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Campbell Brown
Wall Street Reforms? FBI's New Most Wanted
Aired October 20, 2009 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Tonight, here are the questions we want answered.
Why are Wall Street execs getting blockbuster bonuses this year? Didn't they almost bankrupt the country?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's no going back and now changing the rules. We blew it as a country.
BROWN: Corporate jets, chauffeured cars. Will the fat cats just keep getting fatter?
Plus, our special series, the FBI's new most wanted. Tonight, we reveal the latest felon to make the list. He's wanted for murder, drug trafficking, and extortion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has an entourage. He has bodyguards. He has armored vehicles to protect him from rival gangs and also rival cartels.
BROWN: Now you can help the FBI track him down.
The heavy metal hero with the secret. He's a survivor of male breast cancer, KISS drummer Peter Criss.
PETER CRISS, MUSICIAN: I played in spandex for a long time in my life. So, I know what it is to be half-naked half the time and knowing what you got.
BROWN: Plus, you never know what he will say. And that makes him tonight's intriguing person, "SNL" and "30 Rock" star Tracy Morgan.
TRACY MORGAN, ACTOR: Tracy Morgan's not going to run down the street in his underwear with a lightsaber.
(LAUGHTER)
MORGAN: I'm a little bit more stable than that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: This is your only source for news. CNN prime time begins now. Here's Campbell Brown. BROWN: Hey, everybody. We're going to start as we always do tonight with the "Mash-Up," our look at all the stories making an impact right now, the moments you may have missed today. We are watching it all, so you don't have to.
And we begin with alarming new information about the H1N1 virus, the swine flu. A new government figure shows young people are particularly at risk, and this announcement today coming from the Centers for Disease Control. Here right now, the CliffsNotes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REAR ADMIRAL DR. ANNE SCHUCHAT, SCIENCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAM, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: More than half of the hospitalizations are occurring in young people under the age of 25. This is really, really different from what we see with seasonal flu.
With seasonal flu, about 60 percent of hospitalizations occur in people 65 and over. And here we're only seeing about 7 percent of hospitalizations in that age group. Nearly 90 percent of our fatalities are occurring in people under 65.
If you have a person who is severely ill or a person with risk factors like pregnancy, asthma, diabetes, very young children under 2, and you suspect flu, we recommend antiviral medicines be given promptly.
In such patients, we don't want docs to wait for the lab confirmation. The time it will take to get the lab tests back shouldn't be waited for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Here in New York City, schoolkids started receiving swine flu vaccinations -- or start receiving swine flu vaccinations next week. It's only happening, though, with their parents' permission. We should note President Obama got his flu shot this afternoon, but only for the seasonal flu.
In Afghanistan today, President Hamid Karzai agreed to participate in a run-off election in November, his decision coming one day after a United Nations audit uncovered massive voter fraud, stripping Karzai of a million votes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: There's been a huge turnaround here in Afghanistan, both in President Karzai's decision to embrace this runoff election, and in the praise he is now getting from the international community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Karzai was close to rejecting a second-round vote. Only after he and Senator John Kerry took a walk and visited a mosque on the presidential compound did he drop his objections to a runoff. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The biggest concern now is trying to curb the fraud that plagued the August elections. But with just a few short weeks to go, there's little time to secure voting stations, let alone guarantee a clean contest.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Allegations of widespread fraud have been hanging over the disputed vote and weighing on Mr. Obama's decision about sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Yes, you may have seen some of the president's advisers on TV recently hinting a decision on troop levels will wait until the Afghan election is resolved. Here's a refresher.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAHM EMANUEL, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: It would be reckless to make a decision on U.S. troop level if, in fact, you haven't done a thorough analysis of whether, in fact, there's an Afghan partner ready to fill that space that the U.S. troops would create and become a true partner in governing the Afghan country.
ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: All the troops in the world will not solve a problem without a partner that is there ultimately to help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Well, today, that message got a bit of a slap-down from the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Bob Gates saying we are not going to sit on our hands waiting for the outcome of the election. The reality is, it's going -- or not going to be complicated one day and simple the next -- that coming from the Pentagon tonight.
On Capitol Hill today, some lawmakers were nose to the grindstone on health care reform. Others -- well, others clearly had a little too much time on their hands. Check this out, people. This is your government at work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: House Resolution 793, resolution supporting the goals and ideals of National Chemistry Week.
REP. BART GORDON (D), TENNESSEE: Activities are carried out by local sections of the American Chemical Society, located in all parts of our nation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: House Resolution 558, resolution supporting the increased understanding of and interest in computer science and computing careers among the public and in schools.
