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Subway Pitchman Pleads Guilty; New CNN Poll; Hillary Clinton E- mails; Ashley Madison Names Posted. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired August 19, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:23] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: It is Wednesday. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me. The top of the hour here.

You know this guy. He had a lot of Subway sandwiches. He lost a lot of weight. As the face of the world's largest fast food chain, he is now admitted he victimized 14 underage girls. Fourteen. Former Subway pitchman Jared Fogle has agreed to plead guilty to child porn and sex charges. Under the deal that, by the way, still needs court approval, he could be sent to federal prison from anywhere between five to twelve and a half years. This is him just leaving the courthouse there in Indiana just a little while ago. Investigators say the case against Fogle spanned years and include tens of thousands of pieces of evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE DEBROTA, ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY: Mr. Fogle had done the right thing when he learned of the victimization of the first victim, the first girl who was 14. If he'd reported that to authorities, victims two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11 and 12 never would have been sexually victimized.

JOSH MINKLER, U.S. ATTORNEY, INDIANA'S SOUTHERN DISTRICT: Today, Jared Fogle has been charged and has admitted to participating in a five- year criminal scheme to exploit children. Beginning in 2011, Fogle learned that the head of the Jared Foundation, Russell Taylor, was sexually exploiting a 14-year-old girl. At that time, Fogle chose to receive and repeatedly view child pornography involving that 14-year- old girl. This continued during a four-year period and Fogle's actions resulted in the sexual victimization of 12 minors in the state of Indiana. The approximate amount of data reviewed by the Indiana State Police, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI includes 159,634 text messages, 27,140 e-mails, 47,623 images and 3,394 videos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All of those numbers. Here I have with me CNN legal analyst Danny Cevallos and correspondent Jean Casarez.

So, Jean, let me just begin with you. How far back - like when did this whole thing begin? And it was also began involving one of his colleagues, right?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Russell Taylor, who was the head of his foundation -

BALDWIN: Yes.

CASAREZ: That came to be because of his involvement with Subway. A separate foundation, but to battle childhood obesity. But they said in the press conference that they believe that he was engaging in some of this even before he met Russell Taylor with that foundation. So a long time ago. 2005 I believe is the date that they thought this began.

But there are two separate counts, and they both involve very individual factual scenarios. Count two is traveling in interstate commerce to engage in sexual acts with children, child prostitution, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes.

CASAREZ: Specifically it says that he came to New York City staying in posh hotels like the Ritz-Carlton and would engage in sexual acts with children, sexual relations, pay them money and ask them if they could find any other children for him. And there are 14 victims, 12 of them were videotaped by the man that had to do with his foundation. Secretly they were videotaped getting in and out of the shower and doing different things -

BALDWIN: Hidden cameras.

CASAREZ: Along with the two in New York. $100,000 he must pay to each victim. It amounts to $1.4 million. He must deposit that in an account within days after accepting the plea of guilty. And those victims will be paid immediately.

BALDWIN: I had a question on how you even arrive at that dollar figure. I'm coming to you, Mr. Cevallos, in a second. But let me just play some sound. This is from Fogle's attorney speaking briefly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY MARGOLIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He has already volunteered to make restitution to those individuals who have been impacted by his behavior. He knows that restitution can't undo the damage that he's done, but he will do all in his power to try to make it right. Jared also knows that he has a medical problem. He has already sought evaluation by a world class psychiatrist, experienced in these matters, and he will seek appropriate treatment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, Danny, to you on that. I mean, obviously, that's what the attorney is pointing out, x, y and z reasons they're hoping that he'll be serving, you know, less time behind bars. So talk to me a little bit about that. And also, how do you arrive - how do you - you know, when you sort through all the evidence and you say, OK, all of this means I'm just going to give each victim $100,000, how do you get to that dollar figure?

[14:05:01] DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, first, this is somebody who has the means to be able to even pay restitution in the first place. Most criminal defendants simply don't have that even placed on the table. But all of these factors, restitution, a plea agreement. Remember, a plea agreement saves the government the resources of have - they would have to spend going to trial. And more than that, in a case like this, it saves the agony of bringing in these victims, these alleged victims, and having them testify on the stand.

