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Fed Raid Cities in Medicare Bust; New Info on Vigilante Death; John Edwards Saga Plays Out in N.C.; Putting Sex Offenders in One Place; Michele Bachmann Endorses Mitt Romney

Aired May 03, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips. It's 11:00 o'clock on the East Coast, 8:00 o'clock out west. We've got a busy hour ahead.

Let's start with delusional, paranoid, nitpicker, worried about his brand. We are talking about Osama bin Laden as revealed in his personal documents just published online by the U.S. government.

More than 6,000 documents were taken by Navy SEALs when they killed bin Laden one year ago. American officials describe this as a treasure trove as the single largest batch of terrorist material ever obtained.

I'll tell you how you can see these docs in just a minute and we'll be talking to our Nic Robertson as soon as we can connect to him. He'll tell us more about those documents.

We are connected. Nic Robertson, tell me more about what was discovered and what more we learned about Osama bin Laden.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the big picture that emerges here and, of course, it is only part of the big picture because this is 17 of 6,000 documents, so it's only a partial picture of bin Laden and al Qaeda.

But what emerges is this narrative that bin Laden struggling with all the different sort of affiliates of al Qaeda. They're not always doing what he wants them to do. He is trying to correct them, chastise them and give them direction. And they're not always responding positively to that.

But I think one of the big eye openers there was that bin Laden was jealous of some of his rising stars. Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni cleric who's been behind inspiring a lot of al Qaeda operatives to attacks, even in the United States, in Yemen, al Qaeda suggests to bin Laden that al-Awlaki should take over leadership there.

And bin Laden says I hear what you are saying, but where we come from, we like to see people tested on the battlefield first which is a real putdown for al-Awlaki. He was just a cleric, not like bin Laden. He hadn't been to the battlefield.

So you can see these petty jealousies emerging, too, Kyra. PHILLIPS: Well, petty jealousies and you talk about paranoia. It is fascinating when you read through all these documents. Did you find anything in there that showed that bin Laden knew al Qaeda was getting weaker, that the U.S. was stronger?

Because he always came off in these recordings and statements like he was unbeatable, but it looks like he realized he could be beat.

ROBERTSON: This absolutely emerges. One of the things you think about al Qaeda, they seem to be able to do what they want to be able to do. Bin Laden is a son of a billionaire, Saudi businessman builder billionaire.

Yet, we see him directing one of the operatives to travel from Pakistan and Afghanistan region halfway around the world to the north of Africa to try to raise $200,000 from an al Qaeda affiliated group there That shows you that they're short of cash and funds. That is something that we weren't really aware of.

But this sort of idea that the United States not only doing better than him, financially able to continue the fight, but his thinking about moving his fighters out of camps in the west of Pakistan into Afghanistan where they can hide in the mountains and under tall trees away from the drone strikes and away from spying satellites.

He even directs his 20-year-old son, Hamza, who's in this area, Waziristan in the west of Pakistan, says, time to get out, move when there's cloud cover and get yourself to the Gulf state of Qatar. So when he is moving his family around to avoid drone strikes, you know that he is worried, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And he talks so much about the bin Laden brand. I mean, talk about a tremendous ego and at one point he even wanted to change the name of al Qaeda?

ROBERTSON: Yes, he realized that people like Zarqawi in Iraq -- remember, he had all of these videos of beheadings. He was incredibly brutal. There were people in al Qaeda that were telling bin Laden was to disassociate himself with Zarqawi and al Qaeda in Iraq.

Well, this is the negative image that bin Laden was wanting to change. He was even advising the would-be al Qaeda affiliates in Somalia, al-Shabaab, don't take our name because it will give you more enemies.

Well, guess what? After bin Laden died, they actually have gone ahead and done that.

But bin Laden was so concerned about al Qaeda and the image that he wanted to change the name, that he wanted to centralize their media operations, that he wanted everyone to write to him first to get operations cleared.

