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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Dramatic Testimony; Miami Heat Get a Smackdown; U.N.: Syria Now In Full-Scale "Civil War"; Study: Crime Does Pay...But Not That Much
Aired June 13, 2012 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: Dramatic and emotional testimony in the Jerry Sandusky trial. One of his alleged victims telling the court how his mentor became a sexual predator.
ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN HOST: Plus, amazing video from a police car's camera. A toddler thrown from a rolled over truck walks away with only cuts and bruises.
BANFIELD: And the NBA Finals officially under way. LeBron James and the Heat getting a smackdown last night. We've got the highlights this hour on CNN.
Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. Nice to have you with us. I'm Ashleigh Banfield.
SAMBOLIN: And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. We are bringing you the news from A to Z. It is 5:00 a.m. here on the East. So, let's get started.
And we begin with the shocking and sometimes sickening testimony in the child sex abuse trial of former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. We have heard from two alleged victims already, and a third could take the stand later this morning.
Yesterday, former assistant football coach Mike McQueary also testified, describing what he thought appeared to be Sandusky molesting a young boy in a shower.
And there was tearful, riveting testimony from the man whose accusations helped trigger the criminal investigation. Alleged victim number one said that he stayed at Jerry Sandusky's house more than 100 times as a boy, and he was sexually assaulted repeatedly when he was just 12 years old.
Susan Candiotti is live in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.
And, Susan, what made victim number one break down in tears on the stand yesterday?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it had to do with the nature of his painful testimony. Testimony that was very difficult to listen to for everyone in the courtroom. And I think safe to say for certainly most of the jurors as well, if not all of them.
He described how Jerry Sandusky began grooming him as a boy, starting with kisses on his forehead, which moved to kisses on the lips, and then raping him time and again. And when he was breaking down during the course of this, and then during a very, very difficult cross-examination, he broke down again when he said this: "I'm going to keep telling you the same answer. I want you to stop asking me the same questions over and over."
But then he did gather himself. And he answered each and every question asked of him by the defense attorneys.
In the end, prosecutors said, "Are you telling us the truth?" And he said that he was -- Zoraida.
SAMBOLIN: Susan, what was the reaction in the courtroom to that?
CANDIOTTI: The jurors were hanging on every word that he was saying -- described as looking right at him the entire time with the exception of one -- the youngest juror on the panel who was listening very hard, but seemed to be avoiding eye contact. Perhaps because he also is young and closest in age to this 18-year-old who was testifying on the stand. The youngest on the jury is a student -- yes. A student and works at Penn State.
SAMBOLIN: During McQueary's testimony, prosecutors showed pictures of the locker room where McQueary says he saw Sandusky molesting a boy. What was the effect of those pictures?
CANDIOTTI: Well, this is something unusual that we hadn't heard about before. But prosecutors introduced photographs that included mannequins set up in the shower, an adult one and one of a child, so that you could best understand what McQueary was trying to describe what he saw.
And that was what was most unique about his testimony. He stuck to many of the facts that we have heard prior to now. But certainly he described that he had no doubt in his mind that Jerry Sandusky raped a boy in the shower.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Susan Candiotti, live in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, for us -- thank you.
BANFIELD: It is three minutes now past 5:00.
And we've got new developments for you this morning in those shootings near Auburn University's campus. The suspect, 22-year-old Desmonte Leonard, is now in custody. And he could make a first appearance in court later on today.
It turns out he turned himself in last night to federal marshals in Montgomery, Alabama. This after three days on the run.
Leonard's accused of killing three people, including two former Auburn football players, at a party near the Auburn campus last weekend.
SAMBOLIN: Happening now in Colorado, a huge shift in the so- called High Park Wildfire, burning some 60 miles south of Denver. New evacuations are in place at this hour, while some residents have been allowed to return home.
Thick smoke as you're seeing temporarily grounding the air attack. Fire officials say they expect to have as many as 800 firefighters on the ground later this week. The fire has burned about 70 square miles area and is just now 10 percent contained. It's being blamed for the death of a 62-year-old woman as well.
BANFIELD: George Zimmerman's wife is out on bail this morning after her arrest on perjury charges. Shellie Zimmerman is accused of lying in her husband's bond hearing about their family finances. That charge led the judge to revoke George Zimmerman's bail and then ordered him back to jail earlier this month. Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. He claims he shot Martin in self-defense.
