Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Outbreak of Meningitis Strain at Princeton University; House Votes for Amendment to Obamacare; Philippines Devastated by Typhoon; Toronto Mayor Stripped of Most Powers; Author Discusses Musicians who Died at 27; High School Debates Changing Arab Mascot
Aired November 16, 2013 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Outbreak on campus. A meningitis scare at a major American university. A rare strain is now putting thousands of students at risk and an emergency vaccine could be the only thing to stop it.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: The city council wants him gone, but Toronto's crack-smoking mayor says he is not going anywhere. Now Rob Ford's biggest advocate, his brother, is speaking out to CNN. And the mayor's wife, she is standing by her man.
BLACKWELL: And it's the club no rocker, no singer, no performer wants to be part of. We are pulling back the curtain this morning on the 27 Club, a new book which bursts the myth and uncovers the mystery.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Zoraida Sambolin. Nice to have you with us this morning.
BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Now 10:00 on the east coast, 7:00 on the west coast. You are in the CNN Newsroom.
SAMBOLIN: And this morning, one of the top schools in the country is facing a major health scare and trying to figure out how to keep its students safe. A rare and dangerous form of meningitis has struck the Princeton University. Several people have become ill. The latest came down with the illness several weeks ago. There is a vaccine, but it is not approved in the United States.
BLACKWELL: CNN's Alexandra Field in in Princeton University. Alexandra, Princeton University trustees are now deciding whether to let the students get the vaccine.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are we're told, Victor, that trustees will make that decision sometime this weekend. After trustee decide whether or not to make the vaccine available, it would then be up to some 8,000 students here at Princeton to decide whether they want a vaccine that has only been approved overseas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD: Princeton University officials are meeting this weekend to discuss possible vaccinations on campus. It is an effort to combat an ongoing outbreak of meningitis b, which can cause life threatening illness. The New Jersey Department of Health says the first case developed when a first student returned from spring break in March. After additional cases were reported an outbreak of the disease was declared in May. A total of six students and one visitor to Princeton are linked to the outbreak.
The latest case was diagnosed last week. That student is still hospitalized this morning.
ADAM KROP, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY STUDENT: It was pretty instant. She went from feeling almost fine to the next minute at 103 fever.
FIELD: Bacterial meningitis is rare and the strain causing this outbreak is very rare in the United States. It's not included in currently available vaccines. The bacteria can cause infections of the lining of the brain and spinal cord. Symptoms include headache, fever, vomiting, rashes, and stiff neck. Those infected need to be treated right away, and even those who recover can suffer serious complications such as hearing loss, brain damage, and limb amputations.
DR. MARK WHITMAN, CAPITAL HEALTH REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: You need to treat it quickly. A community that may have other cases has to be aware of the symptoms because the quicker you put someone on antibiotics, the more likely they are to recover.
FIELD: To combat the disease, the CDC has FDA approval to import the only vaccine for meningitis b as an experimental drug called Bexsero. It is approved in Australia and Europe but not yet in the United States. If university and health officials agree to offer the vaccine, it will available on a voluntary basis, something students will likely consider.
KRISTIE SCHOTT, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I think a lot of people are concerned from the fact it did not go away over the summer after everybody left.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FIELD: And as for whether or not students want the vaccine, the ones that we spoke to this morning said they will probably wait for the trustees to make their decision before doing their own homework on it. Victor and Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: Alexandra we were talking about one student that was diagnosed last week, but the first case was actually back in March. Why are we just learning about this now?
FIELD: This is becoming news now as the CDC gets that approval from the FDA to import this drug. The students here on campus tell us they were made aware of the cases of meningitis b as early as March. They have been getting e-mail update along the way letting them know as different cases come to the surface.
SAMBOLIN: Alexandra Field, thank you very much. I just want to mention that earlier we talked to a doctor who had said that he actually recommends this vaccine and they actually approve it. But if you're a parent you're going to have to check with your own physician to see whether you're OK with it or not.