REP. VERNON EHLERS (R), MICHIGAN: Who is the richest person in the world? Bill Gates? How did he start out? Computer science. I know him personally, and he's a nerd of the first order. When you get out and start looking for a job, you either are going to be a nerd or you're going to work for a nerd.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: House Resolution 797, supporting the goals and ideals of the sixth annual National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
REP. YVETTE CLARKE (D), NEW YORK: Simply put, we must protect ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Doing the people's business on Capitol Hill. But, hey, it's a rough life up there. So many rules and obligations, hard to keep track of them all. Sometimes, even the simplest things need a little reinforcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The chair would like to make an announcement regarding decorum in the chamber. The standard of dress on the floor of the House is proper business attire for gentlemen, coat and tie. The dawning of a lab coat or other attire in the nature of distinctive uniform is -- another occupation is not proper.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Good to know.
Turning now to Nashville and new details tonight about the final hours of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair. They are newly released text messages between McNair and his girlfriend, the woman police believe murdered him back in July, before turning the gun on herself. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police in Nashville have released text messages from the Steve McNair murder investigation. They were sent between the NFL quarterback and his girlfriend just before authorities say she killed him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The day before the murder at 2:00 a.m. on July 3, she texts, "You love me?" One minute later, McNair texts, "I love you, baby." Then Kazemi writes, "I'm going to have all of you soon." And McNair writes back, "Yes, you will."
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: They really do reveal a woman who was strung out, struggling with bills.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She told McNair: "Baby, I might have a breakdown. I'm so stressed."
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: she said that she may need to go to the hospital because she can hardly breathe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She later asks McNair to transfer money into her account to pay bills. And he says he will. Then she texts: "I have to be with you tonight. I don't care where." But at 10:45 p.m., Kazemi says she's going to McNair's condo. At 12:38 a.m., McNair texts, "On my way."
TATTON: The final conversation over text, very, very mundane, a conversation about who's going to leave the door open or the front door or the gate unlocked. And then after that, 1:14 a.m., it goes quiet. It was 12 hours later that police found the bodies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Steve McNair was the married father of four children.
And on to Colorado now, the latest in the strange saga of balloon boy. Richard Heene's one-time assistant out and about today, enjoying his 15 minutes of fame. Robert Thomas making the TV rounds this morning saying the whole balloon debacle was an elaborately planned hoax.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT THOMAS, FORMER HEENE ASSISTANT: I had absolutely nothing to do with this hoax. Absolutely nothing to do with the hoax. I had nothing to do with the conception of it, absolutely nothing to do with the conception of this. I'm 25 years old. I'm still in college. I'm not a part of this industry.
I simply worked for Heene in terms of passing out fliers door to door for his business or helping him clean his house and watch his kids. This was all Richard's thinking. I took on the role of kind of being an intern for him. Richard, you know, he has his positives and his negatives. Obviously right now it appears the negatives outweigh the positives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Thomas also called his old boss hyperactive and driven by fame.
Moving on from a wannabe star to the real deal, KISS drummer Peter Criss as you have never seen him before. Here he is the way you probably remember, all dolled up. And here he is talking to CNN's Elizabeth Cohen about his very personal battle with breast cancer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRISS: I went over there and I sat there. And in the room, there's all these women who have no hair, who are all wearing scarves, who are dying, who are not dying.
And for a guy, a man, for me to sit there, and I could feel the room, how uncomfortable it was for me, much less the women there. It was really hard.
We went in and just did the surgery we were going to do. And sure enough a few weeks later, he called me and said, I got some news for you and it's not great. And I said, well, what do you mean? Because I didn't think anything of it. I just thought, no big deal. And he said, yes, we found cancer. And you have to come back in and I have to really do some more surgery and remove the nipple and remove your breast, this thing, and my -- I guess saying the lymph node -- lymph nodes had to go.
And I was petrified. I was like, this can't -- you know, this is not happening to me. This can't be happening to me. I went into total shock. I thought, it just don't happen to men. It can't happen to men.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Criss calls himself now the luckiest man on the planet.
And that brings us to the "Punchline" tonight. And we should note most of the late-night guys off this week. So, we're having a little fun with the president, who knows how to stick to his lines. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": A new article just came out, and it shows that the phrase, the phrase used most often by President Obama is, let me be clear, yes, whereas the phrase used most often by Joe Biden is, hey, where are you all going?
(LAUGHTER)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me be clear. Let me be clear. Let me be clear. Let me be clear. Make no mistake. Make no mistake. Change is not easy. It will not happen overnight. There's going to be setbacks and there are going to be false starts. There will be setbacks and false starts.
It reminds us that change isn't easy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: It may be time to switch it up a little there, Mr. President.
And that is the "Mash-Up" tonight.
A lot of outrage over Wall Street executives lining their pockets with bonuses and perks. They took your bailout money, so where is the big bailout for you?