SAMBOLIN: Meantime, a task force on citizen safety held its first public meeting last night just miles from the spot where Trayvon Martin was shot dead. That meeting is the first of several set up by Governor Rick Scott to examine the state's controversial stand your ground law. Trayvon Martin's parents were there.
Sybrina Fulton says the law can be used to protect aggressors. That's what she believes happened on the night her son was killed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S MOTHER: My 17-year-old son was unarmed. He had a bag of candy and a can of iced tea. He was not harming anyone. He was not committing any crime. And I just don't understand how this law was passed under these grounds.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLN: At 8:10 Eastern on "STARTING POINT," Soledad talks with Trayvon Martin's parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, along with their attorney, Benjamin Crump.
BANFIELD: I want to take a look at some unbelievable video. Dash cam video of an 18-month-old girl being thrown from an SUV in Lubbock, Texas. Look closely. You can see a toddler after a car rolls over coming out of the window in a little red sweater.
Police say the toddler's father was trying to elude them after committing a robbery and rolled that vehicle during a high speed chase. Unbelievable.
So, incredibly after being thrown from the vehicle, the child gets up, staggers somewhat, falls. But then is able to walk again, suffering only minor injuries.
There was another woman in the vehicle with that little girl, possibly her mother. That woman jumped out of that vehicle. Again, after the vehicle rolled, and scooped her up.
You can just see in the corner of that. Just unbelievable. Unbelievable.
Again, we do want to stress, though, the child is OK.
SAMBOLIN: Yes, incredible.
BANFIELD: Just relatively OK.
SAMBOLIN: All right. Democrats hold on to Gabrielle Gifford's seat in the U.S. House. Former aide Ron Barber defeating Republican Jesse Kelly in a special election in Arizona's eighth congressional district. Giffords voted with Barber and celebrated at his side after the victory.
Barber was wounded in the 2011 shooting spree that critically injured his boss. He'll have to run again in a general election in November against an unknown Republican opponent.
And this just in. Gas prices drop to $3.53 per gallon. That's down three-tenths of a cent overnight.
BANFIELD: OK. I'm going to do my very best right now to do play by play, all right? Sports.
SAMBOLIN: Oh!
BANFIELD: It's not hockey. This is going to be a bit of a fun one. Game one of the NBA!
And it goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Kevin Durant scoring 17 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to lead OK City past LeBron James and the Miami Heat. Final score, 105-96, happening last night.
Miami was actually leading early, but the Thunder roared, outscoring the heat by 18 points in the second half. James led Miami with 30 points.
Game two of the best of seven series to be played tomorrow night in Oklahoma City.
SAMBOLIN: Well done, lady.
BANFIELD: Whew! Got through that one.
If it's not hockey, I don't know what they do. Is it a goal?
SAMBOLIN: I'm sure you do.
BANFIELD: Is that a goal? What is that? Goal!
Congratulations to Oklahoma City.
Are you a Miami fan?
SAMBOLIN: No. I am not a Miami fan.
BANFIELD: I won't say that again.
SAMBOLIN: Sorry, folks in Miami.
BANFIELD: I've been told. I'm a fan of the city.
Poison. Poison in the air. Ready for this? Something a lot of us exposed to every single day and now experts are linking this to cancer. Yes. You can tell by looking at that, can't you?
A few details you need to know in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: It's now 12 minutes past the hour. Let's get you up to date on top stories. Christine Romans is in doing the job for us.
Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning you two.
Riveting testimony against former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. One of Sandusky's ex-colleagues, Mike McQueary, telling the court about the day he witnessed what he believed to be the rape of a young boy by Sandusky in a shower. Alleged victim number one also testifying yesterday that he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Sandusky beginning when he was just 12 years old.
A terrifying deadly spring of car bombs exploding in central Iraq. Seven bombs going off in a two-hour period, killing at least 57 people, wounding more than 135 others. Police say most of the victims are Shiite Muslim pilgrims. Hundreds of thousands of the pilgrims have been walking to a holy site to commemorate the death of an influential imam.
