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George Clooney Arrested; Verdict Announced in Rutgers Case; Google Tracking iPhone Users?; Clooney, NAACP President Arrested in D.C.; Interview with NAACP President Ben Jealous
Aired March 16, 2012 - 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: Here we go, hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
And we begin with the arrest today of George Clooney. Officers arrested the actor in Washington, D.C., this morning, and like many of the movie star arrests you hear about, you can see this. This was not about a fall from grace. This was the Oscar winner's deliberate attempt to spotlight the brutalities in the Sudan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR: Immediately, we need humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world, immediately. The second thing we are here to ask is a very simple thing, is for the government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I want to bring in Athena Jones.
Athena Jones, if you can hear me, here's my question. We know he was testifying on the Hill, talking to the president, trying to call attention to the atrocities in the Sudan, but why specifically was he arrested?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was arrested for the charges disorderly crossing a police line. It is an act of civil disobedience that had been planned of course.
This was earlier this morning outside the Sudanese Embassy, where Clooney not just with his father, Nick Clooney, but also with other civil rights activists here, Ben Jealous from the NAACP. Martin Luther King Jr. -- I'm sorry -- Martin Luther King III was also there, along with several congressmen and activists from Sudan and religious leaders as well.
They were there to protest the Sudanese government's blockading food aid to their region in Southern Sudan just on the border with South Sudan, the country that is newly independent since July. There has been ongoing fighting there, the people are under constant bombardment. They weren't able to plant crops so they're facing big food shortages. They want to see more action taken by the U.S. government to put sanctions on President Omar al-Bashir, who is already a convicted war criminal in the Sudan.
They want to use pressure and working with other countries, countries like China to try to put pressure on the government to allow this food aid in so hundreds of thousands of people don't face a famine.
Just a short while ago, George Clooney was released from this -- you see here behind me in the 2nd District here in Northwest Washington. I believe we have a little bit of what he had to say. Let's play that if we do.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Let me jump in. And I apologize. We have been working on turning that sound around. We took it live. In fact, I think I recognize your voice, Athena. You got a question in to George Clooney. What did you ask him, what did he say?
JONES: Well, that's right. I asked him -- he's been at this for a while. As we know, he's been at this for the last three days. He was Wednesday testifying on the Hill about it. Thursday he met with the president. He was also a guest at the state dinner. But this wasn't even the first time he has met with the president about it. He met him two years ago back in October 2010 to talk about Sudan.
He's also a co-founder of this Satellite Sentinel project, which is using satellites to capture evidence of war crimes going on in the region, tanks and artillery shells and that sort of thing. This is something he's been working on. I said to him, you have been at this for a while, what signs of progress have you seen over all these weeks and years? He said, there has been amazing progress.
He cited the fact that South Sudan was able to have this referendum and separate from Sudan. So there has been some progress made, but certainly a lot more still needs to be made. There are still problems in Darfur, and of course there's now this ongoing problem and so much more needs to be done. But he believes they have been able to make progress by drawing attention to this issue.
He's certainly done a good job drawing attention to it this week, and he told me after that press conference, I said, are you going to stop? What is next for you? Can we expect more? He said, I haven't stopped yet. So I think we can expect to see more. Maybe not outside the embassy of Sudanese embassy, but in general we can expect see more from George Clooney.
BALDWIN: He was as you mentioned as you are right now outside this jail, and we have turned around a little bit of sound of him speaking. His father is right next to him, Nick Clooney. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLOONEY: What we have been trying to achieve today is we're trying to bring attention to an ongoing emergency, one that's got about a six-week timetable before the rainy season starts and a lot of people are going to die from it. So our job right now is to try to bring attention to it. One of those ways was apparently getting arrested. I guess we're not allowed to hang out at the Sudanese Embassy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know that. Did you?
CLOONEY: No, I didn't know that, either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I guess not. Just to follow up to that, what we didn't show you was someone threw a question, something like what was it like to be in a jail cell, and he said, it was horrible, horrible. And then he turned to his father. He's with his dad, right? Not too bad.
