Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Obama To Speak Soon; Police Hunt Surgeon After Hospital Shooting; Military Planning For Syria Rescue At 10,000 Feet; Parents Abandon Kids In Hard Times; Greek Crisis Leads To More Orphans; The Case For Bailing Out Greece; JetBlue Sued Over Pilot Meltdown

Aired June 14, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Fred, thank you very much. Let's pick up pretty much where you all left off.

Is Ohio big enough for the two of them? You have President Barack Obama and his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, delivering competing economic visions minutes apart here in opposite corners of the very same state here. We have Jessica Yellin. She is awaiting this big speech by the president. She is back where -- his home, at the White House, as he is in Cleveland.

And, Jessica, just full transparency sake here, because isn't politics fun in an election year, we -- I have been told that Mitt Romney said "thank you." And the moment he said, "thank you," someone is now introducing the president.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Oh, they couldn't be that closely coordinated Brooke. I'm sure no one is paying attention to Mitt Romney's speech at the president's team.

BALDWIN: So, jokes aside, and here we are. We have two different pictures. The "thank you" side, the left, Romney speaking in Cincinnati. And as Fred mentioned, he's at Cuyahoga -- the president, Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland on the right.

Quickly, before we hear from the president, he has a ton riding on this speech.

YELLIN: He does, Brooke, because, look, his central case for re- election is that he can turn this economy around. And that is a challenge he has to yet -- it's a case he has yet to make because repeatedly this administration has said that, you know, the economy is facing green shoots. That we are now sort of in the summer of recovery, they once said.

This past January, they made the case that we were sort of looking again at a sort of -- a great -- starting to see a turnaround. But now, again, we're seeing signs that consumer confidence is down, the GDP is slowing. And so the president really -- and the polls are showing that the president really has yet to convince the American people that his program is working. And so that's what he will do -- try to do today, not just that he has a program, but that his opponents' program is the wrong one, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jessica, let me interject, because we have timed out our timing here perfectly. Here he is, the president of the United States.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you so much. Well, good afternoon, everybody. It is great to be back in Cleveland. It is great to be back here at Cuyahoga Community College.

I want to first of all thank Angela for her introduction and sharing her story. I know her daughter is very proud of her. I know her daughter's here today. So give her a big round of applause.

I want to thank your president, Dr. Jerry Sue Thornton. And I want to thank some members of Congress who made the trip today. Representatives Marcia Fudge, Representative Betty Sutton, and Representative Marcy Kaptur.

Now, those of you who have a seat, feel free to sit down. So -- thank you.

CROWD: Four more years! Four more years.

OBAMA: Thank you.

CROWD: Four more years! Four more years!

OBAMA: So, Ohio, over the next five months, this election will take many twists and many turns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four more years, Mr. President.

OBAMA: Polls will go up and polls will go down. There will be no shortage of gaffes and controversies that keep both campaigns busy and give the press something to write about. You may have heard I recently made my own unique contribution to that process. It wasn't the first time and it won't be the last.

And in the coming weeks, Governor Romney and I will spend time debating our records and our experience, as we should. But though we will have many differences over the course of this campaign, there's one place where I stand in complete agreement with my opponent. This election is about our economic future.

Yes, foreign policy matters. Social issues matter. But more than anything else, this election presents a choice between two fundamentally different visions of how to create strong, sustained growth, how to pay down our long-term debt and, most of all, how to generate good, middle class jobs so people can have confidence that if they work hard, they can get ahead.

Now, this isn't some abstract debate. This is not another trivial Washington argument. I have said that this is the defining issue of our time, and I mean it. I said that this is a make or break moment for America's middle class. And I believe it. The decisions we make in the next few years, on everything from debt and taxes, to energy and education, will have an enormous impact on this country. And on the country we pass on to our children.

Now, these challenges are not new. We've been wrestling with these issues for a long time. The problems we're facing right now have been more than a decade in the making. And what is holding us back is not a lack of big ideas, it isn't a matter of finding the right technical solution. Both parties have laid out their policies on the table for all to see. What's holding us back is a stalemate in Washington between two fundamentally different views of which direction America should take. And this election is your chance to break that stalemate.

