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Jerry Sandusky's Trial Begins; Commerce Secretary Suffers Seizure; Rise in Food Stamp Usage; Cathy McMorris Rodgers; Mubarak in Coma; Wildfire Out West, Tremendous Rain in East; Gordon Brown Says Rupert Murdoch Misquoted Him; More Violence in Syria

Aired June 11, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

HALA GORANI, ANCHOR, "NEWSROOM": After months of fallout and backlash, Jerry Sandusky's trial started just over one hour ago. On one side, ten young boys who alleged Sandusky preyed on, molested and, in some cases, raped them over a course 15 years.

On the other side, Penn State's former assistant football coach and his defense team who maintain that Sandusky is an innocent man.

Right now both sides are giving a jury of five men and seven women their first look at their cases, including a glimpse of pictures of the alleged victims as children. They're all grown now, of course.

Opening statements are underway now as we speak in Central Pennsylvania. Let's get straight to Susan Candiotti who's on the ground at the courthouse in Pennsylvania.

Now, you were just in court, Susan. What did you see and hear just now?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hala, the prosecutors just wrapped up their opening statements and clearly the most powerful moment we have seen and heard so far involved them showing individual photographs of eight of the ten alleged victims in this case, single shots of each one of them, smiling as young boys who were, as the state alleges, as young as eight-years old when this alleged abuse occurred.

All of them smiling and in each case, Jerry Sandusky looked up at the photographs and looked back down as the prosecutors introduced each one.

And for the first time, we heard the first names of the victims, which we at CNN will not reveal because, as policy, we do not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse.

Now, the other key part of this is when prosecutors called Jerry Sandusky "a serial predator" and went on to tell jurors in this case that the alleged abuse occurred, in their words, not over days, not over weeks, not over months, but in the words of authorities here, over years.

Although in two cases, they said, there was only one instance of alleged abuse. Very powerful stuff. The other thing that we saw, Hala, this morning was what appeared to be government evidence being brought into the courthouse. We had heard about this in the grand jury information we received from them.

So we saw a set of golf clubs. We saw a snowboard. We saw a hockey stick. We also saw a Penn State bag. These are believed to be gifted that Jerry Sandusky is said to have given, according to prosecutors in the case, to at least some of the victims and what we believe alleged victim number four. Hala?

GORANI: All right, Susan Candiotti, thanks very much.

This trial, Sandusky's trial, is expected to last about three weeks. We'll bring you detailed coverage throughout the trial, of course, as well as the defense strategy in all of this, which going to be interesting to dissect and more on what we know about the alleged victims.

Let's turn our attention to Commerce Secretary John Bryson. He's now out of the hospital after being involved in a hit-and-run accident in California in his own vehicle. Police say Bryson was driving in the Los Angeles area on Saturday when the accident happened.

And now the Commerce Department is reporting that he suffered a seizure linked to the hit-and-run accident, or I should say accidents, because he appears to have hit two vehicles.

Brianna Keilar joins us now from the White House with the very latest on this. What more do we know, Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do know now, Hala, from a Commerce Department official that Bryson is now back in Washington, that he spent the night in the hospital, Saturday night, at least, it appears, and according to an official, was given medication for a seizure.

But he was in these traffic accidents within minutes of each other, hitting one car, actually twice, and then minutes later, another car, and this is where, according to the L.A. sheriff's department, police found him unconscious in his car and alone.

Now, we just learned a short time ago from the Commerce Department from a spokeswoman, that the secretary suffered a seizure. We had known from the L.A. sheriff's department that a preliminary alcohol screening came up negative.

But there certainly is a little bit of a confusing situation here as we're trying to figure out exactly how all of these pieces are connected because the sheriff's department says this is under investigation as a felony hit-and-run.

Of course, it sounds like there may be a health explanation, but we're still waiting to get all of the details sorted out and hear from officials that there's a definitive link there, Hala.

GORANI: So if the Commerce Department is saying it was a seizure, then I imagine alcohol or drugs or anything else are not suspected in this?

KEILAR: Well, that's what the sheriff's department says, that, preliminarily, alcohol and drugs, they don't think was part of it, but there is a blood alcohol level test that was conducted and the results of that aren't back yet, but the Commerce Department saying that there was a seizure, yes.

GORANI: All right. Any word from President Obama at all?

