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Nawaf Al-Fares Defected from Bashar al-Assad's Regime; Blind College Freshman got the Fifth Place in Miss Florida Pageant; Mexican Newspaper Will Not Release Issue about Drug Cartel
Aired July 15, 2012 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredrick Whitfield and you are in CNN NEWSROOM.
We start again in Syria where a former top diplomat says the country provided shelter and build safe havens for al-Qaeda for years. This is the most senior Syrian diplomat to defect and publicly support the country's uprising.
Former Syrian ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf al-Fares defected last week. He sat down with our Ivan Watson for his first television interview with the U.S. network. Al-Fare says the country is a quote, "a totalitarian regime" and a dictatorship and all orders come from president Bashar al-Assad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NAWAF AL-FARES, FORMER SYRIAN AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ (through translator): In 2003, after the American invasion of Iraq, the toppling of the Iraqi regime, the Syrian regime felt threatened so they coordinated with al-Qaeda. They had an agreement to keep the road open to Iraq. So, militants started coming from all over the world through Syrian under the eyes of the Syrian police who are directly responsible for the killing of thousands of Iraqi and Americans and coalition forces.
Al-Qaeda was an ally of Bashar al-Assad after 2003. He trained and provided shelter and built safe havens for al-Qaeda to hide in.
I remember one of the safe havens was (INAUDIBLE). The Americans raided it in 2008 and captured prisoners. This was a hiding place for al-Qaeda on the border with Iraq. And it was under the control of (INAUDIBLE), a brother-in-law of the president.
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Who is making the decisions in Damascus right now? Who is directing the Syrian government policy facing this uprising?
AL-FARES: the regime in Syria is a totalitarian regime and a dictatorship. There is one person who gives orders, one person who is the president. The rest of the regime personnel are people who only obey.
WATSON: Does the Syrian president and his supporters, do they believe they will end? AL-FARES: They are trapped. They committed crimes and they entered into a war of blood and they are aware that they are going to pay for it. They are just buying time, be they will get a chance to escape.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Al-Fares is the second high profile Sunni official to break with the regime within a week. Nawaf al-Fares said the Syrian government is staging al-Qaeda style attacks in Syrian. That's an accusation that Syrian opposition has been claiming for some time now.
I asked retired army general Mark Kimmitt whether he is surprised to hear about a link between the Assad regime and al-Qaeda.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK KIMMITT, BRIGADIER GENERAL, U.S. ARMY (RETIRED): They were providing safe haven sanctuary for al-Qaeda elements transiting through Damascus doing into Iraq, killing Iraqi civilians and killing American soldiers. And we told them, this must stop.
WHITFIELD: So, the former Syrian ambassador to Iraq also telling Ivan Watson that they were furious, that in al-Qaeda safe house was hit in Iraq by U.S. forces back in 2008. So, does this information spread new light on overall al-Qaeda sympathizers?
KIMMITT: Well, what it demonstrates is that despite the Syrian denunciation of al-Qaeda and their suggestion that they had nothing to do with al-Qaeda, that they were directly involved in al-Qaeda transiting Syria going into Iraq adding to the instability and (INAUDIBLE) that was directly involved in that.
WHITFIELD: And so, what can the U.S. do with this information if anything?
KIMMITT: Well, I think this and other information can be part of the case file that should this situation end up in the international criminal court it could be used against them in an international criminal court of law. But it also demonstrates very quickly that the decision made by the Syrians to accommodate al-Qaeda inside their country is now becoming a situation where the al-Qaeda is turning against the Syrian government as we warned and predicted it would.
WATSON: So, outside of any international criminal court, does this give the U.S. any impetus for being involved in a more direct manner with the unrest in Syria right now?
KIMMITT: Well, I think that just adds to the growing consensus on the part of the International community that the days of Assad - of Bashar al-Assad and the Assad regime are nearing an end. He is trying his best, as the ambassador said, to maintain control but he is losing control on a day by day basis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: General Mark Kimmitt.
At least 57 people killed across Syria today alone. The opposition says military activities are ramping up in Damascus. Tanks are storms into neighborhoods and heavy shelling as well. U.N. observers have returned to the village of Tarmesh (ph) where over 200 people were killed last week.
Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International recently traveled to towns in Syria and witnessed the violence first hand. I asked her earlier what she saw.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONATELLA ROVERA, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: The other 22 towns and villages I visited it had been the Syrian armed forces as opposed to the security forces but Syrian government forces that have gone into villages with large contingents, sometimes 70, 80 tanks had opened fire and discriminately taken mostly young men but in some cases older men and children out of their home, executed them summarily in front of their families. On several occasions set fires to the bodies. And then, before leaving set fire to homes and property in each town and villages burning tens and in some cases hundreds of homes.
So, why there was also armed confrontations breaking out regularly between security forces, armed forces on the government side and armed opposition forces on the other hand overwhelming majority of the war crimes and crimes against humanity that were committed in the area that I visited were committed by government forces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And here in the U.S., the presidential election is heating up with both candidates courting voters in key battle ground states. President Obama campaigns in Ohio tomorrow. He carried that state in 2008 and hoping for a repeat in November. Later in the week the president heads south to the swing state of Florida.
His Republican rival ought on seeking support in the south tomorrow. Mitt Romney holds fundraisers in Louisiana and Mississippi. Tuesday, he travels to Pennsylvania and then Wednesday it's on to another battle ground state of Ohio.
Serious allegations against the mayor of Washington D.C. why some city council members are calling for Vincent Gray, to step down.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The homeland security department says it will allow Florida access to a federal law enforcement database that lists names of non-citizens. Florida sued to get the information after its effort to purge non-citizens from its voting roles using driver's licenses failed. Supporters of the purging plan said it would have insured a fair vote. Critics claimed it was a political move aimed at keeping disenfranchised people from voting.
Another D.C. mayor is under investigation in a scandal. The latest involves current mayor Vincent Gray. Prosecutors are looking into allegations that his 2010 campaign benefitted from more than $600,000 in illicit money.
Brian Todd is following the money trail.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mister Mayor, did you know January that money for your 2010 campaign -- we are allowed to ask.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In battle, Washington mayor Vincent Gray wants to talk about a new 911 service but evades questions about a campaign finance scandal that engulfed his office.
Federal prosecutors are investigating what they call the mayor's shadow campaign in 2010 when secret money they say was not reported to campaign finance officials. An ally of the mayor's, Jeannie Heart Harris, admitted this week she helped steer illicit money from a wealthy businessman to the mayor's campaign.
I spoke with U.S. attorney, Ronald Machen.
What kind of money are we talking about and how is it handled here?
RONALD MACHEN, U.S. ARMY ATTORNEY, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: We are talking about over $650,000 that was funneled from a co-conspiracy company to Miss Jean Heart Harris's company that went international and that money was used to buy campaign materials for the mayoral campaign. It was unreported and unregulated.
TODD: Separately, another source close to the investigation tells CNN, Mayor Gray learned from Jeannie Harris in January of this year that some of the money spent for his 2010 campaign was not properly reported. The source says, Gray told Harris then to report it immediately.
Contacted by CNN, Gray's attorney wouldn't comment citing the continuing investigation. Prosecutor's documents don't indicate whether Gray knew of the alleged secret spending at the time it was happening. Moe Plenty who worked on Gray's 2010 campaign says this.
MOE PLENTY, WORKED ON GRAY'S CAMPAIGN IN 2010: I never saw any evidence during the campaign that he knew about it at the time.
TODD: For D.C. council member Mary Cheh, who went against many of her constituents to endorse Gray, that is, not good enough.
MARY CHEH, WASHINGTON D.C. COUNCIL MEMBER: Because people were acting in his name and for his benefit committed probably the biggest election fraud in the history of the district. And I have asked him to resign, to step aside as an act of public service.
TODD: She is joined by two other council members. Gray says he is not resigning.
The swirl of scandal is nothing new in this building. Other D.C. mayors have been accused of either incompetence or outright corruption.
Former mayor Marion Barry was arrested in 1990 for crack cocaine use and possession when a sting operation targeted him and a former girlfriend at t hotel. He spent time in jail.
Barry's successor, Sharon Pratt Kelly, built up huge budget deficits. More recently, former mayor Adrian Fenty was investigated for steering contracts to a friend. He was clear.
I asked analyst, Mark (INAUDIBLE) what has tainted the D.C. mayor's office.
