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Family Fights For Heart Transplant; Weiner Talks Clinton Campaign; US Airways-American Merger Challenged; A Man Fell 65 Feet At Turner Field; Big Legal Win For Paula Deen; Kidnap Suspect's Family Ties; DOJ Challenge Airlines Merger, Weiner Hints at Clinton 2016 Run

Aired August 13, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: A teenager from Georgia is in need of a transplant but his family says the hospital won't put his name on the list.

And the New York mayoral candidate, Anthony Weiner, is dropping hints about his wife's role potential 2016 presidential plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know what her role in Hillary's 2016 campaign is going to be?

ANTHONY WEINER, MAYORAL CANDIDATE, NEW YORK: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it?

WEINER: I'm not telling you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And their merger would create the world's largest airline. Now, the Department of Justice is trying to block American Airlines and American Airways from combining. We'll get the live report.

This is CNN NEWSROOM. So, nice to have you with us on this Tuesday. I'm Pamela Brown in for Suzanne Malveaux.

And now, to a story that's grabbing national attention. A 15-year-old boy may have less than six months to live because he need a heart transplant. Well, his family says the hospital won't put him on the heart transplant recipient list because doctors see him as a troubled teen who wears a court-ordered ankle bracelet for fighting in school. They say the fact that he is poor and black is feeding into this decision. And now, they're getting help from a civil rights' group.

Tony Thomas from Atlanta affiliate, WSB, has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY THOMAS, CORRESPONDENT, WSB: I want doctors to give me an opportunity. Those are the words from Anthony Stokes as he was videotaped Sunday night in his hospital room. For the past month, he's been in the children's hospital with an enlarged heart. The only remedy, a heart transplant. But it appears the life-saving procedure will never come.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know it's wrong because if they get to know him, they would love him.

THOMAS: According to this letter the family gave us, doctors have decided the 15-year-old does not qualify to be put on the heart transplant list because of his history of, quote, "noncompliance."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They said that they don't have any evidence showing that he would take his medicine and he wouldn't have any follow-up care.

THOMAS: Doctors weren't specific in the letter, but family friends say they've been told that due to Stokes' history of bad grades and run ins with the law. Supporters and activists, like the president of the Newton-Rockdale SCLC are pushing back demanding doctors take a second look.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've given him a death sentence.

THOMAS: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta released this statement when we asked about the case. The well-being of our patients is always our first priority. We are continuing to work with this family in looking at all options regarding this patient's health care. We follow very specific criteria in determining eligibility for a transplant of any kind.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They just don't want to give him a chance.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: So, this races a lot of questions. Can a teenager be denied a life-saving measure for not taking medicine in the past or for having trouble with the law and is race playing into this decision?

Arthur Caplan is a medical ethicist with NYU and he joined me now from New York. Hi, art. Before we get started, --

ARTHUR CAPLAN, MEDICAL ETHICIST, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: (INAUDIBLE.)

BROWN: -- I wanted to first mention that Children's Hospital will be giving us an updated statement at 4:00 Eastern time here, so we may learn more than. But first off, just help us understand what noncompliance means in this case.

CAPLAN: Noncompliance means, if you get the transplant, you've got a lot of work to do after the transplant. You've got to come in for your appointments, a ton of medicine you have to take or the transplant will fail and you have to pay attention to any signs of change in your health, let doctors see you regularly because it could mean that the heart is rejecting and they're going to want to change your medication. So, think of it this way, you get the transplant. That's the start of the transplant but for the rest of your life, you're going to have to be under doctors' orders, doctors' control. And if you don't do that, there's a very strong chance that heart transplant will fail.

BROWN: And you look at the numbers, you know, a lot of people are rejected for a heart transplants every year. Federal records show that there were 3,400 people on a waiting list for a heart transplant last year, and only 2,000 transplants took place. Three hundred thirty-one people died last year waiting for a heart. So, clearly, the demand is much greater than the supply here.

Art, do you think the fact that hearts are so hard to come by, when you compare when you compare them to other organs, that this could play a role in the fact that, Anthony, this teenager isn't being put on the list?

