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Christie Signs Gay Conversion Therapy Ban; Palestinian Hacks Zuckerberg's Facebook Page; Bear Maulings on Rise; Study: Coffee Bad For You; Oprah Winfrey Interviews Lindsey Lohan.
Aired August 19, 2013 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He questioned his sexuality at 16 so his parents put him in conversion therapy, therapy that could make him straight.
MATHEW SHURKA, CONVERSION THERAPY PARTICIPANT: If I could have the same feelings for a woman that I have for a man, why not.
HARLOW: He saw four therapists for five years and wrote about it in his journal.
SHURKA: "I'm feel I'm to the point where I'm really beginning to change."
HARLOW: He didn't change. His feeling for men remained despite these methods he was taught.
SHURKA: How to avoid same sex attractions if I had any urges or attractions. How to dismiss it from my mind, whether through masturbation techniques or distraction techniques.
HARLOW: He says he was left feeling like a failure.
SHURKA: It put me in this place of being uncomfortable with who I am. Every morning, go to school and say I'm not going to be me today, that destroys other areas of my life, like academics, family, friends.
HARLOW: The therapy is highly controversial and is opposed by major medical groups including the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatrist Association which says there's no scientific evidence it works. The World Health Organization says, "It represents a serious threat to the health and well being of affected people"
DR. JACK DRESCHER, DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, AMERICAN PSYCHIATRISTS ASSOCIATION: The fear is upon which these practices are based have no scientific basis and may cause harm.
HARLOW: New Jersey counselor, Tara King, insists it could work. She says she was a lesbian but therapy and prayer turned her straight.
TARA KING, LICENSED COUNSELOR: I didn't leave homosexuality because I was unhappy. I left because it was a contradiction to my faith. It prevents them from getting the help they desire. HARLOW: She says she's used conversion therapy on patients and a ban would make it illegal for minors muzzled her.
KING: It prevents them from getting that they desire.
HARLOW (on camera): If a parent says, my daughter says she's gay, we want you to change that, what do you do?
KING: If the child doesn't want to change their sexual orientation, I honor and respect what the client wants, because ultimately the child is my client, not the parent.
HARLOW: This won't restrict religious institution or others that are not licensed therapists from talking to youth about this.
KING: Right. They're not trained professionals. They're not licensed. They're not under a board of ethics that they must follow. That's the concern.
HARLOW (voice-over): King and others say to ban this infringes on their rights.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Talk therapy is talk therapy. There's no danger in talking.
HARLOW: But today, Governor Christie signed the ban into law, saying he has concerns about government limiting parental choice, but also pointing out the risks cited by experts. The statement reads in part, quote, "I believe that exposing children to these health risks without clear evidence of benefits that outweigh these serious risks is not appropriate."
SHURKA: It gives an opportunity for parents to question it again. What is really best for my child and is it really appropriate for them?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Poppy joins us.
Poppy, first of all, New Jersey, now just the second state to pass this ban for minors. Do we expect this will be something we'll see in other states as well?
HARLOW: I think that's a great question. Everyone is looking at New Jersey and California. That's the first state that passed the ban like this but then groups that advocate for conversion therapy in California sued. So right now that law is on hold in California pending a decision by the Nineth Circuit Court of Appeals. So New Jersey is the only state where it's active now that the governor has signed it into law.
I will say, the same group that filed the lawsuit in California says they will file a similar lawsuit in New Jersey. This could also get held up in the courts. But, again, only the second state. We could see this play out nationwide. And it's coming from a politician who is certainly in the national spotlight.
MALVEAUX: Poppy, thank you.
Coming up, Facebook has a flaw. How a message sent by a hacker has Mark Zuckerberg changing up his own security on Facebook.
And Lindsay Lohan is known for her run-ins with the law but now she's coming clean about her addiction and rehabilitation. The Oprah interview, straight head. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's own Facebook page gets hacked, people pay attention. A researcher from the Middle East posted a message on Zuckerberg's wall last week breaking the company's privacy rules. He says he had to do it because the site security team ignored his efforts to inform them about a security flaw.
Our Jim Clancy is following the story from Jerusalem.
And tell us about this guy. How did he do this?
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He's 30 years old. His name is Clario Shreta (ph), a Palestinian on the West Bank. He's got an absolutely dilapidated lap top. He was able to find and identify a serious security flaw on Facebook.
