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Scandal in College Sports; 'Catastrophic' School Plot; Fullerton Police Force Accused of Brutality; Pope to Visit Madrid, Spain; Medical Society Adopts Definition of Addition as Disease; Chris Christie Urged by Some Republicans to Enter Presidential Race

Aired August 17, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: This story I am about to share with you could turn out to be the biggest scandal in the history of college sports. It's unfolding right now at the University of Miami.

Sure, of course the world is no stranger to sports scandals. Powerhouse programs like Ohio State, Southern Cal, Auburn are some of the most recent to receive black eyes for various NCAA rules violations or other investigations.

Well, this latest investigation by one journalist is filled with extraordinary allegations. Yahoo! Sports reports that Miami Hurricane coaches and players broke NCAA rules for eight years between 2002 and 2010.

During 100 hours of interviews with investigative journalist Charles Robinson, former booster Nevin Shapiro spilled the goods. He told Robinson that he gave lavish gifts to 72 current and former Hurricane players and recruits.

The alleged gifts are shocking -- hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, prostitutes, cars, rides on his yacht, paid trips, and even jewelry. Shapiro also tells Yahoo! Sports that he offered bounties for injuring opposing players.

And it gets even worse. Listen to this. Shapiro, the booster, says in one case he paid for an abortion for a woman who claims a Miami Hurricane player got her pregnant.

Charles Robinson spent 11 months investigating Shapiro's allegations. He also audited thousands of pages of financial and business records to examine his claims.

Here is what you should know about Nevin Shapiro. He was convicted for his role in a $900 million Ponzi scheme. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June.

He first made his allegations about a year ago. Among other things, he says six Miami coaches were aware of his activities. And he said that he did it because, nobody stepped in to stop me.

We reached out to Miami for reaction, and here is what they told us. "The University of Miami takes any allegations seriously, and we will continue to cooperate fully in a joint investigation with the NCAA."

The Miami Hurricanes' new football coach, Al Golden, who was hired last December, says he and his team are disappointed in the allegations but see the scandal as a life lesson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL GOLDEN, MIAMI FOOTBALL COACH: We have to make sure that we prevent that from going forward. So how do you do that? Well, you do that by getting to the facts. You know, by getting to the truth.

And how did this guy, if he did, how did he get around our players like that? So I know, me, as a head coach, I want to know. And I know our assistant coaches want to know, because we want to make sure it never happens again. It shouldn't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: A short while ago, we received a statement from the president of the NCAA, Mark Emmert. It says -- and I'm quoting here -- "If the assertions are true, the alleged conduct at the University of Miami is an illustration of the need for serious and fundamental change in many critical aspects of college sports. This pertains especially to the involvement of boosters and agents with student athletes. While many are hearing about this case for the first time, the NCAA has been investigating the matter for five months."

Emmert also says, "The serious threats to the integrity of college sports are one of the key reasons why I called more than 50 presidents and chancellors last week to drive substantive changes to Division I intercollegiate athletics."

Now, Nevin Shapiro's attorney, Maria Elena Perez, joins us on the phone, along with the reporter who broke this, the investigative reporter, Charles Robinson.

Charles, let me start with you here. You had spent quite a bit of time with Nevin Shapiro. What is your impression of him, and why do you think he is speaking out now?

CHARLES ROBINSON, YAHOO! SPORTS WRITER: Well, my impression of him is, despite the fact that he's obviously had a legal situation that's been very high profile -- I mean, there's been a lot of talk about the fact that he's been sentenced to 20 years in prison for a Ponzi case -- he is a credible individual because he has documentation to back up some of his actions in the Miami program. So, just from that standpoint, I do find him to be credible.

As far as why he's coming out now, I think it's a number of issues. I think part of it is, early on in the process, he could only talk to the federal government. He had to deal with his case, had to prepare for his sentencing.

KAYE: I mean, my questions is, is who dropped the ball here? I mean, we're talking about eight years. How could this have gone unnoticed? Did you get any inkling as to how this happened? ROBINSON: Well, it's up for debate. Miami is not really saying how it could go unnoticed, but there were certainly moments in time -- and Nevin Shapiro is first to point those out -- the moments in time when this should have been noticed, and one of those is the head of compliance at Miami, someone who is supposed to run things there and make sure everything is above board.

