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Living with a Child with Mental Illness; Problem with International Space Station's Cooling System; Nancy Pelosi Talks Budget Deal; Senator's Chief of Staff Arrested for Child Pornography.

Aired December 12, 2013 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: A member of Congress who spent three decades as a practicing psychologist is proposing major changes to the way the country deals with mental illness. Republican Congressman Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania came out with a bill today that's designed to help struggling families get the treatment they need. He says, reforms are needed if we're to avoid tragedies like the mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. The measure would increase outpatient treatment options and access to prescription medicine. It aims to reduce the number of mentally ill people in jails and homeless centers. And it also provides training for police and paramedics, who are often the first on the scene of a mental health crisis.

Before laying out the details of the bill, Congressman Murphy read a letter a mother sent to him. In it she addresses parents across America in a very emotional call to action. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TIM MURPHY (R), PENNSYLVANIA: Your child's illness has a congressionally approved budget. My child's illness gets funding cuts. Your child's illness gets the sympathy of complete strangers worldwide. My child's illness gets labeled by people in the press every day as "psycho," "head case," "lunatic," "maniac," "nut job," "monster." Your child's illness gets insurance coverage so he can actually get well. My child's illness gets 30 days coverage a year maximum with an average in-patient stay of 11 days with no social workers, no therapists or psychiatric coverage. Your child's illness gets treated in the emergency room quickly. My child's illness gets ignored in the E.R. for an average of 24 to 30 hours before he's even seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Those words are resonating with millions of people around the country who struggle with mental illness on a daily basis. Our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the story of a Texas teenager who suffers from severe psychiatric disorders and his mother who's waging a fierce battle to get her son some help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ESCAMILLA, MOTHER OF DANIEL: When people meet my son, they don't see the mental illness.

DANIEL, DIAGNOSED WITH MENTAL ILLNESS: Mom, it stopped raining. I'm going to go.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I want to tell you a story about the love between a mother and her son.

ESCAMILLA: They don't see the 20 hospitalizations. They don't see if he hallucinates. He strives to be a normal kid. But he has something that holds him back from doing that.

GUPTA: To protect his privacy, we're not going to show you his face or use his real name. For the next few minutes, he'll be known as Daniel.

We wanted to get to know Daniel and understand what life is like for a teenager with mental illness.

There's laughter.

(LAUGHTER)

GUPTA: Fights about homework.

DANIEL: That's all I got.

GUPTA: Daniel's in the eighth grade.

But also, this.

ESCAMILLA: Is there any way that I could just show up there and just wait in the waiting area? I don't want to be driving around with him like that.

DANIEL: I was hearing voices and, all of a sudden, I had the urge to cut. So I started cutting my arm.

GUPTA: He was cutting himself again. It ended with a trip to the hospital. Daniel stayed for a week.

If Stephanie seems to take it all in stride, it's only because she's seen worse, even worse than what you're about to see.

(CRYING)

DANIEL: Please.

(CRYING)

DANIEL: Go away. Please go away.

GUPTA (on camera): What is that like to record your son?

ESCAMILLA: It was horrible. What gets me the most are his eyes on the video. He's got these huge pupil eyes and he's just crying. And you see the fear in his eyes. It breaks my heart. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaks my heart as well.

Joining us from San Antonio, Texas, Daniel's mom, Stephanie Escamilla; and in Atlanta, chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, thanks for that report. I'll get to you in a moment.

I want to start with Stephanie.

First, Stephanie, your son suffers from these terrifying hallucinations, voices that tell him to hurt himself, his family. What challenges have you faced getting your son some serious help?

STEPHANIE ESCAMILLA, MOTHER OF DANIEL: Well, when it all began, it was really difficult. If he didn't have a plan to hurt himself or anyone, they would just direct me to -- they would tell me to keep an eye on him, just to follow up with his -- his psychiatrist. At the beginning, it was really difficult to get her to believe that he was having these psychosis issues. That is why I had to record that one episode that you just witnessed. It was really difficult. I felt really -- I had no direction. I had nowhere -- I felt like I had -- there was nothing I could do for him. It was really difficult. And it wasn't just one hospital. It was multiple hospitals. And it was just really hard.

BLITZER: Why did you decide, Stephanie, to tell your story, and it's a powerful story, to the world?

