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Total Disregard For Sandusky's Victims; Bomb Threat Closes Major Tunnel; Biden Addresses NAACP; New Reports In Trayvon Martin Case; Delta Flew Planes Needing Repairs; Jesse Jackson Jr. Has Mood Disorder
Aired July 12, 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: Hey, Suzanne. Thank you so much.
Hello to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin. A lot of news coming in to me, including word of a huge development in the case involving this major bank and accusations it gave white home buyers better mortgage rates. More on that.
Plus, has Mitt Romney been stretching the truth when it comes to his time at Bain Capital? His camp is denying it today. We are learning more here at CNN.
But first, we have to begin here. A monster hiding in plain sight on the campus of Penn State University, with cover provided by school officials and the winningest coach in all of college football history. This is the picture painted by independent investigators hired by Penn State to examine the Jerry Sandusky scandal. You have former FBI Director Louis Freeh released these findings. And I've got to tell you, they're appalling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOUIS FREEH, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: Most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State. The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Now, this report accuses four of Penn State's top men of protecting the university's reputation over the safety of children. They are the late Joe Paterno, Penn State's head football coach for 45 years, fired last November. Also, former president Graham Spanier, also forced out in November, still a tenured faculty member. He is not charged. Former Penn State senior vice president, Gary Schultz, the man who oversaw university police, charged with failing to report abuse and perjury. And finally, Penn State athletic director, Tim Curley, on suspension right now, also charged with failing to report abuse and perjury.
And the man at the center of all of this, Jerry Sandusky, sitting in a prison cell right now, convicted of 45 counts of facing a sentence that could be more than 400 years. But today's report is more about who knew what and when. The findings, they are another damning blow to the legacy of this man, Joe Paterno, who knew about Sandusky long before he admitted it, according to this report.
And this is really a wide-ranging investigation. More than 430 people were interviewed here, but not Paterno, who died before investigators could speak with him.
I want to bring in Brian Claypool. He's a criminal defense attorney. He's also a child advocate and also a graduate of Penn State.
So, Brian, welcome to you. If I may, just your initial reaction. What's your initial reaction to learning about this Louis Freeh report today?
BRIAN CLAYPOOL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Brooke, I'm absolutely shocked, and like you said, appalled, to a point where I believe, as an attorney, that Graham Spanier, George Schultz, and Tim Curley, they need to be prosecuted criminally for conspiracy to commit child endangerment. There is now tangible evidence that's been generated that shows that these three had an agreement in place to conceal the abuse that Sandusky was carrying out. They failed to report this information to the police. They failed to report it to the Department of Child Welfare, and they put many other kids at risk for over a decade. And they actually facilitated Sandusky carrying out these predatory acts. They need to be prosecuted.
BALDWIN: Brian, I just want to highlight one of the internal e- mails that was released actually within this report. Let me read this to you here. This is an e-mail chain with Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley. It's about that '98 investigation into Sandusky's abuse of a boy in a school locker room. So Curley wrote, quote, "anything new in this department? Coach is anxious to know where it stands," end quote. Investigators say the coach referred to here is, in fact, Joe Paterno. Again, this was in 1998. Paterno told a grand jury he didn't know anything, you know, about that incident there and he didn't hear about, he says, any allegations until 2001. But just in that exchange, Brian, is that enough of a smoking gun in your opinion?
CLAYPOOL: Well, it's a smoking gun because it shows that Joe Paterno's anxious. Where do things stand? Back in 1998, Paterno knows about the incident in 1998. All the top administration knows about it in 1998. This litany of e-mails clearly shows that the top administration and Joe Paterno were more concerned about the football program, the image of Penn State, the money that's generated through the football program. They were trying to preserve that at the expense of protecting children. That's reprehensible and it needs to be taken care of. And the only way to do that is through prosecution.
I mean, Brooke, Tim Curley said -- you know what he said in one of the e-mails? He said, let's play it by ear on whether we report this to the Department of Child Welfare. You know, you have to be kidding me! BALDWIN: Brian, to your point, to your point, though, about preserving this really legendary football program, I want to read just a little bit of this, and I'm sure you've seen this. This unpublished op-ed that Joe Paterno wrote before his death, defending the school, defending the football program. So here's part of that. Quote, "this is not a football scandal and should not be treated as one. It is not an academic scandal and does not in any way tarnish the hard-earned and well-deserved academic reputation of Penn State." You're a graduate of Penn State. Was Paterno, was he misperceiving the scandal right up until the end?
