Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Aid and Turmoil in Egypt; "70s Show" Actress Dies; Paralyzed Athlete Barred from Paralympics; Martin Richard Family Releases Picture, Statement; The Forum Reopens in Boston; Gay WWE Wrestler Comes Out; Stocks Down Big; Scientists Discover Long-Known "New" Species

Aired August 15, 2013 - 15:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Jake Tapper, anchor of "THE LEAD," joins me from Washington, and Michael Youssef here in studio, who was born and raised in Egypt, is the founder and president of Leading the Way, a worldwide ministry.

Welcome to both of you.

Mr. Youssef, let me begin with you, because this is home.

MICHAEL YOUSSEF, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, LEADING THE WAY: Yes.

BALDWIN: This is home. Watching the blood running down the streets, hearing the numbers increase of those killed, the churches burned, including the one you attended.

YOUSSEF: When I was a child, yes.

BALDWIN: So how tough is that to watch?

YOUSSEF: It's very painful. It really is painful.

I'm an American. I have been an American for many years. And America is my home. And, therefore, America comes first to me, not the political factions of Egypt. And it is not in America's interest to begin with to side with the Muslim Brotherhood.

We not only sided with them. We supported them. Kerry gave them some extra $400 million that he found somewhere. And that money never gets to the

MICHAEL YOUSSEF, PRESIDENT, "LEADING THE WAY": ... to begin with to side with the Muslim Brotherhood.

We not only sided with them. We supported them. Kerry gave them some extra $400 million that he found somewhere.

And that money never gets to the Egyptian people. It gets split up at the top echelon of the Muslim Brotherhood.

And, look, in 12 months, they brought 3,000 Afghani and Libyan terrorists and housed them in Sinai under the leadership of Osama bin Laden's former doctor. They brought arms by the ton from Libya and Turkey.

And these people who were so peaceful protesters, they were armed to the teeth. When they finally broke the barricade, went in there, they found so much arms it's like a country inside a country.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: We're hearing all these different accounts, and it is sort of difficult to sort through and find the truth in all of this, let me say that.

I'm going to come back to you in a minute because Jack Tapper, to you, big news today. We heard from President Obama at Martha's Vineyard. He's away. He addresses Egypt, specifically.

Do you think that this was something he had to do at this point?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR, "THE LEAD": I think so, especially after the smoke cleared, as one senior administration official put it to me.

And the true extent of the violence was known yesterday, Brooke, as you know. You and I were both reporting of body counts along 150. And then now we know it's more than 500. That's just the official count, so who knows if it's even more than that as many people, many skeptics, suspect.

The decision was made last night, I'm told by a senior White House official, to suspend this joint U.S./Egyptian military operation. The Obama administration started talking about suspending this operation in June after the coup, or whatever you want to call it, when Morsy was removed from power.

And what the Obama administration did was just hold off on delivering four F-16 fighter planes at the time, suspended that delivery.

But now after having warned the Egyptian military, the government there, not to try to clear the squares as they did and, having not been listened to, the Obama administration decided to take this next step.

But the step after that, Brooke, that's the big one, $1.5 billion in aid. Would the Obama administration actually take that step? I think that's a much tougher question.

BALDWIN: And also, though, Jake, when you look at the money that's also coming in from other countries, the 1.5 billion, 1.3 billion, whatever approximately the number is, sort of seems like small potatoes.

And I'm just wondering if -- and talking to Ivan Watson and General "Spider" Marks earlier on my show, you know, whether or not Egypt cares if that were to be off the table.

How much is Egypt right now listening to Washington?

TAPPER: I don't know how much Egypt is listening to Washington. Apparently not enough for the White House's purposes.

But, keep in mind, it's not just $1.5 billion as a monetary figure. Most of that is in direct military aid. In other words, the money goes to the treasury. It's put into an account. And then that money is spent on fighter planes and other military hardware that the Egyptian army, the Egyptian air force, want and need.

So it's not just cash that their leaders can use however they see fit. It's not just economic aid, which is also part of it. But most of the money is spent here in the U.S. on these munitions and these tanks and these planes that the Egyptian army feels like they need for their security.

And, of course, sometimes that security, as we see, is against their own people. But it's an important point to make, Brooke, because it's not just the monetary value. The United States obviously a leading -- or the leading manufacturer of weapons in this world and tanks and planes. And, therefore, it's what that money is spent on.

