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Helping Families In Mental Health Crisis Act; Inmarsat, Malaysia Release Raw Satellite Data; Donald Sterling Faces NBA Deadline; New Study Says Diet Sodas Help Weight Loss; CNN Original Series "THE SIXTIES" Premieres Thursday; UCSB Holds Memorial to Slain Students; Pope Francis Says Celibacy Rules May Change
Aired May 27, 2014 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LIZA LONG, AUTHOR, "I AM ADAM LANZA'S MOTHER": I believe all law enforcement officers are heroes.
But sometimes they don't have the training that they need to spot something, like when they did that welfare check.
And it's really not even fair that we've chosen to treat mental illness through law enforcement, through prison when there are other options.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: So let's talk about that. In this blog, you talk about the two bills in Congress to help.
Specifically I want you to tell us all about Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. This is proposed by Congressman Tim Murphy.
What is that proposing in terms of narrowing the gap we talk about?
LONG: Right. I was one of the parents who testified in a forum after Newtown about what parents of mental illness need, and at that time, we still did not have a diagnosis for my son after more than eight years.
Representative Murphy's bill is really drilling down on some of the issues that would help families like mine and children like mine to be happy productive members of society.
One of the things that might have helped in the Rodger case is called assisted outpatient treatment. I believe in California there's Laura's Law that has been put into place in some communities.
And what that requires is that when Elliot Rodger was prescribed medication, he would have had to take that medication to remain in the community, so that he could be safe, so that the entire community could be safe. That's one provision that would really help families.
Another one that concerns us are the current HIPAA laws, which are well meaning, meant to protect privacy, but in the case of a child like Elliot Rodger with mental illness, 22-years-old, because of privacy laws, parents may not even have had access to knowledge that would have helped them to help their son. This -- for me personally, my son is 14. I'm terrified of what happens when he turns 18, and I can't help with his care anymore.
So these provisions alone are reasons to really look at Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act. It really gives our communities a chance to prevent tragedies like these.
And again, like you said, Brooke, every situation is unique. These are outlier events. The vast majority of people in mental illness are not dangerous.
But we so owe it to our children --
BALDWIN: Yes.
LONG: -- to make our communities safer.
BALDWIN: Yes.
LONG: -- for all children.
BALDWIN: I so appreciate you coming forward, sharing your very personal story.
And, again, just for folks to be able to read, again, in Congress, Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, the one proposed by Congressman Tim Murphy.
Liza Long, thank you, thank you, as always, for coming on the show.
LONG: Thank you.
BALDWIN: Coming up next, after months of waiting, this raw data from missing Flight 370 is now public, but families say something is still missing here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The release of that raw satellite data on Malaysia's missing airplane is finally ended, back and forth over who should have disclosed this information in the first place.
But these 40-plus some pages open up new questions. How were these numbers used? How did they arrive at these numbers?
And what models did Inmarsat apply to conclude this jet went down in the Indian ocean off the coast of western Australia?
One son of a missing passenger said more information is needed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE WANG, SON OF MISSING FLIGHT 370 PASSENGER: We asked for some of the -- we are calling for more people who are experts in mathematics or physics to tell me. The raw data is not there. We want the formula they are using. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: You remember why the data is so crucial, because the logs of communication between satellite and this plane are really the only clues as to where this airliner went down after taking off back in early March with 239 people onboard. The data is the reason the search headed south and not north.
Joining me now, CNN aviation analyst Jeff Wise, you've been calling for this to be released. Now we have the numbers, not the analysis, but the numbers. Is that good enough?
JEFF WISE, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: You know, they say, Brooke, be careful what you ask for. In this case, it came true, because we've been asking for the raw data.
It turns out that the data is a little bit too raw, but we don't have the context that would give it meaning.
What we have is a car without a spark plug. We don't know, for instance, what the frequencies that the data was transmitted after so we can't derive the speed the plane was traveling at, to determine for ourselves why the authorities think the plane wound up where it did.
BALDWIN: When do we get the spark plugs?
WISE: We're going back to the well, after complaining for all these weeks and months about please give us the raw data. You gave us the raw data. Now give us the context that will make it meaningful.
And I don't know really why they're dragging their heels like this. You know, please help us to understand. Don't just give us numbers and dump it in our laps.
I think we all, especially the families of the passengers, really just want a sense of understanding what happened. Can you help us to understand at least what's known?
