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Arson Charge Filed in Southern California Wildfire; France Holds Summit on Boko Haram Threat; Government Blamed for Mine Disaster; NBA Playoff Preview; Nearly 20,000 Acres Scorched In Southern California Wildfires; Police In Georgia Investigating Double Murder; Cornell William Brooks Selected As NAACP's New President And CEO; Apple And Google Call A Ceasefire

Aired May 17, 2014 - 10:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our investigations continue into the cause of these fires, and they will continue until hopefully we're satisfied with the results.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have worked very hard, Senator Isakson, to root out these inappropriate uses of the scheduling system and this abuse. It's absolutely inexcusable.

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY: So today by some measures our schools are as segregated as they were back when Dr. King gave his final speech.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, a busy morning. We're so glad that you just took a couple of seconds to spend it with us and sit down and relax. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Always a pleasure. I'm Victor Blackwell. 10:00 here on the East Coast, 7:00 out West. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we're starting this morning in California. The fires there are raging. Firefighters are working around the clock. They're trying to get six wildfires under control. At least four other fires are now fully contained. Good news there.

PAUL: That's the good news, right.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: More than 1,000 firefighters, though, are battling all these blazes around San Diego. Police have now charged -- just some big news overnight -- one of three people arrested for alleged arson. They have brought a charge here. So far, though, more than 27,000 acres have been scorched.

BLACKWELL: This morning, firefighters are making some progress, but they're not in the clear yet, because strong winds and dry temperatures, they could fuel the fires even further. Officials say this is unprecedented. In some cases, walls of flames have the potential to spit out winds as strong as tornadoes.

Watch this one. It becomes what is becoming this firenado. It kind of goes into this cone, a tornado of fire.

Let's bring in CNN's Dan Simon in hard-hit San Marcos.

Dan, what's it look like where you are?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right now, it's looking pretty good. The winds have calmed down. The temperatures are cooler. The humidity is rising. And that's enabling firefighters to begin to get a handle on these blazes.

We are in San Marcos, California. This is one of the areas, as you said, that's been hardest hit. You can see this home. It is just a smoky, charred mess. We're out on a mountainside, and you can see off in the distance -- actually where you see that layer of clouds, that's marine layer, that's actually where Camp Pendleton is, and we're not seeing much smoke over there. So that is also good news.

So here in San Marcos, the containment figure is 50 percent. It's beginning to rise over in Camp Pendleton, as well. So it appears that firefighters are starting to make good progress, but, you know, as we've seen with the unpredictable nature of wildfires, they can kick up. So that's why they have so many people on the ground trying to battle these blazes, both on the ground and, of course, from the sky -- Victor and Christi.

PAUL: Dan, we know while they're trying to contain the fires, there's an investigation going on. Three people arrested, and one charge being brought this morning. What do you know about this?

SIMON: Well, what we know is when these fires broke out, at one time you had eight essentially going at once, there was immediate speculation that arson may be at play. And we know that two teenagers were arrested, accused of trying to start some small brush fires and a then a man in his 50s was arrested separately, also trying to -- allegedly trying to start a small brush fire.

At this time they haven't linked any individuals to some of these bigger fires, but that's certainly something that they're investigating because again it was so unusual to have all these fires breaking out at once.

PAUL: All righty. Hey, Dan Simon, glad everybody there is OK. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Dan.

And we have with us this morning one of the thousands who had to just pick up, pack up, and get out as those flames closed in.

PAUL: Alicia Exon is joining us by phone from San Marcos.

Alicia, thank you so much. We're glad that you're able to join us and that you're OK. I know that you've lived there for years, and you say in the last decade you've lived through two of these, quote, "apocalyptic firestorms." What are you seeing? And compare this one to what you've seen in the past for us.

ALICIA EXON, SAN MARCOS RESIDENT: Well, first of all, I just thought I should mention that I am in my bed right now.

(LAUGHTER)

PAUL: Oh, good.

EXON: In my own -- in my own house. We came home yesterday. We got the news, and our entire community was really excited to be able to get back in. We don't see any of the big billowing smoke anymore. We're just kind of left with some really poor air quality. But everybody's really excited. And just to give you a sense of -- kind of the community and what's going on, the kids have prom tonight, and there were kids in our neighborhood that were not going to be able to get into their home to get their dresses for prom, and to get their tuxes and their dresses for prom.

