Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Thwarted Bomb Attack; Interview with Philip Mudd; Friendly Face-Off; Done Strike Kills Eight; First Northern Irish Abortion Clinic Opens; "Newsweek" Stops the Presses; Boy Scout "Perversion Files" Go Public; Cloud-Based Medical Health; Doping Allegations Cost Lance Armstrong

Aired October 18, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": This from John, "It's funny, but we're a snarky crowd, including myself."

Keep the conversation going, Facebook.com/CarolCNN, and thanks as always. And thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"CNN Newsroom" continues right now with Ashleigh Banfield.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Thanks very much, Carol.

Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. It's 11:00 on the East Coast. It's 8:00 on the West Coast and we begin with this, a plot to blow up the Federal Reserve foiled.

Quazi Nafis, arrested, was his finger practically on the button to detonate what he thought -- what he thought -- was a thousand-pound bomb and it wasn't.

The 21-year-old suspect from Bangladesh was here in the United States on a student visa and, get this, he was studying cyber-security. This is not the first time that people hell-bent on killing us have used us to learn their craft, either.

The September 11th hijackers, including Mohamed Atta, were here on tourist and student visas. We effectively taught them how to pilot their deadly planes.

Luckily, this time, the bomb in this suspected deal was a fake, part of an elaborate sting operation by federal authorities, but prosecutors say this person was motivated by al Qaeda.

Our Ali Velshi joins us live now to walk us through how this all played out and far along he got.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Very far. In fact, he said that he came to the United States to do this, to wage a war on the United States.

He was involved in -- he was recruited in a sting operation. He had expressed some interest in committing these acts and it turns out he was working on his own. He did think he was working with other people. They happened to be informants and FBI sources.

So, he actually gathered the materials to make this bomb. It was a thousand-pound bomb and he got all the way to the Federal Reserve, New York, which is downtown in the financial district, parked his van there and attempted to detonate this bomb and that's when, of course, he discovered it was not a bomb.

BANFIELD: Not a sophisticated fellow, we should add.

VELSHI: Well, no, and also because, while the Federal Reserve of New York, the Federal Reserve Bank is a big deal, it's not something most people know. It's not a landmark that most New Yorkers even know about. It's a highly-secure environment.

And his description in his letter that he wrote was lifted off of Wikipedia, so his reasoning for wanting to use this building is because it's one of the largest reservoirs of gold in the world, probably the largest. It's got a big vault about 80-feet below street level.

BANFIELD: That thousand-pound bomb would never have gotten anywhere near it?

VELSHI: Probably would not. No.

BANFIELD: Yeah. So, what about this videotaped message. I'm not sure if this is true. He stopped along the way ...

VELSHI: Yes.

BANFIELD: ... to videotape his "hero's" message.

VELSHI: Yeah, this is -- you know, we were talking to Peter Bergen, our terrorism expert, earlier and he said, look, this doesn't have the hallmarks of the more sophisticated crimes.

First of all, lone wolves often don't have the sophistication. There's not a circle of intelligence. So, he's not sure what the threat was, but the intent apparently was there.

BANFIELD: So, lone wolf, of course, yes. Peter Bergen might be right, but some people might have argued back in 9/11 those 19 guys were sort of lone wolves, too. They weren't an army. They weren't a country. They were lone wolves.

VELSHI: Right and they came together and got greater intelligence as a result of being together, greater coordination.

This guy ended up working with the FBI without him knowing it, but he clearly thought he was going to detonate a bomb or at least that's what the police are alleging.

BANFIELD: So, now, I understand this is obviously still very much in its infancy in terms of how much we know and how much we're even going to know, certainly before trial. That's for sure, if there even is a trial. Why did it get so far? Understanding that the bomb was a fake, why did they allow this to progress so incredibly far that he was actually out in front? Were they trying to collect enough evidence and nail him?

VELSHI: Well, that's a good question. You know, here's the funny -- not funny, but the interesting part about this is that I haven't been down to the New York Federal Reserve Bank in years and I happened to be there on Monday afternoon to interview the President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank.

He's the guy who replaced Tim Geithner when Geithner became the treasury secretary, so this is the two of us walking in that building. In that building -- it says Tuesday, but I think it was Monday.