BALDWIN: And ultimately finding the plane. Let's assume since the cries for data in the first place was answered. Let's assume in time that the spark plugs, if you will, will be released.
Then what? Who takes a look at that? Should it be fresh eyes to finally find this plane?
WISE: Of course you've got the official authorities who are running an official search operation.
BALDWIN: Sure.
WISE: And they need -- and they're in charge, and they need to decide amongst themselves who is going to be providing the leadership, and what model to follow, where to look.
Then we have the public, the media, the families. And the people who are just trying to understand for themselves. Did it go into the ocean? Where in the ocean did it go? Do we have a hope of finding it or not? Big questions.
This is an extraordinary situation, Brooke, where the entire fate of this plane hinges on this handful of numbers. No wreckage, no clues, no calls from terrorists claiming responsibility.
We have nothing, and so there's a real need to try to understand the math.
BALDWIN: That's why we will stay on this. We will keep this conversation going, and call for more information.
Jeff Wise, thank you as always.
WISE: Thanks, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Donald Sterling has mere hours left to tell the NBA why he should get to keep the Los Angeles Clippers. He has until the close of business today to explain the racist comments he made on that released audio recording.
Meantime, the NBA is moving ahead with its plan to force Sterling out and could vote in one week on June 3rd.
But behind the scenes here, Sterling's wife, Shelly, is trying to swing a deal to sell the team. And there is no shortage of buyers.
One possible bidder here, the former Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer. Forbes is estimating his net worth at $20 billion, give or take a few hundred million. So, yes, he could afford to buy the team.
Howard Beck is a columnist for Bleacher Report. Howard, how can the Sterlings sale the deal. Do they have to do that?
HOWARD BECK, NATIONAL NBA COLUMNIST, BLEACHER REPORT: It looks like they're moving forward to do just that, but a sale takes time.
The NBA has to vet a possible new owner. There's a process to go through that takes weeks or months. That's not going to happen by the time the vote occurs next Tuesday.
The NBA has made it very clear they are still holding that hearing next Tuesday. They're going to have a vote. And at that time, I think most of us expect that the NBA is going to have a majority of the other 29 owners to force the sale.
Now, that doesn't mean that the Sterlings can't voluntarily move forward to sell it under their own terms.
BALDWIN: Do we know what these different owners would be looking for potentially in the next owner of the Clippers?
BECK: Obviously somebody who's going to have to fork over quite a big number.
BALDWIN: Yes.
BECK: Estimates, by all accounts, will push up possibly past $1.2 billion, closer to $2 billion potentially.
No shortage as you've seen, the group that involves Oprah Winfrey, Magic Johnson, former NBA star Grant Hill, there are no shortage of groups with high-profile people that have the means to buy the team.
There's no question the Clippers are going to sell. They'll sell for a record price, that will be to the benefit of the other 29 owners.
And, obviously, the ultimate benefit here, the one that the NBA wants, which is to get Donald Sterling and Shelly Sterling out of the league.
BALDWIN: Howard Beck, thank you.
Coming up, a controversial study involving weight loss, some researchers say drinking diet soda will help you shed more pounds by drinking that other than something else.
But we're talking to a health expert to get the real takeaway on this one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: We've all been on a diet here and there, but here's one example of this new study. They say if you take two group of dieters, put them side by side. One group gets to drink diet soda, the other does not, who will lose more weight?
The answer is kind of revealed in this new study just published by "The Journal of Obesity," but the results have caused something of a firestorm, and according to the research, the diet soda drinkers did better, and the study was paid for, let me be clear, by the Beverage Association.
So joining me now, noted physician, Dr. Ian Smith, the author of "Shred, The Revolutionary Diet." So Dr. Ian Smith, nice to have you back on.
I'm sorry. I'm just kind of rolling my eyes over this study. Am I wrong?
DR. IAN SMITH, AUTHOR, "SHRED, THE REVOLUTIONARY DIET": Well, you know what, Brooke? Everyone's rolling their eyes over this study.
First of all, it's a small study, about 300 people, it only lasted for 12 weeks, and anyone who knows anything about dieting and weight loss knows that weight loss is not a sprint; it's a marathon. So the parameters of the study are bad to begin with.
Secondly, you look at the weight difference. The group that drank diet soda lost 12 pounds. The other group lost about eight or nine pounds. It's not a huge difference over 12 weeks, and definitely not for the long term.