CLAYPOOL: Brooke, I went to Penn State for four years. I played basketball with the guys that played on the football team. No question about it. At 7:00 every night, they had to go to the library from 7:00 to 9:00. So Joe Paterno's right. He developed a lot of good athletes who became good people who studied hard at school.
But he's missing the point. The football program is the heart of generating revenue for Penn State. Without the football program, you would not have a world-renowned university. You wouldn't have endowments. You wouldn't have federal grants. He -- Paterno and the university needed the football program to generate hundreds of millions of dollars to sustain the university. And what they did is this money that they generated, it masked a reality for the -- for Paterno and the football program. It clouded their judgment. And money, it was like a drug and they needed another fix. And they had to keep this going in order to keep that money coming. So they covered up this horrible scandal.
BALDWIN: Money like a drug and they need the fix. You're a criminal defense attorney. I mean people -- we have to remind people, this wasn't a criminal investigation. What do you think the ultimate impact from all of this will be?
CLAYPOOL: Brooke, the time is now to make change across this country in protecting kids and students. You know, I'm the lead lawyer in the Miramonte case. There's another disaster. It all results from top administration looking at abuse. These people all know about the abuse. And what they do, Brooke, is they decide, this is a business decision. It's about money.
BALDWIN: You think this will go to a farther-reaching NCAA investigation? Should it?
CLAYPOOL: Well, yes, the NCAA is investigating. The federal government's still investigating it.
BALDWIN: Right.
CLAYPOOL: But I really believe the only way you will ever make change in this country to start protecting kids and safeguarding kids at major institutions is you need to start prosecuting the top administers who not only know about the abuses taking place, but they facilitate it. And as former FBI Director Freeh said, they empowered Sandusky to do this. So you need criminal prosecution to stop this pattern of facilitating abuse nationwide. BALDWIN: Brian, let me jump in. I just want to get this Paterno family statement. This is what was released after this report came out. Part of it said, quote, "Joe Paterno wasn't perfect. He made mistakes and he regretted them. He is still the only leader to step forward and say that with the benefit of hindsight he wished he had done more."
Again, as an alum of this school, is there any piece of you, Brian, that feels some bit of sympathy for Joe Paterno and really to the damage -- the damage to his legacy?
CLAYPOOL: Yes. I revered Joe Paterno growing up. And, in fact, I don't know if you know this, but throughout Pennsylvania, they sell Joe Paterno pizzas in the grocery stores. I mean people used to buy pizzas with Joe Paterno's picture on it. I love the guy. He spoke at my National Honor Society event many years ago and he talked about integrity. So I know the man has integrity. And he developed a lot of great people that have graduated from Penn State. He's done tons of things for Penn State. The one comment he made, though, that really resounds in my heart and soul is that he wishes he could have done a little bit more. Because he is -- that, to me, is an admission that he probably wishes that he picked up the phone and called the local police department and then let it take its course. That's probably what he wishes for. I know in his heart he probably wanted to do the right thing. But the reality of it, Brooke, is, he didn't do the right thing, and nor did Schultz, Spanier, and Curley. All of them should have called the police and they should have called the Department of Child Welfare and we wouldn't have had another 10 years of Sandusky performing these lurid acts on kids.
BALDWIN: Horrible. Brian Claypool, thank you.
CLAYPOOL: Thank you.
BALDWIN: And a quick reminder to all of you, programming note, Joe Paterno's son, Jay, will be on "Erin Burnett OutFront." That is 7:00 Eastern tonight.
And a lot more unfolding this hour. Watch this.
A suicidal soldier calls up the Pentagon's crisis hotline and is put on hold for 45 minutes. In the end, he takes his own life. And we're going to talk about why the military can't keep up with this epidemic.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
Two jetliners needed fixing, yet Delta flew them anyway, with you on board.
Plus, Mitt Romney shows up, but the president does not. So, today, the NAACP gets Vice President Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: And as Iran steps up it rhetoric, the U.S. is considering a big move in the Persian Gulf.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Got some breaking news here and, guys, let just throw up the live pictures. Let me just tell you what's going on. This is the Windsor, Ontario, area. This is the -- this tunnel, the Detroit Windsor tunnel that connects Detroit to Windsor. And right now it's closed because of a bomb threat. I want to bring in Sergeant Matthew D'Asti.
And, sergeant, can you just explain to me what you know, what happened?
