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Kidnapped Woman Found; President and V.A. Problems; U.S. Troops go to Nigeria; Arizona Fire

Aired May 22, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Great to be with you on this Thursday. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We begin this hour with this woman, missing for a decade. She has been found alive. Here's what we know. She has told investigators that her mother's live-in boyfriend kidnapped her, forced her into marriage starting at the age of 15. Flash forward. She is now 25 years of age. And the only reason we are hearing her story, sharing her story with you today, is that she finally escaped.

Orange County authorities arrested and charged this man, Isidro Garcia, for these alleged acts. Website photos of the victim and Garcia paint this portrait of a happy couple. But the woman told police he drugged her, brainwashed her and held her against her will. Investigators say they even had a child together.

Garcia was finally arrested at this apartment right here after the victim managed to find a family member on FaceBook and get help. So with me now on this woman's decade long nightmare, here she is, Sara Sidner, live for us in California there.

And, Sara, what with us it? What finally gave this young woman the courage to say, enough is enough?

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she told police that she went on FaceBook and finally decided to contact her sister. And that was what gave her the courage to go ahead and contact police. Now, we're told by the police here in Bell Gardens that she actually walked up to the police department. She was actually talking to her mother, who reported her missing 10 years ago, on the phone with her mom. She had the case number. She walked in. She told them that there was a domestic violence problem that she was having and eventually started telling them her story, that when she was 15 years old she was actually kidnapped by the boyfriend of her mother.

Now, she told them that she was given five pills. She had a headache. He gave her some pills. And she woke up in a garage. And then, when she woke up and tried to get out, she tried to open the door, but he had backed a car up to the door so the door could not be opened. And from there they moved from place to place around southern California. So her never quite knowing exactly the neighborhood that they were in.

She's a young 15-year-old who had just arrived from Mexico. And she'd arrived illegally. So she said that he used that, told her that if she did go to police and did complain, that she would be deported and that her family would be affected. So she was a very afraid, according to police.

However, I want to point this out. We talked to a lot of neighbors. Six neighbors all told us the same story. They have been with this family. They know the couple. They've been around the couple for four years. And they said this couple looked like a perfectly normal, loving couple. They were holding hands, kissing one another, playing with the baby. She was alone all the time. She had her own car. And so they just cannot believe what they're hearing from police.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Sara Sidner, thank you so much. We keep sadly through the years hearing stories like this. And so Jeff Gardere, clinical and forensic psychologist, let me just bring you in because, I mean, honestly, this makes me think, and it's apples and oranges, but, you know, the three young women in Cleveland and, you know, at some point hearing this young woman's story, according to police, the one we're talking about, you know, all seemed fine according to neighbors. And then, you know, here she finally finds this courage to get out. But we hear this story over and over.

JEFF GARDERE, CNN CLINICAL/FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Sure. And what I find to be a parallel with the young women in Ohio, for example, is this idea again of being abducted, of being kept against their will, of being raped, of being drugged. And what we see is the Stockholm's syndrome, psychologically, emotionally brainwashing the individual so that any kindness that is shown them. That is something that keeps them alive and therefore that's why they may end up staying with that person, even when they have the chance to escape, they just don't see it as an escape because of the constant threats and intimidation, and again, physical sexual assaults. So this is something that I believe could very well be true.

BALDWIN: And I'm wondering too, in these precious, you know, hours and days after finally escaping, and here is this new world, sons (ph) -- these emotional handcuffs. And had read this morning I think some (INAUDIBLE) "The L.A. Times," that, you know, they had lived pretty close to a police department and yet, you know, she didn't want to take that chance. How does one - how does a victim proceed forward? What are the issues that one would be going through? And also, you know, dealing with other people judging, saying well why didn't you try to escape?

GARDERE: Well, I think one of the first things that we're going to see with this young woman, as we've seen in the other cases, is being able to acculturate back into the real world. Again, going by what she's saying. Yes, perhaps there were situations where she may have been out in public. We're seeing this from eye witnesses saying this. But it doesn't talk about as much the psychological manipulation which is just as strong if not stronger than the physical and the sexual manipulation. That's number one. And number two, she has a daughter by this individual.

BALDWIN: Right.

GARDERE: So, therefore, even though she wants to be free, she wants to be out, there's still going to be some sort of emotional tie here.

BALDWIN: Constant reminder.

GARDERE: Yes. Exactly.

BALDWIN: Jeff Gardere, we wish her - we wish her young daughter well. Jeff, thank you so much.

GARDERE: Absolutely. Sure.

BALDWIN: Always great getting your perspective.