CAPLAN: Well, hearts are the toughest organ of all to get. We have two kidneys when we die. We can give two of those. Hearts are also often in bad shape, sadly, so they're very tough to get. Transplant centers do pay attention to who is it that's likely to comply and follow doctor's orders afterwards. However, teenagers, not just Anthony, teenagers across the board notorious for being noncompliant. I think that's the definition of being a teenager. You don't comply with anything anybody tells you to do. So, in this case, I think Anthony has a bit of a claim here because what he's saying is, look, you're not rejecting all teenagers. You're rejecting me. Maybe I've had run-ins with the law but I'm paying attention. I'm going to try and do the right thing. I'm not sure the hospital has the strongest case for saying, we're not going to put you on the list.

BROWN: Right. I mean, in Anthony's case, as we heard in this story, he had -- the government had issued him monitoring -- ankle monitoring bracelets for fighting in school and his mother says he hasn't really had much of a record as far as going to doctor and so forth. So, does having run-ins with the law, could, you know, prevent you from being put on the list?

CAPLAN: Well, I don't think so. I think, again, you're trying to make a prediction about, is this guy going to be a good patient afterwards? Lots of teenagers have run-ins with the law. Lots of teenagers have drug issues. Lots of teenagers have drug issues. Lots of teenagers have fight with their parents. And a lots of teenagers don't do what their parents or authority figures tell them to do. So, I think, here, the hospital is going to have to come up with some very strong evidence of why this kid is not likely to comply should he get a transplant. And I would say, the thing to do with him is put him this counseling right now. Let's work with him intensively so he understands what's expected post a transplant, if he's lucky enough to get one. Don't just fail to put him on the list. Let's work with him and the family.

BROWN: Right. Give him a shot. I mean, you mentioned, a lot of times, teenagers are not compliant. Surely, if it's a life or death situation like it is for a 15-year-old Anthony, they should have another shot to show that they would comply if they were given the transplant. Do you think --

CAPLAN: That's right.

BROWN: -- that could happen? What are the options here?

CAPLAN: I think, in fact, his age, in a funny way, makes him high- risk for noncompliance but it also gives him some extra points. Afterall, a 15 year old hasn't had a life to live. Take somebody in their 60s, you might say, well, 15 versus 60, let's give extra points to the younger person. They deserve a chance at a full life, too. So, it kind of balances out.

I think there may, if they can get kind of an agreement here because of this attention and publicity and back and forth, to say, let's put him in counseling. Let's let a psychologist or psychiatrist be convinced that he will do what he needs to do after the fact. Get the family and friends and everybody on board. There may yet be a resolution here.

BROWN: Yes. Right. Clearly, he has a big incentive to comply. This is life or death. He has six months to live. And, again, we are waiting for a statement from the hospital so, of course, we will keep you updated.

Thank you so much, Art. We appreciate you sharing --

CAPLAN: My pleasure.

BROWN: -- your insight with us.

Well, some tragic moments played out at the Braves'-Philly's game last night. A man fell to his death at Turner field. Officials say the 29 year old fell about 65 feet from an upper level and landed in the players' parking area. The incident happened during a rain delay. Atlanta police say the fall appears to be accidental.

Well, it's a win for Paula Deen. A federal judge ruled that because the former employee who filed a lawsuit against Deen is white so she has no standing to sue the embattled chef for racial discrimination, according to the judge. You probably remember how Deen's career took a big plunge after her deposition and the lawsuit was relief where she admitted to using a racial slur in the past. And then, well, she posted a couple of awkward apologies online. You probably remember these.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA DEEN: I want to apologize to everybody for the wrong that I've done. I want to learn and grow from this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: On the heels of it all, Deen lost her food network cooking show and a number of lucrative endorsements, including Wal-Mart, Sears and target.

Hannah Anderson is in familiar surroundings today. Her father says she has the love of family, friends and community. The first comforting sign of normalcy since she was kidnapped more than a week ago, that ordeal saw both her mom and younger brother killed. It ended in Idaho wilderness on Saturday. An FBI agent shot and killed her abductor after the so-called family friend fired at least one shot at the swarming agents. The operation quickly lurched into gear virtually without warning. A helicopter crew zeroed in on the remote campsite. And just minutes after launching the search, U.S. marshals spotted the teen and her kidnapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE JURMAN, U.S. MARSHALL: It appears that they were just going about their normal activity. They gathered firewood and walked around and, really, it didn't appear like they were doing anything out of ordinary. But they were the only ones in this -- in that area. We searched the area and there was no one else within several miles. However, there is a very highly populated river that was only about three miles away to their east. And there's a lot of rafters and stuff that float down that river. And that was a major concern of ours during the investigation was that maybe they made it to that river and floated out of air area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And we are also learning more ant James DiMaggio, the man police shot to save the girl. There's similarities in his case and one involving his own father. Our Brian Todd has all the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was said to have been infatuated with 16-year-old kidnap victim, Hannah Anderson. Now, chilling new detail on what could have been a disturbing influence on that behavior by James DiMaggio, his own father.