JONES: Right. Right.
As we know, he paid a fine. We understand it was a $100 fine. All this time he was arrested by the Secret Service. The Secret Service is who protects the embassies here in Washington, so he was arrested by uniformed members of the Secret Service. He was held, of course, and put in the paddy wagon and brought together with other people, those other congressmen and Dick Gregory and the like to this station here.
But he was always in the custody of the Secret Service. As we understand it, he paid a fine and now he's free to go, but that probably won't be the end of it.
BALDWIN: I never thought we would be sitting here talking about the arrest of George Clooney.
Athena Jones for us in Washington, Athena, appreciate it. Right?
And now this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: A military, diplomatic and legal disaster for the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: That was the voice of Jeff Toobin talking to me yesterday. He is talking about the American soldier accused of killing innocent families in Afghanistan. We now know -- this guy is supposed to arriving in Kansas any hour now. As we learn more about the suspect's personal life, his lawyer suggests this is just the start of a trial about the war itself. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We are awaiting the arrival on U.S. soil of that U.S. Army soldier still unidentified who is accused of killing those 16 Afghan civilians. The attorney for the unnamed soldier told CNN today he expects his client to arrive some time this afternoon, and his destination here, this is Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas. Let's go straight to the Pentagon back to Chris Lawrence.
Do you expect the news of his arrival to come from the Pentagon, do you think it will be quiet and we won't hear about it until we get the news from his attorney? What do you think?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I think we will get the news of his arrival fairly quickly once he's actually on the ground and perhaps on base, but that doesn't necessarily translate to actually getting his name and having charges filed.
The two are two separate things, and I think that's what we're really waiting on, Brooke, is to find out exactly when the name will be released and exactly what charges will be filed against him. The military has stalled on some of these big high-profile cases before. I remember about two years ago when the so-called kill team killed some Afghans for the thrill of it, for sport, they were taking body parts as souvenirs. That happened in May, but it wasn't until June, about a month later, that we got the name of sort of the ringleader and some of the others involved in that weren't even released until a few weeks after that.
BALDWIN: Chris, we know he hasn't even been charged yet, but if and when this goes to trial, do we know yet where, presumably within the United States, it would happen?
LAWRENCE: It could be a number of places.
It could be back at his home base of Joint Base Lewis-McChord. There are a number of places in the United States where it could be. I think the key is going to be there in the United States you're not worried about the cycle of deployments, whereas if someone is tried overseas and it's a case that could drag on for a very long amount of time, you have the issue of trying to replace people whose deployments have finished up, and it's hard to see that the military would want sort of a revolving door of officials involved in this case.
BALDWIN: So whether it's Joint Base Lewis-McChord or elsewhere within the United States, what happens then? Because you know there are these eyewitnesses, and they are the Afghan villagers right back over in Afghanistan. If they want to testify and be cross-examined, are they then flown here? How does that work?
LAWRENCE: That's right, and that testimony is expected to be key. We have already seen some reports from some of the Afghan villagers who have told local authorities what they witnessed, what they saw. One man describing how his father was shot and killed.
So those statements are going to be key, because even the surveillance video that the military has really only shows pretty much the area around that combat outpost. It shows him leaving, it shows him entering back into the base. It does not show what happened in those villages.
So, really, eyewitness testimony is going to be crucial to this. It still remains to be seen if they would actually try to fly these villagers back over. Obviously, the defense is going to want a chance to cross-examine some of these villagers with the help of a translator, but it remains to be seen whether you would have to get them over here to the United States for an amount of time or simply do some sort of videotape deposition.
BALDWIN: Wow. Chris Lawrence, appreciate it, at the Pentagon.
As we said, CNN spoke this morning with this newly hired attorney of this massacre suspect. He is a very well known criminal defense attorney based in Seattle, and he says he has spoken by phone with his client.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN HENRY BROWNE, ATTORNEY: He sounded distant and kind of like a deer in the headlights, but OK. I conveyed his family's love for him. I told him I did not want to speak with him about specifics of the case because I don't trust the phone not being monitored.