This was a guy who was communicating by letters. Sometimes it would take two or three months to exchange letters, so, as a CEO, a massive organization in isolation with leaders, sort of core directors, if you will, turning against him.

PHILLIPS: Nic Robertson, thanks so much. If you want to actually read these bin Laden documents, you can do it. Just go to CNN.com and type in Osama bin Laden documents. You'll be able to see them right there.

All right, we are also hearing from another dead al Qaeda mouthpiece. Anwar al-Awlaki was the American-born cleric who preached jihad on the Internet until he was killed in a U.S. drone attack in Yemen last September.

Actually, he is still preaching jihad. Two new issues on his online magazine have just hit the Web. They justify the use of the chemical or biological weapon used against, quote, "populations of countries at war with Muslims."

They say that women and children are legitimate targets and wildfires can be used as weapons.

Well, the blind Chinese activist who left the U.S. embassy on the promise that he would not be harmed now says that he feels threatened by Beijing and sold out by Washington.

Chen Guangcheng is in a Beijing hospital now where he told CNN, quote, "We are in danger if you talk to Hillary." That's Hillary Clinton. "I hope she can help my whole family leave China.

The U.S. secretary of state is in China for the annual talks that are supposed to focus on global issues, but the Chen case has complicated everything. Beijing is scolding the U.S. for, quote, "interference in Chinese affairs," while the U.S. insists that Chen gave up embassy protection of his own free will.

And the spotlight is back on Florida's "stand-your-ground" law. This time, it's not about Trayvon Martin's case, but this woman. Marissa Alexander who faces 20 years in prison for firing a gun at her husband after a fight.

Now, according to affiliate, WJXT, a judge has denied Alexander a new trial. Her attorneys used Florida's "stand-your-ground" law as a defense, but Alexander was convicted of aggravated assault. Her attorney plans to appeal.

Now, several community groups across the state rallied outside the courthouse before Alexander's hearing, calling her conviction another example of a major injustice.

Well, left to rot in jail for five days, handcuffed, no water, with nothing but his urine to drink. Now, an innocent college student wants the DEA to pay up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Talk about a nightmare. A college kid smokes pot at a friend's house, falls asleep and wakes up to a raid by federal agents. He and several others are hauled away for questioning and I haven't even gotten to the nightmare yet.

Daniel Chong was never arrested. The UC San Diego student was told that he would be released, but instead, somehow, Chong was left in a five-by-ten foot holding cell alone, no food, no water, no communication, seemingly forgotten. And for four-and-a-half days this lasted. Finally, he was discovered and rushed to a hospital where he spent days in intensive care.

Well, now, he is out and he and his lawyer are talking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EUGENE IREDALE, DANIEL CHONG'S ATTORNEY: He screamed hundreds of times for help. He began to dig into the walls, thinking that he could get water that way.

DANIEL CHONG, LOCKED-UP AND FORGOTTEN BY DEA: I had to do what I had to do to survive.

This is an "S" in pitch black. Trying to write, "Sorry, Mom," but I couldn't even aim so I just gave up on that one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: You heard him right. Chong drank his own urine. He hallucinated. And at one point he tried to kill himself with the lenses that he'd chewed out of his eyeglasses. As you might well expect, he is suing and the DEA is apologizing.

The acting head of the San Diego office says -- and I quote -- "I'm deeply troubled by the incident that occurred here last week. I extend my deepest apologies to the young man and want to express that this event is not indicative of the high standards that I hold my employees to. I've personally ordered an extensive review of our policies and procedures."

Reporter Rory Devine has been on the story for KNSD in San Diego. And, Rory, fantastic job on behalf of you and Tony Shin and your news team. Tell me how you broke the story.

RORY DEVINE, KNSD REPORTER: Our station had it a few days before everybody else. What happened was that Tony received a call on the weekend. He received a tip.

And he told me that when he received it, Kyra, he couldn't believe it. He almost didn't even call it in to have confirmed or anything because it just seemed like such an unbelievable story, an unbelievable allegation.

But he called the desk and the desk did some research and we were able to confirm that and break that story on Saturday night.

