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Study Says Bacteria Survives One Week on Planes; Women Ask Pope to Change Celibacy Rules for Priests; Indiana Family's Superhero Funeral for Child; Putin Visits Beijing; Led Zeppelin Sued; Moore, OK, Tornado Anniversary

Aired May 20, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You put them up, you put them down, so did the guy who was sitting down there before you, and before them and before them.

MRSA can live for five days -- five days -- on a window shade, and MRSA is the antibiotic-resistant type of bacteria.

A leather seat, MRSA can live for six days. And a tray table, MRSA can live for five days, and a particularly vicious kind of E. coli can live for three days.

So it's just something that airlines actually were behind this study, and passengers need to know about it, and just not to freak out, but to keep it in mind.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You often wonder, because you're sitting at the gate, right, and some folks are late coming off the plane before, and you want to get on that plane, places to go, people to see.

And so you often think about that little window in between, how much time and how thoroughly are they really cleaning that plane before you hop on?

What, if anything, can we as passengers do about it?

COHEN: You know, it's actually really quite simple. You can carry around some wipes, alcohol-based wipes, and you just rub down those surfaces.

So rub down everything near you, like the tray table and the arm rest between you and the next person. It's really very, very easy.

Now I want to say that we did reach out to airlines, because we were wondering about their cleaning habits. And we heard back from Delta. And they said that they clean all their surfaces thoroughly every day.

And they said, you know, we are so interested in -- we want to know about what's going on on our planes, that we actually gave the Auburn University researchers our armrests and our tray tables and our window shades, so that they could grow this bacteria. So, you know, you have to give it to them, that they actually encouraged and supported this research. They want to know what's going on, too.

BALDWIN: Good for them. And I was just looking at your video, wondering what your seatmate was thinking as you're scrubbing down your tray table.

I think I'd probably be thinking, can I have one?

COHEN: That's exactly what he was thinking. He asked me if he could borrow some, so you.

BALDWIN: I'd be like, what does she know that I don't?

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you and stay clean, to all of us. Thank you.

COHEN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Forget the real housewives of Atlanta, Orange County, how about real secret lovers of priests? Yes, there was a group of 26 women who say they are in love with, or already in relationships with Catholic priests.

They have written specifically to Pope Francis, asking him to please change the rules of celibacy, and that letter was published in La Stampa newspaper's Vatican Insider Web site.

So let's take you to Rome to Barbie Nadeau. She is the Rome bureau chief for "The Daily Beast.

And, Barbie, let me just quote some of what these women were saying here in this letter specifically.

They said, 'We love these men. They love us. And in most cases, despite all efforts to renounce it, one cannot manage to give up such a solid and beautiful bond.

"Unfortunately, this brings with it all the pain of not being able to live it fully. This continuous giving and then letting go is soul destroying."

Wow. Is there really any chance that the pope might be moved by their letter and their plea?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, ROME BUREAU CHIEF, "THE DAILY BEAST": Well, I think it's very highly unlikely this pope at this point, certainly, is going to lift celibacy and allow these priests to make their lovers honest women.

But it's very interesting conversation, though. This pope has given interviews in the past about celibacy. He has been put on the record saying that celibacy is not a doctrine al issue, it's a discipline, which means he could lift it.

But there's a huge logistical problem. If they allow priests to marry, there's not an infrastructure in place for all these priests. They don't make enough money to support a family. They're living in communal situations, living in churches, things like that. It's not that easy to say, go on and marry your secret lover.

But it is interesting, because this topic comes up every few years. You've got women pleading with the pope, pleading with the church saying, we love these men for who they are. They're not asking them to leave the priesthood, they're asking the pope to allow them to be legitimate.

BALDWIN: What about flipping the script, we're hearing from the women. Has anyone ever heard, albeit anonymously, from any of the men, any of the priests? How do they feel?

NADEAU: Well, of course, if a priest goes to the Vatican and says, I want to make a legitimate relationship with a woman, I want to marry her, he will be defrocked. He can't be a priest if he admits to having a sexual relationship with a woman.