At stake is not simply a choice between two candidates or two political parties, but between two paths for our country. And while there are many things to discuss in this campaign, nothing is more important than an honest debate about where these two paths would lead us.

Now, that debate starts with an understanding of where we are and how we got here. Long before the economic crisis of 2008, the basic bargain at the heart of this country had begun to erode. For more than a decade, it had become harder to find a job that paid the bills. Harder to save, harder to retire. Harder to keep up with rising costs of gas and health care and college tuitions. You know that. You lived it.

During that decade, there was a specific theory in Washington about how to meet this challenge. We were told that huge tax cuts, especially for the wealthiest Americans, would lead to faster job growth. We were told that fewer regulations, especially for big financial institutions and corporations, would bring about widespread prosperity. We were told that it was OK to put two wars on the nation's credit card, that tax cuts would create enough growth to pay for themselves. That's what we were told.

So how did this economic theory work out? For the wealthiest Americans, it worked out pretty well. Over the last few decades, the income of the top 1 percent grew by more than 275 percent to an average of $1.3 million a year. Big financial institutions, corporations, saw their profits soar. But prosperity never trickled down to the middle class.

From 2001 to 2008, we had the slowest job growth in half a century. The typical family saw their incomes fall. The failure to pay for the tax cuts and the wars took us from record surpluses under President Bill Clinton, to record deficits and it left us unprepared to deal with the retirement of an aging population that's placing a greater strain on programs like Medicare and Social Security.

Without strong enough regulations, families were enticed and sometimes tricked into buying homes they couldn't afford. Banks and investors were allowed to package and sell risky mortgages. Huge, reckless bets were made with other people's money on the line. And too many from Wall Street to Washington simply looked the other way.

BALDWIN: President Obama speaking in Cleveland. We have to cut it off here, because we gave Mitt Romney 10 minutes. We're giving the president 10 minutes. You can keep watching. Just head to cnn.com.

And a quick reminder here. Not too long ago, Mitt Romney finished speaking in a factory not too far from Cleveland. Just across the state in Cincinnati. I want to play a little bit of that sound in case you missed it. Here he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Talk is cheap. Action speaks loudly. Look what's happened across this country. If you think things are going swimmingly, if you say the president's right when he said the private sector is doing fine, well, then he's the guy to vote for.

But when he said that, there was such an outpouring of response from the 23 million Americans out of work or underemployed that I think today he's not going to say it again. I think it's more likely he's going to say, give me four more years, even though I didn't get it done in the first three and a half.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So, again, Mitt Romney really saying, thank you, as the introduction began for President Obama. Mitt Romney clearly prebuttal to what the president would say.

And, you know, the president certainly made news this week. There was criticism from, of all people, the rajin cajun and Democrat himself, James Carville, you know, essentially saying that -- this message from the Obama campaign that if President Obama keeps telling voters that the country's moving in the right direction economically speaking, that that's wrong. They need to change message. And there's also been criticism that neither candidate really has been forthright when it comes to really the severity of this potential prolonged recession that we're seeing. New numbers in terms of foreclosures. We've got that for you from the New York Stock Exchange. That's coming up. Not good news there.

Also, though, happening now, we are getting late word that any minute the prosecution may rest in the case against Jerry Sandusky, the former Penn State coach accused of raping boys. It has been a tough, tough story to tell this week. Very disturbing testimony inside that courthouse. Obviously, as soon as the news breaks, we're going to take you live to that courthouse.

And a lot more coming at you in the next two hours, including this.

As President Obama and Mitt Romney square off, America's defense chiefs have a warning. If Congress doesn't act fast, a war could break out. Is this threat real or is this a scare tactic?

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now. It is a nightmare scenario. The economy hitting some parents so hard, they can't afford to keep their own children. You're going to see an orphanage where this is reality.

Plus, a warning to American tourists -- watch your back! Drug cartel gangsters are out for revenge.