BALDWIN: To relive, yes.

CEVALLOS: So there's no question that when a defendant enters into a plea agreement, he provides a benefit in the government and he should receive some benefit at sentencing. Nothing necessarily specific, but he should receive a reduction for the cost he has saved the government, both in actual dollars but in things that you cannot measure with dollars, which is calling these witnesses to testify. So these are all factors that as we move forward to the sentencing phase - well, we haven't even moved to the plea phase yet. But after the plea phase, there will come the sentencing. And at that - at that hearing, almost any evidence can be considered by the judge. And, believe it or not, despite the agreement that the parties have entered into, a judge in federal court is not necessarily bound by that agreement. So not anything is ever certain in federal court.

BALDWIN: OK. So can we also just end on talking about the fact that he's married. He's married and now we are now hearing from his wife. Let me -

CASAREZ: With two children.

BALDWIN: With two children. Let me read what this I imagine soon to be ex-wife has said. "Obviously, I am extremely shocked and disappointed by the recent developments involving Jared. I am in the process of seeking a dissolution of the marriage. My focus is exclusively on the well-being of my children." I mean, obviously, if he has the means, he does his time, whatever that may be, he's paying restitution to these victims, once he gets out, what is she even entitled to, what would he be entitled to, to either of you?

CASAREZ: Well, as far as when he gets out, he's got to have at least five years of supervised monitoring, and that's going to be something that's going to be an issue at sentencing because I think prosecutors are going to want much more than that. But there are conditions that he has to meet, but he would have his freedom basically.

BALDWIN: Yes.

CASAREZ: But any - any engagement with minor children, such as his children, if they would still be minors at that age, would have to be supervised. It would have to be agreed to. And many, many other conditions. He will be a registered sex offender conceivably for the rest of his life.

BALDWIN: Jean Casarez, Danny Cevallos, thank you both very much.

CEVALLOS: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Now this.

Donald Trump is closer to Hillary Clinton than ever before. Brand new CNN poll has just revealed the surprising showdown here. Let me show you some numbers and you will see for yourself Trump is closer to Hillary Clinton. An average of six points behind. The first time any Republican candidate has been within really striking distance of the Democratic front-runner.

But that's not the only problem here for Hillary Clinton. For the first time in this race, support for Hillary Clinton has fallen below that 50 percent mark, a sign that questions about her e-mail use, her trustworthiness may be having an impact on her ambitions toward the White House.

So joining me now, Maeve Reston, CNN national political reporter. And let's just begin with the headline there with those top numbers. I mean this is the first time Trump really appears competitive for a hypothetical general election.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: It does. And as we've discussed many times, you know, poll numbers this early don't tend to mean that much, but this one I would pay attention to because what voters are looking for right now on the Republican side is who can be the most competitive up against Hillary Clinton. And the stronger that Trump starts to look in that sphere, the more voters might be attracted to him because there's a lot of debate out there when you talk to voters about whether he could actually make it, you know, how - whether they can actually picture him in the Oval Office. But if he looks like he can really take it to Hillary, that's going to be a very strong point in his favor. And we are seeing, you know, as we've seen over the last couple of months, the e-mail issues that Hillary Clinton has had really starting to affect her trustworthiness numbers.

BALDWIN: The drum beat.

RESTON: Yes, and - and that's something that she has to keep talking about and when she's really trying to get her message out on other areas.

BALDWIN: What about - I was also seeing today, moving off of Hillary Clinton in Nevada, I know, you know, Martin O'Malley is there, one of the other Democratic candidates here, and apparently he changed his news conference, Maeve, from one hotel after he speaks closed door session with the AFL-CIO there, he will be boom smack dab in front of Donald Trump's hotel. The fact that I'm asking you about that -

RESTON: Surprise.

BALDWIN: Tells me, you know, well, that was kind of a smart move, right? But what's going on there?

RESTON: Right. Exactly. When's the last time that we were talking in any depth about Martin O'Malley, right?

BALDWIN: True. True.