KEILAR: No. We don't know any word from President Obama. I do know from an administration official that the White House was alerted last night. So this happened Saturday at about 5:00 p.m.

The White House was looped in last night. We're presuming that President Obama was looped in sometime around that time, but, of course, who knows at this point, Hala?

GORANI: Brianna Keilar at the White House. Thanks very much.

Now, as journalists we normally tell other people's stories. Today, the "Good Morning America" host, Robin Roberts, is the story. Five years after beating breast cancer, she made this made emotional announcement to viewers this morning. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBIN ROBERTS, HOST, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": Sometimes treatment for cancer can lead to other serious medical issues and that's what I'm facing right now.

It is something that is called MDS, myelodysplastic syndrome. If you're looking up, going what, I was doing the same thing. It is a rare blood disorder that affects the bone marrow and Dr. Richard Besser has been holding my hand through this and he will have a lot more information about MDS on our website.

And the reason I am sharing this with everybody now is because, later today, I begin what's known as pre-treatment.

My big sister is a virtually perfect match for me. She's there with Diane and Ann Sweeney and she is going to be my donor. She's going to be my donor. I know. Yes. Thank you.

And doctors tell me that is going to be a tremendous help in me beating this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Robin Roberts there. Roberts will have to undergo a bone marrow transplant later this year and she learned, by the way, from doctors she had this rare blood disorder on the day she learned she would be interviewing the president, Barack Obama.

So there you have it. In a statement she made later, she said highs and lows and the lows clearly this disease she's now going to have to battle and we wish her the best. And just a quick note for those of you who are heading out the door. You can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone or, if you're heading to work, you can also watch CNN live from your desktop. Just go to CNN.com/TV.

We're going to take a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: A suspect is on the loose in Alabama. Police are looking for a man who shot and killed three people and injured three others. It happened at a party near the campus of Auburn University.

Among the dead are two former Auburn football players. A current player was one of those injured. CNN's David Mattingly is in Atlanta this morning and, David, was the alleged gunman, do we know, specifically targeting these players?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That does not appear to be the case. What we're hearing from witnesses there was that someone else there at the party was confronted by a couple of young men.

An argument ensued over a woman and from there the argument turned into a brawl, and then gunshots were fired. When it was over, three men were dead and three were injured.

Among the three who were killed were two former Auburn football players. One of them, Ed Christian, the other in Ladarius Phillips.

The player who was injured was Eric Mack. He was treated and released and he is expected to have a full recovery.

But at this point, the police chief from Auburn was talking about this case yesterday and he was saying that these players all seemed to be the victims of a brutal shooting, not the instigators and, apparently, not the original targets.

GORANI: And what do police say they know, then, about this suspect?

MATTINGLY: Well, this suspect is, Desmonte Leonard. He's 22- years old. He immediately fled the scene. They were able to find his car in a county that is west of where the Auburn area is.

And from there they obviously believe he's got some help. Someone's helping him hide out. Someone may be transporting him somewhere else. They know he's on the run. They haven't been able to find him. There's a reward out for him and they are appealing to Leonard to actually turn himself in.

GORANI: And also the question is, what was going on at this party, do we know, that may have caused it to so violent and so deadly in this case?

MATTINGLY: That's the strange thing here. There was nothing really strange going on at this party. It was a pool party, a summertime party at a complex that is off-campus from Auburn University.

Witnesses there saying everyone was just hanging out, having a good time when, all of the sudden, an argument started, escalated into a fight and then gunshots.

GORANI: David Mattingly, thanks very much for that update.

The FBI and U.S. marshal's service are offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Desmonte Leonard. They've also set up a tip line, by the way, and the number for that is 334- 223-5400.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Six months ago, we introduced you to a family from suburban New Jersey who had been living a solid middle-class lifestyle and then, in an instant, it was gone.

They join, essentially, the working poor in this country. Their story has become all too common today in America. Our Poppy Harlow went back to see how they're doing today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: How dramatic was the decline?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was almost instantaneous.

HARLOW: Unwilling to show their faces, but wanting to share their story, this family went from living on $130,000 a year to just $15,000. The father watched his six-figure telecom job of 20 years go to India.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the white collar world for two years, two and a half years, I've banged my head against it. It doesn't want me back.

HARLOW: The unemployment ran out and the savings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first thing we talked about was the food and how we were going to eat more macaroni-and-cheese.

