Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Gabrielle Giffords Moved to Rehabilitation Facility; President Obama Announces New Job Council; Extreme Parenting; Former Haitian Dictator Set to Speak Out; World Famous Pianist Struggles With Arthritis; a number of reputed mob bosses arrested in FBI bust; new CNN special focuses on child Sex Trafficking in America; MTV Show "Skins" Draws Controversy; Michele Bachmann to Deliver Tea Party Response to SOTU
Aired January 21, 2011 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Ali.
A lot is happening this hour.
This is the hospital in Houston where Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords has just arrived for treatment at that world-renowned rehab hospital. We expect a news conference while we're on the air. Our crew is there. And we will bring that to you live as soon as it happens.
Also, we are hearing that Baby Doc Duvalier may speak any moment in Port-au-Prince. You know he returned to Haiti from exile earlier this week and has yet to say anything to the people he once led. We have a crew there as well, and we will bring that to you when it happens.
And, also, live pictures now from Andrews Air Force Base. Any moment now, we will see President Obama returning from his trip to New York today. He announced a new council on jobs and competitiveness there today. It will be led by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt.
Congresswoman Giffords has arrived now in Houston, as we said. We watched these pictures feed within the past half-hour. You see the red medevac chopper. You're about to there. Inside that chopper, we believe, was Gabrielle Giffords on the way to the Texas medical center and its renowned brain injury center.
Late this morning, an emotional scene in Tucson, where people lined the streets to wave at the motorcade transporting Congresswoman Giffords from University Medical Center for her flight to House.
And live for us now from Houston is our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, set the scene for us there, if you will, now that the congresswoman has arrived.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. She left Tucson this morning. She arrived at Hobby, and then she was helicoptered here. And we learn -- you saw in that video -- that she has landed at Memorial Hermann Medical Center, a part of the University of Texas.
Now, you will notice that she landed at the main hospital there. They were -- there had been plans that she was going to go directly into rehab, but apparently they -- they changed that and said that she needs to go to the hospital first to get assessed.
They need to see how she did in the transport. They want to make sure she's not at any risk for infection or for swelling around her brain. Those are the two big things, Randi, that they're going to be looking out for -- Randi.
KAYE: And this is really where they're going to work on her brain. I have heard it referred to by some as brain boot camp. I mean, this is where they are going to -- going to gauge exactly how her brain is doing before the rehab, correct?
COHEN: That's right.
This will -- well, right now, actually, this is actually a little bit more basic, this first step. They want to make sure that she did well during the transport. They want to make sure there are no big medical issues out there looming. And when I spoke to one of the doctors yesterday, he was very frank about it.
He said there are some medical concerns we need to address. He wouldn't tell me what they were. But they just first want to make sure that she is serious, that she is truly stabilized. After that, they are going to do that brain boot camp thing you mentioned.
And that, you know, means -- depending upon where she is at right now, it may mean teaching her to walk again. It may mean teaching her to dress herself again. They don't know what her starting point is, but whatever it is, that's where they will begin and try to get her fully recovered -- Randi.
KAYE: So many are -- are so pleased with her progress, including her husband, who was actually tweeting about it today. But he has said that he actually expects her to -- to be walking in a couple of weeks, and, in a couple of months, maybe even walking into that hospital back in Arizona and saying thank you to -- to the staff that took care of her.
Are you surprised at all? I mean, this -- this -- this is just a matter of time, and here she is already being transferred to Houston.
COHEN: Right.
I think we need to think a little bit about why she's being transferred to Houston. The hospital she is in is actually very similar to the one in Arizona. You know, he explained that he wanted her transferred to be closer to him, closer to his work and closer to their children.
She really has made remarkable progress. Whether or not she will walk in two months, who knows? I mean, certainly, there have been patients with her type of injury, Randi, who have walked in two months. There are also patients where, you know, it's taken much longer; it's taken many months. There are also patients like her who haven't walked.
I asked one of the doctors, which category do you think she will fall into? And he said, look, I don't have a crystal ball. I wish I did. It would be useful. But he said, we just don't know.