RESTON: I think that what all of these candidates have figured out, you know, both on the Republican side and the Democratic side is that if they can talk about Trump and get into the Trump coverage, then they're going to get more attention. And right now they're all just wrestling to try to get their message out when so much of the attention has been focused on him. So I think that was probably a pretty good move. You know, especially in Vegas, it will probably draw a big crowd. I mean there's no downside to that for him.

[14:10:01] BALDWIN: And speaking of, I'm being told these are live pictures that we're looking at right here, Martin O'Malley, the governor, standing in front of some palm trees with a big old Trump sign right above his head.

Maeve Reston, thank you so much.

RESTON: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We'll continue that conversation, I am sure.

Coming up next, though, awkward and tense moments between the media and Hillary Clinton over the - as we were talking about the drum beat over these e-mails. She why she abruptly ended this news conference as Trump calls this scandal, and I'm quoting him, "Watergate on steroids."

Plus, oh, boy, anonymous no more. Listen, if you are cheating with the help of website Ashley Madison, the gig is up, folks, the secret is out. Hear what happens next.

And two explosions, a huge manhunt, the race to find a man suspected of bombing a tourist hub, and we are now learning he did not act alone. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:00] BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Let's begin here with Hillary Clinton. She is taking a big hit in the polls, as we mentioned a moment ago. Again, the numbers here, this is new numbers into CNN. Fifty-three percent of Americans now view her unfavorably. This is her most negative rating actually since 2001. This is how far back this goes. And as support for Hillary Clinton is cooling off a bit, her frustrations appear to be boiling over. The presidential front-runner on the Democratic side getting into a heated exchange with reporters in Nevada while defending her private e-mail server. Here she was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My personal e-mails are my personal business, right? So that's - that's all I can say.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But did you - did you try to wipe the whole server? You didn't answer my question.

CLINTON: I - I'm - you know, I don't - I have no idea. That's why we turned it over. We -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought you said you were in charge of it. You were the official in charge. Did you wipe the server?

CLINTON: What, like with a cloth or something?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. You know how it works digitally. Did you try to wipe the whole server?

CLINTON: I don't know how it works digitally at all, but we turned over everything that was work-related. Every single thing. Personal stuff, we did not. I had no obligation to do so and did not.

Nobody talks to me about it other than you guys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Is she right? Is this just a media flap or perhaps much more? A new CNN/ORC poll shows a growing number of Americans feel her personal e-mail use was just wrong. Fifty-six percent say so, up from 51 percent in March. Thirty-nine percent say Clinton was not wrong to use her personal e-mail, but that is down from 47 percent.

So I have with me now Katie Packer Gage. She is Mitt Romney's former deputy campaign manager. And also with me, Angela Rye, Democratic strategist.

Ladies, wonderful having you both on.

And, Angela, you're up to bat first here.

ANGELA RYE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes.

BALDWIN: Let's just begin with what we just saw, Hillary Clinton with the reporters, the whole, you know, joke about, what, did I use a cloth and the arms up after she's walking away. I mean, obviously, she's frustrated, but this is - this is joke number two she's made over this in about a week. Is this the appropriate way to handle this?

RYE: Well, listen, Brooke, I think that part of this is, it has to be extremely frustrating to be wanting to run a campaign, talk about real issues, families in America hurting, struggling to keep the lights on and you're having to constantly revisit this, personal e-mails versus non-personal e-mails, classified versus not classified.

BALDWIN: There are people who say this is a real issue. That's what they would say.

RYE: It is. It is a real issue, but it's hardly the right place to talk about it in a forum like that. I hope that the campaign will have her do a one-on-one exclusive on air with someone so that she has an opportunity to do that.

BALDWIN: But why not. These are reporters. You know they're going to ask some tough questions when they get a second with her.

RYE: One hundred percent. But, Brooke, this is the former first lady of the United States. This is a former secretary of state. And the reporter who she had the exchange with was a far bit, a little bit too testy. And that's why I think the forum is really, really important for her to be able to explain this and maybe even go a little bit further than saying she regrets it.

BALDWIN: This is, again, just to remind everyone though, you know, this is while she was - I mean I know you point out she's a former first lady, but this is when she was, you know, serving in the Obama administration as secretary of state.

RYE: Absolutely. Absolutely.

BALDWIN: OK, I just - let me - I just want to button that with that.

