Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Tampa Police Thwart School Attack; First Responders Not On the List For NYC 9/11 Memorial Ceremony; Investigation Into Deadly Stage Collapse Continues; Aruban Authorities Continue to Hold American Man as Suspect; College Sports Booster Revealed; ED Leading Indicator of Heart Disease; White House To Unveil Jobs Plan in September

Aired August 17, 2011 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Randi, thank you so much. And hello to all of you. We have a busy day of news for you, as always, it seems.

First of all, have you heard about this? Some first responders, 9/11 first responders, are calling this a huge betrayal. The firefighters and police from 9/11 are not among those invited to the big 10-year memorial ceremony in New York that's upon us in just a couple of weeks.

So, what is the city's reason for this snub? We're going to tell you all about it and I will talk to one of those first-responders coming up.

But, first, want to begin with this, a frightening discovery uncovered in Tampa. Police say they have stopped this alleged plot to bomb a high school on the first day of school next week. All of this is according to police here. This 17-year-old suspect wanted to cause more casualties than the 1999 Columbine attack.

A 17-year-old former student identified as Jared Cano is in custody. He's accused of planning to bomb Freedom High School next Tuesday. Police say they found explosive materials and this written minute-by-minute plan to kill about 30 students and two specific administrators.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE CASTOR, TAMPA POLICE CHIEF: We were probably able to thwart a potentially catastrophic event, the likes of which the city of Tampa has not seen and hopefully never will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to bring in David Mattingly, who has been covering this, I know, for us all day long.

And I want to begin with the fact that I'm glad we're sitting here telling this version of the story. As we know, this could have gone a very different direction. And a lot of this is all in thanks to this unsung hero who we may never know who this individual is who tipped police off. What did the police ultimately find? (CROSSTALK)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What they ultimately found when they went to his bedroom in the apartment where he was living, they went in there, they found bomb making materials, they found shrapnel, they found wiring. They found things that you could definitely make an explosive device with, but they did not find anything that resembled a firearm.

So there were no guns there. That in itself was a relief. And no evidence whatsoever to suggest that there was anybody else involved. Again, another source of relief. But he did have the materials there to make some devices that could be potentially deadly.

BALDWIN: Not only that. As we mentioned, he had a manifesto. And I want to get a little bit more on this. It was, what, minute-by- minute, essentially this play-by-play as far as where he would be going in the school, who he would be targeting. Do we know what sent this young man off?

MATTINGLY: We don't know. And looking at the manifesto, police say that they're just describing what they see in there. And that was something that started -- he was going to do this on the first day of school. This was a school that he was expelled from last spring after he was picked up on a firearms charge of possessing a stolen firearm.

That happened away from school. But school administrators say they're not going to connect those two events because he's a juvenile. But they say that that was the time that they decided that something happened off campus that they didn't feel comfortable having him in school there. We know that he specifically targeted two administrators at the school in the manifesto. Police won't say who they are. Those administrators do however know that they were targeted.

And he was going to plant these explosive devices and carry out this attack beginning at 5:00 in the morning at that school on the first day of school next week.

BALDWIN: Wow. And as we try to learn a little bit more about this Jared Cano, you mentioned he was expelled. We have also of course -- a great place to look is a Facebook page. And we jumped on his Facebook page.

Let me just read apparently what we found. It said, under his college status, said he had been studying to grow weed at the University of Marijuana, class of 2012. So you have that side of it, right? But at the same time, we were looking at some of his pictures. David Mattingly, he looks like a regular kid.

MATTINGLY: That's right. One of the pictures, the worst thing you see him doing is drinking some malt liquor. And his posts make him come across as some sort of listless stoner, some kid who had no direction.

And it wasn't until one of those posts on there that was posted shortly after Monday, he said: "My life stays on repeat. It's getting old." We don't know what to make of that. He also posted something on Tuesday about the same time that police would have been coming to his house and he said, "I just did the dumbest thing ever."

BALDWIN: Wow. I know parents, according to police that I saw this morning, totally unaware of what was in his bedroom, had no idea, have been cooperative. They're not talking yet, right?

MATTINGLY: That's right. They haven't come public yet. But they are talking to police. The police say, look, they didn't know anything about this. They have been completely cooperative. And again they're driving that point home that this kid apparently was working by himself.