And, parents murdering their daughters because they wanted boys.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): "She had just come into the world. She is like a flower bud, and he killed her."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Go inside the most dangerous place in the world to be a girl.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A manhunt in Buffalo, New York, is drawing national attention this afternoon because the person police are hunting is a well-known Buffalo surgeon. Police want to talk to Dr. Timothy Jorden about the deadly shooting of his ex-girlfriend. That happened yesterday morning. But what makes this particular shooting even more noteworthy is that it happened at the hospital where both the doctor and the victim worked. Buffalo Police tried to calm all the fears, obviously, in the community in a news conference just this morning. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL DERENDA, BUFFALO POLICE COMMISSIONER: I don't think the general public is in danger. Again, an officer coming across this individual, again, he has to be considered armed and dangerous. But we want to talk to him about yesterday's incident. And that's all I'll say right now. I don't think he's a danger to the public at large, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to bring in Pete Gallivan right now. He's a reporter with Buffalo TV station WGRZ.

And, Pete, let me just ask you this. I know police aren't calling Dr. Jorden a suspect. Why is that?

PETE GALLIVAN, WGRZ REPORTER: Right. Well, they're referring to him as a person of interest in this case. And the bottom line is, there are different rules as to how you can talk to a suspect, as opposed to a person of interest. But at this point, they're saying he's just a person of interest that they would like to talk to regarding the killing of Jackie Wisniewski yesterday, as you mentioned, at the Erie County Medical Center, where both the doctor, as well as the victim, worked. BALDWIN: So it sounds like the background on this story is a bit textured, as some of these details are coming out, because we know that there are these records that are indicating this doctor was actually involved in not just one, but two prior domestic violence disputes. Not with this victim. But let me just play some sound. This is what the police commissioner said about that. And then I got a question for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DERENDA: I don't believe there were any order of protections involving the victim. I can't comment on the motive right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: He's not commenting. I'm hearing, though, that a lot of the victim's friends are commenting today with regard to stories of abuse. Is that correct?

GALLIVAN: Yes. We're hearing quite a bit coming out over social media, FaceBook, Twitter, that sort of thing, yes, telephone calls. One thing that was said by one of the victim's friends was, she was told by the victim, if something happens to me, it was him. There was also another statement made by another friend that said, she loved him but was afraid of him. We're also hearing word that he may have put GPS tracking on her car after she moved out. So we're hearing a lot of these different side of this relationship between Jackie Wisniewski and Dr. Timothy Jorden.

BALDWIN: Tell me about this massive search, Pete. Outside this doctor's home, it's on this cliff, I understand. It's overlooking Lake Erie. Is there any indication they might possibility be searching for his body?

GALLIVAN: There is an indication of that. We received a phone call -- we did a telephone interview earlier today with a neighbor of Dr. Jorden and he said he didn't think of anything -- think of this as anything at the time, but he says he did hear one gunshot early yesterday morning, which would have been in the time frame after the shooting. Police aren't sure if that has anything to do, whether it was a distant hunter, but police are on the bluffs behind his house, that overlook Lake Erie, this morning. They've been -- or they started this morning and they're still there at this hour.

BALDWIN: So sad for the community, I know, in Buffalo. If anything happens with the search, obviously, Pete, we'll pop you back in front of that camera and you can let us know. Pete Gallivan from our affiliate WGRZ. Pete, we appreciate it.

Let me get to some news here just into us here at CNN. We are getting word now that the U.S. military has completed plans in the event American troops are involved in an operation in Syria. We're going to take you live to the Pentagon for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: We have a developing story here in the dire situation in Syria. This story now coming to us from the Pentagon. So standing by with that is our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

And, Barbara, what do you know?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, concerns here at the Pentagon growing on multiple fronts. First up, it should be said that the Pentagon has completed its military contingency planning for Syria. Everything from a no-fly-zone, to providing humanitarian assistance, assisting countries bordering Syria, whatever it takes. Very clear, there are no requests for military action. But they've done all the planning now. They've completed it. They know how many troops, what kinds of units, what it would take to get it all done.

But this comes as concerns are growing about civil war -- we heard that from the United Nations a couple of days ago -- and sectarian violence. We caught up earlier today with the charm of the Joint Chiefs, who addressed this very question of what it could mean if sectarian violence breaks out in Syria. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHMN., JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: It's a tragedy. And you probably saw overnight that the -- someone blew up the -- a very famous Shiite mosque in Damascus, which, of course, gives us all pause that have been in Iraq. And seeing how these issues become sectarian and then they become civil wars and then they become very difficult to resolve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: A pretty grim assessment from General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, when he caught up with him here earlier today at the Pentagon. And a senior U.S. official tells us, Brooke, that inside the administration, they are talking about this issue of sectarian violence. And the growing concern, very specifically, if it breaks out in Syria, indeed, as General Dempsey says, it could be worse than what we all saw happen so tragically in Iraq.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: I know you're saying that this is a military contingency plan, but can you -- I don't know how much that they're telling you, but in terms of specifics, these operations, do you know anything more?

