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Drug Price Bumped from $13.50 to $750; Preview of CNN Special Report "The People's Pope"; U.S. Military Told to Look Other Way on Afghan Officials' Dancing Boys. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 22, 2015 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:32:35] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton sent biotech stocks tumbling with a single tweet. The presidential candidate fired off a message about what she called outrageous price gouging in drugs in response to turning pharm -- in response to turning pharmaceuticals controversial decision --

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Turing Pharmaceuticals.

COSTELLO: OK.

ROMANS: That's the name of the company.

COSTELLO: Let's just go to Christine Romans and talk about this because it's so interesting.

So this hedge fund guy, tell me exactly what happened.

ROMANS: He founded a company called Turing Pharmaceuticals and he brought a drug, he bought the marketing rights to a drug and then raised the prices of that drug from $13.50 a pill to $750 basically overnight. And there's the drug. Daraprim is the name of the drug. And it's something that's used to treat a life-threatening parasite illness infection that people with a compromised immune system can get. So that's what the issue here is that Hillary Clinton was responding to in her tweet saying price gouging like that shouldn't be possible.

COSTELLO: OK. So -- so do we have this guy's tweets? The company owner's tweets.

ROMANS: I think you have sound from him.

COSTELLO: We have sound from him on CNBC. Let's play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN SHKRELI, TURING PHARMA FOUNDER & CEO: We also feel that this is a more appropriate price for Daraprim. At this price, Daraprim is still actually on the low end of what orphan (ph) drugs cost and we're certainly not the first company to raise drug prices. (END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I wish we had his tweets because in the tweets he's going, yeah, the price went up to $750. Yay, right?

ROMANS: Well, in some of his tweets he's talking about how -- that people don't understand how the drug industry works and that he's going to make sure that there is still access to this drug and that if you can't afford it you're still going to get it. To which a lot of people say, then why raise the price in the first place. What is the point of raising the price overnight.

For most people, they look at a product that cost $13.50 yesterday, that costs $700 today and they say, why would you do that other than just rob profit. He says, look, we're not even making a profit in this company. I'm trying to keep this company afloat and I'm trying to make it survive, so we will raise the price on this and we will use the proceeds to invest in potentially new drugs to treat the same illness?

COSTELLO: Right. OK. So let's go to someone who actually prescribes drugs, and that would be Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Do you buy all of this, Sanjay?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, there's obviously a cost to developing drugs. There's no question. What is unusual in this situation is, if you think about, the way it typically works is somebody decides that they have an idea to develop a new drug. They may raise money for research and development. You know, people invest in that process. And if the drug works, the investors get paid.

[09:35:02] What he's essentially done here is taken a drug, an existing drug, that is being used, and as Christine just pointed out, it's being used by doctors who think it's a pretty good drug. They're not clambering away saying we need a new drug. So it's being used. And he's now pushing the price up to basically put all that cost increase on the consumer. He says he's going to put that money into research and development himself. Who knows?

But clearly it's the consumer who's paying now. He's taking no risk. There's no venture money -- folks that are taking risk on this. It's a just different way of doing drug development that really puts the patients, you know, in the greatest sort of liability here.

COSTELLO: So Hillary Clinton tweets out that, you know, he shouldn't be able to do this. He shouldn't be able to raise the price 5,000 times what it was because people need these life-saving drugs. So she has -- she has -- does she have a plan? Is that what she's outlining?

ROMANS: She has a plan that's coming out this afternoon. And among those plans, and, Sanjay, I'd love his thoughts on this, she says that, you know, look, the United States government, through Medicare, is one of the biggest consumers of precipitation drugs. Why can't the U.S. government have more power in negotiating down drug prices? Because as you know, Sanjay, especially when you talk to seniors, their biggest concerns are rising costs, out of pocket costs for their precipitation medication.

COSTELLO: Sanjay?

GUPTA: Yes, this is -- this is really interesting and, obviously, there's a -- there's a story here around the whole Affordable Care Act. But as part of getting the Affordable Care Act passed, one of the things that was agreed upon was that Medicare, again, as Christine points out, one of the largest purchasers of precipitation drugs, Medicare could not negotiate lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies. People are going to hear that and say, run that by me again? It's true, Medicare cannot negotiate for lower drug prices from pharmaceutical companies. That was part of the agreement in negotiations of the Affordable Care Act. And, again, as Christine just pointed out, that's exactly what Hillary Clinton is talking about, saying Medicare should be able to negotiate those drug prices.

Look, the pharmaceutical industry is not going to like that. They lobbied hard against that. That's going to be a fight. But that's -- that's exactly what she's talking about.