BLACKWELL: It is a difficult decision. The good thing is some of the kids will go home for Thanksgiving break soon so hopefully this will be able to disperse and this will end here.
Another big story we are following, Toronto's embattled mayor. This story keeps on giving. He says he is staying put. He is going nowhere even though he is being stripped now of most of his powers. This was an unprecedented move. The city council voted yesterday to strip Mayor Rob Ford of his ability to govern in an emergency and to appoint and dismiss committee chairs.
SAMBOLIN: So despite the calls growing louder for him to resign after admitting to smoking crack, Ford's wife is standing by his side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should he step down, Mrs. Ford?
RENATA FORD, TORONTO MAYOR'S WIFE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think he should take a leave of absence?
FORD: That's why we have elections.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think he should at least take some personal time? Should he at least take some personal time?
FORD: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: The accusations against Ford include prostitutes, abuse of power. There are the accusations of drug use. Ford is striking back. He is threatening to sue some of his former colleagues. For late night comedians, though, this political drama is the gift that keeps on giving.
BLACKWELL: Day after day.
SAMBOLIN: Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: Up in the city of Toronto, Canada, this is the time of year they put up the giant crack pipe.
JIMMY FALLON, LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW HOST: He has announced, and this is true, he will start hosting a TV show with his brother in Canada. It raises a lot of questions, starting with where can I get Canadian TV. Where is this? I want to tape it.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: I don't think that will work out well. Mayor Ford apologized this week. He did apologize after he made those sexually explicit comments on live television. That erratic behavior has people asking if Ford is actually fit to lead. Ford says the accusations against him are outright lies. They are not true.
SAMBOLIN: Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us live from Toronto. I know you spoke to Ford's brother. What did he have to say?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I asked him about the situation with his brother, the mayor. Only the pair of them voted against the whole of the rest of the council, 41-2. Doug Ford is a council member on Toronto City council as well. I said, isn't this just humiliating for your brother?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUG FORD, TORONTO MAYOR ROB FORD'S BROTHER: Just imagine if you took the CEO out and said every one of you folks has the same powers as the CEO? It would not work.
ROBERTSON: Isn't it going to be humiliating for your brother to be put in that position?
FORD: This whole issue is humiliating.
ROBERTSON: This is what he will be remembered for.
FORD: He will be remembered by doing a great job. He will be remembered if he fails to move in the right direction. And he will be remembered as a comeback kid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Even his brother not entirely convinced that the mayor can actually pull through and keep on track at the moment. But the mayor himself vowing to continue to fight what the council chambers here are doing, fight them in the courts and even if it means dipping in his own pocket.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Your brother, the mayor, said today he will fight some of the issues in court. It won't be public money, but his money. How much will this cost you? How long you can go on fighting it?
FORD: We spent close to probably $1 million fighting on all of the other court cases, three of them. You have to keep in mind. This battle did not happen right now.
ROBERTSON: How many more?
FORD: This started three years ago when Rob Ford was elected.
ROBERTSON: This will cost big. FORD: Every single -- that's fine. We have taken on bigger guys.
ROBERTSON: How deep are your pockets?
FORD: I have short pockets.
ROBERTSON: Short pockets.
FORD: I have very short pockets.
ROBERTSON: Then you'll have to stop the fight pretty quickly.
FORD: We will never stop fighting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: And it will continue to cost them because on Monday there are expected to be at least another three motions against the mayor stripping him of more powers.
BLACKWELL: Nic Robertson in Toronto for us, we will see what the new week will bring. Thank you very much.
Police in Detroit are charging a man with murder two weeks after he shot and killed a 19-year-old woman that he thought was breaking into his home.
SAMBOLIN: Prosecutors say they don't believe Theodore Wayfair was acting in self-defense when he shot behind a locked screen door. The parents of the victim say he is a monster and should be behind bars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALTER SIMMONS, RENISHA MCBRIDE'S FATHER: I want to thank the prosecutor's office for the thorough job they have done to bring the charges that they brought against Mr. Wayfair -- I don't know why I'm saying Mr. Wayfair -- this monster that killed my daughter. And I think they did a thorough job and they came up with the right decision. And I hope he spends the rest of his life in jail.