Let me move on, Katie, because I want to talk about Donald Trump and how, you know, the message - I mean it looks like all these Republican candidates, they're now having to, you know, respond to questions about the 14th Amendment because, you know, Trump has outlined this plan. He, you know, he doesn't want kids who are born to undocumented immigrants in the United States to be, you know, Americans. Shouldn't be here. And so now all these candidates are having to answer this question. To me that seems like whether you like him, love him or somewhere in between, I mean he's driving the debate.

KATEI PACKER GAGE, MITT ROMNEY'S FORMER DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Well, you know, let's face it, and going back to the Hillary question just real quickly, you know, this isn't bean bags.

BALDWIN: Oh, you had to go there, huh?

GAGE: This isn't bean bag and the notion that reporters have to treat a candidate with kid gloves because they used to be -

RYE: That's not what I said.

GAGE: Because they used to be the first lady and the former secretary of state. If she's hadn't used her private e-mail server, she wouldn't have to be worrying about her personal e-mails.

RYE: She got advice - she got advice that it was OK.

GAGE: So that - that notwithstanding - well, she got bad advice and that's unfortunate. So she's got -

RYE: Well, then blame it on the lawyers.

GAGE: She's got to face that now. No, she's responsible. The buck stops with you when you run for president of the United States.

But moving on to Trump, you know, this is an issue that I think that Republican candidates are going to be - have to be very careful about. I don't think that the majority of the American people are ready to repeal the 14th Amendment and say that children born in this country are not citizens. You know, I do think that there's some challenges with border security and those have to be addressed as well and all of the candidates, including the Democrats, are going to have to answer that question. But, you know, the notion that we're going to, you know, tell little children that were born in this country that they can't stay, I think is a little bit silly and it's not really a very realistic notion.

BALDWIN: And I'm not saying I disagree with you, but I think the overarching point, though, and when it was, you know, Donald Trump talking about whether it was, you know, immigration initially and, you know, what he said about that, whether it was veterans issues and now this. I mean it's like you have Donald Trump talking about something and, wham, this becomes, you know, a cross-platform issue.

GAGE: Well, and that's partly because the media immediately gloms on to everything that he says and hangs on to his every breath but, you know, the reality is, he's still maintaining the --

BALDWIN: It's not just the media. Come on now.

RYE: It's not just the media. Your polls show you that you - your (INAUDIBLE) too.

GAGE: (INAUDIBLE) coming in at 25 percent - he - he -- let me - let me finish - let me finish my sentence, please.

[14:20:10] You know, he's holding at about 20 to 25 percent. That means about 75 percent of Republican primary voters are saying no thank you. So he does not represent the majority of the Republican Party or even Republican primary voters. It's something that has been, you know, inflamed because he's a celebrity and he's an entertainer and he's an interesting news story, but I don't think it's - it's a true representation of where the party is.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. Let's pivot back to Democrats. And, Angela, when you also take a look at a poll because you now have, and we talk about the maybe, the hypothetical of the Joe Biden jumping in, the majority of democrats want him to run. In fact, when you look a little closer and you look at Hillary supporters specifically, half of Hillary Clinton's supporters want Joe Biden in the race. What does that tell you?

GAGE: A little nervous.

BALDWIN: What does that tell you, Angela?

RYE: I think that its folks really wanting to focus on having a Democratic primary about the issues. The e-mail controversy, Benghazi before that, has just been a distraction. There has not been an opportunity to really talk about issues.

I think that most folks want to see a competitive Democratic primary so that Hillary, Joe Biden, Martin O'Malley maybe even and Bernie Sanders can be properly vetted going into a general election. What you also see in this poll today, Brooke, is the fact that Hillary Clinton is the only candidate who can go toe to toe and real beat every single one of the GOP folks in the primary. So I think that's another - BALDWIN: Trump is inching up in there.

RYE: He can be inching up, but he's going to inch right back.

GAGE: Not quite a fair fight at this point.

BALDWIN: Katie, last - Katie, last word from you. I want to hear from you.