PHILLIPS: And how did you track down Daniel Chong? How did you convince him to talk to you? I know that he and his lawyer talked to you guys before anybody else.

DEVINE: That's right. Well, it was a lot of work. I will say that we put together some pieces and figured out that the raid was in University City. The campus that was closest to that was UCSD, so we sort of hung out at UCSD for a little while.

And we figured out that a roommate had reported him missing. It was a missing person's report. And so we were able to track -- we did not know the missing person was, in fact, the person that was stuck at the DEA's office, but we just kind of went down that avenue and tried to check that out.

Eventually got some information about the report that was filed, which led us to the student's roommate. We talked to the student's roommate. They said he is with his attorney and we knew who the attorney could be.

We called the attorney and we were able to get the one-on-one interview.

PHILLIPS: The perfect gumshoe and the beauty of a stakeout, as well. Now, obviously, what happened to Chong, Rory, was a huge mistake, but the DEA insists that this raid was legit, right?

DEVINE: Right. I don't think it is a question about the raid.

First of all, Daniel Chong had gone there the day before. He was going to visit some friend's house.

Now, in their statement, the DEA says, admittedly, he was going there to be high, but Daniel Chong shakes his head no when I asked him about that.

So he goes to the house the day before. I guess it's marijuana day, or something like that. He spends the night and the next morning there is a raid. As his lawyer says, he's at the wrong place at the wrong time.

So at the raid, they found ecstasy, they found methamphetamine, they found some guns, et cetera, but according to Daniel Chong's lawyer, Gene Iredale, his client was not under arrest for possession. He was not under the influence. He wasn't under arrest for anything. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

So, the raid, allegedly, at this point, anyway, it went down legitimately, but Daniel Chong was just stuck there in the wrong place at the wrong time.

PHILLIPS: Unbelievable. And just real quickly before we let you go, is he going to go back to school? What's Daniel going to do now?

DEVINE: Well, I will tell you that his roommate actually told me that he lost a lot of weight. They said, whoa, he lost a lot of weight. When I saw Daniel, I said, "Well, I understand you lost a lot of weight." He said, "I lost 15 pounds." He also missed all of his mid-terms and, you know, he is a USD fifth-year engineering student which is a big deal. You don't get into the engineering school at UCSD if you are not a pretty smart person.

So he missed all of his mid-terms. He said, you know, that's a setback, but considering what he's been through, not a big deal.

But, Kyra, I just want to add that when this kid woke up in the hospital, I think that is the part he seems to be traumatized by. He wakes up in the hospital. You know, he finds out he almost died. He almost died, the medical staff tells him, of renal failure.

And then they start telling him what happened to him in terms of his medical condition and he can't believe it. And I said, of course, being a mom -- I said, "What did your mom say?" He said, "My mom came and visited me and -- quote-unquote -- she was horrified at what had happened to him."

PHILLIPS: Well, I know that you will be following up on this story and we are very anxious to see what the DEA does and hear more from the DEA and you.

Rory Devine, great job.

DEVINE: Kyra, thanks so much. Nice talking to you.

PHILLIPS: A pleasure. Thanks for calling in.

Well, big drama in a small town. A head football coach fired, an athletic director fired, and it could all be tied to 80 reports of sexual assault.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, more fallout from the story we first brought you yesterday in Missoula, Montana. Allegations of up to 80 sexual assault involving students at the University of Montana, women living in the college town, and two football players.

The feds are now investigating complaints that local law enforcement dropped the ball. However, the Missoula County prosecutor disagrees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED VAN VALKENBURG: I have no reason to believe that in particular the Missoula police department has in any way violated anyone's constitutional rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Joining us on the phone, once again, is Gwen Florio, the Missoula reporter who actually broke this story.

Gwen, thanks for calling in again. The allegations are just gut- wrenching as we find out more about these cases. Tell me about the fact that gang rape was involved.