MONICA MCBRIDE, RENISHA MCBRIDE'S MOTHER: You did no accident. You took a life. And you took a beautiful life that was starting to blossom into a beautiful woman. And for that, I hope you stay in jail for the rest of your life, because I have to go on with my life and her father without our daughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Police say McBride was drunk and possibly disoriented following a car crash when she stepped to Wayfair's porch looking for help.
BLACKWELL: In Washington now, Republicans pushed through this fix for Obamacare, but what they call a fix not everybody calls a fix. That's a subjective term. It's all relative. Live to Washington for the explanation. SAMBOLIN: Did you hear about that? Alec Baldwin shoots off his mouth at a photographer. That gets him and his cable talk show suspended.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: Republicans branded it a fix, but a new House bill essentially guts Obamacare. Dozens of Democrats actually abandoned the president and voted for this Republican measure.
SAMBOLIN: So let's talk to CNN's Erin McPike in Washington this morning. At first glance this looks a lot like the fix that the president offered this week, but it's really. There is a big distinction here. Can you talk to us about that?
ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. President Obama has said he wants to administer some fix so that any American who had a plan canceled under Obamacare can extend that policy for the next year.
Now, the Republican plan would allow not only that extension for the next year, but it would allow any American to buy those canceled plans for the next year. These plans are cheaper for the first thing and the second part is they don't meet the demands of the affordable care act, so it defeats the purpose of the law. The fear is among the White House that younger Americans and healthier Americans will buy these canceled plans and it will skew the premiums going into the exchanges. Fred Upton, the Republican who wrote this plan, was on "The Situation" yesterday, and here's what he had to say about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. FRED UPTON, (R) MICHIGAN: We're waiting to see how the administration is going to do this. They told us it would work. It hasn't. They told the American public they would be able to keep their plans. We know that for millions that is not the case. We are trying to remedy the situations and not leave our constituents high and dry with nothing to show for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCPIKE: So obviously it is now a trust issue with President Obama. The problem for the house is that Democrats in red states by and large agree with what Upton had to say about that, Zoraida.
BLACKWELL: Erin, you have 39 Democrats in the House who jump ship and vote for this Republican branded for this fix. Is the White House saying anything about the defectors, as they are called?
MCPIKE: Of course, the White House has been trying to meet with Democrats all week to calm their fears, and there was an expectation that many more Democrats would have voted for the Republican bill had it not been for the White House trying to say, OK, we are going to take a look at this and try to implement our own fix, Victor.
BLACKWELL: You need a few more to get to that veto-proof majority, but then you have to get the Senate to take it up, too. Erin McPike in D.C. for us. Thank you so much.
SAMBOLIN: And MSNBC has yanked Alec Baldwin and his late night talk show off the air, did you hear about this, for two weeks. The actor shouted a gay slur at a photographer this week. He apologized last night.
BLACKWELL: Here's the apology. He says, "What I said and did this week as I was trying to protect my family was offensive. This undermines hard fought rights that I vigorously support."
SAMBOLIN: Baldwin overheated Thursday right outside his New York apartment. He was struggling to get his wife and his baby into the Mercedes. GLAAD, a gay rights organization, said that Baldwin cannot support equality on paper and then degrade gay people in practice.
BLACKWELL: Imagine this, no electricity, very little food and very little water. Infants are born in the wreckage of typhoon Haiyan and are not clinging to life. We will take you inside a neonatal clinic, and you will not believe the conditions. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: A week after one of the strongest storms in recorded history hit the Philippines, thousands are escaping the devastation in the hardest hit city of Tacloban. And this is happening just as clean-up crews are now clearing more from the streets so the supplies can finally flow in. Also this morning, a lot of survivors are seeking refuge in Cebu, the Philippines second largest city.