That's the floor when all those meetings were held to determine which banks are taking over which banks. That's where it all happened. It's a secure environment. It's not normally thought of as a target. Most people would find it hard to find. It's a low-profile organization.

You know, when the Fed wants to lower or raise interest rates, they do it in that building because that's where they trade with the banks to trade bonds.

So, it's unclear why they let it get that far. I didn't get a sense of heightened security when I was there on Monday, but it's very secure.

BANFIELD: Sure, sure.

VELSHI: So, I don't know whether they were trying to see how far somebody can actually get with that without doing any damage ...

BANFIELD: If we end up in trial?

VELSHI: .... or as you know because you're a legal expert, whether they were just seeing how far he would go.

BANFIELD: Lots more charges when you actually have your finger on the button than when you're just making calls to get the button.

All right, Ali Velshi, thanks so much.

And here we are, 11 years after 9/11 with potentially the same kind of scheme, it seems now. It raises a lot of questions about this whole student visa process. Again, he's studying cyber-security.

Maybe more so, are we patrolling those student visas and, if we are, are we patrolling the kinds of students that we let in, particularly the ones who are enrolled in such kinds of sensitive disciplines, cyber-security, and maybe those students coming from specific nations that we have our eye on?

Philip Mudd was the former deputy director for the FBI's national security branch and the CIA's counterterrorism center. He's currently a senior research fellow with the Counterterrorism Strategy Initiative.

Mr. Mudd, thanks very much for joining us. I guess I want to ask you right off the bat, this particular suspect here on a student visa with the plan to study cyber-security, what would the process just be for a guy like this from a country like Bangladesh who asks America to let him in to do this kind of study? Any different from someone who wants to be an English major?

PHILIP MUDD, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: I don't think so.

Look, if you're looking at the profile of students whether it's from a place like Bangladesh or we have a lot of students from East Asia, from the Middle East, they're typically coming here for professional degrees so that they can have a career in the hard sciences, whether that's biology, chemistry, medicine.

They're not coming here to study English literature or to study history, so to trying to weed out somebody just based on what he's studying, I think would be impossible.

BANFIELD: Next to impossible. So what about when they get here? Once again, is it too many to patrol or would they actually be surveilling students like this before they have any probable cause that someone might be up to no good?

MUDD: There's no way you can surveil the number of foreign students we have in this country. I mean, they're numbering in the hundreds of thousands.

What you have to wait for is exactly what happened in this case. We have to wait for somebody to call in and say, look, I've got a friend who's talking about doing -- committing an act of violence or you've got to wait for this person to make a mistake, as this individual did reaching out in this case to an FBI source.

BANFIELD: What about the potential and, again, this may be a real reach, but is it such a reach to suggest that the government could actually use the student visas as a lure for potential terrorists to actually bring them in to be able to watch them and break into their networks abroad and here as well?

It's almost like entrapment, but the kind of entrapment that starts before the game even begins.

MUDD: I don't think any practitioner would ever do that. I mean, you might see that in the movies, but if you want to conduct an operation like that, you just create the terrorist yourself.

You don't allow someone who's a risk into this country and who might pose a risk to human life in a city like New York or Chicago. Nobody in the business would ever do that.

BANFIELD: And what about just the idea of potentially being able to change our process prior to 9/11, what we did put into place, has anything been effective? Are there still loopholes? Are there still problems and, clearly, this kind of an arrest tells us there's a problem.

But how bad is it and how much ground have we made, post-9/11, in the student-visa area?

MUDD: I think there are loopholes in the process, but it comes down to a fundamental question of what we want in this country.

With the students we have here, we're creating decades of people who view America as a place to have a vacation, who want to do business with America, who speak the language well.

And if you want to balance that against a few cases where a kid goes bad amongst those hundreds of thousands where they're going home to Latin America or the Middle East and seeing America as a place of attraction for decades, that's a tough balance to make.

If you want to make the country perfectly secure, don't let them in, but as it stands, it's not hard to get into this country on a student visa.

BANFIELD: All right, Philip Mudd, thank you. It's good to have your perspective today.