GWEN FLORIO, REPORTER, "THE MISSOULIAN": That's how this initially started with a report from the -- well, we had heard allegations and the university confirmed it, a report that two female students had been assaulted by multiple male students in what the university described as "date rape." I think we far more correctly describe these as gang rape.

PHILLIPS: In addition to that, you were telling me about the reports of a Saudi student who was accused of a sexual assault and then left the school. What do you have on that?

FLORIO: That was an incident that really just outraged the entire town because it happened after the initial investigation at the university where they brought in a retired supreme court justice to look at the issue of sexual assault on campus. They had held public forums both on campus and around town about the issue of sexual assault.

After all of that, this Saudi student was accused of assaulting two women in the same night and accused of raping one of them. When the woman reported this to the university to the dean of students, he -- as is a requirement under the student conduct code, notified the man that he'd been accused.

The man subsequently left the country before the woman could file a police report.

PHILLIPS: Another interesting tidbit that I saw in your reporting, that this Montana supreme court justice was actually hired by the university to look into these allegations, right?

FLORIO: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Tell us.

FLORIO: The idea was that she would do an independent review of whatever had been happening so the university could say it was being thoroughly investigated.

PHILLIPS: And, finally, Gwen, before I let you go, what are the students saying about these allegations and also the fact that the football coach was fired and the athletic director?

FLORIO: As you might imagine, there are some deep divisions on this. Some people are furious that the coach and athletic director were let go. We have a really successful football team. They don't want to see anything that might hurt the program.

Others are furious that problems with football players went on for so long. There have been a number of pretty public scrapes with the law. And they said this should have been dealt with a long time ago.

PHILLIPS: We want to continue the follow the story. Gwen Florio, you broke it. Please continue to stay in touch with us. Gwen, thanks so much.

FLORIO: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: You bet.

An update to a story we first brought you yesterday. A high school athlete benched for his age, but today, he is one step closer to the starting line-up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: All right, now, a couple of stories that I just love. This lioness in the Oregon zoo looks pretty hungry and mad that she can't get to her prey.

And, heck, I don't blame her and why would you dress your infant in zebra colors -- hello -- and put him right there in front of the big cat cage? Well, I guess to get him on CNN, right?

The baby didn't seem to care at all, wasn't scared. But lucky for everyone, there was that big thick glass separating the two.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC DOMPIERRE, HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYER: I worked hard for a long time to get to play my senior year. If I could play in other states, I should get to play in Michigan. Please let me. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: You tell him, Eric. That was a pretty emotional plea of the 19-year-old basketball player to the Michigan senate committee.

We told you about Eric Dompierre yesterday. Well, Eric plays basketball on his high school basketball team. He also plays football.

Now, the school athletic association says that he can't stay on the team because he's too old. Eric has Down's syndrome and was held back in elementary school, which is why he is older than everybody else.

But the senate committee heard his plea. All of them voted to change the rules and today it goes before the full senate for a vote. We will let you know how it turns out and, Eric, we are rooting for you.

PHILLIPS: After a hard day at work, what is a better way to relax than good food and good wine? Kareen Wynter shows us where she goes to unwind.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kareen Wynter, here in West Hollywood, California. Welcome to one of my favorite restaurants here in town, Mercato di Vetro. It stands for "market of glass" where, you know, it is not just the atmosphere, but the food will blow you away.

What makes this hot spot unique is the vibe inside. From the floor-to-ceiling wine rack to the detailed-custom design. The upper floor dining area. It is a perfect setting to hang with a group of friends and perhaps do a little people watching down below.

OK, so, now, we are in the kitchen. Check this out. It is right in the middle of the restaurant which is kind of cool. We're going to catch up with the extraordinary chef, Danny.

I know we're interrupting your masterpiece, but we want to see you in action.

DANNY ELMALAH, EXECUTIVE CHEF, MERCATO DI VETRO: Of course. So we have blackberry-bacon pizza today. We have Bellwether ricotta, rosemary-garlic oil on top. A little bit of parmesan on there.

WYNTER: And I don't think we would be able to find this anywhere, guys. It is bacon.

