Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Former Auburn Players Killed; Deciding Fate of Health Care Law; Intelligence Leaks To Be Probed; Poll: Obama And Romney In Dead Heat; Former Pro Ball Player Helps Homeless; Markets React to Spain Bailout; Battle Over "Stop and Frisk"; Baltimore Tackles Its Housing Crisis
Aired June 11, 2012 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I'm Michael Holmes. I'm in for the Suzanne Malveaux today.
So, let's get right to it.
Well, he was cited in two traffic accidents over the weekend and now the Commerce Department secretary says that John Bryson suffered a seizure while he was driving and a spokeswoman says that Bryson is back in Washington now after spending the night in the hospital, and police say that he rear ended one car, and got out to speak to the occupant. He left, hitting that car again and later struck another vehicle, and the investigation is ongoing.
Well, some 400 firefighters are battling a huge wildfire in Colorado. This blaze doubled just overnight in terms of the size. Thousands of people are being brought from their homes, and officials say it is so bad that there is no hope of containing the flames.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN SMITH, SHERIFF, LARIMER COUNTY: These folks are doing everything they can, but Mother Nature is running this fire yesterday and today. All we can do is to get the people out of the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, authorities say that at least one person is missing.
Now, weekend shooting at the Auburn University campus has left three men dead, and all of them 20 years and three other men wounded. Two of the dead were Auburn students and former football players. And today, the focus is on the manhunt for the suspect.
Auburn police chief said Desmonte Leonard -- the man should be considered armed and dangerous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF TOMMY DAWSON, AUBURN POLICE: We plead with anyone who knows his location to please notify, just call 911 wherever you are at, if you know where Mr. Leonard may be located. We have two other persons who are persons of interest at this time, and we want to locate them. I'd like to implore them if they are listening today to come to the Montgomery Police Department and ask to speak to the detectives and it would probably be in their best interests to come forward. I also like to reach out to Mr. Leonard and ask him to turn himself in today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And CNN's David Mattingly is here with more on the developing story. Let's start with the manhunt, what's the latest there?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They could be closing in on this guy. I just had a conversation with the police chief in Montgomery, Alabama, which is an hour west of auburn university, and close to where the shootings took place. The police chief there tells me that they have made an arrest actually for someone accused of hindering prosecution, and lying to police, covering up the fact that they were harboring this man over the last 24 hours.
We know that Desmonte Leonard is a native of Montgomery, Alabama. So, it appears that their search is focusing right now and they feel like they might be closing in on him. So, they might be looking for an arrest soon, hopefully.
But this is all coming up because of what happened late Saturday night at a party. This was at an off-campus party off of the Auburn University campus. It was a pool party, and people saying that there were people relaxing. And then an argument started reportedly over a woman, and then from there it turned into a fight, and then there were gunshots.
Before it was done, there were three people shot, and three fatally, and two of them were former Auburn University football players and Ed Christian and Ladarious Phillips and one current player who has been released from the hospital and expected to make a full recover, Edward Mack. He has been released from the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery.
HOLMES: And what do we know about the party? There were students? Some were, some weren't?
MATTINGLY: Well, nothing unusual in the summertime, pool party in of campus apartment building. There were people there. Witnesses say there's just a very relaxed atmosphere when apparently an argument started. These men came into the party, and confronted the couple of the men who were there.
No one confronted the football players. They apparently were not targeted, and no one came in gunning for them, but they happened to be there when the bullets started flying and they got hit.
HOLMES: It's a huge football school and I can imagine the reaction on campus.
MATTINGLY: That's right. National Championship Season two years ago. None of these players played on that team. But again, this is something that team is very tight and anytime, even former members of that team if something happens to them, they're all feeling it right now. In fact, the coach, Gene Chizik put out a statement saying that the people on that team are paying close attention to them to help them with the grief.
HOLMES: Yes, David, good to see you. Thanks so much for the update. David Mattingly.
All right. This year's Supreme Court's term could turn into a legal cliffhanger. The court wrapping in the next few weeks are rule are still to come on some biggest cases. Perhaps, the biggest is health care.
The justices considering whether a key provision of the law championed by President Obama is constitutional. The Supreme Court will also issue a ruling on Arizona's tough immigration law. We are also waiting for a decision on juvenile justice and whether 14-year- olds who commit murder can be sentenced to life without parole.
Senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins us now on the phone.
Jeff, let's start with health care reform. The court heard three days of arguments back in March, and you said back then it did not go well for the government. What does that mean for the law?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): Well, it was really an epic moment in Supreme Court history, and as big of a deal as the argument was, the decision itself will be much bigger, because it is not a case about the signature piece of legislation of Obama's presidency, but it is also about the scope of the federal government's power. It is about whether the federal government can insist on everybody buying health insurance, and it is just going to really define the relationship between the judiciary and the federal government, and the rest of the federal government, I think, for many years.
HOLMES: And what about the impact on the law, itself? What is it going to mean for the law?
TOOBIN: Well, this is where the case gets very complicated and interesting, because one of the issues in the case was if the court strikes down the individual mandate. If the court says that's unconstitutional, as the justices seem to indicate they were leaning, how much of the rest of the law goes with it? There were am least some justices who believed that the whole law had to go which is a real earthquake in terms of the importance.
But the issue of how much of the law is to be struck down if any of it is to be struck down is a big mystery about this case, and it's one of the many things that we are waiting to hear about.
HOLMES: And let's talk for a minute about the Arizona immigration law, a very controversial one in some areas, but what is the legal issue at stake here?
TOOBIN: Well, the legal issue there is actually somewhat more narrow than the political debate would suggest. The legal issue is, does Arizona's law, which describes how Arizona law enforcement should deal with individuals who are suspected of being in the country illegally, does that law interfere with the federal government's power?
It's not about du it violate the rights of Hispanics or anyone else. The legal issue before the court is federal versus state power, and the argument there suggested very much that the justices were leaning in favor of upholding the Arizona law.
So that's where that case looks to be going, but obviously, we won't know until we hear the results.
HOLMES: We mentioned in the intro there that another major case deals with juveniles who commit murder. Tell us about that case.
TOOBIN: Well, that's another case where the court has been struggling with the issue of do individual -- do young people have different rights under the 8th Amendment which bars cruel and unusual punishment. In 2003, the court said juvenile offenders, offenders under age 18, could not be sentenced to death under any circumstances.
And the question here is whether they could be -- whether they could get life in prison without parole. The question -- it's an issue of are juveniles so young and uninformed that a sentence would be simply too draconian. And earlier the court said that a death penalty is true draconian. But the question here, is life in prison without parole for juvenile offenders too harsh or too cruel and unusual punishment?
HOLMES: Well, there is a recent poll that I wanted to ask you about, too. I mean, 44 percent of Americans approve of the way that the Supreme Court is the handling the job. There's the stats, and you are an expert on the high court, and does it surprise you? Why do you think the number so low?
TOOBIN: Well, not really, because when the Supreme Court is perceived as part of the political struggles that they are so familiar in Congress and the White House, the court's reputation dips. It dipped in 2000 with the Bush v. Gore decision and the health care case is widely regarded as so politicized that it is not a surprise that the court has dipped.
But one of the thing about the Supreme Court is that they have lifetime tenure, and while I'm sure they prefer the tall numbers to bad number, the numbers don't matter to them because they are there. As Justice Richard Robert Jackson (ph) one said, they are not final because they infallible. They are infallible because they have final.
They gave the last word and that's not going to change regardless of what the polls say.
HOLMES: Yes, they have the political possession is important. CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin -- Jeffrey, good to talk to you.
All right. Here is what we are working on this hour -- deadly violence there breaking out between the Muslims and the Buddhists. A state of emergency declared in Myanmar. We're going to take a look at what sparked the violence.
Plus, the child rape trial of former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky now under way. We're going to have a live report on today's proceedings.
And also the thousands is of vacant foreclosed buildings that are blighting that city.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back. Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is in a coma, according to a source who says that he went into a, quote, "full coma," unquote today. Mubarak is in a prison hospital in Cairo after getting a life sentence for his role in the killing of pro democracy demonstrators last year.
Let's turn to Syria now. Government forces ramping up the attacks in the city of Homs particularly.