SAMBOLIN: The number of those killed continues to rise. The storm is now blamed for more than 3,600 deaths. More than 12,000 others were injured and the search is on for 1,100 people who are reported still missing. CNN's Anna Coren is in Cebu where survivors from Tacloban are arriving. Anna, will these people finally get the help that they need?
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we hope so. You know, Zoraida and Victor, this has been a hideous wait longer in fact for these people who for so many of them have lost everything, loved ones, their homes, they come here to Cebu carrying whatever they have left. They're getting off vessels bringing them here to Cebu. For those with family and friends around the country, they'll be sent there. Those with no relatives will be put up in evacuation centers around the city.
These people are broken. You know, they are shell shocked, they are depressed. Those that we spoke to said they have no idea how they're going to rebuild their lives. That's obviously where aid agencies and the Filipino government will make a step up and assist these people putting the pieces back together.
BLACKWELL: What is the explanation from the government? A few days ago, it was reported that that roads from the airport had been cleared and that the airport was functional. There are clinics close to the airport. Why is this taking so long? COREN: Yes, the aid operation has taken a ridiculous amount of time. We've been based out at Cebu air base for much of the past week. And they've been operating with some three military planes and one forklift. This is meant to be the staging ground for this relief operation.
So the Filipino government under heavy criticism as to how they've handled this operation. "Slow," "disorganized," "chaotic" some of the words used to describe it. I think people feel this government was never equipped to handle such a disaster and they should have reached out to the international community straightaway. International community is on the ground now and finally aid is being distributed. But still people are suffering.
BLACKWELL: Anna Coren there in Cebu for us, thank you.
SAMBOLIN: The only bit of good news, someone we talked to earlier, she said the ship that brings people is functioning 24 hours continuously bringing folks to the other side.
BLACKWELL: Hopefully this continues to speed up.
SAMBOLIN: All right, so we're hearing incredible stories of ingenuity and survival among all the wreckage. CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson went to Tacloban to meet some of the tiniest and most vulnerable survivors of the typhoon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're in one of the main hospitals in Tacloban, and I'm going to take you into the chapel now to show you something that I've if he ever really seen anywhere in the world before. Come take a look.
For the past week, this has been the neonatal intensive care unit. There are now 27 babies who are in this chapel right now, almost all of them were born after the typhoon. Over here, this is the ICU, the intensive care unit.
Now, this mother is taking turns with the father manually pumping oxygen into their daughter's lungs because their daughter's not breathing. Normally, are if there wasn't a storm, this would be done by machines. But there's no electricity right now. So not only are there no breathing devices, but there are no incubators, and thermal regulation is a problem for these children, the doctors say, for these infants.
This is a preemie, born premature, six weeks early. And the doctors say that this is not an optimal situation. In fact, tragically, six infants have died here in this chapel in the last six days. The healthy babies are staying here in the pews.
And we do have some positive news to report. When we came in here, there were five infants in intensive care. And in the last hour, one of them, has been moved from intensive care over to here with his mother Catherine. Hello, Catherine. And Sian James who was born on Monday is now considered stable, which is wonderful news for Catherine and Sian James.
But this has been a very, very difficult week for the doctors here, for the families here, and for some of the infants. Again, all of these children, almost all of them born after the storm, these are storm babies, typhoon babies in a chapel turned into a neonatal ICU ward.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Tacloban in the Philippines.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN: Such an important story to share with us. We really appreciate it. I know a lot of times people are asking, what can I do, how can I help? You can go to CNN.com/impact. Lots of information there with a lot of different organizations and how you can assist if you are so inclined. They desperately do need help. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's on me. I mean, we fumbled the rollout on this health care law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: The president takes ownership of the bungled Obamacare rollout. He announced steps this week to let millions who have substandard, according to the new standards, policies canceled keep them one year more.