ELMALAH: Bacon.

WYNTER: And?

ELMALAH: Blackberries. A little bit of arugula. A little bit of parmesan and then the pizza.

WYNTER: Look at all of this food. And you know the desserts are just as amazing.

I'm going to get to work, so, until next time, Kareen Wynter, CNN, West Hollywood, California. Cheers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A Medicare fraud bust, false claims totaling $452 million. How health care providers deceived you to put money in their pocketbooks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the very people you trusted, more than 100 doctors and nurses and social workers and pharmacists all taken down in the most recent Medicare bust in history. This involves medical professionals in seven cities. 107 people now charged for bilking Medicare of $452 million. We are talking about your tax dollars. The feds are in the process of rounding them up and making arrests.

Sandra Endo has more from Washington.

Sandra, what is the latest now? How many in custody?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is huge, Kyra. This is the largest Medicare fraud bust this history. Out of the 107 people charged in the bust, at least 91 are in custody. They are accused of submitting claims to Medicare for treatments that were medically unnecessary and often times never provided. The charges include conspiracy and health care fraud and violation of anti-kickback statutes -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: And Kathleen Sebelius talked about this yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, HHS SECRETARY: Today's historic take-down is just the latest milestone in the Obama administration's coordinated campaign to stamp out fraud in our health care system. We've more than quadrupled the task force teams operating around the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Apparently, this one was the largest. What schemes are we talking about?

ENDO: The examples of alleged fraud, Kyra, range from ambulance rides that were medically unnecessary to the pharmacist in Tampa who was arrested for diverts controlled substances. Another defendant in Chicago is accused of making $1 million in false claims for psycho therapy services.

PHILLIPS: Sandra Endo out of Washington. Thanks.

J.T. Ready was a vigilante well-known player in the immigration debates along Arizona border with Mexico. He was usually armed and a known neo-Nazi. Now he is dead along with four others in a case of what is believed to be domestic violence.

Tess Rafols, of KTVK, on the scene with the latest.

Tess, there is chatter surrounding the shootings. What are police telling you?

TESS RAFOLS, REPORTER, KTVK: Just about an hour ago, police confirmed they do not believe this had anything to do with his political views, but rather a domestic violence issue. As you can see behind me in the Gilbert neighborhood, which is 20 minutes outside of phoenix, investigators, federal and local levels have been out here throughout the night collecting evidence and trying to figure out what exactly led up to the shooting that left five people dead. Let's take a look at what it looked like yesterday when this unfolded at 1: 00 in the afternoon neighbors heard a barrage of gunfire. When officers got here, they found the five people dead, including a 15-month-old baby girl.

Police say J.T. Ready, is the believed shooter. He killed two women inside the home along with that child. Came outside and shot another man before turning the gun on himself. Ready and 47-year-old Lisa Medearos had lived in the home together and been in a relationship for the past year. The others killed Lisa's daughter and her fiance. The two moved out of her mother's home a month ago. She was shot and died on her way to the hospital.

You were talking about who is J.T. Ready, a well known member of the Minutemen. Held his own border patrols and leading groups of people and always armed. He was a big supporter of S.B. 1070, the anti-immigration law that created a fuss across the country. He led protests, or I should say supporting the S.B. 1070. A lot of speculation. There have been rumors of Mexican drug cartel, was it a possible hit. Gilbert police do not believe this has anything to do with where J.T. Ready stood, but a domestic violence issue with him and his girlfriend.

So, details still unfolding. Interesting point, Kyra, FBI officials got involved because of hazardous materials and hazardous chemicals and huge drums in the home along with a lot of ammunition. Don't know what that was being used for. A lot of questions still unanswered.

PHILLIPS: Tess Rafols, from our CNN affiliate there, KTVK. Tess, thanks.

To the latest in the John Edwards saga playing out in a North Carolina courtroom. We know him as a Senator and presidential candidate. Now that he has gone to trial, we are learning more about him as a man and husband and what a disappointment he is. If you've been following it, his trial is surrounding hiding campaign cash to hide his pregnant mistress. And it gets uglier by the day.