STARR: Well, it's what the military does. You know, they don't really wait around for the White House to call up and ask them and start planning from, you know, the zero line. They plan for just about everything around here.

So they've looked at things like, what if they had to do a no-fly zone? What if there was an international agreement, which is what it would take and a U.N. resolution, and there had to be a no-fly zone. What kind of planes would the U.S. have to contribute? How many personnel? What does the Syrian air defense system look like that could challenge a no-fly zone with the Syrians firing surface-to-air missiles? That would be very formidable. What do Syrian radar installations look like?

So they go through all these scenarios bit by bit. They look at what they have, they look at what kind of units they would need. But the real emphasis here is, I have to say, no matter who you speak to, the U.S. military believes any operation in Syria would be long, involved, complicated, and very expensive.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. So no implication that anything is immediate, per say. This is protocol for the Pentagon. Barbara Starr --

STARR: Absolutely.

BALDWIN: Got it. Thank you.

A dramatic rescue at 10,000 feet. This hiker falls a thousand feet. Crews now today working to find him and save him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A rescue mission at some 10,000 feet is underway right there. Here is -- this is Oregon's Mt. Hood. Officials tell CNN that a climber was seen falling or perhaps sliding nearly a thousand feet down the mountain just this morning.

Fellow climbers called 911 for help. The search and rescue team is trying to reach the climber right now. No word yet as far as any kind of extent of injuries there.

A nightmare scenario, the economy hitting parents so hard they're forced to give up their own children. We're going to see the painful reality inside this one orphanage, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: None of the reports we have brought you thus far on the Greek financial crisis really captures the human toll quite like this next story.

It's really tough to fathom, to wrap your head around, but as CNN's Matthew Chance reports, desperate parents no longer able to care for their own children are dropping them off now at orphanages.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): These are the youngest victims of Greece's economic despair, abandoned not through lack of love, but money.

We gained access to this orphanage in Athens, where care workers say they've witnessed a surge in the number of Greek families unable to feed and clothe their children. STELIOS SIFNIOS, SOCIAL WORKER: The first time for us and I'm working here since 1982. So for the first time, I see so many poor families ask for help for their own children.

CHANCE: Austerity and years of recession are literally breaking up families here.

(on camera): Of course, there have always been orphans, children in care in Greece, but what's changed over the course of the past two years is this. Previously, children in care came from problem families.

Parents who were drug addicts or alcoholic, but over the past two years, that transformed dramatically. The vast majority now come from families who simply can't afford to look after their children.

(voice-over): Parents like Kassiani Papadopoulou, single mother, unemployed, and unable, she says, to care for her three children. We caught one of her rare visits.

(on camera): Pleased to meet you. How are you? Mikaelah. Good to see you.

(voice-over): Giving up this family, she told me, was painful. But in Greece's economic climate, still her best option.

KASSIANI PAPADOPOULOU, MOTHER (through translator): It's really difficult, really tragic for a true mother to leave her children, but when you understand that they are not at fault and deserve a future, it's better to make a move like than have them beside you without even a plate of food.

CHANCE (on camera): Who do you blame for putting you and your family in this situation? Do you blame the government? Do you blame the economic crisis? Who do you hold responsible?

PAPADOPOULOU: For me, it's all those who govern. They've all looked out for themselves instead of the people and the poor like us should be the responsibility of the state.

CHANCE (voice-over): But this is the terrible social crisis of Greece's economic crisis. Even for its youngest, most vulnerable, the state can barely afford to care.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Matthew Chance joining me now live from Athens. Just looking at the kids in your piece, they're old enough, you know. And I'm just wondering what the parents, how they even try to explain how they have to put their little ones in an orphanage. How severe a problem is this, Matthew, in Greece?