BALDWIN: Jake, we'll see you at the top of the hour on "The Lead."

And, Mr. Youssef, my final question to you, as a man of religion, it's been interesting looking at the numbers.

When you look at the populous of Egypt, you see approximately 90 percent Muslim, 10 percent Coptic Christian. Yet both from what I've read, at least, want this secular government. Is that attainable?

YOUSSEF: It is attainable. And this is the problem. It's not a matter of they are not listening to Washington. Is Washington listening to the Egyptian people? Thirty-three million people took to the streets. Never in human history have we ever heard of this, 33 million people.

And they said, we do not want an Islamic government. There was no gas, no electricity --

BALDWIN: Looking ahead, again, is that possible?

YOUSSEF: It is possible, only if the United States and this administration take their hands off.

Forget about the $1.5 billion. I think they can do without. Putin is now going to Egypt. He's going to give them all the arms they want. And, you see, we could lose the entire Middle East just simply because we're not listening to the people.

We're listening to a small segment of the people, not the 33 million, but to the 200,000 protesters who were armed protesters.

And you know who the first people who were killed in that whole thing? And I'm telling you because I'm interested in the truth.

BALDWIN: But were you there?

YOUSSEF: A hundred officers who are all Muslims or mostly Muslims. So this is Muslim against Muslim. It's not a matter of a Christian, Muslim.

BALDWIN: You say U.S. hands off.

YOUSSEF: It's sad to see the lovely police people, lovely police guys get killed by their fellow Muslims.

BALDWIN: OK, Michael Youssef, thank you very much.

YOUSSEF: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: And, just into us here at CNN, I mentioned before the break an actress from "That '70s Show" has died. Lisa Robin Kelly played Laurie on the popular sitcom.

Her representative told CNN that Kelly died yesterday and that she had voluntarily checked herself into a treatment facility early this week.

Kelly had been battling addiction problems the last couple of years. The cause of her death has not been released. Lisa Robin Kelly was 43-years-old.

Coming up, she spent nearly two years in a coma, is paralyzed from the waist down, and confined to a wheelchair.

Victoria Arlen overcame the odds. She is now a world class swimmer, hoping to compete in the Paralympic championships.

But the ruling committee is basically telling her she can't compete because she is not permanently disabled.

We're going to look into her story, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. A lot of people talking about this one. The American Paralympic gold medalist swimmer who is now banned from competing in this week's Montreal games.

The International Paralympic Committee told Victoria Arlen that her disability may not be permanent. Therefore, they deemed her ineligible to compete in the world championship games.

Arlen was paralyzed from the waist down seven years ago because of a neurological disorder to her spine. But she is one of the most dominating figures in her sport, a world record-setting swimmer.

Arlen says she is heartbroken that she is being -- this is her words -- "penalized for having hope that she'll one day walk again."

We have to talk about this with former prosecutor Monica Lindstrom, legal analyst at Avvo.com, Lisa Bloom.

Ladies, let me just first read this IPC statement. Quote, "The medical report has been reviewed by five independent medical experts."

"All are in agreement that the report, its assessment and its diagnosis fail to provide sufficient evidence of an eligible impairment leading to permanent or verifiable activity limitation" -- I know this sounds kind of wonky -- "which is required under the IPC swimming classification rules and regulations."

OK, bottom line, Monica, what do you make of this? How does she fight to swim? How does she fight to compete?

MONICA LINDSTROM, FORMER PROSECUTOR: I think about the only thing she can do at this point is either fight to make changes in the rules to happen in the future, or maybe try to discredit her history, her medical history.

Because the rules state something to the effect it must be a permanent disability, and apparently in her history, it said that there might be a hope that she could walk in the future.

Unfortunately, it could be that a doctor was just trying to be very optimistic and give her hope, but that one line, if that's all it is, just really shut her down and does not allow her to compete.

It's unfortunate, but if that's what the rules say, then they should look for a way to maybe change the rules for the future.

BALDWIN: I feel like, Lisa, this sounds like the case from last hour where you were saying the law is the law. It may be tough but it's the law of the land. Again, rules are rules.

LISA BLOOM, LEGAL ANALYST, AVVO.COM: Right. Well, and look, you have to respect that the Paralympics needs to make rules about who is disabled and who is not.

