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Clashes Escalate in Jerusalem; T-Mobile Sued Over Bogus Text Messages; Danger of Bypassing Doctors for Medical Procedures; Congress Makes Travel Expenses Harder to Track; Target Bans Guns in Stores.

Aired July 02, 2014 - 14:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: So let me bring in CNN International anchor Hala Gorani, who's live for us in London.

And, Hala, please tell me now, four dead teenagers, tell me this isn't some new tactic in this decades old conflict.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, the big concern, of course, is that after the death and the killing of those three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank that this, in fact, is a revenge killing and that the 17-year-old, whose name is

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Please tell me now, four dead teenagers, tell me this isn't some new tactic in this decade-old conflict.

HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the big concern, of course, is after the death and killing of the three Israeli teenagers in the west bank that this is a revenge killing. And that the 17-year-old who was abducted. You saw and showed a photo of him. A frail young man. And his friend said he was pulled away from the group he was with in the middle of the night, put in a car, driven away and eventually killed. Everyone is calling for calm because the big concern is that when you have this type of attention, it escalates quickly. You have a lot of anger on both sides.

Among Israelis, our Ben Wedeman was reporting, a mob in Jerusalem was screaming out "Death to Arabs," making their way in some neighborhoods among Israelis. You have Palestinians saying, "You have killed one of our own."

Senior Palestinian officials are saying, we hold you, Israelis, responsible, among government officials, in the same way you held us responsible for the death of the three Israeli teens.

The big concern is escalation, at this point, Brooke, because it doesn't take much for the tit-for-tat to grow into something bigger. We have our Atika Shubert on the ground there. And those are demonstrations and clashing between young Palestinians and Israeli security forces.

BALDWIN: OK, and again, just quickly, after that June 12th and the three Israeli teenagers went missing, quickly, Israel said this is Hamas. Hamas still denying responsibility. So no one has claimed responsibility, correct?

GORANI: We have had more than one claim responsibility. This is why this is so confusing. One yesterday from a group that I'm not familiar with. Another from an Egyptian group. Not even a Palestinian group. They have some known ties to Hamas. Two claims for responsibility. But the Israeli government still says it blames Hamas.

So we will have to wait and see for more details for who is responsible for the deaths, both of the Palestinian and of the three Israeli teenagers -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Four teenagers gone.

Hala Gorani, thank you, for us in London right now.

Now, flirting tips, horoscopes, celebrity gossip, T-Mobile is accused of charging fees for bogus text messages. The Federal Trade Commission, the FTC, filed a lawsuit yesterday alleging T-Mobile raked in hundreds of billions through these charges.

Business correspondent, Alison Kosik, is working this one for us today.

It's always like "read the fine print." What are the charges from my phone carrier? What's going on with T-Mobile here?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's a lesson. We have to look very carefully, line for line. Don't take anything for granted.

The charges you were talking about were monthly charges for the text message subscriptions for things like flirting tips, horoscopes, celebrity gossip. The funny thing about T-Mobiles is its bills are long and detailed and this charges don't stand out. So the heading would be listed as usage charges that then shows premium charges. So if you're looking online, you go into all of these headings. So after clicking through, the problem is you can't see the bridge charges. They're so hard to detect.

BALDWIN: I'm getting cross-eyed looking at this.

KOSIK: Yes.

BALDWIN: How is T-Mobile responding to the lawsuit?

KOSIK: T-Mobile saying no, not us, it's the third party's fault. T- Mobile putting out a statement saying, "We have seen the complaint and find it to be unfounded and without merit. We're disappointed that the FTC has chosen to file this sensationalized legal action."

Ironically the lawsuit from the FTC comes as T-Mobile is trying to paint itself different these days. It has this very aggressive marketing campaign saying it's doing away with contracts, it's dropping international roaming charges. Funny thing is the CEO recently spoke at a public event with disdain about other carrier, Verizon and AT&T, about their billing practices, their billing practices, talking about their price gouging. But I would say it's safe to say, if the FTC can prove these claims they're making, T- Mobile needs to look in the mirror.

BALDWIN: Alison Kosik, thank you so much.

KOSIK: Thanks.

BALDWIN: Take away, look at the bill very closely.