And they're not saying exactly how far along he was to making this plan a reality. But just having it in black and white and having those things in his room was enough to make a lot of parents today very relieved and very frightened at the same time.

BALDWIN: Imagine those parents in Tampa. David Mattingly, thank you so much. If you learn any more, hop back on. I know we're talking next hour.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I also now want to bring in MaryEllen Elia. She is the school superintendent of the entire Hillsborough County Public Schools.

And, MaryEllen, are you just listening to all these details and learning more and more and just have you wrapped your head around what could have been and thank goodness is not?

MARYELLEN ELIA, SUPERINTENDENT, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Well, I think there's no doubt that this is a very scary situation for all of us.

We're so pleased that we have the kind of relationship with the Tampa Police Department that this became a very proactive approach in taking seriously the information that they were receiving and acting on it immediately. So, to them, I just want to say thank you.

And for all of those communities that are out there across this country, I think we have to be constantly vigilant on the kinds of things that can happen with students in this environment.

BALDWIN: Yes. So certainly thank you goes out to police, but also a thank you out goes to this unsung hero who I know we know very little about who tipped off police. We don't know if this was a he or a she or a student. Perhaps you do.

What can you share about this individual?

ELIA: Well, we know what you know. And that is that someone realized that it was very important that they share this information and that they help us address this issue. And we -- as you pointed out, I think it's very important that we make sure that people are aware that this kind of situation could occur anywhere, and it is by having relationships either with students or with parents or with adults in the community that they understand how serious it is and they support the efforts of both the school district and the police department in making all of our schools safe.

BALDWIN: Certainly be astute, be vigilant. What more can you share about this 17-year-old, Jared Cano? As David Mattingly just mentioned, he hadn't been at the school for a year-and-a-half, had been expelled. Tell me more. I know you're talking to the principal and teachers and perhaps other students. What can you tell us about this young man?

ELIA: Well, as you pointed out, the student had had difficulty and not at the school, but in situations outside of the school. And he had gone through a change of placement and left that school and had not been involved in our alternative program.

So we know that that occurred and we also, as you are, we are finding out more information as this story unravels. But, again, I want to thank the Tampa Police Department and all of the officers and investigators who were part of making this such a proactive movement to make sure that our children are safe.

BALDWIN: MaryEllen, what about other students? Were other students involved here?

ELIA: We have been told that at this point there is no indication that other students are involved.

BALDWIN: OK. MaryEllen Elia, I thank you so much, Hillsborough County school system there in Tampa. I'm grateful we're having this conversation as opposed to a much different one. Thank you very much.

ELIA: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, a story you don't want to miss, hard to believe even, perhaps. It has been just about 10 years since the September 11 attacks. And New York is certainly planning a special memorial ceremony to mark the moment.

President Obama will be there. Former President Bush will be there. Families of the victims will be there. But what about some of the heroes that day, the firefighters, the first-responders, the men and women who risked their lives to save so many others on that day? Well, they won't be there. Why? Because they weren't invited. Coming up next, I'm going to speak to a man here, James Ryder, retired from the New York police force and a 9/11 first-responder. We will see what he thinks about this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here's one of those stories. I know a lot of people are saying you have got to be kidding me. Right? Are you ready for this? This concerns the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. It will be here soon. We're actually less than a month away. And listen to this. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, his office has confirmed to CNN that the city's first- responders, the firefighters, EMTs, other rescue workers, folks who risked their lives to save others on that day, they're not being invited to this ceremony.

Here's a statement from the mayor's spokesman -- quote -- "We're again focused on accommodating victims' family members." It goes on, "Given the space constraints, we're working to find ways to recognize and honor first-responders and other groups at difference places and times."

James Ryder was one of those first-responders, was with New York police. He joins me live.

And, James, let's just go back real quickly. Where were you on 9/11? What were you doing?

JAMES RYDER, 9/11 FIRST-RESPONDER: I was home. I got a call from my sister. I turned on the TV and tragically saw the second plane.

BALDWIN: And you were part of the effort responding to Ground Zero, no?

RYDER: I went down there on day one and I was there for four years, absolutely.

BALDWIN: Four years.

So you find out, were you planning on going down to this memorial on 9/11 and at what point did you find out you weren't invited?

