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Yemen Chaos; "Rolling Stone" Slammed; Baseball's New Ambassador. Aired 8:30-9:00a ET

Aired April 06, 2015 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:33:28] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All out civil war this morning. That's what Yemen looks like. Houthi rebels continue to make advances despite air strikes led by Saudi force. And we have CNN's senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir. She's the only western journalist to get an exclusive look at the international airport inside Yemen's capital of Sanaa. That matters because there are thousands of people trying to escape the chaos who are there right now. And Nima join us from Djibouti.

Nima.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, even as we were just coming in to land, we could really feel that fear coming off the Yemeni capital. The streets were entirely deserted. And as we taxied in, only the tarmac was really unharmed. You could really see the havoc that the Saudi forces have wreaked. Bombed out aircraft carriers and just complete silence.

One Houthi military police patrol car going round and round the plane, checking that nothing was coming on or off that could be used against them. And then the influx of people began. They couldn't take anything. They were only allowed to board with what they were carrying.

And the desperation, those we spoke to said that they don't sleep at night. That window that we came in is a four hour window that the Saudi airport gives for planes like the Indian flight that we came in on to evacuate civilians and then that's it.

Then the chaos breaks loose again. Then it's back to air strikes. It's back to running gun battles between the Houthi rebels and the pro- government force. Some of those people in that plane, they were asleep before the plane had even taken off. Just the sheer utter relief.

But there are thousands more still inside Yemen today. The International Committee for the Red Cross tried to get a plane in. it was trying to land just as we were coming in, but they weren't allowed to land. And it just really gives you a sense of that humanitarian disaster that's percolating in there today, Michaela.

[08:35:14] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much for that look at that all. Nima, thank you.

Time now for the five things you need to know for your new day.

At number one, President Obama is defending the preliminary nuclear deal with Iran, telling "The New York Times" he would keep all options on the table if Tehran does not comply.

Right now an intense manhunt is underway in Kenya for al Shabaab's Mohamed Mahamud, the named mastermind of Thursday's university massacre. We have also learned now that one of the gunman was the son of a Kenyan government official.

There are signs this morning that Hillary Clinton is just days away from making a second bid for the White House. This time, her campaign is expected to avoid big rallies and instead focused on the voter.

Closing arguments are set to begin about a half an hour from now in the Boston Marathon bombing trial. The jury could get the case before the day is over. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev faces the death penalty if he's convicted.

And this morning, the first family will keep an Easter tradition rolling. The annual Easter Egg Roll gets underway at the White House lawn, on the South Lawn. On Easter, the Obamas posed for a new family portrait, there it is, in the Rose Garden, including dogs Bo and Sunny. The dogs behaved very well, didn't they?

For more on the five things to know, be sure to visit newdaycnn.com for the latest.

Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Michaela.

Well, this morning, "Rolling Stone" under fire, retracting its controversial article about an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia. The move made after a new scathing report claimed systematic failures at "Rolling Stone's" newsroom caused this. Where "Rolling Stone" went rolling, next.

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[08:40:46] CUOMO: "Rolling Stone" now says that its article about an alleges gang rape at the University of Virginia is wrong. The retraction follows Columbia Journalism School calling the piece a, quote, "journalistic failure" because "Rolling Stone" did not do their due diligence when reporting on this story.

CAMEROTA: Let's turn to CNN's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter and CNN correspondent Sara Ganim. They have both been following this story very closely.

Let's just talk about what the Columbia Journalism review found were the mistakes made by "Rolling Stone." Let me put them up on the screen. The friends' versions. OK, the friends of the alleged victim, their version of events did not support Jackie's account. That's a problem. Number two, all three friends would have spoken to the reporter had they been contacted but they weren't. Number three, the fraternity says records show there was no party held the night of the alleged rape. And editors invested "Rolling Stone's" reputation in a single source, Jackie.

Brian, this violates every sort of journalism 101 rule that we're taught.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: These are all examples of how more reporting and better reporting would have led "Rolling Stone" to the right answer, which would have been to not publish the story focusing on this victim. There were a lot of other victims, a lot of other students who could have been focused on. But instead, by picking out this extreme, horrific example and then not doing the due diligence, "Rolling Stone" ended up embarrassed itself and doing damage to this university.

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what one of the friends told me, those friends that the Columbia Journalism review says should have been interviewed. One of them last night told me he's really upset because not only does he feel deceived, but he said, you know, there was a lot in that story that was true, that does need attention. And now that it's been deleted essentially from the web.

STELTER: It's been taken off the website.

GANIM: It's been taken off the web, that's all gone. That's lost. The university's historical response to sexual assault has essentially been vanished from that reporting. And that was never disputed. The University of Virginia admitted to that and made changes because of it.

PEREIRA: There's so many parts of this that are concerning. We're going to look - we're going to look at the journalism aspect in a second. But I want to talk about the concern there's going to be for reporting of sexual abuse and assault on campuses across the country. Do you get a sense, from the people that you're talking to, there's going to be a reticence from young men and women who want to come forward and say, I was the victim, now I don't want to do this - to come forward because nobody's going to believe me.