Just ahead, plastic surgery gone horribly, horribly awry. A woman wanted to enhance her rear end, but her cheap solution nearly killed her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

APRIL BROWN, DIY PLASTIC SURGERY WENT WRONG: Oh, my god. I'm going to lose my hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Look at this. Hear what happened. See how common these DIY plastic surgery procedures -- do it yourself -- really are. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If a friend or acquaintance tells you there's a cheaper way to smooth wrinkles, you should think twice. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, too many people are bypassing doctors to save money on basic medical procedures. They're ending up with horrific injuries. One Florida hairstylist almost lost her life. She just wanted to fix a flaw, and now she has no arms or legs.

She told Kyung Lah her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: 24 hours at the best. You know, she's not going to make it.

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not live another day. April Brown remembers that moment, June, 2010, dying in a hospital bed. A staph infection, she says, eating away her body.

BROWN: I really wanted to live. I just wanted to live.

LAH: The one-time cosmetologist was seeking beauty, silicon butt injections. An acquaintance was offering injections at her house at a cheaper price than a doctor's office. The real cost would come later.

BROWN: I was in pain. My butt was hard, and I was itching.

LAH (on camera): When they removed the silicone, did they test it?

BROWN: Yes.

LAH: What was it?

BROWN: It was bathroom caulk sealant.

LAH: Bathroom?

BROWN: Bathroom.

LAH: Like you buy from Home Depot?

BROWN: Yes. Absolutely.

LAH (voice-over): It would take 27 surgeries.

UNIDENTIFIED DOCTOR: I have to go a little bit higher.

BROWN: My hands popped out like pink nail polish, and I thought, oh, my god, I'm going to lose my hands.

LAH: And her feet.

A horror story. And not the only one.

LAH (on camera): What is that?

DR. RICHARD GLOGAU, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES: This is a close up of her right cheek that shows these swollen red angry nodules.

LAH: Dr. Richard Glogau, at the University of California, San Francisco, shows us what's happening with a patient's face.

(on camera): This is something growing under her skin?

GLOGAU: Yes. Right. Within a week to 10 days of that picture being taken, it looked like this. The body is reacting

LAH (voice-over): The patient thought she was buying an injectable filler to smooth wrinkles. She purchased it off of a website, PMMA.com. The website claims to sell dermal fillers for professionals direct to customers. A similar treatment at a doctor's office costs over $800. The website sells it for just $100. The FDA says only license medical professionals can legally make these purchases. For consumers to buy direct, it's illegal.

When Dr. Glogau removed the substance and tested it?

GLOGAU: It was glass or fiberglass. This was material that the body is not prepared to accept.

LAH: She injected glass or plastic in her face?

GLOGAU: Probably.

LAH (voice-over): Dr. Glogau doesn't blame the patients. In a world where Botox and fillers are commonplace and the web offers fast and easy access to the inaccessible --

GLOGAU: People think it's as simple as getting your hair colored. But at the end of the day, it's a medical procedure.

LAH: As far as April Brown, she has learned how to walk with prosthetics. And even how to write. But her most powerful skill now is teaching others about her mistake.

BROWN: All I can ask them to do is when they have that first thought, make sure they have a second thought about it and do a little research and they won't be blindsided. They won't be saying, oh, my god, I had no idea that a simple procedure like that could leave me with no hands, no feet, and no butt cheeks.

LAH (on camera): CNN did reach out to PMMA.com for comment. No one ever answered the phone number listen on the website. And the only email response we got was this state, "It's not about product. It's about procedure." But when we went back to check a few days later, it had been completely scrubbed and no longer exists.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: My jaw is on the floor when I first heard about this. Thank goodness she is talking about it and raising awareness.

Dr. Paul Nassif specializes in fixing failed surgical procedures. He is co-host of E!'s "Botched."

Doc, welcome.

When I hear them say bathroom caulk and fiberglass, how often do you see this happen? How often do you see people try to do it the cheap way?

DR. PAUL NASSIF, PLASTIC SURGEON & CO-HOST, BOTCHED: Unfortunately, Brooke, it's tragic and I see it all of the time. It's so common. It's not usually bathroom caulk. It's usually non-medical grade silicon, which has all kinds of bacteria, just like this poor unfortunate person this happened to. We had a patient with silicon injected in her butt recently, same problems but not as severe.