GAGE: Well, I mean, most of these candidates, Trump notwithstanding, most of the candidates on the Republican side don't have very high awareness with voters. And so, you know, at this point in time, Hillary is who they know better. But, you know, the fact that people are clamoring for Joe Biden and John Kerry at this stage of the game sounds to me like they're reaching for a life preserver because the "Titanic" is going down.

BALDWIN: Oh. Ouch.

RYE: Yes. No, I don't think that that would be accurate, but that was cute.

BALDWIN: OK. OK. OK, ladies, we'll leave it there. Katie Packer Gage and Angela Rye, thank you both so much.

RYE: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Love hearing opposite perspectives.

RYE: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: A reminder tonight at 9:00 Eastern, Chris Cuomo, his wide- ranging interview with Republican front-runner Donald Trump right here on CNN, 9:00.

Next, millions of cheaters exposed. The dating website Ashley Madison, the place to go to have an affair. Well, it's been hacked. We'll talk to someone who has used the site, what he thinks, his experience, what he's worried about, coming up next.

Plus, presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. would be appalled by the Black Lives Matter movement. We will talk to the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Dr. King's church, to react.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:27:00] BALDWIN: The secret is out on millions of married cheaters. Hackers made good on the threats to post their names and lots other personal information of these Ashley Madison users. This is the website that's geared toward those looking to step out, have an affair. Those hackers have now revealed the names of more than 30 million users on the dark web, along with credit card numbers, e- mails, physical addresses and, let me tell you, apparently it's more than that. Now, that information is making its way to some mainstream websites.

The hackers are calling themselves the Impact Team and in a statement they fancy themselves as moral vigilantes saying in part, quote, "find yourself in here, learn your lesson and make amends. Embarrassing now but you'll get over it."

Joining me now, Charles Orlando. He is back. He's smiling. He's so excited to be back. We had so much fun last time. He's a - he's a relationship expert who actually went undercover on Ashley Madison, had a couple of profiles. This was all for the sake of work. Let me be crystal clear.

Charles, welcome back.

CHARLES ORLANDO, WENT UNDERCOVER ON ASHLEYMADISON.COM: Thank you for having me back, Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK, so when we chatted last time, you were thinking you would be part of the hack. Have you - have you looked? Have you found your name out there?

ORLANDO: I've looked. So I - I used my real name and a real profile picture, but I was smart enough to have a couple of burner e-mail addresses to go with this. I didn't want to give away my real e-mail. So I have gone through some of the data. It's very complicated. And I know there's hundreds of people on forchan (ph) that are trying desperately to put this in a format that the standard layman can kind of search. But I don't have anything out there that I'm really worried about. There weren't any nude photos that I posted.

BALDWIN: Thank goodness.

ORLANDO: My tap sessions would be interesting, though.

BALDWIN: Speaking of that, I mean I remember last time not only would - that would be hacked. You know, not only credit card information, names, et cetera, but, I mean, it's like sexual preferences, what you like, what you don't like, right? I mean, that also would be out there.

ORLANDO: Absolutely. Oh, sure. Well, anybody who went there is definitely going to have some information that's going to be shared out. It's - it's a - it's a - it's a smoking gun for anybody. So just to be clear, like if you're caught up in this, you're done as soon as this - as soon as the people who are - who are actively trying to put this data together for - for everyone to take a look at, you know, you're - you're looking at some damage. And from what I've read, it's really going to be a challenge to get past. You've got military e-mail addresses that are in there, Bank of America, the University of Sydney, a variety of governmental and high-profile corporations, domains all a part of this. And if you're able to link up those e-mail addresses with pictures and chat sessions, there's going to be a lot of damage done, especially in the military.

BALDWIN: Yes.

ORLANDO: I mean, in the military, infidelity is a court-martialable offense. You can be dishonorably discharged.

BALDWIN: I just, you know, I imagine some divorce attorneys perhaps, you know, salivating over this story. But I feel -

ORLANDO: Chomping at the bit.

BALDWIN: Chomping at the bit, so to speak.

[14:29:58] Now, I know that you created a couple of different profiles and I remember you were explaining - I mean you went out on some of these dates and saw how far you could actually take it. And I'm wondering, because you hear about these websites and in a statement these hacktivists point out that, you know, 90 to 95 of the actual users are male.