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Growing North Korean Threat; Sequestration Impact; Kevin Ware Sees Video of His Injury

Aired April 04, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, in today for Brooke.

So, we talked last hour about the shooting death of that sheriff in West Virginia, his name, Eugene Crum. Within the past hour, we have learned the Mingo County commissioners have appointed his widow, Rose Crum, to serve the rest of his term; 37-year-old Tennis Maynard is being held in Crum's death. He reportedly has a history of mental illness.

First on CNN, we're now learning that the U.S. has gained access to some disturbing information about North Korea's possible next move, as North Korea warns that the moment of explosion is near. A U.S. official says, the North could be planning to launch a ballistic missile in just days or weeks.

Adding to the concern, North Korea has been spotted repositioning a missile. That missile's believed to be a Musudan missile and if used properly has a range of 2,500 miles. But it's important to mention this type of missile has never been tested by North Korea and the U.S. is on the defensive, deploying ballistic missile defenses to the U.S. territory of Guam.

I want you to listen to what former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson told CNN just today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL RICHARDSON (D), FORMER NEW MEXICO GOVERNOR: I think our response has been appropriate, cool, calm, but at the same time, putting our military resources ready in case there's an emergency.

But if they try anything with the United States, it's suicidal. That's not going to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: John Park is a North Korea specialist at Harvard and MIT. He joins me now.

John, let's talk about that word, suicidal. We're learning about a U.S. playbook to respond to North Korea's provocations and possible actions, but how do you see this playing out, worst-case scenario here? JOHN PARK, CENTER FOR CONFLICT ANALYSIS AND PREVENTION: Right now, I think we're engaged in essentially what can be called a book of flinches.

The North Koreans are escalating in terms of their threats and their actions and I think they're also watching very, very carefully how the various countries are responding. In terms of the next steps here, as you reported, it looks like a Musudan intermediate ballistic missile is being prepared for launch.

Here, anniversaries are very important. April 15th will mark the birth of Kim Il-Sung, and that is perhaps the biggest celebration in North Korea. So to have this launch and to have some kind of big story for the internal audience is a big part of it, but I think one of the benefits here is the U.S. will have military assets there to carefully track and monitor and get a lot of important data from this test flight.

LEMON: Is it possible that the U.S. is playing into North Korea's hands by having too much of a reaction? Are we spurring North Korea?

PARK: Well, in this respect, deploying ballistic missile capabilities in preparation for this test is something, again, will provide a rare opportunity to get more information.

Each test that North Korea conducts on the long-range missile capability is important, because not much is known about the program. And as they conduct more missile tests, more nuclear tests to miniaturize a warhead and put it on a longer-range, those are developments that frankly are very urgent in terms of getting this type of rare information.

LEMON: So, Kim Jong-un is a young leader who has been in power for less than 16 months. This regime seems more unstable now than it ever was under his father, Kim Jong Il.

Does that instability make North Korea's threat bigger or smaller, and who's in charge?

PARK: Don, it is an alarming time.

He is a new leader, and frankly there isn't much known about his track record, because he's only been on the job for a little over than a year. We have a lot of information about Kim Jong Il during his 17 years as the leader of North Korea. He conducted, manufactured and managed a lot of crises himself, but I think one thing that's important here is that we're at a very early stage of new leadership around the region.

And so the testing and probing and assessing is something that's going to cause a lot of heartburn, but I think for the North Koreans is an important type of exercise to see what they are dealing with as well. Kim Jong-un wants to be around for a while, and the more he can protect his book of flinches, the more he can calibrate crises going forward.

LEMON: All right, thank you very much. We appreciate that. John Park, thanks.

As tensions mount on the Korean Peninsula, Wolf Blitzer takes you inside the conflict, the threats, and what is at stake on a special edition of "THE SITUATION ROOM." That's at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

LEMON: We have some breaking news here on CNN I want to tell you about. Just coming in, the producers are telling me you may remember a male hiker was rescued, rescued after being lost in the wilderness in Orange County, California. He was missing for three days and separated from a female hiker. We have just heard that the female has been located.

Kyndall Jack, 18 years old, again, we're hearing the female hiker has been located, Kyndall Jack, 18 years old. Conditions are unknown right now. We're working on getting some video from our affiliate in the area, but again, you will remember that he hiker rescued after being lost in the wilderness in Orange County, California, missing for three days, separated from a female hiker. Just heard that the female hiker has been located. She is 18 years old again.