Well, let me have him describe it to you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLARIO SHRETA, HACKED ZUCKERBERG'S FACEBOOK PAGE: To find a way to post to other Facebook users' time line, this is dangerous. This is so dangerous. It will allow people to make public ads without paying Facebook money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Don't pay Facebook my money. What's he talking about here? Spammers could have exploited this big time. It means that anyone could go out and post things to people's time lines. They to popular people like you that might have 5,000 friends for their page. All of them would see this post. Without any paying for it, it would be an ad. You're not supposed to be able to do that unless you've a friend or at least a friend of a friend. He found way to do it for anyone.
Now, he says he approached Facebook several times. He showed me the exchange of e-mails. At first they said -- you can read it on his computer screen -- they said this isn't a bug. The next time they said, well, we can't see it, even though he posted it to one of Zuckerberg's friends. He said you need proof, I'll show you, and he posted to Zuckerberg's page. That's going cost him though, Suzanne.
(CROSSTALK)
CLANCY: It's going to cost him the pay out of maybe $500 or more for finding that flaw.
MALVEAUX: It's pretty bold actually. I think some people see this guy as a hero, right. He's become a local celebrity to actually be able to do something like this.
CLANCY: Absolutely. He's a local celebrity in that town. This young man's been out of work for two years. The last time he worked was for a web hosting company. He did discover something no one else found. Because it violated the terms of service, he can't collect anything for it. He's heartbroken. He said, "Being a Palestinian with no resources, I'm proud of the fact I was able to do this." It is an accomplishment. He did it the right way. He said he's gotten some job offers but he suspects it might be hackers trying to make use of the exploit that he found. He says he wants no part of that. He's hoping the billionaire Zuckerberg will show a little kindness.
MALVEAUX: Or maybe hire him.
(LAUGHTER)
Jim, thanks. Appreciate it.
CLANCY: He wants it. All the local people, yeah. Get that job.
MALVEAUX: Yeah.
Jim Clancy reporting from Jerusalem. Appreciate it.
Seven folks attacked by bears in four days. One was mauled just while jogging. Are bear attacks on the rise? Why is this happening? Up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: A 12-year-old girl jogging in Michigan was attacked by a bear this weekend. It's the latest in seven maulings -- this is across the country -- in just the past few days.
Zoraida Sambolin tells us why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH WETHERELL, VICTIM'S MOTHER: A bear just came out of nowhere and knocked her to the ground. She tried to get away and the bear came back again.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A mother's chilling account of how a black bear mauled her daughter, Abigail Wetherell, leaving deep gashes on her thigh. To survive, she relied on instinct.
WETHERELL: She decided the best bet was to just lay there and play dead.
SAMBOLIN: This attack is the latest in a string of bear maulings across the country. At least five attacks in the past week. TOM STALF, PRESIDENT & CEO, COLUMBUS ZOO: The reason why we're having bear attacks now is we have vacationers out in the area where bears live. They are out foraging and looking for food.
SAMBOLIN: Last week, a brown bear mauled a hunter in the northern Alaskan wilderness. He survived 36 hours until the Air National Guard spotted him using night vision goggles and air lifting him to safety.
From the back woods to the back patio, bear encounters causing people's jaws to drop.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: We were all just freaking out.
SAMBOLIN: A black bear tore through the MacDonough family's screen door in Naples, Florida, taking an hour-long nap on their veranda.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: He looked tired because he was sleeping.
ALICE MACDONOUGH, BEAR BROKE INTO HOUSE: This is the closest I've ever come to a bear, let alone a seven to eight foot bear sitting on my back porch.
SAMBOLIN: A similar scene in Colorado last month where a bear roamed into a bar filled with customers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tried to holler "bear" so people could hear me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN: And, Suzanne, today, wildlife officials are returning tests on a bear they killed maybe about two miles away from where the 12- year-old was mauled to see if the DNA matches. They also set traps.
When we talk about the why, why is this happening? As we saw the zoo official say, we're going out into areas that are the territory of the bear. It's something we could potentially see more often. And also this time of year the bears are preparing to hibernate. They are out looking for food.
They recommend that if you're in areas where there are bears, to be careful, take your bear spray because you could encounter a bear -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Absolutely. Thanks, Zoraida.