CHANCE: I think it's, Brooke, a growing problem, certainly. I have to say that most families who are encountering economic troubles at the moment in Greece, that they're assisted by charities like the one we visited to keep the children at home. But inevitably, as the economic crisis worsens, and it is worsening in Greece, then some families, particularly single parent who vulnerable, they fall through the cracks.

BALDWIN: Matthew Chance, thank you for your reporting for us there in Greece. And as the crisis in Europe really threatens America, my next guest says we've got to do something and we've got to do something fast before this economy falls to its knees.

Ben Stein says he has an idea. It will make Americans pretty angry, but it might be the only solution. We're going to challenge him on that, Mr. Stein and I next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: This next story, Ben Stein, we will like to have him on the show, but he may make you a little angry. Coming up, I'm not kidding here.

Ben Stein, our favorite economist believes it's time to rescue Greece, or in his alligate turn of phrase Ben Stein believes Washington needs to play a quote/unquote "leadership role" in Europe's financial crisis.

Ben, we're going to give you this much here because I thought you did a pretty fantastic job in setting the whole thing up. So before we talk, let's walk through what you explained. So you explained how Greece owes the European banks, right --

BEN STEIN, ECONOMIST: Well, the European banks own a lot of stock and debt in European -- in Greek banks. And as those banks fails, that's going to be a problem for the European banks. The European banks own a lot of the Greek state debt. If that fails, that's going to be a big problem for the European banks.

BALDWIN: And then the U.S. banks --

STEIN: The U.S. banks own a lot of those European banks. It's like those cartoons they used to have in "The New Yorker" all the time of the big fish eating the little fish eating the still smaller fish.

And we're the big fish that's going to get food poisoning at the end of the day from those failed banks in Greece and probably also in Spain and Italy.

BALDWIN: So what happens, as we are the big fish, ultimately eating the little teeny, tiny fish and getting the food poisoning, what does that do to us?

STEIN: One, it makes the stock market go down. Two, it makes the banks reluctant to lend, just as they were after the horrible, horrible crisis in 2008, where the government screwed up royally by not rescuing Lehman brothers.

That was the biggest domestic policy state of the post-war era. Third, it sours an already extremely bad consumer and investor mood, so that whatever money's left in this country, and there's quite a lot left, it does not get invested or spent. So it has many bad effects.

BALDWIN: So you're solution that you're prescribing is something that has already made a lot of my Twitter followers moan and groan in 140 characters or less. What is your solution, sir?

STEIN: Well, we have what we call the International Monetary Fund. The U.S. dominates the International Monetary Fund. We have a monetary crisis in Southern Europe.

The INF should step in with its enormous borrowing and lending power and lend money and stabilize Greece, stabilize Spain, stabilize Italy.

Eventually they'll get that money back, and even if they don't get it back, the cost of doing it are trivial compared with the cost of another downward leg of the recession, which could happen.

BALDWIN: So you're saying kind of like, you liken it to the Marshall plan after World War II. That was post-war and multiple nations, but you know, you think Germany specifically, they all did extraordinarily well after the U.S. helped them out.

Of course, that was named after the secretary of state at the time. But when you think of that, you think of Angela Merkel and Germany, and they're doing pretty well right now.

So my question to you, why should we step up if she will not? I mean, if someone's going to dole out a Marshall plan here, why not the Germans?

STEIN: Well, they absolutely should do it. They owe an awful lot to Greece. They did a lot of damage to Greece in years past, but if nobody else does it, we should do it to protect ourselves.

I'm not doing this for the Greeks, although the Greeks are a fine, wonderful people, doing I'm doing it for the people of the United States of America.

For the people of the United States who do not need another credit crunch coming right after the one in 2008. And the one that's still ongoing. Try to get a home loan.

It's not that easy to do and let's bail out America by bailing out Southern Europe and we've got the international means to do it easily and it won't cost the taxpayers anything.

BALDWIN: You say, help them help us.

STEIN: Yes!

BALDWIN: But we talk so much about Greece, I have to get in Spain, because there's dire news --

STEIN: They're in terrible trouble. BALDWIN: With the unemployment rate something like 20 percent. Their credit now is so bad. It is having to pay close to 7 percent on its interest, on its bonds. So is Spain now peering over this abyss and does that increase pressure on us, on Washington, to play a leadership role, as you suggest?