Plus, our special series, the FBI's new most wanted revealed. Find out the latest criminal to be added to the list tonight, and see if you can help the FBI track down this killer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's responsible for, again, numerous murders, assaults, extortion, money-laundering, illegal firearms possession, and drug trafficking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Just a short time ago, President Obama spoke at a Democratic fund-raiser here in New York City right here in this building. He took full advantage of being in the global financial capital to make his case for tougher rules on Wall Street. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: So, if there are members of the financial industry in the audience today, I would ask that you join us in passing what are necessary reforms. Don't fight them. Join us on them.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: This is -- this is important for our country.
And when I hear some folks who have just been taking taxpayer bailout money suddenly say, what? What -- what do you want from me?
(LAUGHTER)
OBAMA: When I hear stories about small businesses and medium- sized businesses not being able to get loans, despite Wall Street being back very profitable, that tells me that people aren't thinking about their obligations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: But many top Wall Street executives whose firms got bailed out at taxpayer expense steered clear of tonight's fund-raiser, and probably with good reason. Despite the financial crisis, it turns out a number of those companies still doling out big perks to their top executives, bonuses, planes, cars, even paying the taxes that come with some of those extras.
So, our big question tonight, tied to all of this, are the fat cats getting even fatter from the bailouts?
And we have with us tonight Chrystia Freeland, U.S. managing editor for "The Financial Times," and Matt Taibbi. He is a contributing editor for "Rolling Stone" magazine. He has covered politics and the financial crisis.
And you have written some pretty provocative stuff, I know, lately, Matt, especially about this. And let me start with you on that point, because you have tapped into this, I think, in some of your writing, this sort of visceral anger and frustration that people are feeling. And it's very hard...
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Well, it's hard for people, I think, in the conversations I have with people to pinpoint exactly why they're angry, because on the one hand, we wanted the banks to succeed, in the interest of our own economy. We want them to be doing better.
But, at the same time, we're seeing this ridiculous sort of display of excess that just has people enraged. What's going on?
MATT TAIBBI, "ROLLING STONE": It's kind of amazing. Goldman Sachs just announced that they're going to have the largest bonus pool in their history. Again, they just announced another massive profit period for this third quarter.
And this is almost pure government subsidy. People talk about the TARP, which was a $700 billion bailout last year, but that was actually just a tiny percentage of the federal bailout. Most of the bailout programs were through the Federal Reserve.
And according to some estimates, it's high as $23 trillion. You know, other people have put it at $14 trillion or $12 trillion. Whatever the number, it's a massive amount of money. And, basically, these banks have been getting access to mountains of cheap money. And they're using that money to give themselves massive bonuses.
I mean, the American taxpayer has not been bailed out in the last year or so. It's the banks that have been bailed out. And instead of using that money to create jobs and help out the rest of us, they're paying themselves giant bonuses. And I think people have a right to be upset about it.
BROWN: But what would you -- well, first of all, let's -- what Goldman would say is, we paid all the money back we borrowed, right?
TAIBBI: Well, they paid back the TARP. The TARP is only a small slice of what they got. They got money from the Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program. They got $28 billion of FDIC-backed debt that they were allowed to issue through that program, through the TALF, through the Public-Private Investment Program.
There are so much other places they got money through these bailout programs. The TARP was just a tiny slice of it.
BROWN: So, how can they possibly justify this, Chrystia?
CHRYSTIA FREELAND, "THE FINANCIAL TIMES": Well, I would like to go back to the original point you made, which I think is a really important one, that -- and part of the reason why it's hard for people to know where to direct their frustration, because, yes, it does feel terrible that Main Street is suffering, people are losing their jobs, unemployment 9.8 percent, and the banks doing incredibly well.
But what's the alternative? Do we want the banks to be failing? Do we want a repeat of the fall of 2008? No. And the reason that the TARP was passed, the reason these bailouts happened was, you need the financial sector to do well.
What's true about what Matt is saying, though, is what Wall Street got last fall was an implicit and in many areas explicit guarantee from the federal government. These institutions are now we know too big to fail. So, essentially, they're engaged in one-way bets. So, it's heads, we win. If it's tails, we don't lose; the taxpayer bails us out.
And what's surprising to me, Campbell is, yes, there is a lot of public anger about this, but it's not being directed at real changes. And the thing that's astonishing me is that the...
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: But why is that? Because people have no idea how to address it? I mean, if you say to them you're too big to fail, they know you are always going to be there to bail them out eventually, what's the possible incentive for them to end that kind of risk- taking?
(CROSSTALK)
FREELAND: Well, there are ways to address it, and it's the financial reform legislation that people are talking about.
But what is really amazing is that legislation is being eviscerated.