MARK (INAUDIBLE), ANALYST: I do think that if we had these higher positions that people could aspire to and attain then the people at the starting level would be of a different caliber.
TODD: He is talking about the fact that Washington D.C. has no real voting power at the floor of Congress, no senator, nothing to reach for after the mayor's office.
Brian Todd, CNN. Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner may be looking for a second chance in political office. "The New York Post" says multiple sources have indicated Weiner is considering a run for mayor of New York. You recall last year, Weiner tweeted a lewd photo initially denying doing it and then he eventually resigning from Congress because of it.
America's dream team of 2012 version that is, seem destined for Olympic basketball gold but an injury has them wondering if they have their work cut out for them.
And if you have to go out today, just a reminder, you can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone. You can also watch CNN live from your desktop. Log on to CNN.com/TV.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: NBA star, Jason Kidd is charged with drunk driving following an accident early this morning in south Hampton, New York. The police say the New York Knicks' point guard was intoxicated when his car hit a telephone pole and then crashed into a wooded area. He was hospitalized with minor injuries.
Just three days ago, Kidd reportedly signed a three-year $9.5 million contract with the Knicks.
The British government is trying to clean things up after accusation that it may have dropped the ball in security for the 2012 Olympics. The contractor responsible for providing more than 10,000 guards announced this week they didn't recruit enough people for the game. Now, the government is filling in the gap by bringing in 3,500 troops. The head of the security company admits they fell short. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK BUCKLES, G45 CEO: Clearly, we took on a contract in good faith. We would like a part of securing the games. The military will have to be called in to help us through the process. We know a number of soldiers have had to cancel leave to come back and help us through the process. And we feel that we have caused a huge problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The London Olympics now in just 13 days away, actually 12 days away.
All right. One of the highlights of the Olympics has got to be the American dream team, 2012 version, that is. And the NCAA's quandary with Penn State, all of that part of the smart sports discussion, Phil Taylor, senior writer at "Sports Illustrated" joining us now from San Francisco.
Good to see you, Phil.
PHIL TAYLOR, SENIOR WRITER, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Thanks. Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: OK. So, the Olympic less than two weeks away and one of the high profile gold medal hopefuls is obviously the dream team made, this is a team made up of NBA stars mostly. But now, they have an important injury to contend with.
TAYLOR: That's right. You know, the American men in basketball are heavy favorites and they probably still should be. But, they did lose Blake Griffin, the power forward from the L.A. Clippers this week to an injury that required knee surgery. It will keep him out for the entire Olympics. And that is on top of the U.S. team having lost several other big men like Dwight Howard, Chris Bosch of Marcos Soldier.
So, it is not cause for panic yet but it is cause for a little bit of concern. Because what is left is a U.S. team that will be quick and athletic but not very tall. And there are some teams that could take advantage and that a fact.
WHITFIELD: And then, Kobe Bryant apparently there is trash talking involved thing that, you know, this dream team can't possibly, you know, stand up against the dream team of 1992.
TAYLOR: Right. There seems to be almost as much competitiveness between the current dream team and the '92 team as there is between the current team and the teams that will be playing in the Olympics. Kobe said yes, that they could beat the original dream team that featured Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and some of the great hall of famers of NBA history.
WHITFIELD: When is he saying? I mean, you know taking them up now or like, you know, if everyone were back in time? TAYLOR: That's right. Larry bird said, yes. Well sure, we are in our 40s and 50s now so maybe they could beat us. But the dream team who were the original guys are not - they are not taking that lying down. They have come back and said with the exception of maybe Lebron James and Kobe, most of the guys on the current team wouldn't have been on the team in '92. So, it's good natured but these both sides are pretty competitive.
WHITFIELD: OK. Now, let's talk about Penn State, you know, the release of the most recent findings involving, you know, Louis Freeh and the NCAA now trying to assess what to do next.
What are some of the options including that of the death penalty which would mean the NCAA suspending the football program or an athletic program of that university? What the things that they trying to contend with?
TAYLOR: Well, there are several different possibilities. Some have talked about downsizing the program. Some have talked about the football team playing its normal schedule, but taking the proceeds, the profits from the football program this year or maybe for the next few years and donating them to organizations that work with child abuse prevention.
