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Gingrich Suspends Campaign; Junior Seau Dies at 43

Aired May 02, 2012 - 15:34   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: So there you have it, what, 15, 20 minutes through that, somewhere in the middle we did hear Newt Gingrich say he is suspending his campaign for the nomination for president.

I want to bring in Matt Towery, he's been patient, sitting alongside with me, good friend, actually, adviser strategist of former Speaker of the House.

So here's my question to you, sir, is when, you know, he basically said -- he finally mentioned the R word about you know, 15 minutes in, R being Romney, and said, hey, if people are asking me is he conservative enough, and his answer was, well, you know, compared to Barack Obama? Is that a winning endorsement?

MATT TOWERY, CEO, INSIDERADVANTAGE: Well, look, here's what Newt was doing. He was building his conservative bona fides up so that he can build himself up to help Mitt Romney, but I don't consider that a ringing endorsement. I think he still wants to hold a little bit back.

But let's give the man some credit. He ran a strong campaign. He has been a strong leader for Republicans. The one thing these Republicans don't get is Barack Obama is a strong candidate. Don't take him lightly. And they better all get together in a stronger manner or they're not going to win this White House.

BALDWIN: One more quick question for you, as you mentioned, sorry, south Carolina. They're always the ones who pick the nominee, it's ultimately for the party who's going to feel a little guilty rolling through the state now, as we know, it's not him.

Is this tough for him to bow out?

TOWERY: Oh, it's absolutely tough. Newt Gingrich thought he was going win. And I was with him, actually, when he left Florida. And he was so stunned by what happened there and the barrage of ads that he took on and the fact that he wasn't able to carry it. I think that he never really recovered. But he'll be back. He never goes away.

BALDWIN: Matt Towery, thank you so much.

TOWERY: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Appreciate it. TOWERY: Sure.

BALDWIN: More on our breaking news here. We have just gotten word NFL superstar Junior Seau has died. In fact, his mother just broke down outside his home. We'll play that for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Tragic loss for the NFL. CNN has now confirmed death of Junior Seau, superstar linebacker, former player for the NFL team, the San Diego Chargers, played for other teams (inaudible) as well.

But the San Diego Chargers just released a statement, let me read it for you here, quote, "Everyone at the Chargers is in complete shock and disbelief right now. We ask everyone to stop what they're doing and send their prayers to Junior and his family."

And just moments ago, Junior Seau's mother and sister spoke to the media. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUISA MAUGA SEAU, MOTHER OF JUNIOR SEAU: Show your love to my son. (Inaudible) Junior. Junior never do nothing, you guys. But I say today thank you. I appreciate you show your love to my son. I don't understand who do this to my son, but I pray to God, please, take me. Take me, my son.

But it's too late. Too late. That's all I say. Thank you. Thank you so much. God bless you. Everybody drive home. Drive carefully. Drive carefully. But I don't know what I'm going to do about that. That's only God. Only God, God give me the power, give me the strength.

Monday, Tuesday, me and my husband come over here and visit him, but he out of town. He talking to me, he's joking to me, he called me a homekio (ph), even he said it, now I hear the bad voice on a Wednesday morning. He never say something for me. Junior -- why you never telling me you going?

And I break down. Take me. Take me. Leave my son alone. (Inaudible). (Inaudible) Thank you. Thank you so much for everybody. God bless you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, everybody. Thank you very much.

JUNIOR SEAU'S SISTER, ANNETTE: On behalf of my brothers and sisters, especially my parents, I would appreciate or we would appreciate as a family that you give us some kind of privacy. I know the media, I'm sorry, media, but I know you guys, you're going to overblow this.

My brother was a loving brother, a caring citizen, so I would appreciate it if you guys would just please honor his last day and give us some kind of peace and privacy. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your name, please.

ANNETTE: I'm Junior's sister, Annette.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): That was hard to watch.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Junior's mom, Luisa, there obviously distraught. The love of the mother, as you said --

OCEANSIDE POLICE CHIEF FRANK MCCOY: My name is Frank McCoy --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Let's go to the police.

MCCOY: M-C-C-O-Y -- I'm the police chief here in the city of Oceanside. This morning at approximately 0935 hours, our police department received a call from a young lady, who indicated that she was Junior Seau's girlfriend. She indicated that she returned to the residence to find Mr. Seau unconscious, suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest.

Oceanside Police Department and Fire Department, responded to this residence, where we located Mr. Seau in one of the bedrooms. Lifesaving efforts were performed on Mr. Seau, however, they were not successful. And Mr. Seau has deceased. This case, at this point is being investigated as a suicide; a handgun was found near the body.

As you can see, this is still a very fluid situation and our investigators are continuing their investigation in this matter. Our hearts and prayers as a city go out to the Seau family. I will not be answering any questions at this point; however, Lieutenant Motta (ph) will be back in about 15 minutes to answer any other questions that you may have. Thank you very much.

BALDWIN: First you heard from an obviously incredibly distraught mother, saying take me, leave my son.