I don't know what the facts are. He seemed to be unaware of some of the facts that I talked to him about, which makes me concerned about his state of mind, obviously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The attorney also disputed any kind of suggestions by unnamed government sources that this massacre suspect was having some sort of marital issue, marital problems. He in fact described his client as a good family man and a highly decorated soldier.
Coming up, it is a case that could set precedent involving what you do online. The jury finally announcing the verdict for the student accused of spying on his roommate during a sexual encounter. But after the verdict was read, a very emotional moment involving the victim's father. Sunny Hostin has been watching this for months. She's on this one and she's "On the Case" next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Finally a verdict today in the case of the former Rutgers university student accused -- I should say accused of spying on and intimidating his gay roommate who then committed suicide.
On trial, Dharun Ravi, he was found guilty of the most serious charges against him. He could no face up to 10 years in jail and possibly be deported back to his native India. His roommate, Tyler Clementi, jumped to his death off the George Washington Bridge. That was back in the summer of 2010. Ravi had spied on Clementi's sexual encounters with another man with a Webcam and then took it and shared it with the world on Twitter.
I want to bring in Sunny Hostin "On the Case." First, just in terms of this case itself, we're talking about 15 different counts. What all was he found guilty of and why?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's right. It was a 15- count indictment and he was found guilty of each and every count. I mean, prosecutors sort of call that a clean sweep.
So all in all, he was found guilty of invasion of privacy, Brooke, attempted invasion of privacy, witness tampering, hindering apprehension, and most importantly bias intimidation. And many of us watching this case, I myself have watched every single day of testimony, were most interested in whether or not he would be found guilty of bias intimidation. Because prosecutors had to prove that while he may have invaded Tyler Clementi's privacy by setting up that Webcam and watching an intimate encounter that Tyler Clementi had with another man, prosecutors had to show that he was motivated by bias and intimidation.
It was a hate crime. And this was something that has never really been tried before in New Jersey and really in other places in the country, this sort of bias intimidation hate crime through social media. And we know as a result of Tyler Clementi's death that New Jersey, in fact, now has the strongest cyber-bullying law on the books.
And so this really has set precedent, I think, in New Jersey and perhaps not only in New Jersey, all over the country.
BALDWIN: And to think -- I was talking to someone earlier, and to think had Dharun Ravi not taken these pictures for Twitter for everyone else to see, this may never have happened. And now he is found guilty as you mentioned on every single -- clean sweep and possibly could face up to 10 years and could be deported back to India. What's the likely scenario?
HOSTIN: That's right, and sentencing has been set for May 21. There is significant exposure here. As you mentioned, we're talking five to 10 years because of those bias intimidation counts that he was convicted of.
This is a very, very interesting place for this judge to be. I have been in this courtroom. This is a very serious judge, a judge that's been on the bench for a while. He has asked the defense team to provide to him in six weeks what's called a sentencing memorandum. In it, the defense will argue that there are mitigating factors here that substantially outweigh the aggravating factors and that this was just a childish prank and that he should not be sent to jail.
This judge could sentence him up to 10 years, Brooke, but also could sentence him to probation, a non-custodial sort of sentence. But I have got to tell you, all the eyes of the world, I think, are on this case. It has reached just all over the world, and the bottom line here is that Tyler Clementi jumped off of the George Washington Bridge just a day after the second invasion of his privacy.
And so I think all eyes are on this judge, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was sentenced to some real jail time here. This is a cautionary tale, I think, for our young people that you just can't do this kind of thing. It's just not OK.
BALDWIN: I say good for New Jersey with this cyber-bullying law. Good for them. Sunny Hostin, thank you.
HOSTIN: That's right.
BALDWIN: Before we move past this, I just wanted to share this moment. This is Tyler Clementi's father addressing the kids after the verdict. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE CLEMENTI, FATHER: To our college, high school and even middle school youngsters, I would say this. You're not necessarily going to -- you're going to meet a lot of people in your lifetime. Some of these people you may not like.