And, again, I should tell our viewers it's not clear whether the suspect in this case, Quazi Nafis, maintained any al Qaeda ties. He said it was an inspiration, though. Al Qaeda was his inspiration.

Authorities say that this plot was his own. He claims this and the authorities also say that this was his sole motivation for the United States trip.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: To the campaign trail, now, fresh off that debate that looked a bit more like a sparring session, presidential candidates are going to mix it up a little bit. They'll be again together tonight, but this will be different, folks.

Chances are this will be a lot more civilized and even somewhat light- hearted. The Republican challenger, Mitt Romney and the President, Mr. Obama, are both going to be speakers at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner in New York.

This is a tradition and it usually is kind of a fun thing to do. However, yesterday in Virginia, not fun. Mr. Romney saying that it is time the President laid out his plans for the next four years.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I think it's interesting that the President still doesn't have an agenda for a second term. Don't you think that it's time for him to finally put together a vision of what he'd do in the next four years if he were elected?

I mean, he's got to come up with that over this weekend because there's only one debate left on Monday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: In the meantime, the President's going to make two stops before tonight's big dinner in New York. A little later on in the day, he's going to be doing this with all that cheering.

He's going to hang out with Jon Stewart on "The Daily Show." This will be his sixth time on that set, the second time as a sitting president. That should be fun.

And then later this hour, we're keeping an eye on this event. The president's going to be speaking at a rally in Veterans Memorial Park in Manchester, New Hampshire. It's his first visit to the Granite State since early September, four electoral votes there.

With the President in New Hampshire, our Jessica Yellin would be joining me about that. I've got to ask you right off the bat about what today's speech might entail because there's been a trend in the last few speeches. I don't know if it's been by accident or by purpose, but there is a very significant piece of the speech that is no longer there that usually is there and it goes something like this.

"We've got al Qaeda on the run and Osama bin Laden is dead." The "al Qaeda on the run" part has all of the sudden disappeared from several of them. Have you got any background information on what's going on there?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the -- yesterday, he stopped saying that and what I can tell you is that I just got off the phone with a White House official who tells me that their assessment that they've decimated al Qaeda leadership is unchanged, that because of -- this is what they're saying -- because of the President's policies, dozens of senior al Qaeda leaders have been taken off the battlefield.

Now, they're still aware that affiliates are active, especially the AQAP network, and that's why the President continues to pursue them, but that we should not, in essence, read into these missing few words a sense that their overall assessment of al Qaeda's strength is in any way altered in the wake of Libya, in the wake of the debate or in the wake of the media controversy over what words the President used and how he described the Libya event, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: As a terror plot and when it was described as a terror plot.

So, Jessica, as we move forward, just a few more days will be the final, the third and final presidential debate and the topic is exclusively foreign policy, which is why this becomes all the more acute at this moment to ask about that specific line.

That's our biggest foreign policy issue for many people, al Qaeda and terror. So, I'm just wondering if that was sort of an impetus for the President to tailor this message, thus. YELLIN: I think that this will be a major topic at the debate and then we can -- both men, hopefully, will get beyond discussing what words are being used and can actually talk about the substance of policy.

I mean, the larger question really from the Romney camp is why did the assessment come out from the administration explaining -- why was the explanation immediately in the aftermath of the Libya attack that there was a protest when there was no protest.

I expect the Romney camp -- Romney himself will push hard on that message in the debate and President Obama will no doubt come armed to respond to that and then he will also, no doubt, get into some of his larger efforts to take out al Qaeda and make the case that he's been very successful on that front.

There's also the unaddressed issue of our troops in Afghanistan and that will be a major topic as well that night, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Jessica, the pictures behind you are lovely. I just have to make note that the trees are beautiful this time of year in that area, but that is not the reason that the President would be in New Hampshire, to look at the beautiful trees.

In fact, I'm trying to figure out the real reason. There are only four electoral votes in New Hampshire and we are -- but we're under three weeks until election day. Why would he take the time to go to a state at this point where he really did very well in '08? Why go after those four electoral votes now?