Have a listen to this.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
HOLMES: This has been going on all day. The regime also said to be targeting other cities across the country and the main opposition group in exile just elected a minority Kurdish activist to unite dissidents supposedly aimed at ousting Syrian President al Assad.
Let's go to Myanmar right now. International aid workers are pulling out because of what you see. Deadliest classes between Muslims and Buddhists media reports say. At least 17 people have been killed in the past week there.
The violence started after they arrested three men in connection to the rape and killing of a Buddhist woman that happened last month.
Well, in Libya now. There's a lot going on there. The British embassy first of all says that everyone in a diplomatic convoy is accounted for. This is after the convoy was attacked today in the eastern city of Benghazi. And you may remember that Benghazi was ground zero in the uprising last year that eventually toppled long- time ruler Moammar Gadhafi. But this is the latest in the series of clashes in Libya. It is a worrying trend. A lot of the people are blaming Islamists, a lot of people are blaming tribal rivalries.
And now, Tim Lister joins me now to talk about this.
Tim, there are so many clashes, and the one in the U.S. consulate mission in Benghazi, and the worryingly today, a lot of clashes between the government militias that overtook Colonel Gadhafi and seems a lack and loss of central government. What is your read?
TIM LISTER, CNN PRODUCER: I don't think the central government had any control. They were placeholders and not government. Their mission is to shepard in a new government, and the elections that were due to take this place month will not take place in July as opposed to who's that process on, but the National Transmission has always have to negotiate with the tribes. The tribes are so powerful in Libya.
There is an old saying that all politics is local. Well, in Libya, all local politics and tribal. And you see that pooping up almost every part of the country.
But in addition to that, we now have this sort of Islamism explosion in the Far East, not perhaps very many but bigger than their size would suggest in terms of the impact they're having especially on Benghazi.
HOLMES: Well, going back to Gulf War, I mean, the Iraq war, most of the foreign neck of the woods who went there to fight the American Americans. And this is a theme of Libya. It was meant to be this sort of remove Gadhafi, we're going to live happily ever after that in a democratic umbrella, but it was never like that, because the militias in town holding on to Saif al-Islam Gadhafi.
LISTER: And there's an example of a prosecutor general in Tripoli cannot get the four staff members of the International Criminal Court who are held right now, cant no get them released, because the militia has them. It is a full-on hope to think that the National Transitional Council can unite the country.
The tribes are most important, but beyond the tribes of course, you have well-armed militias. The arms came from all of Gadhafi's weapons depots when they were stacked. So you have well-armed society, a lot of smugglers, especially in the south, I think in (INAUDIBLE) for example, over the weekend, especially and fighting over the weekend, and that is largely about the smuggling routes.
And in the far east of the country, in Derna (ph), I used to call it die hard in Derna, because that is where all of the extremists went in Iraq. There is a bedrock of support, and there's an associate of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is there organizing the camps.
HOLMES: This is a potential worry of America, because it has the potential to evolve in terms of the Islamist threat.
LISTER: Yes, it does. And Libyan officials ,we were speaking to last week say that the Americans are flying surveillance drones over eastern Libya to make sure that the camps don't get a sort of momentum about them, and a center of gravity.
HOLMES: Like Yemen.
LISTER: Like Yemen. And already to the south of Libya, you have problems in Mali which is split in two where the Islamist groups have moved into Male (ph), a lot of them have weapons from Gadhafi's arsenals.
HOLMES: And they are talking with al Qaeda as well.
LISTER: Yes, they are talking to al Qaeda. And it is a little bit of a mess, Michael.
HOLMES: Yes, well, it is a mess, and I don't think it's what everyone hoped for.
Very briefly, the election, when it is held, hopes for unity there?
LISTER: Well, it is so difficult, because mainly in Libya, it is about personalities, and it is about powerful people. It is not about parties. They haven't had an election since 1952, creating parties all of the sudden, is going to be difficult. Most of the Zeta anyway reserved individual candidates, not parties. Dozens of parties have cropped up, but just have to wait and see just how that pans out.
HOLMES: We'll se those rivalry continues I'm sure. Good have to you here, Tim -- Tim Lister.
Well, it is day one of the rape trial of former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. We're going to have a live report for you.
And don't forget, you can watch CNN live on your computer anytime you like. Go to CNN.com/TV.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone.