You can watch Zoraida weekdays at 5:00 a.m. eastern here on CNN.
Coming up, we have a new study that says coffee could be bad for you, but is it really the case? We'll take a look next with Elizabeth Cohen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: We've all heard the headlines, coffee is good for you or coffee is bad for you.
Elizabeth Cohen is looking at these studies and sorts throughout all the coffee confusion.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Conflicting studies about coffee and your health are brewing up confusion.
BRIDGET FIELDS, COFFEE DRINKER: I don't know is it good for me, is it bad? Should I drink it, should I not?
VITTY SHTEIERMAN, COFFEE DRINKER: I find this information confusing but I just drink it anyway.
(LAUGHTER)
I drink like 10 cups a day.
COHEN: But a recent study says maybe she should learn to live without it or perhaps not quite so much of it.
The study found that people under age 55 who drank four or more cups a day were 50 percent more likely to die during the course of the 16- year study. And we're talking about eight-ounce cups of coffee, not the giant drinks that many people like to order.
Coffee might hurt you by increasing your chances of getting gastrointestinal cancer plus --
DR. SCOTT WRIGHT, CARDIOLOGIST, MAYO CLINIC: The stimulant from coffee with caffeine could cause irregular heart rhythms.
COHEN: But, and it's a big but, several other studies have found that coffee is actually good for you, decreasing the likelihood you will get Alzheimer's, type-2 diabetes and other diseases.
So what's a java lover to do?
FIELDS: When you smell coffee, you know it's time to get your day going.
COHEN: Some doctors say you can hedge your bets.
WRIGHT: Mark Twain once said everything in moderation.
COHEN: So maybe instead of 10 cups a day, try sticking to fewer than four.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Our senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, joins us.
Elizabeth, I'm a coffee drinker who is totally confused. I just saw your report. What should I do?
(LAUGHTER) COHEN: I think of it this way. This study is one of the ones that showed that it was bad, but it was bad when it was more than four eight-ounce cups a day. Maybe just try to keep it to under four eight-ounce cups a day.
MALVEAUX: Is there something about the group here, the coffee drinkers? Do we have something in common that might skew the results in any way?
COHEN: It is possible that it's not really the coffee, it's just something about people like you.
(LAUGHTER)
But I don't think so. I was going to say, for example, maybe coffee drinkers eat a lot but that's obviously not your issue.
Maybe coffee drinkers are really stressed out people and that's why they are dying young in this study. We don't know. Or maybe it really is the coffee. We don't know.
And so when you have all these question marks, the best thing you can do is, as I said in the piece, hedge your bet. You don't have to give up coffee but maybe you don't want to drink a ton of it.
MALVEAUX: What does caffeine do to your body? What is the --
COHEN: I think there is some concern that it gets your heart rate going too fast. That's the concern. And that it can mess up that whole cardiovascular system, but that's not proven. Nobody really knows that. So even the good things about coffee, we can't prove those either. There's a lot of mushiness here. That's a technical term.
(LAUGHTER)
There's a lot of mushiness here. So all you can really do is take that mushiness and say, well, gee, what makes the most sense here is I'm not going to drink tons of coffee. Four cups a day. Keep it down to four cups a day.
MALVEAUX: Just keep warming up the same one.
COHEN: You could do that, too. There you go.
(LAUGHTER)
MALVEAUX: Elizabeth, thank you. Everything in moderation.
COHEN: That's right.
MALVEAUX: Appreciate it.
Coming up, she secretly says she wanted to go to jail. Alcohol, her drug of choice. And she admits to being, quote, "a mess." Lindsay Lohan comes clean to Oprah. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MALVEAUX: Lindsay Lohan, known more for her off-screen drama than her acting, says she secretly wanted to go to jail. Well, that's what she told Oprah Winfrey in an interview. The troubled actress revealed even more as she tried to come clean to Oprah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPRAH WINFREY, OWNER, OWN NETWORK: Are you an addict?
LINDSAY LOHAN, ACTRESS: Yeah.
WINFREY: What is it you're addicted to? What is your drug of choice or drugs of choice?
LOHAN: Alcohol.
WINFREY: Alcohol.
LOHAN: Yeah. Because that's -- that in the past was a gateway to other things for me.
WINFREY: Other things?
