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New Day
May Jobs Numbers; CNN Heroes: Helping Feed Needy Kids Around the Globe; "Female Viagra" Moves Closer to FDA Approval; Caitlyn Jenner to Join List of Arthur Ashe Award Winners. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired June 05, 2015 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:42] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Time now for the five things to know for your NEW DAY.
Number one, China denying involvement in a massive hack of U.S. government computers, exposing the personal and employment information of at least 4 million current and former federal employees.
And new revelations about the NSA's controversial surveillance programs. According to "The New York Times," the spy agency hunted down hackers by secretly expanding Internet spying on Americans without warrants.
U.S. officials tell CNN, Boston terror suspect Usaama Rahim was encouraged to kill by ISIS. This as the slain suspect's family now claims Muslim bias sparked that fatal shooting.
The FBI investigating whether a serial shooter is on the loose in Colorado. They've seen three unsolved shootings over the past six weeks. The latest, a 65-year-old man found fatally shot just blocks from his home.
Game one of the NBA finals going into overtime. The Warriors beating LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-100. Seth Curry scored 26 points. Game two Sunday night in Oakland.
For more on the five things to know, go to newdaycnn.com for your latest.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we've been waiting for this breaking news on the jobs front. Chief business correspondent Christine Romans has it for us.
Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there.
It's a strong report. The strongest job growth we've seen all year. And 280,000 net new jobs in the month of May. One thing in this number, we were talking about wages. Wages grew 2.3 percent. Still not as strong as you'd like, Chris, but it's the best we've seen in a couple of years now.
The unemployment rate, though, it actually ticked up. And one reason that sometimes happens is because you get people entering the labor market, things start to look better, they enter the labor market, 5.5 percent. Sectors, all these sectors are strong here today. When you look at all of them, you have jobs gains across the board. The only place we've been seeing jobs lost are the oil sector. And there's no surprise - no surprise there on that.
Going back to the jobs added again. I told you it was strong. There are revisions, positive revisions, for some of these previous months. So jobs even stronger than we had thought in some of those - in some of those months. So, broad base job gains, wages increasing, 280,000 net new jobs, an unemployment rate that ticked up but still very close to the lowest since 2008. Probably the jobless rate rose because more people are entering the market.
Futures are a little bit lower. We've got about an hour till the opening bell. The stock futures are lower. I'm going to guess that's because people think the Fed is closer to raising interest rates now because they're seeing this job strength.
Alisyn.
CUOMO: That's always the up and down, right -
ROMANS: Yes.
CUOMO: The stronger the economy gets -
ROMANS: Yes.
CUOMO: The more you think that the Fed is going to stop helping the economy as much.
ROMANS: That's right.
CAMEROTA: Christine, thank you.
ROMANS: You're welcome.
CAMEROTA: All right, so a guy walks into a bar - sounds like the beginning of a joke, I know, but it's not. A Scottish fisherman really did walk into a bar and he came out with a great idea to help the needy across the globe. Here's today's CNN heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, ANCHOR, CNN'S "AC 360": The Scottish highlands are his home, but for decades Magnus MacFarlane Barrow has been changing lives around the globe. Every weekday his program, Mary's Meals, provides free, nutritious food to schoolchildren in 12 of the world's poorest countries.
MAGNUS MACFARLANE BARROW: Did you enjoy the (INAUDIBLE) here?
KIDS: Yes.
BARROW: It brings many children into school. Their health improves. And then we see amazing results with academic performance.
COOPER: The work earned him global recognition as a top 10 CNN hero.
BARROW: Being honored as a CNN hero in terms of raising awareness, it's just incredible. At that time we were feeding 400,000 something children. So since then we've more than doubled.
COOPER: But in May, Magnus he reached an incredible milestone. Mary's Meals now feeds one million children around the world every school day. That's five million meals every week.
BARROW: A million it such a mind-boggling number, but it really isn't mission accomplished. This is the beginning. There's still another 57 million children who are out of school who are hungry. So we go on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAMEROTA: Look at that face.
Every week we honor a new CNN hero, an everyday person going the extra mile to help others. If you know someone deserving of this recognition, go to cnnheroes.com and tell us about them.
[08:35:7] Nice, but sadly no.
CUOMO: I was pointing at you about the heroes thing, not the story that I'm about to read.
CAMEROTA: I know you - I know. I know you were. I appreciate that.