KAYE: And she was actually lucky, from what I understand, because -- if -- if you want to call it that, because the -- the bullet actually exited -- entered and exited in the -- in what they call the left hemisphere of the brain, and it didn't cross the hemisphere. So -- so that could be why she's doing as well as she is?
COHEN: Right.
The fact that the bullet did not cross that midsection, that it entered and left in the same hemisphere, on the same side is really, really crucial, because, once a bullet or fragments of bullets cross to the other side, then you have disturbed many more structures of the brain, speech centers and emotional centers and other parts of the brain that are really quite crucial.
Again, there -- you know, I met up with a Miami policeman who had an injury so similar to hers, very similar, and he is now nearly fully recovered three years later. I mean, even a year later, he was walking, and he -- he -- his personality, he's able to talk just like before.
KAYE: Vice President Joe Biden was actually speaking today about some aneurysms that he had actually suffered from about 20 years ago, and he talked about his recovery and how his brain recovered over the years.
So, let's take a listen to that and then we will chat some more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I remember asking the doctor, thinking that I would never be in a -- able to function very well again. And, I said, this has happened to me. Why?
He said, I don't know why it's happened, but I can tell you from experience what we do know. We do know in X-percentage of the cases, it gets better. We don't know why it gets better.
And, as devastating as Gabby's injury is, it does not surprise me, believe it or not, that she's making the progress she's making.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: What do you make of that, Elizabeth?
COHEN: Now, I think maybe one of the reasons why Senator Biden is not surprised is because he knows her, and he knows how much of a fighter she is, and he knows that she has the will to get better. And I know that all sounds very Pollyannish, in a way, but really, Randi, that is so crucial. The will to get better, the will to fight, neurosurgeons tell me that it can be the difference between full recovery and no recovery.
KAYE: And her doctors are expected to speak today, actually during our program.
What can we expect to hear from them?
COHEN: We're hoping that they will tell us if she arrived doing well.
You know, of course, you know, flying halfway across the country, you know, things can happen. And, so, they're -- we're expecting that they're going to tell us how she did, how she -- how it went during that transport and also what their initial assessment is of her.
That's the first thing they're going to do is get in there, see if she has any major issues. And, hopefully, they will tell us what they found.
KAYE: All right, Elizabeth Cohen for us there, thank you so much.
And we will be sure to bring you that news conference and hear from Gabrielle Giffords' doctors as soon as that comes to us.
Today, we're getting a new glimpse of the man accused in the Tucson massacre. Six people died. Thirteen, including Congresswoman Giffords, were wounded. This videotape was shot about seven years ago. And that is young Jared Loughner playing the saxophone. The man who shot the footage is the father of one of Loughner's former classmates.
Now, this is Jared Loughner one year later, now a high school freshman, with his hair grown out, and still playing the sax. It's a far cry from the image that we all have come to know, the infamous mug shot of the 22-year-old alleged gunman. Loughner is due in court again Monday for another preliminary hearing.
Any minute now, the former dictator we all know as Baby Doc is expected to speak. We will take you live to Haiti next.
Also, remember this guy? He's in court. We will tell you why -- next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: We are expecting to see and hear from Baby Doc Duvalier any moment now, live from Haiti.
My colleague John Zarrella joins me from there now on the phone to discuss this.
John, he was exiled for 25 years. He's been back now for, what, five days, but no one has heard why. What are you hearing there on the ground today?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN MIAMI BUREAU CHIEF: We have been told right along that he would talk in due time. (AUDIO GAP) He has not until this point.
You know, we have absolutely no idea. I can tell you this, that it has been difficult today for him to find a place that would host him. The location has changed two or three times. We are now in the courtyard of a restaurant in a suburb of Port-au-Prince. And they're still setting up tables and chairs, literally on a bandstand here.
The media is all beginning to trickle in, so it still may be a while before we -- we see Jean-Claude Duvalier. We understand he's going to be accompanied at least by his attorneys. Don't know if his wife, Veronique, will be here, but we know he has apparently retained counsel from U.S. attorneys as well, Ed Marger. Bob Barr is another one of these attorneys that is also representing him.