Opening statements began less than three hours ago in the child sex abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky, that former Penn State assistant football coach, of course, accused of sexually abusing ten boys for more than a decade.
CNN contributor Sara Ganim is a report for the "Patriot News" and has been in court all morn morning. Good to see you, Sara.
Take us into the courtroom and what were the opening statements that we heard?
SARA GANIM, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, prosecutors started kind of with a show that really left some jurors with the mouths open. They went through every alleged victim and put their photo up on the screen and remember these men are adults and men, and they put up photos of them when they were boys and when they said they were abused by Jerry Sandusky, and gave a rundown of the abuse they endured. Prosecutors say that Jerry Sandusky was a serial pedophile and went after the children because they were at-risk, because they were vulnerable.
Jerry Sandusky's attorney got up and said, he was vulnerable. He did things for kids that no one else would do and these men who are coming forward were reluctant to come forward and some of them denied they were ever abused and that Jerry Sandusky's attorney alleged that the prosecutors coaxed them into saying the things that they said -- and he pointed to this fact, he said that six of the eight men who will take the stand and testify against Jerry Sandusky have already gotten civil attorneys, have already gotten civil attorneys. So, so he alluded to the fact that they are in it for the money.
HOLMES: And apart from the fact that we learn so much about jurors at all before the case begins, 8 of the 16, and alternates are, have connections to Penn State, and is that likely to be an issue?
GANIM: Well, no. The judge actually addressed that before the openings began. He said, look, this is a small town and a rural community, and he said, look, it's a small town, it's a rural community, he said I trust you to keep your profession al lives separate from your personal life in everyday. So I trust you to do the same thing when you are here.
Yes, more than half of these people have connections to Penn State. Three of them have connections to key witnesses, but the judge allowed them to be on the trial, because he trusts them to make a fair decision.
HOLMES: Yes, I think one of the alleged victims could confront Sandusky as early as today. Is that right?
GANIM: Yes, that is right. After lunch, we expect to hear from alleged victim 4 who is going to say that he was abused by Jerry Sandusky over a long period of time. Prosecutors say that Jerry Sandusky was like a surrogate father to him, but Jerry Sandusky would take him on bowl trips with the family and other vacations, and when they were alone together, he would abuse them.
He also said that in one of the situations, he was threatened, if you don't do this, you are going home.
HOLMES: And how long is this expected to go on there? It seems to be so much evidence that is going to be heard?
GANIM: Well, you know, it's interesting, because there are boxes and boxes of evidence on the tables behind the attorneys, and we do expect that this could last the rest of the month, and that is the prosecution's case and the defense case. Prosecutors though, they have said that they don't need more than about a week to make the case. That is an estimate, because you have to factor in cross- examination and really, it is hard to tell how long the testimony is going to go and what could come up that is not expected.
HOLMES: Yes, Sara, thanks so much. Sara Ganim, reporter from the 'Patriot News and CNN contributor Appreciate.
All right. Senator John McCain says the president says that he would like to know who is responsible for those security leaks.
(BEGIN VDIEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: It is obvious that the leaks came from individuals who are in the administration. The president may not have done it himself, but the president is certainly responsible as commander in chief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We will have the latest on the leak investigation when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A flood warning is in effect in Alabama after heavy hit gulf coast states over the weekend. Flooding actually got so bad that in part of Florida, waters reached eight feet. Yes, eight feet. Even a jail was flooded and lost power, and the rain has slowed down somewhat.
But officials say that the damage is already in the millions of dollars. We are tracking this closely, and we will bring you the latest next hour. So, stick around for that.
The Attorney General Eric Holder says he has assigned two U.S. attorneys to lead investigations into possible leaks of classified information. That isn't silencing Republican critics who this weekend on CNN, John McCain, the senator that the buck has to stop.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: It is obvious on its face that, this information came from individuals who are in the administration, and the president may have not done it himself, but the president is responsible as commander in chief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
All right. I want to bring in now, our national security contribute, Fran Townsend. She's a member of, of course, of the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security External Advisory boards.
But Fran joins us by Skype, and Fran, it is not about those disclosures about the drone program, and congressional leaders being briefed after the fact, and what is your take on this?
FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it is never a good day in the executive branch when Congress is learning about a program or the details of the program from the newspaper or from the news media. So, there are ways to do the briefings and notifications to Capitol Hill
FRANCES TOWNSEND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CONTRIBUTOR (via telephone): -- there are ways to do the briefings and notifications to Capitol Hill in a very confined way to prevent leaks, but they do have an oversight responsibility. So, you know, it is interesting to me that shouldn't frankly, that shouldn't happen.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: What would you like to see out of the investigation like this?
TOWNSEND: Well, you know, Michael, these investigations are very sort of widespread and unwieldy if you will, and so they are difficult to come to a clear conclusion.
One of the benefits that I have always believed of the investigation, itself, is when the investigators start to interview the witnesses and putting them in grand jury and pulling the documents and the e-mails and the phone records, you bet that folks who have been providing information and classified information to the press are less likely to do it.
And it becomes much more difficult for the media to get inside of national security programs, and that chilling effect is a benefit if you are trying to encourage people to try to keep the secrets that they have taken a sworn oath to maintain.
HOLMES: Well, a lot of people, Fran, who would say, and ask the question, is a special prosecutor ever a good idea?
TOWNSEND: Well, you know what, they are typically not. You know, the Republicans and the Democrats when they are in power hate to have a special prosecutor.
One, because they lose control in the ability to have oversight over these people, what you need though is a clearly defined mission for a set period of time with a defined budget.
If you have those three things, then the prosecutor has to focus very clearly on what their mission is and not have it run years and years for tens of millions of dollars and never come to a conclusion.
And so I think that mission is important, budget is important and time line is important if you are going to have one.
HOLMES: Yes, right. National security contributor Fran Townsend, and always good to see you, Fran. Thanks so much.
TOWNSEND: Thanks, Michael.
HOLMES: All right, the race for the president is getting ever tighter. We are going to have the latest poll numbers for you and the dueling online ads that are out today. Do stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The Romney and Obama campaigns are out with dueling web videos today. They focus on jobs and also trying to take advantage of each other's gaffes.
It is just another sign of how tough the campaign fight is becoming, and how tight the race is shaping up to be. A new poll out today also highlight highlights the close race for the White House.
And political editor, Paul Steinhauser is joining us from Washington. Paul, good to see you. Let's start with the poll. What does it show?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: You are close, Michael. I'm going to give a close, OK, take a look at this. As you mentioned, these are CNN poll of polls. Take a look at the number, President Obama 45 percent and Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger 45 percent. That is as tight as you can get.
HOLMES: Well, you can't get closer.
STEINHAUSER: Well, we took the three national polls that were all conducted after entirely after that unemployment report that came back out about 10 days ago on the May unemployment numbers, and there you go, 45 percent for each candidate and as tight as you can get just under five months to go, Michael, until election day.
HOLMES: You don't have to talk about the margin of error with those numbers. Let's talk about the campaign videos.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, let's do that. And you're right because, you know, Friday you saw both candidates have some gaffes, and both campaigns have definitely been playing off of that.
Why don't we start with Mitt Romney, I guess, because he has been playing off of these comments that the president made on Friday about the private sector being doing fine. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, the private sector is doing fine. Where we are seeing weaknesses in the economy have to do with the state and the local government.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have seen layoffs, cutbacks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When it is all said and done, I'm making $200 a month.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have been looking for a job for two years and I have not found any.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: And you know, not surprised here, Michael. This is a web video like this one and another one like it coming out from the Romney campaign in the last few days.
One this morning and one yesterday, both trying to, you know make the point here as Mitt Romney himself did on Friday that the president is out of touch with average Americans when it comes to how the economy is doing.
The other point they are trying to make is that the president really does not understand how the fix the economy, and also pushing for more government and more stimulus to try to rebound this economy, Michael.
I think that you could see the web video maybe in a paid TV ad very soon from the Romney campaign or one of the "Super PACs."
HOLMES: Well, it is amazing that it is always the black and the white and the dramatic music as well. You know what the ad is going to say as soon as you hear that music. And the Obama ads are highlighting comments from Romney about the private sector jobs. Let's play that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He says that we need more firemen and more policemen and more teachers, did he not get the message in Wisconsin? The American people did. It is time to cut back on government, and help the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: What he is trying to highlight there I guess is that Mitt Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts.