CUOMO: Move over little blue pill, the little pink one may be on the way. Female Viagra closer than ever to hitting the market. Does such a thing even exist? We'll discuss.
CAMEROTA: It does now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAMEROTA: Welcome back to NEW DAY.
A drug being called Viagra for women just moved one step closer to your pharmacy. Could the little pink pill change women's and men's lives? Let's ask Elizabeth Cohen. She is CNN's senior medical correspondent, and Dr. Laura Berman, she's a clinical professor of OB/GYN and psychiatry at Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Berman was a paid consultant to the drug's manufacturer early in the process but no longer serves in that capacity.
Ladies, great to have you here.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good to be here.
LAURA BERMAN, PHD, CLINICAL PROF OF OB/GYN & PSYCHIATRY, FEINBERG SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Thanks for having me.
CAMEROTA: Female Viagra, Dr. Berman, how does this work? [08:39:51] BERMAN: Well, it doesn't work like Viagra. Viagra basically
facilitates, it helps with blood flow. This medication works centrally on the brain with norepinephrine and dopamine are the two key kind of neurochemicals that play a role in desire. And it kind of boosts those and suppresses the neurochemicals that suppress desire. So that's how it's believed to work. But in long term clinical trials that the company has been doing, this company and the company before them that they bought this medication from, there's years of data, I think 11,000 women have been studied at this point and it's proving to look pretty effective for supporting sexual desire in women.
CAMEROTA: So fascinating. Elizabeth -
BERMAN: Which affects 30 percent.
CAMEROTA: OK, 30 percent of women. You and I were talking earlier, Elizabeth, about how, you know, the women's - a woman's sexual organ is often her brain. And so this pill, does it operate like an antidepressant?
COHEN: You know, in some ways it works on some of the same mood chemicals, Alisyn. So Dr. Berman mentioned serotonin and norepinephrine and dopamine and so those are mood chemicals and so it makes a woman sort of more in the mood to have sex.
But I want to make it clear, it didn't work a whole lot better than placebo in some ways. So when you're looking at increasing desire, this pill increased it by 53 percent. A placebo increased desire by 37 percent. So is it better than placebo? Absolutely. But we don't want anyone to think that this is a female Viagra in that it is going to be necessarily as blockbuster of a drug as Viagra was.
CAMEROTA: Right, or that it's going to work every single time. And, Dr. Berman, I mean that's - that's these two - is it worth it? Because this drug, twice, tried to pass the FDA and was denied because of side effect. So what are the dangers?
BERMAN: Well, I think it's arguable that it got denied because of side effects. I think side - you know, that may be true. I think it had a lot more to do with politics than anything else. But this is not going to be - nothing, quite frankly, is going to be a panacea for women. We are just too darn complicated, which is a blessing and curse. So there's never going to be a pill that women can take that is going to jump-start every libido or fix every sex life. There's never going to be a pill that is going to be as universally, almost universally effective as Viagra Cialis, Levitra, those medications have been for men.
But there is a large proportion of women in this country who feel good about themselves, their bodies and the person they're with and still have no sexual desire. And this isn't because of emotional and relationship factors. And those women are really going to benefit. So will it be the same huge pool of the female population that has been able to benefit in the male population from Viagra, probably not. But this is going to help many, many women not only improve their desire, but in my opinion, more importantly, or as importantly, improve their relationships and get a public conversation started about female sexual health that really has been sorely missing in my opinion.
BANFIELD: And, Dr. Berman, I want to stick with you for one more second because you do treat patients. Do you see a big demand for something like this?
BERMAN: Yes. Huge demand. As I was saying earlier, 30 percent of women under the age of 59 have struggle with low desire. It's the most common sexual function complaint. And there are emotional reasons for that, relationship reasons for that and medical reasons for that. And so you have to look at the whole picture puzzle of the woman's life, and theirs - and the doctor's absolutely right that our main sexual organ for all of us is between our ears.
But it's a huge issue that affects woman's quality of life. And in order for a women to be considered to have hypoactive sexual desire disorder, which is the diagnose for which this medication will be indicated, it has to be something that causes her personal distress. And that's what they're seeing the significant improvement in, when they are treating these woman in the clinical trials, not only in desire, but in a decrease in distress over how the low desire is affecting their lives and relationships.
CAMEROTA: Elizabeth, I was reading that this is designed for premenopausal woman. What's wrong - can women in their later 50s and 60s and 70s not take this?