A convicted killer from the Charles Manson family cult is back up for parole. In a brand-new hearing today, Bruce Davis was actually granted parole two years ago. But it was overturned by California's then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Davis is serving a live sentence for two murders both orchestrated by cult leader Charles Manson back in 1969.
And new developments in the British phone hacking scandal. Former editor of "The News of the World" and "The Sun," Rebekah Brooks, making her first court appearance this morning. Brooks is facing three charges of conspiracy to pervert a course of justice.
Prosecutors say the 44-year-old removed evidence from the News International archives to try to conceal documents, computers and other material from Scotland Yard investigator.
You come into contact with it every day. Now it could kill you. Diesel exhaust has been found to be as deadly as arsenic. The World Health Organization says the fumes from diesel engines cause lung cancer and are also tied to bladder cancer. The WHO is urging people around the world to reduce exposure to diesel fumes as much as possible.
And the Dragon spacecraft meets the media today. NASA's administrator and the CEO of SpaceX are going to hold a joint news conference following the first commercial space mission. The Dragon returned to Earth, you remember, two weeks ago bringing supplies to the International Space Station, was its mission -- ladies.
BANFIELD: The longer you can stretch that geek story out, the better. I do adore that story.
I would like to get a ticket to the next liftoff. All right. Thank you, Christine.
SAMBOLIN: It is 15 minutes past the hour.
Alexandra Steele is in for Rob Marciano. We're still watching these wildfires in Colorado today.
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Oh, absolutely. Hey, I've got more of a geek story. Here's some kind of influences and how important these wildfires are in getting containment on them, because they actually influence the fires and the spread of it themselves.
So I just want to give you a couple points of it. With the wildfires, these hot airs rise within the fires. And then that hot air radiates downward. Then it warms up the fuel, all the embers and all the terrain around it. It spreads the fire even farther.
Also, the wildfires, that heated air carries. It lifts off. Then it spreads those embers and creates new fires we call spot fires. And also thunderstorms in the forecast are certainly hazardous as well, because within a thunderstorm there's a lot of shifting winds.
So those winds become erratic and it becomes dangerous for firefighters. So, you may want the rain to help quell these fires, certainly not the severe storms and thunder.
Today is the day to get kind of containment on this fire. It will be the hottest day with temperatures well above average in the 90s. But as we head toward the next couple of days, showers, thunderstorms and lightning are part of the forecast.
All right. Waking up here in the Southeast, steamy day, tropical in nature. A wet day in Boston. Got your travel forecast coming up in just a little bit. That's all next.
BANFIELD: All right. Thanks, Alexandra.
It is now 16 minutes past 5:00, which is a perfect time to get the "Early Reads" in. That's the local news making national headlines.
This little kid stole our hearts. Little Darth Vader. Remember the Super Bowl ad. The Volkswagen commercial?
It turns out this little guy is undergoing open heart surgery, today. "The New York Post" is reporting he has 7 years old. His name is Max Page, and he was born with a congenital heart defect.
SAMBOLIN: He's a doll.
BANFIELD: So sweet. Doctors plan to replace his pulmonary valve and also fix a hole in his heart.
Max, this little guy, has helped to raise a lot of money for other kids with heart conditions. And his mom says that he tells kids, quote, "if you can use your force and dream big, you can achieve anything." So, Max, we are using our force for you today and wishing you good luck with your open heart surgery, sweetheart.
SAMBOLIN: We'll throw in some prayers as well.
BANFIELD: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid calling for an official investigation into the controversial boxing match between Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley.
BANFIELD: Good.
SAMBOLIN: Everybody would probably say.
Pacquiao lost in a split decision. Even though he landed nearly 100 more punches than Bradley. Many, many, many fans, including Reid, believe Pacquiao was the clear winner. "The Las Vegas Sun" says Senator Reid is pushing for federal legislation to reform boxing rules and standards. Listen to this -- Reid is a former boxer and a boxing judge.
BANFIELD: I tell you, there were a lot of tears after this fight.
SAMBOLIN: People were angry.
BANFIELD: I haven't heard one person say, yeas, that looks about right. That sounds about right. That's the result we were looking for.
Very strange one. So, clearly that story continues.