YELLIN: Excellent question. It's because this is -- they expect it to be such a razor-thin margin of victory to either candidate that they are campaigning aggressively for every state they think they can win and it is a neck-and-neck race right before the debate.

The latest poll here showed them tied 47-47 in a Suffolk poll, so the President is taking his time to court the voters here to get four electoral votes that could make the difference come election day for one man getting into the White House, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Well, I wish this were your Friday, so that you could take the weekend to enjoy all that fall foliage but, nope, you're going to be right on that plane with him back to New York.

Thank you, Jessica Yellin. Do appreciate your time.

And a reminder, everybody, Jessica and all of my friends and colleagues are going to be doing this, the final presidential debate. It's live Monday night at 7:00 Eastern.

I told you that the focus is on foreign policy. It should be a barn burner in Boca Raton. Make sure you join us live again Monday night right here at 7:00 Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BANFIELD: A prominent al Qaeda figure in Yemen is said to be among at least eight militants killed in a suspected U.S. drone strike on Thursday.

Senior security officials there say that Nader al-Shadadi and seven other fighters were killed in the attack. Reuters is quoting a source as saying two of the victims were found wearing explosive belts around their waist.

Witnesses told the French press agency that hundreds gathered in front of the resistance committee's headquarters to celebrate Shadadi's death.

In Northern Ireland, despite wide opposition from the Catholic community there, the first-ever private clinic to offer abortion services is opening in Belfast.

Until now, women looking to have an abortion had to travel to England. One woman, 18 and living in Northern Ireland, when she got pregnant said that she would have benefited if she'd had more options.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"ANDREA": I think if I'd been able to access the services sooner, if they were available in Northern Ireland in keeping in line with the rest of the U.K., it would have made a huge difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Well, in Britain in 1967, the Abortion Act guaranteed a women's right to abortion in most cases, not all, but that law did not apply to Northern Ireland.

The clinic will provide contraceptives as well as medical abortions up to nine weeks into pregnancy.

And, if you're looking to buy a little piece of history, I've got one for you. It's kind of cheap, too, and easy to find. The December 31st issue of "Newsweek" magazine, that's the last one they will ever print.

You heard right. After 80 years, "Newsweek" magazine will only be available online and it will be known as " "Newsweek Global."

That announcement was made today and it was made online.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: You probably know that reporters work pretty hard, especially reporters who are covering presidential campaigns and debates. It is one report after another, one appearance after another and they tell two friends and so on and so on.

It is tough work and they go late, folks, and wake up early.

So when the debate ends and there is just a wee bit of down time for a guy like Paul Steinhauser, who I literally beg for live shots every day, he finds a little place to get away from me. And Paul Steinhauser, who I begged to come on today to tell me about where he took his down time, is live with me now to tell me about his down time.

I just want to ask you. We do this thing called the "Travel Insider." We find these little great places all over and you found one while you're working, so you're doing sort of a "two-fer" for us.

Borrellis in Long Island, what's the sorry about this place? How long's it been around? Why did you choose that place?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: It's been around since the 1950s and locals will tell you they remember when they were kids growing up that their mom and dad would take them to Borrellis, you know, 30, 40, 50 years ago.

Why did I find it? Because it's literally, Ashleigh -- it's only two miles away from Hofstra University. It's right down Hempstead Turnpike, right over the border in East Meadow, New York

And I found it four years ago because, remember, Hofstra was the site, four years ago, of a presidential debate, as well. Had dinner there four years ago and, just yesterday, after we finally finished working 48-straight hours pretty much, I had a quick lunch there before flying back here to D.C.

BANFIELD: Well, I'm glad you did that for us. I always like to find these places. Next time I'm out on Long Island, I'll see if I can't give that a shot.

And I forgot. You're right. You would have had a chance to see it four years ago. And do they remember you?

STEINHAUSER: No, they didn't remember me, but I remembered their spaghetti and meatballs and I had it four years ago. I had it again. It's still holding up.

BANFIELD: So, you didn't take advantage of the free Budweiser tent, huh, near Hofstra? You went off-campus?

STEINHAUSER: Well, I did that, too. Let's -- yeah, I did that, too, but that's another time, a story for another time.

BANFIELD: For another time, off-air.