RYDER: I found out along with the rest of my members from the FealGood Foundation that the responders were not going to be invited. It's tragic. It shouldn't be happening. But we understand politics. And we know that sometimes politics can be a little weird.

BALDWIN: You say politics. The city says, hey, it's for the victims' families. We don't have enough room.

What do you say?

RYDER: Well, let's put it this way. Mayor Bloomberg is a very intelligent man, a great mayor, and has done great things for the city. He figured out a way for a third term. I think he has got the intellect to figure out a way to fit us in.

BALDWIN: What specifically, though, James, what specifically is political? Why wouldn't the mayor and the mayor's office want to include the first-responders, in your opinion?

RYDER: I think you will get that answer on September 11 when you see all of the politicians that are down there. I would like to do a head count of which one of them was swapping buckets on 9/11 and the days after looking for bodies, looking for survivors and how many of them weren't. And the ones that weren't should step aside and make room for the responders.

BALDWIN: As I mentioned a moment ago, the mayor's office is essentially saying they're working to try to find ways to honor you guys, the men and women, the first-responders in groups, different places and times. Have you at all been in contact with the city? Are they providing an alternate venue for you at all that Sunday morning or anywhere?

RYDER: The FealGood foundation is very easily found. You guys found us. Everybody else finds us.

I was on TV with Swiss radio -- or on the radio with Swiss radio a couple hours ago. So we're findable. They don't want to find us, that's OK. But let me say this. Support is important. Post- traumatic stress is a real thing and it's affecting all of us. And need that punch in the shoulder that we can get from our elected politicians, our elected officials to let us know they're supporting us.

I work for I.P. Video Corporation in Bay Shore and they support me. Why isn't the mayor supporting us, why isn't the governor and everybody else supporting us? Why is there two mayors going there, two governors going there, senators and congressmen? There's room for us.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I understand that you say you're findable. But have you picked up the phone or anyone from the FealGood Foundation called up the mayor's office and said, hey, we're not OK with us and we'd either like to be down there on 9/11 or you need to provide us an alternate location?

RYDER: First-responders are the first-responders to war. That was a war. Soldiers are the second responders to war. Imagine the soldier calling up and saying, can I get my medal now?

I don't need to make that call. They know where we are. If they want to recognize us in some way, which they should be, because there are a lot of heroes that gave their life for this city and this country and for patriotism, they should be the one picking up the phone, not us.

BALDWIN: I got to tell you, I tweeted this out. It was on my Facebook page. And I have gotten a lot of -- sparked a lot of discussion here.

And I want to read two notes. Evan Elite ph), actually a fellow firefighter, says: "If room is an issue, that's poor planning on the city. The 10th anniversary is a huge deal."

And something else. This is from Phoenix Racine (ph). He said this. And I want you to respond to this. "If there is simply no room and they can only pick a certain number to go, do they now tell the family members that they can't go, the family members of the victims, that they can't go because first-responders are going." There's no way around this without upsetting someone was his point. Someone will be upset.

RYDER: I worked in the New York City Police Department for 20 years. I know how large Ground Zero is. There's room. Room is not an issue.

BALDWIN: Where will you be? Where will you be? If you cannot go to that memorial, James Ryder, where will you be on that Sunday morning?

RYDER: I will be with my family.

BALDWIN: James Ryder --

RYDER: I will be with my family and I will remember my friends.

BALDWIN: And is that the most important point at all on that day, to do that?

RYDER: The most important thing is for the city to recognize and for the government to recognize that this is not a political issue; this is about patriotism. And I can tell you as a staunch conservative that has voted since I was 18 that this is not about politics. This is about heroes.

BALDWIN: James Ryder, one of our own heroes, I thank you for coming on and expressing your opinion. Let us know if you get that phone call from the mayor's office. Thank you so much, sir. I appreciate it.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Coming up next, the horrifying video told the story as that concert stage at the Indiana state fairground just came crashing to the ground. Now new video shows what happened and what was heard moments before the collapse. We're going to play that for you. Plus, Sugarland, the country music band that was supposed to perform on that stage that very night, they are now coming forward, speaking out. We're going to tell you about their special plans for those victims.