Nevin Shapiro attempted to fight him in a press box in the full view of multiple individuals. And then, after that occurred, you know, Nevin -- and it was a very public display -- Nevin was allowed to continue in his actions unabated for two more years after this incident took place.

So there have been multiple incidents where at least Nevin Shapiro thought the university could have been on to some of the things he was doing with athletes. But, for whatever reason -- and I think he believes it was financial -- they never felt compelled to step in and stop him.

KAYE: Charles, stay with us.

I want to bring in Maria Perez.

Maria, you are Nevin Shapiro's attorney. Is there anything that he hopes to gain by coming out with these allegations?

MARIA ELENA PEREZ, ATTORNEY FOR NEVIN SHAPIRO: Yes. Good afternoon. Maria Elena Perez. Yes, I do represent Mr. Shapiro.

And I would like to extend my hellos to Charles Robinson, who I love dearly. And I think he's an amazing writer, and he has done an incredible job, better than anyone that came my way. That's why we gave him the story, because he has really spent 11 months of just going over every paper, every inch, every phone record to make sure that everything that went on paper was credible.

So, back to your question, is what do I think he hopes to gain out of this? Well, I think, primarily, Nevin really did not seek to gain anything out of this.

I think when Nevin was approached in April of 2010 by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey, they asked him to cooperate and come clean about what he did in his case and what other things he had done with his money, which was actually investor money. And that's when all of these matters regarding his relationship with the University of Miami and his financial relationship with the players came to be.

It was basically, he was put in a situation where he was not going to lie or embellish or misrepresent what had happened. So, clearly, the federal government obviously dealt with what they were most concerned with, and the issue with the University of Miami took second place.

But then it came, the issue for the bankruptcy trustees, because the bankruptcy trustees are the ones that were responsible for collecting all of the investor funds. And then when the bankruptcy trustees' investigation opened up, they're the ones that had to approach the university and ask them to refund the money that had been given to them by capital.

So, really, what Nevin hopes to gain from all of this is, number one, to be truthful with the government so that he could accept some responsibility for coming forward and accepting his actions and doing his time. And the second thing he hoped to obtain from this is honestly, just to come clean and to have legislation come out of this, to have --

KAYE: Right.

PEREZ: -- this in some way be prevented from happening in the future.

KAYE: Let me get back to Charles here for just a second.

Charles, how serious is this? What type of steps might the NCAA take to punish the university?

ROBINSON: Well, a lot of that is going to depend on the NCAA's investigation, which frankly the NCAA is notorious for lacking transparency in their investigation. But it's a very fragile time right now, I think, in college football.

As you said, Mark Emmert, the president of the NCAA, has come out and said, "We take these matters very seriously. Amateurism is very important to us."

And I think that right now, the NCAA, when you lay out all of the allegations, when you lay out all the individuals involved, and the fact that many of them have now spread out across the country, I think you're looking at an NCAA investigation that will probably be one of the most expensive in the history of that association.

As far as the sanctions, you know, we won't know until the end. But I think the allegations that are laid out are probably as serious as anything we've seen. And I think you probably have to go back 25 years to Southern Methodist University, when that school received the death penalty for some sort of similar violation.

KAYE: I mean, based on your investigation, we're talking about dozens of players, coaches involved as well. The allegations are really something. I mean, certainly nothing that we've seen before.

Is there a chance, do you think, from what you know in all of your time that you've spent investigating this, that this program at Miami could be shut down?

ROBINSON: I don't think the NCAA -- I don't think it ever wants to invoke the death penalty again, because when it used the death penalty on SMU, it really damaged the city of Dallas, it damaged an institution. It destroyed a very powerful conference.

And for decades, you know, that region of the country felt ramifications of what happened to SMU. So I don't think that's something that the NCAA -- it doesn't take it lightly. It's only been used once, and seeing the fallout of that makes me believe that even with what Nevin Shapiro is alleging and what can be proven, it's hard to believe the NCAA really wants to step out and possibly entertain giving the death penalty to another football program.