STEINHAUSER: Yes, he sure is, and two new videos of the Obama campaign. Those comments from Mitt Romney came on Friday when he was commenting about the president's comments about the private sector being just fine.
And this is part of the president's campaign theme to try to paint Mitt Romney as a very wealthy man who is maybe not in touch with average American, first responders and teachers trying to hold on to their jobs.
So that is why they are highlighting these comments in two brand new web videos and I bet you are going to see these as well in some paid TV spots. Why does all this matter?
Well, here's why, Michael, listen, the economy by far and the jobs, the two top concerns for American voters. Americans are divided on which candidate would do a better job on jobs. You're going to hear a lot more of this kind of stuff between now and November 6th.
HOLMES: Yes. One day we'll see a positive ad somewhere, I'm sure. Don't hold your breath. Paul Steinhauser, always good to see you.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, Michael.
HOLMES: Well, European Union saves Spain's banking system injecting 100 billion euro that's $125 billion into the economy, into banks actually. We are going to show you how that is affecting your stock portfolio today. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A former pro basketball player has a new goal, help poor and homeless families. Here is our Christine Romans with "Smart Is The New Rich."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is about tomorrow, this is about future generations.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marcus Allen used to play professional basketball. Today, he is with a team that invests in poor and homeless families. It is called Achieveability.
The program provides housing through a combination of federal tax credits and other public funding. And it opens the door to an education with student loans, grants and incentives.
MARCUS ALLEN, CEO, ACHIEVEABILITY: Many of the families are the first to graduate from college. We believe that once that first person goes to college and gets that education, it can break the generational cycle of poverty.
ROMANS: Allen is a walking role model.
ALLEN: I was homeless. You know, when I was a kid and came from a very low income family where my mom raised me. One of things that set me apart from most of the people in my family, I was the only person to go the college.
And from there things just began took off from me and that is what we see with a lot of families in our program. Like those who are able to look that fear in the face and really going to do it anyway.
ROMANS: Harold Barrow knows that fear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was the same guy running around the streets with bullets, but I was terrified of this.
ROMANS: Barrow grew up on the streets of Philadelphia and addicted to drugs at 11 and eighth grade dropout and homeless at 14.
HAROLD BARROW, ACHIEVEABILITY ALUMNUS: I just kind of got head long in the street life and obviously that came with issues with the police and then inevitably in my incarceration.
ROMANS: At 31, it seemed his choices were grim, but a social worker at the homeless shelter told him about Achieveability, and 22 years later, he is sober and has a master's degree. He is self- sufficiency coach for the program that saved him.
BARROW: It is such a rewarding experience, you know, to watch somebody walk down the aisle who fought to get a degree and thought that was never possible. ROMANS: Elena Howard pauses when looking back at her life five years ago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold on.
ROMANS: Dropping out a semester before graduating community college and living in a shelter with three children to now a master's degree in social work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm speechless. I'm grateful. I'm appreciative. You know, it was a long journey. I think that Achieveability was that vehicle.
ALLEN: Many of us are only one paycheck away from living in poverty. You know, poverty is only a circumstance of today, but it doesn't give you any indication of where they can be tomorrow.
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Encouraging story. Well, when is a bailout not a bailout? Well, according to Spain when it is a line of credit. The country has cut a deal with European Union to inject up to $125 billion into the country's troubled banking system. But the country's prime minister insists it isn't a bailout. The money will be repaid. He calls it a line of credit. This comes just a couple of days after President Obama warned the crisis in Europe could derail the U.S. recovery. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with all the market reaction.
Alison, I mean, the Asian markets, the European markets both (INAUDIBLE) on this news and it was just a bump here, wasn't it?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know what, we did see stocks pop at the open, Michael. You know, the Dow got as high as 96 points. But as you see, that relief rally, no, it didn't really last long. But that relief did come from Spain agreeing to a bailout, to a rescue package, whatever you want to call it, you know, to essentially prop up its banking system that was running out of money. Also, other news from oversea. China reported better than expected economic data over the weekend. That raises hopes from more stimulus there.