(CROSSTALK)
TAIBBI: It was just gutted completely last week.
FREELAND: Yes, it hasn't gone through yet. The story is not over and that's why it's important to talk about this on programs like yours. But one of the key areas is what you do about credit derivatives and what you do about their trading.
And I think there's sort of a consensus among economists that you need to make the trading in these derivatives more transparent. It has to be over the counter. Banks would make a lot less money. And it looks as if right now Congress is pulling back from that.
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: OK. So, let's go back to why they're pulling back from this. I mean, frankly, it hasn't been something we have heard this administration talk about. Granted, they're embroiled in a huge battle over health care reform right now.
But we heard the president -- we played it at the top of the segment -- speaking at this fund-raiser right here in New York tonight about it. And it seems like, OK, there was a sound bite in a speech. But, beyond that, where is the push from the White House to really address this? Is there a push?
TAIBBI: Well, they want to pass financial reform legislation, some kind of bill, but the problem is, the bill's going to be toothless. There were two voice votes last week in the House Financial Services Committee. One of them was the issue that Chrystia was talking about, about the derivatives oversight. And basically it stripped the SEC and the CFTC, which regulates commodities, of the power to regulate abusive derivatives. It just completely stripped them of that ability. And that was done by voice vote, so that no congressman had to attach his name to a no vote.
BROWN: But why? Why? What are they afraid of?
TAIBBI: Well, they're afraid of losing the campaign contributions from these companies.
(CROSSTALK)
TAIBBI: This isn't brain surgery.
BROWN: Democrats and Republicans across the board?
TAIBBI: Of course.
(CROSSTALK)
TAIBBI: I mean, Goldman Sachs is the number-one...
(CROSSTALK)
BROWN: Are we throwing up our hands?
(CROSSTALK)
FREELAND: ... story is not yet over, and there is still a question mark, I think, in terms of where the White House is going to come out.
If you talk to the economists in the White House, they are very clear on understanding that the banks now enjoy this government guarantee, they should pay for it, that things like credit derivatives, which people like Warren Buffett and George Soros have called weapons of mass destruction, need to be more strictly regulated.
And the question is, is Obama going to have the guts to come out and say to some of these people who are big Democratic Party donors that, actually, I am going to re-regulate Wall Street?
TAIBBI: But it's important to remember they put forward this bill that was supposed to regulate all of these banks, and, again, last week, there was a voice vote. Barney Frank specifically exempted 8,000 of the 8,200 banks from regulation by this new agency that the Obama administration...
FREELAND: I mean, that's a different issue, right? That's the small banks. That's not the Wall Street lobby. The exemption of the banks was the community bank...
BROWN: Right.
FREELAND: ... who also have their own lobby. And they were saying, we don't want to be regulated.
BROWN: But the broader point here is the way this is taking place, as you said, a voice vote, with a huge question mark as to whether or not the White House is going to reengage.
TAIBBI: Right.
FREELAND: And I think the huge question here is, we had a huge financial crisis, the worst the world has experienced since the Great Depression. And where are the new laws? Where is the rewriting of the rules that you would think people would be calling for?
BROWN: Well, we will see if it happens or not.
Chrystia and Matt, always good to see you. Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
TAIBBI: Thanks for having us on.
Tonight, when we come back, the FBI needs your help to track down a killer. He's the newest member of the most-wanted list revealed for the first time right here tonight.
Plus, tonight's intriguing person, Tracy Morgan -- from "Saturday Night Live" to "30 Rock," the comedian getting personal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Everybody else was trying to change me. Tina said, no, move. Get away from him. Wind him up right here and let him go. And that's where Tracy Jordan came from, the genius of Tina Fey.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Tonight's intriguing person is Tracy Morgan of "SNL" and "30 Rock." You know he's funny, but my one-on-one interview with him definitely a surprise for you. Hear what he has to say, some very serious stuff.
(NEWS BREAK)
BROWN: Tonight, the FBI reveals the newest criminal on their most-wanted list. He is a cold-blooded killer who is terrorizing both sides of the border. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Eduardo Ravelo rose to his power within the Barrio Azteca criminal enterprise because of his connections with the Juarez cartel and also that he's a ruthless killer. And he basically will follow out what the Juarez cartel wants him to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Tonight, we continue our exclusive series, introducing you to the newest members of the FBI's 10 most-wanted list.
This week, only here on CNN, the FBI is adding three hardened criminals to the list. Tonight, meet Eduardo Ravelo, who is suspected of running a gang of vicious hit man for a drug cartel along the U.S.- Mexican border. And CNN's Ed Lavandera has the story from El Paso, Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the last picture federal investigators say they have of Eduardo Ravelo, a 1998 driver's license photo. Since then, Ravelo was believed to have climbed to the top of one of this region's most violent gangs, the Barrio Aztecas. He's the latest addition to the FBI's most wanted list wanted on federal racketeering charges.