Also, what is to blame for the collapse? Was it just a bad storm? Was it something else? We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: When that high gust of wind hit Indiana State Fair just over this past weekend, what did fair officials know about the weather and when did they know it? Big questions here.

The Weather Service warning indicated it was time to take cover immediately. But that's not what this crowd, a crowd of 12,000, heard that day. New audiotapes have been released where you can hear what fair officials told the crowd minutes before that happened. Listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As you can see to the west, there are some clouds. We are all hoping for the best, that the weather is going to bypass us. But there's a very good chance that it won't. Once the storm passes and everything is safe, we're going to try our best to come back and resume the show, which we have every belief that that's going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So you heard that. Now hear this. An Indianapolis TV station, WISH, is reporting that officials with the Indiana State Fair admit they did not follow the fair's own severe weather procedures during the storm Saturday night.

Investigators now looking into how fair officials responded and why they might have ignored their own policy. A couple other items we're learning today from Saturday's disaster. The band that was set to take the stage when those winds hit, Sugarland, they have announced it is planning a private memorial in honor of the fans who died. No time, no date has been set yet. But Sugarland says they will wait until the families have had their own time to hold their own services and memorials for their loved ones. Also, an amazing story of how the band narrowly missed being on that very stage when it came crashing down.

The band's manager made a last-minute decision not to go on the stage, but to wait to pray, to form a prayer circle. And that decision kept the band off stage for those few crucial moments and is now being credited with saving their lives.

The stage collapse has forced the cancellation of other concerts at the Indiana State Fair, Janet Jackson, Lady Antebellum both canceling their concerts at the state fair following Saturday night's tragedy.

But a big mystery remains, although some of the dots are getting connected now, that being what kinds of winds did this kind of damage? Some are now using the word gustnado. But what is that and is that what they saw Saturday night?

Chad Myers, I did some digging. I know you're the man to tell me.

Gustnado, a ground-based wind vortex, explain and then compare that to a tornado.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We use the word eddy too. Eddy is a spin of either water or of air. A tornado is connected to the storm itself.

And because the entire storm spins, the bottom of the storm gets a wall cloud. And then eventually the tornado falls out of the real part of the storm where it's really raining and maybe even hailing. A gustnado, not the same. A gustnado actually is part of what we call this gust front. We know the gust front was to blame for this. The rain came down, the rain hit with air to the ground and then it pushed out.

It was the wind pushing out 10 miles ahead of the storm itself here. But in front of this, where the wind is, you can get little spins, little eddies, little small almost like dust devils. And if you think about an ice skater in the Olympics, one foot on the ground, one foot here, bringing the arms in and that skater can spin pretty fast, that's kind of a little bit of energy, momentum that you can get wind spinning faster than just this straight-line wind.

Now, let's go to this video, because it's here. And I'm going to show you what I see.

BALDWIN: Because some things do look like it's twirling.

MYERS: There's something here. This dust is here. And it's moving away. That doesn't mean it was there, because the dust continues to come in from this direction. What I believe may have been more of the cause and this could cause a spin too was that we have almost this wind tunnel effect which where -- this is where the grandstand is and the wind is coming down the grandstand and just like being in New York City and standing between two buildings where the wind is much stronger compared to standing on the side, you can get a funneling effect.

And I think maybe some of that funneling came down here. We talked to all of the fair officials and they said you know what, nothing else was injured, nothing else was hurt. We had ferris wheels in the sky. Nothing else blew over. This was a localized event. And that's why some meteorologists, especially one from AccuWeather, has gone out and taken a look trying to find some spin.

The Weather Service is saying, yes, we don't see it. This will be at least a little while. It doesn't matter what killed these people. It doesn't matter what knocked this down. The stage was not ready to be handling a 70-mile-per-hour wind or even a 50-mile-per- hour wind for that matter. If you are outside and a thunderstorm is coming, you must worry about yourself. Don't worry about what anybody else is saying. Protect yourself.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Plus, we heard the warning.

MYERS: Protect your family. Get into someplace safe. You don't want to be outside in your front yard. You don't want to be outside anywhere.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: You know those investigators. They're looking into it as we speak, Chad Myers. Horrific. I still can't get over this collapsing video. Thank you so much for that explainer.