STEIN: Absolutely. Look, Spain is in real trouble and they were running surpluses. You can't blame them for a sloppy fiscal policy. They were running surpluses. They had a property collapse even worse than our property collapse in the U.S.

Of course, they're the fourth largest euro zone economy. If the Germans are too short sighted to do it, we have to do it for our own good, also because the Spaniards are fine people.

But for our own good, to keep a generalized collapse in the western industrialized economies from that will be very, very bad news.

And we don't need any of this hypocrisy about morality and about moral hazard. We need these countries out to save ourselves.

BALDWIN: I am so curious what our viewers think. Will you tweet me @brookebcnn. Let me know what you think of Ben Stein's Marshall plan 2.0 proposition. Ben Stein, thank you. Talk next time.

Ten passengers are suing JetBlue airways involving that flight. Remember that midflight meltdown not too long ago. We'll talk with one of those passengers about what he wants live.

(COMMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: At age 14, she was the youngest member of the U.S. gymnastics team in the 1996 Olympics, but Dominique Moceanu was able to fulfill her dream of winning the Olympic gold, and now in her new book, it's called "Off Balanced," she talks about alleged abuse, injuries, and a shocking family secret abuse.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has this compelling story in this week's "Human Factor."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPP

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Olympic gymnast Dominique Moceanu hasn't lost the focus and the smile she's known for as a member of the magnificent seven in Atlanta.

But behind that smile, she's hidden a lot of pain. While she loved the sport, Moceanu says her coaches, Marta and Bella Crowly, made her life miserable, severely restricting her eating, forcing her to hide any sports-related injuries, and constantly chipping away at her self-esteem.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The name calling, like, piggy, and fat. The Crowlies, for example, they hit me in a lot of personal and emotional places. They used my father as a medium of abuse. GUPTA: She says the coaches would call her father to complain about her performance in practice and he would punish her by hitting her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was silenced by those people.

GUPTA: The Crowlies declined to comment on her accusations, but tell CNN, quote, "We have known Dominique since she have a young gymnast and wish her only the best of success as she goes through life."

At 17, she went to court to be granted legal independence from her Romanian parents to reclaim her money and choose her own coach. Her younger sister, Christina, says she witnessed the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, but says that Dominique reconciled with him before he died from cancer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've learned to take those experiences that were difficult and that in my life, the adversity that I had overcome to use it for a positive change.

GUPTA: Moceanu retired from gymnastics in 2006, and soon afterward, while she was pregnant with her first child, she received a letter from another sister, one she never knew she had, a sister born with no legs and given up for adoption.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got the biggest bombshell of my life and it changed everything. My life will forever be divided now to before knowing about Jen and after knowing about Jen.

GUPTA: Today Moceanu is happily married and wants to help other young gymnasts who love the sport she loves so much, and say her two young children may even be gymnasts in the future. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: I remember watching her back in 1996 on TV. We're going to be speaking live with Dominique this coming Monday so we hope you join us then.

In the meantime, please watch her story on "SANJAY GUPTA MD" Saturday at 4:30 Eastern and Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. Eastern time.

Ten passengers are now suing JetBlue airways and that JetBlue pilot who had this midflight meltdown. The flight from New York to Las Vegas or what was supposed to be to Las Vegas had to be diverted when that pilot, Clayton Osbon, ran through the cabin screaming obscenities and shouted about Iran, Iraq, and Israel. Remember this?

Passengers subdued the pilot. The plane did ultimately land safely in Amarillo, Texas, and Rich Signoretti was on the flight. He's one of the passengers suing JetBlue and that pilot, Clayton Osbon.

He's there with his lawyer. Gentlemen, thank you for joining me. Mr. Signoretti, just want to begin with you. Take me back to that day. I remember that whole story broke during this show. I spoke to a passenger in Amarillo on the ground. Goodness, what was that like?

RICH SIGNORETTI, PASSENGER SUING JETBLUE: It was extremely frightening, nerve-racking. We really -- I really didn't know if I was going to make it out of that plane alive.

BALDWIN: I understand it was one of your friends, your buddies you were traveling with who helped take down the pilot. Is that correct?