Hey, mangia, my friend. Thanks for doing that. I appreciate it and I'll see you , I guess, well, probably tomorrow, again, and on Monday. Thanks, Paul.

STEINHAUSER: You got it. Thanks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEINHAUSER: Men booted from the Boy Scouts accused of child sex abuse. In less than two hours, more than a thousand of them are set to be identified. That's because more than 20,000 documents are about to be released by court order.

These are confidential files, folks. They've been kept over a 20-year period. They were files kept on the men in this organization who were believed to be preying on young boys.

Bits and pieces of them, you've probably heard about. They've leaked out because of lawsuits since they were uncovered last month, but today, a really big chunk of these files are going to be made public for the first time. The attorneys who are suing the Scouts say that the secrecy that these files have had in them for so long has allowed thousands of child molesters to roam free and offend again.

Here's CNN's Casey Wian.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 18-year-old Keith Early joined the Boy Scouts at 12, recruited by Nick Price Miller, a married father of three and volunteer firefighter, who led Scout meetings in this Washington State church.

KEITH EARLY, ABUSED FORMER BOY SCOUT: He was building a Boy Scout, like a big huge Boy Scout camp because he had a 42-acre ranch. He asked if I wanted to help him build it. I loved it. It was awesome. Like, I don't know, I mean, I didn't think anything bad could happen out there.

WIAN: Then came the sexual molestation that has Miller in prison for 10 years to life, convicted of abusing Early as a little boy.

EARLY: I felt all alone. How could you do that to somebody? How could you bring yourself to do that to somebody that is so innocent and, you know, has done nothing wrong?

WIAN: In Oregon, under court order and over the objections of the Boy Scouts of America, boxes containing 20,000 pages from the Boy Scouts ineligible volunteer or so-called Perversion Files are being released to the public.

Victim Kelly Clark has spent months redacting the file to remove names of victims and witnesses. He says they document the cases of more than 1,200 leaders and volunteers dismissed by the Boy Scouts, largely for sexual abuse from 1965 through 1985.

KELLY CLARK, LAWYER FOR ABUSED SCOUT: They are sociopathic geniuses. They fool everybody. And then they are able to coerce, convince or threaten these kids to stay silent. And you see that play out over and over again in the files.

WIAN: For decades the Boy Scouts have kept the files' contents secret, arguing confidentiality was need to keep the victims' identity private but in some cases they failed to report abuse to law enforcement.

TIM HALE, LAWYER FOR ABUSED SCOUT: We're talking about hundreds if not thousands of unidentified men who should be registered sex offenders, who are roaming free to work in schools and that sort of thing.

WIAN: Hale, himself a former Scout, is one of the attorneys suing to unseal all of the files.

(on camera): The efforts to force the Boy Scouts to open its files is bogged down in this one like courts in this one in Ventura, California. The appeals court is examining thousands of cases of alleged abuse by Scout leaders since 1991 and is expected to rule soon on the effort to make them public.

(voice-over): The Boy Scouts released a video statement apologizing for sexual abuse and detailing policy changes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB MAZUCCA, FORMER BSA CHIEF SCOUT EXECUTIVE: These include preventing one-on-one contact between an adult and youth member, requiring every Scouting activity be open to observation by parents and mandating that suspicions of abuse be reported to the property local authorities and Scouting leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: Boy Scouts has hired a former police detective to review the files and report abuse to law enforcement.

EARLY: It's such a loosely running outfit, I wouldn't feel comfortable letting my kid into it.

WIAN: Early's attorney is skeptical about the changes.

TIM KOSNOFF, KEITH EARLY'S ATTORNEY: It allows the Boy Scouts of America to claim that Boy Scouting is safer when there's not an iota of evidence that they've produced to suggest it is any safer than it was during the time period when these files were kept.

WIAN: That evidence, or the lack thereof, is likely in the more recent per investigation files the Boy Scouts of America is still fighting to keep secret.