So this is a big sense of relief. I don't really have much knowledge of -- I mean, there definitely is talk about arson. I hope that that's -- if that is what it is, I hope that they've caught the right person. We're just really hoping that we're on the road to recovery here.

BLACKWELL: Very quickly, Alicia, do you know if that prom is still going forward, is going to happen?

EXON: I'm sorry?

BLACKWELL: Do you know if the prom is going to happen as scheduled?

EXON: Yes. I think that they are still planning a prom. I've got a text last night from one of the girls at the high school asking if I could do a waterfall braid. I think -- I think they're planning on prom. We did get news that school would resume on Monday. So I think they are planning on prom tonight.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you, you have seen, as you said, a couple of these apocalyptic firestorms.

EXON: Yes.

BLACKWELL: You've lived there for some time. Are you going to stay? I mean, you've been fortunate thus far. But you're going to stay where you are?

EXON: We're going to stay where we are. My kids are a little older. You know, let me tell you, as structures start to burn, there becomes a very poor air quality, and it's important to pay attention to the particulate matter, because that can cause some really serious health concerns. There have been fires in the past that have burned far more structures, and that's not what we're seeing on this one. I mean, it's bad and there have been a lot of fires that have broken out. But the witch fires that I believe were in 2007, I think that those -- I could be wrong on this, I think that it burned more structures. I just remember hearing a lot more about the particulate matter and the chemicals that were airborne.

PAUL: So you're not experiencing any problems, you know, breathing or --

EXON: No.

PAUL: No? Not right now?

EXON: No. But I was back then, because I had babies, and my children were a lot smaller. And if you had a child who had asthma or anything like that, you just needed to get out. And I don't -- I don't feel like it's that bad now. We had ash in our home -- we had ash on the ground of our home so that we were putting plastic down as people came from the outside and marched through our house. That was back -- that was the 2003, I think that was the 2003 fire.

So I don't feel like we're experiencing that. But it might be that there are people on the other side of the hill who are.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

EXON: So, you know, it's all when winds. It's all about how the wind is flowing and where it's pushing that air. And yes, so --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: We're going to check on that wind.

Alicia Exon, thank you so much for sharing your story. Glad to know that you're back in your bed in your home.

PAUL: Yes, and have fun at prom, everybody.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Thank you. Thanks, Alicia.

EXON: Thanks, guys.

PAUL: Let's bring in -- sure, thank you so much.

Let's bring in meteorologist Alexandra Steele here, because she has been watching the weather that Alicia was just talking about.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Tell us about the winds. How are they now?

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right, Alicia makes some great points. It is all about the winds and the directions from which they're coming. And that is key. So, you know, regardless of this -- if these were set or not set, the stage has been set for fires. And this is why. Dry conditions, we've got an historic drought on our hands. Hot temperatures. Of course, we've seen record heat day after day, month after month. And these very strong robust Santa Anas.

Santa Ana, it's all about the direction from which the wind is coming. Offshore, meaning blowing like this. What we're seeing now with the change is an onshore wind, blowing like this from the south, bringing in the moisture above the Pacific Ocean. It's cold, that water. The moisture above it is coming in and finally we're seeing that. So temperature-wise, out of the 90s into the 70s, which is good news. The temperatures are coming down. The humidity is coming up.

And this is the wind. The most important thing to note, the direction from which these arrows are coming. And finally, we've seen a change in that wind direction. The pattern is breaking, the ridge is giving way to a trough, allowing for that. And you know we've got some moisture in the air. We've got a dense fog advisory. So hallelujah for the dense fog. Certainly the best news coming.

So, you guys, the weather forecast is favorable. The fire forecast less so, because the stage is set, and we're only going to go from here.

PAUL: All right. Alexandra, thank you. Giving us the latest there.

BLACKWELL: You know, the kidnapped girls in Nigeria are still -- are still with this group, this militant group, Boko Haram.

PAUL: Lawmakers here are now asking what the U.S. can do to help free them. So that's one of the questions we're going to be talking about.