SIGNORETTI: Yes, the person's name is David Gonzalez. I know him for 15 years from being in the security industry.

BALDWIN: So since then, what impact has that incident, that day, had on you, personally?

SIGNORETTI: It will never be the same. Flying used to be something I enjoyed, traveling, and now it's not something I look forward to, it's not something I, even though, you know, unfortunately, you know what, it was a breakdown.

And to be on that plane and not knowing if I was ever going to see my loved ones again was one of the most horrible experiences I ever had to go through. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

BALDWIN: I'm sorry you had to go through it and I just want to ask, let me turn to your attorney here, Mr. Reiter, with regard to this lawsuit, I know it was filed on behalf of ten of these passengers, alleging that JetBlue was grossly negligent in detaining Jeff Osbon. What is it that you, your clients want from not only the airline, but from the pilot here?

JONATHAN REITER, PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY: The purpose of this lawsuit, among other things, is to make sure that this kind of an incident never happens again. The plaintiffs in this lawsuit want a full, complete, and thorough investigation of what JetBlue knew or should have known about the actions of this pilot before this happened.

And this lawsuit gives us an opportunity to conduct discovery proceedings, to obtain all the relevant documents and information that JetBlue had about Clayton Frederic Osbon, and it would not be proper to comment at this point about what we know already, but there is going to be a great deal coming out about --

BALDWIN: Let me just --

REITER: -- about that subject.

BALDWIN: Let me just get in this, because of course we asked JetBlue about the lawsuit. All the airline would tell us is, quote/unquote, "we don't comment on pending litigation. The pilot here we're talking about, Clayton Osbon, claims mental illness. He's scheduled to appear in a court at some point tomorrow for a sanity hearing. Rich, final questions, to you, what do you want from him?

REITER: Well --

SIGNORETTI: Go ahead, Rich.

REITER: Well, I want him to explain what happened, and also, personally, he should never be a captain of an airplane, because the man was running up and down the aisle, the man tried to open the door to the airplane, the man was banging on the cockpit. It was complete and utter chaos.

BALDWIN: And final question, if I may, Rich, to you again, you mentioned, you know, this was a breakdown. You wouldn't wish this on your worst enemy. Have you flown since?

SIGNORETTI: I had to fly to Las Vegas that day to get to my destination, because we were, you know -- I was -- I had to be at the show and very unnerving experience.

BALDWIN: Rich Signoretti and Jonathan Reiter, thanks very much. We'll follow up with this lawsuit and see where this goes and what happens to this particular pilot. Thank you so much.

And now a warning to American tourists, watch your back. Drug cartel gangsters are out for revenge.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A new warning today for Americans either living or traveling south of the border. You could be targeted for revenge by a drug gang that is so violent it makes, you know, scar face look tame, put it that way for you.

The warning here coming from the State Department is concerned about possible retaliation for this huge bust, right here in the United States involving meth and money laundering, and the world of quarter horse racing.

One of the people arrested is the brother of these two guys. These guys actually call themselves 40 and 42. They are two of the highest ranking commanders of the drug cartel.

Rafael Romo is our senior Latin American affairs editor. So the emergency message that was posted online, does it actually specifically mention the Zetas? It simply refers to a transnational criminal organization going on.

These arrests could result in some form of retaliation and/or anti-American violence, but there's no doubt who they're talking about here.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: It's going to be Zetas. It was the only major operation conducted this week. It all happened the same day. I don't know of any other case, and it has to be Los Zetas.

BALDWIN: We're talking about Mexico. For people who have vacation plans, it's the summertime. Where in Mexico are we talking? What kind of precautions should people take?

ROMO: Well, the good news is that no American has been targeted in Mexico just for being American.

And we're talking about the northern border states, not places that Americans are familiar with, like Cancun, Mazatlan, Acapulco, all of those places. In particular, people in Mexico City may be concerned, but there's been no violence in Mexico City. So, the warning applies to those states that I'm talking about and border states.

And here on the map, we see the state of Tamaulipas. That's a major state of operations for Los Zetas. Also, the state right next to it, the state of Nuevo Leon, is also one of the states of concern.

BALDWIN: OK. So if those are the areas you were thinking of heading to, which typically folks vacationing do not, heads up.

Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

And now let's roll on.