Of course, it's got to be up to the women to make this plea. It's unlikely the women will hold any sway with this particular pope. I think what they want more than anything is bring the dialogue to the table, to have the pope -- we talked about it before -- to think about it again.

Celibacy is not a very difficult thing in terms of the rules of the church to live. It's just probably not going to happen anytime soon.

BALDWIN: OK. Barbie Nadeau, live for us in Rome tonight, thank you so much.

Coming up, the powerful story behind this picture, superheroes, and the casket of a 5-year-old boy. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Losing a child, unimaginable for any parent, and then planning a funeral, finding a fitting way to say goodbye to a little boy or little girl can be crushing.

But in Indiana, the parents of Brayden Denton put together the funeral that they are sure their young son both deserved and would have wanted.

Kelly Roberts from WLFI News 18 in Lafayette, Indiana, has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY ROBERTS, WLFI: In September, News 18 introduced you to then 4- year-old Brayden Denton and his mother, Staci. At the time, Brayden was in the middle of a battle with a brain tumor.

Denton says it was a battle fit for a superhero. But as the months went on, Brayden got worse. STACI DENTON, BRAYDEN'S MOTHER: He stopped completely walking. And then, you know, we got through that hurdle of, you know, dealing with that, and then he started not be to able to eat or drink.

ROBERTS: Earlier this month, Denton took Brayden to Riley Hospital for Children to stay.

Then, on May 8th --

S. DENTON: Basically, he just -- he stopped breathing.

ROBERTS: When planning a funeral for her superhero, something came to Denton's mind.

Forget the suits and dresses. Instead, she wanted her loved ones representing what Brayden loved the most, superheroes.

S. DENTON: He was a huge Spider-Man fan, and he had to quit just liking Spider-Man because he had all the toys.

So, really, he liked every super hero.

ROBERTS: And a league of superheroes showed up, pallbearers dressed as his favorite super heroes.

The man in front dressed as Thor is Brayden's uncle, Cory Denton.

CORY DENTON, BRAYDEN'S UNCLE: We went to the Superman movie with him. We dressed up as Superman. I watched all the Iron Mans with him.

ROBERTS: The picture of the Denton superhero being carried by his superhero friends has had hundreds of shares on Facebook.

It may have been an unconventional funeral, but --

S. DENTON: That's what Brayden would have wanted.

ROBERTS: Even if he is not with him in the flesh, he will always be his number one movie buddy.

C. DENTON: He's always here with me. I'll always watch them with him. Because he's always with me.

ROBERTS: Denton donated her son's tumor to research. She's also working with Senator Ron Alting to get Indiana recognize September as national childhood cancer awareness month.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Kelly Roberts, thank you so much for sharing that family story.

And I should also mention with the help of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Brayden got a chance to meet Spider-Man at Florida's Universal Studios just last year. Just ahead, China is apparently livid at the U.S. for indictments targeting hackers. So it's interesting that Vladimir Putin is in China, schmoozing.

We'll talk to Jake Tapper about this.

And is one of history's most famous songs plagiarized?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: We need to bring light to the current disaster that could risk here uncovering a danger from the past, major concerns that severe flooding in the Balkans has dislodged landmines left over from the Bosnian war.

The Red Cross said that number could have shifted the land mines and signs like this warning of their presence. Officials say the flooding in Serbia is the worst they have seen in 120 years. At least 26 people in the Balkans have been killed.

How is this for a little juxtaposition? You have Russia's Vladimir Putin getting a stately greeting today in Beijing. Putin referred to China as Russia's reliable friend.

Contrast that with this, this wanted poster issued by Washington, seeking the arrest of five Chinese military leaders for alleged cyberspying against the United States.

So Putin's making nice with Beijing at the very time that the U.S. is charging that China's stealing trade secrets. Might there be reason to worry?

