

ELMORE: Well, he was certainly a good boss and I have read all of his books. And in New York City, there's a place called Wollman Rink. While the government was trying to finish the project and get it cleaned up and make it beautiful, he took over the project and got it done quicker and under budget. That's just one example of good leadership.

CABRERA: He could be a good leader, but may not make a good president. Does he have your vote?

ELMORE: You know, November is a little bit far away, but so far so good. I'm with the American people and he's leading, so, hey, I'm going to follow.

CABRERA: So you're on the Trump bandwagon?

ELMORE: I'm on the Trump bandwagon. I think he was a great boss and he's a great leader. He's very intelligent. He certainly knows how to manage as a CEO. So, hopefully, he can manage our country as our CEO.

CABRERA: I want you to pull back the curtain for us. Given your experience on "The Apprentice," what kind of insight can you provide on how Trump works behind the scenes? For example, is he willing to take advice?

ELMORE: He is. He loves working and talking with really smart people.

[15:05:01]

What I knew, as soon as he got in the room, say something quickly, say something intelligent and say it concisely, because he does not want to be bogged down with rhetoric. He's all about getting the job done, being smart and just loving getting everything done and making people happy.

CABRERA: He has gotten a little bit of flak for his comments about how he is creating his foreign policy by watching the Sunday shows and the news shows to hear from military experts. Does he go out and seek others' opinions?

ELMORE: I saw him do that. For example, on every single task that we did on "The Apprentice," we worked with a different Fortune 500 company and he personally knew those CEOs and always -- I could see them having discourse and he really asked for their opinion on every single situation.

So I can see him taking the advice of others. However, I do think that you need to treat him with kid gloves sometimes.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: With kid gloves.

ELMORE: You can't come at him with visceral -- you have to be a little bit careful, but that's OK. I think anyone in a position of power, just knowing how to handle that and how to respect them and work with them is a part of doing business.

CABRERA: Can you see him having conversations and working diplomacy with somebody like Putin?

ELMORE: Wow. I don't know Vladimir Putin, but I hope that he will think before he speaks and do the best that he can to just take care of the American people. He takes great care of his employees. He took great care of me. I wouldn't be in the position I was in today if it weren't for Donald Trump. So, hopefully, he will treat the rest of us that way.

CABRERA: Well, I got to get your reaction on some recent headlines. Trump telling "The New York Times" that super model Heidi Klum was -- quote -- "no longer a 10."

And now Heidi is responding, having a little bit of fun. She posted this video. Take a look. I don't know, Erin. If Heidi isn't a 10 anymore, the rest of the gender is in trouble.

ELMORE: I think she's an 11. I really do think she's an 11.

Maybe they have a personal inside relationship where they are joking around or maybe he's just trying to get attention. I have a 2-year- old. Sometimes, he does things just to get a reaction. So, maybe sometimes we all just act out a little bit.

CABRERA: All right, Erin Elmore, thanks so much for your time today. We appreciate it.

ELMORE: Thank you for having me.

CABRERA: President Obama's push for an Iran deal just hit another speed bump. Democratic Senator Robert Menendez just announced he will not support it, joining Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer.

That news is not necessarily a surprise to anybody, but CNN politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson is joining us now. He's been following this story.

Stephen, why is he going against the president and planning to vote against the deal?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Senator Menendez says that this deal would actually just delay the inevitable and would end up, in the years to come, allowing to Iran to get towards a nuclear bomb. And he also says that sanctions relief that Iran will get under the deal will give it about $150 billion to pursue hegemonic aims and terrorism throughout the Middle East. It's not a surprise that Senator Menendez came out against this deal. He's long been against it.

But what was very interesting about his speech was the fact, first of all, that he decided to give a public speech to rally a position to this deal, and it was very personal. There seemed to be a number of lines in there that were directed towards the president himself. He said that the deal was based on hope and that hope is not a national security strategy and he said that if Iran does get the bomb in the years to come, it will not be his name, Senator Menendez's name, on that bomb, implying that it would be President Obama's name that would be associated with that weapon.

CABRERA: How are the numbers stacking up? In favor of the president or against? We know that the majority certainly run by Republicans are voting against. But does the president have enough support to basically prevent a veto -- or to uphold his veto of theirs?

COLLINSON: Right. That's the question.

And the intense debate is going to be over Democratic senators and Democratic lawmakers in the House. At this point, two senior senators, Senator Menendez and Senator Schumer, have publicly come out against this deal. It's not clear, though, that the support for the deal is -- in the present is fraying in the Senate or the House.

Most people that look at this and think that, as it stands now, the president probably does have enough support for his veto not to be overridden. But there's going to be a five-week period next month when the lawmakers come back from their summer recess. It's going to be very intense. There's a lot of money being -- and pressure on that, on senators to vote against this deal and there's going to be some real fireworks in Washington in the next month over this.

CABRERA: All right, Stephen Collinson staying on top of it for us, thank you.

Up next, two attacks, two days exploding in a tourist hub and the search under way right now for this man. Who is he?

[15:10:07]

Up next, also, news just in involving Rosie O'Donnell. Her 17-year- old daughter reported missing. They haven't seen her in about a week. We will have more details next.

And in one of America's most elite prep schools, hiding a sick game, a sex competition that includes scoreboards, virginity, rape? New allegations of dark secrets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: A manhunt is happening right now after not one, but two bomb blasts in one of Asia's biggest tour cities, two attacks that police now say involve the same type of bomb.