We have known for a long time that Edwards' cheated on his cancer-stricken wife. We knew he fathered a child with his mistress. Yesterday's testimony was over the top. We don't have pictures from the courtroom, but the words are enough. His campaign's former research director actually testified that Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, had a confrontation in an airport hangar back in 2007 just after the "Enquirer" reported news of his affair. The witness testified that Elizabeth tore off her clothing and exposed her chest and screamed at her husband, quote, "You don't see me anymore." Then Elizabeth collapsed on the ground. Then the testimony got so excruciating that Edwards' daughter, Kate, reportedly left the courtroom in tears.

This is the man that wanted to be president. We have aware that Edwards is innocent of the charges until proven guilty. This testimony is just one person's story. What we are talking about here, the allegations and the facts, are gut-wrenching on some many levels. The affair and cover up and claims of misuse of campaign cash and a family totally torn apart. Today, another John Edwards' aide takes the stand and we will have an update for you tomorrow.

It is never dull when your brother is the president of the United States. Meet Auma Obama, President Obama's half sister. She grew up in a remote village in Kenya. She met her brother for the fist time in the 1990s. In her memoir, "And Then Life Happened," she talks about her connection with the president and how their relationship has developed over the years.

Piers Morgan had a chance to speak to her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, PIERS MORGAN: Who went to see who first?

AUMA OBAMA, HALF-SISTER OF BARACK OBAMA: I went to see him first.

MORGAN: In Chicago?

AUMA OBAMA: In Chicago.

MORGAN: You go to Chicago. It is your first trip to America.

AUMA OBAMA, SISTER OF BARACK OBAMA: Yes.

MORGAN: There's a wonderful picture with you and Barack Obama on the day you meet. He is cooking you a meal at the stove.

OMAR OBAMA: Yes.

MORGAN: What did he cook you?

OMAR OBAMA: He cooked me Indonesian food on that day.

MORGAN: Any good?

OMAR OBAMA: It was really good. It was really good. I enjoyed it. I really did. I guess I don't remember so much about the food because when we met we spent so much time talking, we had so much to say that the food was a secondary factor and a bonus of this great experience of meeting him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Auma Obama works at Care International in Nairobi.

It's a nasty dilemma. Cluster sex offenders in one community or leave them homeless? One such offender is providing homes for people just like him. Is he nuts or a modern-day Robin Hood?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Sex offenders. Here's what usually happens. They register and they try to find a job. Many sex offenders are forced to live on the streets because they cannot find homes. One registered sex offender is buying homes in south Florida and renting them out to fellow sex offenders. He is creating a community of sex offenders. He is expanding this to Orlando.

Randy Young founded Housing for Sex Offenders. You're looking at his web site. He was arrested for lewd conduct after he says he allowed a 19-year-old girl to have sex with a minor in his room while he watched. He says he's a modern-day Robin Hood for sex offenders. He says what he's doing is actually keeping you safer.

Randy Young is that man. He joins me live out of Orlando.

Randy, you own over a dozen homes. You manage more than two dozen around Orlando and other parts of Florida. Tell me why you're doing this.

RANDY YOUNG, DIRECTOR & FOUNDER, HOUSINGFORSEXOFFENDERS.COM: I'm doing this to help the families of sex offenders. I get calls from mothers that are dying of cancer and children whose fathers are being released from prison. If they don't have an address, then in many cases, they stay in prison or forced to live on the streets or under bridges. That really is heart wrenching to these families. In addition to that, I believe it helps the community in these people can be monitored much better in a home rather than under a bridge.

PHILLIPS: So do you involve police or probation officers at all?

YOUNG: Absolutely. I just spoke to a probation officer moments ago. The prisons, probation offices and sheriff's office and judges, I get calls from public defenders, et cetera, all asking me to help certain individuals. I had a call from homeland security to place one a person that helped them out that happened to be a sex offender. We found housing for them.