SAMBOLIN: But there are a couple of "buts" that stand in the way. State insurance commissioners must go along with this, but already several have said yes, but several have said no. And insurance companies must agree to un-cancel the plans and extend them another year if you're following me. So the president met with the industry executives Friday in order to persuade them to go along. His capitulation on canceled policies heads off a legislative fix by Congress, at least for now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I completely get how upsetting this can be for a lot of American, particularly after assurances they heard from me that if they had a plan that they liked, they could keep it. And to those Americans, I hear you loud and clear. I said that I would do everything we can to fix this problem, and today I'm offering an idea that will help do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: Viewpoints now from a couple of CNN political commentators, Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist, Ben Ferguson, conservative radio show host. I am glad we have the two of you together, because these are always lively conversations. I want to start with the president trying to fix one problem but have created another, because there are 45 days until this deadline. Insurance companies have gone in one direction. Now he's saying wait, wait, you don't have to go there. Maria, is the president creating a bigger problem?
MARIA CARDONA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, we'll see, Victor. But I think the important thing here is that the president actually was listening to the American people, especially that important small but important five percent of Americans who are receiving their cancellation notices. They were scared and they were upset, and the president has actually responded to that.
And in fact, some insurers, even some who met with the president yesterday at the White House said that they're glad that the president did this because their own customers were scared and were anxious and this gives them the ability to calm them down, to assure them they're able to continue those plans if they want to, and I think importantly, it also gives them a year to figure out if there are better plans out there, which there already, that they can go onto the insurance marketplace and buy those plans. That's what the year really is focused on doing. And that's why part of the fix makes insurers tell those customers what else is available out there and what those current plans don't cover, which I think is very important too.
BLACKWELL: Ben?
BEN FERGUSON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Yes, you know, it's interesting how they're trying to act like for 5 million Americans this is somehow such a small little minuscule number that this really isn't that big of a deal. It's a huge deal, such a big deal that 39 Democrats voted with Republicans yesterday in the House.
The other big deal is this. I talked to five different executives with different companies yesterday in the health care industry, and they all said, why is the White House and the president and the Democrats acting as if they're shocked? We told them this was going to happen in 2010. We made it incredibly clear that what they were passing was going to mean that millions of Americans were going to get cancelled.
Now they're acting like they're shocked by that, and we're sitting there going, why are you now calling an audible at the last minute? One of them described it this way. He said this would be like going into students about to give their dissertation and say a week before, scrap everything we told you had to do. Now we want you to completely redo it.
And as one health provider said, this is unrealistic to throw all of this on the industry and try to get them to fix something that we warned you was going to take place and you didn't pay attention to us. This is a huge debacle for this White House and a lot of insurance companies are saying we can't fix it.
SAMBOLIN: I want to stay on your point of the 39 House Democrats that voted on Upton bill siding with the Republicans here. Had they had another 18, then developed have had a vote toe-proof majority. My question is for you, Maria, because this was in "Politico." They call this a significant show of disloyalty to the party. Do you agree with that?
CARDONA: No, I don't agree with that. I guarantee you that the White House gave them the blessing to go ahead and do that. They understand and the president was very clear about this when he did his press conference this week and he acknowledged the difficulty politically that this, all of this has put the Democrats, especially those who are up in 2014.
So he completely understands why they did this. He completely understands that they had to go back and show their constituents that they were trying to fix this. But I'll tell you one thing. If the president had not made the fix that he did this week, that number would have been a lot higher.
And I think the focus here is, look, this Republican outrage, I'm sorry, it is fake. Where was all the outrage in the last years when insurance companies were dropping their constituents left and right when their constituents were going broke, when their constituents were actually dying because they didn't have health insurance and they have not lifted a finger to try to fix this?
FERGUSON: Maria.
CARDONA: So the president is doing something big. There are going to be problems here but Republicans have done nothing.
(CROSSTALK)
SAMBOLIN: Maria, let's give ben a chance to respond here.