Study after study, and I mean large studies of thousands and thousands of people, have shown not only does that not happen, whereas when you drink or use artificial sweeteners, you lose more weight. Studies show that does not happen.
In fact, studies have shown that you end up gaining weight and you gain inches around your abdomen.
Absolutely. And let me tell you why, though, Brooke. This is key.
BALDWIN: OK.
SMITH: The key is not because the artificial sweeteners are causing weight gain. It's because people tend to eat things, or drink things that are lower in calories, but then they go and drink or eat more calories elsewhere.
So the caloric intake for the day is greater while they're still drinking or eating these artificial sweeteners, so they overcompensate.
BALDWIN: What -- there are so many different artificial sweeteners out there, and we all have our vices. I really tried to quit diet sodas, because I swear to you, and people may love Splenda, but Splenda specifically, I swear, my eyes would just keep twitching.
What is in this stuff?
SMITH: You know, it's interesting. This is a whole documentary, basically, about artificial sweeteners, but a lot of these artificial sweeteners contain a lot of chemicals.
Some of these chemicals are believed to be carcinogenic, which means cancer causing. Now most of the studies have been done in rats, so they looked at rat physiology to see how it affects them.
Some of these artificial sweeteners are 200 times, 7,000 more times sweeter than sucrose, which is your table sugar. How can they make it sweeter? Because they add all these additional chemicals, which may have some side effects that you may have described.
BALDWIN: OK. Just things to keep in mind. We always like to look at the headlines, but you need to read deeper into some stories to find the real meat of it.
Dr. Ian Smith, thank you very much.
SMITH: Thanks, Brooke.
BALDWIN: David Schwimmer may have starred in "Friends," but his latest move could have been taken, actually, out of the TV show, "Law & Order."
Have you heard about this? The actor helped police on a stabbing case. He invited officers into his Manhattan townhome Monday to show his surveillance video of this fight.
And apparently it was all over a stolen computer. This happened next door. NYPD says before they got the video they only had witness accounts to go on. And a reminder, Thursday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific, we are very excited here at CNN about this new series. Make sure you watch "THE SIXTIES."
It's a 10-part series for a look at pop culture and the music and the politics of the decade that changed the world.
Each episode is executive produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman. And here is a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK SMOTHERS, COMEDIAN: Our government is asking us, as citizens, to refrain from traveling to foreign lands.
TOM SMOTHERS, COMEDIAN: OK. All you guys in Vietnam, come on home!
D. SMOTHERS: The times were changing so quickly in the Sixties. We didn't change them.
T. SMOTHERS: We just reflected them.
D. SMOTHERS: I can't hear you. What are you doing?
T. SMOTHERS: I'm getting ready to go to college.
DAVID BIANCULLI, TELEVISION CRITIC, NPR: CBS gave the Smothers that show because they were clean-cut, folk satirists. You know, they wore blazers. They could sing well. They were funny.
T. SMOTHERS: Mom liked you best!
D. SMOTHERS: You lower your voice.
T. SMOTHERS: Mom liked you best.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: The Space Race, "free love," civil rights and so much more, "THE SIXTIES," the new CNN Original Series, premieres this Thursday night, 9:00 Eastern and Pacific, only here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: The University of California at Santa Barbara is getting ready to hold a memorial to remember and honor those six students killed in Friday's deadly rampage.
And today, people are posting messages and memories of the victims on these massive boards all around campus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI GUTHY, UCSB ASSOCIATED STUDENTS PRESIDENT: These are six real people, members of our UCSB campus, that are no longer with us, and it's about remembering the time that we had with them. We really need the community to have the community and forum to reflect on what has happened here, walking around and seeing bullet holes in places I frequent daily.
I eat dinner with, I go with my friends to these places. I'm still trying to come to terms with it emotionally, and I think once I have time to sit down and catch my breath, I'll have that experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: We can tell you, though, that the UC Santa Barbara community and all those students, they're not grieving alone, because college students from across the state of California are offering support with the hashtag, "#WeAreAllOneUC."
Tonight, thousands are expected to stand in solidarity on three other UC campuses, and student Kevin Lam is organizing tonight's vigil at UC Irvine.
Kevin, nice to have you on. Welcome.
KEVIN LAM, ORGANIZER, UCSB CANDLELIGHT VIGIL AT UC IRVINE: Nice to -- thank you.