COHEN: You know what, they didn't try it fully on post-menopausal women, so they just don't know. And, you know, what happens with drugs is they're approved for one age group, but then once they're out on the market, if a 60-year-old woman wants to take it and goes to her doctor, my guess is that doctor would probably prescribe it, see if it works.
CAMEROTA: All right, Dr. Laura Berman, Elizabeth Cohen, we are starting the conversation. Great to talk to you guys this morning.
COHEN: Thanks.
CAMEROTA: Thanks for being here.
BERMAN: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: Let's get over to Chris.
CUOMO: All right, Alisyn, a huge story has been Caitlyn Jenner being introduced to the world. And she's already getting lots of accolades. But is she the best pick for the ESPYs Arthur Ashe Award for Courage? This is a big sports award that they give every day - every year at the ESPYs. Now critics are out there saying there are more deserving athletes. We're going to discuss.
[08:44:53] What do you think? Weigh in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Caitlyn Jenner will be awarded the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs on ESPN in July, but there are some critics who claim there are other athletes more deserving, including, for example, Iraq war veteran, Noah Galloway. You may know him from "Dancing with the Stars," he made the cover of "Men's Health" magazine. How about the basketball player Lauren Hill recently died of cancer?
So is Jenner the right pick or did ESPY choose her for promotional purposes? Let's bring in some supple minds to discuss. CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan and Mike Pesca, an NPR contributor, host of the "Slate" daily podcast, 'The Gist." Good to have you both here.
MIKE PESCA, NPR CONTRIBUTOR: Thanks.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Good to be here.
CUOMO: Christine, let's start with why. Why is it the right choice?
BRENNAN: I thought it was the right choice when I first heard about it, partially because I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the ESPYs, I don't watch the ESPYs -
CUOMO: They're not the Oscars.
BRENNAN: Right. Well, it's a made for TV event, which was fine, and in fact, the Arthur Ashe Courage Award has become a very big deal in large part because of the wonderful people who have won it, including Billy Jean King, Nelson Mandela, all kinds of people and now, of course, Caitlyn Jenner.
[08:49:57] Now that the issue has been brought up on social media and you think about Lauren Hill, my goodness, what an amazing story. And I certainly hope there is a place for her in that broadcast.
CUOMO: So that takes us to the why not? Pesca?
PESCA: Well, OK, I could articulate the point --
CUOMO: Yes. I am not saying you own it.
PESCA: Oh, I definitely don't own it.
CUOMO: Just for the sake of argument.
PESCA: The biggest argument is this thing about, oh, it's for ratings, that's why the ESPYs exist, you know, this isn't a charity, this isn't funded by a foundation. That's fine, they want to put on an award show, that's fine.
I think it's - And I'll say I think it's dumb to get upset about someone who didn't win the award, like it's dumb to get upset about someone who didn't win the Nobel Prize, as if they're less of a humanitarian. It's not a slight to the pope when someone else wins.
But I guess the articulation is that in terms of sports relevance, Caitlyn Jenner isn't that relevant anymore and, you know, the sad - if you if you contrast it with Lauren Hill, she died, Caitlyn Jenner is alive. So by that metric, you can never give it to a living person or a person who is not currently dying.
CUOMO: Over someone who has died.
PESCA: Yeah. Once you die, you win, you know?
CUOMO: Do you think there is something else behind the criticism, that this is an excuse to criticize Caitlyn Jenner?
BRENNAN: Well, I'm sure there is among - in some camps, Chris. Certainly not with us. I think that -
CUOMO: I know. You guys are almost completely useless on the negative side of this story. I'm going to have to own it now and take all the heat.
BRENNAN: Right. Well, you know, I think that the fact that this was announced so quickly after Caitlyn Jenner's news broke is interesting. I had, as I said, both of us, we are not spending time dwelling on the ESPY Awards and who is winning them and who is not. But once you start to think about this and realize that Lauren Hill, why hadn't she been picked? She died in April. 19 years old, not even reaching her 20th birthday. She is at the intersection of sports and courage the way no one else has been this year, so I am kind of surprised she was not picked already for this. I don't know when ESPN makes those decisions, you know, I have nothing to do with that.
CUOMO: Although, if you're going to look more deeply, Mike, at why Arthur Ashe, why did they - why this became this eponymous award for him, what he was known for, it was social conscious related. He transcended sports in a way that went to the dialogue of what we were comfortable talking about and what we were not, significantly there with AIDS. Does Jenner fit that category better than maybe anybody else?