The most drastic of the proposals has been the death penalty which is to shut down the entire football program for the foreseeable future. That would be up to the NCAA. I doubt that would happen because that would affect not just Penn State program and surrounding businesses in the area, but also other schools that are scheduled to play Penn State. But, that is the kind of indicative of the amount of passion that there is about the subject, that there is serious talk about shutting down the program entirely.
WHITFIELD: So, is there a timeline that the NCAA has to work with? Because there does seem to be, you know, an awful lot of pressure coming from so many different directions that the NCAA has to do something because doing nothing would be that much more damaging?
TAYLOR: Well, in terms of a death penalty or penalties that would affect the team this coming year, there is something of the timeline. Obviously, we are in July. The football season begins in September. So the NCAA would have to act very quickly. They don't have a long history of acting with that sort of speed.
So, I tend to think that what they will probably do is let this play out in the criminal and civil courts maybe for this year. And we may see NCAA sanctions later on but I don't think we will see anything between now and the beginning of the football season.
WHITFIELD: All right. Phil Taylor, good to see you. Thanks so much, senior writer with "Sports Illustrated." Appreciate it.
TAYLOR: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Surprising new revelations, a former top Syrian official defects and is giving CNN new information about Syria and al-Qaeda.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A wildfire underway in California. Showing you live pictures right now of the air assault trying to drop some kind of flame retardant on an area where a fire broke out in a canyon between Foresthill and Colfax California. You can see the smoke there. This is in Placer County.
More than 2,000 acres have burned thus far. Unclear what started or sparked this fire. But homeowners in the area have been evacuated and we understand 11 people have actually been injured. The firefighters are doing the best they can on the ground and from the air trying to contain this blaze.
All right now, a quick look at the stories making headlines today.
A top Syrian official defects and calls for foreign intervention to topple president Bashar al-Assad. The former Syrian ambassador to Iraq, Nawaf al-Fares accused of the Assad regime of collaborating with al-Qaeda in both, Syria and Iraq. Al-Fares is the second Syria officials to defect in a week.
And three more people are speeding towards the international space station.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one. Lift off. Lift off with the Soyuz TMA old by man carrying --
(END VIDEO CIP)
WHITFIELD: It blasted off today from Kazakhstan aboard a Russian rocket, American astronaut, Sonny Williams is among the crew. Williams holds the record for the longest time in space for a female astronaut. Also on board, a Japanese astronaut and Russian cosmonaut.
The state of Florida is one step closer to purging noncitizens from its voting roles. Officials there will now have access to a department of homeland security database on resident noncitizens. Florida governor Rick Scott had sued the government for access to database.
All right, a look ahead to Tuesday now.
Our Soledad Obrien, a meeting up with Richard Branson in the water there for incredible swim with some whale sharks there. She will be talking to Branson about his campaign to stop the slaughter of sharks or shark fin suit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN HOST, STARTING POINT: What was your reaction the first time that you were eye ball to eye ball with a whale shark? RICHARD BRANSON, FOUNDER, VIRGIN GROUP: Just the sheer beauty of it. I mean, it is the biggest fish in the ocean, just an enormous gentle giant in the ocean. And I just, you know, couldn't bear the idea that people are slaughtering them in their millions for soup. So I decided to devote my time to try to draw attention to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: That is on Tuesday morning on "starting point" beginning at 7:00 a.m.
In an unprecedented move, a Mexican newspaper as stopped reporting on drug cartels and says it is simply too dangerous.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The words drug cartel strikes fear among many. But for journalists in Mexico who have to report on these notorious criminals, it gets even scarier. It is so freighting that one Mexican newspaper decided to stop reporting on drug cartels all together after someone threw a grenade on the office. It is the second time that it has happened in two months and now, newspaper staffers live in constant fear for their lives.
Let's bring in Nick Valencia now, to talk more about the fear. We are not talk about just among the police forces who been able to talk about various incidents, but now, we are talking about members of the press who say, forget it. We are out.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is people like you and me, Fredricka. Just imagine we are sitting here right now, we say something that someone at home doesn't like and they storm into our newsroom and they open fire that threw a fragmentation grenade.
This is a serious incident. This is a serious situation that Mexican papers are dealing with. One of the papers in Monterrey was attacked after doing an expose on Monday about a local department of motor vehicle that was selling license plate to own and putting them on stolen cars to make them look like they were legitimate. The next day they have a fragmentation grenade thrown into their office.