CNN affiliate, KFMB in San Diego, interviewed a woman who says DiMaggio's father, James Everett DiMaggio, pursued her when she was a teenager. The woman, who didn't want to be identified, said this happened in the late 1980s. The senior DiMaggio, she says, had dated her mother but broke up with the mother and told the then teenager he loved her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stuck around for me and wanted to take me away from my mom and give me a good life, a better life if he could take care of me.

TODD: She says after she refused, James DiMaggio's father broke into her house carrying a shotgun and handcuffs and was about to kill her, her boyfriend and her brother.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I asked him to, you know, not kill us. And he said, don't worry. It'll be over quick. And I just remember pleading with him.

TODD: She says, she asked to use the bathroom then escaped. DiMaggio's father, she says, then ran off.

Public records show that James DiMaggio's father was a defendant in a criminal case filed in 1989 but no specifics were immediately available. I asked forensic psychologist, Lisa Van Susteren, about the alleged pattern of behavior toward teenage girls by both father and son.

LISA VAN SUSTEREN, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: People who have very bad judgment, people who have very little frustration tolerance, they may seek drugs or alcohol to calm some of their tendencies down, is very -- those are inheritable traits.

TODD: According to this woman's account, the elder DiMaggio also used his son to get to her. The younger James DiMaggio, she says, went to school with her and one day approached her with a message from his dad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He came up to me, I think it was third period or it was between classes before lunch, saying his father was out and he'd be waiting for me after school.

TODD: I asked former FBI profiler, Gregg McCrary, if that could have been a trigger for the son's alleged behavior in later years.

GREG MCCRARY, FORMER PROFILER, FBI: It certainly could be something that he found enticing or exciting or he wanted to emulate perhaps later in life. And then, we see him engage with a similar behavior with this attraction to a young girl and this thing just sort of played itself out again all over.

TODD: CNN has not been able to reach the woman who KFMB interviewed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(live): Another bizarre tie in, August 10th, the day that James DiMaggio was killed by the FBI agents is the 18th anniversary of the very day his father apparently committed suicide. That may or may not be a coincidence. But there's another anniversary, August 3rd, the day that DiMaggio's mobile home burned down, allegedly with Hannah Anderson's mother and brother inside it was the very day that DiMaggio's mother had died of cancer years earlier.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

BROWN: A massive gas line explosion rocked western Illinois late night. Flames shot hundreds of feet into the sky. Take a look here. That forced the evacuation of at least 80 homes. Fire crews shut off the line but flames are expected to burn for the next 24 to 48 hours there. And the fire is still under investigation.

And here is what we're working on for this hour. The merger of American Airlines and U.S. Airways could create the world's largest airline, but now it is being challenged by the Justice Department. Imagine that. And --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WEINER: The first thing I was going to do as mayor was hold a press conference tearing out your -- (INAUDIBLE) -- tearing out your (INAUDIBLE.) (END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: There you heard him. And that's just one of the things he would do if he is elected mayor. More of his interview up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: The 11 billion dollar merger between U.S. Airways and American Airlines will create the biggest airline. The two companies want to go ahead but the U.S. Justice Department is saying hold on, wait a minute. It filed a suit, along with six states and the District of Columbia, to stop the deal from taking off. Renee Marsh joins me with more on this story. We've seen other airline mergers in recent years. The Justice Department didn't step in with those. What's the issue?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they say there's two big issues that they're concerned about. The first one is if they allow this merger, they say that would mean less competition and they say less competition also leads to higher ticket prices. So in the end, the big picture here is they believe the consumer is going to lose if the this merger was allowed to happen. Now this is just new, we're just getting it in. We got a response from American Airlines and U.S. Airways, and they say in this release here that they plan to fight the Justice Department's action. We see a fight is setting up. They plan on taking whatever legal measures are necessary to go against what the Justice Department is trying to do.