ESCAMILLA: Because I -- I started off as a single mom and it was really hard. The stigma was really difficult to deal with because it really ended up -- the stigma was so bad that I ended up doing it by myself. Every day I would come home, I was, you know, I was isolated, you know? I couldn't sit and talk to anybody and get it off my chest without them just changing the subject, you know? And so after I moved over here to San Antonio, I made a promise to myself that one day I was going to do something to help others that were just like me. And now here we are. And it's -- it's actually very overwhelming.

I fight back the tears because it's something that I wanted to accomplish, and I'm actually doing it. And the overwhelming responses, I mean, everybody is -- I have a lot of people behind me, supporting me, and it's awesome. I -- I started with no one, and now I have many people. And it feels really great.

BLITZER: Let me bring Sanjay into the conversation.

You obviously support Stephanie. You've seen this story up close. Give us some perspective on what's go on because we all focus so much attention when there's a horrible gun shooting. Stephanie points this out herself on mental illness. But we've got to focus on this more than just after a horrible gun shooting.

GUPTA: There's no question. And that was exactly our thinking as well, Wolf. And, Stephanie, I mean, it's good to see you and hear your voice.

I will tell you that one of the experts told us that sometimes it's the love of one person that can make all of the difference. I don't want to overly simplify that but, Stephanie, I think, clearly embodies that, what she's able to do for Daniel, her son is remarkable. But it does take the kind of effort that Stephanie is describing. It's not easy at all to get the mental health care. I think there's reasons -- Stephanie would agree -- to be optimistic about Daniel. He's 14, in eighth grade, in a regular school. He's getting "B"s and "C"s. He could continue to do well in school.

But Stephanie shared with me, as well, that she literally comes home every night not sure what she's going to find. Has Daniel attempted suicide? Has he done something to hurt himself? Is he someone who is going to be with her for a long time to come, well into adulthood? There's a lot we don't know.

But you look at the stat there's, one in four adults -- one in four children, rather, one in fie adults have some sort of mental illness. So as much as people don't talk about it, the statistics are really important to realize -- Wolf?

BLITZER: And, Stephanie, your son, Daniel, he's been, what, in and out of the hospital 20 times. There seems to be a revolving door. When you ask doctors, psychiatrists, professionals, what's going on, do they have a progress flow sis for you? What do they say?

ESCAMILLA: At this point, Daniel's doing better than what he had been a year, a year or two ago. He now reads books. We couldn't get him to read a book before. They give me a good prognosis. His doctors are actually really good at what they're doing with him. It's been a few months since -- it's been several months since he's been hospitalized. And he sees his therapist twice a week. We're very consistent with everything that they tell us to do. He sees his psychiatrist once a month. And before then, it was really -- it was really hard. It was really difficult to have a consistent therapist. It was really difficult to get the psychiatrist to understand where we were coming from. And I'm just so grateful for the fact that I came across clarity and their doctors. They have been awesome. And I -- I feel look I owe them a lot because they have helped me with him. Even if he's been there 20 times, it's -- it's his safe haven. It's a place where he can go, where he knows he won't hurt himself. And I -- I have so much appreciation for that because I don't know where I would be if he wasn't here.

BLITZER: Sanjay, medications, I assume Daniel's taking medications. But very often, correct me if I'm wrong, finding the right dosage, right medication, is so important because, if you take the wrong medication, there can be really even worse consequences if you're on bad meds, shall we say. Give us a little perspective on that.

GUPTA: There's so many issues around that, Wolf. First, you're absolutely right. There's a sort of trial and error sort of feel to this. You try different things, see if they work for a period of time, which can be weeks, even months before you can tell for sure, and then maybe switching off of those medications. They can have significant side effects, both in adults and certainly in children as well. Some of the side effects, it's a real balancing act. How much of a side effect do you want and how do you balance that with the benefit?

Finally, a lot of medications -- he's 14. He was diagnosed just after -- when he was 10 years old. Many medications are trialed in adults and subsequently approved for children but you don't have the same clinical trials often times for medications in the pediatric population. So it's more of a guessing game. Daniel's on four different medications, including medications like lithium, anti- anxiety medications. These are powerful medications and it has to be very, very judicious how it's used.

BLITZER: You are to be careful to make sure -- if you stop taking medications, you do it in the way doctors say you have to do it.