Now, getting to the paper El Manana in Nuevo Laredo, which is just right across the border from Laredo Texas. It just sits right next to the state of Texas, right on our border. Well, they were attacked multiple times. On the last two months, two times in last two months. And two years ago they had people, unidentified gun men storm in to their offices in the newspaper and open fire indiscriminately against their staff. One staffer was paralyzed.
I want to read a statement that El Manana put out that is sort of unusual that they would address this publicly. They are saying, we ask for the public's comprehension and will refrain for as long as needed from publishing any information related to the violent disputes our city and other regions of the country are suffering.
WHITFIELD: It is interesting that they would put that notice out as oppose to just seizing any recording. But to let everyone know that they are stopping that kind of reporting, also sends another message it seems.
VALENCIA: That makes it all the more unusual. The fact that they are publicly commenting saying they are staying away from covering violent disputes. Now, there was one paper in Guadas in 2010, and we reported about this story, they wrote and editorial to the cartels asking as the de-facto leaders of the city of Guadas, and you know how bad it got there in 2010. We ask what do we do? How do we cover this? They didn't stop covering the events.
Now, El Manana which is a prominent paper and probably most prominent there locally is saying it all-together, it is just going to stop. And this is an assault on freedom of speech. It is the assault on journalism as a whole in the country.
WHITFIELD: And they are also empowering the drug cartels by letting them know that, you know, we have given up in this battle. The battle meaning just the fight for, you know, having words in the paper to inform people.
So, are they indicating whether this is temporary? This is kind of a temporary ceasefire, so to speak, or is there permanency here?
VALENCIA: I think a lot of people want to know when the drug war is going to end including the staffers on this newspaper. I was asked a question before coming on the set like what is the government doing to help these papers?
And if you ask the journalists in Mexico, a lot of these journalists will tell you it is widely suspected that people on this local government and local police force are on the take, are on the payroll for the cartels.
So, there is little if anything that can be done right now. And even with this shift in leadership in Mexico right now, there is very little optimism that anything will change. Just think about it. This is, you know, an attack on the freedom of speech, information that Mexicans are getting. They are not getting anymore because people are just scared for their lives. They are not covering incidents that they should.
WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Valencia. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
VALENCIA: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Now to Egypt where negotiators are working furiously to win the release of two kidnapped American tourists. They are 62-year-old Pastor Michel Louis and 39-year-old Lisa Alfonsi. The two were traveling with the tour group through Egypt's Sinai region when members of a Bedouin tribe hold them off their bus along with their Egyptian guys. Unlike similar kidnappings in the Sinai where the captor's demand money, this time, they want a relative released from jail.
One of the hostages' son says, that is complicating negotiations. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We understand it is a little bit different from the normal cases and that's what puts a twist on everything. Usually there is a window of 24 hours to 48 hours that this certain negotiations are resolved. And because they are not asking for money this makes it a little bit more complicated. And a lot of answers to our questions cannot be answered. But again, we are faithful people. We have a lot of people praying for our father and the people with him. And we're praying also and we are staying resolved in our faith.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: This is the third kidnapping of American tourists in the Sinai region this year.
All right, back here in the U.S. The family of the late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno will still benefit from his contract. Before he died, Paterno got a new deal worth $5.5 million in payout and benefits including payments to his wife of $1,000 a month for the rest of her life.
Paterno reportedly negotiated it while the Jerry Sandusky's child sex abuse investigation got under way. And Joe Paterno's likeness on a famous mural has been changed. When Paterno died in January, that halo was painted above his head. Well, it has since been removed.
The artist said, he felt he had to remove the halo after Thursday's released of that internal report by former FBI director, Louis Freeh. The report found that Paterno and other officials buried allegations of sexual abuse against long time assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Politics now, Mitt Romney is once again, being slammed for his ties to Bain Capital and on his tax records.
Let's listen to some of the conversations from the Sunday morning talk shows.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Loss of life as you know.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: If he is responding is Mitt Romney losing the message battle?
ED GILLESPIE, SENIOR ADVISER TO MITT ROMNEY: These baseless charges on moving jobs overseas and then a completely reckless and unfounded allegation of criminal activity and so it is sad to see --we know this president will say or do anything to keep the highest office in the land even if it means demeaning the highest office of the land.