SGT. MATTHEW D'ASTI, WINDSOR, ONTARIO, POLICE (via telephone): Yes, absolutely. This afternoon at approximately 12:30 p.m., a phone call was received from staff who work at the Windsor Detroit tunnel. The caller indicated that there was a bomb inside of the tunnel. Steps were taken then to evacuate the tunnel immediately. And the tunnel, of course, has been closed to traffic. This is, as you know, an international crossing between the city of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, and the city of Detroit, Michigan, of the United States. And our police agency, the Windsor Police Service, is liaisoning with Detroit at this time as this investigation unfolds, absolutely.
BALDWIN: OK. And just for folks who don't know, this is a huge, huge deal because 27,000 -- I'm hearing 27,000 to 29,000 vehicles pass through this tunnel each and every day. And when you mention this phone call and this bomb that was allegedly left in this tunnel, I presume you have a team en route, if not there already, trying to find this device, yes?
D'ASTI: Absolutely. We have an incident command that has been formulated on our side of the border and our incident command is liaisoning with, of course, the officials from the Detroit agencies. And together we will work to resolve this and to investigate it.
BALDWIN: How massive is this tunnel? For those of us who have never been through it, talk to me about just the lay of the land here.
D'ASTI: Yes, certainly. This is an underground tunnel that goes directly under the Detroit River. This is an international crossing. One of two that joins the city of Windsor to the city of Detroit. And our crossings here, of course, with trade and business and everything else, are quite active and quite busy. So this is obviously a serious incident that's going to be causing quite a few delays and probably quite a few problems for both the city of Detroit and the city of Windsor.
BALDWIN: Is this something that happens periodically, someone calling in a bomb threat, or is this fairly rare for you? D'ASTI: I would not, you know, not consider this a common occurrence. I can tell you that, to my knowledge at this point, nothing has been located. It's simply a threat. But like anything in incidents like this, it's going to be treated seriously and we're going to employee adequate resources to investigate it.
BALDWIN: OK, Sergeant Matthew D'Asti, please keep us posted. I know our teams are making calls, our northeast (ph) desk (ph). We appreciate you for calling in. And I'm sure for people in and around the Detroit area and Windsor, Ontario, obviously, this thoroughfare, this massive thoroughfare has now been closed. So, for now, you're going to have to obviously find another route until this thing is hopefully a false alarm and solved. We'll keep you posted.
Also, Mitt Romney yesterday, today the vice president addressed the NAACP, the venerated civil rights organization. Joe Biden warned the group that a Romney Justice Department might turn a blind eye to voting rights enforcement and other civil rights here. And then he dropped this one. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This, to me, is one of the most critical issues in this election. Imagine what the Supreme Court will look like after four years of a Romney presidency. Folks, this election, in my view, is a fight for the heart and soul of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So there you have him, the vice president speaking there in Houston, painting this doom and gloom vision of a Romney administration. Brianna Keilar is live at the White House for us.
And, you know, we did hear a little bit of applause there for Vice President Biden. But some of the folks I know at that convention there in Houston seem to be wondering, hang on a second, that's great we have the vice president, but where's the president? Brianna, where is Mr. Obama and why is he not in Houston?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, the Obama campaign says that there was a scheduling conflict. And that's really all they're saying. The White House and the campaign, you know, this is a very nondescript answer and they're not giving us any specifics. One campaign official that I talked with said, don't read into it. He can't attend every event that he's invited to. But certainly it was noted that he wasn't there and he did send, though, I should say, a little video. He made a video appearance, making his standard pitch as a protector of the middle class. Here's part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And if you keep standing with me, if you keep persevering like the NAACP always has, then I know that we can arrive there together. Thank you so much. I'm proud of all that you do. Michelle, Malia, Sasha and I all send our deepest regards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now, President Obama did go to this convention in 2009, Brooke. Michelle Obama spoke in 2011. And President Obama is going to be appearing, reportedly, later this month at the National Urban League Convention. But, yes, he didn't attend this, and the White House and the campaign just not really being specific about why.
BALDWIN: Is then the campaign at all concerned that his lack of physical appearance, I know you showed the video, but his lack of appearance here might dampen any kind of enthusiasm among black voters?
KEILAR: I don't think they're really concerned about that. Now, certainly they want to energize black voters because they were key in the last election, particularly when you look at North Carolina, where President Obama narrowly won. And privately Democrats admit that's going to be really hard to repeat this time. But I don't think that they think his not showing up at this NAACP event is going to sway voters to Mitt Romney.
You know, Mitt Romney was there yesterday and he did receive certainly a welcome. But at the same time, he was booed when he talked about overturning -- or repealing Obamacare. So I don't think there's really that concern by the Obama campaign or even that expectation from the Romney campaign.