HARLOW: We wanted to know how the family is doing is now, so we came back here to middle class suburban New Jersey, six months later, to find out.

Did you ever think it would be this long?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I thought for sure he'd go right back into the corporate world within a month or two.

HARLOW: But it's been four long years and they're still barely making it on an $18,000 income.

United Way says it takes $60,000 a year for a family of four to get by here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I went from making $10 an hour selling shoes, and now I'm in a janitorial supply company making about $14, $15 an hour.

HARLOW: The good news is it's at a small business that's growing, but since they're making a little more ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They gave us less food stamps, so that's more out of our paycheck. It's the health insurance for the kids that's my main concern.

HARLOW: Is it still tough, though?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

HARLOW: Here's their reality. Unable to sell their house, they stopped paying the mortgage in 2009. They expect to be evicted any day. Their 18-year-old won't be going to college next year.

UNIDENTIFIED SECOND MALE: I don't have the money to do it, and I just don't want to get a loan and be in debt for a while.

HARLOW: They still rely on the food pantry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only one box feeds like maybe two, three people.

PHYLLIS TONNESEN, DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES, MORRIS COUNTY, NEW JERSEY: This is the worst we've ever seen.

HARLOW: Morris County's food stamp caseload is up 240 percent since 2007.

Is there a sense of desperation now?

TONNESEN: Yes. They thought they had the American dream. You know? And suddenly, here they are, applying for food stamps and Medicaid.

HARLOW: Dad wants new leadership and a plan to create jobs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm for Mitt Romney. Yes.

HARLOW: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One thing is, it changes the current structure, so, you know, anything to get rid of the incumbent and move on to somebody else.

HARLOW: But mom's had it with politics.

UNIDENTIFED FEMALE: They'll never feel it. They'll be taken care of the rest of their lives. I don't see how they can possibly change things for people if they don't know what it feels like to be in the situation.

HARLOW: Through it all, though, perspective.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a lot of other people who are a lot worse off than we are.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Poppy Harlow joins me now from New York. You know, $130,000 to $15,000. They're going to lose their home, this family. What are they going to do after that?

HARLOW: They're absolutely going to lose their home. I met with them last week. They're in the final stages of foreclosure, so they've already gotten that final judgment letter.

They're going to go live with family and with friends. They've gotten rid of as much stuff, as many possessions, as they can and they just don't have the enough money right now to put a down payment down on any sort of renting an apartment.

So for now they'll have to rely on their family and friends until they can save up enough.

The spot is that the father has a little bit better job, so if that company grows, then he could eventually make enough to get an apartment.

GORANI: But this family's story illustrates, so well, chronic, long-term under-employment, which is, you can get a job, it's going to pay a whole lot less than the job you had before.

What are they saying to you now about their hopes of rejoining the middle class in America?

HARLOW: I think that this is the harsh reality. They don't feel like they're ever going to get back, economically, Hala, to where they were before. They just don't see how that's possible.

You heard the father say, the middle class and that white collar world where he was a sort of middle manager doesn't want me anymore and that's the problem.

You know, they're in their late-40s, early-50s and they can't get back to where they are before. They don't think they're going to get back to that level.

At the same time, they're so more optimistic than when I met them six months ago because they've realized they don't need that much to get by. They've had the harsh reality of losing friendship, friends that don't really understand what it's like to go from middle class to working poor.

But for them, their marriage and family, it's brought them a lot closer together. So I'd say that's the up-side to all this.

But, no, they're not hopeful and, frankly, they don't know if politics, new leadership can really change anything for them.

GORANI: Right. And it's having an impact on their kids, having to delay college and the rest of it. Thanks very much, Poppy Harlow.

After Poppy's first story aired, viewers contacted her, wanting to help, to give money and send the family on vacation. Poppy asked them why they didn't take any of the money and the family said they talked to CNN because there are more people out there just like them, going through something very difficult, like they are.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Mitt Romney's biggest decision is still ahead of him -- who to pick as a running mate? On the short list is Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers. She may not be a household name, but that doesn't mean she won't be.

CNN's Lisa Sylvester provides the introduction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thinking about messaging, moving forward.

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are 435 members of the House of Representatives.

REPRESENTATIVE CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS (R), WASHINGTON: We have some work to do.

SYLVESTER: Seventy-six of them are women, but only one woman in the House Republican leadership.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: Messaging ...