And now they have a suspect. Police in Bangkok are hunting for this man seen on surveillance video who they say they are very sure dropped a backpack at a popular shrine and then ducked for cover under a bench just moments before an explosion tore through the heart of the city.

[15:15:13]

At least 22 people were killed and more than 100 hurt. And less than 24 hours after the first bombing, a second blast has rocked Bangkok today. Police say they believe someone on a motorbike threw that bomb toward a river pier. No one was injured the second time, but they do believe again that it's the same type of bomb used in the first attack.

Well, back here in the U.S., wildfires raging out West so ferocious. Now the U.S. military is joining the front lines. There are already 25,000 firefighters working across 10 states, some of these firefighters from other countries and now 200 active-duty soldiers are lending a hand. This hasn't happened since 2006.

Officials say they are monitoring close to 100 wildfires that are burning. More than 100 million acres have been scorched.

(WEATHER UPDATE)

CABRERA: Up next, the FDA deciding today if it's going to OK the drug that is being called female Viagra -- the possible problems with this drug and how it works next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:22:12]

CABRERA: We're expecting word any minute from the FDA on a decision to approve or to turn down a female version of Viagra.

Now, this would be the first FDA-approved drug to treat a lack of sexual desire in women. It comes in a little pink pill. And the FDA twice turned down this medication since 2010, citing side effects. But now it's deciding if the benefits outweigh the risks.

Let's talk more about this with Dr. Philippa Cheetham. She's a urological surgeon and cancer specialist. Also with us, Dr. Judy Kuriansky, who is a clinical psychologist and certified sex therapist.

First to you, Dr. Cheetham. Let's talk about how it works, because it's a little different than the male version, right?

DR. PHILIPPA CHEETHAM, CURE CONNECTIONS: It is.

Although we're hearing that it's being marketed for female Viagra, it's working on very different receptors in the brain. And it's working on a receptacle 5-HT serotonin, which many of the antidepressant medications that are out there now on these receptors. It's kind of interesting that, in 1991, when we discovered Viagra, it was marketed initially as a medication for blood pressure, but they found that men who took this medication for blood pressure had great erections.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Side effect.

(LAUGHTER)

CHEETHAM: This drug for women was actually initially developed as an antidepressant in 2006 and they found that in women in the study, they had improved sexual desire, in the women only, actually.

CABRERA: Dr. Judy, should it be approved?

DR. JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, we have been looking for a pill for women to help with their sex desire so often, because I have seen so many of these women over so many years and they're in such pain, pain emotionally, that they can't get excited.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Intimacy is important in a relationship.

KURIANSKY: Well, exactly.

And that's exactly the point, that it's the intimacy and the love that really matters to women, not taking the pill that is going to affect their brain. And, as Philippa was saying, it's really difficult and dangerous, I think, because this is a medication that is affecting the brain.

CABRERA: Brain.

KURIANSKY: The male pills that they're calling the blue pill of Viagra is really affecting the male sex organ, pushing blood there so the man has an erection.

Here, we're talking about chemicals in the brain. That worries me, because women will be rushing to have it. As we just heard, it's related to depression and treatments for depression, so what if you're not depressed? And you have to have so importantly a psychiatric evaluation for your total medical condition.

CABRERA: What about those risks?

CHEETHAM: I think one point we must -- have to make here, it's not a one size fits all.

And we know that the definition of female sexual dysfunction is in women who have no desire for six months or more, that this is causing significant distress, as Judy has already emphasized, and that there are no other factors, like no relationship factors, no hormonal factors, no medical factors. So, we know it's multifactorial. (CROSSTALK)

[15:25:02]

CABRERA: What about side effects?

CHEETHAM: Well, I think the side effects have been shown in studies for this group of drugs to be overall mild side effects, but side effects that we know, CNS side effects.

Central nervous side effects that are nausea, fatigue in some people, difficulty sleeping, insomnia, dizziness. These are very nonspecific symptoms, but in most women, they actually are not stopping them taking the drug. Is that fair to say?

KURIANSKY: I think it's really important that women don't rush out, if this gets approved, and say, I want to be the female stud. I want to have sex for so long. I'm going to be so much more attractive.

Women are so insecure, sadly. And that's about their sexuality. I want them to feel already confident, already good about where they are. We have been spending so many years as sex therapists saying, feel OK about who you are. If you increase your self-esteem, have a better relationship, as Philippa was just talking about, and as you mentioned, Ana, and if you feel that you are loved, that you are beautiful, that your sex desire is OK, work on the psychological things before you start working on...

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: I have to say, too, because I'm kind of skeptical, right, is this about money and the pharmaceutical industry making big bucks, or is this really a medical breakthrough?

CHEETHAM: Well, the first thing you have to remember is that many, many women are taking pills for antidepression already. And they are trying to fight depression, affects hormonal levels. And here's another pill that can fix another problem.

(CROSSTALK)

CHEETHAM: And if you're not careful, you can be taking so many pills.

And you need to look at what you are putting into your body, your diet, your lifestyle, your relationships. And this pill is not just a quick fix.

CABRERA: Ladies, good to have both of you to talk all about it.

You have been warned out there.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Take it with caution.

Dr. Philippa Cheetham and Dr. Judy Kuriansky, thank you to both of you.

KURIANSKY: Thank you.

CABRERA: Up next, coming up, Rosie O'Donnell says her daughter hasn't been seen for days. She's missing -- what police are saying coming up.

Plus, a police officer got a big surprise during a traffic stop. The woman in the passenger seat in this dash cam video was having a baby -- what the officer did straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)