They apparently met with him this morning at the residence where he is staying here in Port-au-Prince.
And you're right. This is the first time that anyone will hear from him --
KAYE: Mm-hmm.
ZARRELLA: -- hoping to get answers as to why he decided to come back at the -- what the timing is.
We know that yesterday, Randi, he actually went out to the cemetery where his father, Papa Doc, is -- is buried, spent a little time out at the cemetery. You know, and all this, of course, was after he left the hotel where he had been -- been staying since his return to -- to Haiti on Monday -- Randi.
KAYE: And as we wait to hear why he's actually come there, it's my understanding that he's actually stuck there, right? Does he have a passport to leave, even if he wanted to?
ZARRELLA: Well, he does have a passport.
In fact (AUDIO GAP) Haitian attorney showed it to me the other night. And it's a passport that he had renewed on December 23 (AUDIO GAP) the Haitian Consulate in France. So, does have a passport. It's conflicting information.
His attorneys have told us, oh, he's free to come and go, he could leave the country if he wanted. But then we hear that that's not the case, that he's not allowed to leave the country.
We know he has to be at least available when the courts want to hear from him.
KAYE: Mm-hmm.
ZARRELLA: But his Haitian attorney had told us that, at this point, there was no date set for his next court appearance. It could be a day, a week, two weeks. And it's -- it's very unclear as to when he will again have to make an appearance before the court here -- Randi.
KAYE: All right, John Zarrella for us on the ground in Port-au- Prince -- thank you, John.
And let's take a quick look at the other top stories this afternoon. President Obama is back in Washington after a quick trip to Upstate New York today. The president was visiting a General Electric plant in Schenectady and touting his plan to get Americans back to work. The trip comes on the same day the president announced that the CEO of GE, Jeffrey Immelt, will lead his new jobs council.
Get ready for more sticker shock at the pump. Gas prices keep going up. AAA says they have jumped 12 cents a gallon over the past month, and they are expected to climb even higher. According to the American Petroleum Institute, prices will keep rising until there's an increase in supply. Worldwide oil demand soared to a new record last year, but production lagged.
We have an update on the woman who reunited with her biological family after discovering she was stolen as a baby. The FBI is looking for the woman who allegedly raised Carlina White. This is a mug shot of Ann Pettway. "The New York Post" reports Pettway may be in North Carolina, where she's on probation until next year on an embezzlement conviction. For now, she's nowhere to be found.
And take a look at this. Remember this guy, Daniel Dale Goodwin, also known as Spider-Dan? He was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors back in September for successfully scaling a skyscraper in San Francisco. Goodwin is on trial and pleaded not guilty to trespassing and public nuisance charges. He told reporters he's making a statement about the need for better skyscraper safety and escape planning.
It has now been 30 years since President Reagan took office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD REAGAN, 40TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have only one thing to say to the tax-increasers: Go ahead, make my day.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: And Republican lawmakers are still trying to emulate him. We will tell you what they're doing -- next.
Also, if you're planning to going to the Bears/Packers playoff game this weekend, well, be prepared. As more snow falls in the Northeast, the Midwest is preparing for a deep freeze. We will have a check of the forecast coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: How far will you go to make your child perfect? Are you an extreme parent? The answer is different for every mom and dad.
So, CNN set out to find out more about "Extreme Parenting" across the country, including a California family going the extra mile to help their son pursue his dreams of becoming a professional quarterback.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEVE CLARKSON, ELITE QUARTERBACK COACH: Let her rip. Let her rip. Come on, bounce and throw.
LUKE FALK, HIGH SCHOOL QUARTERBACK: I'm Luke Falk, and I'm a high school quarterback.
CLARKSON: Come on.
Hi. I'm Steve Clarkson, and I'm the quarterback maker.
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): NFL quarterbacks like the Pittsburgh Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger, the Kansas City Chiefs' Matt Cassel, and Heisman Trophy winner Matt Leinart.