KAYE: And Maria, let me get back to you now. I mean, if Nevin Shapiro is such a huge fan of the Miami Hurricanes, and loves the team so much, does he realize the damage that these allegations could do?

PEREZ: I believe that he does realize this. And it's my understanding that Nevin does not want the school to get the death penalty. And based on what my understanding of what the NCAA intended was not to so much give the school the death penalty, but basically to give everyone an opportunity to come forward, admit their wrongdoing, be sanctioned, and then fix it and correct it so it never happens again. That's what, I believe, the NCAA wants to do, and I know that's what my client wants.

My client doesn't want the school to be shut down. My client wants there to be some sort of legislation or rules in place so that boosters like him cannot do this again, to protect the integrity of the school, of the schools and of college sports, period.

And I would ask the university at this time -- my request to them and to the players is to remember the children and the youth that look up to them, and to think of them when they're approached and when they're asked to be truthful and to be forthcoming. And to set an example so that the children can see that people make mistakes, but if you're truthful and you're honest, (INAUDIBLE).

And they should set an example and they should not just be in this situation of denial, which is the position that the University of Miami is taking since they first learned this back probably 11 months ago, when they first heard that Mr. Shapiro was going to write a book. They reached out to me and they just pretty much wanted to know what was going on. But they did not make any real efforts to find out what was going on or investigate this themselves.

KAYE: Right.

Charles, I want to ask you, did you get any response from Nevin Shapiro about why he continued to do this? I mean, this went on for eight years. You look at what he says he did. Why did he do it?

ROBINSON: Well, you know, frankly, I think he was a little bit cavalier during this time in his life. And he said, "I did it because I could and because no one stepped up to stop me."

And you have to understand, Nevin Shapiro is a mixed bag as a human being. I mean, there's a lot of different parts of Nevin Shapiro, and it's good and bad. And you hear a lot of different opinions about him. And slices of all those opinions, you can probably find parts of his life that fit those opinions.

But I think Nevin Shapiro loved that program. I think he really -- I believe he really did love a lot of those players that he dealt with. And I think that he did it because he felt like it was something that, you know, would not be stopped, it would not be discovered. And frankly, I don't think he saw the harm in it to showing guys a good time and doling out benefits that he thought they deserved anyway because they're producing millions of dollars playing football for the University of Miami.

KAYE: Well, one of the instances though that he told you about where he paid for an abortion for one of the women who says one of the Hurricane players had gotten her pregnant, I mean, did he really think that was OK?

ROBINSON: Well, you know, that's definitely one of the more outlandish instances of Nevin taking care of something for a player. And in his mind, he thinks that was the right thing to do. You know, that's between Nevin , that's between the young woman who was involved, and really, the player who was involved.

KAYE: Right. And I don't want -- I don't want you to name any names, but I know that you have spoken to some of the players and they've corroborated this. They say -- at least one of them said that, yes, this indeed go on.

ROBINSON: Oh, yes. No, we've talked to multiple players who have told us, yes, Nevin Shapiro -- multiple different things.

We talked about prostitution, money, a lot of the different benefits that Nevin Shapiro provided. Many players who took those benefits admitted to us, they didn't want their name attached to it, but said yes, Nevin Shapiro is telling the truth, these things did happen.

KAYE: Well, it's an incredible investigation. We're very curious to see where it goes. But fantastic reporting, Charles Robinson. Well done.

And Maria Perez, thank you as well for your time today.

Thank you both.

An attack scheduled to take place on the first day of school could have been a catastrophic event. How police put the brakes on a plan to kill dozens of students and faculty. We'll have the details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: A 17-year-old former student is in custody, accused of bombing a Tampa high school on the first day of class next Tuesday. Police say they found explosive materials and a written minute-by- minute plan of attack to kill about 30 students and two administrators.

David Mattingly joins us now with much more on this.

So what is the latest? This is so disturbing. DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Everyone right now associated with this school thinking about what could have been and thinking how lucky they are that someone, some unknown person right now came forward and talked to the police and told them what this kid was thinking.

And when they went to his house, to 17-year-old Jared Cano's, what they found was bomb-making materials. They said fuel, timers, shrapnel. They also found a manifesto where he laid out in detail, hour by hour, how he was going to go to his old high school and he was going to carry out this attack starting at 5:00 in the morning, Randi.