You don't want somebody who's a completely able-bodied person competing against disabled people. There are so many different degrees of disability.

But if I were representing her, I might argue that her condition is permanent anyway. The rule doesn't say 100 percent permanent. The word "permanent" might allow a little leeway for some glimmer of hope in the future.

Doctors never like to say anything is 100 percent or zero percent. The fact they're leaving open a little bit of possibility in the future shouldn't bar her from participating.

BALDWIN: OK. Maybe there's hope after all for her to compete.

Monica Lindstrom, Lisa Bloom, thank you, ladies, both, very much for joining me today.

Coming up, recovering from tragedy, it is a popular restaurant that was located just feet away from the bombs that exploded back in may during that Boston marathon.

But now it is finally open, meaning every business on Boylston Street is back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Four months ago, 8-year-old Martin Richard was killed when those two bombs were detonated near the finish line of the Boston marathon.

Martin lost his life. His little sister, Jane, lost her leg. And today the Richard family shared a picture of Jane and her new prosthetic leg. Here she is.

The family also released this statement. Love that she's smiling there. Quote, "Jane continues to be an incredible source of inspiration and exhaustion. The loss of her leg has not slowed her one bit or deterred her in any way."

It goes on. "An hour doesn't go by that we don't feel the agony of Martin's death and the senseless way it came about. The pain is constant and even the sweetest moments can become heartbreaking when we are struck by the realization that Martin would have loved this," from the Richard family.

They also thank strangers for all their kindness for their family.

By the way, in Boston, The Forum restaurant, front and center that day, the second bomb went off right outside. The restaurant surveillance video was actually used to help identify the Boston bombers.

And now The Forum is about to reopen. This is the last business on Boylston Street to reopen after such a tragedy.

CNN's Zain Asher is reporting on this one for us today. Thank goodness it's -- you know, everybody is Boston Strong. Going back to business there on Boylston. It's not opening to everyone just yet. Is that right?

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. Today is pretty much going to be a private event.

What you've got happening is a ribbon cutting ceremony, the mayor of Boston showing up along with several marathon runners from that day.

This really is, as you mentioned, Brooke, the last piece of the puzzle in terms of Boylston Street getting back to normal.

They've taken the longest to reopen because they sustained the most damage. As you mentioned, the second bomb exploded right outside the entrance, so the past four months have really been about construction and emotional healing.

We did speak with the general manager, Chris Loper, who gave us a tour. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS LOPER, GENERAL MANAGER, THE FORUM: This is where the -- most of the significant changes were made.

The biggest thing for me was trying to make sure that our staff was OK, emotionally, and to an extent, try to help out financially by finding them other things to do while we were closed.

We did all new carpet, new light fixtures, new wallpaper. I can't wait to stand there with my fellow staff members and welcome all the guests back in.

It's going to be -- it'll be an emotional night, but it'll be an exciting night, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: And I do also want to mention they have made some major changes to the restaurant, everything from a new layout, new lights, new wallpaper.

That's because they didn't want people to sort of come in and be reminded of that day. They wanted something completely different.

So it's all about moving on.

Brooke?

BALDWIN: Zain Asher, thank you very much.

Coming up, a popular WWE wrestler makes an impromptu announcement, one that has drawn some reaction from folks all around the world. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Can a gay man be successful in the world of professional wrestling. WWE superstar Darren Young says, look at me, yes.

With those unexpected words, he became the first professional wrestler to come out.

Nick Valencia has been following this one for us. And just take me back. How did this whole thing come out to begin with?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so, Darren Young along with other high-profile wrestlers flew to Los Angeles for an event coming up

It's called Summer Slam. It's on the 18th, so a lot of these high- profile are in town.

He was at LAX, at which point a TMZ cameraman in an impromptu interview, as they do, caught up with him and asked, do you think a gay wrestler could be successful in the WWE?

That's when --

BALDWIN: Just happens to ask this question? VALENCIA: Just happens. He didn't know. He didn't know, Brooke, and he was caught off guard when Darren Young said, as a matter of fact, I am gay and I'm very happy.

And he says, Does this change the opinion you have of me? Does this matter? Sort of rhetorically asking, and the cameraman said, thank you for sharing something so beautiful with me and personal.

And a lot of people are saying that this is the first active, professional wrestler in the WWE to come out and say that he's gay.