And now to this, one Republican congressman today called it, quote, "the most egregious case of friendly fire in U.S. history." He was talking about military veterans who died as they waited for medical care from V.A. facilities across the country and about these records allegedly doctored to hide the long wait times. Today, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki said he has not offered his resignation to the president, saying to reporters here, quote, "you guys know me better than that."

So now is there - there's this new reason here to hold his feet to the fire because it is not only the aging the retired veterans made to wait, but active duty troops, war wounded. A physician from the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Hospital that's really been at the heart, the crux of this scandal, told our CNN's Drew Griffin that everyone is put in a long line to receive care. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: You are telling me that our troops, coming back from war, now separated from active service --

DR. KATHERINE MITCHELL, DIRECTOR, PHOENIX V.A.'S POST-DEPLOYMENT CLINIC: Who should have priority for scheduling, do not.

GRIFFIN: Who are coming to the Phoenix V.A. for follow-up care for war injuries?

MITCHELL: Correct. I wish I were joking, but I'm not. People that are 100 percent service connected that are polly (ph) trauma were waiting anywhere from six to 10 months to get into a new appointment when I found out about them. We're talking about people that were injured by being blown up by IEDs. We're talking about people who had a mental breakdown and have severe PTSD and can't - are having trouble functioning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: After weeks and weeks of no response publically, we saw him yesterday. President Obama stepping at that podium saying he, yes, will hold those guilty of wrongdoing accountable. But, for many people, his statement there was not enough. And that includes the author of this new piece on cnn.com. She calls the "Two Tragedies, Two Reactions; So What Took Obama So Long?," the author of that piece, conservative blogger Crystal Wright joins me. Also joining me, CNN political commentator Maria Cardona.

So, ladies, welcome to both of you.

And, Crystal, I just have to say, obviously I read this two times over, your piece, and just the pages and pages and pages, the comments printed out along with it. I mean you're creating a lot of buzz. And I think part of the reason why, so, in this piece you say that President Obama showed more urgency over Trayvon Martin than the more than, you know, 40 veterans who died waiting for care.

CRYSTAL WRIGHT, EDITOR BLOGGER, CONSERVATIVEBLACKCHICK.COM: Yes, I did. And I was particularly struck by the president's foot dragging on the issue of possibly, allegedly, 40 veterans dying waiting for care at the Phoenix hospital. And he kept saying - what struck me yesterday was that over and over again the president kept deferring to, I'm going to wait until the investigation is concluded. All these different investigations that are going on. But the problems with the V.A., as the president pointed out -

BALDWIN: Not new.

WRIGHT: He was seized with - you know, not new. He was seized with these problems. And when you - when he was a senator and he served on the Veteran's Affairs committee and when he campaigned on -- that he was going to reform these issues. So with Trayvon, there was - before an investigation could even be conducted, he jumped out in the Rose Garden and said, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon. Right after the verdict was handed down, he issued a statement, a presidential statement from the White House. And then we saw, less than a week later, a press conference over, look, Trayvon Martin's death, although tragic, was not about national security, it wasn't about government negligence. Veterans, who defend us on the front line, deserve this - I would argue the same amount of attention the president has not given them. It's really unacceptable.

BALDWIN: I hear you. I hear you on the foot dragging. We've heard a lot of criticism thrown, obviously, toward the president, ultimately. He's the commander in chief here. But we have to just be fair, and I want to play this exchange between our chief congressional correspondent, this is Dana Bash, and the speaker of the House, Republican, John Boehner here, on the embattled V.A. Secretary Eric Shinseki. Roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mr. Speaker, you've been reluctant. You haven't called for Secretary Shinseki to step down. Do you still think that he should be at the helm?

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: I have not called for General Shinseki to resign, although I have to admit I'm getting a little closer. But here's the point. This isn't about one person. This isn't about the secretary. It's about the entire system under him.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: So you have the response from that Republican, Crystal, I just want to stay with you and press you just a little bit on your point. Then you have the IG who's been sending reports about the, you know, myriad delays to members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. And we learned that that goes back to 2005. So it's not just Democrats, Crystal, it's not just the president.

WRIGHT: No. And you're exactly right. I think I was on a CNN program about a week ago talking about the same thing. The V.A. has been plagued by problems decade after decade after decade. And my father, that's the last place that he would ever want to get care, and he's a Vietnam vet.