And what he was doing, he was laying out who he was going to attack. He was targeting two particular administrators at the school. And police say that when they went and searched, they didn't find any firearms at his room when they went to search, but they are saying that there was a lot of potential here for a lot of harm to be done.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF JANE CASTOR, TAMPA POLICE: It had specific targets, who were two individuals at the -- in the administration of Freedom High School. Those individuals are aware that they were listed as targets.

And then also, his intent to take the lives of approximately 30 students at Freedom High School on that morning. And it goes minute by minute, what he intended to do, starting at 5:00 a.m. in the morning, and then going through the day, where he intended to put these destructive devices and particular layouts of the school drawn, that type of information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: And one of the big sources of relief here, the police say they believe there's no reason to believe, they say, that anybody else was involved. It was just this one 17-year-old.

KAYE: You hear about what they gathered, and the fact that he had a minute-by-minute plan and a layout of the school. Did they find anything about a motive, why he wanted to do this?

MATTINGLY: No, but they do know that he's had trouble with the law for quite some time. He was very familiar to police as a juvenile offender.

We looked at his record. There's grand theft auto, grand theft firearm. In fact, he was expelled from school last March.

This was about the same time that police arrested him for carrying a concealed weapon that he had stolen. And this was all as a juvenile.

So when they found out, they got the tip that some student was planning something, they went to the school administrator and said it could be this guy. And they immediately were able to put a name. They went straight to his apartment, and that's how they found out.

KAYE: That is amazing, because if he hadn't had a history, and they weren't just a little suspicious of him, how would they ever have known among all the students who it might have been?

MATTINGLY: That's right. And you look at his Facebook page now, that's something that's very interesting as well.

I mean, he comes across as a real stoner. I mean, you look at the comments, the posts that he's had just in the last three days. He said, "I'd love me some weed. Like, I don't think it's possible for me to be any higher, but I'm sure as hell not trying to stop trying."

And shortly after midnight on Monday, though, it changed a little bit. He said, "My life stays on repeat. It's getting old."

And then, on Tuesday morning, Randi, this was the one I found really strange. He -- this was posted just hours before the police came knocking on his door. And he said, "I just did the dumbest thing ever."

He could have been talking about this. We're not sure. But it was quite a coincidence that he put that just right before police were showing up at his door.

KAYE: It sounds like he was getting a little dark there, which we've seen before.

All right. David Mattingly, appreciate the update. Thank you.

President Obama will deliver a major speech to the nation on jobs. We're going to tell you when and exactly what he plans to include, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: President Obama has just wrapped up a town hall meeting in Atkinson, Illinois. That means just one more event on his three-day Midwest bus tour. Then it's back to Washington tonight and Martha's Vineyard for vacation tomorrow.

Meanwhile, we've just learned the president is now not only putting together a specific plan to create jobs and grow the economy, but he plans to announce it in an address to the nation right after Labor Day, which is September 5th. That happens to be the same week Congress returns from its summer break.

President Obama has been actively consulting with experts in the field of job creation, including company CEOs, to come up with this plan. The question is, how specific will it be and will it even help?

White House officials tell us it is still a work in progress, but it will likely include tax cuts, infrastructure ideas that could create jobs, measures that target the long-term unemployed, as well as measures that target specific struggling economic sectors. They also say the president is working on a debt reduction proposal he'll present to the so-called super committee.

As you know, that is the group of 12 lawmakers tasked with cutting at least $1.5 trillion from the federal deficit. Their plan is due at the end of November. And according to the White House, the president's debt plan will go beyond that $1.5 trillion.

Now Republicans who have been calling on the president throughout this debt crisis to come up with a plan of his own are responding. Here's Mitt Romney on the campaign trail just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We appreciate the fact that he's trying to devote some time to it, not just going to be on the bus tour, not just going to be vacationing in Martha's Vineyard, but giving some thought to the American people. I would have thought that's what he would have done from day one. And if I'm the next president of the United States, from day one of my term I'll be working to get Americans jobs again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Of course the president argues he inherited an economic mess bigger than anyone expected. Take a listen to what he told Wolf Blitzer last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": When you took office, you said this -- and I'm sure you remember -- you said, "If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one- term proposition," meaning you're going to be a one-term president. You remember that?