But just because you don't like them does not mean you have to work against them. When you see somebody doing something wrong, tell them, that's not right. Stop it. You can make the world a better place. The change you want to see in the world begins with you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Tyler Clementi's father. As Sunny mentioned, Dharun Ravi's sentencing is set for May.
Now this, horrifying moments caught on tape, a toddler tossed off a carnival ride. Find out why she was on it in the first place. Look at that.
Plus, the daughter of a former presidential candidate appears in "Playboy." And she reveals a lot, including details about her sex life. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWS BREAK)
BALDWIN: And it has never been done before, but Hollywood's James Cameron is trying to do this dive to the deepest point, seven miles underwater, folks. And the director has invited CNN to go along for the ride. I talked to Jason Carroll. He was the only news reporter who went, said it was the coolest assignment of his life.
We're going to see what he saw next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Can he do it? Film director James Cameron, he is headed back below the ocean's surface. Only, this time, he will try to reach the world's deepest point, seven miles below in the Pacific.
And he invited CNN to go right along with him. And Jason Carroll did precisely that. He was the only news reporter on the ship when Cameron did some of these test dives. He went all the way to Papua New Guinea, which is like I don't know how many planes you're on to get there.
What was that like?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh.
Well, look, anyone who has a love, Brooke, of exploration and a respect for science couldn't be more thrilled about something like this happening. You know, James Cameron, obviously, he has both. He has the love of exploration. He's had it for many, many years. He has the love of science. He's been working for 15 years, in fact, to get the respect of the scientific community when it comes to deep sea exploration.
What you're seeing there is some of the results of his work. That is Deep Sea Challenger. That is actually this high-tech sub that he and a team of scientists, along with National Geographic, have been working on for several years.
So we were there, out there in the South Pacific as he was running these test dives before the actual big dive, and I had many opportunities to see it in action and to speak to Cameron. A lot of people say, are you a director, are you more of an explorer? Well, I asked him that question. Why don't you listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES CAMERON, FILM DIRECTOR AND SEA EXPLORER: Am I an explorer who does films on the side or am I a filmmaker who does exploration on the side? I have a hard time deciding, you know, but there is a good overlap between the two.
To me where the rubber meets the road is where it's not scripted. You know, the ocean doesn't read the script and doesn't show up and doesn't do its lines. You know, you have to adapt and adjust and be prepared and all that, and be prepared to see something new and unknown and react to that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: So we're all anxiously waiting to see what he's going to see when he actually gets down to Challenger Deep, the deepest known point on the planet. It's located in the Mariana Trench, located about 36,000 miles (sic) down, that's about seven miles straight down. Yes, that's a long way down, isn't it? See a little map there so you can get an idea of where it is.
BALDWIN: So as he goes those seven miles down, when we saw that video of him, Jason, I mean, I don't know how big that submersible is, but that looked like pretty darn tight quarters.
How does he, I guess, prepare for potential claustrophobia, because when you're that far down, there is not an eject button, my friend. CARROLL: You know, a very good point. And just a little -- some specs on that sub, it weighs about 12 tons. It's about 24 feet long, but the protective steel-encased pod that Cameron is in is about 43 some-odd inches or so, so imagine cramming yourself into a refrigerator.
Oh, yes, and he's 6'2". So he's really in sort of a crouch position when he's in there. And I asked him, I said, how are you going to do this for so long? He said, look, he said I'm going to be down there for at least ,you know, six, seven hours, but he's going to be so busy taking samples, taking 3-D imagery, he says that's what really occupies his time.
And if anyone, he says, has any doubts -- so you can see him sort of like looking out there, yes, sort of in that crouched kind of position there, he says if anyone has any doubts about how he's been obsessed with deep sea exploration, all you have to do is look at some of his pictures when he was a kid.
He sent us a picture when he was 11 years old, Brooke, and it's a picture of him actually -- there it is, right there, when he was growing up in a small town in Canada. You know what he's holding there? It's a submersible that he built. It's a little small submersible that he build.