SAMANTHA MIKESKA, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: He's responsible for, again, numerous murders, assaults, extortion, money laundering, illegal firearms possession, and drug trafficking.
LAVANDERA: Samantha Mikeska is the FBI agent on the hunt for Eduardo Ravelo. She says what makes him so dangerous is that Ravelo often carries out the dirty work of the Juarez drug cartel, executing deadly hits in exchange for drugs to sell. A major player in the endless bloodshed and violence just across the border from El Paso, Texas.
MIKESKA: He's a ruthless killer and he basically will follow out what the Juarez cartel wants him to do.
LAVANDERA: Mikeska says that ruthless behavior drove Ravelo up the ranks. He goes by the nickname "Tablas," which means wooden plank. This is how authorities found the man Ravelo replaced in the gang's leadership. Mikeska says Ravelo became a capo or captain in the Barrio Aztecas shortly after this murder.
In recent years, federal agents have arrested dozens of Barrio Azteca members. Six of its leaders have been sentenced to life in prison. The gang is believed to have some 3,500 members. One of them told a CNN affiliate the arrest won't hurt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They'll probably lay low. There are still some old schoolers that will come out.
LAVANDERA: Eduardo Ravelo managed to elude those sweeping arrests. Federal authorities say Ravelo has dual citizenship in the United States and Mexico. They say he's escaped across the border with his wife and children.
(on camera): That neighborhood you see just beyond Interstate 10 is in Mexico. It's known as El Rafuego (ph). It's a place we're told that is tightly controlled by the Barrio Azteca gang and it's a place where FBI investigators believe Eduardo Ravelo might be hanging out where he's been untouchable until now, in a neighborhood that protects him.
Does this guy live a lifestyle like he's, you know, the head of some cartel, some, you know, millionaire type?
MIKESKA: No, not that I believe. What I've been told is that he kind is a modest individual. Modest living.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Mikeska believes Ravelo might be hiding, but he hasn't stopped his violent work.
MIKESKA: He has an entourage. He has bodyguards. He has armored vehicles to protect him from, you know, rival gangs and also rival cartels.
LAVANDERA: And to protect himself from agents like Samantha Mikeska, authorities believe Eduardo Ravelo has shaved his head, undergone plastic surgery, and even manipulated his fingerprints. The FBI hopes putting him on the top ten list and a promise of $100,000 reward will entice someone close to Eduardo Ravelo to reveal where he's hiding.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, El Paso, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And you just saw the newest member of the 10 most wanted list. In just a moment, we're going to be joined by an assistant director to tell us how you can help track down this vicious killer when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: Welcome back, everybody. Tonight, we're enlisting your help in tracking down the newest member of the FBI's most wanted list. Listen again to what the feds say about him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMANTHA MIKESKA, FBI SPECIAL AGENT: He's responsible for, again, numerous murders, assaults, extortion, money laundering, illegal firearms possession, and drug trafficking.
Eduardo Ravelo rose to his power within the bio-stick (ph) of criminal enterprise because of his connections with the Juarez cartel and also that he's a ruthless killer, and he basically will follow out what the Juarez cartel wants him to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: And Kevin Perkins is assistant director of the criminal investigative division of the FBI.
Kevin, welcome to you.
KEVIN PERKINS, FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Hi, Campbell, great to be with you tonight. BROWN: Good to have you here. Explain to us, there's so many bad guys out there, what is it that makes Ravelo so dangerous that he gets moved to the top ten most wanted?
PERKINS: What we try to look for are people who are truly dangerous to society or a menace to society, especially those when we believe a second part of that would be if the public can assist us in locating and apprehending this individual. We are looking for the public's assistance. Any little bit of information could be helpful, a sighting, perhaps him crossing the border, perhaps a location where he may be. The combination of being a violent offender, a menace to society, and someone who we believe the public could help us in apprehending.
BROWN: So, what do people do? If they've seen him, if they have any little bit of information they think can help in this regard, with regard to Ravelo, or anybody else in the list, what should they do?
PERKINS: The best thing the public could do is go to our Web site at www.FBI.gov. There's a link to the top ten list and there's also links to phone numbers for each of our FBI, 56 FBI field offices. If they have seen this individual or know where he may be, they should contact the local FBI office and provide that information.
BROWN: You know, last night's member who was added to the list was also a gang member. Has the rise in gang violence, I guess, changed your priorities? The FBI's priorities right now?
PERKINS: Gang violence is one of the highest priorities we had within our criminal investigative division. We are looking very seriously across the country and particularly along the southwest border where we've seen a rise in the gang violence all the way from Brownsville out to San Diego.