(CROSSTALK) BALDWIN: Also here, the warning labels, we talked about this not too long ago, the cigarette makers, you know the ones they don't want you to see, labels that the government is forcing them to show? Well, now some big tobacco companies are suing. We will tell you why.

Plus, yachts, jewelry, cash, even prostitutes, just some of the things allegedly provided to University of Miami football players. The bombshell revelation that's rocking the world of sports today -- back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Here we go, some of your top stories now.

President Obama on the last leg of his three-day bus tour through the Midwest. It extends next hour with a town hall in Alpha, Illinois. We're also learning that the president is putting together a specific plan to create more jobs, help the economy grow. We will get more on that in just a couple of minutes here.

Also, several tobacco companies, they are fighting for their right to free speech. They are claiming the U.S. government is forcing them to use these graphic new warning labels that may discourage people from buying their products. And they say that violates their speech. The labels become mandatory come September 2012.

Some students groan about going back to school. Parents, you know that well. But not in Joplin, Missouri, at least not today. Folks, it's the first day of school for students since that devastating tornado smashed the city in May, killing more than 150 people. The high school was among the many buildings damaged or destroyed. Juniors and seniors are attending classes in a retrofitted shopping mall. Other students are attending classes at a middle school.

Now watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This just truthfully is about a man and woman that went away on a vacation together and she didn't come back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And right now, that's all authorities know. What really happened to this American beauty in Aruba? Today, a new clue that could blow the case wide open.

Plus, a 6-year-old girl snatched in broad daylight by a stranger who wrestles her into his van, but the story, folks, has a good ending. Wait until you hear what happened when someone saw it all go down and sprang into action.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: A sad ending to a tragic story of that missing 3-year- old little girl out of Missouri. Investigators have now found the body of Breeann Rodriguez. They found her in a ditch. She was playing in front of her house when she disappeared more than a week ago.

Her neighbor and father of three, Shawn Morgan, has been charged with first degree murder. He confessed in this court document to suffocating her with this trash bag after he found her standing on a ladder near his pool. That's what he told police. He said he then stuffed her body into the bag, tossed it into a nearby waterway where it was found in a ditch.

After this intense search the sheriff's office did release a statement today, saying, quote, "We're saddened to confirm our fears but glad we're able to recover her remains for her parents."

After days of searching here, days and days, finally a break in the case of that missing Maryland woman in Aruba. According to police, the man detained is the only suspect in this case took out a travel insurance policy on Robyn Gardner. No word yet as to how much the policy was worth and who was named as the beneficiary. That's news, though, today.

Also a judge ordering Gary Giordano to be held in Aruban custody another couple of weeks. Giordano reported Gardner missing just about two weeks ago now. He said they were out snorkeling in this area near Baby beach, a place, according to locals, not used very often for that because it's so secluded and rocky. There are local reports authorities found a bloody hand print on rocks near where the pair was said to be snorkeling, and investigators plan to start a fresh search for her.

Martin Savidge joins us once again live from Aruba. Martin, a lot to talk about today. I want to begin with this travel insurance policy. Might this provide police with some sort of motive? And how is Giordano explaining this to investigators?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're right. Up until this point, Brooke, many people have said Gary Giordano says she was lost in an accident at sea on the very spot where we're standing by the way. This is where he said the snorkeling incident happened.

But now comes the insurance policy that apparently Gary Giordano took out just days before they came on this trip. We've spoken to authorities about it. They say it is travel insurance, not life insurance. What they mean is it's the kind of policy you would take out if you were concerned you might become ill or have an injury while on vacation and you needed a flight back or medical treatment back in the United States. They do not tell us what the value would be. They would not tell us who specifically the beneficiary is.

They learned about this from Gary Giordano himself. He told authorities during the initial time that he was speaking to them. They in turn got in touch with the FBI and that's one of the things the FBI and the United States is checking out for them. They found the information, brought it back. Aruban authorities have copies of those insurance agreements and are going over them right now, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You also mentioned, Marin, you're standing on the beach where they were apparently snorkeling. They found this blood or a bloody hand print. Do we know when investigators will be able to link that to Gardner? And also, was anything else found in that same area?

SAVIDGE: Well, we don't know exactly where on this beach the blood was located. We do know that they are intensely working on trying to identify it. Number one, you want to find out, is it human blood much there's a lot of fishing here. You can get blood from other ways. On top of that, is it blood that's related to Gary Giordano or Robyn Gardner.