SYLVESTER: Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who represents Eastern Washington state.

SYLVESTER: So what's been the highlight so far?

To say she has a busy job is an understatement. She does one foot on each coast, shuttling back and forth.

But she's more than an elected official. She's also a mom.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: Very little feet at six weeks.

This was the first time I brought him to the Capitol. He was just a little guy.

SYLVESTER: She holds the distinction of being the only member of Congress in history to give birth twice while in office.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: I was first elected to Congress in 2004 when I was still single. Met Brian a year later. We got married and then soon after that, I was pregnant, Cole was born in 2007 and Grace was born, then, in 2010.

SYLVESTER: One-year-old Grace and five-year-old Cole.

Cole, who loves rocking out to Bruce Springsteen, who is a budding athlete ...

MCMORRIS RODGERS: This is his favorite.

SYLVESTER: ... and who was born with Down's syndrome.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: That's tough news to receive. It's not what you dream. It's not what you expect.

COLE RODGERS, SON OF CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS: Mommy.

SYLVESTER: Life has been a series of adjustments, ...

MCMORRIS RODGERS: Look at that.

SYLVESTER: ... a pressing of the reset button ...

MCMORRIS RODGERS: Do you want the egg?

SYLVESTER: ... for Cathy McMorris Rogers and the her husband, Brian, who retired from the military.

BRIAN RODGERS, HUSBAND OF CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS: I spent 26 years in the Navy, and so this is a lot like the Navy. You know? It's dynamic. It's very interesting. There's a lot of purpose to it. It's good. It's all good.

SYLVESTER: Your commanders are a little younger though, right?

RODGERS: That's right. That's true. That's true.

SYLVESTER: The family moved to Washington, D.C., but it's still a challenge trying to make al the pieces fit.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: I love what I do and I love being a mom and ...

C. RODGERS: Oh, yes.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: ... it's a constant juggling act and some days I feel like I'm handling it better than other days.

SYLVESTER: If becoming a parent has given her a new outlook, having a child with a disability has given her a new objective.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: Want a bite?

SYLVESTER: She is the co-founder of the Congressional Down's Syndrome Caucus.

MCMORRIS RODGERS; You want to be the best parent possible.

SYLVESTER: McMorris Rodgers wants a new law that would let the parents of children with disabilities set up tax-free accounts, similar to a 401(k) retirement plan or a 529 college savings plan.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: And just help them, whether it is maybe through furthering their education or housing or transportation needs that they might have. It just would give them more resources to hopefully be as independent as possible and the ABLE Act will help them achieve that.

SYLVESTER: It's an issue that unites even political opposites.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: Good job.

I met the lobbyist for the Sierra Club. On most issues, I'm not onboard with the Sierra Club and, yet, he has two sons with Down's syndrome and he said, you know what? I want to work with you on these issues. These are really tough numbers.

SYLVESTER: To the world she's a rising star in the GOP.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: What are you doing here, bud?

SYLVESTER: But at home, she's mommy.

MCMORRIS RODGERS: What does this say up here?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Lisa Sylvester with that report.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers has already given a big responsibility by the Romney campaign. She's been named the chief liaison between Romney's camp and House Republicans, in charge of making sure they have the same political message.

In Arizona, voters go to the polls for a special election tomorrow. They're picking Gabby Giffords' successor. Giffords, you'll remember resigned in January, one year after being shot in a Tucson shopping mall parking lot.

Over the weekend, she made a rare appearance for Ron Barbour. Barbour is a former aide who was also injured in that shooting. He's running against Republican, former Marine, Jesse Kelly, for a different seat in Congress.

The winner will finish out the six months left on the term.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: These are live images coming to us from the central city of Homs in Syria. Live streamed online, and in the past hour or so, we've seen some black smoke rising above the rooftops in Homs. We understand there have been reports of shelling and deaths across the country today once again. Activists are blaming the Syrian Army for shelling areas that are held by rebel forces in Homs, and in the process killing civilians, according to opposition activists. Here you see -- I believe this was shot earlier. Live streamed earlier. Some of that smoke rising from above that rooftop area in Homs, in Syria. This, as the country descends more and more into chaos and bloodshed certainly more than 12,000 at the very least killed possibly more than 15,000 since this crisis began.

We're going to have a report a little later with more on what's happening in Syria on this program.