And then there's this sports story. North Dakota saying it is finally time to drop the name the Fighting Sioux. Voters took to the issue and took a measure that allows the University of North Dakota to change that nickname and change that logo.
Supporters say dropping the name will prevent NCAA sanctions. You might remember the NCAA put out a list of names, a list of universities that had names that seemed offensive. NCAA bans images that are offensive to Native American groups if that college doesn't go and get approval from those groups.
The opponents of all of this say the Fighting Sioux name is a source of pride and they're looking to push this further. They want to look for a constitutional measure to preserve the name.
Again, just when you think it's over, maybe not over.
SAMBOLIN: All right. For an expanded look at all our top stories, head to our blog, CNN.com/EarlyStart.
BANFIELD: Top boss at JPMorgan Chase, hot seat -- going to tell Congress about the bat bets that cost his company billions.
Christine Romans, the expert on all of this, is going to weigh in on Jamie Dimon and what he's going to face when faced with all the questions today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SAMBOLIN: Twenty-two minutes past the hour. We are minding your business this morning.
Today's big business story, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase will be testifying on Capitol Hill. He's expected to answer some really tough questions from the Senate Banking Committee over the bank's huge trading losses. That was last month.
BANFIELD: Huge to say the least. Christine Romans is here now.
I think a lot of people when they hear this story, they think, that's kind of out of my league. Like Jamie Dimon and JPMorgan Chase and these massive trades, does it really have anything to do with me?
ROMANS: Look, this is about the stability of the banking system, this is about the reputation of Jamie Dimon, and this is about how much money JPMorgan lost in a really bad, bad trade. You know, $2 billion, $4 billion. It might be a little bit more. We could find out today. We'll know for sure, we'll know for sure when the company reports earnings in mid-July.
But Jamie Dimon is going to be on the hot seat. This is probably the most important performance of his career, quite frankly, because he's got to get up there and say we did a dumb thing. I expect him to be contrite. He has been so far.
We did a dumb thing. We lost the money. But this isn't something you have to legislate around. This isn't something that Congress has to get involved in. This is just a dumb trade that we made.
Taxpayer money was not at risk. People who bank at JPMorgan Case, their money was not at risk. Shareholders, however, have lost a lot of money because the stock has been punished by Wall Street for this. You will se people in Congress, in the Senate, really trying to hammer this guy. There could be some people trying to score political points as well.
Think about it. JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon, he was whispered about a few years ago as being the next potential treasury secretary after Tim Geithner.
BANFIELD: Not now.
ROMANS: Somebody who's on a first name basis with the president. This is something he's going to say in his testimony. We have a copy his testimony.
"This portfolio morphed into something that rather than protected the firm created new and potential larger risks. In hindsight, CIO's traders -- CIO is the unit that lost this money -- these traders did not have the requisite understanding of the risks they took."
He's blaming his traders here, too. A lot of people lost their jobs. They're examining this overall.
So, this will be a big story for sure for JPMorgan and the future of this guy. Meantime, I want to tell you about a big investor I sat down with this week. Really interesting guy, Jim Rogers. He's a legendary investor. He founded the Quantum Fund in the '70s with the George Soros. He's a household name on Wall Street.
And I talked to him about the American economy and Washington and whether he thinks either of these candidates are going to be able to fix the American economy and get jobs growing again, and this is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Do you think Mitt Romney understands the economy better than Barack Obama.
JIM ROGERS, CO-FOUNDER QUANTUM FUND: He certainly understands the economy better than Barack -- listen, Barack Obama six years ago was a community organizer, whatever that is. He doesn't have a clue what's going on.
Romney isn't much different from Mr. Obama. One is from Chicago. One is from Boston. That's about the main difference.
Sure, Romney understands how the world works a little bit better. Is he going to make life better for us? Oh, please.
ROMANS: They're two sides of the same political animal coin?
ROGERS: Yes. There's not much difference in either one of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Hear that? We talk in this country about how different these two candidates are. One uber capitalist. One, quote-unquote, "socialist". He's saying no. From the international perspective of managing money these are both people sitting in a country with huge debt, huge deficits, and no real movement forward to fix our long-term problems.
Next hour, I asked him specifically -- here's a man who got rich in the United States, right? I asked him specifically, can you still get rich in America? Where's the best place to get rich?