I'm sure Stephanie, you're familiar with this.

Stephanie Escamilla, thank you so much. Good luck with you. Good luck with Daniel, with your family. We'll stay in close touch with you.

Sanjay, thank you for doing this report. It's very meaningful, very important.

I want to alert our viewers, Sanjay will have more on this story on his weekend program, Saturday, 4:30, p.m. eastern here on CNN. Also Sunday mornings, 7:30 a.m., only here on CNN.

You can also watch and read a lot more about the story on CNN.com/familyonthebrink.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's a problem with the international space station right now. Parts of the station's cooling system automatically shut down. But right now, it's not known what caused it or how they can fix it.

CNN's John Zarrella joining us from our Miami bureau.

First of all, John, are the astronauts in any immediate danger? Who's up there right now?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Wolf, they're not. In fact, the life support systems are working just fine on the international space station. Astronauts are going about their daily business. The astronauts up there, there are three -- two U.S. astronauts, three cosmonauts, and a Japanese Space Agency astronaut up there. In fact, one of the U.S. astronauts, Rick Mastracchio, hails from my parents' hometown, Waterbury, Connecticut. So we wish them well. They're in good shape.

The problem is they think, within a pump that is used for cooling part of the international space station, you mentioned it failed. They had to transfer some of the load to a second pump. But when you only have two pumps, one isn't working right, that's problematic. They've got to get to the bottom of this.

NASA said a little while ago they'll wait a couple of days, try to see where they go from here before they make any rash decisions on what needs to be done -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Well, if there were a need -- let's hope there's not a need for evacuation plan for the astronauts and cosmonauts -- what do you do? What's the plan?

ZARRELLA: There's always a Russian spacecraft that is up there, as the, quote, "lifeboat," ready to get them out. There have been times in the past when they thought they might be getting hit by space junk, that they've had to evacuate into the lifeboat just in case. But this is not that kind of a situation. Certainly, not at this point. And certainly, we hope it doesn't get to that point.

BLITZER: How many people can fit into that lifeboat?

ZARRELLA: They can get them all in there, Wolf. It's a tight fit but they'll get them in. And sometimes, rare occasions, there are two of those up there.

BLITZER: Normally, they'd do a space walk, go out there and fix the problem. But they're not doing that yet. Why?

ZARRELLA: That's right. What they did was, the last time that a space walk, the astronaut, Luca Parmitano, who is with the European Space Agency, had an issue where his spacesuit filled with water. NASA hasn't completely got a handle on what has caused that. But at this briefing this morning, they discussed, going forward, how they were going to handle space walks.

BLITZER: How long --

(CROSSTALK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNY TODD, NASA MISSION MANAGEMENT TEAM: We're a lot smarter now. There are some things that we'll have to do a little bit differently in preparing and going forward, ensuring the suit's in good shape. That we put every mitigation possible in place, and there are a few since that time frame, to ensure that we've got the crew member protected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Bottom line, Wolf, at least a couple of days before they make any decisions on a space walk.

The one impact is going to be this orbital sciences cargo vehicle, called Signus (ph), that's supposed to get off the ground on the 18th. NASA saying they are, quote, "deferring the go/no-go on launch of that Signus (ph) until they get this problem figured out. They still can go on the 18th, but that could slide a few days.

BLITZER: You'll keep us up to speed. Let's hope for the best for the astronauts and cosmonauts.

ZARRELLA: Sure.

BLITZER: All right, John, thank you.

The House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi, says Democrats are disappointed what's not in the budget compromise but she predicts they'll still support it. You're going to hear what she had to say to our own Jake Tapper. He just came back from an interview with the minority leader. And he's standing by.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: In just a few hours, the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on a bipartisan budget agreement. While the deal is expected to pass, there are lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who are upset with what's in the budget and what's not in the budget.

"The Lead's" Jake Tapper had an exclusive interview a few minutes ago with Nancy Pelosi in the House.

How is she liking the bill?

JAKE TAPPER, HOST, THE LEAD: She's going to vote for it. But it would be difficult to argue that she's a fan of the legislation. In fact, she had some choice words for her fellow Democrats when describing the bill earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So this morning, you told your members, "Embrace the suck." That's a quote.