For now, let's turn our attention to another country in the Arab world. And nine days into a life sentence for not preventing the deaths of pro-democracy protesters, the ousted Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, is said to be very near death himself. A government spokesman says the 84-year-old Mubarak is in a coma. You see him in a coma there as we he was attending his own trial. High blood pressure problem, irregular heartbeat.

Ben Wedeman is in Cairo with the latest on what we know.

What more do we know about Mubarak's health condition, Ben? What can you tell us?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Hala. We understand this has been a very difficult nine days for Hosni Mubarak, since he went to prison in the prison south of Cairo. We did hear from a spokesman for the interior ministry who said -- what he called a deep coma. His lawyer tells us that the last time he met with the ousted president, that he was slipping in and out of consciousness. However, it's not altogether clear what sort of condition he is in. We know that his lawyers are working strenuously to get Mr. Mubarak out of torah prison and into a much nicer hospital with a good Nile view. It's not altogether clear if his health condition is that serious or whether just a tactic to get him out of prison and into a hospital.

GORANI: What are Egyptians saying about all this? Do they care? Do they think it's a ploy by Mubarak and his team to get him transferred to that luxury hospital suite?

WEDEMAN: Well, depends who you talk to. Many Egyptians are genuinely sympathetic to the president. They say he served the country for decades. He's a war hero, and despite some mistakes may have made while president of Egypt for 30 years, this is not the sort of treatment he deserves. Others say that he should be treated even much worse. Others continue to call for him to be hung. So very much difference of opinion on what Egyptians want to see as Hosni Mubarak's final fate -- Hala?

GORANI: Thanks very much, Ben Wedeman, CNN international correspondent in Cairo.

And Egyptians are about to elect Mubarak's successor next weekend. Former prime minister is one of two surviving candidates in the runoff. This, too, has its complications. On Thursday, Egypt's highest court may well disqualify him from running. You'll hear the verdict first right here on CNN and what impact it will have on the race.

Back to the United States now. Two different weather concerns on opposite ends of the country. Wildfire, raging out west, and the gulf coast is waterlogged. Look at this in Pensacola, Florida. Roads under water, literally. Cars stuck. Look how high the water is. It's coming up to, in some cases, people's thighs. And the worst is not over yet. Flash flood watches are in effect for parts of Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. There you have the water up to people's thighs and almost waists. And then out west, right now hundreds of firefighters in Colorado are trying to get a handle on the Hyde Park Fire west of Fort Collins. Air tankers and helicopters worked overnight to the slow down the fast-moving fire that's burned more than 36,000 acres and forced hundreds of people to evacuate. The Larimer County sheriff's office now says one person is missing in the wildfire. We're monitoring a news conference held right now on the fires and we'll keep you updated on the latest.

Now let's bring in Meteorologist Chad Myers.

Why is this fire so stubborn?

CHAD MYERS, METEOROLOGIST: A windy weekend, all the way, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, every state a red flag warning. Wind gusts over 50 miles per hour. Hala, they'll get a little handle on it today. A little help from Mother Nature. The winds shifted direction. The winds are coming in from the north and not from the south. That's kind of blowing the fire back on to itself, or blowing the hot part of the fire on to an area that may have already burned. That switch is dangerous for firefighters, because they have to see that switch coming so they can get out of the way of that switch, of that wind that comes in here. The humidity, up a little bit, but still very low. In the single digits all weekend, which means relative humidity around 5 percent to 10 percent. 3,000 acres burned in a few hours yesterday when the winds really roared. Up to 36,000 acres now. That's 60 -- 60 square miles of burn. Just in Colorado alone. Obviously you know some of the fires in parts of New Mexico are significantly bigger than even this one -- Hala?

GORANI: What about possible rain in the forecast? That's always sort of what you hope for in these cases.

MYERS: Yes. Don't see that at all. The only rain we'll see in places that saw so much rain this weekend, Pensacola. In 24 hours, Pensacola had 21 inches of rain. Can you imagine what that could do? The water went up so fast. Flash flood warnings are still in effect for parts of Pensacola and the area around this county now.

GORANI: Thanks very much, Chad.

And speaking of Pensacola, these pictures from the gulf coast, in from one of our iReporters. Randy Hamilton captured these before and after pictures saying he's never seen anything like this and the flooding really caught everyone off guard. You can see some of these car, in the middle of the road, clearly not anticipating any of this disaster. And for more iReports go to CNN.com/ireport.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIE WHITMAN, FORMER GYMNAST: Tell you to get on all fours and kick you in the stomach to where you were literally lifted off the ground.