BROWN: Yeah, saying that they believe the DOJ is wrong in its assessment of the merger. And tell us, Rene, how much money do you think could be at stake if this does not go through? I mean, what could the fallout be? We know American Airlines filed for bankruptcy in 2011.

MARSH: You know it depends on who you can ask because the Justice Department, if you ask them how much is at stake, they would probably say zero because the Justice Department says that both companies would do just fine as stand-alones. They would do just fine by themselves. They would be able to compete. They would be healthy companies.

The Justice Department, even today, using airline executives' words against them saying that in the past both airlines have repeatedly said that they don't need the merger to succeed. The Justice Department is saying today what's at stake is big bucks for the consumer. The Department of Justice says that the merger would result in consumers paying hundreds of millions of dollars for more when it comes to service they would be getting a lot less.

The airline for their part saying look, they need to do this. If they are able to do this they would be able to run their airline a lot more efficiently. The airline saying consumers would actually benefit. So, both sides seeing this very differently.

BROWN: Yeah. they both think they have a strong case here. Has the Department of Justice been successful at halting big mergers in the past? MARSH: They have about 11 or 12 years ago. They did oppose the Northwest/Continental merger, but when we fast-forward to today, the question may be why this one? Why not allow this one? Why try to put the brakes on this one.

And simply, it's because the landscape is a lot different now. Years ago, these mergers were seen as a good thing because the airlines were struggling. Now the airlines are making a lot of money. Just in 2012 the airlines made some 6 billion dollar on baggage fees and other fees. And that's according to the Department of Justice. So, they're saying look, they are doing really well right now. They don't believe there's a need for this merger.

BROWN: And they're worried that if they do merge, that fares and fees could even go up. So, we will see what happens. Thank you so much for that report.

Tomorrow, voters in New Jersey start the process of electing a replacement for the late Senator Frank Lautenberg. Despite recent questions about recent questions about his financial dealings, Newark Mayor Cory Booker seems poised for victory in the Democratic primary. He holds a strong leads in public opinion polls over Congressman Frank Polone and Rush Holt, and New Jersey Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver. Steve Lendman and former mayor of Begatta, New Jersey is vying for the Republican nomination.

Still ahead, right here on NEWSROOM, a recent poll found 80 percent of New Yorkers have an unfavorable view of Anthony Weiner, and his latest interview did not really help with that number. His remarks are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Former Congressman Anthony Weiner faces off against his Democratic opponents in the New York mayor's race tonight. The debate follows a Buzzfeed interview where Weiner talked about the impact of his sexting scandal on his wife's career, and he also dropped a hint about Hillary Clinton's political future. Here is Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As he sat down for a Buzzfeed interview, Anthony Weiner passed on having a beer, and what was perhaps the easiest question of the evening.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you back in therapy?

ANTHONY WEINER, NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: You know, apparently you never go out of therapy.

ACOSTA: For nearly 40 minutes that can only be described as quintessential Weiner, the embattled candidate for New York City mayor veered from one uncomfortable subject to the next.

WEINER: I feel that what I've done has hurt her. It's hurt her professionally, it's hurt her personally.

ACOSTA: From his marriage to Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is Huma still working on the campaign?

WEINER: She's helping out every day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know what her role in Hillary's 2016 campaign is going to be?

WEINER: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will it be?

WEINER: I'm not telling you.

ACOSTA: To the latest revelation he continued sexting women well after leaving Congress.

WEINER: I did these things. No one did this to me. I did this to me. I made these mistakes.

ACOSTA: But his campaign for mayor has been more than a personal train wreck. Weiner's had a few political ones as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Had I conducted myself in the manner in which you conducted yours, my job would have been gone.

WEINER: In the privacy of your home.

ACOSTA: No shocker that a recent poll found 80 percent of New Yorkers have an unfavorable view of Weiner.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you on the way back up, or have we bottomed out?

WEINER: I hope so.

ACOSTA: Numbers that were not helped when he dropped an F-bomb near the end of the interview.