Remember, they've already taken a DNA test from Gary Giordano, so they can make a quick comparison that way. They also found an unused condom. Again, this is an area sometimes referred to as lover's lane. We don't know if the blood, the condom is directly related here, but clues are being found in an area that's already suspicious for authorities.

BALDWIN: Martin Savidge in Aruba. Thank you so much. Lot of new details coming out today on that story.

Also, have you heard about this story? An Albuquerque man is being called a hero today for springing into action when another man snatched a little girl off the streets, pushed her into a van. Police say Antonio Diaz Chacon saved the six-year-old girl's life. He and his wife hopped into his truck, chased the man down. After this chaotic run thought neighborhood streets, the van crashed into a pole. The kidnapping suspect Garcia got out. And Diaz Chacon says he was worried Garcia had a gun, but when Garcia ran off, Chacon went up to the van, rescued this little girl, and it was his wife who picked up that phone and called 911.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard a man going hey, hey, let her go. We turned around, we were about to leave. We were in the truck. So the man came running to us and he said they stole a little girl.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Police later captured Garcia. They say he tried to get rid of the tape and straps found near and inside the van. Chacon says he doesn't consider himself a hero but as the father of two little girls, he did what any dad would do. His wife translates for him here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTHA DIAZ, HUSBAND RESCUED LITTLE GIRL: We got into our truck and then we decided just to chase them and then that's when he dropped me off with the security people to call the police and stuff like that. And that's when he left by himself chasing him.

He says that when he dropped me off, he followed him for like 15, 20 minutes. They went through houses, through different streets. I guess the guy was trying to lose him, until he wrecked into a light pole and then that's when he was able to catch him or to catch up to him. And then after that, that's when he crashed into, I guess, like the dirt sand do you know or something. And that's when he fled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Talk about being a vigilant citizen. Good for them. Garcia has been charged with kidnapping, child abuse, and tampering with evidence.

Coming up next here, two stories a lot of you were talking about today, including the suicide of this real housewife husband. Is the reality show partly to blame for Russell Armstrong taking his own life? Some think so.

Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me as a head coach, I want to know. I know our assistant coaches want to know because we want to make sure it never happens again. It shouldn't help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The head coach he's talking about, the coach for the University of Miami football team. And some of his players are now tangled up in this massive scandal, a scandal so bad it has my next guest's blood boiling. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: First came the shocking news of the real housewives star Russell Armstrong's apparent suicide. He's found dead in his home in Los Angeles. But investigators didn't find a suicide note. So now his lawyer is talking about what may have prompted it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD RICHARDS, RUSSELL ARMSTRONG'S LAWYER: I'm 100 percent convinced and based on facts that this show led to his depression on a couple different grounds. One is that the show characterized him as someone that abused his spouse. It highlighted ancient financial negatives in his past and put him in a spotlight that he wasn't coped to deal with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So this show is "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills." His wife Taylor Armstrong is in it, reported now to be devastated, asking for privacy. The couple was going through a divorce, and his lawyer says the sudden celebrity status was just simply overwhelming the couple. But the big question now is what happens to the show? The Bravo network hasn't decided but released a statement saying this, "All of us at bravo are saddened by this tragic news."

And here's something else a lot of you are talking about online today -- prostitutes, parties, payola? What are we talking about here? Yes, collegiate athletics, I'm afraid to say you're right. You're talking about the University of Miami. The school with the swagger, the diamond outlaw image.

Have you heard the story yet today? Here you go. You have a well-healed former booster doing time for a Ponzi scheme. He said he lavished Miami athletes with benefits banned by the NCAA. Impeccable reporting by Yahoo! Sports here. Give them credit where credit is due. Based on multiple interviews, potential violations included 72 athletes and seven Miami coaches.

There is a lot more to this story. But I'm going to stop right there and bring in Stewart Mandel. He's a senior write writer for SI.com. Stewart, good to see you. Obviously the NCAA are investigating. We just received a statement from Miami president Donna Shalala saying she is, quote, "upset, disheartened, and saddened by these allegations."

Stewart, it sounds as if this isn't just smoke here. This may be fire. Is that how this rings to you?