I'll tell you what he says next hour.
BANFIELD: Don't leave us hanging.
ROMANS: Sorry, ladies.
SAMBOLIN: I love it. We will stay tuned for that.
BANFIELD: Romans! All right. Christine, thank you.
OK. So President Obama famously reached out to Muslims around the world when he first took office. Here's the big question. Did we win the hearts and minds? Any lasting effect on how other countries view the United States?
We have results of a brand-new study. That's coming up in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN (voice-over): The United Nations now says Syria is in full-scale civil war. This is violence in the region. We have a live report straight ahead.
BANFIELD (voice-over): Plus, a school using shock therapy on students with severe developmental and behavioral problems. One report is calling this torture. You'll hear why the school thinks it's not torture, it's a good idea.
SAMBOLIN: And in her first interview since being found not guilty of killing her daughter, Casey Anthony speaks out. Hear what she has to say this hour on CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back to EARLY START. We're happy you're with us this morning. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.
BANFIELD: Good morning, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. Thirty minutes now past the top of the hour. Let's get you started with this story this morning, and it's a big one. The violence in Syria is growing worse by the day. And I know you think you've heard this before.
But now, according to the head of the U.N. observer mission in Syria, this problem that you have heard about for over a year is now full-scale civil war. A new U.N. report is accusing the government of unspeakable crimes against children, including torturing children, using children as human shields in this war.
In the meantime, secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, says Russia is sending attack helicopters to support President Assad's army.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: We have confronted the Russians about stopping their continued arms shipments to Syria. They have, from time to time, said that we shouldn't worry. Everything they're shipping is unrelated to their actions internally. That's patently untrue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: CNN's Rima Maktabi is monitoring the developments from Abu Dabhi, and she joins u live this morning. There are so many bits and pieces to this story this morning I want to touch on, but let's start with the children. These reports are unconscionable. Children as human shields?
RIMA MAKTABI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ashleigh. And we've been hearing about these reports over the past year, but now, this is coming from the U.N. These children are being subjected to all kinds of abuse. They're talking about children being beaten, children burned with cigarettes or scarred with cigarette burns, and some of them are just whipped with heavy electrical metals.
And one boy was even plugged with electrical machines, and he was shocked into his genitals. So, it's quite shocking, the accounts we're getting from Syria.
BANFIELD: So, as we hear these deplorable reports now coming from the United Nations, does this make any difference at this point, Rima, that we're hearing the U.N. as well declaring this an all-out civil war? Does it make any difference in terms of how the rest of the world watches what's going on or possibly reacts to what's going on?
MAKTABI: Well, all eyes are on the international community, and specifically, on Russia and China, because these are the two countries that are siding by the Assad regime, so far. But if you look into the situation in Syria, probably it makes no difference for the Assad regime. We're hearing about violence on daily basis.
Just on Tuesday, around 60 people have been killed across Syria. In Aleppo, which is a city by Turkey, by the border with Turkey, a province, a family of six people were killed, among them, one infant. So, the violence is on the rise. And the Assad regime is not stopping in any way.
BANFIELD: CNN's Rima Maktabi joining us from Abu Dhabi live this morning. Thank you, Rima.
SAMBOLIN: It is 34 minutes past the hour. The world's opinion of President Obama in America is slipping just a bit. Take a look at the results of a new Pew Research Poll. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN (voice-over): Folks in Europe, Muslim countries, Russia, China, Japan, and Mexico all expressing less confidence in the president now than they had in 2009.
The decline is particularly glaring in China and Mexico. And when asked about their opinion of the United States, only the Russians and Japanese have a more favorable view of America now than they did in 2009, with those numbers slipping substantially in Muslim countries and also in Mexico.
Casey Anthony breaking her silence. In her first interview since she was acquitted of murder, Anthony told CNN's Piers Morgan she is ashamed of herself, but innocent in the death of her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. They spoke exclusively over the phone. Last night, Piers talked about their conversation with Casey Anthony's attorney.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST: She said, well, I mean, there's obviously several misconceptions. Obviously, I didn't kill my daughter. She said that very firmly. If anything, there's nothing in this world I've ever been more proud of. And there's no one I loved more than my daughter. She's my greatest accomplishment.