And I think Republicans need to call for his resignation. But more importantly this goes back to the president, Brooke. And you've said this. You guys have talked about it. President Obama ran a campaign - part of his campaign was, I'm going to fix the V.A. He's had Shinseki there for five years. He needs to be fired, fish (ph) rot (ph) from the head down, and this looks like more protecting his job and his leadership, you know? And we haven't seen president - I hope he holds the secretary accountable. But with the IRS and with Health and Human Services, we have not seen a pattern of President Obama holding his cabinet secretaries accountable.

BALDWIN: That is -

WRIGHT: That's where it all starts.

BALDWIN: Let me jump on that, Maria, because that's what we're hearing. And I know - listen, I know your perspective. You can say that the president needed, what was it, three, four weeks to get the facts, to publically respond. But to Crystal's point, you know, IRS, the waiting list, the fast and furious, the common answers we have seen from President Obama is, you know, I didn't know. I will get to the bottom of that. Well, how -- what does that say about how he runs the administration, Maria?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think what - I think what that says, Brooke, is exactly what he -- the way that he campaigned from the very beginning and who we elected as a president, which is somebody who does not go off on knee jerk reactions every time there is a problem that is facing the administration and the country. He's actually very measured in how he goes about trying to find out what happened.

And what did we find out with the IRS scandal? That it was no scandal. What did we find out with the rollout with healthcare.gov. It was horrendous. Absolutely. But guess what, it actually did better than what the administration thought it was going to do within the time frame. But - but - but - but - so let - so let me --

BALDWIN: But that didn't involve dead veterans. I'm just saying, it is different.

CARDONA: But, no, that's true, it is different. And there is absolute outrage, Brooke, and we should all be outraged. And the president is outraged. And people need to be held accountable.

But let me just say this also.

BALDWIN: Sure.

CARDONA: Let us dispense with false, outrageous -- outrageousness comparisons, when you have a Republican leadership that cut $386 million in veterans funding for medical care, when you have Republicans who cut 900,000 veterans off of food stamps. When you have Republicans who cut 200,000 veterans off of unemployment benefits. Let's dispense with the false outrage and let's figure out how we work on this solution together. Our veterans deserve much more than that.

BALDWIN: I think -

CARDONA: And we need to focus on what needs to be done.

BALDWIN: I think we all agree on that. I don't want false outrage. And a lot of people tend to focus on heads rolling.

CARDONA: Exactly.

BALDWIN: Maybe we don't necessarily need to control (ph) it. We need changes and that's where we have to go from here.

Crystal Wright, Maria Cardona, thank you.

WRIGHT: Exactly right.

BALDWIN: Just want to remind everyone, read Crystal's column, "Two Tragedies, Two Reactions: So What Took Obama So Long?" at cnn.com/opinion.

Just ahead, how -

CARDONA: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You got it.

Just ahead, how will U.S. troops (INAUDIBLE) girls who were kidnapped? I will speak live with a former Navy SEAL about that manhunt underway.

Plus, riots in California after police shoot and kill a drunk man outside of a bakery. The question we're asking today, was it justified?

And going to SeaWorld in San Diego. You might see this at the airport. Find out who's behind it, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Eighty American troops have hit the ground in central Africa. They are somewhere in Chad. That's right next to Nigeria. You see the map. So, their mission is this, to find those girls, more than 200 kidnapped schoolgirls, seized by the world's most heinous terror group, Boko Haram, which has threatened to sell them as slaves. U.S. officials say half of the U.S. troops will operate and support an unarmed predator drone. The other 40 are there for security.

Now, in addition to taking those girls, Boko Haram has carried out bombings this week, blamed for more than 100 deaths. The group's reach and influence appear to be accelerating. So joining me now from Austin, Texas, former Navy SEAL Cade Courtley.

Cade, welcome.

CADE COURTLEY, FORMER NAVY SEAL: Good morning.

BALDWIN: Let me begin here. We have these 80 American troops. We know, as we said, they're in - they're in Chad. This is just across the border from Nigeria. Cade, to what extent could these troops be in harm's way now?

COURTLEY: Well, you said it earlier with discussing what type of group this is. Boko Haram clearly has no value for human life. And my biggest concern would be how they would react if they thought or understand that there are people actively, you know, boots on the ground looking for this group of people.

BALDWIN: Don't you think they know?

COURTLEY: The biggest concern would be -

BALDWIN: Now?

COURTLEY: Well, I mean, I'm sure they do. And, again, it - we've gotten used to the fact that a special operations team goes in, does the job, congratulations. But there's so many dimensions to trying to send in a group of people to rescue. Maybe Boko Haram is now in 10 different places or if they see somebody arriving, they turn the weapons on the women that they've kidnapped.