CLARKSON: Fire and go.
GUTIERREZ: Clarkson's newest latest client, 16-year-old high school sophomore Luke Falk.
(on camera): He has a certain skill set. What is that?
CLARKSON: Well, obviously, he -- his skill set is, he has got the mental aptitude, but he's physically gifted. He's a 6'3'', 6'4'' kid. He weighs 210 pounds. He's got a nice strong arm.
GUTIERREZ: Hey, Luke. Heard a lot of about you.
L. FALK: Good stuff?
GUTIERREZ: All good stuff.
(voice-over): Clarkson, a former college quarterback who did a short stint with the Denver Broncos, has been coaching promising young quarterbacks for more than a decade.
CLARKSON: Boom.
GUTIERREZ: He was recently hired by Luke's parents to take their son to the top.
ANALEE FALK, MOTHER OF LUKE FALK: Most people don't do this, but, you know, Mike and I are the kind of parents that say, you can't take your money with you when you die. What better place than to put your money and your time and effort?
CLARKSON: Let's go.
GUTIERREZ: Clarkson will tell you the making of a quarterback doesn't come cheap.
(on camera): We're talking about a pretty major investment, $7,500 a season?
CLARKSON: Easily.
GUTIERREZ: More than that?
CLARKSON: It could go quite more than that.
GUTIERREZ: Up to what?
CLARKSON: I have had -- I have had kids into the -- well into the six figures.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Extreme parenting? The Falks say financially, perhaps. But they emphasize it's their son's dream they're supporting, not their own.
(on camera): We're doing this story because it's an extreme parenting story --
L. FALK: Uh-huh.
GUTIERREZ: .. the fact that your parents are putting so much in into turning you into a quarterback.
L. FALK: Right.
GUTIERREZ: What does that -- I mean, isn't that a lot of pressure?
L. FALK: You know, I don't -- I don't look at it as pressure. I just look at it as like a blessing, because this is my dream. I feel like I'm here on Earth to play football. And I'm just like happy I have parents that support that.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Since his parents can afford it, they say it's an investment.
MIKE FALK, FATHER OF LUKE FALK: Any investment, you have got to look at the return. Maybe the best way to say is, what does a scholarship cost for college these days? Two hundred grand, three hundred grand, three-hundred and fifty grand? What kind of return is that? And I can tell you, it's a fabulous return as an investor.
GUTIERREZ: The Falks moved from Utah to California so that their daughters, both songwriters, could be close to the music business --
CLARKSON: Boom.
GUTIERREZ: -- so Luke could be closer to Steve Clarkson.
(on camera): Steve is a good coach?
L. FALK: Steve is an awesome coach.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Luke has been playing football since he was 7. He says he was born to be a quarterback.
(on camera): You say that you have already charted out your course. You're a sophomore now.
L. FALK: Mm-hmm.
GUTIERREZ: You want to go to Stanford, you said. And then after that you want to go to the NFL.
L. FALK: NFL, that's where I want to be. That's my dream. I want to play for the Denver Broncos. I -- I was born into a Bronco family, and, you know, I think it would be great to wear a Bronco uniform.
GUTIERREZ: How far do you think he has the capacity to go?
CLARKSON: Oh, he can play on Sunday.
GUTIERREZ: You think that it's possible that we will read about Luke in the years to come?
CLARKSON: Not possible; you will.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Have you heard about this? House Republicans now are pushing a plan to slash government spending by $2.5 trillion. Perhaps it wasn't coincidental they floated their 10-year package on the 30th anniversary of this famous address.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, JANUARY 20, 1981)
REAGAN: It is time to reawaken this industrial giant, to get government back within its means, and to lighten our punitive tax burden. And these will be our first priorities. And, on these principles, there will be no compromise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: That was President Ronald Reagan, his first inaugural, January 20, 1981.
Jessica Yellin is in Washington.
And Ronald Reagan seems very much in vogue in the newly Republican House. Would that be accurate, Jessica?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Randi.