PESCA: Well, I don't know ever, but - And I do think it sort of dishonors the memory of Lauren Hill. I mean, she didn't ask for this and it's not a me or her type of situation. And we've got the remember that Bruce Jenner was the most famous athlete after Muhammad Ali the 1970s. I mean, the most famous football player of the '70s was O.J. Simpson and the most famous baseball player was Pete Rose. And Bruce Jenner, especially by 1976, AP Athlete of the Year, he was transcendent.
Of all of the criticisms, how is this courage? How is this not courage? Of course, it's courage. So the ESPYs are taking a stand and making a statement, and when you take a stand to make a statement, you get some flack. I am not sure they're upset by that. When you take a stand, you are saying something, and what they are saying is this is courage and it deserves to be honored.
BRENNAN: You what's really good about this is that Lauren Hill, people who hadn't heard about her or had forgotten, are now looking her up again online. And hopefully there will be more donations to the cause for cancer research that are in her name.
Caitlyn Jenner, this is a huge issue, and I think the bottom line is it's, you know, it's the ESPYs and no one is going to get too exercised about that. There are people who - and Noah Galloway as well - people who deserve attention, they are inspirational in our country, they bring us to a national conversation that is important to have. Here we are having it again and Caitlyn Jenner is certainly a deserving winner of this award.
CUOMO: I just don't remember the "rather than" argument coming up before about this award that, you know, why did Christine get it and not Pesca? Although that would be an easy one.
(CROSSTALK)
PESCA: You know, when Michael Sam was awarded, the questions there was what has he accomplished? What has he accomplished in the NFL?
CUOMO: He's not a good enough athlete.
PESCA: Yeah. And so Caitlyn Jenner takes away some of that. The playing days are over, the accomplishment you can't -
CUOMO: Can't mess with Bruce.
PESCA: The Decathlon, what a great decathlete. So once you take that off the stage, I think it's laudable. As far as the ESPYs, yes, they're there for ratings, but I think it's laudable that ESPN definitely wants to say that us and by extension, American sport, I mean, they are, to some extent, American sport, American sport supports the gay community, supports the trans community. It's a little bit risky. It's not the most risk-averse move they could have done.
CUOMO: There is a lot of animosity towards LGBT in a traditional sense, let alone to gender reassignment. It's just been quite because there's been so much momentum behind Bruce transitioning into Caitlyn, so it's been quiet. But you are going to start hearing it more and more. This is not something that people are just ready to throw their arms around. Fair point.
BRENNAN: Mike Huckabee made a joke about it. It's amazing to me that people have this much time to devote to things that they either care about or don't, but you know, to go on social media, this is our world so we might as well get used to it. This is only going to get worse, not better.
[08:54:58] But you're absolutely right, Chris, the notion that this is somehow a topic. Bruce Jenner, now Caitlyn Jenner, made this decision. I think part of it is because of the reality TV aspect of his/her life and the Kardashians. That's where people go with this. I've never watched the Kardashians, I don't know what channel it's on, so from --
CUOMO: Pesca can't say that.
(LAUGHTER)
PESCA: What do you watch? You don't watch the ESPYs, you don't watch the Kardashians - (CROSSTALK)
BRENNAN: I'm watching Chris on CNN.
CUOMO: Oh! Christine Brennan, my favorite person.
Mike Pesca, thank you.
BRENNAN: Thank you.
CUOMO: Christine Brennan, this is -- It's going to be interesting to see what happens next in terms of this dialogue now that she is out there.
Alisyn?
CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. "The Good Stuff," that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Friday, "Good Stuff," and it's a good topic, OK. Homeless people. We say we care, we don't care enough. You see them on the street, you walk right by them. That's the truth. Alright?
[08:59:35] So there's a street in Kitsap County, Washington, four years ago that got the giving bug placed in Hailey Fort. She's now 9 years old. 9 years old. She asked her mom for permission to help and go down to businesses, first planting a garden, which she hopes to harvest about 200 pounds of vegetables this year for the homeless, and now she's helping to build these ingenious mobile shelters that give homeless men and woman a warm and dry place to sleep. It's not the ideal, but it's better than nothing and she wants to do it and the mother insists they're all Hailey's ideas and there she is with the nail gun.
CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh.
CUOMO: Not for the typical 9-year-old.
CAMEROTA: So impressive. And I know Carol Costello will be impressed also on "NEWSROOM."