You heard from the sister, you heard from the police chief there in Oceanside, essentially saying that it was Junior Seau's girlfriend who found him right around 9:30 in the morning, found him unresponsive, found him -- there was a gunshot wound to his chest, tried to perform CPR, ultimately called police.

We're going to continue working the story. In fact, just now hearing, we're talking to another NFL player about the life, the superstar linebacker, and the legacy of Junior Seau.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Breaking news on the death of NFL superstar linebacker Junior Seau. He played for the Patriots, the Chargers, the Dolphins. Basically, according to the police chief there in the Oceanside community in California, in which he lived, they are investigating this death as a homicide. And I want to bring in a former player, Coy Wire, played for the Bills, played for the Falcons. Forgive me, what did I say? Excuse me. Being investigated as a suicide. As a suicide. I misspoke. Coy Wire, on the phone with me, and Coy, just in terms of his passion as a player, Junior Seau, he was an inspiration on the field, yes?

COY WIRE, NFL PLAYER: He was the inspiration for the teams of which he was a part. His unbridled passion was really unprecedented, in my opinion, in the NFL.

And you see this guy and the way he played the game, he played with such vigor, inspiration, motivation for not -- you know, for himself, but players around the league tried to emulate this guy. He played the game the way it was meant to be played.

BALDWIN: He was in, what, the most pro bowls of any player.

WIRE: That's right. There has not been a player in NFL history who has been to more pro bowls than this guy.

So let alone, aside from the passion that he brought to the game and the way he played the game, in a motivational manner, just from a performance standpoint, stellar, stellar career. There wasn't a linebacker or any other player for that matter in this sport that did it better than him. Twelve pro bowl appearances for Junior Seau.

BALDWIN: Off the field, Coy, what kind of man was he?

WIRE: Off the field, you know, you hear all about his philanthropic efforts and the foundation he established, especially in the San Diego area. Did so much for the community there.

That's the second thing you think about when you hear the name Junior Seau, what kind of person he was from a philanthropic standpoint. He really was paramount in the NFL for setting the tone and the standard for what an NFL player should be on and off the field.

BALDWIN: I was talking to another player a couple minutes ago and he was bringing up this point that too many players recently are going down this path, this path being suicide.

Again, they're investigating this as suicide and my question was it's just difficult for fans to understand, you're living this amazing life, you point out he was so inspirational on and off the field. And it just begs the question, why. What could happen to someone, perhaps deep, deep down within a player, to take a turn?

COY: It's only speculation that this is brain trauma related, but if it is, this is going to speak volumes about what we're seeing through the bounty scandal and the other issues that we're now finding to be prevalent amongst former players when it comes to long-term adverse effects of playing the game.

When you talk about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, CTE, repetitive blows to the head. If that's the case, if there is a link, Brooke, this is going to continue to raise awareness and bring cognizance to the reality of playing the sport of football and that we're in an evolution now, a necessary evolution of the game to make it safer for the future of its players.

BALDWIN: Yes. We don't know. That is speculation, so I'm not going to go there, but we will continue to watch the investigation and see what details do begin to emerge.

Coy Wire, I appreciate you, and again, just to reiterate, again reporting from Oceanside police, where they have responded, they did this morning respond to an emergency call from Seau's girlfriend, saying he apparently died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest. Junior Seau was 43.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: Time now for the "Help Desk," where we get answers to your financial questions. And joining me this hour, Greg Olsen is a certified financial planner and partner at Lennox Advisers.

Lynnette Khalfani-Cox is the founder of the financial advice block askthemoneycoach.com. Thanks both for coming in today.

Lynette, first question to you. This comes from Aaron (ph) in Michigan. Aaron (ph) is 30 years old, a reserve member of the U.S. Navy. He wants to know how he can start planning for retirement. Always good to start at 30.

LYNNETTE KHALFANI-COX, FOUNDER, ASKTHEMONEYCOACH.COM: Right. And I have to say hats off to him for starting to plan at such an early age. That's a great thing.

I think a couple of things he should keep in mind, one is to go ahead and get started, whatever it is you choose to do, whether it's mutual funds, individual stocks and bonds. Sometimes people who are younger think they have to have a big lump sum or a lot of money to invest. Take the slow and steady approach.

Also, he wants to take advantage of any potential military benefits that might be available over the long haul and those kind of things can really add up over time. He has got decades, potentially, until retirement, so just sort of take the slow and steady approach and make sure he's broadly diversified, don't just jump into one asset class or one individual investment.

HARLOW: Even if it looks attractive at the moment.

Greg, your question comes from Tracy (ph) in Wheaton, Illinois. Tracy (ph) wrote in that she's planning on getting married soon. How should she and her fiance merge their finances? I guess maybe should they?

GREG OLSEN, CFP, LENNOX ADVISERS: Well, as a financial adviser and a happily married man I'm amply qualified to answer the question.

(LAUGHTER) OLSEN: I would say slowly.

HARLOW: OK.