STEWART MANDEL, SENIOR WRITER, SI.COM: Yes. I mean give a lot of credit to Charles Robinson at Yahoo! Sports, impeccable reporting. If you read the report, it's not just a story. They have links to other pages where you can see the corroborating testimony from the rogue booster in jail now, Shapiro, financial documents, pictures, incriminating photos.

This is about as much hard evidence as I have ever seen. It's also, we've had a lot of scandals in college sports the last 14 months or so. This one takes the cake in terms of the amount of people, the scope of the benefits allegedly given to these players. It just tops them all in terms of the possible severity of sanctions down the road.

BALDWIN: Stewart, I want to read a quote, a quote from the great reporting from Yahoo! Sports. Quoting a girlfriend of Shapiro, the imprisoned Miami booster making the allegations. He said, quote, "He took care of them to give them cash to make sure they had stuff. He took care of them when they wanted to party and by getting them sex. Whether it was sex, money, meals, a new TV, their mother needed something, if they need a new ring or some jewelry, whatever they need Nevin would provide it."

Also, Nevin Shapiro is quoted as saying he did all of this because no one was there to stop him. Stewart, if this -- all of this is coming out is true, it sounds as though it was happening in front of everyone's eyes.

MANDEL: And I think that's really the important thing to take away here. There are obviously other stories involving other teams where kind of mysterious figures who wanted to cash in on the athletes did something maybe like this.

But this was a guy who, because he donated to the University of Miami, had direct access to that program, could be on the sideline during games, could lead the team out of the tunnel in fact, had a lounge named after him at one point before the ponds I scheme came out.

BALDWIN: Wow.

MANDEL: So somehow for eight years he was able to keep doing this while at the same time being right there, being involved with the heavy hitters. There's a great picture in the Yahoo! story of Donna Shalala, the president, you mentioned her statement earlier, accepting -- smiling as she accepts a donation from him for the basketball program. So it's a real egg on the face of everybody at Miami that this could have gone on for so long and either nobody knew or even worse, we don't know yet, they knew and didn't do anything about it.

BALDWIN: What about the culture at Miami? You know, I know Miami has this kind of outlaw image over the years that's kind of been cultivated. It's their brand. Is it time for president Donna Shalala and the administrators of the school to take a good hard look at that?

MANDEL: I think it was 17 years ago "Sports Illustrated" put on the cover that Miami should shut down the program over stuff that was going on back then. Donna Shalala to her credit, and the coaches there, Randy Shannon, they did a lot to try to clean up the image of that program. The academic rates were up, far less stories about players getting into trouble.

And then you've got this one, you know, booster who clearly doesn't care about consequences, was hell bent on breaking the rules, wanted to party with players, who can bring down the entire program. So yes I do think she does have to take a hard look at the situation. With NCAA investigations, they tend to take a long time. I wouldn't expect any immediate actions by her or anybody really at the school.

BALDWIN: We'll be reading your columns and finding out what does happen, you and Yahoo! Sports. What a story indeed out of Miami there.

And while I have the attention of a lot of you men out there, I have a story for you coming up next that you definitely want to stick around for. In fact, I'm going to ask you a question and I'll have the answer for you right after the break. Here is the question -- what is the leading indicator of heart disease for men? Think about it. See if you can guess. No Googling. I bet you can't think of this. It's quite an answer. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I know you've been thinking about this over the break. I tweeted it. Somebody guessed women? No, that's not the answer. The question was, what's the leading indicator of heart disease for men? It affects some 30 million of them. But if you ask the average guy on the street, he would rather not talk about it even though early diagnosis could head off the problem before it becomes serious.

Chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta gives us the surprising answer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, the answer may surprise you, and it's something that a lot of men frankly uncomfortable talking about, but this is an important point. Erectile dysfunction, about 30 million suffer from this. You want to look for clues in certain places in the body that might tell you that a bigger problem is brewing. You know that there's a lot of medications out there, you see the ads out there all the time. Some of those medications when they're first developed, they were developed to treat heart disease, not erectile dysfunction. So there's been a correlation for some time.

And also when you go to the doctor, especially for men under the age of 50, if you're getting medication to treat your ED., you may want to ask, is this an indicator I may be having problems with my heart as well? This is a message for both patients and doctors alike, I think. We're working towards the last heart attack, and part of that is to try to prevent these problems from developing in the first place.