Also, in Turkey, the death toll from that mine disaster tops 300 now. We just got new numbers. The anguish is turning into anger there. We'll have a report for you coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Right now, West African leaders are at a summit hosted by the French president in Paris, and they are trying to find a solution. They're trying to find some way to bring home the more than 200 girls kidnapped by a militant group, and now some lawmakers here in the U.S. are calling on the U.S. to do more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: I would like to see Special Forces deployed to help rescue these young girls.

REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: If the president decided to use Special Forces, I certainly would not oppose him.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I would utilize every tool that we have to rescue these young girls. And that means it would be done surgically. It could be done in a way that is very efficient. But for us not to do that, in my view, would be an abrogation of our responsibilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So should the U.S. send in American forces? Should they attempt this rescue?

Let's bring in CNN military analyst General James "Spider" Marks and CNN national security analyst and former CIA operative Bob Baer.

I want to start with you, Bob, because the last time you and I spoke about this, you said that a rescue was unlikely? Is it even possible, although these senators are calling for it?

ROBERT BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think that the Nigerians can't do it themselves. I've supervised training of hostage rescue forces in Africa, and they're just not capable of recovering this many people, probably disbursed at this point in northern Nigeria. So I think that, you know, if U.S. military's going to go in, I'm going to defer to General Marks. You'd need a lot of troops on the ground. And I'm not sure the Nigerians are ready for it. But Nigeria has refused to negotiate. This is the problem. So we're really at a standstill.

PAUL: OK. So let's go to you, General, and ask that question. What would troops on the ground there look like, especially if these groups of girls are split up into factions?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Christi, the issue really is the United States has already committed some forces, albeit a very small number. But there are special ops forces on the ground right now trying to, what we call, develop the situation. And what that really means, it goes to Bob's point, which is trying to get the Nigerians in some way to acknowledge that there might be a path forward that involves something other than kinetic force.

If an operation was to take place, the very first step is intelligence -- very aggressive intelligence collection. That's taking place right now in the form of manned aircraft collection. I think we probably are flying some drones. We're probably, most likely, sharing some unclassified satellite coverage of the area. But the key thing, back into Bob's bailiwick, is how do you get sources on the ground that can really get up into the area where we think these girls are?

Now bear in mind, they might also be across the border even in Chad or Cameroon, which complicates the situation but certainly opens up some additional options as well.

BLACKWELL: So this week a U.S. official, Bob, said the Nigerian military is afraid to engage Boko Haram. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALICE FRIEND, PRINCIPAL DIRECTOR FOR AFRICAN AFFAIRS, DEFENSE DEPARTMENT: Boko Haram is exceptionally brutal and indiscriminate in their attacks, and so as heavy-handed as the forces on the Nigerian side have been, Boko Haram has been even more brutal. And so we're now looking at a military force that's, quite frankly, becoming afraid to even engage.

BLACKWELL: So, Bob, the U.S. has consistently said it does not negotiate with terrorists. If the U.S. is not willing to put boots on the ground, and maybe, you know, the president will make that decision, or we'll find out if that will happen, special forces will go at some point, and the Nigerian military is, quote, "afraid to engage Boko Haram," where does this go?

BAER: That leaves us with an international force. You know, it's cross-border. Apparently there's been an attack in the Cameroons yesterday, and it goes into Chad, as well. You need an international force to coordinate this. I think that the fact is that Nigeria has lost control of its northeastern border. And is this spreading? It's been denied it's a problem, but what if this moves into the Delta?

That's the whole economic, you know, backbone of Nigeria, the oil- producing area. You know, something's got to be done, because chaos in Sub-Saharan Africa is getting worse, and only with an international, you know, force, including U.S. troops, can we really, you know, take control of this.

PAUL: Bob, real quickly, I wanted you to talk about Boko Haram and the comparison people are making to al Qaeda. Are they connected?

BAER: Vaguely connected by ideology. Boko Haram is way beyond the pale of Islam. I look at them as more like vicious bandits. You know, they're in Mali. They're everywhere over that whole area, lots to do with economics and global warming and the drought there. But nonetheless, you have to do something about this because you can't let it spread in Africa.

BLACKWELL: General Marks, really quickly, what's your degree of confidence that the U.S. will send in some special forces?

MARKS: High degree of confidence that it will not happen.

BLACKWELL: All right, General "Spider" Marks and Bob Baer, thank you both.

PAUL: Thank you, gentlemen.

MARKS: Thanks.