WEINER: I said to Mike Bloomberg that the first thing I was going to do as mayor was hold a press conference tearing you your -- this is the internet right -- tearing out your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) bike lanes.

ACOSTA: The question is whether he can stay in his own lanes between now and election day.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Not surprisingly Anthony Weiner's comment about Hillary Clinton's future has already stirred up the guessing game. Will Clinton run in 2016 or won't she? Let's bring in chief national correspondent John King.

Hi, John. Nice to see you. So we're hearing from Weiner's campaign, they're saying that he was just joking when he said that. What do you think? Do you think he was just joking being a (INAUDIBLE) did he accidentally give something up here in that interview?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Only he knows and only his wife Huma knows, and if we could ask this question today: who is more steamed he said this whether he's joking or not, Hillary Clinton or Huma, his wife?

The last person Hillary Clinton will talk to about this is Anthony Weiner. However, Huma is, and remains, a very close trusted aide, one of the four or five people in the Clinton inner-circle. There's no 2016 campaign organization, but if there is one and there's a shadow organization, there's no question that she's likely to have a serious senior role in that. But Hillary Clinton doesn't want to talk about this right now. Huma Abedin does not want to talk about 2016 right now. And the last person either of them wants talking about this right now is Anthony Weiner. It's another distraction. But as you know, Hillary Clinton has been more and more out there on the stage now and so perhaps it's just inevitable.

BROWN: On that note, when she stepped down as secretary of state she said she wanted to enjoy some down time but as you alluded to yesterday, she said she will be out giving some speech. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FMR. SECRETARY OF STATE: Over the coming months, I will deliver a series of speeches focused on questions like these. Today the assault on voting rights which threatens to block millions of Americans from fully participating in our democracy and further eroding public trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So there we see it. She's staying in the spotlight, speaking out on major issues. What do you think? Do you think that is an indication she's likely to run in 2016?

KING: She's going to have a conversation with her family. She going to have to have a conversation with her doctor. She's going to have to have a conversation with herself about a year or so down the road, Pam, about whether to get into 2016. Most people in Washington expect that she will find it irresistible, that she's such a prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination.

If you look at the Republican party right now, there's still a great deal of post-2012 dysfunction. A lot of people think the Republican party will still be in what many call a circular firing squad heading into 2016 because of the internal party fighting.

So many believe despite her reservations, that it will be irresistible.

However, what she is doing is quite smart politically. She took a short rest. Now she's going to give these speeches. She's also writing a book. And think about the issues she talked about yesterday. Now, she's an accomplished attorney, she's familiar with voting rights from her days as the first lady of Arkansas, a state that's at the center of voting rights and civil rights, but it's also a critical issue to a major piece of the Democratic constituency.

Barack Obama will be gone from the stage. All of the Democrats running will be competing. Once you get past Iowa and New Hampshire, you go to South Carolina. You go to Georgia, you go to Illinois. You go to places where the African American constituency is critical to the Democratic party, and on voting rights especially voter I.D. laws, the Latino population also cares a great deal about those issues. And that has been a big part of the Democratic advantage in the general election.

She can say I'm talking about issues on the day but should she decide to run she's making it clear she will speak passionately about the issues that will matter and about the constituencies that will matter come 2016.

BROWN: Even if she does run it's not unusual they would say I haven't made a decision yet. I'm talking about these issues. Even if they do have the plan to run, right?

KING: She can wait longer than anybody else because she had a built in organization. She has so much support of the party and knows she can raise the money. She can wait longer than anybody because if she says yes, it takes hold. If you're a governor who's never run nationally before, if you don't have the fundraising network, you don't have the people ready to work for you, you have to start building that infrastructure much sooner. Hillary Clinton essentially has a campaign-in-waiting. She can and will wait till the last possible minute to give us the definitive answer.

BROWN: She's clearly in a strong position. Thank you for your analysis.

We have an update for you on a story we brought you yesterday on this show. Take a look. A rodeo clown who performed during the Missouri state fair while wearing a mask of President Obama right here, well he's been banned for performing ever again. While the clown was performing, a voice over the loud speaker is asked if they wanted to see Obama run down by a bull. Fair officials have apologized for the stunt.

So, who are your friends? A new poll finds that many Americans don't make friends outside of their own race. We'll take a look at why right after this break. Hope you stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)