BROWN: And what about the Mexican authorities? Are you getting help from them?
PERKINS: Yes, indeed, we are. We're working very closely with the Mexican authorities. In fact, the last two FBI ten most wanted fugitives were actually apprehended in Mexico with the assistance of the Mexican government.
BROWN: And can you just quickly give us a little information about the gang, the Barrio Aztecas. How dangerous are they?
PERKINS: They're a very dangerous gang. As it was mentioned in the report, approximately 3,500 members. They are based both within and outside of the prison system in the southwest both on the U.S. side and on the Mexican side. We believe there's approximately 600 active members in and around the El Paso area and in and around west Texas and along that particular part of the border. They're a very violent group.
BROWN: Kevin Perkins with the FBI joining us tonight. Kevin, appreciate it, thanks so much.
PERKINS: Thanks, Campbell. Appreciate it.
BROWN: And for more information on the FBI's ten most wanted list and to contact the bureau with tips, go to CNN.com/Campbell.
Tomorrow night, a dangerous suspect who bilked people out of tens of millions of dollars. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has access to so much, including funding, including other criminal organizations that he can with a telephone call and order effect the global economy, could affect the national security of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: That compelling story right here tomorrow night only on CNN.
Tonight's intriguing person, Tracy Morgan. He's gone from "SNL" to "30 Rock," but now he's opening up about the long hard road it took to get there. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: I'm loving being here. But "30 Rock," that's the bomb, man. I mean, to get all the accolades and all of those things, of course, that's really, really fun. It's really fun. But what makes it even worthwhile is when I think about the struggle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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BROWN: Comedian and "30 Rock" costar Tracy Morgan is tonight's intriguing person. Intriguing not only for his always unpredictable humor on "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock," but intriguing too for what he has overcome, often turning to comedy to see him through his struggles. And he writes about it all in his new book.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: "I Am the New Black," is what the book is called.
What does that mean? What's the new black?
MORGAN: "I Am the New Black" is look at me. Look at -- read the book and you'll see what I've been through in my life. And if I can make it, you can make it. There are -- like Obama said -- like President Obama said, I'm the new black stands for there are no more excuses.
There's a trend. We've got to make it happen. You've got to try.
BROWN: What do you think of the president? MORGAN: I think he's an inspiration to the country. I think he's a -- a symbol of what's happening, the change, and the new black. And -- and it doesn't stand for race. It doesn't stand for color. It stands for going for all out, making it happen, not balling up in the corner and going and dying.
It stands for, you know, change, what's happening. Yes, there's -- change is slow, but it's coming about and you could see it.
BROWN: This book...
MORGAN: The president of the United States is black.
BROWN: This --
MORGAN: My son got upset about it.
BROWN: What do you mean?
MORGAN: My 18-year-old son got mad when the president won.
BROWN: Why?
MORGAN: Because he said he wanted to be the first black president.
BROWN: This book is -- is really personal. I mean, you shared a lot in this book...
MORGAN: Yes.
BROWN: ... a lot of really painful stuff.
MORGAN: Right.
BROWN: Your father died of AIDS...
MORGAN: Right.
BROWN: ... when he was 40 years old. Your mother had a gambling problem...
MORGAN: No, he wasn't four. I was -- I was 17 when he passed away.
BROWN: And he was 40 years old when he passed away.
MORGAN: Yes, he was 40. He was my age.
BROWN: Your age now.
MORGAN: And I was my son's age.
BROWN: So what -- what kind of effect has that had on you, especially as a comedian?
I mean, that's a lot of stuff to deal with.
MORGAN: It's no different than what anyone else is going through in life, having their ups and downs and their struggles. Nobody is born perfect. There are -- we all take losses. People leave our lives. And it -- it helps you grow.
I mean when my father passed away -- I lost him twice. I lost him when I was six because of Vietnam. You know, when he came back from the war, he was a different person. He wasn't -- he was already damaged goods.
You know, he had picked up a bad habit and he saw war.
BROWN: He was a drug addict?
MORGAN: He absolutely is good for nothing. So he was a broken man. But what kept him strong was his music, his sense of humor and his kids. And that's what kept him from going off the deep end.
But the drug use, the AIDS, the needle sharing -- we didn't know anything about that disease then. They had caught up to him. So by the time I've really gotten to start to know my father, I was losing him again.
So what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. And that is "I Am the New Black."
BROWN: You also talk about your own health problems. I mean...
MORGAN: Yes.
BROWN: You are...
MORGAN: On both sides of my family is diabetes. I mean that is a legacy now in America, with all the fast food and, you know, no one working out and all these things. But it was genetics for me. You know, and I guess the gene didn't skip me and I got me -- it got me.