FERGUSON: Maria, the fact that you want to try to blame this debacle on Republicans over the last 50 years, you guys were in charge of this.
CARDONA: I didn't say that.
FERGUSON: You created it. You're the ones that decided what you wanted in the Bill and didn't listen to the industry when they said it was going to be a disaster.
But even more than that, to imply that the president of the United States of America gave his blessing for 39 Democrats to vote with Republicans is embarrassing and laughable because the White House came out and said we're going to threaten to veto it.
CARDONA: Absolutely.
FERGUSON: You don't bless Democrats to do something and then claim you're going to veto it a few minutes later.
CARDONA: Of course do you.
FERGUSON: The White House saying I will veto this. That's a joke, I'm sorry.
CARDONA: It's politics. If you don't know that, clearly you've never worked on a political campaign. This happens all the time.
FERGUSON: I've worked on a few.
CARDONA: The president knows that the Democrats needed to do this.
BLACKWELL: Let me get a question in for ben. Ben, the president didn't address Obamacare in his weekly address but the Republicans certainly did. Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said that we need long-term solutions, not some short-term fixes. Is there a bit of hypocrisy there? Because these fixes were exactly what the Republicans proposed day after day during the government shutdown. The Democrats have said there are Democrats who never wanted this to work and any little thing then can pick out, or any larger thing, they will use to try to show that this never work. But the short term fixes line is exactly what Republicans were proposing.
FERGUSON: Well, the Republicans said as a compromise the government shutdown, look, let's give a one-year moratorium on the individual mandate and wait on this because it's not ready to be rolled out. And the president said I will not negotiate.
Now the president of the United States of America is now being forced to say, OK, I'll let you keep your plan for a year. The problem is, the president walked out and he didn't say if you like your plan, you can keep your plan for another 12 months. He said if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. So a one-year delay, all it's going to do is put us right back here in one year with the same mess that we're dealing with now. If you're a person with insurance, do you really want a 12-month delay of a now again another disaster? I don't think that's a fix delaying a disaster by one year for political reasons. They want to be able to keep the plans indefinitely the way the president promised them and not take it back and lie to the American people.
SAMBOLIN: All right, Maria and Ben, I'm sorry. We've run out of time. It's always so much fun to listen to both of you. Thank you so much. CNN political commentators Maria Cardona and Ben Ferguson, thank you.
BLACKWELL: So they're music and a lot of us are big fans of Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain. Their music defined generations, helped define rock and roll. But at 27 years old, they were gone. Janis Joplin, as we said, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse. Conspiracy theorists, though, continue to question how they all died at the same age. We're going to talk about the mystery surrounding what's called the 27 club.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back. Lady Gaga admits she was addicted to pot. That admission came during a radio interview where the singer said being high helped fuel her creativity. She says she is coming clean to warn young people about the dangers of drugs. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LADY GAGA, SINGER/SONGWRITER: I wanted to show people that I will last past 27 and I will last longer, and so will you. And I want to changing this code and the atmosphere that in order to be remembered, I must die young, in order to be remembered as a legend, I must be dead first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACKWELL: A powerful statement. She says she's going to live past 27. She's referring to the so-called 27 club, a name for a group of musicians who all died at the age of 27.
SAMBOLIN: So Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse are just a few of the iconic musicians who helped define rock 'n' roll before taking their own lives at 27 years old. Did you know that?
BLACKWELL: I knew some of them.
SAMBOLIN: So Howard Sounes is out with a new book called "27, A History of the 27 Club," and he joins us now live from London. Thank you, sir, for joining us. We appreciate your time this morning. We're going to circle backing to Lady Gaga. But first, there are a lot of conspiracy theories how these stars died. What do you make of all of that?
HOWARD SOUNES, AUTHOR, "27, A HISTORY OF THE 27 CLUB": Well, I think that's nonsense really. A great deal of rubbish has been written about these stars. But if we examine their lives, we find that their deaths are easily explicable and real tragedies that were happening because they were very unhappy, troubled people.