GANIM: You hear - I've heard that from victims personally. I've also heard victims say most rapes that happen on campus are between one man and one woman.

PEREIRA: Right.

GANIM: And a lot of times you know the person, there's alcohol involved. It's not as brutal and horrific and shocking as this one was. And if everyone begins to believe that a rape on campus is only a rape when it's a gang rape, the way that it was described in "Rolling Stone," that's a huge problem for victims. And there is a chilling effect that comes from that.

But I will say that some student leaders at UVA will say, this story did force us to implement new changes, to talk about it, to have this conversation, more awareness.

CUOMO: Sure, they got to have a dialogue they wouldn't have had otherwise.

PEREIRA: Sure.

CUOMO: But the question is, at what cost? Now, one of the interesting things, Brian, is, no one's been fired. I have mixed feelings about it. I feel that people fire too quickly. But in this one, what's the defense to it not being intentional, because those are the words of the executive there?

STELTER: Yes. Yes. The defense is a mixture of loyalty and an idea of second chances. We talked about this with the Brian Williams fiasco, the idea of second chances or not. And I do wonder how Brian Williams feels reading about this and reading that the writer of the article is going to be invited back to "Rolling Stone" to write more in the future. I think what's going on here is, is "Rolling Stone" decided none of this was intentional on the part of the staff -

CUOMO: What does that mean, do you think, because how is it - how is it an accident that you don't follow-up on sources?

STELTER: I - listen, I'm a little bit baffled by it. I think it makes all journalists look bad when there's a terrible journalistic sin like this one. It hurts the whole profession. And it's been kind of baffling that we're not seeing any disciplinary actions taken. Now, on the other hand, they've done good work before. They're going to do more good work in the future. So maybe there is something to said here for second chances.

CAMEROTA: So, Sara, back to what happened that night at the fraternity, you were able to find the friends. Something that "Rolling Stone" didn't go to the length of doing. Did they believe her story? What did they think happened?

GANIM: So they say that that night she was so compelling and convincing that they believed that something bad happened to her. And they continued to believe that over time, even when they stopped being friends with her. But when "Rolling Stone" came out with the new account, which was so much different, there was so much that was wrong, in their opinion, based on their recollection of what happened, that they began to doubt.

[08:45:09] And if the reporter had called them and recounted what Jackie was saying to them, they say, we would have raised the red flag and said, that's not what I remember.

STELTER: Right.

GANIM: And in the Columbia Journalism review report, "Rolling Stone" admits that if they had had that information from the friends, they probably would have taken a second look.

STELTER: And that really is the crux of all of this. That's the lesson for all journalists and all readers. When we're covering a story, when we're covering something as sensitive as this, when we're dealing with people that have been through trauma or describing trauma, we still have to be incredibly skeptical, even cynical sometimes. PEREIRA: Sensitive but skeptical.

STELTER: Exactly. And to be able to be both those, that's very hard. When you're covering trauma and crime, you know it, Sara, it's very hard to walk that line between being skeptical and yet being human and empathetic. That, perhaps, is the greatest failure here.

CAMEROTA: Sara, Brian, thanks so much for talking about this.

STELTER: Thanks.

GANIM: Of course.

PEREIRA: All right, you know what day it is today?

CAMEROTA: What?

PEREIRA: Opening day across the country. It's time to play ball. Opening day finally here for Major League Baseball. A former outfielder is stepping to the forefront promoting a powerful message. Billy Beane, coming up next.

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[08:49:51] PEREIRA: All right, today is opening day in Major League Baseball. One former player is back spreading a powerful message. Billy Beane revealed back in 1999 that he was gay. After six seasons as a professional baseball player, he walked away from the game rather than continue to play and have to hide his sexual orientation. Well, Beane is back. He is baseball's first ambassador for inclusion and the face of a changing culture in sports. He's also an author of "Going the Other Way." And he joins us from a very dark and very early Los Angeles.

Good morning to you, Billy. How are you?

BILLY BEANE, MLB AMBASSADOR FOR INCLUSION: I'm fine - fine. Thank you for having me this morning, Michaela.

PEREIRA: We're a little late to the game. You were appointed last year. But when you think about and reflect on the last 16 years, when you walked away from baseball, did you ever imagine that you would come back to be involved in such an important way?

BEANE: No. Honestly, I think I've been an ambassador for baseball ever since I left it. The LGBT community was great in educating me about myself and our history and I was given the opportunity to try to be a strong role model for many in our community, especially young kids who are pursuing sports. I wanted to really inspire that.

So, you know, the body of work away from baseball and I think they noticed that. And it's just been an amazing - to come full circle in that way and I'm really proud of baseball. And it's a huge responsibility and one I'm very, very excited about.