Yes, definitely. Former President Reagan is a hero in the Tea Party movement. His message, that Washington should aim to shrink government, lower taxes, generally view America as unique and exceptional, with our best days ahead, Tea Party activists tell me all the time that inspires them -- Randi.
KAYE: Jessica, let's listen again to Ronald Reagan from his first inaugural 30 years ago yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, JANUARY 20, 1981)
REAGAN: We have piled deficit upon deficit, mortgaging our future and our children's future for the temporary convenience of the present.
To continue this long trend is to guarantee tremendous social, cultural, political and economic upheavals. You and I, as individuals, can, by borrowing, live beyond our means, but only for a limited period of time.
Why, then, should we think that, collectively, as a nation, we are not bound by that same limitation?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: So, like the new House Republicans, Ronald Reagan entered office determined to put the government's books in order. Are they dusting off the Reagan playbook, Jessica?
YELLIN: Oh --
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: -- good question. In theory, yes, but the Reagan playbook didn't always get the results Reagan or the Tea Party politicians now say they want.
So, remember, Reagan is a hero among certain conservatives because he cut taxes, but the national debt and the national deficit skyrocketed under his watch.
We have a graphic. This is the national debt under Ronald Reagan. It grew from less than $1 trillion when he took office to more than $2.5 trillion when he left. There are lots of reasons why. Some blame it entirely on Congress.
But, remember, Reagan fought to increase defense spending, and, under his watch, borrowing to cover the deficit also spiked. And deficit hawks would not like to repeat that -- Randi.
KAYE: And one of the many books about Reagan is Lou Cannon's "The Role of a Lifetime."
YELLIN: Yes.
KAYE: And the White House tells us that President Obama actually took it along to read on his last vacation.
YELLIN: Yes.
KAYE: So, does this mean that even President Obama is studying up on -- on Reagan?
YELLIN: Well, you know, that isn't even new, because, remember, during the 2008 campaign, then-candidate Obama bestowed high praise on Reagan. He said that Reagan changed the trajectory of America.
And, you know, think about the similarities. Reagan tried to be a post-partisan president in his own way, remember, wooing all those Reagan Democrats. Reagan promised to fundamentally change government, in his case by shrinking it. Candidate Obama vowed to rethink the way Washington works.
Like President Obama, Reagan inherited an -- economic and foreign policy crises, saw his poll numbers plummet, then came back to win a second term -- plenty of reasons that President Obama would like to emulate certain things about Ronald Reagan's history.
(CROSSTALK)
KAYE: All right, Jessica Yellin for us today, thank you. Happy Friday.
YELLIN: You, too.
(LAUGHTER)
KAYE: From mob names like "Tony Bagels" and "Vito Love" to new details on the murder that apparently stemmed from a spilled drink. We're learning much more today about yesterday's arrest of alleged mafia members. That is straight ahead.
And we're looking at the weekend snow forecast for parts the country.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Well, a word of warning to Green Bay and Chicago football fans. Temperatures for this weekend's playoff game will be in the deep freeze zone.
Meteorologist Karen Maginnis joins us.
And, Karen, just how cold are we talking here?
(LAUGHTER)
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I said to our producer, there Gates be goose bump on goose bumps.
KAYE: Oh, my.
MAGINNIS: It's going to be so cold. And it's actually going to be a little warmer than what it's been. I just spoke with a newsroom manager. She is at KDLH in Fargo, North Dakota. Fargo? No. She's in Duluth , actually.
(LAUGHTER)
MAGINNIS: I just checked the weather in Duluth. And she said she came in this morning, and people were running outside still in this bitterly cold air, double-digit-below-zero-degree temperatures.
And look at these readings that we have outside right now, Chicago seven. Cedar Rapids is zero. is Minneapolis two. And Fargo has warmed up to minus-seven degrees.
Well, it felt very cold this morning, but these are not the wind- chill factors. This is the actual outside air temperature this morning, International Falls, minus-46 degrees. That was an all-time record.