COSTELLO: All right. Christine Romans, Sanjay Gupta, many thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Pope Francis celebrating huge popularity as he comes to the United States, but where did the pope's journey begin? We'll retrace his steps to the Vatican, next.

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[09:41:41] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Obama says he plans to greet Pope Francis at the airport tomorrow. Apparently he wants to pay him back for that time the pope helped him move.

CONAN O'BRIEN, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: President Obama is going to host the pope of the White House. (INAUDIBLE). At the White House. The pope is going to be at the White House. Or as Donald Trump put it, Obama's letting yet another Hispanic guy in.

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COSTELLO: I know the pope has a sense of humor. I know it. Pope Francis wraps up his visit to Cuba this morning. He'll arrive in the United States late afternoon, riding a wave of popularity among both Catholic and non-Catholics. A new CNN/ORC poll shows nearly two-thirds of Americans see the pope as favorable. But who exactly is he? Where did his story begin? A new CNN special report, "The People's Pope," delves into how Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the leader of the Catholic Church.

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CHRIS CUOMO, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY" (voice-over): His parents expected him to become a doctor, but young Bergoglio saw another path to healing. One he confided to his friend, Oscar Presco (ph). OSCAR CRESPO, LIFELONG FRIEND OF POPE FRANCIS (through translator): He

said, "I'm going to tell you something that I haven't told anyone else. I've decided to dedicate myself to the priesthood."

CUOMO: His mother stumbled onto his secret while she was cleaning.

JOSE BERGOGLIO, POPE FRANCIS' NEPHEW (through translator): And she found books in Latin, theology, philosophy, the Bible. Then she grabbed my uncle and said, Jorge, listen to me, how do you expect to get into medical school? This is not medicine. My uncle replied, yes mom, this is medicine for the soul.

CUOMO (on camera): Ha, ha, medicine for the soul.

BERGOGLIO: He was 18 years old and he came up with that answer.

AUSTEN IVEREIGH, AUTHOR, "THE GREAT REFORMER": She argued against it and said, no, wait, you know, you're too young. And things got quite bad in the Bergoglio household. It got quite tense for some months, apparently. But Jorge went off to seminary at age -- at the age of 20.

CUOMO (voice-over): First his parents, then a second obstacle to his calling, his health.

IVEREIGH: He had terrible pneumonia, cysts on his lung, which were then removed in an operation which resulted in horrific pain. And he did nearly die. I mean he was kept alive with oxygen tanks and so on.

CUOMO: Though that surgery would become a major issue many years later, then the young Bergoglio recovered and soon made a big decision to switch to a Jesuit seminary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Oh, Chris Cuomo is here. I can't wait to see the entire documentary.

CUOMO: Well, you can because you can actually stay up and watch it.

COSTELLO: I can (INAUDIBLE).

CUOMO: I had do it but I can't watch it. It's too late. No, I'll actually be live tweeting during it tonight, 9:00 p.m. Here's why he did it. You know the man so much for what he says, but you -- he's only as good as he is as a person. You know even though he's a pope now that inviews (ph) him with certainly privileges and potentialities within his own faith, it is interesting to see, in a culture where we're always looking at our leaders and being like, oh, she's not what she seems or he's not what he seems. But this man is what he seems to be.

[09:45:00] One anecdote, he's got really, really tiny writing. Like really tiny. And he is called out by a teacher early on in school, and they're like what's up with the small writing? Jorge, you have to write bigger. I feel like you're trying to deceive me. He goes who am I have to big handwriting? (LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: So he didn't want to show his arrogance through his handwriting.

CUOMO: Proving there is a humility. There is a distraction of pomp within his practice of Catholicism, which is new.

COSTELLO: And I think that translates well, because I've asked many people the differences between Pope John Paul Benedict and Francis. And they never want to diss Benedict or John Paul, right? But they say there's something about Francis where I can reach out and touch him in a way I couldn't do that with Pope John Paul or Benedict especially.

CUOMO: I think that's the key to his --

COSTELLO: And maybe part is he's Argentinian and, you know, very effusive in showing their emotion. So he's used to doing that. Although you could argue Italians are too. But --

CUOMO: Well, he is Italian by blood. Bergoglio is Italian. Don't kid yourself. It's very hard to find someone like that who is not Italian in some way.

But, look, what causes a division? And there is one in the crucible of American Catholicism. Some say, no, the rules are all we have. Stop saying the rules -- don't focus on the rules. We need the rules. And others say, no, we need to focus on the bigger ideas of religion, love and mercy. The rules are there but they shouldn't be our sole focus.