PAUL: OK. Let's get you to Turkey now. Anguish over a mine disaster has turned into anger. Look at what's happening there.

BLACKWELL: Yes. With the rise in death toll, so have the number of clashes between protesters and the police. I mean, a lot of the people are calling for -- saying the government is insensitive and inept when it comes to the mine safety. The death toll today topped 300, and our Ivan Watson is in Soma, Turkey.

Have they recovered all the bodies at this point? Or are there still some listed as missing?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, yes, just moments ago, the Turkish authorities announced that the recovery and rescue operation has been completed. They've recovered as of today 301 bodies from the coal mine over my shoulder, and Turkish authorities say that was the list -- that completes the list of all the coal miners whose names were missing.

The investigation into the cause of what is by far the deadliest mining disaster in Turkish history that will continue. As of this time, both executives from the company that owned and operated the mine, as well as government officials who were involved in inspecting it and making sure that it met health and safety standards, all of them are insisting there was no negligence whatsoever and they are not at all at fault for this terrible disaster.

And nobody has stepped down from their jobs. And they're basically not claiming responsibility for this. In the meantime, the government and the security forces seem to be putting quite a lot of effort into also repressing any public expression of criticism over the handling of this. Dozens of people arrested in the nearby town of Soma for trying to protest today. Lawyers, they were roughed. One had his arm broken.

And yesterday, we were tear-gassed as the security forces fired water cannons and teargas at people dressed in funeral black who were chanting in honor of the names of the dead and also the Turkish prime minister, he was heard threatening to slap people if they booed him when he visited this town on Wednesday. So a very confusing and contradictory situation here.

PAUL: All right.

WATSON: Victor and Christi?

PAUL: Ivan Watson, thank you very much for bringing us the latest. We appreciate it.

And we'll be right back. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Four teams left. One of them will win the 2014 NBA title.

PAUL: Yes, conference finals is set to begin tomorrow. Let's get to our Rashan Ali in here to talk about what's happening.

RASHAN ALI, BLEACHER REPORT: Yes. So let me give you that playoff preview.

PAUL: Yes.

ALI: Are you ready for this? This is the match-up that we've all been waiting for. For the second year in a row, the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers will meet in the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals. This time, the Pacers will have the home court advantage. But don't call Miami the underdogs in this series. Despite being the second seed, Lebron and crew are actually the heavy favorites. The team knows what it takes to accomplish the goal of a third-straight NBA title.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEBRON JAMES, MIAMI HEAT: Throughout the regular season, we felt like, you know, we were the two best teams in this conference. Even though we both had our struggles, we felt like we were the two best teams and if all focus -- both sides took care of business, that we will see each other.

ERIK SPOELSTRA, MIAMI HEAT HEAD COACH: We have an ultimate goal and we understand we have to go through them to be able to get to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALI: Game one tips off tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 Eastern in Indiana.

And the reality TV show centered on the NFL's first openly gay player is now a no-go. Oprah Winfrey's network announced on Wednesday that it acquired the rights to produce the docu-series about Michael Sam, but by Friday that all changed. Representatives from both sides announced that the project is being put on hold for now.

Rams' personnel said they did not know about the show when they drafted him in the seventh round. Both sides agree that Sam's focus should be on football and securing a spot on the roster.

So there you have it, guys.

BLACKWELL: Makes sense.

ALI: Yes, it does.

BLACKWELL: See if you can make the team first before you make a television show.

ALI: Exactly.

PAUL: That just makes sense. Yes.

BLACKWELL: All right.

ALI: Focus on football.

(LAUGHTER)

BLACKWELL: Rashan Ali, thank you.

PAUL: Thank you.

ALI: Thank you.

PAUL: Rashan, thanks.

So more fallout today from the Veterans administration scandal. A top VA official has stepped down. This as the furor over inadequate care and long wait times ramps up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Take a nice deep sigh. It's 29 minutes past the hour now, and you can just relax and move into your weekend. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: That's the way to do it. I'm Victor Blackwell.

Here are five stories we're watching this morning.

PAUL: And number one, the battle continues to gain control of several wildfires in Southern California. Look at some of the latest pictures we're getting in here. Nearly 20,000 acres have been charred, dozens of homes destroyed and at least one person now linked to one of the blazes has been charged with arson. Firefighters should get some relief this weekend we're hoping slower Santa Ana winds and cooler temperatures are expected to help them get that upper hand.