BALDWIN: OK. Brianna K for us at the White House. Brianna, appreciate it.
KEILAR: And, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Yes.
KEILAR: Happy birthday.
BALDWIN: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. See you tomorrow.
So, we knew the FBI reports would be released today in the Trayvon Martin case. As we combed through the evidence here, nothing seemed new until we got to the part about what witnesses told police on whether they noticed any racial bias from George Zimmerman. You're going to hear that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Evidence released today shed some new light as to whether racial bias played a role the night neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman shot teenager Trayvon Martin. Martin savage has been combing through the FBI reports just made public this morning.
And, of course, there are always the allegations that Zimmerman targeted Trayvon Martin because he was black. What did you find in the FBI report? MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it's not just that. It's also the allegation that the Sanford Police Department may have cut George Zimmerman a break because perhaps there was some racial prejudice there as well.
BALDWIN: Right.
SAVIDGE: The FBI has been investigating this. This is a separate probe. Separate from what the state's doing. And the FBI, so far in the dozen or so interviews that have been done of the friends and relations of George Zimmerman, say that they could find nothing in their statements that said that George Zimmerman in any way was a racist. In fact, some have implied that there wasn't a racist bone in his body.
And that seems to be a consistent message that comes from all the people who know him. All the way through, the woman who was his former fiancee, and you may remember that they had a rather stormy parting of the ways, but despite that, she says that she never saw him exemplify any racist behavior in the time that they were together. He did have a temper, she maintains, but says that she thinks that's as a result of the medication he took for an acne problem.
BALDWIN: Hmm, OK. So none of that from these people who were questioned, who were friends or an ex-fiancee. How will these findings then potentially impact that -- the Department of Justice investigation, the racial bias?
SAVIDGE: Right. That investigation is still ongoing and they're still investigating the police department. So this is not, in any way, a definitive statement. It is not a declaration that George Zimmerman or the police department's in the clear. It's only a snapshot in time here in telling us that so far, when these documents were made, that there was no indication of that particular bias or that kind of racial prejudice, either in George Zimmerman targeting Trayvon Martin, if that's what he did, or in the police department not indicting George Zimmerman.
BALDWIN: What else? What else have you found?
SAVIDGE: Well, you know, a lot of it's just detail. And there is a ton of information here. It's not just the documents. It's not just the interviews. There's videotapes. There's audiotapes to be gone through. And we continue to comb through all of this information. So, much of it is getting really down into the minutia of this case. And we should point out that this is kind of like raw data. You know, when the prosecutor's office releases this information, this is what's going to the defense team. So they get to the see what the state is using to make their case of second degree murder.
BALDWIN: Before it gets crunched over.
SAVIDGE: Yes. And so if you're thinking that you're going to get exact answers or the aha moment, no, it may be buried within there somewhere, but this is really for the defense team to get an idea of what the state has in its hand. BALDWIN: OK, Martin Savidge, thank you.
SAVIDGE: You're welcome.
BALDWIN: Appreciate it.
One of America's biggest banks are agreeing to settle over allegations it gave white home buyers better rates than minorities. And today a major development there in that story.
Plus, Delta should have made repairs on not just one but two of its jetliners but didn't at all. Yes, they flew them anyway with you on board.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: OK. So how would you feel if you found out the plane you were riding on needed mandatory repairs before it could take off, but, oh, yes, it wasn't fixed? I think you'd be a little perturbed. Well, the FAA says that is precisely what Delta Airlines did with at least two of its planes, flying one of them 20 times in five days after being told about these significant damages. And now they are slapping Delta with a huge fine. Let's go to Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange.
And, my goodness, I mean how big of a fine are we talking about and what issues, specifically, do these planes have?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it certainly doesn't make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside when you hear this, that's for sure.
BALDWIN: No.
KOSIK: Delta Airlines is going to be paying almost $1 million in fines, Brooke. The airline is accused of flying two planets without making the required repairs. It included repairs for a chipped nose cone of a Boeing 737. What the FAA inspector says happened during an inspection back in February of 2010, he said he saw these chips in the nose cone. That's where you see the -- where the weather radar and the navigation equipment is. And these chips were pretty deep. But when the airline's maintenance center was called about it, it said, you know what, the damage is acceptable, no more maintenance was need. And after discovering the damage, the inspector says Delta wrongly flew the plane 20 times in the days after the airline was notified that the repairs were required.