DAVID AXELROD, OBAMA CHIEF CAMPAIGN STRATEGIST: We have learned from the limited disclosure that he's made that governor Romney takes advantage of this. He has Swiss bank account. He has a Bermuda holding company. I'm not suggesting that based on what we know that he has done anything illegal. I'm not suggesting that. But what I'm suggesting is that he is taking advantage of every single conceivable tax shelter and loop hole that we can see.
CROWLEY: Is it your position that Mitt Romney was still technically the CEO, the sole owner and chief share holder of Bain but he had nothing to do with any day to day decisions with Bain after he left for the Olympic, is that what you are saying?.
GILLESPIE: That's right. He was not involved in the management. He was not involved in the day to day decisions. He wouldn't have time. He left a life he loved to go to Salt Lake City to see the Olympics for a country he loves more. And somehow in Chicago, in the classic Chicago (INAUDIBLE), the Obama campaign is trying to make this something sinister. It is not. It is patriotic.
STEPHANIE CUTTER, OBAMA DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER: If you are signing a document with your own signature that you are the president, CEO, chairman of the board and 100 percent owner of the company, in what world are you living in that you are not in charge?
If he wasn't the head of it, who was? And the simple point is, if you are telling the SEC that you are in charge, but you are telling the American people that you bear no responsibility, one of those things is not true.
CROWLEY: This is no reason not to put it out there. Why not just do it?
GILLESPIE: Candy, we are putting out there his tax returns more than is required by the law. The reason we are talking about some of these things is because he put those tax records out there.
CUTTER: If he didn't gain tax advantages from having investments in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and a Swiss bank account, then show us. Show the American people. What is it that you are hiding?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, to look at this Sunday morning talk shows today. All right, he is considered one of the greatest boxing promoters in the world, Don King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON KING, BOXING PROMOTER: This is Don King, the only in American man, the greatest nation in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Always smiling, sometimes controversial. Don King is not pulling any punches about how he made it to the top.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. He is considered one of the greatest boxing promoters in the world and is known for his signature hair style as well. You know who I'm talking about, Don King. He has never held back on speaking his mind either. And he isn't pulling any punches explaining how he made it to the top.
Here is John Zarrella.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wherever Don King shows up, a crowd gathers.
KING: Hit the jackpot. Hit the jackpot.
ZARRELLA: At the Hard Rock casino near Fort Lauderdale, a handshakes, pictures. At 80-years-old, the most successful boxing promoter ever still sports his trademark hair, his red, white and blue collars. And he still got game.
It takes a dictionary of adjectives, outrageous, bombastic, colorful, reviled, controversial, to describe how he rubs people like former heavy weight boxing champ, Mike Tyson.
He calls you wretched, slimy, reptilian, expletive deleted.
KING: Yes.
ZARRELLA: But yet, your friends.
KING: Well, he doesn't mean those things, you know what I mean? He is just saying those things because he wants attention. And don't forget he is still a young boy from the ghetto.
ZARRELLA: We spent a day with King, a typical day he says, in the drive way of the South Florida home three Bentleys, three rolls Royces.
KING: George Foreman gave that to my wife. I bought it for George, hit him a run and gave it to her.
ZARRELLA: No kidding.
KING: Yes. It is a 1974.
ZARRELLA: After 50 years of marriage, King lost his wife, Henrietta, two years ago.
On the way to the office, he is already working. A radio interview promoting an upcoming night of boxing.
KING: We call him twinkle fingers. He is a Cuban-American.
ZARRELLA: What drives you? Why you keep doing it?
KING: America drives me. It's not about money. It is about opening the door for those who couldn't open the door for themselves.
ZARRELLA: King's office is an entire building including a cluttered warehouse with decades of memorabilia.
Do you have a museum that you would like to open with all the memorabilia that you have? I'm not trying to kill you off.
KING: No.
(LAUGHTER)
KING: You know, when he stands for me, I will be ready.
ZARRELLA: King's life has been brutal and charm. He talks openly of growing up in Cleveland, running an illegal gambling operation.
KING: It was illegal. You aim for the bad. There's a gambling blah, blah, blah. And then wonder, we are going to put lamps on the roads.
ZARRELLA: He talks about the two men he killed. The first ruled justifiable homicide after a man breaks into his home.