BLACKWELL: Number two, police in Georgia are now investigating a double murder because now the body of 87-year-old Shirley Dermond was found, and that two weeks after her friends discovered her husband, Russell Dermond dead in the couple's million-dollar waterfront home. He had been decapitated. Shirley Dermond's body was found in a lake near their home and police say she was abducted sometime after her husband's murder.

PAUL: Number three, Cornell William Brooks has been selected as the president and CEO of the NAACP. He's a long-time lawyer and human rights activist and will officially be introduced to NAACP members at the Los Vegas Convention this summer.

BLACKWELL: Four now, the two Boeing jets that nearly collided last month were at altitudes assigned to them by air traffic controllers -- that the finding of the NTSB. Now, the incident happened near Hawaii and came to light after a passenger on one of the planes blogged about it. The exact cause of the near-disaster is still being investigated.

PAUL: Number five, Apple and Google have called the courtroom ceasefire. The firms have announced an agreement to settle all outstanding lawsuits among them. The decision signals a major de- escalation of the Smartphones patent war, but Samsung is not included in the deal. Apple's already won one major patent infringement case against them -- Samsung.

BLACKWELL: A top aid to the secretary of Veterans Affairs has resigned just one day after he testified on Capitol Hill alongside his boss, Eric K. Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans Affairs about alarming claims first revealed by CNN. Dr. Robert Petzel, the V.A.'s undersecretary for health was due to retire this year anyway.

PAUL: The CNN's own investigation found that at least 40 veterans died while waiting for appointments in the Phoenix V.A. system. Shinseki told senators that he's "mad as hell" over those allegations but claims like these apparently just are not new.

BLACKWELL: So let's talk about them. Let's talk about the whole thing. Joining us from Washington, Crystal Wright, editor and blogger at ConservativeBlackChick.com) and CNN political commentator and Democratic pollster, Cornell Belcher.

PAUL: Thank you everybody for being with us here. Crystal, I want to start with you. I know some top Republicans have called on Secretary Shinseki to resign. One of his top deputies we know has done just that. Is this enough?

CRYSTAL WRIGHT, EDITOR, CONSERVATIVEBLACKCHICK.COM: No, I don't think that's enough and I don't think it's unreasonable to ask Secretary Shinseki to resign. But the fact is, Mr. Petzel who for some reason I want to call "Pretzel" I think because he's in one and he puts V.A. in a huge conundrum here is -- he's a 40-year veteran of the V.A. and he was set to resign when his replacement was found, but the secretary knew there were problems with him last year.

So again we see, I think from the Obama administration and the president, a lack of accountability. People resigning after the fact like Lois Lerner, we had our HHH -- Health and Human Services -- secretary resigned. Kathleen Sebelius after the fact of a poor rollout. So I think this makes the American people really scratch their heads like, where is this President? He has a very passive management style, laissez faire, and then he wants to say after the veterans, you know, like your report said we had 40 veterans that may have died as a result of this mismanagement and rogue employees. I just don't think it's enough. It's not enough in accountability.

BLACKWELL: Hey, Cornell, our colleague "On the Lead" Jake Tapper pressed the White House chief of staff about a letter that the chairman of the House V.A. Committee sent a year ago raising similar concerns. Let's play a bit of it and we'll talk on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: How many dead veterans do you need before somebody asks the question within the White House -- maybe this guy isn't the best steward of these veterans?

DENIS MCDONOUGH, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: The question, Jake, is are we doing everything we can every day to get the veterans the care and the opportunities that they deserve?

TAPPER: But you're not -- this letter was sent a year ago and you guys ignored it.

MCDONOUGH: And we -- and we have been working aggressively to ensure that not only has healthcare expanded opportunities made more ready to our vets, but that people are held to account as Rick (ph) is doing in this case. We will continue to do that.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BLACKWELL: So here's the question. (AUDIO GAP) that Eric Shinseki has the President's full confidence. The question is, after these reports, why?