LOHAN: I never abused -- I drank. It was alcohol. And I never --
(CROSSTALK)
WINFREY: That when you were arrested the first time, correct?
LOHAN: Yeah. Possession.
NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the troubled actress' first interview since completing three months of court-ordered treatment for substance abuse. The 27-year-old's sixth trip to rehab.
Lohan told Winfrey that her troubled past is behind her, hoping to restore her reputation and restart her acting career.
WINFREY: What's going to be different this time?
LOHAN: I'm not taking Adderall. That's a big deal.
TURNER: She acknowledged she has a battle with addiction.
WINFREY: You were addicted to Adderall?
LOHAN: Yes. Because that's all I knew. You know, I was convinced that it did ground me.
TURNER: Confessed to using cocaine at least 10 to 15 times.
WINFREY: So were you snorting it, injecting it, smoking it?
LOHAN: No, I snorted it.
WINFREY: Snorted it.
LOHAN: I never injected anything other than getting B-12 shots.
(LAUGHTER)
TURNER: And revealed her two-week jail sentence in 2010 for probation violation was necessary for her road to recovery.
LOHAN: Somewhere inside, knew and kind of wanted to go to jail.
WINFREY: Was it a cry for help?
LOHAN: I think it was just to find some peace.
WINFREY: How much money were you making?
LOHAN: Too much.
TURNER: With rehab behind her, Lindsay admits that launching a career comeback won't be easy. First step --
LOHAN: Prove myself in the way I did before in the past and that I lost. I have to regain the trust of people and my career that have their doubts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TURNER: Oprah and Lindsay are also working on an eight-part documentary series in which Lindsay will chronicle her efforts in recovery. And that series will air on OWN in 2014 -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: Thanks, Nischelle.
Oprah didn't do too bad at the movies this past weekend. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: We have no tolerance for politics at the White House.
FOREST WHITTAKER, ACTOR: I'm Cecil Gaines. I'm the new butler.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You have no tolerance for politics at the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: At the box office, Lee Daniels' "The Butler" has taken the top spot in weekend sales. Absolutely amazing film, starring Forest Whittaker as a butler who serves eight presidents. Oprah Winfrey plays his wife. The civil rights drama debuted with a healthy $25 million, beating out the competition.
Had a chance to speak with the actor, Forest Whittaker, and director, Lee Daniels, just last week. Posted it on Twitter, if you would like to take a look, as well as CNN.com.
Movie sex symbol trending today, Raquel Welch -- you remember her -- signed on to play Versace's aunt in a film for the Lifetime Network. The film will tell the story of how Versace's sister took over the fashion empire after he was murdered in 1997. It's set to premiere in October.
We want to end this hour with this story. When college and professional teams win national championships, they usually make a trip to the White House to be recognized by the president. Four decades ago, 1972 Miami Dolphins who went undefeated, won the Super Bowl, did not get that chance. It was not common practice back then, but guess what, they are actually going to be able to do it. It will happen tomorrow. The man responsible, the former tight end, Lamar Fleming, who told our Fredricka Whitfield how this all happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAMAR FLEMING, FORMER MIAMI DOLPHINS TIGHT END: For 15 years, OK, believe it or not, I talked to Congress people, mayors, governors. I talked to everybody who is involved with the White House. Nobody came -- no, nobody came up with anything. So I'm at a party at Deacon Jones' house when he was -- bless his heart, when he was still with us, and I met George Stark. Who is George Stark? George played for the Washington Redskins. I said, do you know anybody, do you know anybody in the White House. He said, yeah, my wife. I said your wife?
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: All right. Congratulations to the team for a trip to the White House.
That's it for me. I'll be back tomorrow at noon with AROUND THE WORLD.
CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Brooke Baldwin. Have a good afternoon.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The mayor accused of sexual harassment by more than a dozen women gets ready to go back to work. Live, during this show, his supporters are holding a rally.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
A mom out for a walk pushing her baby stroller when, suddenly, someone shoots her son between the eyes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so afraid to have any more babies now. I tried to raise really good kids in a wicked world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: Today, a teenager faces trial.
The homes of celebrities and millionaires at risk as flames erupt.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: -- a Good Samaritan loses his life while trying to stop a street fight.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There's the baby, the new royal heir in the United Kingdom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