Casey Wian, CNN, Tacoma, Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: I have an incredible moment to show you that happened in Marion County, Alabama. It's sort of a bad news-turned good news story. After a 15-hour search, this little boy, for 15 hours they searched for him, he's 10 years old with Down's syndrome. They found him in the woods. A little boy like that all anyway long in the woods, very cold, was able to keep himself warm with puppies, two of his puppies helped him through the night. And here they are. Word got out that Kyle had disappeared from his home on Tuesday. Our affiliate reports that 150 people, friends and neighbors and police and firemen all came together to look for this little guy. They looked all night and then into the morning. One volunteer followed the family dog to a creek and they found little Kyle huddled up with the puppies. He was cold and he was wet but he was OK. They have him now and those puppies are simply fantastic. Puppies saved that little guy, that little boy.

And did you get a chance to see the space shuttle "Endeavor" rolling through the streets last week? We have something terrific for you. It is the whole shebang on time warps. The ship dwarfing the houses. Oh, man! When you see all the pictures put together like this and the time lapse, I think it really does tell you just what a remarkable feat of accomplishment this was for Los Angeles. Yes, they did cut down the trees and, yes, they did upset a lot of people. They say they're replanting many more for each one they took down. Imagine if you're in traffic waiting for the stop light because that's rolling by? USA! I love it.

While on the subject of awesome video, I have something else to show you, the Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii. The lava lake inside the crater is now at its highest levels since it began. I don't know if someone was manning the camera or how they got so close because that is hot stuff. Anyway, some nice pictures for you out of Hawaii.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: There is perhaps nothing more taxing in life than looking after someone in your family who is sick. And there are millions of us struggling under this burden every day. In fact, 65 million of your neighbors are having this problem right now. The baby boomer generation is aging, which means you can expect that number only to go up, people. That's the older generation. How about the kids? Let's just take autism alone. It burdens one in 88 families with an overwhelming level of care. And there are millions of your neighbors who are finding themselves just burned out trying to do their jobs, look after these kids and adults and sometimes that workload leads them to just give up, quit their jobs and hope for the best. And sometimes that best is not out there.

Jonathan Schwartz faced this suffocating decision. He was the CEO of Sun Microsystems and, all at once, he found himself sandwiched between a sick child and a sick parent.

He joins me now to tell my why quitting that mega-corporation was the choice he made and why making that choice led him to discover, to come up with something that could help us all if we find ourselves in this boat.

Jonathan, take me from square one. You're a mega-CEO and you leave that job because of the situation in your family. What happened to you? What happened to your child and your parent and what did you discover, what did you find that could help us al if we have a similar problem?

JONATHAN SCHWARTZ, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, CAREZONE, INC & FORMER CEO, SUN MICROSYSTEMS: Well, first and foremost, I think all of us are very familiar with living life in a digital world, all the information is online. When I had a child who had some health issues about a decade ago, my wife and I were struggling to find out where's a safe place to actually put this information where we can get access to it if we're on the road or provide it to a baby-sitter. I faced the same situation when it came time to look after my parents. My parents were older, they were getting frail. Where is there a private place where can you store information and make it available to everybody? We all know about the public places that are going to be the subject of privacy inquiries and advertising exposure. That's what led me to create CareZone.

BANFIELD: And CareZone is a site where someone who finds themselves struggling put all their information and use tools that will help them organize their lives. You give me a feel for what exactly I can get out of CareZone.

SCHWARTZ: Well, CareZone is basically a private social network. It's where you can put your dad's Social Security numbers and bank passwords and not worry anyone will get access to them, and their blood type and description how you put them to bed at night so you can give it to a baby-sitter. It's private and we're trying to make life easier for parents who are typically caring for children and often their parents as well, a safe place online where can you store information, get access to it and share it where you're entirely in control. You just visit the site and register.

BANFIELD: Jonathan, your CareZone is a business and it does cost money for people to do this.

I want to bring in our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, who is brilliant when it comes to empowered patients.