So, big news, making a lot of headlines today.

BALDWIN: So reactions?

VALENCIA: It's been varied.

The WWE came out almost immediately after Darren Young did this, and they released this statement. They said, in part, "The WWE is proud of Darren young for being open about his sexuality and will continue to support him as a WWE star."

They also go on to talk about this event that he was going to be in in Los Angeles. It's an anti-bullying event, so that's why he was in town as well.

But there are also other people who say, oh, you know, not only people don't know who is, but they also say, why announce your sexuality?

So, dissenting opinions. I think the litmus test to his announcement will be when he comes out and wrestles at Super Slam to see how he's received by fans on the 18th. That will really be the test to the reaction.

BALDWIN: Yeah. Yeah. Nick, thank you -

VALENCIA: You got it.

BALDWIN: -- very much.

Question for you. What do you get when you cross a teddy bear and a house cat? This is exactly how some scientists today are describing this new species just discovered.

Chad Myers is going explain, and we'll show it to you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: OK, before we get to this new mammal has been discovered, we need to talk to Alison Kosik.

About four minutes until that closing bell, the Dow is down quite a bit. Why?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, as we head into the finish line -- to the finish line after this long session today, you are seeing the Dow actually post its fifth biggest decline of the year.

What you're seeing are investors reacting to disappointing headlines from two companies, tech company Cisco Systems and Walmart, both giving their earnings reports, basically calling into question the strength of the economy and how the economy is going to affect their business in the long run.

Also, a weak regional manufacturing report kind of piling on and then you've got the worries about when the Fed is going to pull back on its stimulus.

So you roll all that together and you get, once again, the fifth biggest loss -- actually now the fourth biggest loss for the Dow for the year.

Brooke?

BALDWIN: Alison, thank you.

As we await that ring there on Wall Street, we've got to get to the story you've been waiting for.

Just when you thought there was nothing left to discover, scientists say they have found a new mammal.

It's called an olinguito. Olinguito, OK? The Smithsonian says it looks like the cross between a house cat and teddy bear. I'll let you be the judge of that. Chad Myers?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: My wife already wants one.

BALDWIN: Oh, no.

MYERS: I know.

BALDWIN: You're like, "Honey, it lives in the wild."

MYERS: Honey, it could be really dangerous.

BALDWIN: Where did it come from?

MYERS: It comes from the cloud up in the Andes. There's this cloud bank.

BALDWIN: It comes from a cloud?

MYERS: It comes from the cloud forest, and really, the sun never comes out. It's always cloudy there.

The only problem is they found it in 1969. It went to the Louisville Zoo, it went to the National Zoo, it went to the Bronx Zoo and no one ever realized that it was an amazing new species until now.

DNA sequencing has finally said, this is not the olingo, it's the olinguito! This is a brand-new species, subspecies, and we've never realized it. It was right under our nose the entire time. The scientists went back into the forest. They found them en masse. They're out there. There's a bunch of them.

BALDWIN: This is all kind of anticlimactic.

MYERS: I just wanted -- this is what you can find with science. This isn't just going out there and saying, oh, look at that cat. It's a great cat. DNA sequence it and it might not be what you expect.

BALDWIN: So if I go to the cloud forest of the Andean Mountain range, can I find one of these?

MYERS: They're all over the place. They are not hunted. They are everywhere.

But they're kind of a smaller version of a bigger animal about -- it looks a lot the same. But the head is different and they know that this is the olinguito.

It's the small one. It's about a foot-and-a-half to two-feet-long and only weighs two pounds.

BALDWIN: Two pounds? So cute.

MYERS: How could it do any damage in your house?

BALDWIN: Why did we just realize this? Thirty seconds.

MYERS: You know it's -- the gene sequencing is now looking through everything.

BALDWIN: There could be other new mammals that we -

MYERS: They're cross-referencing everything now. Yeah. Exactly. Like, you know, like who knows what's --

BALDWIN: Who knows what's been under our noses, I guess, for this whole time?

MYERS: We'll see.

BALDWIN: But it is cute, olinguito. Olinguito, you got that?

Chad Myers -

MYERS: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: -- thank you.

That's what we're ending on. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks so much for being with me here. I'll be back tomorrow, almost TGIF for all of us.

Meantime, let's take you to Washington. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.