BALDWIN: Little did he know --
CARROLL: There's a mouse inside, right, little mouse inside there. He dropped it in 20 feet of water. The mouse actually survived. So if anyone has any doubts as to whether or not this man has had exploration and an interest in deep sea, you know, you can see from these images he's had it for a very, very long time.
BALDWIN: Well, good for him. I don't think I could sit in that teeny tiny thing myself. Give me the space. Don't do that to me. I don't think I could do it.
Jason Carroll, could you do it, yes or no?
CARROLL: I probably could not. It's better to watch it. And you'll get a chance to watch --
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Your special this weekend. You mentioned you're the only reporter invited actually on the ship to watch him do these test dives. Saturday night, sneak peek, 10:30 pm Eastern time. DVR it if you're not around. Jason Carroll, thank you so much. We look forward to it. And now this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ugly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Loser.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stupid jerk, that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one likes you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They called me "Ears."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Fish Lips."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They would say that my accent sounded weird.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're fat and stupid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have no life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Ugh. A new documentary shows the pain and humiliation of bullying. Ahead we're going to speak with one of the victims in this documentary. He's going to tell me his story. His name is Aaron Cheese. He's going to join me live after this quick break. Don't miss it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Before we even start this next conversation, I'm asking you, please, don't look away or say to yourself, yes, yes, I've heard all this before, because we're going to talk now about bullying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is he bullying me?
BALDWIN (voice-over): This Sunday, Cartoon Network, they're going to be airing this documentary precisely on this subject of bullying. And if you think there is nothing new to talk about, there's nothing that can be done because kids bully, get over it. Please realize you're part of that problem because our silence is part of the problem here, our silence.
Did you know that between 25 and 30 percent of the kids say they've been bullied? Let me repeat that: 25 to 30 percent of kids are bullied. Perhaps your own. And some of those kids are telling their stories very bravely here in this documentary. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ugly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Loser.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stupid jerk, that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one likes you. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They called me "Ears."
AARON CHEESE, "BULLY": "Fish Lips."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They would say that my accent sounded weird.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're fat and stupid.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have no life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kids always made fun of me. Well, I was a big, heavy boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I used to have highlights in my hair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a high voice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From my hair to my eyebrows to the way that I walked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was always the shortest one and that was the main thing that got me bullied.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They will tear you apart with their words.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Aaron Cheese joins me now with Cartoon Network's president, Stu Snyder. Gentlemen, welcome.
Aaron, let's just begin with -- we saw a little bit of you there in that last clip. You're a sophomore in high school now. This really happened to you, what, elementary and Middle School?
CHEESE: Second or third grade to about sixth or seventh.
BALDWIN: That long.
CHEESE: Yes.
BALDWIN: What did kids say to you?
CHEESE: Well, as you heard in the documentary, that little clip, "Fish Lips." They used to --
BALDWIN: They used to do that to you?
CHEESE: Yes, saying my lips were really big. My name is Cheese, so I would get variations of that: Cheese Burger. I got glasses and braces at an early age, so they called me Four-Eyes, Train Tracks, the usual things like that.
BALDWIN: And when they did that, what would you do? Just go home and cry?
CHEESE: Well, at the beginning, I would kind of lay low at school and just go home. I wouldn't really cry, I tried to hold the tears back. Then as I got older and realized I was being sort of an outcast, then I started to try to make more friends and try to fit in a little more, and took the focus off my studies and more on the social aspects to see if they would like me more where I could get more friends.
BALDWIN: Did it hurt your grades?
CHEESE: Yes, it did, because my focus really was off. My concentration was, like I said, not academic, but rather social. So I would try to say, oh, do you like me, do you like me, rather than, am I getting good grades?
BALDWIN: I want to talk about how you got through it, because it looks like you have. But first, let me just play a little bit more of this documentary here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Loser, out of the way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's wrong with you?
CHEESE: Well, I thought there was something wrong with me, that everyone is making fun of me. I've got to be different. I've got to be the one that doesn't fit in. So there's not something wrong with them at this point, it's me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So then at what point did you realize it wasn't you, but it was them?