This caught my eye, Elizabeth, because thinking about what it takes to look after people when you're busy and working and commuting and all the different stresses, there are things like keeping a journal, contact list, even connecting to other people that you might want to do online and there is that fear that this material can get out there. But Jonathan's not the only person who has done this. Give me an idea of what's out there online and you're in this boat and you're vulnerable, what you should be looking for.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: If you're going to be talking about private information, especially things like Social Security numbers, you want to feel really good about the place where you're putting them down. In contrast, some people, for example, like to communicate on Facebook. Os oh, my son's not feeling so well today and they want the support of their friends. It depends, first of all, what you're sharing. Second of all, this is such a great time for people meeting these challenges because there are so many options out there. There is Jonathan Schwartz's site. There are several sites out there where you can do lots of different things, where you can arrange medical records, communicate with other people facing the same challenges you are, where care givers can share information. It's wonderful to have all these options.

BANFIELD: Jonathan, a quick question for you. Obviously, you've got a heck of a background because you were CEO of Sun Microsystems. How can I be sure your site is hack proof and how can I be sure yours is hack proof? And how can I be sure that there isn't someone out there who wants all that data that Elizabeth is talking about? SCHWARTZ: There are two things you want to look at. I think first and foremost you want to read the privacy policy of any site that you have use and actually understand what it says. I think we're all accustomed to being presented with a 50-page privacy policy and told just don't bother reading it. We want you to read ours so you understand how you're protected. Secondly, it's important to understand business models. We are an ad-free site. Advertising is predicated on we want them to do interesting stuff which makes the user not so much the customer as the product, the advertise certificate customer. You want to understand privacy policy and business model. We focus on making CareZone ad free. And then you want to understand the individuals involved. That matters.

BANFIELD: Jonathan Schwartz, thanks for your time today, appreciate it.

And, Elizabeth Cohen, thank you as always.

From the medical files, fascinating pictures and a brand new look for a man named Richard Lee Norris. Take a peek at him. Seven months after a marathon surgery replaced his jaw, his teeth and his tongue to repair damage from a devastating gun accident. We have a comparison to show you. Before surgery. Remarkable. And then the after surgery, which just tells you how spectacular this operation was. He had to wear a mask at one point to avoid people staring at him and making comments as he was trying to heal. About a week after the face transplant, the transformation was pretty darn good but now this surgery has shown a remarkable healing process. This all came after 10 years of research at the University of Maryland Medical Center, research that was funded by the Office of Naval Research and the Department of Defense, an office hopes to serve veterans that are wounded in action. Amazing pictures, amazing series of pictures from our medical files to show you today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: He was once the titan of strength and resilience, but Lance Armstrong's golden image is melting under an avalanche of doping allegations. Many of them from last week's crushing report by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. The fallen has been fierce. A spray of sponsors all cutting ties, moving on from Lance. One sponsor in particular stands out, Nike. Nike has been a loyal backer for years, but it's turning its back. Nike. This is the same sponsor that stood by Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods during their immense crisis. They are walking away from Lance, and they're citing "seemingly insurmountable evidence" that Armstrong doped.

Which is why this makes it all the more painful to show you this television ad that they released in 2001. You may remember it. You may not. It features Lance Armstrong being drug tested and angrily fighting his critics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE ARMSTRONG, CHAMPION CYCLIST: Everybody wants to know what I'm on. What am I on? I'm on my bike busting my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) six hours a day. What are you on?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Yes. Anyway,, Armstrong is continuing to deny that ever doped, but this image problem may just be the tip of the iceberg for him because there could be some huge legal problems ahead for him as well, costly legal problems. It seems that nothing is halting his exponential fall from grace.

Here's Brian Todd.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was the pinnacle, seven straight Tour de France titles between 1999 and 2005 that transcended the cycle and made Lance Armstrong a global icon. He was unsurpassed as a sports hero, philanthropist, marketing brand.

Fast forward off a cliff. Armstrong, a cancer survivor, just resigned as chairman of his own cancer-fighting charity, LiveStrong, saying he wants to spare it any negative effects as a result of controversy over his career.

Nike has dumped him, citing seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike. Nike is taking his name off its campus fitness center in Oregon. Anheuser- Busch is also severing ties.

(on camera): How precipitous is this as a fall from grace?

MICHAEL ROBINSON, COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIST: You know, this is like falling into the Grand Canyon without a net.

TODD (voice-over): Michael Robinson, a specialist and strategic communications and damage control, says Armstrong's demise has been building.