OLSEN: Take baby steps. This is not a hard, fast rule here. This is more of a feel question. Maybe start by opening up a joint checking account together and paying the bills and then maybe switch to opening up an investment account together. The best advice I can give you, though, is do it slowly and wait until she gets married. Planning for the wedding is really stressful enough.

HARLOW: It certainly is, I can tell you that. Thank you, guys, both very much. Appreciate it.

If you have a question you want answered, just send us an e-mail any time to cnnhelpdesk@CNN.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We are continuing our breaking news here. I know it's a sad, sad day for the NFL, for both the league and fans as well of Junior Seau. He was just 43 years of age, and according to Oceanside police, he was found dead by his girlfriend early this morning in his Oceanside home by an apparent gunshot wound to the chest, and they are investigating this as a suicide.

He was a superstar both on and off the field, from what I'm understanding from folks who have already been on the show, former players. And I want to bring in someone who knew him, Neil Mandt was the executive producer of a show called "Sports Jobs."

And Neil, I understand this was the kind of show where you would feature different athletes and you featured Junior Seau at one point in time. Tell me a little bit about the piece you did on him.

NEIL MANDT, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "SPORTS JOBS WITH JUNIOR SEAU": Well, actually Junior was the star of the show. He was the main talent. And the show was called "Sports Jobs with Junior Seau." it aired on Versus. We did a full season and it was a great show, and Junior was -- he was the star of the show.

BALDWIN: OK. Forgive me for not knowing that. So he was the star. So he was the star on the field; it sounds like he was a star off the field, philanthropically, and he was the star on your show, "Sports Jobs." So what kind of guy was he?

MANDT: You know, I used to refer to him as the mayor, because everywhere we went, when he'd walk in, and he was like the mayor of the town, I mean, everybody knew who he was. He was well liked by everybody.

He had just retired the season -- he had just finished the season and retired from the NFL and we started shooting in the summer and then he got picked back up by the Patriots so I saw him go back in the NFL. And we were shooting the show while he was playing in the NFL at the same time so I saw him as a regular person and as a player. It was very interesting.

BALDWIN: So when you say he would talk about his time in the league, how would he speak about his time on the field? Sort of he loved it longingly. How would you qualify that?

MANDT: Actually, longingly is a great word, because as I said, we started shooting the show in the summer, and he was technically retired but he was in talks to go back with the Patriots for one more season, and I could tell that he sort of missed being on the field, and he wanted to be back on it.

I knew that he would do one more season with the Patriots, which he ultimately did, but I knew even after that he would be thinking about it forever, even when he was surfing. He was a big surfer, so every day he would go surfing and he was talking about playing in the NFL.

BALDWIN: So he was a surfer. You call him the mayor. I was just reading a newspaper article here in the commercial from the "North Times," calling him a local hero and he gave back so much to the community and also to the youth through his foundation. It was the Junior Seau Foundation. Why does he care so much about people, it sounds like?

MANDT: He just had a connection. I mean, just he was one of those guys who just, you know, you could meet him for a second and he could make you feel like you knew him for years. He really lit people up in the room, and I think he really, genuinely enjoyed being that guy that people looked up to.

And so, you know, he was a perfectionist for sure, there's no question about that, with his work in television and certainly in football. He could immediately become super simple with everybody and make everyone feel like a big teddy bear.

BALDWIN: Be a teddy bear off the field and I'm sure a rough guy on the field, doing as well as he did, the most pro bowls, I know, of any professional player. When was the last time you talked to him, Neil?

MANDT: Last year.

BALDWIN: And how did he sound?

MANDT: I'm sorry?

BALDWIN: How did he sound?

MANDT: You know, fine. We communicated obviously all of the time during the show and then after the show finished it was just sort of e-mails and occasional conversation. He talked about his golf tournament which he had coming up and we talked about that.

BALDWIN: So --

(CROSSTALK) BALDWIN: I'm sorry --

MANDT: He was enjoying his retirement.

BALDWIN: He was enjoying his retirement. What was he up to?

MANDT: Surfing. That was his thing. He had a real passion for surfing, and so every time -- it seemed like every time we talked about, oh, he was hitting a wave, so that seemed to be it for him.

BALDWIN: So then, Neil, as you hear this news, what are the first few thoughts that cross your mind, knowing this is a fairly gregarious guy off the field, a good guy, loves to surf, and you hear that now as police are investigating this apparent death, reported suicide, what was your first thought?

MANDT: You know, it's just one of those things, if it turns out to be a suicide, which is what it seems like it could be, it's just like any suicide.

It's just a horrible thing that happens and I think that somebody probably had a bad, really terrible moment and it just -- I don't think it reflects on him as a person. I don't feel like he was depressed. I think that something maybe could have happened in recent times, that just pushed him to a point where he felt that --

BALDWIN: Sure. The details will begin to emerge. Neal Mandt, I appreciate you calling in. Thank you and thank you for watching. Got to go to Washington. Wolf Blitzer, "THE SITUATION ROOM" starts now.