But here's the reality. Investors, they're now pulling back as they wait for the next possible bombshell. That could come Sunday when Greece elects its new leaders.
Also, you're looking at stocks as they come off the best week of the year. So not such a huge shocker to see stocks kind of take a breather. You're seeing investors kind of take some profits off the table.
Michael.
HOLMES: Yes, and, of course, I mean that's not the only thing. You've got Italy's GDP figures were a bit, you know, a bit dull as well. So there's a lot of worry in Europe. I mean is there a sense among investors that this isn't going the solve anything going in the big picture?
KOSIK: And that's the point here, because what this deal does is it really just takes care of one problem. It focuses on the banks. It doesn't deal with the broader issues of the European debt crisis. One analyst put it this way, saying, you know what, with Spain, there's no growth plan, there's no structural reform and Spain's economy is still in a lot of trouble.
And here's why Spain matters to the U.S. It's yet another link in the Eurozone. And the European Union is the number one trading partner for the U.S. And with about a dozen countries there in a recession, that, in turn, affects American companies who rely on European customers. And if they're not buying our stuff, that hurts the U.S. And we've already seen this happen for companies including General Motors, Ford, and McDonald's. And you know this, Michael. The U.S. economy, it's already fragile. This doesn't held.
Michael.
HOLMES: Yes, and it's a huge deal and people I don't think realize how much trade is done between the U.S. and Europe. It's three times the trade with China, which everyone always talking about. So, yes, that's a big deal.
KOSIK: Yes.
HOLMES: Alison, as always, a delight to see you. Alison Kosik there at the New York Stock Exchange.
KOSIK: Sure.
HOLMES: All right. Well, civil liberties drops accuse New York Police of targeting minorities in "Stop and Frisk" searches. Now the Justice Department might get involved. We'll bring that to you after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone.
Megachurch Pastor Creflo Dollar is defending himself against charges that he attacked his 15-year-old daughter. Dollar has been charged with battery and child cruelty. His daughter told deputies he slammed her to the ground, choked her, punched her in the face and hit her with a shoe. Deputies photographed a scratch on the girl's neck. Dollar denied the allegations in a sermon yesterday in his suburban Atlanta church.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PASTOR CREFLO DOLLAR, WORLD CHANGERS CHURCH INTERNATIONAL: I should have never been arrested. The truth is, she was not choked. She was not punched. There were not any scratches on her neck. But the only thing on her neck was a prior skin abrasion from eczema. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Dollar claims that the incident escalated from an argument but he never intended to harm anyone.
New York officials want to put a controversial police practice under the microscope. They are asking the Justice Department to investigate the NYPD's "stop and frisk" program. Critics say that program unfairly targets minority youth. CNN's Rayland Johnson has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAYLIN JOHNSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Glenn Martin is describing one of three times he says he's been stopped and frisked.
GLENN MARTIN, TARGETED FOR "STOP AND FRISK": When I'm going home. It's late evening. I come from hanging out downtown Manhattan wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. And --
JOHNSON (on camera): Not dressed like this.
MARTIN: Not dressed like this. But right about here, the police officers pull up really close to the curb very aggressively, hop out of the car --
JOHNSON: Right over here?
MARTIN: Yes, right over here. Very aggressively stop, and say, "you, stay right there."
JOHNSON (voice-over): Martin is just one of the voices at community meetings in New York arguing against stop, question, and frisk. The policy allows an officer who reasonably suspects that a person who has committed, is committing or is about to commit a felony or penal misdemeanor to stop them, question them, and possibly pat them down for weapons.
In the first three months of this year, more than 200,000 New Yorkers were stopped and a portion of them were franked. Police say only 10 percent resulted in summon.
JOHNSON (on camera): For you, the policy is failing simply because?
MARTIN: To me the policy is failing because it is no longer being used the way it's meant to be used, which is with precision. Suddenly it's like fishing with a machine gun. The idea that you're just going to ruin the entire pond by the time it's all done. And that's what's happening in these communities as a result of "Stop and Frisk."
JOHNSON (voice-over): The NYPD say "Stop and Frisk" is working. During the first quarter of 2012, a weapon was found less than 2 percent of the time. But police say that represented a 31 percent increase in the number of illegal firearms confiscated as compared to the first quarter last year. COMMISSIONER RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE: We're saving lives here and we're saving lives in a big way. And I said today, 90 percent of our murder victims are people of color.