BALDWIN: I hate the circumstances surrounding you coming on in the first place. I know you have friends at UCSB. Clearly this is reverberating through the whole UC system.
What are the plans tonight for the vigil at your campus?
LAM: Well, we just wanted to have a space of healing for students that have been affected because the violence that occurred at UCSB, but we think it's important to stand in solidarity with them and also the entire UC system.
Katie Cooper, Veronika Weiss, Chris Martinez, George Chen, Chong Yuan Hong, Weihan Wong, they're not just members of the UCSB community, but also the UC community, so for those affected we want to provide that space of healing and also to honor them.
BALDWIN: In the days since the stabbings and the shootings, I'm sure you've been part of conversations on campus with other young people.
What is the overarching message or concern that you're hearing?
LAM: Well, people are definitely emotionally affected by this issue. Right now, it's a lot of grieving, a lot of focusing on healing, but I think that something that I've noticed is that there's a lot of talk about gun control laws, mental health issues and I believe those are important issues.
But as someone that has been working with the UC campus assault resources center for three years now, without a doubt is an act of gender-based violence. It's an act of misogyny. It's about male entitlement. If we like think about the bigger picture, and not really focus too much on gun control laws and mental health issues, our society raises men to feel that they are an entitled to a woman's body, that they are entitled, whether it be emotional, physical, sexual, that if they are nice guys, then women are obligated to give something to them in return.
And we're taught that if we don't get it, if we're denied, then we're to act in violence, to punish those that deny us, or to take what we feel entitled to, forcibly.
So I think it's important in the people that I've talk to that like after we honor the victims, to continue to honor them, we need to reframe the discussion we're having, because it's more than just gun control laws, it's more than just mental health issues. It's an overarching them of male entitlement, patriarchal structures.
And if we really want to honor Katie Cooper, Veronika Weiss, Chris Martinez, George Chen and Weihan Wang and Chong Yuan Hong, then we really need to reframe the conversation.
BALDWIN: I'm so glad you brought that up, and, you know, I know certainly not all men are like this, and this young shooter took the lives of men, as well, but I'm glad you brought it up. And we all should be honoring all of these victims in our daily lives.
Kevin Lam, thank you so much, just hours before this vigil --
LAM: Thank you.
BALDWIN: -- at UC Irvine. I really appreciate it.
And before I go, I just wanted to share this. After this exhausting three-day trip to the Middle East, the 77-year-old pope, Pope Francis, he still had enough energy to make some stunning news today, because he talked to reporters for an hour on this plane ride back to Rome, and he told them that allowing priests to marry some day is not out of the question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POPE FRANCIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (via translator): Celibacy is not a dogma. It is a rule of life that I appreciate very much, and I think it's a gift for the church.
But since it is not a dogma, the door is always open.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: We know this pope. We've been talking about him a lot, likes to make the headlines, and he certainly is.
Just a short time ago I talked to CNN senior Vatican analyst John Allen, who was on the plane when the pope said that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST & ASSOCIATE EDITOR, BOSTON GLOBE: Well, first of all, Brooke, just to indicate how remarkable this was, I mean, you indicated this came at the end of the three-day, incredibly difficult trip to the Middle East.
You know, the pope came out to do this press conference. He was into it for about a half hour. His spokesperson actually tried to cut it off at that point, and the pope said, no, I want to keep going
And these comments about celibacy actually came on the other end of that attempt to wrap things up.
He's just -- his reservoir of energy is remarkable. He's the Energizer Bunny of popes.
BALDWIN: I'm going to quote you on that, John Allen.
ALLEN: Please do.
But to come to this point about celibacy, look, Brooke, we should say this is absolutely nothing new.
Anybody who has commented in officialdom on the rule of priests and celibacy will tell you this is a discipline, not a dogma.
That is, it's a tradition, but it's not something that comes from the law of God, and in fact, the Catholic Church already has married priests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: John Allen, talking to me from Rome.
The pope had already made news on the trip. Pope Francis called for recognition of a Palestinian state, called on both sides to accept the rights of each other to live in peace.
He's also invited, and he said it was an impromptu thing he did, but he invited Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the Vatican, a move that could possibly restart peace talks.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for watching. We'll see you back here at, same time tomorrow.
In the meantime, let's go to Washington. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.