But I'd rather have diabetes than my kids have it.
BROWN: But it -- it got really bad for you, too. At one point, the doctor said he might have to remove your foot, I think, if you didn't improve...
MORGAN: Yes, I had a cut...
BROWN: ... I mean...
MORGAN: ... and it got infected. I had a cut and it got infected. And when you're a diabetic, you just -- your body doesn't heal the way normal people's bodies heal. So it got infected and it got really bad and I had a friend of mine who's my brother like -- his name is Dwayne Moody. And my sister, named Angela, she does my styles. And they saw that I wasn't doing well on the set of "30 Rock." And they came and they literally took me in their arms and took me to the doctor. Had they not been on top of it and loved me the way they love me, I might have died.
BROWN: You...
MORGAN: Because I didn't want to go to the hospital, because it was the first season of "30 Rock" and I didn't want to let anybody down. That's just the way my personality is. If I can't live by my word, I'd rather die. And it was like, dude, you've got to go to the hospital. NBC will be fine without you for a day. It won't shut down.
But that's my -- that's how I am with life.
BROWN: And how do you feel now?
Are you feeling a lot better?
MORGAN: I feel great now.
BROWN: Yes?
MORGAN: Yes, I mean, I feel great now. I'm -- I love the place that I'm in. It's been a year-and-a-half since I had a drink. I work out four times a week, five times a week, if I can. And I -- I'm eating right.
And as far as my love life, I've got my hands full.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Tonight's intriguing person, Tracy Morgan. Coming up next, he takes us behind the scenes of "SNL" and "30 Rock."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: Tracy Morgan is not going to run down the street in his underwear with a lifesaber. I'm a little bit more stable than that. I mean, you can look at Tracy Morgan and you see one of two things depending on how you look at it. He's either a genius or an idiot savant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: More now on my conversation with tonight's intriguing person, former "SNL" cast member, Tracy Morgan, who's now a star on "30 Rock." Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: Go back to -- you talk about "30 Rock" and what a success it's been. But go back to what was your big break. And -- and you write about this. "Saturday Night Live" really was... MORGAN: Are you talking about career-wise or life-wise?
BROWN: Well, you tell me.
MORGAN: Well, life-wise, my big break happened when -- in 1968 when the sperm cell hit the egg.
BROWN: OK.
MORGAN: And that one sperm broke in and it created me.
BROWN: That's a fair point.
MORGAN: Now, that's me. That's when it started, 1968, November 10th, 10:30 at night my mother was in labor with me. And that's what I say.
Now, as far as my career, my professional side, I think I had a -- a big break the first time I got on TV, which was in 1993.
BROWN: Yes?
MORGAN: Professional wise, but I've always been funny. That goes back to genetics. But I think the turning point in my career happened maybe at that Golden Globe speech. It was the room to be in.
To you, I'm saying something here it is, this kid from Brooklyn, the ghetto Brooklyn, is saying something that got Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg and Clint Eastwood all in one room laughing, I mean, on the floor.
And I think people said wait a minute, who's that?
And I felt that same way before when I was on "Saturday Night Live" and I told Lauren Michaels, give me a soda, bitch. And that -- as far as "Saturday Night Live," that was at the point where America went, who's this funny black guy?
BROWN: You're pretty tough, though, on the show, in the book.
I -- I mean you wrote, at one point: "I knew the score. This was a white show and I was the token black guy. That didn't bother me. I was used to those odds."
MORGAN: It did bother me.
BROWN: Well, you write here it didn't, that you said you were used to that.
MORGAN: It did bother me and that's the way I felt. And I thought that was the deal because I had other black people telling me that. White people never told me that. Black people that didn't get the show was like, well, you know what you are. Well, you know who you are. Well, you know what's going on -- just to discourage me. And that was me...
BROWN: So did you buy into it a little bit?
MORGAN: No.
BROWN: No?
MORGAN: Look, I'm here with you.
BROWN: No, I know.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: My dad had white friends coming in and out of the house all the time. So I've never had that inferiority complex. For me, it was troubling, like why aren't you supporting -- what?
What?
What do you mean I'm -- I'm not going to make it?
And then one day, just to -- my confidence. Lauren Michael called me in his room one morning, maybe 3:00 in the morning, because I hadn't been getting on and I started to buy into that -- that foolishness. And Lauren Michael said, Tracy, you're not here because you're black, you're here because you're funny. And he would say little things like that to build my confidence. And I thought he was crazy, but he was building my confidence up. And before you know it, I was in front of everybody.
BROWN: So were...
MORGAN: And well, you're doing what you're doing and you are not conscious of who's out there and what colors. There's too much out there. I'm just going to do me. I'll invite -- I don't care who you are or what color you are, I'm going to bring you into my world.