We will continue to update you on the story as we get more information. There you're looking at pictures now from our affiliate. That's moments ago, from affiliate KCAL. And that's a rescue happening moments ago. Again, we're looking at that video. It's from KCBS and KCAL in California and that's just coming in. As soon as we get more information, we will bring it to you on CNN. Don't go anywhere.

We're now into the fourth month of budget cuts imposed by Washington and some of us wonder if it's trickling down and how. It's something cancer patients are feeling firsthand and they are being turned away from clinics. That's what they're saying.

Washington correspondent Lisa Sylvester joins us now live to explain.

Lisa, what's happening, and why now?

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Don.

Well, the forced budget cuts for Medicare, they took effect on April 1, and what that means is a 2 percent cut in Medicare payments to providers. When you think about it, cancer treatment like the drugs and chemotherapy that has to be administered by a doctor, and the doctors are saying that they are already operating at such a slim margin, with that 2 percent cut, that means tough choices. Either they are going to have to tell their patients you have got to seek treatment else where, or they could face going out of business, Don.

LEMON: What will happen to these Medicare patients?

SYLVESTER: You know, for many of them, it means they can't go to the community clinic. They are going to have to go to a hospital. As we all welcome know, the cost of treatment at a hospital is more expensive. One study put it about $6,500 more expensive annually for cancer treatment than if they were treated at a clinic.

Think about all of the stresses this adds to the patients. I spoke to one man who is fighting cancer. He's been going to the same place, same clinics, seeing the same doctors for treatment for nine years. Now he wads complaining to me. He said when he goes to the hospital, he can't even find a parking spot. Then there's going to be new nurses, a new place to go. All of this, it makes it really difficult for these patients, Don.

LEMON: Has the federal government weighed in on this at all, Lisa?

SYLVESTER: Well, there is actually an agency. They can handle this administratively if the will was there. And they can make changes.

And that agency is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Oncologists are appealing to the director saying please exempt cancer drugs from this 2 percent cut. We have a call in to the agency and we are going to report back on what they say and we will have more on this story in the 5:00 p.m. Hour of "THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER," Don.

LEMON: OK. We will be watching that. But what do patients do?

SYLVESTER: For now, some of them have gotten this letter that says you might have to go to the hospital, you might have to go to someplace else. They don't like it one bit, but if there is no change, they are going to have to do that, Don.

LEMON: All right, Lisa Sylvester, thank you very much. We will be watching in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

Your dinner steak or meatloaf could soon come with a label. Up next, why the government wants the meat you eat to come with a lot of information.

Plus, from prison to the NFL. A man wrongly convicted talks with CNN about finally getting to live out his dream.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Brian Banks finally has a chance to live his dream after clearing his name. He signed a contract with the Atlanta Falcons yesterday. About 10 years ago, a classmate accused Banks of rape. She admitted that she lied, that she lied about the rape, about the whole thing back in 2011. Banks served five years in prison and five years of probation for rape.

Banks always maintained his innocence, but his lawyer advised him to plead no contest. Now Banks finally has a chance to make his NFL dream come true.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN BANKS, WRONGFULLY CONVICTED: I know I have been out of the game for 10 years, but at the same time, I have no injuries, no setbacks. And I have been just working out really hard. I sit here a free man, healthy.

You know, my family and friends are in full support. I have my life back. There was a point in my life where I was very angry and, you know, I had a lot of negative emotions that, you know, filled me. But it was just really holding me back as a person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The Atlanta Falcons' general manager says the team is happy to have Banks on board.

Your dinner steak, your meatloaf could come with a new label, a whole lot of information because the government wants the meat you eat to come with more stuff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: OK, so forget the doctor when it comes to primary care. At least that's what Walgreens is hoping customers will do. The retail pharmacy chain has announced plans to move beyond flu shots and sniffles at their in-store clinics.

Nurse practitioners and physician's assistants will start diagnosing and treating patients for chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes and high cholesterol. The plan has some doctors crying sick saying physicians know their patients and are needed to manage such conditions.

Might be a tough day to grab some fast food in Manhattan; 70 fast food restaurants have been hit with protests and strikes. Wendy's, McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and KFC restaurants are being targeted. The protests were organized by a group called Fast Food Forward. It's a coalition of labor, community, and clergy groups.

Now, the protests want fast food restaurants to pay workers a minimum of $1,500 (sic) an hour. Minimum wage in New York City is $7.25 an hour. The median hourly pay for fast food workers, $9.