CORNELL BELCHER, DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER: Well, a couple of reasons. One is that, you know, Shinseki was brought in -- and first, you know, -- let's be careful about so, you know, throwing sort of accusations at this point so a lot of baseless accusations that someone who put on a uniform, strapped on a gun and went to war to fight for our country and was actually wounded in doing so. But he was brought in to sort of, you know, take care and try to bring some reforms. Look, --

BLACKWELL: But that does not mean he's a good administrator. He may be a great soldier --

BELCHER: Well, some of what is going on here goes above and beyond that, so let's honor, sort of, the guy for what he's actually done, and let's talk about what he's trying to do for the last couple of years. Look, talk to any veteran, there's problems with the V.A., there's been problems with the V.A. Don't take my word for it, take Speaker Boehner's word for it and say, look, he's not one calling for the head of this guy right now. (Inaudible) because you know what? There's systemic problems with the V.A. There are long-term systemic problems with the V.A. going over time which he was brought in to try to fix. That's not going to happen overnight. It hasn't been any sort of impropriety happened here.

Well, if there has been and it looks like there has been, well let's get to the bottom of it as opposed to trying to politicize it immediately and take it straight to the White House. That's the sort of discourse that doesn't help move the ball along at all. It certainly doesn't help our veterans.

PAUL: All right, so -- wait a minute, Crystal, Secretary Shinseki says that he's waiting on the results, right of an inspector general's investigation before taking decisive action as to what to do next. Why wouldn't you just start tackling the problem?

WRIGHT: Well, that's exactly it, and Cornell raises an important point. The V.A. has been plagued by problems go -- you know -- going back decades. I will agree with you on that, but the secretary knew that this 40-year veteran, whether he served or not or -- it doesn't matter. He's not serving the veterans -- the nine million veterans -- that need this healthcare. So the question is why didn't he just get rid of him last year when he knew about the problems? This man refused to resign.

And Cornell is right again -- these men are on the front lines protecting us. I can tell you, I'm a daughter of a veteran, and the last place my father wants to get care is V.A. -- the last place. So we know these problems have been going on and on and on, and if he was there, as Cornell points out, to clean up the mess of Secretary Shinseki, then why didn't he let the main guy in charge go way before this? You know, before these charges were uncovered. I mean, 40 people suspected of allegedly dying because they couldn't care, waiting months for care, to me is unacceptable. And the President of the United States should come out to the American people and give a -- more than just a casual response to a question from a member of the White House press corps.

BLACKWELL: Indeed it is systemic, Cornell, and it doesn't happen overnight. But this is year five.

BELCHER: And your point is that he should have -- should've been immediately (AUDIO GAP). No, of course it (inaudible) -- BLACKWELL: Or at least not be worse.

PAUL: Something done sooner.

BELCHER: It should be done soon -- OK, fine -- it should've been done sooner. You know, he appointed Shinseki to come in and sort of make some reforms, he's been on the job trying to do this reform. This is not a problem that was -- that was created five years ago, so it's probably not a problem that's going to be solved overnight. Look, the V.A., they serve over 230,000 appointments I think, you know, daily. You know, so you're talking about a big bureaucracy here that's had problems for a long time. Let's try to get to the bottom of it and fix it so we are serving our veterans and not politicize it and start pointing fingers because we can point fingers all up and down the political spectrum.

BLACKWELL: All right, Cornell Belcher, Crystal Wright, thank you both.

WRIGHT AND BELCHER: Thank you.

PAUL: Thank you. So, six decades after the Supreme Court ordered the desegregation of America's schools, the First Lady is talking very vocally about a troubling trend she sees. Alexandra Field has that story from New York.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Christy, the First Lady says that schools have become too divided and there is too much disparity between schools. We're going to bring you the numbers that she's talking about right after break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: New this morning, the First Lady is saying there's something wrong potentially with America's schools. She told graduating seniors in Topeka, Kansas, the birthplace of school integration, that America's schools are becoming less diverse 60 years after Brown vs. The Board of Education.

PAUL: And one statistic from a study by the Center for American Progress makes the point, saying 40 percent of black and Hispanic students attend schools where more than nine out of ten students are non-white. Alexandra Field joins us from New York. What have you learned about the trend?

FIELD: Hi there, Christy. Well, what First Lady Michelle Obama is trying to highlight is what she sees as this upward trend towards segregated schools and there is data that would back up what the First Lady is saying in conjunction with the anniversary of Brown vs. The Board of Education. The Pew Research Center has released data which seems to show that increasingly, minority students are in schools where they are the majority.