BLACKWELL: And is that the common denominator, just their unhappiness?
SOUNES: Well, we see the six big stars, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison of the Doors, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse. If we trace their lives back to childhood, as I do in my new book "27" we find they are difficult childhoods, difficult relationships with their parents. They got into trouble with drink and drugs early in life, and they were unstable people with personality disorders that were all in place before they became famous.
And then they became famous overnight, and the pressures of fame in their early 20s was another burden on people who were already psychologically weak.
SAMBOLIN: You heard Lady Gaga just a little while ago talked about her drug use and kind of made a mention about your book, the number 27. What worries you most about the music industry? Is it, you know, the propensity of drug use there and that we're going to see more of these artists join the 27 club?
SOUNES: Well, young people are drawn to the music business. They want to become famous, they want to express themselves. When we have someone like Lady Gaga or Amy Winehouse who are perhaps unstable people, they express their inner angst through their music. That's very entertaining for us, the public, and the music business loves them because they sell records. But often, they're not looked after. They're left to fend for themselves. And in "27," in the book -- we find that many of these stars were surrounded by people very unhelpful to them. Their nearest and dearest weren't there for them, and they often had flaky problems who were half the problem. Don't forget, Kurt Cobain married Courtney Love. Amy Winehouse married Blake Fielder-Civil. They all had drug problems. They were all in the same unhealthy world.
BLACKWELL: I want to pick this up and push it forward. I'm going to read part of your book here. You talk about family history taking this line of relationships. "In a sense, we should thank the parents of the 27, inadequate as many were, for creating an environment conducive to artists. If mommy and daddy had provided happier homes, their sons and daughters might have passed into anonymity. They might still be alive, but who would have heard of the optometrist Brian Jones or who would have known Jimi Hendrix, the landscape gardener or care about Janis Joplin, Port Arthur housewife?" Is there something, some blame that we as the buying public as the fans that we should accept for again some way enjoying their pain?
SOUNES: Well, I think that's the nature of show business. A great artist expresses themself, their inner self. The turmoil they're going through. They turn that into art. Amy did that brilliantly, so did Janis Joplin, and I guess to an extent Lady Gaga does. And of course, that's a spectacle. It's a freak show. It's entertaining to watch. But in many cases they're going through hell. And what we find with the 27s is they're self-destructive and their life is a kind of long suicide.
SAMBOLIN: I think also there's this issue of romanticizing their lives and maybe even their deaths. Did you find that?
SOUNES: Well, yes. I mean certainly by dying at 27, you make a big statement and you your memory is perpetuated through the generations. I mean, would we have remembered Brian Jones? Would we have remembered Jim Morrison if they had lived into middle age and old age and if they lost their looks, become middle-aged, became boring, made bad records, endless comeback tours? They may have faded away. But we remember them as young people in their prime.
And of course these stars made some of the greatest rock music of the past 40, 50 years. Think of The Doors, "Riders on the Storm," Janis Joplin "Me and Bobby Magee," The Rolling Stones "Paint it Black," Amy Winehouse, "Rehab," these are all songs made by the 27s, and it's great music.
SAMBOLIN: Howard Sounes, it's a fascinating book. I hope there are no more members of that 27 Club though. Thank you for joining us this morning, appreciate it.
BLACKWELL: It's a fascinating conversation, because you think about huge stars like Michael Jackson. If Michael Jackson had not continued to make music for as long as he did, would we remember him differently? Yes, I think it was a great conversation.
Still to come in the Newsroom, this week marks 50 years since we lost John F. Kennedy. Fareed Zakaria joins us for a look back at the nation's legacy and why the nation still mourns his death after all this time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: John F. Kennedy's death shocked a nation, the young handsome president taken too soon but assassin's bullet.
BLACKWELL: The anniversary of his death is nearly upon us. And CNN's Fareed Zakaria is taking a look at his death and legacy this morning. Good morning, Fareed.