That second plane, by the way, that was involved in this, involved a broken floodlight in a cockpit.
Now, Delta does say that "the safety and security of our customers and crew is Delta's highest core value. At no time was either of these aircraft operating in an unsafe manner." Delta says it took immediate action to make sure planes were in compliance.
Brooke. BALDWIN: OK. Yes, there's the statement for you on the screen from Delta.
OK. Let's move on. Let me talk real quickly, Wells Fargo, going to be paying at least $175 million to settle allegations of bias against African-Americans and Hispanics. This is about home loans? What happened?
KOSIK: Exactly. And this is a big deal, Brooke, because Wells Fargo is the country's largest mortgage originator. Now, the Justice Department says it discriminated between black and Hispanic borrowers between the years of 2004 and 2009. Wells Fargo is accused of either charging minorities more for their loans or steering them into riskier subprime loans when they should have received prime ones. Remember, it was the implosion of those subprime loans that began the entire housing crisis in the first place.
Now, as part of this big settlement, Wells Fargo is going to be paying $125 million to the victims of this discrimination. $50 million will go to communities where it took place. Now, Wells Fargo is denying the government's allegations, saying it agreed to settle the case, quote, "solely for the purpose of avoiding contested litigation."
And this, of course, isn't the first time this has happened, Brooke. In December, Bank of America paid millions of dollars for similar practices at its countrywide financial unit. It seems like it's becoming more commonplace than ever -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Alison, thank you. I need to break away from that and go back to our news. Let me take you back to the Detroit Windsor area.
We've been talking about this tunnel, the Detroit Windsor tunnel, this main sort of jugular, artery, if you will. And 27,000 and 29,000 trucks, cars pass through this thing to get from one side of the border to the other each and every day.
And we know it's been closed down. We were just talking to the Windsor police. Sergeant Matthew D'Asti is telling me that this bomb threat was called in right around 9:30 local time.
I want to bring in Chris Campbell. He is CTV. He is there at this tunnel and Chris, talk to me about what you know and what you're seeing.
CHRIS CAMPBELL, CTV REPORTER: Well, at this point, I'm just told that the tunnel just received a simple phone call saying there is a bomb in the tunnel. And that was it.
Right now, Windsor police are sweeping through with the explosive disposal unit and Detroit police are coming in from the other side on the Detroit side with the K-9 unit.
I'm told that tunnel officials and security have been trained in this and they know what they're doing. This is -- they're following procedure, and at this point, all traffic is being re-routed to the Ambassador Bridge, which is the other border crossing here in Detroit and Windsor.
BALDWIN: OK, Chris Campbell, keep us posted. Thank you so much.
So, again, if you are trying to get from one side to the other, not going to happen for now. And as soon as we get more information on this bomb disposable unit or these other units coming from Detroit police as to whether or not they find anything in the tunnel, you can bet we'll let you know.
In this week's "Human Factor," CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, introduces us to a social worker who always dreamed of helping cancer patients.
But Richard Dickens never imagined he would have to fight his own battle with the disease.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to ask you first to just take three deep breaths.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Richard Dickens is a social worker who works exclusively with cancer patients. Here he's using meditation to help patients cope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It really is just calming the body and quieting the mind.
GUPTA: Dickens knows all too well the emotional struggle of being sick. As he was looking forward to graduate school to become a social worker, he got devastating news.
RICHARD DICKENS, CANCERCARE SOCIAL WORKER: I got the invitation to Columbia University, my number one choice, on a Monday, and a cancer diagnosis the next day.
GUPTA: At 37, he was diagnosed with advanced non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He underwent six months of aggressive chemo and a bone marrow transplant, but he didn't give up his dream of helping others.
DICKENS: Without ever anticipating I would get cancer, I wanted to work with cancer/AIDS patients.
GUPTA: During his illness, he stumbled across Cancercare. It's an organization that helps people through the emotional and financial maze that comes with cancer.
DICKENS: Riding on the New York City subway to my doctor's appointment, I'm looking up at the advertisements and there was one for Cancercare. I had gone to a young adult group during that time and learned a lot from a lot of other people and felt safe sharing that.
GUPTA: Once in remission, he was able to start grad school at Columbia.
DICKENS: Well, we do have a very small grant.
GUPTA: After graduating, he began working for Cancercare and started to run the very support group he'd previously participated in as a patient. Today, he's Cancercare's mind/body project coordinator.