COSTELLO: Right, and the pope said, off the cuff once, again, that there is room for argument within the Catholic Church and that's what makes our religion strong. I'm Catholic, so it will make our religion stronger. And you would have never heard that from Pope John Paul.

CUOMO: No, and some don't want to hear it. I mean, there is definitely a split and what he calls haciendo lio (ph), making a mess, get out there, get busy, in the things that create controversy and stir it up. Not everybody likes it. But there is a consistency with him as a person. We'll talk to people who've known him forever. His rabbi we talk to tonight.

COSTELLO: So weird but I can't wait to see the documentary. And thanks for stopping by.

CUOMO: Pleasure.

COSTELLO: I appreciate it, Chris.

Again, that Special Report, "THE PEOPLE'S POPE", airs tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, a disturbing subculture. Young boys raped, enslaved by U.S.-backed Afghan officials. Did the military really tell troops to turn a blind eye? We'll talk about that next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:43] COSTELLO: This morning we're learning more about a disturbing subculture of child abuse by Afghan officials -- young boys treated as sex slaves. And now stunning allegations the U.S. military ordered U.S. service members to look the other way. Jake Tapper has more for you.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're called dancing boys, tea boys, or by many who have had to turn a blind eye to them, Afghan sex slaves. A subculture of batchabazi (ph), or boy play, is widely known in Afghanistan. But for U.S. service members there, the abuse of these children is infuriatingly hard to stop, especially when the abuse comes from American-backed Afghan commanders there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): I had a boy because every commander had one.

TAPPER: In a 2010 PBS documentary, a former Afghan commander of the Northern Alliance spoke openly, shamelessly, about this sick practice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): If I didn't have a boy, I couldn't compete with the others.

TAPPER: Today "The New York Times" reports that the American military stands accused of ordering troops to purposely turn a blind eye to the abuse in order to maintain good relations with Afghan forces.

CAPT. DAN QUINN, U.S. ARMY (RET.): The reason we weren't able to step in with these local rape cases was we didn't want to undermine the authority of the local government. We were trying to build up the local government. Us acting after the local government fails to can certainly undermine their credibility.

TAPPER: Retired U.S. Army Captain Dan Quinn tells CNN that he and Sergeant First Class Charles Martland were punished for confronting an admitted Afghan child rapist, a police commander.

QUINN: The confrontation became physical. I picked him up, threw him onto the ground multiple times. And Charles did the same thing. And basically had to make sure that he fully understood that he ever went near that boy or his mother again, there was going to be hell to pay.

TAPPER: Quinn says he and Martland were relieved of their duties shortly thereafter. Martland is bein involuntarily separated now from the army.

JESSICA STERN, TERRORISM EXPERT: I think the fear is that if we were to intervene, we wouldn't have the kind of close working relationship that we need with Afghan military.

TAPPER: Terrorism expert Jessica Stern says this is far from an isolated incident. She's spoken to several service members who say they were disturbed by what they saw.

STERN: They must have felt that they couldn't respond in the way they would have liked to. It was clearly a very painful subject.

TAPPER: Congressman and veteran Duncan Hunter, a Republican from California, is trying to save Martland's career, writing to Defense Secretary Ash Carter saying, quote, "Martland stood up to a child rapist. I trust you will give the case the attention it demands."

A Pentagon spokesperson told CNN today, "We have never had a policy in place that directs any military member or any government personnel overseas to ignore human rights abuses. Any sexual abuse is completely unacceptable and reprehensible."

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COSTELLO: That was Jake Tapper reporting.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it's like a scene right out of Hollywood. Police say some bed sheets helped these two inmates pull off one daring escape.

[09:54:55]

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COSTELLO: All right, I want to take you now to Santiago, Cuba, because these are amazing picks. You see the pope riding in his Popemobile down the street. He's on his way to a cathedral where he's going to give a speech and hopefully greet some people in the crowd. Of course everybody is waiting for the pope to get out of that Popemobile so that they can get up close and personal.

And you see the people of Cuba waving flags and cheering the pope as he makes his way down the street. One thing I noticed, nobody has a cell phone, right? Because in the United States, you know everybody will have their iPhones and they'll snapping pictures of the pope as he goes down the street, as he walks through Central Park, as he participates in the various parades in Washington, D.C. There you see a wide shot from the air of Santiago, Chile (sic).

I just wanted to, I don't know, bring you to Santiago to look at the pictures because they were so very awesome.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

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[10:0001] COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM --

Protecting the pope.

UNDIDENTFIEID MALE: We planned for the worst or the unexpected.