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, here's what I remember, is that when I came into office, I knew I was going to have a big mess to clean up. And frankly, the mess has been bigger than I think a lot of people anticipated at the time. We have made steady progress on these fronts, but we're not making progress fast enough. And what I continue to believe is that ultimately, the buck stops with me.

I'm going to be accountable. I think people understand that a lot of these problems were decades in the making. People understand that this financial crisis was the worst since the Great Depression. But, ultimately, they say, look, he's the president, we think he has good intentions, but we're impatient and we want to see things move faster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: And if you want to watch more of Wolf Blitzer's interview with the president, you can check out his blog, CNN.com/Wolf.

Meanwhile, we are still digging on the beating death of a homeless man in Fullerton, California. It has residents sending a very clear message to their city leaders.

Coming up, the latest in the Kelly Thomas case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Don't be fooled. This is no ordinary video game. They're called Sifteos, electronic cubes that communicate with each other wirelessly.

But inventors Jeevan Kalanithi and David Merrill say old- fashioned games were the inspiration.

DAVID MERRILL, SIFTEO: What we used to think of when we talked about social games was checkers, board games, where you sat around the table with other people face to face and played games with pieces on the table. We're bringing these two great play traditions together.

TUCHMAN: The colorful cubes present all kinds of possibilities.

JEEVAN KALANITHI, SIFTEO: Little, miniature games that are all about sorting numbers and spelling words, things like that.

TUCHMAN: The MIT graduates say multiple players and movement combine the best of the old with the new, creating a whole new gaming experience.

MERRILL: Video games came along, and video games are awesome because they're interactive, but they lose some element of this face- to-face dynamic of play with game pieces.

KALANITHI: This is a great moment in history where computing is getting to the point and sensing is getting to the point where we can build devices that understand how people work in the world naturally.

TUCHMAN: Technology that speaks to the way we play.

Gary Tuchman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: There is a lot we want to update you on in the case of a homeless man in Fullerton, California who police are accused of brutally beating to death. Let's first start with what happened last night at the Fullerton city council meeting, which at certain points looked more like an uprising or even a revolt.

Council officially hired independent consultant Michael Gennaco who we spoke with on our show on Monday. Gennaco will be paid $80,000 to review the city's police department policies and dig into the beating death of Kelly Thomas. The vote to approve him was delayed because of anger and outrage over what the community calls failed leadership. Just listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KELLY THOMAS' FATHER: Mr. Mayor, I came here tonight to offer you an olive branch. But the first thing you did is open your mouth and I want to grab a baseball bat instead. I swear to god.

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you still here? We don't want you here. You need to get out of the city, man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Six guys killed that boy, six.

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: We're told Thomas' father, Ron Thomas, who you saw there, met with the mayor this morning. But I want to replay that last part for you again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: You can see the crowd got so heated at times, the mayor and city council members walked out of the room. There they go. That gives you an idea of the mood in Fullerton right now. All you have to do is see the pictures of the victim in this case, Kelly Thomas, who was homeless and schizophrenic, to understand why. I have to warn you the photo we're about to show you it very graphic. To be honest, it's hard to look at. But I think it's important to show it to you, important that you see it.

This is what Kelly Thomas looked like before and after the alleged beating by six Fullerton police officers. Can you even recognize him? On July 5th Fullerton police responded to reports of a man trying to break into cars near a bus station. Witnesses say what began with a search of Thomas' backpack ended with this -- tasered multiple times, hogtied face down, smashed against concrete, Kelly Thomas' head slammed with a flashlight. Thomas died from his injuries five days later.

The police chief, Michael Sellers, took paid medical leave last week as he calls for his resignation intensified. The six officers allegedly involved in the beating have been placed on paid administrative leave as well.