DICKENS: My life is definitely very rich, very rewarding, and I feel I'm where I'm supposed to be and people keep coming back. So I am confident that they're getting a lot from me and I hope so.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Sanjay, thank you. By the way, Richard now considers himself cured and he shares his thoughts on his journey on his blog, which you can find by going to cnnhealth.com.
Scandalous, reprehensible, that's how the attorney for Jerry Sandusky's adopted son, Matt, describes the Penn State report just out today saying university leaders didn't protect the children. You're about to hear this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The secret shame of Penn State University. Four of the school's highest-ranking officials accused today by these independent investigators of covering up the horrors committed by Jerry Sandusky to protect the university among them, the late Joe Paterno.
Jason Carroll is standing by with reaction in and around the Penn State campus. But first, Jason, I have to ask you about this exclusive interview. This is relating to Matt Sandusky, the adopted son who now says he was a victim as well.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. We had an opportunity a little while ago to speak with Matt Sandusky's attorney, who, as you can imagine, Brooke, has a great deal of interest in this report.
She not only represents Matt Sandusky, but also those identified as victim number 3, victim number 7. One of the points that she made, which was very clear about this report, some of the findings here, that the commission basically found that the officials here at Penn State, basically, they didn't use the word "cover-up" in this report.
But they did say that officials here concealed criminal evidence, criminal information about Jerry Sandusky, just in order to avoid bad publicity. So I wanted to speak out to -- I wanted to speak to the attorneys to see how that place out in terms of how she proceeds forward with her litigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JUSTINE ANDRONICI, ATTORNEY FOR MATT SANDUSKY: Well, it is scandalous. It's a reprehensible commentary on the decision making of this institution.
To put the interests of an image or publicity or branding or the football program ahead of protecting children is simply reprehensible.
I think the report is crystal clear that that's exactly what happened, beginning in 1998, and we suspect, even further beyond that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: So she's essentially, Jason, accusing the university through in action that they allowed more children to be abused by Jerry Sandusky, yes?
CARROLL: That is absolutely correct. And you saw her mention 1998. That is a critical year, and that's mentioned in several pages throughout the report.
In 1998, just very quickly, in a facility just right behind me here, Jerry Sandusky had inappropriate contact with a young boy in a shower. And had officials acted properly then, back in 1998, and I've gone over all of the information here.
Including the grand jury report, had they acted properly, Brooke, back in 1998, you would not have had victim number 1 in 2005 and '06, victim number 2 in 2001, and the victim identified as number 3 in 2000, victim number 4 and later in 1998, victim number 8 in 2000 and victim number 9 in 2004.
So basically what she's trying to say is had university officials acted properly then, we wouldn't be standing here talking about this now.
BALDWIN: But you are standing there and you are talking about it. I'm curious. I know we're in July, and I don't know how many students are in and around campus right now, but what have you been hearing, what have you been feeling in and around Penn State?
CARROLL: Well, definitely enough students are here, Brooke, and those that we spoke to feel as though they knew a critical report was coming.
They didn't think it was going to be as critical as it was, and surprisingly, even though Joe Paterno is mentioned along with other university officials here for their inaction in terms of how they dealt with Jerry Sandusky, a lot of them are still supporting Joe Paterno. I want you to listen to what they had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ZANG, PENN STATE STUDENT: I think this is an opportunity for students to really rise past the expectations of people and to really make up for what these administrators have done and have failed to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: So you can see there, at least one of the students there said that they recognize that some of these officials here failed to do what they should have done. But there's still a great deal of support for Joe Paterno here at Penn State and in this community -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: Yes, I just had a guest on, absolutely appalled by this report, but still says he loves Joe Paterno. Jason Carroll, thank you so much.
And I want to take you back to the Detroit-Windsor tunnel. We're watching this very closely. Again, it is closed. There has been a bomb threat called in right around 12:30 local time on the Canadian side.
There are bomb disposal squads now en route to try to find this thing, if, in fact, there is a bomb in there. We're all over it. Don't move.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Christian Dior debut its newly chosen artistic designer and extremely lavish style. The set for its first show included 1 million flowers drew huge celebrities like Sharon Stone. Alina Cho reports from Fashion Week in Paris.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Call it a designer convention. Marc Jacobs.
(on camera): I don't know often see you.
MARC JACOBS, DESIGNER: Very rarely.
CHO (voice-over): But he came to this. So did Ana Wintor and celebrities like Sharon Stone.
(on camera): Are you looking forward to wearing the clothes?
SHARON STONE, ACTRESS: I am wearing the clothes now, and he designs in a way that I personally like very much.