ANNE MALVER, FORMER GYMNAST: Take that toothpick and poke you, poke you, poke you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His hands would reach down and go into my privates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Some of the allegations of physical and sexual abuse by former gymnasts. We first brought you their story back in march. Now USA Gymnastics the governing body for the sport, is changing its policy and expanding safeguards. This policy change comes after allegations surfaced of girls being exploited and abused like the ones we're about to show you now. We want to warn you, the details are disturbing.

Here's Casey Wian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVER: He disrobed me, and forced himself inside of me. Even though I was screaming out in pain and screaming out for him to stop, he wouldn't. And I'll never forget the words he whispered in my ear at that time is, this is what you want, and this is what all of the girls want.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): During the 1970s and '80s, Doug Boguer was a young charismatic former champion gymnast turned coach. In his 60s, he denied the abuse to CNN affiliate, KCNC.

DOUG BOGUER, GYMNASTICS COACH: I was not abusive and didn't do anything wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: All of these girls are lying?

BOGUER: Yes.

WIAN: Julie Whitman was one of his stars.

WHITMAN: Some days it was fantastic and other day is was kind of a living hell.

WIAN: Now leading a group of women pressuring USA Gymnastics to adopt tougher sanctions against abusive coaches.

WHITMAN: About six years ago I discovered Doug was still coaching and kept seeing his name and seeing his name and I thought to myself, I can't -- I can't let this man continue coaching.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Casey Wian has been investigating these allegations and following the story for months and joins us now from Los Angeles.

So we heard about USA Gymnastics promising to make some changes. So what changes are they going to make in response to the allegations, Casey?

WIAN: What they're trying to do, Hala, try to close this loophole that existed that I will you odd some of these coaches who are accused of physically and sexually abusing gymnasts to continue coaching, even after they were banned from the sport by USA Gymnastics. For example, there was this one coach, Doug Boguer, who was banned because of allegations of sexual abuse for life from the sport, but these gymnasts found out he was still coaching at another gym that was actually owned by a convicted sex offender. This gym was not affiliated with USA Gymnastics. So these coaches were allowed to continue working. Now what the sport's governor body has done, any gymnast who wants to compete sanctioned by USA Gymnastics must belong to a member club or be a member of USA Gymnastics themselves. They can be unaffiliated if they want to be but cannot wear any sort of logos or be operate pg and bring a coach from an affiliated gym. Hoping to have stricter control over these gymnasts.

GORANI: Those who say they were victims, what do they say as the proposed changes?

WIAN: They say it's a good step. They're very happy it has happened but say it doesn't go far enough. It doesn't cover camps, which can be operated by coaches outside of the auspices of USA Gymnastics but they are very happy, this is a first good step, they call it. USA Gymnastics says they will continue to look at more changes to try to promote this safety of young gymnasts. Obviously, big problems in the past.

GORANI: Casey Wian in Los Angeles. The new policy change by USA Gymnastics goes into effect in August.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: A politician is claiming a media figure misquoted him. Not exactly front pageness, unless the politician is a former British prime minister, this man, and Rupert Murdoch. The backdrop, an official investigation borne of a worldwide scandal. Gordon Brown denied, under oath, a claim by Rupert Murdoch, under oath, that he, quote, declared war on Murdoch's newspapers when the "Sun" tabloid switched party allegiance in 2009. Listen to Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORDON BROWN, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: There's a story that I sort of slammed the phone down on him. And, secondly, there story is no story from Mr. Murdoch himself that I threatened them. This did not happen. I have to say to you that there's no evidence this happened, other than Mr. Murdoch's. And it didn't happen, because I didn't call him, and I have no reason to want to call him. And I would not have called him, given everything that I have said to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Gordon Brown there.

well, of course, you heard the version of what Gordon Brown said there, and Murdoch for his part testify to the same exact panel, the so-called Levinson inquiry in April and news corporation says he stands by his recollections of what Gordon Brown told him. And that he jeopardized Murdoch's empire and shaken British Empire as well. And he testified Thursday within the context off that inquiry.

Now, let's talk about a very important story that is affecting markets around the world. They opened higher today over news of the European bailout for Spain to the tune of $125 billion. The euphoria however didn't last long, and some analysts say that many chronic problems remain to be sorted out.