Let me walk you through the numbers here. In 1990, about 27 percent of all students in public schools were in non-white majority schools. That number climbs to about 43 percent of students in 2010. It gets interesting when you drill down into that because 15 percent of all white public school students across the country are in these schools where non-whites are the majority. But black students, Hispanic students (AUDIO GAP) about 79 and 76 percent of them respectively who were in schools where non-whites are the majority. This is the issue that the First Lady is flagging on this anniversary. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: So today by some measures, our schools are as segregated as they were back when Dr. King gave his final speech, and as a result many young people in America are going to school largely with kids who look just like them. And too often those schools aren't equal, especially ones attended by students of color which too often lag behind with crumbling classrooms and less experienced teachers. And even in schools that seem integrated according to the numbers, when you look a little closer, you see students from different backgrounds sitting at separate lunch tables or tracked into different classes or separated in the different clubs or activities.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

FIELD: First Lady goes on to say she doesn't believe that school districts are doing enough to work on the issue of integration. Christy, Victor.

PAUL: Alexandra Field, we thank you.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Alexandra. Controversy on the campus of one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Now a new flyer campaign is warning women on campus to steer clear of alleged rapists. So is this justice or a witch hunt?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Sexual assault victims are fed up with officials at Columbia University. Some students say the New York Ivy League has failed to protect female students who've been raped or sexually assaulted. So now there's this new flyer campaign that's stirring up an awful lot of controversy.

BLACKWELL: Yes, here's one of them. The flyers have started to appear in women's bathrooms across the campus. It's an alleged rape list that names four male students as the supposed predators, the perpetrators here, and the same names were found scribbled on the bathroom wall back in March. Now, it's unclear who is behind the writings, but supporters say they're glad someone is putting the warning out.

PAUL: According to New York police, none of the names on the flyer appear in a 2014 criminal database, we need to point out.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in defense attorney and former federal prosecutor Tanya Miller and former head of Manhattan's Sex Crimes Unit, author Linda Fairstein. Good to have both of you with us. TANYA MILLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Good to be here.

LINDA FAIRSTEIN, FORMER HEAD OF MANHATTAN SEX CRIME UNIT: Thanks, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Linda, I want to start with you. I know that the Department of Education is investigating. I know that potentially Columbia University would be investigating. What I did not see in the "Times" story and any of the reporting, where are the police in all of this?

FAIRSTEIN: That's a great point. I mean, in order for the police to be into this, these accusers have to call 911, they have to go to the police. And that's the missing piece of this. You showed clips where sexual assault is one word used, rape is another word used. When I hear the word 'rape,' next to homicides, the most important crime in the penal law -- the most serious crime in our criminal justice system. Those accusers need to call 911.

Now, whether they've not done it because some are claiming they've been discouraged by the schools, I don't understand, but I don't think the bathroom wall is the place to handle something that's as serious a crime as rape.

PAUL: OK, so Tanya let me ask you -- if these male students, if they have committed a crime, is truth a defense for whomever is scrawling the names?

MILLER: Well, I mean, it certainly is a defense to a civil lawsuit for defamation or something like that. I mean, you know, when you hear about, you know, these names being written on the bathroom wall or these flyers coming out, you know, you wonder why they are resulting to this. You know, the thing that comes to my mind is desperation. If a girl has resulted to scrolling down the name of her assaulter or attacker and handing out a flyer, she has lost faith in the system. She has lost (AUDIO GAP). She believes that there is no recourse for her and no justice to be had for her.

So, to me, this is an issue of desperation with these sexual assault victims, it is an issue of not handling these complaints appropriately, possibly the issue is not involving law enforcement when they should be. In any event, I don't really see this as vigilante-ism, and I think some people have described it as that. I see it really as a desperate attempt to have their complaints heard and to have the university appropriately respond to them.

BLACKWELL: Linda, where's the point of negligence here? I mean, I know that's a legal term, but between reporting it either on a wall or to the university and even the Department of Defense, why aren't the police more involved with these universities and with these students?