CHEESE: It was sort of a -- at the end of middle school, at the beginning of high school, when I started to see the diversity in other kids, and I realized that everybody is going to be different. I don't have to fit in with anyone. So I stopped caring about if I'm like you or if I'm going like the next person because no one's going to be the same.
So when I started to realize there is a wide variation of children or people, then I started to stop caring about what others thought and became more comfortable with who I was.
BALDWIN: That's awesome, and I just want to say you couldn't pay me enough to go back to the seventh grade when kids are mean, and here's to being a late bloomer. That's my -- what I'm saying to you. I have -- I want some advice from you in a minute, but so, Stu, to you, Mr. President of the Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network and "Bully" documentary, how did this come together? Why do this?
STUART SNYDER, PRESIDENT, CARTOON NETWORK: As a kids and family network, we always have a responsibility to listen to our kids and families about topics and issues that are important to them. Kids told us that this was an important topic. They were stressed about it, but more importantly, they told us that if they had tools, they felt they could do something about it.
So that's why we focused on and created our Stop Bullying, Speak Up campaign over two years ago. Aaron's case is, you know, dynamic. I mean, this is a real situation, and 160,000 kids don't go to school because of bullying. So this is a serious, serious topic, and our whole goal is to get kids and parents and educators to be talking about this important topic, so that maybe we can make an impact.
BALDWIN: We should just point out also, you're also a dad. I'm sure you're empathetic to some of these youngsters as well. Who is this documentary aimed -- who should be watching this?
SNYDER: Well, first of all, as Aaron's on, and it's from the voice of kids. But we have targeted that kids watch it and most importantly watch it as families with their parents. We're hoping that the end result of this is that a dialogue is created within that family room, within that house and also within that neighborhood of kids that are talking about -- we can really do something about it.
And the most important thing is to speak up. If bullying is occurring, if someone knows that bullying is occurring, to speak up. Tell someone, tell a parent, tell an educator, tell the teacher. Because we know that if someone speaks up correctly, that the incidences of bullying get caught by 50 percent, and even a single incident gets cut down to 10 seconds.
BALDWIN: But it was tough for you to speak up. I mean, this happened to you multiple years, so now, sort of like in retrospect, what is your advice for someone who's being bullied right now?
CHEESE: Well, quite simply, you know, the documentary, it's just called "Speak Up." I didn't have to go through the amount of time that I had to go through. Eventually I got over it, but that was a long time. And it did a lot of damage to me.
But if you talk to someone, anyone, then it will get better, and you don't have to be a silent sufferer like I was and you don't have to worry about whether the next person is going to like you. You can concentrate on what's important if you just speak up and you are confident with who you are.
BALDWIN: What do you say to bullies?
CHEESE: Well, step down. I mean, it's not a fun thing to be on the other side. Put yourself in my shoes and see how it feels, so you aren't making a contribution to anything, you're actually being detrimental in hurting someone.
BALDWIN: Spoken from someone who knows. Aaron Cheese, nice to meet you. Good luck to you.
And to you as well, Stu Snyder, president of Cartoon Network, sister network of CNN, Aaron Cheese, I appreciate you both. Wow, I just want to point out that the documentary on bullying, it airs Sunday night, 5:30 Eastern and Pacific. Gentlemen, thank you very much. Still ahead here, Google. Google has gotten some heat for messing with your privacy settings. Well, now the online giant could be in some hot water and it impacts who watches you online. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Google is in some hot water for tracking iPhone users. And Kofi Annan is talking Syria. Time to play "Reporter Roulette."
First, the New York Stock Exchange to Alison Kosik. Google under fire for messing with your privacy, now regulators reportedly investigating. Is this the beginning of a long legal battle here?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN REPORTER: It very well could be. "The Wall Street Journal", Brooke, says that the SEC, the Federal Trade Commission and E.U. regulators, they are looking into whether or not Google did or did not track people online.