And, soon, meat you buy in a grocery store might come with more information or where it came from at least. The USDA proposing a rule, a change that would require meat labels to tell you where the animal was born.

Let's go to Erin McPike now. She joins us in Washington.

Erin, what other information will the new labels tell us?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, for the most part, this whole ordeal says a lot about the intricate laws and the lengthy process it takes to implement them.

Back in 2002, Congress first considered making retailers label what is known as the country of origin for meat and for fish, but it wasn't mandatory to label meat with these stamps that basically say product of the U.S. or product of Mexico or even product of mixed origin until 2009, seven years later, because there was a lot of blowback from big businesses that were bringing in livestock from other countries, so they tried to delay it.

Now, the current battle is actually not really about food safety or transparency at all. It's really a battle over trade. So, Canada with some support from other countries filed a dispute with the World Trade Organization when that labeling went into effect in '09. The complaint basically was that these labels do real damage to their exports, and, of course, big American businesses that then sell what they have imported from Mexico or Canada didn't like it either.

It took three years of arguments and appeals, but the World Trade Organization ultimately sided with the other countries and forced the U.S. to alter its rules. Now, what the U.S. Department of Agriculture has come up with is to suggest that labels will read something like, born in Uruguay, raised in Argentina, and slaughtered in the United States.

Don, there's the rub. You get to read what one writer called today a sad little biography about your dinner. I have been looking at these labels today in some grocery stores, and they are really very, very tiny and most of the people I talked to today don't really notice them at all. A lot of people really don't care, but here's the other thing. They may also say born in the United States, raised in the United States, and slaughtered in the United States, and as you might guess, critics think that's just a waste of time and wreaks of bureaucracy, but if it's approved, which it probably will, it's slated to go into effect in late May.

LEMON: OK. A lot of information, Erin. What's the benefit here? Could these new labels make our food safer besides just telling us a story of this particular, you know, where the cow came from?

MCPIKE: It depends on whether or not you do research. I talked to one woman who said, I know if meat is coming from Argentina, then it's going to take a lot longer to get here, so it's not as fresh and I would just rather have it from Nebraska. But you would only know that it's from the United States.

LEMON: OK. Erin McPike, thank you. Appreciate that.

MCPIKE: Thank you.

LEMON: All right.

Up next, news on everyone and everything, including another blow for disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong.

Plus, our Chad Myers sheds light on a dark matter on dark matter.

And a better way to Facebook on your phone -- the power block next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The former coach at Rutgers up for a sweet parting gift. Mike Rice fired yesterday after video emerged that showed him abusing players at practice will get a bonus, $100,000. A Rutgers spokesman says Rice had a longevity clause in his contract. He just finished his third season.

Louisville's Kevin Ware led his team off the plane for the Final Four in Atlanta. In an interview with CNN's Rachel Nichols, Ware said he peeked. He took a look at the video of his horrible injury during his team's defeat of Duke. He says he doesn't want to see it again.

So, with me now, CBS basketball analyst Clark Kellogg.

There he is.

So, Clark, have you seen anything like the outpouring of support for Kevin Ware?

CLARK KELLOGG, CBS SPORTS: I can't recall, John.

It's been amazing. And we were there courtside on Sunday, myself and our CBS broadcast crew. And it was very emotional, gut-wrenching, to see him undergo that kind of injury, and yet the outpouring of support from his team, his coaching staff was really something I have never been a part of at an athletic event.

And I'm happy to know that he had successful surgery and he seems to be on his way to what will be a long and hard recovery, but seems to be in good spirits and hopefully we will see him here on Saturday.

LEMON: Yes, it was a very emotional time for him. I was watching some interviews of last night. He was crying. And it was good to see he's in good spirits.

CLARK KELLOGG: Yes.

LEMON: Let's talk about the Final Four. He said he wants his team to go on and win. Let's talk about the Final Four.

The teams have arrived here in Atlanta now. Who do you like?

CLARK KELLOGG: Well, I like them all.

Obviously, we will be courtside, my colleagues and I calling the game, so I won't actually offer a pick as to who I think will win, but I'm hopeful for competitive games. All four teams obviously have earned their way here. They have done it in different ways with different styles. As always, I'm hopeful that the games are play out in real life as good as they look on paper.

The Michigan/Syracuse matchup is an intriguing one and the Louisville and Wichita State is one that I'm looking forward to as well.

LEMON: I would like Louisville -- I'm just saying, I would like Louisville to win, number one, because also then my brackets just won't be a complete waste of time.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Hey, you're involved in something called the Capital One Cup.