BALDWIN: Can you explain to me what this stuff, once it's injected, what happens to you physically?

NASSIF: So let's just talk about the negative things. First of all, they get distributed into other parts of your body. It can cause an embolism, it can cause infection like this poor lady, where the infection is in her blood where she lost her hands and legs, and it's a horrible tragic thing. In addition it can cause you to be disabled, chronic pain, you could feel tired all of the time, it could make you disabled. It can cause cosmetic deform deformities. It is also very common in Europe, too.

BALDWIN: I think the material for this woman was postmarked Brazil. I know the U.S. can only regulation what the U.S. has jurisdiction over, so that changes things legally for this wok, but if you are looking for something and you don't want to fully pay a good doctor, what are the red flags for people as they inquire on procedures.

NASSIF: The number one thing is don't go to any of these silicon filling parties. You have a mono-medical person go and they do it inexpensively. You want to go to a board-certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist. Make sure it's a real product. And most of the time, you want to make sure it's a reversible or temporary filler. You want to also make sure when the doctor comes in, you actually see the package that says the name. And they keep it sterile for you. And you want to do your due diligence. And don't do it because it's cheap. You get what you pay for most of the time.

BALDWIN: So true. Just curious, as a plastic surgeon yourself, what is the most wanted body part enhancement these days?

NASSIF: Well, in the face -- I'm a facial guy. The number one thing is still lips. Now what's happening -- I'll tell you one more thing, Brooke --

BALDWIN: Yeah.

NASSIF: Since I'm a nasal specialist, the nose. They come in for non-surgical fillers in the nose, and I'm seeing more and more catastrophes where they're injecting the nose, and it kills the blood vessels and they're losing their nose.

BALDWIN: That's frightening.

Paul Nassif, we're glad you're doing what you're doing. Host of E!'s "Botched." Thank you for what you're doing.

The message is, don't do it.

Thank you so much.

Coming up --

NASSIF: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: You got it.

Coming up, rare bipartisan agreement in Congress to make some of their travel expenses more difficult to find. Congress was required for trips to be paid for by outside groups. Now because of this rule change that information is more difficult for, say, a journalist to discover. Up next, we will talk to former lobbyist and convicted felon, Jack Abramoff, the self-described ultimate Washington insider. Let's get his take on this news, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I'm going to tell you a little something about Congress that I bet you didn't know. The House Ethics Committee told no one when it dropped this line from a form about traveling overseas on someone else's dime. Whose dime? Now members of the House need not tell us on whose dime they are traveling.

Congress people travel overseas, you know that. They educate themselves, meet with foreign officials, and make contacts that help their constituents. But lots of the trips are funded by private lobbyists who have agendas. So the members of the Congress meet the people the lobbyists want them to meet and see what the lobbyists see what they want them to see. See where I'm going? There's must more to this story.

But let me first introduce the most famous lobbyist ever to done a neck tie. Jack Abramoff went to prison for bribing members of Congress and a lot of that revolved around trips overseas.

So, Jack Abramoff, thank you for being here.

JACK ABRAMOFF, FORMER LOBBYIST: Thank you for having me.

BALDWIN: You've been on the inside. What is the game here? How does a lobbyist push his or her agenda through these funding trips for members of Congress?

ABRAMOFF: One of the most important things for lobbyists is to gain access and time, social time. Nothing beats taking someone on a trip. You're on a plane, the resort. You spend a lot of time with them. That time, that access is coin of the realm for lobbyists.

BALDWIN: Tell me about those conversations on the airplane and elsewhere.

ABRAMOFF: It depends. You don't want to beleaguer the congressmen with nonstop chatter as you go to your destination. But you have sole access to these members as you're traveling. So whatever item you want to go through with them, you will have plenty of time to do it, plenty of time to find the right moment to do it. And nothing beats taking a congressman on a trip. And not being able to disclose this is unbelievable.

BALDWIN: A lot of congressional travel is legitimate. But what is the line between work and play? Does a lot of the so-called fact finding happen at the golf course and in the bar?