(on camera): But he says it really started to drop last week. That's when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agencies it had uncovered overwhelming evidence that he was involved in a sophisticated doping program while he was active as a cyclist.

(voice-over): The agency's report said several teammates of Armstrong's testified that he used banned steroids and trying tried to hide it from testing officials. Armstrong has consistently denied ever using performance enhancing drugs, but the tide of opinion is undeniable.

PHIL HERSH, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: You can push Marianne Jones and Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens and Rosy Ruiz aside, and Lance Armstrong is the greatest fraud in the history of sports.

TODD: A spokeswoman for LiveStrong says the charity has had an uptick in donations since august when Armstrong stopped challenging the Anti- Doping Agency's probe.

But the head of a charity watchdog says even though LiveStrong is a well-run organization, it may take a hit from this later. DANIEL BOROCHOFF, CHARITYWATCH: Having the head of the group and the founder and the head be somebody that's not trustworthy makes it really hard -- makes it really difficult for a charity.

TODD: Robinson says the amount of potential personal earnings Armstrong may lose is incalculable.

(on camera): If are you advising Lance Armstrong, what do you tell him to do to recover his reputation personally?

ROBINSON: I think until he is able to right the ship and talk to people candidly about what happened and either present evidence that it didn't happen or demonstrate contrition that I did it and I have made a mistake, and I'm prepared to move on, he can't move on.

TODD (voice-over): People involved in his charity stress that it's important to remember that whatever has happened with the doping allegations and cycling, what Lance Armstrong has done for cancer patients is still very impressive and that doesn't change. They point out LiveStrong has raised nearly $500 million for the fight against cancer and helped 2.5 million people.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Joey Jackson has joined me for legal briefs. I want to talk about Lance Armstrong, because of the story we ran before the break about his image taking a hit, legally this guy could be in serious trouble. Break it down for me.

JOEY JACKSON, ATTORNEY: Criminally it related to his liberty. What happened? The Justice Department and the federal government opened an investigation. It started in May of 2010. It concluded this past February of 2012 with them saying, you know what, hands off, we're not going to move forward. Now, that's not the end of it. Why isn't it the he wanted of it? Because there was no adjudication of finding of guilt, so no double jeopardy applies. They could decide let's reopen it and let's prosecute.

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: He is not out of the woods. That's the criminal side.

Civilly, remember that $2.5 million settlement in the arbitration because --

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: I should explain this, though. This was for a performance bonus --

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: Yes. $5 million.

BANFIELD: -- that he got U.S. Postal Service. He was the cyclist for the team. The team gave him the bonus, but they asked for an insurance policy.

JACKSON: Smart move.

BANFIELD: For that bonus, and now the insurance company is saying we paid you a lot of money.

JACKSON: Initially, they didn't want to pay it out. Why? Because there were rumors of this type of abuse and drugging. Ultimately, decided fight it. They went to arbitration. Arbitration is a proceeding where a mutual arbitrator sits in judgment, right, and they settled for $7359 million. The $5 million bonus, Ashleigh, plus $2.5 million in legal fees making the lawyers happy.

However, they're going to challenge it now. Why? Because they're saying it was predicated upon fraud. If we knew now what we knew then, we would have never settled.

BANFIELD: Never would have signed.

JACKSON: That's the civil monetary aspect of it.

BANFIELD: Speaking of that. The whole perjury issue brings into whether he will be facing jail.

JACKSON: Absolutely, Ashleigh. These affidavits, it's horrible.

BANFIELD: It's not good. I'm going to get you back so we can talk about this more in depth because we're just flat out of time, but there's a big long conversation to be had.

JACKSON: Very long.

BANFIELD: Joey Jackson, you are always terrific.

(LAUGHTER)

Do appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Thanks, everyone, for watching.

NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL starts right now. Suzanne Malveaux is off. Michael Holmes is on. He's terrific. I encourage you to watch. Thanks, everyone.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST: The feeling is mutual, Ashleigh.

Now, welcome to NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL." As Ashleigh said, I'm Michael Holmes, in for Suzanne. We're taking you around the world in 60 minutes, like we do every day. And here's what's coming up.