(LAUGHTER)

That's a quote.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Yes.

TAPPER: That's a quote.

PELOSI: That's a quote, yes.

TAPPER: First, before I get to the substance of the bill --

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: -- where did you get that?

PELOSI: Where did I get it? I think it really captured the moment. Wouldn't you think?

(LAUGHTER) TAPPER: Oh, I'm not criticizing it. It seems to sum up what you think of this legislation.

PELOSI: It's not just the legislation. It's the whole process and the fact that we don't have unemployment insurance and those kinds of things. But at the end of the day, we need a budget. What we decided was our approach would be to --

TAPPER: You're not going to say it.

(LAUGHTER)

PELOSI: The camera.

TAPPER: Embrace the suck. OK.

PELOSI: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, her two big issues with the bill are, one, it doesn't include extensions for unemployment insurance, Wolf, and two, that it doesn't do anything about job creation.

We should also point out that Minority Leader Pelosi credited former Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy, an Iraq war veteran, with having taught her the expression "embrace the suck" from his time in Iraq. And she says when it comes to that experience in Iraq versus voting for this bill, it's not even a comparison about which one sucks worse. Although --

(LAUGHTER)

-- although, she did not use the term.

BLITZER: She confirmed she had said it?

TAPPER: She absolutely said "embrace the suck." She just wouldn't say it on camera.

BLITZER: The unemployment benefits, that more than a million people.

TAPPER: 1.3, yeah.

BLITZER: Yeah, 1.3 million. They were getting unemployment benefits for, what, 26 weeks. Unless it's approved, they're not going to get more money.

TAPPER: Pelosi said she's going to continue to fight for that. Although, Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, the Democratic leader there in the Senate, he said they're not taking that up until January. So even if Pelosi wants it, her fellow Democrat in the Senate is not onboard with it immediately.

BLITZER: It's separate legislation?

TAPPER: Yeah.

BLITZER: Jake will have a lot more, the whole interview, in fact, at 4:00 p.m. eastern on "The Lead" later today.

We look forward to that.

TAPPER: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Child porn investigators have arrested a key Senate aide. He's due in court today. Meanwhile, we'll tell you what his boss is saying about the aide's alleged indiscretions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: An aide to a key Republican Senator is facing charges related to child pornography. Ryan Loskarn was chief of staff for the Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander until his arrest yesterday. He was due in court today.

Our own Chris Lawrence is outside the courthouse for us.

Chris, what are the charges?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Basically, Wolf, it comes down to two things, possessing child pornography and attempting to distribute it. And this is not just images of naked children, Wolf. We're getting some new information from that criminal complaint filed against him. These are basically videos, hundreds of videos, the complaints says, of adults having sex, raping very young children, girls and boys, that were found on the hard drive of what prosecutors are saying belonged to Ryan Loskarn.

Basically, back in October, they saw on a file sharing site that some of these videos were being downloaded. They then went in and downloaded about 99 percent of those videos to verify what it was, traced it back to his I.P. address. And then yesterday, agents came to his house, announced themselves. When no one responded, they used a battering ram to smash their way in. When they got inside, one of the agents outside, according to the complaint, saw a man in the window trying to drop something out of the window. That was later found to be a hard drive, which is one of the prime pieces of evidence.

As you said, he had worked on Capitol Hill as the chief of staff to Lamar Alexander, but no longer. Lamar Alexander fired him, basically saying in a statement, "I am stunned, surprised, and disappointed by what I have learned. The courts will judge Mr. Loskarn's guilt or innocence, but under these circumstances, he cannot continue to fulfill his duties as chief of staff."

So, again, fired after about 13 years on Capitol Hill working for a number of prominent Republicans, not only Lamar Alexander, but Senator Jon Kyl and Marsha Blackburn as well -- Wolf?

BLITZER: I think they confirmed this, Chris. People are stunned all over Capitol Hill. He was relatively well known.

LAWRENCE: Very well known. Again, for the past 13 years, had worked for a lot of prominent Republicans. Had worked on a lot of legislative issues. And very horrifying crimes of which he has been accused. Not convicted, but accused.

BLITZER: Chris Lawrence watching the story for us. What a horrible story it is.

Thank you very much.

I'll be back 5:00 p.m. eastern in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

NEWSROOM continues right now with Brooke Baldwin.