ABRAMOFF: Sometimes they spend a lot of time on the trips doing their job. The fact is they take down time. They play golf, go shopping, et cetera. But some of these trips, especially when the lobbyists are tagging along or nearly, they include a lot of fun time that is separate from the job of the Congressman.

BALDWIN: Like what?

ABRAMOFF: And this is the kind of time, frankly, that congressmen like. You know, shopping, golf, sitting on the beech, going to the pool, parties, restaurants. Most congressmen do not like to be heavily scheduled on these trips. They don't want to work 6:00 a.m. to midnight. Some do. But most, they want to work in the morning and then have free time. And free time includes all of these fun activities. BALDWIN: Fun time that you mentioned. I do need to state, for the

record, members still have to report who pays for their overseas travel, but now it's not on this particular form. And the information is more difficult to get to for folks on Capitol Hill, for those want to look for this, government watchdogs.

Jack, how big of a win is this for lobbyists? And how big of a loss is it for the public?

ABRAMOFF: I think it is a big loss -- at the end of the day, it's a big loss for the lobbyists. And it's a huge loss for Congress. People are sick and tired of their public officials taking advantage of their public positions. And while people in the Congress said the only thing they're doing is streamlining a duplicative process -- I mean, this is what they pick to streamline? We all know that government needs streamlining. But they're going to streamline this? Disclosure about them going off with lobbyists? I think it is utterly disingenuous.

(CROSSTALK)

ABRAMOFF: I'm sorry?

BALDWIN: You don't think it's a perk for lobbyist and members of Congress?

ABRAMOFF: I think it is a perk for all of them. The travel is unbelievable. Being able to not disclose it in forms readily available is not streamlining the process, it's hiding things from the American people.

BALDWIN: Jack Abramoff, thank you. I appreciate you coming on.

ABRAMOFF: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Just ahead, breaking today, word that Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. soldier who spent five years in captivity with the Taliban, is now going out in public. He is eating in restaurants, stopping by the super market. Hear what happened when some people recognized him. And why has he not spoken with his parents? We'll discuss that.

And Target becoming the latest chain to ban guns in stores. See the pictures that prompted that move, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Target is telling their customers today, if you're shopping at our stores, respectfully leave your guns at home. They are changing their policy saying that even in places where it is legal by the law of that particular state, they prefer their customers leave their firearms at home.

It started when a gun rights group was posting pictures on social media, like these, of people walking the aisles of a Dallas-area Target. A mom's group focused on gun control took offense. They organized petitions and boycotts, urging Target to change their policy.

"CNN Money" correspondent, Christina Alesci, joins me now.

Christina, how concerned with this change in policy is Target about losing customers?

CHRISTINA ALESCI, CNN MONEY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is a very interesting question, Brooke. To be clear, it's not really even a policy, it's just a request at this point. This goes to your question about not wanting to alienate customers on either side of this debate. It's really hard not to do that. If Target is just quiet about the whole thing, the anti-gun group could say they're supporting the gun side of the equation. It is a tough call for retailers. As for whether or not this impacts their bottom line, it's too early to tell. They have statements against carrying guns in their stores, so it's hard to tell at this point, not to mention the fact even with we do see a sales decline, it will be hard to assess whether that is tied to these statements and press releases at the end of the day.

BALDWIN: What if it is legal in a specific state? Can the stores legally keep law-abiding citizens, from outside of the stores, from walking in with a firearm?

ALESCI: It's something they don't like to answer. I can say that very confidently today. But the bottom line is if they really wanted to keep guns out of their stores, they could institute a ban and try to enforce it. The complication, of course, is how do you enforce it? Do you have your sales representatives with a gun, and do you put them in the situation. All of the things are considerations that businesses have to take into account here. It could be complicated. But if they wanted to put their money where their mouth is, they would try to enforce some of these very harsh statements.

BALDWIN: Seems like a trend with some of these chain stores.

Christina Alesci, with "CNN Money," thank you.

Coming up next hour, I will talk live with the owner of a restaurant where waitresses are armed. The guns, as you're seeing in this video, are there on their waist. Hear why their motto is probably a jab at President Obama. That's next hour.