But listen to this. Those officers wrote their reports after their supervisors allowed them to watch a videotape of Thomas' beating. The interim acting police chief, Kevin Hamilton has said the officers were only following standard procedure. The attorney representing Kelly Thomas' family says he's in the initial stages of preparing to file a state, maybe even a federal complaint in the Thomas case, which could take place by the end of September. But their lawyer, Garo Mardirossian, says the Fullerton police have a history of responding with brutality. He is now representing another alleged victim, a man named Veth Mam, who claims one of the police officers involved in the beating of Kelly Thomas viciously attacked him too in a separate, earlier incident last year. Watch what Veth Mam recorded on his cell phone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, you guys --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man look at --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: His attorney says Mam was recording a friend being arrested on his iPhone when an officer tried to take his cell phone away. Someone standing nearby apparently picked up Mam's phone and continued to record as officers wrestled the man to the ground and charged him with crimes he insists he never committed.

The attorney representing both Mam and Kelly Thomas' says he expects to file a federal complaint in Mam's case by the end of the week. He told me yesterday Thomas' beating and death possible could have been prevented if one of the officers in the previous attack had been held accountable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GARO MARDIROSSIAN, ATTORNEY FOR KELLY THOMAS FAMILY, VETH MAM: And had the police department and the D.A. taken note and brought Mr. -- to the foreground and questioned him about the falsifying reports and bringing false charges against Mr. Mam, he would not have been there that night beating Kelly Thomas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: In the meantime, Fullerton police are launching their own investigation in the case. They issued this statement, saying, you know, "Based upon the information brought to our attention over the last week, acting Chief Hamilton is very concerned and has ordered an internal affairs investigation into the matter to determine what happened that evening in October 2010 and the court case this year. There is a strong possibility," they say, "that we arrested the wrong person that night."

In the federal lawsuit to be filed later this week, Mam will claim conspiracy to falsify arrests reports, conspiracy to violate the civil rights of a citizen, and police brutality. The attorney for Veth Mam and Kelly Thomas' family says he is prepared to file similar charges at a later time. Meanwhile the FBI is looking into whether the officers violated Kelly Thomas' civil rights.

The Pope is heading to Spain and we will go live to Madrid to find out exactly why. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Pope Benedict XVI heads to Madrid tomorrow for world youth day. More than a million people are expected for the largest gathering of young people. But protestors are already lining up, many opposed to the estimated $72 million being spent to stage the visit. Al Goodman is live in Madrid where preparations are under way. Al, I understand there has already been an arrest.

AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Randi. There's a Mexican national, a 24-year-old man studying chemistry here in Madrid. He was detained on a charge of terrorism, potential terrorism. He was planning, authorities say, to attack with noxious gases a protest march this evening that was going against the visit of the Pope. He wasn't going after the Pope. He was going after protestors who were protesting the Pope's visit. And so he's now in custody and that march is going on at this time. Also, it turns out that he was a volunteer for the organizing committee for the Pope's visit. The committee told CNN he had gone through the volunteer procedure and he was arrested on Tuesday when he went to pick up his backpack and his green volunteer shirt by plain- clothed detectives. Randi?

KAYE: You mentioned the protestors. What about security there? How prepared are they to handle the protestors?

GOODMAN: Well, there are 10,000 police officers on duty. Some of what the protest has to say is that they fear the government money is being spent on this. The organizers say no, there's no money to the taxpayer, about 10,000 police officers. Spain has a lot of experience in organizing big events, the Olympics and international summits, so they think authorities say it's going to go off all right. At this hour, that protest against the Pope's visit is going, we're told peacefully. We were there a short while ago. Randi?

KAYE: All right, Al Goodman, thank you for the update.

Well, from bees to lip balm -- what's the buzz about? We go in- depth with a couple of suburban farmers. Keep it here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: You're going to love this next story. An Ohio couple moves to the suburbs for the kids, but they end up becoming beekeepers. It's today's in-depth on suburban farmers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY RZEPKA, FOUNDER, BEECOLOGY: I'm Amy. We're in Solon, Ohio. And my husband and I are beekeepers and we produce a product called "beecology."

DAVE RZEPKA, FOUNDER, BEECOLOGY: I started to think about where we were going to go. We had always known and heard that Solon had fantastic schools. And that was our main concern, putting our kids in schools. AMY RZEPKA: We chose Solon this because of the great community and also because we were able to get land here to plant a garden and have a place for our bees. We became beekeepers by default. My husband had a friend who asked if he could put bees on land that he had. And his wife became pregnant and wasn't able to take care of the hives. We had an overabundance of honey. But not just honey or bees wax. We didn't want to make candles because that was too easy for us. We came up with making a lip balm.