KING: I run into my room to get my gun and we should have out in liberty.
ZARRELLA: He served four years for man slaughter after beating to death a man, King says, owed him money. He was later pardoned.
Do you have regrets?
KING: You suffer a deep contrition for anytime that you are a part of doing something that would hurt human beings.
ZARRELLA: Out of his prison years King says grew esteem. Only in American could Don King happened. These days he fashions himself an ambassador without portfolio, a freedom fighter meeting with the troops, presidents, world leaders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's what gives him life, for lack of a better term. It's the art of closing a deal, the art of waving the flags and being something more than just simply a boxing promoter.
ZARRELLA: During a meeting with Nelson Mandela in South Africa, King wore a t-shirt with Mandela's prison number on it.
KING: That was his number in prison. Henrietta says I got one, too, 125734.
ZARRELLA: You never forget that number, do you?
KING: You never forget it. You don't forget prison, man. That is why you want to stay the hell away from it.
ZARRELLA: Putting it in boxing terms, King's fight card is full the days were with him. He meets with a Ukrainian boxer and his entourage.
KING: The negotiator. ZARRELLA: Skype with a rapper he is promoting, tries to arrange a fight to a South Korean ambassador. Don King might never have emerged from inner city Cleveland if not for one singular event, signing Mohammed Ali and George Foreman to a 1974 fight in Zair. It became known as the rumble in the jungle. How many rounds did that go?
KING: Eight rounds.
ZARRELLA: Eight rounds.
KING: Eight rounds. It changed the world.
ZARRELLA: And King's life. He went on to promote a who's who of Boxers, Larry Holmes, Roberto Duran, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson, Felix Trinidad, and on and on. And to this day King says he spends millions fighting lawsuits from Boxers alleging he cheated them out of fight money. Some settled out of court. He doesn't blame the fighters.
So, are you saying that they are suing you because white people are putting them up to it?
KING: Absolutely. They are doing it. They are putting them up to do it because they wouldn't have know -- some of these guys we know, wouldn't get a case from.
ZARRELLA: King pardoned to pun, never pulls punches. The IRS failed to get him on income tax evasions. He says they are still after him because they can't believe he made it going straight.
KING: There is got to be a illegal call, a black man can't think that way.
ZARRELLA: Much of what Don King says is clearly outrageous. At the end of the day you are left wondering how much of it he really believes and how much is just the promoter promoting.
KING: This is Don King. The only in America, man. The greatest nation in the world.
ZARRELLA: John Zarrella, CNN. Fort Lauderdale.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: That had to be a great phone call on the other end.
All right, a lot of people don't like to exercise because it feels like exercise.
But our Sanjay Gupta has found a way for you to use video games to have fun and stay fit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. If you are someone who dreads going to the gym to get that workout tech experts have created a solution just for you. They put your full body workout in a video game. So, does that mean you can stop going to the gym all together?
Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DOCTOR SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jogging, lifting weights, perfecting a Yoga pose, things you would normally do in a gym.
But thanks to Nintendo's new Wii fit platform your gym, your trainer, even your yoga mat are going electronic.
The Wii fit balance board has several sensors that monitors your every move and keeps track of your center of balance, weight and body mass index. You can do yoga, endurance and strength training and fun challenges like a hula hooping contest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel like I'm exercising.
GUPTA: Of course, Wii fit isn't the first video game that aims to get kids, even some adults, moving. There is dance, dance revolution, the Sony I toy and Wii's other fitness games like tennis and baseball.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is sort of weird.
GUPTA: What do real life trainers think of their virtual competitors?
ROBERT DOTHARD, FITNESS EXPERT: I enjoyed it. You know, as a professor trainer, I'm always looking for ways to introduce fitness to people's lives. And since the Wii is such a popular game and it's in homes already, it is a great attachment to bring fitness into the home.
GUPTA: But even, Nintendo trainers agree the video game should not replace workout in the gym.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a tool in your fitness token. This is just another thing to get you up and moving.
GUPTA: Robert is not concerned by the competition. In fact, he plans to buy the $90 video game to use in his fitness studios.