As we head towards the weekend, a lot going on here. A little clipper system is going to move across the northern tier. And, after that, for Fargo, International Falls, and for Minneapolis, your temperatures by about midweek are going to be substantially warmer, meaning you will be in the double digits -- double digits, maybe teens, maybe around 20 degrees.
(LAUGHTER)
MAGINNIS: That's going to be significantly warmer than what you have been seeing as of late.
All right, let's show you what it feels like outside. Duluth -- and my new friend, the newsroom manager at KDLH, minus-18 degrees, she said: We feel pretty hearty here when we can withstand temperatures that are so bitterly cold.
And they said even some of the schools across the Upper Midwest, Randi, they were closed today, because even it's too cold in the Upper Midwest today.
KAYE: I'm sure. Those kids are home under their covers.
(LAUGHTER)
KAYE: Thank you, Karen.
(LAUGHTER)
MAGINNIS: OK.
KAYE: They had names like Tony Bagels and Vito Love. Some were even in their 80s. We're learning much mover today about the men rounded up in yesterday's arrest of alleged mob members. We will have more on that next.
Also, companies are pulling their commercials and parents groups are outraged, but is MTV's new show "Skins" really that much worse than other shows that target young people? We will take a much closer look coming up.
But, first, each week in our "Human Factor" series, we introduce you to someone who has overcome a major obstacle -- this week, a concert pianist battling arthritis. It threatened his joints and nearly derailed his career.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Byron Janis has a rare gift.
(MUSIC)
GUPTA: He has played the classics, from Chopin to Rachmaninoff, to crowds at Carnegie Hall and for U.S. presidents.
(MUSIC)
GUPTA: Yet, for most of his career, he's been tormented by wrenching pain.
BYRON JANIS, PIANIST: It started with a little patch of red on this finger inside, but it was very painful.
GUPTA: It was 1973, the height of his career. Janis was diagnosed with crippling arthritis.
JANIS: At first, I just ignored it. Pain I couldn't ignore, but I ignored the idea that I had an impediment.
GUPTA: Simply not thinking about the pain is what Janis said helped him to continue playing, to overcome his pain.
JANIS: I learned then about the power of the mind and I said, no, I'm going to keep playing the piano.
GUPTA: But continuing had consequences.
JANIS: This thumb was operated on and shortened. Then I had five more operations on my hand.
GUPTA: Janis hid his condition, but eventually it became too much to bear. At a White House event in 1984, Janis finally revealed everything.
JANIS: The disease is still with me. I have it, but it does not have me.
GUPTA: The moment was at first cathartic, but then Janis became did depressed. For a year he refused to play. Janis' wife, whose father is the actor Gary Cooper, asked him to compose a piece for a documentary about his father. It was that piece that brought him back.
JANIS: I went back to playing. I can still play, and this is what I want to show people. I have been playing with this all my life.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: A tangle of wire taps and wired men, tools lawmen used in the biggest single day FBI operation against the mafia. They busted more than 100 suspected made men, reputed mob bosses and union leaders with alleged ties to La Cosa Nostra.
We've been combing through the indictments in this massive takedown, and they are peppered with nicknames right out of central casing for a Martin Scorsese movie. Check these out, Tony "Bagels," Johnny "Pizza," "Burger," "Meatball, "Jello," kind of makes you hungry, "Junior," "Lollipops" and "Jack the Whack." And a few that inspired some chuckles when we actually read them out loud -- Vito "Love," "Baby Fat" Larry. Where do they come up with this stuff?
But the crimes alleged in the indictments are of course no laughing matter. Drug trafficking, loan sharking, arson, and murder, including one we mentioned yesterday, the killings of two bar owners in 1981 over a drink that was accidentally spilled on a woman's dress. Tim White is an investigative reporter with WPRI TV in Providence, Rhode Island. Tim, it's good to see you and happy to talk about this with you. You've been reporting on mob cases and mobsters for quite some time. How big would you say this FBI roundup is?