DAVE RZEPKA: Solon is a great community. They're business friendly. It's a very nice atmosphere to work in. They have really taken this business and almost become a partnership with us. People like to buy from a local producer.

AMY RZEPKA: The community has been very supportive of us. They come out to the markets and requested us and some of the stores in solon. So they really have been very helpful.

DAVE RZEPKA: I like living there. It's got a great diversity in the city itself. And I just think it's a good mix of city and country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: And for more on "Money" magazine's best places to live, go to CNNMoney.com/best places.

Is addiction actually a disease like diabetes, for example? A prominent medical group says yes. When we come back I'll ask the head of that group how they came to that conclusion and how it will affect treatment for addicts moving forward.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: We talk about it often when a celebrity goes to rehab, when a lawmaker is embroiled in a sex scandal. The conversation always seems to turn to addiction. But today we've got a whole new definition for the next time we use the term. According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, addiction is actually a disease, a chronic brain disease to be exact, just like diabetes or cardiovascular disease, and as such needs to be treated, managed, and monitored over a lifetime.

One of the authors of the study that led to this redefinition is Dr. Raju Hajela, joins me now to tell us much more about it. So does Jane Velez-Mitchell, host of HLN's "ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL" and author of "Addict Nation, an Intervention for America." Doctor, I want to ask you, how did you come up with this redefinition of addiction now being considered a disease?

DR. RAJU HAJELA, CHAIRMAN, ASAM COMMITTEE ON NEW DEFINITION OF ADDICTION: Well, it's a definition that we've been working on. It's been a case in progress for many, many years. In the Korean Society of Addiction Medicine we started the process back in the mid-90s actually and agreed on a definition in 1999. I've also been involved with the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and we've been talking about the Canadian definition, which was then adopted by the international society in 2002 and to see how things could be brought forward in the U.S. and it's taken about four years. It was at our annual meeting in 2007 that the leadership of the American society of addiction medicine put a group together called the definitions and diagnosis and terminology action group, DD tag for short.

And through that process, we consulted with the committee members and the board in all about 80 colleagues who put our heads together and then consulted widely with various different organizations, any people at the organizations. And we reviewed all the neuro-biological advances and in the neurosciences. And specifically, so much of the neurosciences research as sponsored by NIAAA. Agencies like that and people at those agencies have really provided us with invaluable input which --

KAYE: Let me just interrupt you. I'm sorry. I want to bring in Jane Velez-Mitchell. You're no stranger to addiction. I want to get your take on this new definition.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST, HLN'S "ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ- MITCHELL": Yes. I speak as a recovering alcoholic with 16 years of sobriety. And basically what they're saying in people terms is that addiction changes the reward circuitry in your brain. And so it's a disease. So what they're saying is you're not a bad person if you're an addict. You're not an evil person. We should stop moralizing and pointing the finger and realize this is a disease like a cardiovascular disease.

But it doesn't let the addict off the hook, because you can prevent getting a disease and you can also treat a disease. And so we still have a moral obligation to deal with our addiction.

I will say, respectfully, doctor, I think this is a great advance. I think it's only a piece of the puzzle. They say addiction is cunning, baffling, and powerful. I do feel it is. Yes, it does affect the reward circuitry of the brain, but it's not just a medical condition. There's also a genetic predisposition. For example, I believe I had a genetic predisposition towards alcoholism. It runs in my family. Environmentally, if you see people engaged in the addiction, you're more likely to do that.

Culturally, we have an addictive culture here and in America and the western world encouraging everybody to become addicted to a slew of things from alcohol to prescription pills to food, especially with two thirds of Americans overweight or obese. And then the two other components, the emotional component -- people use drugs or use a substance to escape. And they also use it to fill a spiritual void.

KAYE: Doctor, would you like to respond to that? What should we take away from this?