Jake Tapper is here with me from Washington, host of "THE LEAD." Jake, how worried is the Obama administration about Russian and China getting too close, maybe working together against U.S. interests while the U.S. is on the outs with both of them?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: There are concerns among Obama administration officials of this anti-Western alliance, China and Russia. Putin declared the relationship having never been stronger.

Right now, there are these military drills going on in the East China Sea, these joint drills, China and Russia together. There's also this deal for a natural gas pipeline from Russia to China. The deal has not yet been finalized, although it is likely to happen. And that may drive the two countries even closer together.

So yes, indeed, there are serious concerns about the growing friendship between China and Russia.

BALDWIN: So then concerns of a different nature we have to talk about. Ukraine, this is not the first time Putin said he ordered his troops away from Ukraine, not the first time NATO says it sees no sign of any Russian withdrawal.

How much can the U.S. really trust what, if anything, Putin says?

TAPPER: Well, from the very beginning of this crisis, the things that Putin said publicly turned out to not be borne out by reality.

You might recall when President Obama and Putin had their phone call, we had the deputy national security adviser, Tony Blinken, on the show right after that phone call. And Putin said he was not going to be involved in Crimea.

One week later, I had Blinken on the show and I said, was he lying or did he change his mind? Blinken said he didn't know if Putin had lied or changed his mind. Putin has been saying throughout the crisis things that are not true.

BALDWIN: If only we could climb into his mind and see what he's really thinking.

Jake Tapper, we'll see you at the top of the hour on "THE LEAD." Thank you.

TAPPER: Thank you very much.

BALDWIN: So, a little secret about me, this is actually one of the first songs I ever taught myself to play on the guitar, Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." Anyone?

The slow picking of the guitar strings, it's unmistakable Led Zeppelin, the band seen here in the film, "The Song Remains the Same."

But now a lawyer tells Bloomberg "Business Week" that the real "Stairway to Heaven" actually leads to another group, the band Spirit. Anyone?

"Business Week" is reporting (inaudible) Randy California. A lawyer says California penned the song. It's called "Taurus," and Spirit played it while playing with Zeppelin in 1968 and 1969.

Jimmy Page, he's the one right there in the white hat. He wrote "Stairway to Heaven" in 1970, so just a year later.

Let me play both of these for you. You be the judge. First, here's "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin.

Now, "Taurus" by Randy California and Spirit.

So have we all been rocking out to "Taurus" on our guitars and had no idea all of these years?

Jean Casarez, I have to bring you in here, because I am entirely stumping. Listening to both of them, they sound kind of similar.

But this was like 40 years ago that "Stairway to Heaven" was released. Why is the lawyer coming out now?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, I just have to say I'm so impressed that you learned that on guitar, because that's difficult guitar work. So anyway, let's move on. I'm impressed.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

CASAREZ: I just got off the phone with Francis Alexander who is the attorney who says he is going to be filing this infringement suit very soon in district court in California.

And it all depends on a decision that came out yesterday from the U.S. Supreme Court. It's the Raging Bull motion picture Case, all about copyright infringement. There's a three-year statute of limitations, normally, that says you can only file suit within three years.

But this decision and other precedent decisions have said every time there's an infringement, every time "Stairway to Heaven" is played, you can actually bring suit to recover damage from the previous three years.

So this decision yesterday now allows him to go forward, and he says that Randy California, who is now deceased, never brought suit. He knew it was his song but never brought suit because he didn't have the monetary means to do so.

BALDWIN: OK.

CASAREZ: And so now his foundation is actually going to be filing the suit as the plaintiff.

BALDWIN: Because, from what I've read, it's not just about money. It's all these years later about California getting recognition. Right?

CASAREZ: But you know what? When you're getting recognition, your name is being put down as the songwriter and that means money.

So, yes, recognition, but it also means that you're entitled to profits from that song.

BALDWIN: OK, thanks for clarifying.

And, Jean Casarez, I said I taught myself. I'm not telling you how well I taught myself.

Thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

And now, just in to us here at CNN, the NFL announcing it has selected Minneapolis, Minnesota, as the site for Super Bowl LII in 2018, the stadium currently under construction and scheduled to open in time for the Vikings in a couple of years.

So. Minnesota, congratulations.

One year ago today, a deadly tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma, homes and schools and businesses just leveled.

So I just want to take you back to what I saw when I was there a year ago and remind you of this interview. This father, he was a husband, he broke down talking to me, but his resilience ultimately shone through.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: One year ago today, right about this time, the people of Moore, Oklahoma, suffered a devastating tornado. It ripped this town apart. Twenty people died, including nine children.

At a memorial today, people in Moore remembered the town but celebrated the rebuilding of this town, as well, breaking ground in the new medical center. The old one was destroyed in last year's deadly storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WHITAKER, PRESIDENT/CEO, NORMAN REGIONAL HEALTH SYSTEM: Our lives and our community were changed the moment the tornado touched the ground, so we are gathered to remember those that have lost their lives, to honor the commitment, the heart, and the courage of this community.

We will all feel the emotions, the pain, and the sorrow of this day, each in our own way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: CNN sent me to Moore to cover those stories in the days after the tornado hit. I'll never forget the husband and a father. An Okie through and through, he had lived in Moore his whole life.

He shared his story of survivor's guilt because a tornado smacked his home but it didn't totally level it like it did his neighbor's, and he felt bad because his neighbor had a newborn baby.

Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Will you be rebuilding? Not that you have to rebuild, but will you be -- will you stay here? Will you fix it up? This is your neighborhood?

JACKIE SING, MOORE RESIDENT: I love Moore. I have -- I don't have a fear of tornadoes. I have a healthy respect for their awesome power.

God created them for -- sometimes for five minutes, I will be thinking, I'm going to live here. I love this place. I want to rebuild.

The next five minutes, I feel horrible, like I need to move away. And looking at my kids' emotions and my wife's emotions, I don't know right now.

BALDWIN: How are your kids, 13- and 14-years-old? How are they handling it?

SING: They are handling it very hard. It's very difficult for them. And I hope going to school today, they have opened the schools for two hours -- I hope that they will find some relief talking to their friends.

And I can't describe how I feel. And I have heard of the people on the west side of town that have nothing. I can't imagine what it's like to have -- just see a slab. And it's the strangest feelings. I can't describe them, just different.

I'm 41-years-old, and the first 41 years of my life are behind me. This is what's next, the next chapter.

And I think it's going to make us stronger, because the Lord is our refuge and our strength. That's what I have to stand on right now.

I almost wish I was on that side of the street and everything was gone and they were over here because of their brand-new babies.

BALDWIN: You wished your home was destroyed?

SING: I kind of do. I really -- me and my wife said, yes, it might be better to have those people over here and us over there, because we have something, and they have brand-new babies and -- sorry.

I don't know what to say. I'm just -- help me, Lord. Help me, God. I'm sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I kept telling him, do not apologize, and he ultimately just showed the resilience and the faith he has, and I just should share. I want to share one little thing, because I followed up with Jackie.

I actually called him today, just to tell him we are all thinking about him and his family and to make sure that they are OK.

He told me that they have stayed in Moore, that he just cannot leave his home town, but that did move to a new neighborhood.

And I asked him about his 12- -- 3-year-old daughter, and he said she's still pretty rattled and any time she sees clouds in the sky she worries about a tornado.

Just quickly, I won't share too much, but he texted me before the show. He said, "Hope is always there." "Hope is always there," he said, and in a new home, they do have a storm shelter.

I just want to remind all of you, you can still help the great people of Moore, Oklahoma. Just go to CNN.com/Impact for ways you can help that recovery effort.

Again, so many people were affected by that tornado and so many others, and, please, always, if we can, we try to help CNN.com/Impact.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me. As always, you can check the Brooke Blog for any interviews. Go to CNN.com/Brooke. We'll see you back here tomorrow at the World Headquarters out of Atlanta.

In the meantime, let's go to Washington. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.