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: My understanding is the polls show overwhelming support by the public for the tactics that we've been using to bring down crime. And, you know, there's always going to be somebody that disagrees. And they have a right.
JOHNSON: But Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer says the tactics are unjustly targeting minorities.
SCOTT STRINGER, PRESIDENT, MANHATTAN BOROUGH: We're creating this racial profiling where people who look like me would never think that they could be stopped. And people, quite frankly, who look like you, or your children, think about it every day.
JOHNSON: New York crime statistics show us that in the first quarter of this year, 54 percent of those stopped and frisked were black, 33 percent were Latino and 9 percent were white. Last year, half of the misdemeanor criminal activity was committed by African- Americans. Kelly has announced changes in officer training, supervision monitoring, transparency and accountability in response to public concern about "Stop, Question and Frisk."
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think that to find middle ground, what you have to find is a system that will enforce the rules and regulations that the courts have placed out there, which is that the police must have reasonable cause to make a stop. They just can't do it because they want to.
JOHNSON: CNN legal analyst Paul Callan says there must be a balance.
CALLAN: Now, why haven't these rules been enforced in the past? They haven't been enforced in the past because when an innocent person is stopped and frisked, and then allowed to go on his way, he's not going to go and hire a lawyer and sue NYPD. He's just breathing a sigh of relief he didn't get arrested. The only "Stop and Frisks" that gets tested in court are the bad guys who have a gun or drugs.
JOHNSON: So it really boils down to how much discretion a police officer has to evaluate a legitimately suspicious person, and to determine if they really pose an immediate threat to our public safety or just go about their life looking the way they do.
Raylin Johnson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And you know what, now police making stops may notice suspects whip out their smartphones. Why? Well, the New York Civil Liberties Union has introduced a "Stop and Frisk" app. Yes, there is an app for that. Users can record a police stop with it. Others can even listen in to what's happening. The NYPD is not a fan, saying it could alert crooks to police activity. Tens of thousands of foreclosed homes are wreaking havoc on American neighborhoods. What Baltimore is doing to fix the problem. That's when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Baltimore, like so many U.S. cities, was hit and hit hard by the housing bust. Thousands of homes left vacant and abandoned. But city officials have decided to get a little pro active now, encouraging prospective homeowners to come in and revitalize trouble spots. Athena Jones explains how.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joseph McCard grew up in Baltimore, but later moved to the suburbs. Now, he's back.
JOSEPH MCCARD, BALTIMORE RESIDENT: Baltimore has always been a great city for me.
JONES: Lured by an affordable, renovated home on a block not far from Johns Hopkins Medical School. His is a neighborhood in transition.
MCCARD: You're having pride coming back into the neighborhoods. You're also having assets coming back and assets returning. People are now paying taxes.
JONES: This street was once lined with abandoned homes. Several have now been rehabbed through Baltimore's "Vacant to Value" Program, an effort to address the city's 16,000 vacant homes.
MAYOR STEPHANIE RAWLINGS-BLAKE, BALTIMORE: We have these neighborhoods that need to know that there's hope, that there are people -- you know, small developers, large developers -- that see value in them. And that's what we're seeing here.
JONES: Vacant homes are a problem nationwide. The number of vacant properties jumped 51 percent to 10 million between 2000-2010. And 10 states saw an increase of 70 percent or more.
JAMES BROOKS, NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES: Whether it's large urban centers or suburban communities or ex-urban communities, we're still seeing a lot of residual vacancies both from the economic downturn and job loss, and also from the foreclosure crisis.
JONES: Baltimore's program uses millions of dollars in government money to make it easier for homebuyers and developers to buy vacant homes. It streamlines the sale of city owned properties at prices as low as $1,000 and uses property laws to encourage absentee owners to rehab empty buildings.
RAWLINGS-BLAKE: This is long overdue in this community. And there are more communities like this in Baltimore.
JONES: The city has a long way to go, but Mayor Rawlings-Blake is hopeful. Her goal, to grow Baltimore by 10,000 families in the next decade.
McCard is hopeful too.
MCCARD: What are your hopes for the area?