HAJELA: Absolutely. Actually, I couldn't have said it better, Jane. If you have a chance to read the definition, we actually broadened the medical perspective. And that is what my aim has been over my career, to help people understand that specifically with addiction, the disease manifests in the biological area, psychological, and spiritual. We've actually come up with guidelines as part of the definitions as to what areas people need to pay attention to. Because the disease affects all these different areas and treatment has to be more broadened.

KAYE: I was going to ask you about that. Jane, having been treated for it, how do you think treatment should change or will change from here on in with the new definition?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, my recovery did not involve going to rehab. And as you know, recovery is an anonymous program in the sense. I don't really want to delve into that too much, except that I feel that this is a very good step in the right direction. Look how many people we're incarcerating in this country who are basically addicts who need treatment. And we could change our entire prison industrial complex in America, which has become a huge business, billions made just on the telephone calls, if we started to retool our bureaucracies toward treatment as opposed to punishment, because, again, if it's not something that you're really in control of and it's not a question of willpower, then why punish somebody for it? Why not just give them help.

KAYE: It really changes the conversation about addiction.

HAJELA: Absolutely. And we have to stop moralizing. That has been the problem. In addition to what Jane has said, if you look at our definition, we've gone beyond the reward circuitry because we have solid neurosciences research that says memory circuitry is involved, motivation circuitry is involved.

And we know as the disease progresses people have more and more impaired control over their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. So all these be it bad behaviors that people want people to stop are actually very driven from the inside biologically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually.

KAYE: Doctor, appreciate your expertise, and Jane, always a pleasure to have you on, and thank you for your openness in the discussion. Appreciate that.

Governor Christie is reportedly feeling the heat, and the war of words surrounding Governor Perry. Coverage of the race for the White House right after the break.

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KAYE: Well, the race to the White House certainly is getting interesting these days. We want to check in with Mark Preston. He's in New Hampshire. Paul Steinhauser is in Washington for us as well. Mark, let me start with you. What is the latest on this back and forth between the president and governor Rick Perry?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, Randi, Rick Perry was here in New Hampshire today making several stops, including one at a high tech firm here in Nashua, New Hampshire. He met with some business leaders.

But earlier in the day at a breakfast, he refused to stand down on his comments about Ben Bernanke. In fact, he said that yesterday that President Obama basically lectured him for making those comments, those critical comments to Bernanke. In fact, let's listen to what the Texas governor had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK PERRY (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yesterday the president said I needed to watch what I say. I just want to respond back, if I may. Mr. President, actions speak louder than words. My actions as governor are helping create jobs in this country. The president's actions are killing jobs in this country. It's time to get America working again.

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PRESTON: There you have Rick Perry, the Texas governor, who just jumped into the presidential race last weekend. He's holding private meetings today, done some local interviews. Tomorrow he has more events here in New Hampshire. Randi?

Let's turn to Washington where Paul Steinhauser is standing by. Paul, I want to ask you, what is the latest on Governor Christie? I know the GOP field may be set yet, but it seems like there's some pressure on the New Jersey governor to step in.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: A source close to the New Jersey governor says the pressure has been intensifying since the straw poll in Iowa and Sunday when Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race for him to reconsider. As of now, the source says no he has not reconsidered. Good reporting there by our Peter Hamby.

Also, another report out there saying that focus groups are being conducted on behalf of the governor to see if there is a pathway for him to the nomination. The two sources, one telling Hamby and one telling myself, that is not true. Randi, people have, Republican have been talking about Chris Christie for a long time. He has kept saying forget about it, forget about it. Maybe that is changing now. We'll keep our eyes on the New Jersey governor.

KAYE: He's not the only one that some people are talking about who may enter the race?

STEINHAUSER: There's talk about Paul Ryan, the House budget chairman as well. There may be pressure on him to jump in. And Rudy Giuliani hasn't ruled it out. The former New York City mayor says by late September he'll have a decision. And of course, Sarah Palin. We'll see. Stay tuned.

KAYE: Who was that last name you mentioned?

STEINHAUSER: Sarah Palin. Remember her, former Alaska governor?

KAYE: I've heard of her. STEINHAUSER: Yes, you have.

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KAYE: Paul Steinhauser, appreciate it. Thank you very much. That is going to do it for me today. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Brooke Baldwin.

Hi, Brooke.