You know, it is something I would use for people that are maybe skittish, so I think it would be great for in a public gym study for people that don't want to make that thorough punch.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And the world knew him best as Sheriff Andy Taylor, and later, as attorney Ben Matlock. But his biggest achievement may have come years earlier.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Most of us knew Andy Griffith, best for his role as Sheriff Andy Taylor and later as attorney Ben Matlock. But this week, CNN's columnist Bob Greene explains the actor's biggest achievement may have come years before either of those roles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOB GREENE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Imagine you're a baseball player and then in your very first game in your majors, you step to the plate for the first time and hit a grand slam home run into the seats at Yankee stadium.
Now, most people will never experience that kind of magnificence the first time out. But Andy Griffith in his craft, he died at age 86 earlier this month. Andy Griffith did experience that.
The obituaries all centered on his role as the smiling, gentle Sheriff Andy Taylor in the long running "Andy Griffith show." But to some of us, his crowning achievement came years before in his very first movie role.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not just an entertainer.
GREENE: The film was called "a Face in the Crowd." It was the dark story of lone some roads who, we first made an American side gale son. The story chronicles his rise of fame in the then new of coast to coast television. And, in years later Griffith would make audiences love him as Andy of Mayberry, in "a face in the crowd" he had the courage as a young actor to dare audiences to hate him. Lonesome roads would step on anyone and do anything to get what he wanted.
You couldn't take your eyes off Andy Griffith. This Wednesday night turner classic movies will be airing as part of the tribute to Griffith "a face in the crowd." I know that CNN and turner classic movies are classic siblings. I would be urging you to see this if it was being screened in a church basement somewhere.
If you do, you'll not only be honoring Andy Griffith's life, but you'll be doing something that none of us given the chance should ever pass up, witnessing greatness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. You can read Bob's columns and other great opinions on the issues that shape your world at CNN.com/opinion.
All right, no crown for the first legally blind woman to compete for Miss Florida USA, but Connor Boss finished in the top five in last night's pageant. 18-year-old college freshman has a genetic eye disease that makes it difficult for her to focus on objects right in front of her. Well, Boss was chosen miss photogenic. And she says she feels like a winner even without the overall title.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONNOR BOSS, PAGEANT CONTESTANT: I've come to learn it's not about winning the pageants. It's about -- I'm so glad that my story could be shared and that at least I can inspire one person and if I can inspire one person I feel like I have won.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The pageant winner, Michelle Aguirre, earns the right to compete in next year's Miss USA contest.
And a Texas man is reunited with his beloved car 42 years after it was stolen. Robert Russell never gave up searching for the 1967 Austin Healy after it was taken from his home back in 1970. And his tenacity sure did pay off. He recently saw the car for sale on e-bay. Then Russell contacted police and they recovered the car at a Los Angeles dealership. The car is now back with Russell in his home state of Texas.
All right. Much more of the CNN NEWSROOM straight ahead. Poppy Harlow here, in for Don Lemon. I know they are very happy to be reunited.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN MONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: I love that story. It's on e-bay. Certainly, that's nice that it paid off. Good to see you, Fred. Good to be with you. A lot coming up.
We are going to talk about the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky case. We are going to focus on legendary coach, Joe Paterno, and his legacy which is tarnished after a release of a report that shows he knew about Sandusky's behavior about the children all the way back in 1998.
Now, his name has been removed from the child care center in Nike headquarters. There are calls to remove that statue in front of Beaver Stadium. So, we are going to talk about that. It really made us wonder what moment defines a person's legacy. It's that their finest moment, their worst moment, or is it that last moment.
Consider some of those legacies who have been tarnished. Think about sports. Pete Rose, Barry bonds, politicians, Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon. We are going to discuss that in the next hour.
And then in our 7:00 Eastern hour, just a few decades ago, Asians in America were rounded up, forced into internship camps and now they're poised to enter the most powerful legislative bodies in record numbers. We'll talk with the first Chinese-American woman ever to be elected to Congress about the significance of the upcoming election in November.
WHITFIELD: That's pretty interesting.
HARLOW: That's right.
WHITFIELD: We're looking forward to that. Poppy Harlow, good to see you. And good to see you in person this weekend.
HARLOW: I know. Not over the tube.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Ships crossing in, you know, by the night. All right, thanks so much.
Poppy have a good night.
All right, that's going to do it for me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Have a great weekend.
More Poppy in just minutes from now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