We were working on a documentary about Diane Nyad, one of the most inspiring people you'll ever meet. She's 61 years old and wanted to swim from Cuba to Florida to do something no human has ever done the way she's doing it, no shark cage, just complete exposure to elements.

We'll also take a look at the Cuban health care system. How exactly does it work, what does it provide for citizens? And how do they do it at the low cost they're able to do it? Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: Sanjay, thank you so much. There he is in Havana, Cuba. What a story.

Also, just a reminder, former President Bill Clinton joins Sanjay this Sunday night to explore the signs that could result in what they're calling the last heart attack. Watch this special "CNN Presents" Sunday night 8:00 eastern right here on CNN.

Now watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: But is the big mess something President Obama can clean up? The big question, the big weight on the president's shoulders, and the nation's for that matter, j-o-b-s, jobs. Does she have a plan for more? A big announcement from the administration today on that. We'll check in with CNN's chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Third and final day of the president's bus tour. Earlier this afternoon, the president spoke in Atkinson, Illinois. He spoke to Whiffles hybrid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I want to take the Waffles family for -- Whiffles rather. Excuse me. I haven't had lunch.

(LAUGHTER)

I want to take the Whiffles family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK, Waffles, Whiffles.

By the way, this is President Obama earlier from Whiteside County Fair in Morrison, Illinois. He's talking again about the economy and about the failure of politics in Washington, particularly the failure to come together to put folks to work.

Well, the president's new plan, the one we have talked about here, we've learned he will unveil it in a major policy speech next month. So standing by for us in Washington with more on that, chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin. Jessica, I've got to ask you, we've got folks out there who are living week to week, paycheck to paycheck, trying to keep a roof over their heads. Why is the White House waiting an entire month to unveil this jobs plan?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right, Brooke, and that's what many of the president's Republican critics, even some of his frustrated supporters have been asking, too, why not now? The president's adviser thinks August just isn't the time to unveil a new legislative package since Congress is out of session anyway. They can't act on it now if they wanted to.

So the White House believes it would get loss if they put it out at this point. So wait until this town is back in September. And let me tell you, Washington right now is empty.

The jobs package Brooke, the idea is that it will be actual legislation from the administration with new proposals. The White House says this is not going to be a rehash of what we've already heard from the president. I'll warn you already, Republicans in Congress, some of leaders are saying it should not include new spending at all. So get ready for a fight.

BALDWIN: So for the fast three days, we know the president has been out and about in the Midwest essentially accusing Republicans of holding jobs hostage to politics. As long as we're talking politics, the jobs campaign, it could work for him, though, couldn't it?

YELLIN: Politically? Absolutely. Either it passes in which case it could help spur job growth and he can claim a bid accomplishment and so could Congressional leader, or it doesn't pass in which case he can go on the road attacking Republicans in Congress for blocking it.

Politically the president's adviser like to get him out of Washington as much as possible because they believe his poll numbers go down when he's locked in negotiations here in Washington with Congress and it goes up when he's out there talking to real people. So this kind of campaign around jobs, you have campaign style fight, but on turf over how to get jobs growing. That's an issue they would like to fight over.

BALDWIN: I was talking to Wolf Blitzer about jobs and specifics, what the administration will propose. You know, I sat down with him yesterday. Do we have any ideas as far as the specifics? You mentioned new proposals. Do we know what those proposals might be, when we hear the major policy speech next month?

YELLIN: Right. The president's economic team is literally working on it as we speak. And they are continuing to work on it, we're told, through the president's vacation. So it is not locked and done.

So there are no detailed specifics I can give you, but I can tell you that the kinds of areas they're looking at are targeted tax cuts and infrastructure. So what kinds of things could that be?

Outside experts talked to the White House and say potentially something that could be in the mix is, for example, increasing the amount of money available to states, counties, and cities to help infrastructure projects. There is already the Department of Transportation. You can increase the amount of money they get.

Or maybe a special tax cut for employers who hire new employees. You give employers a tax cut, that could encourage them to create new jobs. Those are kinds of proposals they could be considering we could see in September.

BALDWIN: Jessica Yellin, thank you so much.