Now this whole brouhaha began last month when "The Wall Street Journal" found out that Google was actually tracking the online moves of people who use Apple Safari browser, meaning on PCs, on iPhones, on iPads. But the problem with this is Safari is actually designed to block tracking by third parties but it looks like Google may have found a way around that.
"The Wall Street Journal" basically caught Google's hand in the cookie jar. Google stopped, but now the question is -- remains as to whether regulators are going to be able to impose any fines on Google because the SEC still has to prove that Google acted intentionally. And Google is maintaining it was by accident.
But figuring out how to target ads is really Google's bread and butter. So if Google knows about you, what you search online, it can target as that use (ph). So this is why Google looks to do this in the first place. But the Feds, Brooke, are trying to figure out if Google broke any of the rules in trying to track you online -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: We shall see. Alison, thanks.
Next in "Reporter Roulette," United Nations tries to take yet another step here to bring relief to Syrians, who this week marked one year of suffering under a relentless government crackdown, reportedly now more than 8,000 people have died protecting the government of President Bashar al-Assad.
Richard Roth, live for us at the U.N. And we know that the U.N. point made on this is the former leader Kofi Annan. What does he want to do? What can he do to try to help these civilians, these Syrians?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Kofi Annan wants a halt to the violence. He wants a plan in which military operations stop, getting humanitarian access into the country. But as you know, this has been going on for quite a long time. No real progress made, at least visibly, here at the U.N. Kofi Annan by video teleconference in Geneva, where the U.N. has an office, spoke to the 15 council members. He reportedly said that he was disappointed with the Syrian responses so far, but he has a team of technical people that are going to go into Damascus, Syria, on Sunday to try to work out a plan to get monitors, international people who can kind of observe what's going on there.
That seems like it's easier said than done. China and Russia still are opposed to the U.S., Britain and France on what to do in Syria. So this thing still drags on. Brooke?
BALDWIN: What is the reaction, Richard, to the Annan briefing at the Security Council?
ROTH: Everybody was positive, and Kofi Annan was looking for at least some unity, or at least a show of can we all get along, to put more pressure on the Assad regime of Syria. President Assad capitalizes on the fact that the big powers are arguing and that there is no big, powerful resolution aimed at him by the council telling him to do something.
So Annan is hoping the people here can at least get together even on a resolution of, I would say, let's get humanitarian aid in, let's put monitors there. China and Russia may be able to budge a little bit. They're not going to go for a big resolution. They already vetoed twice earlier.
BALDWIN: That's right, Richard Roth at the United Nations. Richard, I appreciate it. Thank you. That's your "Reporter Roulette" here on this Friday.
Coming up next, one of the men arrested today alongside this guy, actor George Clooney, was NAACP President Ben Jealous. He has now been released from jail. He's going to join me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: So George Clooney, he's the one getting all the headlines for his arrest today in front of the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., take a look at how it all unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE CLOONEY, ACTOR AND ACTIVIST: We're here really to ask two very simple questions. The first question is something immediate, and immediately we need humanitarian aid to be allowed into the Sudan before it becomes the worst humanitarian crisis in the world -- immediately.
The second thing we are here to ask, it's a very simple thing, is for the government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children. Stop raping them and stop starving them. That's all we ask.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Clooney, Mr. Clooney --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not. It's the people on the other side of me. I'm bending over backwards.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back up, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get back. Get back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: All right. And George Clooney, his father, Nick Clooney, they were there. They were arrested, as were several members of Congress, as was the head of the NAACP, Ben Jealous. In fact, he is now out of jail. I'm being told he is being seated in our Washington bureau. We're going to have a conversation with him here in just a moment, but first, here's a piece from CNN Heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PUSHPA BASNET, CNN HERO: In Nepal, when parents have been arrested by the police and the children don't have a local guardian, some children go to prison with the parents. Before (inaudible) I visited the jail, I was starting my bachelor in social work. I saw a small girl, who just grabbed my shawl and she just gave me a smile. It was really hard for me to forget that.
My name is Pushpa Basnet, and my mission is to make sure no child grows up behind prison walls. In 2005, I started a daycare where the children can come out from the jail at morning and they can go back to the jail at the afternoon.