CHO (voice-over): So who is he?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a rock star in his own right.
CHO: He's Belgian Ralph Simmons, Christian Dior's new artistic director, replacing John Galliano, who was abruptly fired last year following an infamous anti-Semitic rant. Simmons' hiring was a year in the making.
(on camera): Why so long, do you think?
SIDNEY TOLEDANO, CEO, CHRISTIAN DIOR: I don't know. I have no idea. You know, it takes time to find the right fit. He's very special.
CHO (voice-over): So special, Dior staged a set like no other for Simmons' debut, 1 million flowers lining the walls and a high wattage crowd, including the countless top designers.
RAF SIMONS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, CHRISTIAN DIOR: The amount of them made it very intimidating, also, at the same time, and very scary.
CHO: If it was scary, Simmons didn't show it. And the clothes just had the reviews. At the audience, speechless, perfection even his toughest critics swooned.
ANNA WINTOUR, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, VOGUE: He brought a lightness and simplicity to it that are incredibly refreshing. Nice clothes are fine, but you can find nice clothes everywhere. What Raf brings is a point of view.
CHO (on camera): Did Dior make the right choice?
WINTOUR: From what we saw, I think it was a brilliant choice.
CHO (voice-over): In designing these custom-made clothes, Simons was most interested in Dior's early years, when Christian Dior himself designed. But fashion being fashion, interpreting the past is the name of the game.
SIMONS: Like a ball gown, which could have been maybe, you know, seven meters, becomes a top, that goes with the pants, the hands in the pockets and it becomes something more, you know, like livable.
CHO: One of fashion's top jobs. Why even those rumored to be under consideration came too.
(on camera): Everyone thought for a while that this job was yours.
ALBER ELBAZ, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, LANVIN: No, but it is. It's his and it's gorgeous.
CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: And if you want to watch all things fashion, do not miss Alina's special this Saturday afternoon, you can catch it on CNN 2:30 Eastern Time.
Jesse Jackson Jr. has not been to work in six weeks now. He called out sick, he disappears, and now his doctor says he is suffering from a mood disorder. Find out how he's being treated and the typical diagnosis for this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We now know Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is being treated for what's called a mood disorder. The congressman hasn't been seen at work on Capitol Hill since late May and a chorus of lawmakers have been calling for him to disclose why, just for the sake of his constituents in Illinois.
Well, now we know it wasn't just exhaustion, the first reason given, and an ethics probe weighing on Jackson. He has shown strain in the past over allegations he tried to buy a Senate seat from then-Governor Rod Blagojevich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPRESENTATIVE JESSE JACKSON JR. (D), ILLINOIS: I'm fighting now for my character and I'm also fighting for my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Just yesterday, Jackson's office officially announced, quote, "The congressman is receiving intensive medical treatment at a residential treatment facility for a mood disorder."
And I want to bring in senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen here. And I have to be honest, mood -- I'm not familiar with that.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Not a term you hear a lot.
BALDWIN: No, what is it?
COHEN: It's sort of an umbrella name for a bunch of different disorders, but most of the time, it's one of two disorders that you have heard of, depression or bipolar disorder.
Some people call it manic depression, you know, very high highs in the form of mania, very low lows in the form of depression. Most of the time when someone has a mood disorder, it's one of those two.
BALDWIN: So when I hear either bipolar disorder or depression, I think, OK, it's treatable, but it doesn't go away?
COHEN: Treatable, but not curable, right, is probably the best way to say it. So he's going into a facility. Other people get treated on an outpatient basis or get a combination of the two.
We were talking to a psychiatrist today. He said, look, you can go in and get treatment, but chances are this is something you're going to have to deal with for a lifetime.
You can get treatment, but then something else will come up. Maybe there's a new stressor. Maybe something else bad happens to you. But people don't usually get treatment and then that's it, they're done.
BALDWIN: So then obviously, really anyone, let's be honest, anyone facing sort of this health -- House ethics investigation is going to be under duress, I would imagine, so would that sort of further exacerbate any kind of condition he may be suffering from?
COHEN: Sure, it could bring on a condition or it could exacerbate condition. I mean, that's what psychiatrist tell us that you could be doing pretty fine, but then have a terribly stressful thing like that happen and it can bring on manic depression or bring on depression.
For some people, it might be divorce. You know, for him, it might be that investigation. Think about it, he even said this when we saw him before, that his character is under assault.
And for someone of his prominence, of his stature to have his colleagues looking at him, I imagine there's embarrassment, there's shame, there's worry, all of that put together.