BALDWIN: Right. Of course, that's a huge fear. The fear, when we talk about complications. I mean the fact that we're talking 200 plus girls in that they could all be separated. But let's say that this American drone, this predator drone, Cade, spies, gets a visual on a group, a few of these girls, seized the - seize the bad guys, you know, holding them as well, who gets the call to go in to try to save them?

COURTLEY: Well, that's a good question. Obviously the group I used to be affiliated with has a lot of experience in this type of thing. But, again, let me press the point of a danger of a hostage situation. They're not going to be in a building that doesn't move. They're potentially, you know, traveling all over the country. And, number two, this group, if they see somebody arriving, somebody coming in to make or affect this kind of a rescue, the greatest danger is they then go and turn their weapons on these girls and maybe that's what they want anyway. They're going to get more worldwide attention for it being such a heinous act and that's why I'm trying to say it's -

BALDWIN: Do you then have to - COURTLEY: You know, there's a lot - there's a lot going on with a potential rescue here.

BALDWIN: How quickly, then, given the fact that they can turn the weapons on the girls, how quickly or how slowly and stealthily do the good guys have to work?

COURTLEY: Hostage rescue is all about speed and violence of action. And especially if you're dealing with a group like this, where you think they potentially will take out the hostages. I mean there couldn't be anything more important than surprise and speed for a potential rescue on this group.

BALDWIN: What about this scenario? What about - you - you have a beat (ph) on 10 of these people from Boko Haram. Let's say they're holding five girls. How does one then calculate the odds in deciding whether to mount a rescue with a, let's be real, a possible loss of life?

COURTLEY: Collateral damage is always an issue when you're dealing with operations like this. And that's why the guys that would do this type of operation are so good and train so hard because you need to minimize that type of thing. But that said, like I said earlier, we've gotten so used to that, the SEALS went in, missing accomplished, great job. You need to understand, there's still such a huge element of danger involved in these type of operations.

BALDWIN: Cade Courtley, thank you so much. Appreciate you coming on.

COURTLEY: My pleasure.

BALDWIN: Coming up, a new ad at the San Diego Airport attacking SeaWorld on its home turf, urging people to stay away from the park. So, how is SeaWorld responding to this?

Plus, a wildfire burning in Arizona, threatening a popular tourist area. And time is running out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Firefighters in Arizona are battling this 4,800 acre wildfire. Talking roughly seven and a half square miles but percent contained, zero. More than 800 fire personnel are there on the ground, including 15 hot shots. They're also fighting the flames from above. You have air tankers and helicopters just part of the fight to get ahold of this thing. Chad Myers, how are weather conditions? Obviously decent enough for them to get up there.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Right. It's ridiculous drought, though. I mean, can you really have a drought in a desert? Yes. Yes, actually, you can.

BALDWIN: You can.

MYERS: Drought means it's not what you should be getting. And they should be getting much more than they are. And they haven't got any for many, many years now. And it's been all the way from Texas to California. And this is going to be what it's like for the rest of the season. Any time the wind blows, any time there's a spark, we're going to get wildfires this season. It's going to be an unbelievable season. Millions of acres are going to burn, I do believe that.

Now, this is only -- we talked about this earlier, this is six times if size of Central Park in -

BALDWIN: Which, perspective wise, not that huge.

MYERS: Not huge. The size of Key West, that island, right now. But zero percent contained means it's going in all directions.

BALDWIN: Yes.

MYERS: All of a sudden you get a mile around, then you get two miles around. And when you get bigger and bigger, it goes from two to four to six to eight miles around and you're battling a much bigger, much more dangerous. Seventy-five degrees. Look at the dew point, 18. The humidity is 11 percent. It isn't going to rain, but it could lightning. How about that?

BALDWIN: Which would -- which would make it worse.

MYERS: Which could make more fires, which could make it worse, exactly.

BALDWIN: Right. The desert. Boom.

MYERS: You get - you get rain that tries to go up, a thunderstorm tries to go up but the rain evaporates on the way down. Guess what, lightening doesn't evaporate. It hits the ground. It starts another fire.

BALDWIN: It's like the perfect storm, the worse storm (ph).

MYERS: Yes.

BALDWIN: Chad, thank you very much.

MYERS: Sure.

BALDWIN: We'll keep an eye on that.

Coming up here on CNN, the city of San Diego, home, of course, to SeaWorld. And now, if you arrive at the airport there. you will be met by this ad telling you don't go to SeaWorld. Who's behind this and what should the response from SeaWorld be? That is next.

Plus, some incredibly scary video here. Right, it's getting warm, you're thinking about the pool. This young girl, playing in this swimming pool, water becomes electrified and she can't move. We'll tell you what happens next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)