Clearly, a lot of people in America believe she killed her daughter. But I was struck by that was what she wanted to get over straight away, loud and clear. I didn't kill my girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If she said that to you without any prompting, without any rehearsal, without any lawyering whatsoever, she just got -- just told you that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Casey Anthony also told Piers in last year that she has, quote, "gone through hell" -- in the last year that she has "gone through hell."
BANFIELD (voice-over): Gut wrenching testimony and plenty of tears during day two of testimony in the Jerry Sandusky trial. Yesterday, one of Sandusky's former colleagues, Mike McQueary, described the day that he witnessed the ex-Penn state coach molesting a young boy in the shower.
Alleged victim number one also said on the stand yesterday, sobbing, while talked about being repeatedly sexually assaulted by Sandusky when he was just 12 years old.
Outrage in Massachusetts after heartbreaking video was released of students getting electric shock therapy at a school for the developed mentally disabled. An attorney for the judge, Judge Rosenberg -- attorney for the Rosenberg Center told our Anderson Cooper last night the so-called aversive therapy has been very effective.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL FLAMMIA, ATTORNEY, JUDGE ROSENBERG CENTER SCHOOL: The schools that say they don't use it and that treat the tough kids, the very difficult behavior disordered students that they can't treat without the aversives, they come to JRC. They are discharged from those programs, and they are sent to JRC.
So, JRC is treating the most difficult cases of behavior disorders in the nation. The toughest cases are at JRC.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: A human rights group called mental disability rights international first reported on the practices at Judge Rosenberg Center back in 2010. An attorney for the school calls their investigation, quote, "a joke,' claiming no one from the group ever came to the school to witness what was actually happening there.
SAMBOLIN: Schools in Wake County, North Carolina, are accused of discriminating against Latinos. Not just one but two advocacy groups filed a civil rights complaint. They're alleging the school system didn't relay important information in Spanish to families with limited English skills.
They're calling for changes like a comprehensive website and a clear explanation of their rights in the Spanish language. Wake County schools said it is disappointed by the complaint, saying it is committed to providing support for all parents with limited English proficiency.
BANFIELD: A student in riverside, California, voluntarily gave back $1,000 scholarship he was awarded because it was meant for a student of a different race. Jeffrey Warren is White. The scholarship is intended for a Black student. He says he could have used the scholarship money, but he still decided to return it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY WARREN, AWARDED & RETURNED SCHOLARSHIP: I don't think that the committee knew that I was Caucasian, but once they obviously selected me and announced me up, they kind of found out. I knew that they were trying to do a good deed for the African-American community, and I saw that, too. So, I had no trouble giving it back to them at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Warren said when he applied for the scholarship, it only stated that Black students were encouraged to apply.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN (on-camera): Well, usually Joan Rivers is making us laugh, right? That's why it is so surprising to hear her say something like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOAN RIVERS, COMEDIAN: Life is so terribly sad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAMBOLIN: Find out what moved a comedy legend to tears. More of my one-on-one interview with Joan Rivers, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Hello.
SAMBOLIN: Welcome back.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello.
(LAUGHTER)
BANFIELD: That's your alarm clock for this morning. Good morning. Time to get you up to date on the top news stories of the day. Christine Romans very busy overnight putting this together. What do you have?
ROMANS: Good morning. Just over three hours, day three of testimony gets under way in the child sex abuse trial of former Penn State football coach, Jerry Sandusky.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS (voice-over): Mike McQueary took the stand yesterday. He's a former coaching colleague who told the court about the day he walked in on Sandusky looked like raping a young boy in a shower.
That's his testimony. Alleged victim number one also taking the stand, tearfully telling jurors he was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Sandusky when he was just 12.
Park service agents at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee releasing a sketch of a man they say stabbed and sexually assaulted a hiker there. Investigators say the woman was stabbed multiple times in the neck, shoulder, and hand before she escaped and flagged down a passing driver. The park service is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest.
Seven members of Mexico's Los Zetas drug cartel have been arrested for allegedly laundering millions of dollars in drug money through horse racing and breeding. Seven other cartel members are still at large. An indictment accuses the cartel leader of funneling money to one of his brothers and his brother's wife who used a front company to disguise ownership of the horses.