BALDWIN: And just the people who he represents in Illinois, kind of wondering what's been going on. At least now we know a little bit more about what it is. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.
COHEN: Thanks.
BALDWIN: And Elizabeth will be back next hour. We should mention that horrible video from Connecticut. If you haven't seen it, it involves this disabled woman in this home, sort of being pulled and tugged by her hair.
We're going to talk about that and how difficult it is to know if you have someone in a home what to do, how to be an empowered patient or caregiver.
COHEN: And I think most of us will have to put a relative in a nursing home or some kind of home and you want to make sure they're not being abused there.
BALDWIN: My grandmother.
COHEN: A tough situation.
BALDWIN: We'll talk next hour. Thank you so much.
As Iran steps up rhetoric, the U.S. is reportedly rushing underwater drones to the Persian Gulf in case of a crisis. General Mark Timit walks me through it, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: You remember Iran and perhaps you recall its threats to bottle up the Strait of Hormuz. Nifty satellite imagery, thank you, NASA. Look at this. This is Oman. It's peeking up from the bottom. Iran up top there. And that arc there in blue, that is the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow choke point between the Persian Gulf into the Arabian Sea. Key point for you, the fact that millions of barrels of oil pass through this strait each and every day and there's really not a lot of o room for maneuvering, thus pretty easy place for Iran to cause trouble should it want to.
And now we are getting word that the U.S. is rushing in these sea-borne drones that would sniff out Iranian mines should Iran decide to plant them and decide to blow things up.
Joining me now from Washington, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, U.S. Army retired, and also former assistant secretary of state, General Kimmitt, welcome. Always good to talk to you.
Let me begin with this question, if Iran were to follow through on its threat to try to seal off the Persian Gulf, would they lace the Strait of Hormuz with mines or would they do something else?
BRIG. GENERAL MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY RETIRED: Well, I think if they're going to make that large decision to close the Straits of Hormuz, I would expect they will use everything in their power, not just under seas mines to close the strait.
But you could expect that they'll use some of their surface naval capabilities, those small patrol boats, to attack oil tankers, as well as attack military ships in the region as well.
BALDWIN: OK, so anything and everything. So all of the above is what they would use. And then there are all kinds of scenarios that could occur in the Persian Gulf.
So let me just try this one on you, General. Let's say Iran decides to sink a tanker loaded with oil from, let's say, Iraq. Would the United States, do you think, you know, consider this an act of war? And if so, what would be the response?
KIMMITT: Well, it wouldn't just be the United States. It would be in international waters. That would be an act of war.
BALDWIN: It would?
KIMMITT: And the entire international community would respond accordingly. This isn't just an issue between the United States and Iran.
This is an area where most of the world's oil comes from every day. And the vast majority of that oil is not used by the United States, but used by Europe, Japan, and in some cases India.
So that would be a significant military action done by the nation of Iran and I think any legal expert would understand that and declare that an act of war.
BALDWIN: Before I ask you about these aircraft carriers, I'm just curious when we talk about this threat, do you think, and I'm sure part of this as a result of all the sanctions that we've slapped on Iran, could they be bluffing?
KIMMITT: Could they be bluffing about what?
BALDWIN: Choking it off, choking off the strait.
KIMMITT: Certainly, but this is part of a campaign that the Iranians have in the region. It is not simply the Straits of Hormuz.
Iran is trying to extend its power throughout the region. It has hegemonic aspirations. It's developing a nuclear capability. It recognizes the vulnerabilities of the Straits of Hormuz. This is a country that has aspirations well beyond its border and I don't think its bluffing.
BALDWIN: General Kimmitt, we have two aircraft carriers parked just outside the Persian Gulf right now, ostensibly to support the war in Afghanistan.
And there is talk now, from what I understand, of keeping both of them in the region instead of rotating one in, one out. As it concerns Iran, why would we need two aircraft carriers? Those are pretty powerful vessels. Why isn't one enough?
KIMMITT: Well, the fact is that those aircraft carriers don't simply help the situation in Afghanistan. They provide a credible deterrent, a credible attack capability throughout the central region, that Centcom controls, the Middle East.
So it is clear that this administration is upping the ante in terms of the military capability whether it's mine layers, aircraft carriers or floating bases. It's trying to send a very clear message to Iran that if you in fact continue your aggressive ways, your hegemonic ways, if you continue to develop a nuclear capability, there will be an American and a coalition capability to address those threats.
BALDWIN: There will be repercussions.
General Mark Kimmitt, thank you.