We have children who are from 2 to 4, and they have coloring, reading, starting five days a week. We started resident in home in 2007. Currently, we have 40 children living out here, mostly about 6 years old.
I don't get a day off, but I never get tired. The children all call me Mamu. It's a big family, with lots and lots of love.
When I started this organization, I was 21 years old. People thought I was crazy, but this is what I want to do with my life. I'm giving them what a normal child should have. I want to fulfill all their dreams.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: CNN Heroes. Thank you.
Meantime, back to the story we've been working on today, these arrests outside the Sudanese embassy in Washington, D.C., George Clooney, his father, also the president of the NAACP, Ben Jealous. He has just been released from jail. There he is in our Washington bureau.
Ben Jealous, nice to see you. What does that T-shirt say?
BEN JEALOUS, PRESIDENT, NAACP: It says united to end genocide.
BALDWIN: Tell me, how long have you been out of jail now?
JEALOUS: You know, I've been out of jail about 15 minutes. I just came straight over.
BALDWIN: Fifteen minutes? We appreciate it. Let me just begin with what were you doing at the Sudanese embassy? What were you trying to -- trying to do?
JEALOUS: You know, we were there because in six weeks the rains will start, and the rains will shut down this road through South Sudan. And if this president continues -- if President Bashir continues to block food getting in there now, then 300,000 people will starve.
And so we were there to call on his government to end this use of food as a weapon, and to actually let the food through. We were there to call on our country to stay focused, on our president to stay focused on ensuring that the food gets to the 300,000 people who need it.
BALDWIN: We saw, you know, and we heard from George Clooney this past week, testifying on The Hill, trying to get Congress, you know, to help offer up aid, offer up some sort of help or intervention. We saw him also talk to the president this week. But why take it to the Sudanese embassy? Was there any kind of conversation among some of you gentlemen who were arrested about, you know, look, this is obviously something we're very passionate about? What can we do to make headlines? What kind of conversation did you have?
JEALOUS: You know, we have six weeks. And so right now, you know, people have been trying for months quietly to get the food through.
And now we've got to get the world focus. I was there with George Clooney, but also with Martin Luther King III, with Dick Gregory, with Rabbi David Saperstein and a whole range of other folks, who are very committed to ensuring that we do whatever we can to get the food through.
BALDWIN: I understand. I understand the message. But what was the conversation? I mean, I have to imagine -- I understand police were warning you multiple times, you know, look you're going to be arrested. I know it was Secret Service who eventually took you in. Obviously you were -- were you willing to be arrested?
JEALOUS: Yes.
BALDWIN: And what kind of conversation did you have in anticipation of that moment?
JEALOUS: Yes, I mean, we plan these things. The reality is that civil disobedience is something that requires a certain amount of discipline.
So we knew -- we came here today knowing that we would be locked up and there would be a point in the protest when that would happen, but we thought it was critical, there were a whole bunch of folks there who had been involved in the South African divestment protest, and the protest outside the South African offices in Washington, D.C. years ago.
And the reality is that this struggle is at that kind of crisis point, where people say, look, it's time for us to do whatever we have to do to get the world to focus on this. I think what's at the back of folks' head is, quite frankly, when we saw what happened in Rwanda some years ago, people said, you know, why didn't we know in advance? What would we have done if we knew in advance?
Well, this time we know in advance. And so we're trying to get the world to focus in advance, that this is a crisis that can be stopped.
BALDWIN: Twenty seconds, what was the conversation in the paddy wagon when you guys were hauled away?
(LAUGHTER)
JEALOUS: Well, you know, I mean, the reality is that we spent our time in jail actually strategizing about the next six weeks. How do we ratchet up the pressure over the next six weeks? How do we get the focus on people who are -- you know, frankly, can make the difference about whether or not 300,000 people live or die?
BALDWIN: Ben Jealous, NAACP, appreciate you helping in the chair, 15 minutes after getting out of jail. Thank you.
And thank you all for watching. Now to Candy Crowley; "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts now.