PHILLIPS: Let me ask you, randy, in any way are you concerned about putting offenders in houses together or a community together. If you have them all hanging out together that it just strengthens the temptation to offend again?

YOUNG: Well, I'm not sure that's the case. I think they help monitor each other. Most of them are very happy that they have a home and if they see that is jeopardized, they would call me or perhaps call law enforcement. They obviously would talk to that person that's sharing the residency with them. I don't think it works the other way around to get a few people out there trying to re-victimize somebody.

PHILLIPS: How do you resist the temptation to do it again?

YOUNG: Well, obviously I went to jail. I spent 11 months in jail. That was a horrible experience. I had no idea what lied in there for me, especially with the charge I had. In addition to that, I took four and a half years of therapy. I know most people think the therapy is useless and there is no cure for a sex offender. There is a different range of sex offenders. I'm not sure there is a lot of help for somebody who molested a 5-year-old versus somebody who was with a teenager. I don't know what to say beyond that.

PHILLIPS: I'm wondering, how do you monitor these people? How do you monitor these sex offenders? How do you assure the neighbors next door to the homes you are buying and put sex offenders in that they will not harm their son or daughter?

YOUNG: I pick homes that have few or no children. I really look for that in more adult communities. I'm not saying there are no children and sometimes children move in after I already started a home. I talk to those people. I give them my personal phone number. Anything they see suspicious, they can call me. I'm happy to evict the person. Whereas if they call law enforcement, they need to prove there is an issue. They don't have to prove anything to me. Let me know and I'll take care of the situation. PHILLIPS: Are you keeping track of them and making sure they are going to counseling or they are checking in with their probation officers? Are you -- can you say 100 percent you are following up on each one of these individuals that you are buying a home for and putting them into?

YOUNG: No. I don't feel that's my job. I think they are supervised very well by the department of corrections and the local law enforcement. They don't need my help. They give them a lie detector test at least once a year. I think they are doing a great job at that. I have helped more than 500 people find homes. In that time, none of my people have reoffended. There was one that moved out of my homes and into a competitor's home and he reoffended.

PHILLIPS: I tell you, it's definitely an attention grabber, Randy. We will follow this and see how this turns out. You got our attention.

Randy Young, director and founder of housingforsexoffenders.com.

Appreciate your time today.

YOUNG: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Michele Bachmann, the latest Republican to back Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Could her endorsement of Mitt Romney shore up a Tea Party vote, and can Romney win without it?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the Republican unity tour, Newt Gingrich bows out and backs Mitt Romney. Now, in a few hours, Michele Bachmann will formally endorse him.

Republican strategist, Cheri Jacobus, and democratic strategist, Maria Cardona, join me for "Fair Game."

Cheri, can Michelle Bachman bring the Tea Partiers to Mitt Romney?

CHERI JACOBUS, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: First of all, a lot of the Tea Partiers are with Mitt Romney. It's been very slow going for him. I think when he gets them on, I think he will -- you have to give the credit to him. Michele Bachmann endorsement certainly means something, it's very helpful, it's a good moment, but you have to give Mitt Romney credit for this. He's worked for this incrementally. Every day he's out there talking to these folks. I want to give hip the credit for winning them over rather than handing it over to other people for an endorsement.

PHILLIPS: What do you think? If Tea Partiers all gather around Mitt Romney, is that trouble for Obama?

MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: No, it's not trouble for Obama, but let's go back to the Michele Bachmann endorsement. It's been 119 days since she withdrew from the race and that's how long it's taken her to quote, unquote, "endorse." Not even last week could she bring herself to endorse him. She said pointblank to reporters when asked whether they thought Mitt Romney can beat President Obama, she said it's not going to happen. No way. So this endorsement clearly is not coming from the heart. We all know that it's a jagged bitter little pill that she probably had to use a tequila chaser to actually do. Will it help Mitt Romney? Symbolically, maybe. But is it going to bring all the Tea Party voters which frankly many of them still have qualms with Mitt Romney, will it bring them running to the polls? I doubt it.