BROWN: So...
MORGAN: There's too many personalities out there for me to go into each one of your worlds. So come on into my world.
BROWN: Would Tina Fey -- meeting Tina Fey at "SNL" one of the most important things to you?
MORGAN: Come on, man. "SNL" is probably the most important thing that ever happened in my career, because it's a university for funny. You meet all kind of funnies there.
You think you're funny?
You ought to meet Will Ferrell funny. You've got to meet a Chris Keteya (ph) funny. You've got to meet a Molly Shannon funny.
So it's a university and you're there. You know how it is when you go to school. You meet all people from all walks of life there. You think you're smart, you've got to see this guy from China. You've got to see this person from wherever they're from. Bangladesh or whatever, you know?
So it's just a meeting of the minds. And all great minds think alike. And Tina was -- she was just like look at this guy. All you've got to do is let him be him. That's the genius of Tina Fey.
BROWN: Well, you describe her as like a mother to you.
MORGAN: Everybody else is trying to change me. Everybody else was trying to change me. Tina said, no, move, get away from him. Line him up right here and let him go. And that's where Tracy Jordan came from -- the genius of Tina Fey.
BROWN: Well, let's...
MORGAN: She had the innate sense to see that.
BROWN: She worked with you to create "Tracy Jordan." And you're -- I mean this is your Emmy nominated character on "30 Rock," for those who don't already know.
Let -- let's take a look at it first.
(VIDEO CLIP, FROM NBC)
ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: Tracy, this is Suzanne Huckabee (ph), NBC therapist.
MORGAN: Who's Tracy? Me or Ann Carven (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Tracy. Jack informed me the talk you had earlier and if you don't mind, I'd like to hop right in and start with some role play.
MORGAN: Like my wife and I do. Cool? You'd be the maid. I want you to scream. You play the matador.
HUCKABEE (ph): No, Tracy. What I want you to do is to talk to that empty chair as if your father was sitting there.
MORGAN: This is stupid.
BALDWIN: Come on, Tracy, we're here to help you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: All right. So how -- how close is Tracy Morgan to Tracy Jordan?
MORGAN: You mean how close is Tracy Jordan to Tracy Morgan?
Tracy Morgan, they have their similarities. And I didn't -- Tina didn't know about the book and all that when they did these episodes, but she has a sense, you know?
And that was close. It's accurate.
BROWN: Yes?
MORGAN: Yes. But I -- I'm not going to -- Tracy Morgan is not going to run down the street in his underwear with a life saver. I'm a little bit more stable than that. I mean you could look at Tracy Morgan and you see one or two things depending on how you look at it. He's either a genius or an idiot savant. It depends on how you're looking at it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: You decide. Tracy Morgan there.
"LARRY KING LIVE" starting in just a few minutes. Tonight's special guest comedian George Lopez.
And up next, tonight's "Guilty Pleasure," the video we couldn't resist.
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BROWN: "LARRY KING LIVE" starts in just a few minutes. But first, Mike Galanos has tonight's "Guilty Pleasure," the video we just couldn't resist.
Mike, what do you have?
MIKE GALANOS, HLN PRIME NEWS: Campbell, keep your eye on this one. You talk about a narrow escape, really escaping with his life. Take you to the town of (INAUDIBLE) in Russia, that bus is not stopping. Everybody else is stopped but the bus.
As we look at this again, the guy thinks he's going to safely cross the street. Not so much. You look at this again. One more time. I'm thinking brake failure here, Campbell.
BROWN: And please tell me the guy's OK.
GALANOS: He is OK.
BROWN: Everybody is OK, right?
GALANOS: Well, the bus continued on and ended up hitting 14 cars. I think four or five people ended up with concussions, but other than that, no serious injuries.
Here's the slow motion because everyone is looking at this frame by frame making sure it's not a hoax. We're all too familiar with that word as of late.
Well, watch how close it is. First with the car within a foot maybe, and then he's got to dodge the bus, as well. But, all is well, again, other than the bus plowing into 14 vehicles.
BROWN: All right. OK. Give me some happy video to end on tomorrow, OK, Mike?
GALANOS: I'll try.
BROWN: I like happy. I like ending on a happy note.
GALANOS: That was a happy ending.
BROWN: OK. I know but this like gets my heart racing. It's not good for my blood pressure.
GALANOS: Yes. I know. You're right.
BROWN: Oh, Mike, appreciate it. We'll see you tomorrow.
GALANOS: OK. Thanks, Campbell.
BROWN: We are just one day away from a major television event here at CNN, the premiere of "Latino in America," our groundbreaking look at how Latinos are changing this country. Kicking it off right here tomorrow night. We will see you then.
"LARRY KING LIVE" starting right now.