If you fly United, get ready to fork over more money. The airline raising the fee for a second bag on many of its transatlantic flights from $70 to $100. It matches Delta's January baggage fee hike. And an industry analyst expects American and U.S. airways to follow suit in the near future.
A new study claims when it comes to robbing banks, crime doesn't pay at all that much. Stats reveal the average payout from a bank raid is just $4,330. So, in order to bring in real income, you'd have to rob several banks. And scientists say by the fourth time, you'd almost certainly get caught.
SAMBOLIN (voice-over): Oh, my goodness.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: So, really, folks. It's not worth your time or effort.
BANFIELD (voice-over): Get a job.
ROMANS: Zoraida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN (on-camera): All right. Thank you, Christine.
Forty-four minutes past the hour here. She is a legendary comedienne, actress, jewelry mogul, and fashion police spotter. We could only be talking about Joan Rivers. And now, she has packed in all her jokes and plenty of putdowns into a blunt, uninhibited, totally uncensored book titled, "I Hate Everyone Starting With Me." I recently sat down with her to hear her really dish it out and also tell how she learned to take it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN: The book, when you read it, it's kind of like a stand- up routine.
RIVERS: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: Was that purposeful?
RIVERS: No. The book was just about things that happened, like, I was eating dinner one night at a buffet with Kirstie Alley, and I said there's no point ever -- you're going to go to a buffet with Kirstie Alley, don't follow her because there's no point. So, somebody said you should write all this down.
Everything that annoys you, just write it town. And so, it started that I just would write funny little snippets, and it turned into a book.
SAMBOLIN: So, then you put them in categories?
RIVERS: Put them in categories, and then, reworked it and everything. But that's why some are very short and some are very long.
SAMBOLIN: Do you have a favorite category in the book?
RIVERS: At the moment, my favorite category is states names, what they're named, and what they should be named. It just silly.
SAMBOLIN: New York?
RIVERS: Oh, New York. Again, New York Is called -- hold on. New York, the Empire State. It should be called the more Jews than in Israel State.
(LAUGHTER)
RIVERS: It's a very wild book. This does make me laugh, though.
SAMBOLIN: It made me laugh, too. There are some moments. There are some moments where --
RIVERS: Oklahoma.
(LAUGHTER)
RIVERS: Unless, it's called the sooner state, and it should be called the sooner I'm out of here the better state.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Sorry to the folks in Oklahoma this morning. No kidding.
RIVERS: No. But it's all done to be silly. And it's all done to laugh. And anyone that takes the book seriously, then don't buy the book.
Do you like old people? I mean, they're proud? Proud? I'm 97 years old. And you smell!
(LAUGHTER)
RIVERS: I go sometimes too far on stage, but I'm at the age now where I really think my audience is my friends. I know it sounds stupid. I come on stage, and there are, like, 4,000 friends there. I always start my act, I'm so happy to see you because I mean it. So, sometimes, I'll go too far. I'll turn to them and go, too soon? Too soon? And then, we all laugh together.
I did jokes on Whitney Houston's death immediately, but that's how I cope. And I think two days after she died, I said she was the best one at the Grammys. Best dressed because she was in mahogany from head to toe, and the audience went -- I said, too soon! Too soon! But I try everything.
I think you must laugh at everything. Life is so terribly sad. Cooper just had a friend that's got cancer. He's an 11-year-old boy. Right below the surface, life is so sad that if we don't laugh -- look at me. We just die. Laugh at everything. I don't care. If you're alive, you better start laughing. (END VIDEOTAPE)
SAMBOLIN: Her book is called "I Hate Everyone Starting With Me." That is that just another one of her punch lines? I'll get personal with Joan and ask her how she feels about herself when our conversation continues in our next hour. Such a humanity to this woman that I was not expecting, I have to say.
BANFIELD (on-camera): She's got some -- I remember watching her fill in for Johnny Carson and loving her back then.
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
BANFIELD: And how she talked about how that was really, really tough to do --
SAMBOLIN: Yes.
BANFIELD: -- breaking through the mold of female comediennes.
SAMBOLIN: Yes. Yes. She talks about that.