And the new managing director of the international monetary fund mentioned one in an interview with Christiane Amanpour over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE LAGARDE, IMF MANAGING DIRECTOR: There's one sector under review and scrutiny is and that is the financial sector.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The banking?

LEGARDE: The banking sector has to be, you know, strengthened and some of it needs to be restructured. And this is something that is really happening as we speak, because there have been announcements, there is work under way at the moment, and we hope it is heading in the right direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Christine LeGarde, the managing director of the IMF.

Taking a look at the Wall Street. Down 28 initially after news of the bailout for Spanish banks were announced. Futures were up and the European markets were up. And the Euro ticking upwards and 10- year bond yields for Spain, and then all of the excitement fizzled out.

Today, in the Syria stronghold of Homs, look at the amateur video here. The distinct sound of shelling, a daily occurrence almost in Homs. Take a look at this amateur video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNFIRE)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP) GORANI: The distinct should of that shelling a daily reoccurrence almost in Homs and many other areas across Syria. Opposition forces say that at least 50 people have been wounded and many of them are so badly injured that they are expected to die. Reuters is reporting at least 35 people have been killed, and in all a total of 60 have died in the country in one day. CNN is not able to confirm the independent reports.

And another key development, the opposition Syrian National Council has nominated a minority Kurdish activist as president.

Rima Maktabi is monitoring all of this in Abu Dhabi.

Let's talk about the shelling. It seems particularly bad in Homs, Rima.

RIMA MAKTABI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a very bloody day indeed in Syria. 61 people have been killed across Syria today. Among them women, and children and Army defectors, but specifically bad day for Homs. We saw live streaming by activists and we could hear the heavy shelling. Activists are saying that rescue teams and medical teams are not even able to go to the injured people, and help them. There is no electricity across the city, and no water and telephone lines are down -- Hala?

GORANI: Well, Rima, one other important point about this conflict, the U.N. says that 9,000 Syrians have died since anti-Assad protests have erupted.

And, Rima, we thank you for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: If you are headed to work, you can find us everywhere even on your desktop at CNN.com/tv.

Speaking of social devices and technology, Apple has everyone wondering, is there a new iPhone or iPad coming out soon? In a few hours we will know, because Apple CEO Tim Cook is expected to show off new products at the developers worldwide conference in San Francisco.

Our own Dan Simon is there.

What are we expecting today, Dan?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Hala. And things are kicking off in about an hour, and it is intense here in downtown San Francisco. 5,000 developers from all over the world here for this conference. These are the people who make their living off of producing all of these cool apps that we see on the iPhone, and now in terms of what we are expecting today, Apple is known for the intense secrecy, but we believe that they are going to do a couple of things. One, show off the operating system or the preview the new operating system that powers the iPhone and the iPad and we are expected to see features like broad Facebook integration which we don't v and new maps and interesting technology with maps. And also some new features with Siri, the voice-enabled personal assistant on the iPhone. We are expected to see a whole bunch of new Mac computers and an entirely new slate of McIntosh computers, and, of course, everyone is watching and everybody in the technology world interested in Apple is going to be following this event closely. I will be headed inside shortly. Again, this is the worldwide developers conference, and so folks from all over the world paying a lot of, you know, paying close attention to what Apple is going to be announcing here, because thee people behind me, these are the people who make the apps, and this is what the conference is for is to instruct them about the latest products to allow them to get one-on-one training so they can build the newest technologies.

GORANI: And that is really the iPhone is so dependent on the success and the popularity of the apps, but I mean, ordinary people out there must have been waiting for hours. I saw you speaking to one man from Australia who spent the night outside of those doors or something?

SIMON: They started ling up last night. It is not cheap to come to the conference. It cost $1,600 and the event sold out in less than two hours. So it is going to be going on all week, but today is kind of the most important day of this conference is when Apple CEO Tim Cook delivers the keynote, and by the way, this is the first time he will be delivering the keynote address. Last year at this time, it was Steve Jobs and the last time we saw him in public. The event will also DRA and generate a lot of interest, because it is Tim Cook's sort of big day, you know, on this stage.

GORANI: Thank you, Dan Simon.

That will kick off at 10:00 a.m. pacific.

CNN NEWSROOM continues with my colleague, Michael Holmes.