PEREIRA: Well, you are the right man for it, especially when you think about the evolution and the evolution you've had and the work that you've done behind the scenes and now you can do it out front, if you will. And since you're out front, let's put this topic to you. We've been watching the situation play out with the religious freedom battle in Indiana and we know that the NCAA was very upfront and vocal and heard about that very issue in Indiana. How do you think they handled it?

BEANE: Well, I think it's wonderful to see that they've come around and sort of resolved the issue. And especially from a baseball perspective, our record is very clear that no player or employee or fan will be discriminated against and it shares our workplace code of conduct that nobody's discriminated based on race, color, religion, national origin or sexual orientation. So, you know, we have three baseball teams in Indiana and I think, personally, I didn't want any of those baseball people that are in our family to wake up and feel that, if they're working for us or playing for us or coming to watch games that they would be excluded from that process.

PEREIRA: Well, let's talk about that reality. The fact is, Billy, you are the only former or current openly gay baseball player. Does that tell you how far we need to go still?

BEANE: Well, it tells me that I have a lot of work to do. And I think that, as a former player, you know, trying to be someone who's relatable to the current players and future players, I think that's where the job is most important that I represent both communities in a way that we can bridge and start a conversation. And that's really what my job has been, to introduce myself, share a little bit about my career, why I walked away. I felt isolated. I didn't feel like I could reach out to baseball and baseball's really trying to send that message that we wanted our players to reach out for whatever their issue is.

It's a big family. It's a huge sport. We have 30 big league team, seven minor league teams underneath each of those organizations and I think that the message is very clear, you know, it's one of acceptance and the exact job description that I have is to create a culture of acceptance. It's not really to try to change the way players think as much as make - offer them to make a consideration and what that responsibility of being a part of baseball is.

PEREIRA: Well, it also requires work on the part of the fan, too. Is there any plan on outreach there, working with the fan base?

BEANE: Well, we definitely want to show strong images of acceptance in the communities around each club. That's a - that's a bigger picture project. The logistics of getting to know all 30 clubs and them getting to know me, like I said, to be an example that they are comfortable with and feel confidence in that will educate the players. It's easy to assume that the players understand what a workplace code of conduct and a message of acceptance is, but, you know, some of our players are extremely young. They get to the big leagues quickly.

PEREIRA: Sure.

BEANE: We start - they start playing and, you know, they focused on one thing their whole lives and I want to protect them. I want them to understand what it means and how their life will change when they put on a big league uniform. So I think the fans will be a part of that process, but, obviously, the message moves quickly if we have all the players on board.

PEREIRA: I almost wonder if this had been around 16 years ago, if you might have stayed in the game a little longer, Billy Beane, do you think?

BEANE: Yes, I think definitely it would have made a huge difference. And that's one of the things I try to keep in mind when I'm out there. I just know that sometimes everyone doesn't get a chance to say thank you in person or if you're making a change in their lives, but it keeps me going.

PEREIRA: Billy Beane, what a title, MLB ambassador for inclusion. I get behind that. Good to talk to you. Thanks for joining us this morning so early, by the way, in Los Angeles. We appreciate it, Billy.

[08:55:05] BEANE: Thank you, Michaela. It's opening day.

CUOMO: All right. It is opening day.

PEREIRA: Opening day. Uh-huh.

CUOMO: Go Yankees!

Speaking of inclusion, did you hear about this one? Special needs basketball player, he's forced to remove his varsity letter, OK? When you hear why, you're going to be like, what! But when you hear what happens next, you'll know, this is actually "The Good Stuff," coming up.

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CUOMO: All right. Time for "The Good Stuff," OK? A young man loses his varsity letter but he's gained so much more, all right. Here's the story. Nineteen-year-old Michael Kelly has down syndrome and plays in a special needs league. His mom bought him a varsity letter to show him how well he had done, you know? But then he was forced to remove it because another parent said Michael hadn't earned it. And, no, I'm not kidding.

PEREIRA: Oh, boy.

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JOLINDA KELLEY, MICHAEL'S MOTHER: You know, they earn it just like everybody else. We're not giving them a token. They've earned it. This is his fifth year playing basketball and it's incredible what he's accomplished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: They were running this, you know, nitpicky - well, it's not a real varsity sport thing. Anyway, forget about varsity letters. Michael is now a professional soccer player.

PEREIRA: Wow.

CUOMO: The San Antonio Scorpions just signed him to a contract. They're good stuff themselves, the Scorpions. They give all their profits to special needs charities.

Now, more importantly, after all this came out, the principal of Michael's school has gone back on his decision. A new letter is being designed for Michael's league and the principal says if it looks like the other one, that's OK with him.

[09:00:052] PEREIRA: The right thing. Yes, it is.

CAMEROTA: There you go. That's a good, good stuff.

PEREIRA: Really good.

CUOMO: Respective people. Thanks for being "The Good Stuff," my man.

PEREIRA: Happy Monday.

CAMEROTA: Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello.

Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Happy Monday, everyone.