PHILLIPS: Mitt Romney semi-obsessed, shall we say, with Jimmy Carter this week? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Governor, would you have gone after bin Laden?

MITT ROMNEY, (R), FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Of course.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You would have given the order, Governor?

ROMNEY: Even Jimmy Carter would have given that order.

It was the most anti-small business administration I have seen probably since Carter. Who would have guessed we'd look back at the Carter years as the good old days. It's --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: All right. Funny lines, but Cheri, what's the strategy here? He left office three decades ago.

JACOBUS: There's a couple things here. First of all, it's only been within the past six months that Barack Obama's approval numbers have been lower since Jimmy Carter's. I think in some cases Obama could hope to do as well as Jimmy Carter. He's been one of the worst presidents in the history of our country. In a generation from now people will be referring to Obama to make those comparisons. People who are senior citizens were raising families during that time, they remember the gas lines. Another huge thing happened the year Jimmy Carter was elected as president. That was the year I got my driver's license and I had to use some of my babysitting money to fill the gas tank. People of all generations remember those years and they see the comparisons. The summer is coming up where people want to take trips, can't afford it because of gas prices.

PHILLIPS: Maria, I think we all remember those lines down six blocks through our neighborhood, right? Waiting for gas. But seriously, what do you think about him invoking Jimmy Carter a handful of times this week?

CARDONA: It sounds like a little bit of a desperate strategy, Kyra. It's not going to work. He should lay off Jimmy Carter. Why is he picking on an 87-year-old man who has actually won the Nobel Peace Prize, who spent 10 years in the armed forces and graduated from the Naval Academy? And guess what? Yes, we all know that he does have the fortitude, he, Jimmy Carter, does have the fortitude to order a raid like the bin Laden, one, because he did and he gambled his presidency on it. According to Mitt Romney's own words he would not have ordered the bin Laden raid under the same exact circumstances that President Obama did. So he should lay off Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter is way out of his league.

JACOBUS: Actually, those comments were taken out of context. Even the left wingers --

(CROSSTALK)

CARDONA: No, they weren't. He said --

(CROSSTALK)

JACOBUS: -- calling it despicable.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: The two feistiest women I know.

Cheri and Maria, I can always count on them for a good debate.

(LAUGHTER)

Lady, Happy Thursday.

CARDONA: Thank you, Kyra.

JACOBUS: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: The shocking death of a former NFL superstar. Could Junior Seau's injuries on the field be the reason that he took his own life?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: What do NFL players Chris Doleman, Jamaal Anderson, and O.J. Santiago have in common? They're among the 114 former players suing the NFL this morning. The new lawsuit brings the total number of players suing to more than 1,500. They all say the NFL knew about the effects of concussion and traumatic brain injuries but deliberately didn't tell them.

Former NFL player Junior Seau's apparent suicide yesterday brings us back to that same question, did he have a brain injury? The 43- year-old apparently shot himself in the chest.

And our Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigates.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We don't know for sure if Junior Seau has what a lot of people are talking about, CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy. And it's tough talk about but the only way to know for sure is to examine someone's brain after they have died. That's when they know for sure if the dimension-like syndrome affected Junior Seau.

But there's a lot of similarities between him and a player named Dave Dourson. You may remember last year he also shot himself in the chest, as did Junior, and this is an unusual thing to do. In Deurson's case he left a note saying he wanted his brain examined. He did have CST.

I visited the lab in Boston where they examine brains for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. 18 out of 19 NFL players who had their brains examined there after death showed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, 18 out of 19 The youngest person was 17 years old. This process does seem to start quite early in life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: That was our Dr. Sanjay Gupta. For more medical updates, check out his show, "Sanjay Gupta, M.D.," every Saturday, 4:30 p.m. eastern and 7:30 a.m. eastern on Sundays on CNN.

Thanks for watching, everyone. You can continue the conversation with me on Twitter, @kyraCNN, or on Facebook.

CNN NEWSROOM continues now with our Suzanne Malveaux.