FAIRSTEIN: The police try to be. I mean, this is the city where I prosecuted and my colleagues run a great special victims unit in the NYPD and the D.A.'s office. The problem as Tanya knows is the federal government, in an effort to do something about the fact that all over this country campus sexual assault has been of epidemic proportions and has not been dealt with well on the campus. Campuses I think are there to educate students. I don't think they're there necessarily to adjudicate these cases. And yet now it's a mandate of the federal government that the school must look into these.

So I think they are three tiers. These cases, if they are criminal, should be with all of the due process that both sides need -- accuser and accused -- in the criminal justice system. Meanwhile, the schools must do something to adjudicate, and as Tanya says here, whatever's happened at Columbia has left these students so frustrated and so desperate that they are scrawling on bathroom walls about an issue that's so important that needs to be addressed more seriously on campus and when these cases get to the criminal justice system, certainly there.

PAUL: So, Tanya, if this isn't the answer and they still feel like they're not being heard, what do you do?

MILLER: OK --

PAUL: What would you advise them?

MILLER: Right -- so here's the thing. The decision to come forward if you're a sexual assault victim, and I've seen this as a prosecutor, I prosecuted sex assault cases , is a very difficult one. There are lots of reasons why victims of sex assault don't want to go to the police. One, there's a ton of victim shaming that goes on in the process. Two, you have to be prepared to talk about the most embarrassing, horrific, traumatic experience of your live in front of complete strangers over and over and over again just to at the end of that possibly see that person walk away and go free. Oftentimes they don't want to be a part of that criminal process.

And what I see happening here is that, you know, these victims for whatever reason have decided not to go to the police. They are coming to the school to have it addressed appropriately at the school. What the school can do I think at this point is bring on retired law enforcement investigators, have a true unit there at the school who is prepared to effectively investigate these things the way that they should be investigated and then take appropriate actions. So, if you have found a complaint to be substantiated, OK --

PAUL: Yes.

MILLER: -- you need to put that assaulter out of the school. You know, you've heard stories where these assaulters are getting 30 days or a semester off or whatever, and then they're coming back and then the victim has to see them in the dorm, they have to see them in the library. You know, you just need to have some procedures in place so that you can effectively investigate and then take appropriate so the victims don't feel like they have to take things into their own hands.

PAUL: All right. Tanya Miller and Linda Fairstein, thank you both so much. Such a great conversation and we're going to be back in just a moment. Stay close.

MILLER: Thank you. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: This week's "CNN Hero" is busy battling wildfires engulfed in parts of Southern California.

PAUL: Yes, but you know what? She's also inspiring women around the world to live beyond their medical traumas toward happier, stronger lives. Meet Robyn Benincasa.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

ALLI MORGAN, PROJECT ATHENA PARTICIPANT: I initially got hurt in 2005. I had 46 surgeries and attempts to re-salvage the leg and I finally decided on amputation. A lot of people view it as a loss, but I got my life back.

ROBYN BENINCASA, HEAD OF PROJECT ATHENA AND CNN HERO: Very often, people are saying, "OK, I survived, but now what?" And we want to be that 'now what.'

(CHEERING)

BENINCASA: Good job, lovelies! I was a world class adventure racer. In the World Championship I hit the deck, and the doctor said, 'You're never going to run again.' I've had four hip replacements. After my first, I said I'm just going to put something on my calendar so I'm still training for something. it just makes you realize it's not about the setback, it's about the comeback. So I thought let's do that for other women.

Females Cheering: Athena!

BENNENCASTLE: I started an organization that helps survivors of medical or traumatic setbacks live an adventurous dream as part of their recovery. This is about you going out there and being the bad ass that you are.

BENINCASA: You're a strong kid, Alli, girl.

MORGAN: I was in a place of such uncertainty so finding the website was such a message of hope to me. Here was this group of women who understood it on a different level.

BENINCASA: Athena girls! Yes, baby! Being an Athena, you're not just a survivor, you're an adventurer. We give them a different label to put on themselves, and it's something they become on their way to the finish line.

(CHEERING)

PAUL: Just awesome, aren't they? And, hey, go make some great memories today.

BLACKWELL: Keep it right here though. Our colleague Fredricka Whitfield takes it away for the next hour of NEWSROOM.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: That's right, we have memories to be made right here.

PAUL: Whew, yes, sure.

BLACKWELL: Excellent.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: And you all dudes too out there somewhere -- right. All right. Victor and Christi, thanks so much. It's good to see you.