TIM WHITE, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, WPRI TV: Well, Randi, in New England, it's massive, to say the least. We only had two arrests in this area in this entire sweep, but one of them was big-time. It was a guy by the name of Luigi Manocchio, the reputed former head of the New England crime family.
I can tell you law enforcement in this area has been trying to track this guy down for some time, specifically to this case -- we became aware that the FBI and the organized crime task force in this region was on him back in about 2008. They were trying to connect him to some protection payments coming out of a local strip club. And ultimately they were successful in doing that. We knew this was going on because there were some high-profile raids at that strip club. And eventually he was brought up in the indictment. So we've been waiting for this bust for quite some time.
KAYE: And authorities are saying that they used a lot of wiretaps in their investigations. They say that they overheard one suspect actually discussing his plans for a person who had failed to pay a gambling debt. Look at this quote. "I guarantee you he needs his hands to work. He ain't working no more for a while."
But the feds, Tim, also relied on other mobsters. Are many of the alleged mobsters arrested yesterday do you think will follow suit and turn into snitches?
WHITE: That's the million-dollar question. Certainly bringing down a guy who's been as difficult to bring down for so long like Mr. Manocchio is certainly going to send shock waves through the organized crime family.
I think Randi, it's interesting to note that the day before this bust happened a reputed capo regime, a guy by the name of Anthony "The Saint" made a plea agreement, and in that plea agreement he stipulated that not only was he a made member of the crime family here, which you can imagine is extremely rare, he was willing to identify Manocchio as the reputed former boss of the crime family.
I asked our U.S. attorney here, are these things connected? They didn't want to comment on that, but it's safe to say it doesn't hurt the prosecution's chances to have a notorious, well-known, reputed mobster be willing to say, hey, that guy is the former boss around here. So it will be interesting to see how many others they can get to flip. If we start seeing more ranking members of organized crime from New England go down, then certainly the impact is going to be broad.
KAYE: It is an interesting story. We will continue to follow it. Tim white from WPRI, thank you very much.
Up next, has MTV gone too far with its new show "Skins." Some are calling it borderline child pornography. We'll take a closer look, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: MTV has a new hit and another controversy. Its new show "Skins" has a parents group calling for an investigation and Taco Bell pulling its ads after just one episode. That's what is trending today. Before we go any further now, here is a clip of the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey nips.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop calling me nips, stupid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a funny name. I see nipples. Gosh, golly, yours are hilarious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My nipples aren't funny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get used to it, kid. You promised to help out Stanley today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You remember, the virgin thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No, you are not serious.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. He's got to, and I nominated you to, you know, help out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do I have to?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nips, you promised. Stay there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Yes, you can see why it's raising eyebrows. Melissa Henson is with the Parents Television Council, the group calling into an investigation into the MTV show. Melissa, good to have you with us. "Skins" deals with sex and drugs, but a lot of shows deal with teen sex and teen drug use. So what do you think is so wrong about this that it actually needs to be investigated?
MELISSA HENSON, PARENTS TELEVISION COUNCIL: Well, that inquiry or suggestion that there needs to be an inquiry really stems from an article that ran in the "New York Times" yesterday that indicated that there were internal discussions being held at Viacom about whether they were potentially running afoul of federal child pornography laws with upcoming episodes in suggesting that cuts had to be made.
So if they're having those conversations internally at Viacom, that tells me they've already gone too far, that it should even be a concern that they might potentially be in violation of the law means they've done too much already.
KAYE: Let me share a brief rundown ever the first six minutes of the first episode. Two minutes in you see your first image of bare skin, five minutes in you get the first sex talk, six minutes in you get your first teen sex scene. Here it is, two kids in a tent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm busy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since when are you ever busy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Busy, busy. Remember?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Overbite.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, took her camping like you said. Thanks for the tip, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, give her a big hello for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Now, some say this isn't any worse than what we already see on teen shows like "Gossip Girl" or there's also MTV's "Teen Moms" and "Real World." But you're claiming MTV may be violating child porn laws with "Skins." On what grounds? HENSON: Again, that is based on the report in the "New York Times" yesterday that Viacom is having internal discussions about whether content had to be cut from upcoming episodes that might potentially run afoul of federal child pornography and exploitation --
KAYE: Your group hasn't found any specifics yet?