Tell us about that.

CLARK KELLOGG: Well, the Capital One Cup actually rewards the top Division I athletic programs, men's and women's, across a combined 39 sports for cumulative on-field performance.

At the end of the spring sports season, a men's Division I program and a women's Division I program will be crowned the Capital One Cup winner, and that -- those particular programs will receive the Capital One Cup trophy, but also $400,000 in combined student scholarships. So, it's a wonderful way to celebrate achievement on the field or court with also supporting academic scholarships, athletic scholarships, student scholarships.

LEMON: OK, I'm going to ask you this next question, because when we were talking in the newsroom, all the ladies were like, yes, it's going to happen. All the guys were like, no way, not going to happen. I want to ask you about Brittney Griner. Is she going to play for the NBA?

CLARK KELLOGG: I don't think so, Don.

She's an awesome, awesome female player, women's player. I don't think it could be done at the NBA level. She's been dominant throughout her career. She's going to have -- she's got a terrific future ahead of her as a WNBA player, but I don't think playing in the NBA is something that she'd be able to do successfully.

LEMON: OK.

Before I let you go, you're a former player, you have dealt with many coaches, I'm sure. What did you think when you saw the Rutgers video? Had you ever seen anything like that in your years playing and being involved in sports?

CLARK KELLOGG: No, I had not. And clearly, it was something to me that rose to the level of immediate termination.

They got to the right place. It was delayed in terms of the reaction, but any time you have a position of leadership with young folks and you're trying to develop and grow them in a positive manner, there's just no place for conducting yourself in that way.

It was disheartening. It was really hard to see that, because I have kids about that age that have played Division I college sports. And that's not the way that you reach them. That's not the way that you grow them and develop them and certainly something that a coach shouldn't be doing. I was appalled by it, and I think the consequences of losing his job were appropriate in this particular case.

LEMON: Unfortunate, to say the least. Thank you very much, Clark Kellogg. We appreciate it.

CLARK KELLOGG: Yes, appreciate the time. Thanks, Don.

LEMON: All right. Lance Armstrong just wants to compete. The disgraced doper banned from cycling, so he's hoping to enter another type of race -- how his dream to compete again has been stomped.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is the bottom of the hour. I'm Don Lemon in today for Brooke.

Technology, sports, health, science, and showbiz news, of course, we're getting it all right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ZUCKERBERG, FOUNDER, FACEBOOK: Today, we're finally going to talk about that Facebook phone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, it's not exactly the Facebook phone. It's a better way to Facebook on your phone.

Mark Zuckerberg just unveiled Facebook Home. It puts Facebook content front and center on an Android phone. Photos, status updates, and chat right there on the home screen so you don't have to mess with apps. Android users can install Home themselves, or you can buy a phone such as HTC's First, and that has Home built in. It's called Home. That's what it is.

Apple could be close to launching its long-awaited TV and analysts with Topeka Capital Markets visited Apple suppliers in China and Taiwan. Brian White says the iTV will revolutionize TV.

He has some juicy details for you. It's 60 inches in size, $1,500 to $2,500. And here's the best part. Shazam. The iRing -- look at that -- the iRing, it could look like this one, which lets you control the iTV with your finger. White says expect to see Apple's TV the last of this year, last part of this year.

All right, that is an oldie, but a goody from Diddy, real name, of course, Sean Combs. He's just joined the long list of stars who have been swatted. A prankster reported an assault with a deadly weapon at Combs' $5 million California home yesterday and KTLA is reporting a slew of cops showed up, but there wasn't any crime. No crime had been committed.

Other stars who have fallen victim to swatting, Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher, Miley Cyrus, and Simon Cowell.

The Los Angeles Lakers retired Shaquille O'Neal's jersey this week. The big man was there as they put his jersey in the rafters alongside Magic Johnson's number 32 and seven other jerseys, but if you look closely, O'Neal and number 34 are on the front of the jersey instead of the back of the jersey. Oops. Well, the Lakers say it will be fixed before tomorrow night's game against Memphis. And, by the way, did you see him last night? He was on "Southland," a cameo. Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong keen to get back to competitive sports, trading his bike for a swimsuit. He entered a masters swimming competition in his hometown of Austin, Texas, just this weekend, but folks there weren't too happy about hitting the pool with the man accused of running one of the most sophisticated doping programs in sport, the most sophisticated.

So, swimmers, the governing body, FINA, stepped in and, this time, Armstrong refused to fight. He withdrew voluntarily.