So, here we go, 40 minutes past the hour. I now pronounce you geek and geek. This is one of your favorite things. Coming up, why we're hitting the like button on this Facebook bigwig's wedding.
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BANFIELD: Welcome back. Fifty-one minutes now past the hour, and here's what's trending on the interwebs. Another Facebook founder getting married in an appropriately geeky ceremony. His name is Engineer Andrew McCollum (ph), and he married his fiance at the Chanler Hotel in Rhode Island.
All right. So, it's looking kind of odd already. The wedding program was written up in the mark-up language XML. And when it was over, the bride and groom walked off to the "Indiana Jones" theme music. Just kind of cool. Mark Zuckerberg was listed as a groomsman, but he didn't show. A no-show.
SAMBOLIN: He's got a good reason why.
BANFIELD: A very good reason. He was on his honeymoon in Italy because he just got married a couple weeks ago, too.
SAMBOLIN: That was kind of cool.
BANFIELD: Yes.
SAMBOLIN: All right. A giant game of truth or dare in New York City. This is so cool. A copywriter named Chelsey Davidson (ph) said she wanted to encourage playfulness in her fellow New Yorkers. So, she staged the ultimate game of truth or dare. She left 300 cards around Washington Square Park.
Some cards asked people to answer truth questions via Twitter. Others asked people to perform embarrassing dares in front of fellow park goers.
BANFIELD: Yes. The one that said I dare you to go and hug a stranger, that's like taking your life into your own hands in New York City.
(LAUGHTER)
SAMBOLIN: Yes. You have to quack like a duck, flirt with a total stranger.
BANFIELD: Kind of cool.
SAMBOLIN: Dance like an Egyptian. I think that's a fabulous idea.
BANFIELD: It is.
SAMBOLIN: Lighten up a little bit. There you are. Quacking like a duck.
BANFIELD: I love it. Except, of course, for hugging the stranger in New York, I would draw the line. I would say be very careful. You take your life in your own hands.
All right. So, if you hate making your bed, I don't know if you're still in your bed, but you should get up. You're going to be late for work. Here's a bed that makes itself. Take a look. It's awesome. Doesn't look like much yet, but now watch. Here it goes. Slowly. Kind of creepy looking, I know, but it's a smart bed.
It's made by a company in Spain. Electronic. It can sense when the person gets up and then just automatically starts folding up the blankets, placing the pillows appropriately.
SAMBOLIN: You've got to be kidding me.
BANFIELD: Isn't this awesome? I love it. Look how fabulous that is. Takes about 50 seconds, 5-0, in total to have that bed completely made. Beautiful!
SAMBOLIN: And it costs how much?
BANFIELD: I don't know the price on that, but you know what, I think it's priceless. I got to be honest. The number of days that I have sweated over my two sons' beds, they're too little to make them themselves. I ask them to make them, and they do a little job. But I would just love to have that in my house. I'd pay anything. And I love how she's just sort of standing there.
SAMBOLIN: You could be helping it just make your bed. Just make your bed.
Florida governor, Rick Scott's, planned voter purge getting the onceover by Jon Stewart.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": I give you Florida governor and Mr. Clean Impersonator, if Mr. Clean had --
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: If Mr. Clean had for some unknown reason restricted his caloric intake for a period of time.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: Now, the governor and former lead singer of Midnight Oil has turned his attention to an even more pressing issue. Florida's vast stores of registered, yet ineligible, voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Republican governor, Rick Scott, says Florida's voter purge, if you will, is aimed at clearing registration rolls of noncitizens.
STEWART: Wow! People who live in fear of deportation yet insist on voting.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: There must be tens of those.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: But hey, whatever it takes to get those people off your voter rolls, I'm sure there's no unintended consequences.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "The Miami Herald" has been studying the purge list. They have found, quote, "Hispanic, Democratic and independent-minded voters are the most likely to be targeted by the state's purge."
STEWART: See? No unintended consequences.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: The late night laughs for you.
We got a lot still ahead on the program at five minutes before the hour. New twist on the Trayvon Martin case. George Zimmerman's wife has been arrested. Did you hear about this, in Florida? Got the mug shot to prove it. So, what is she accused of doing and how does it relate to his case? We've got that for you in a moment.
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