HENSON: No. And it could be that it's material that has been cut out or excised from upcoming episodes or material that could be on the cutting room floor. That's what we're asking them to look at. It's based on the report in the "New York Times."
But I think what makes this show so different from other shows like "Gossip Girl" or "Glee" or many of the other show that's people think of when they think about sexy high school shows is these are not adult actors pretending to be high school kids. These actors and actresses are under the age of 19 for the most part, between the ages of 15 and 19, many of them under the age of 18.
KAYE: Right. And it is scripted, and you're right. The youngest actor is 15.
I guess, though, a lot of people might say, couldn't this be a good tool for parents to sit with their children and either maybe watch it separately and then come together and discuss it or maybe watch it together if the teenager is willing do that? Couldn't there be something positive to come out of this?
HENSON: This is no after-school special. There is nothing -- from what I've seen of it, nothing remotely redeeming about this show. It is a dark and disturbing view of adolescence. And it may be realistic to the experience of some teenagers in America, but it's certainly not typical for most American teens.
What they're showing is not -- is reckless behavior, sometimes even illegal behavior. They're showing using narcotics, underage drinking and engaging in other reckless and irresponsible behavior, behavior that if it were imitated in real life would have real world consequences. But on the show there are no consequences.
KAYE: MTV released a statement about the show. In part it reads, "Skins" is a show that addressed real world issues confronting teens in a frank way. We review all of our shows and work with all of our producers on an ongoing basis to ensure our shows comply with laws and community standards." What is your response to that statement from MTV?
HENSON: It is I think just laughable that they're trying to defend this show when there's really nothing defensible about it. As I said, they don't show consequences for the behavior. And if kids were to emulate what they see on this show, there would be real life consequences, whether it's contracting an STD or falling pregnant as a teenager, whether it would be getting arrested for buying or possessing illegal narcotics. There are real world consequences that are totally absent on this show.
KAYE: All right, Melissa Henson with the parents television council, thank you for your thoughts on that today.
HENSON: Thank you.
KAYE: So a guy walks into a convenience store, pulls out a gun and threatens to kill the clerk. What he doesn't anticipate is her fighting back. Wait until you see this video.
Also, we'll take you inside a famous and legal brothel in the U.S. It's all part of a CNN investigation into the illegal trafficking of underage girls in America. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: You might not think, given the huge number of prostitution ads plastering the web all over America, but the oldest profession is illegal in America with the exception of a few rural counties in Nevada. CNN's Amber Lyon has spent a year of illegal trafficking of underage girls in America, a brutal trade affecting up to 300,000 American children.
As part of that, she went to America's most famous legal brothel, the Moonlight Bunny Ranch. The women who work there do so freely and make a lot of money. But as Amber Lyon discovered, many are still haunted by their past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENNIS HOF, MOONLITE BUNNY RANCH: There's a lot of sexual trafficking going on in Las Vegas.
AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Dennis Hof, he's been called America's "Pimp Master General," but he considers himself a businessman.
HOF: Hey, I love it!
LYON: And what he does is legal.
HOF: I have a show on HBO.
LYON: Hof is the owner of the most famous legal brothel in America, the Moonlite Bunny Ranch. It's the setting for HBO's long running reality series "Cat House".
HOF: People love the sex business and I love being a part of it.
LYON: What he doesn't love are pimps.
LYON (on camera): Do you think pimps just suck?
HOF: Pimps are the worst leeches in the world. It's in Birmingham. It's Charleston. It's everywhere. It's everywhere in America there are pimps that are trying to grab the life of young girls and take them away from their families.
LYON: And what types of money are pimps pulling in? HOF: Oh, tens of thousands of dollars a week.
LYON: A week.
HOF: Oh, yes, absolutely.
LYON: What is it with underage girls? Do pimps make more money offer of them? Why are there so many underage girls?