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA 360": Zoraida, Victor, next week marks 50 years since the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I had a conversation with the great Pulitzer Prize winning historian Robert Caro. One of things I asked him was why JFK's assassination continues to loom so large in our imagination. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERT CARO, HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR: It's almost like myth, Homeric myth. Young, handsome, the athlete dying young at the height of his glory, you know? You say, beautiful, beautiful man, really, charming, handsome, idealistic. Murder, blood, violence, horror -- you know, you say here has this is crack of the gunshot. And in an instant, this man is lying across his wife's lap basically empty back seat of a car with his head blown apart, blood all over her. You know, you say, for that reason alone, it has all the qualities of the mythic drama in the highest terms.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAKARIA: That's Robert Caro, the great historian. He has a real way of bringing history to life. Zoraida, Victor?
BLACKWELL: Fareed, thank you. Also CNN puts you on the ground 50 years ago. That's the day President Kennedy was killed. Do not miss "The Assassination of President Kennedy," tomorrow night at 9:00 eastern on CNN.
SAMBOLIN: It's a really good watch.
A California high school has a big decision to make, whether or not to change up its beloved mascot. That has some up in arms.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLACKWELL: It's a southern Californians. There are some folks who know all about facelifts.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: But for a high school mascot, that is a brand spanking new one.
BLACKWELL: And one that's long overdue according to some people. They say it's time to say so long to a mascot known as "the Arab." Last night the school held a meeting to discuss the subject which has stirred up strong emotions, understandably. CNN's Casey Wian has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Coachella Valley High's sneering caricature of an angry Arab as its mascot may be nearing extinction, or at least cosmetic surgery.
DARRYL ADAMS, SUPERINTENDENT, COACHELLA VALLEY SCHOOL DISTRICT: It was information from alumni and students that the mascot may need a facelift.
RICH RAMIREZ, ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT: We'll put in a young handsome Arabic fellow in there with a beard and moustache looking really good. That should be OK.
WIAN: Who knows what fate awaits the belly dancing student who gyrates at halftimes of football games? The controversy erupted last week after the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee sent a letter to the district complaining about its portrayal of Arabs. The Arab mascot was conceived in the 1920s as a way to honor the regions links to the Middle East, the original source of Coachella's date palm industry, not as an insult to anyone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that this Arab, I don't know, kind of looks Hispanic to me.
(LAUGHTER)
WIAN: At this mostly Latino school, students and alums fiercely loyal to the Arab spoke out at a special Friday night board meeting
RICHARD RAZO, TEACHER'S UNION PRESIDENT: If I were to turn around right now and talk to the audience and I asked them who are we? They would yell at --
AMELIA URIBE, COACHELLA VALLEY HIGH ALUMNI: We have been fighting stereotypes as Latinos all our life. And we need to make sure that we don't offend people.
ZACHARIAH RAZO, STUDENT: I feel that it's perfectly OK for us to keep our mascot so long as we're respectful.
WIAN: The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee says it is glad the school district is discussing the issue and appears willing to go along with the name Arab remaining, just not this face.
ABED AYOU, ARAB-AMERICAN ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE: Any reasonable solution would be one that eliminates the stereotypical images and one that eliminates the stereotyping of Arabs as a whole. WIAN: One possibility under discussion, reintroducing one of the school's less cartoonish mascot designs from decades ago or perhaps even an Arabian horse.
The American-Arab group plans to fly here next week to discuss the school district's proposed changes. As the school board superintendent says, he hopes to have the issue behind him before Christmas. After all as one school official says, this it is California. Facelifts happen here all the time.
Casey Wian, CNN, Thermal, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN: That will do it for us today. Thank you for watching.
BLACKWELL: Keep it here. There's much more ahead in the CNN Newsroom. We turn it over to our colleague Fredricka Whitfield. Hey, Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: That's one way of putting it, facelift. That's a nice gentle way of having that conversation. All right, you guys. Thanks so much. You've had a great morning.
