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CNN Saturday Morning News
Sandusky Found Guilty; Protests in Egypt; Terror Threat In Kenya; Details of Health Care Reform Act; Ugliest Dog Contest; Bully Victim Sues City; The Osmonds: Songs, Shows and Plastic Surgery; Tracking the Tropics; Mexican Cartels Killing Journalists
Aired June 23, 2012 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN World headquarters in Atlanta, this is "CNN Saturday Morning." The verdict is in, Jerry Sandusky guilty of sexually abusing ten boys.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL ROMINGER, DEFENSE CO-COUNSEL: Jerry rose. I saw some tears in his eyes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: This morning reaction to the verdict and new details about the jurors who convicted this one -
Also ahead this morning, the big wait and for some, the big worry. What will the Supreme Court decide about Obama care and how will it affect you? We're looking at all the angles ahead of next week's pivotal ruling.
Yes, we went there. Resident comedian Bill Santiago hits the streets of New York to talk and sing. What else?
Good morning, everyone. I'm Randi Kaye. It's 8:00 on the East Coast, 5:00 a.m. out West. Thanks for waking up with us.
All eyes are on one of the most important U.S. allies in the Middle East. That is Egypt. More than a year ago Egypt filled Cairo's Tahrir Square and told President Hosni Mubarak it was time to give up power. Now they are saying the same thing to the military. But will the army listen? You're looking now at live pictures from Tahrir Square. Thousands of people have been there for four days and nights. Election results from last week's presidential runoff were due Thursday. Now there's speculation that they may come out tomorrow. Two rivals are each claiming victory.
The U.S. has a warning for Americans. Stay out of Kenya's coastal city of Mombassa. U.S. embassy in Nairobi says that there's an eminent threat of a terror attack in the tourist destination. It is suspending all government travel there until July 1st and it's ordering all U.S. government personnel to get out.
Back in the U.S. floodwaters are receding this morning in Duluth, Minnesota. People are finally getting a look at the true scope of the damage. "The New York Times" is reporting the worst flooding in the city's history. It's caused more than $100 million in damage. It's left sidewalks buckled and roads washed out. No one was killed, incredibly in Minnesota, but flooding is blamed for three deaths in neighboring Wisconsin.
In California the people who wanted to tack on an extra dollar to the cost of a pack of cigarettes have given up their fight. Proponents of proposition 29 conceded defeat yesterday after weeks of hoping that votes on late arriving ballots could erase a June 5th electoral deficit. The tax would have raised $860 million for smoking prevention programs and research. But big tobacco and anti-tax groups put a big fight to defeat the measure.
Late last night, we got a guilty verdict in the Jerry Sandusky case, in fact, 45 guilty verdicts. The jury finding Sandusky guilty on 45 of the 48 counts all related to the sexual abuse of 10 young boys. The judge immediately revoked bail and ordered the arrest of Sandusky.
Joining me now from the courthouse in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, is CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti.
Susan, good morning. Tell us what is next for Jerry Sandusky.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: First of all, he had his first mug shot taken as a convicted man wearing a jail orange jumpsuit with no smile on his face. Immediately his attorneys will start to prepare they said his appeal. Jerry Sandusky, the next step for him in this legal process, is the sentencing phase.
In the meantime, in jail, he is being held in protective custody, which means at minimum he is kept away from other inmates there and may even be put at some point, if he isn't already, under a suicide watch. We'll have to see, still working on that information. But that would not be surprising given the circumstances here.
And then the prosecution will also be preparing for the sentencing phase during which victims in this case will have the opportunity to face Jerry Sandusky before he is sentenced to tell him what he did to them and what impact it has had on their lives or a statement could be read on their behalf. And of course, character witnesses could also come up and speak on behalf of Jerry Sandusky, including members of his family -- Randi.
KAYE: Susan, this all unfolded very late last night. For the folks who are just waking up this morning, give us an idea, take us back inside that courtroom as those verdicts were read.
CANDIOTTI: Well, his attorney describes seeing Jerry Sandusky with tears in his eyes. There was a lot of emotion in the courtroom as he stood and heard guilty after guilty after guilty verdict. Some jurors were also seen to be crying as well. And as well, one of the victims was in the courtroom, victim number six.
This is the young man who started off the entire investigation when his mom came to police in 2008. That really kicked things off and led to where we are now. The mother said that there was no joy in this courtroom, because she said we all lose as a result of what happened here -- Randi.
KAYE: Susan, are the jurors talking? Have they made any comment at all?
CANDIOTTI: Well, the jurors were offered an opportunity to speak last night. The judge said we have a camera set up here after this verdict is over. They chose not to take advantage of that last night.
As this day goes on, I am sure that we will be hearing from jurors in this case about the process that they went through and what they were thinking, what they were going through and what really made the most impact for them during this case.
KAYE: I want to ask you about Matt Sandusky. That is Jerry's youngest adopted son, also alleging abuse. He didn't testify but he had said that he was willing to. What kind of impact do you think that might have had?
CANDIOTTI: Well, certainly we know now that the defense attorney himself said he only found out about Matt Sandusky offering to testify for the prosecutors last week. And that changed the complexion of what they were going to do because they said they really wanted to put Jerry Sandusky on the stand. He wanted to testify. But they knew they would be in big trouble. Because if he did, the government, the prosecutors could then put his son on the stand and that would have been devastating -- just as devastating for the defense as well, so they had to pull back. So that is one impact. Of course we know now that his allegation, his son's allegations, will be investigated by authorities.
KAYE: Certainly will be. Susan Candiotti, thank you very much. We've got much more ahead on the Sandusky case. In around 25 minutes or so, we'll take a closer look at the legal aspects of the case and find out if the defense has any grounds for an appeal which they say they have planned. Be sure to stay with us on that.
Also on tap, what do you know about the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama care. That's the law the Supreme Court is considering right now. We'll debunk some of the common misconceptions.
Usually it is the most beautiful, right, who wins the pageant? Not this one, not in this contest. Beauty has truly gone to the dogs.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: The Supreme Court is on the verge of a landmark decision on health care in America. Within the next week the justices are expected to rule on Obama care. That is the health care reform law, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The court will either let the law stand or let parts of it stand or maybe even strike it down all together.
We are focusing on health care and this decision this morning. Joining me to talk about some of the myths and misconceptions of the law is Professor Lawrence Jacobs, author of the book "Health Care Reform in Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know." Larry, so nice to see you. Good morning. I want you to listen to some of the things that we've heard first and then talk to you about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that you have to buy it but if you can't afford it, then it's automatically given to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that you do have a couple of years, that you do need to shop around within your state markets to get insurance. There are exemptions, though, for instance for religious organizations so not everybody has to buy insurance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: A lot of folks, Larry, talking about this individual mandate. That gets all the attention. Tell us exactly a little more about what it is. Will it truly force everyone to get insurance?
LAWRENCE JACOBS, PROFESSOR, WALTER F. AND JEAN MONDALE CHAIR FOR POLITICAL STUDIES: The whole idea of the individual mandate is very simple, which is to encourage as many people in our communities to sign up for health insurance so they don't wait until they get sick. We got a lot of people who are free riding, thinking, hey, I'm healthy. I don't need insurance. But then something awful happens. They'll be in a car accident. They get very ill and then they'll want care. What that's doing, it's driving up everybody's premiums. The mandate is meant to get everybody in so they are paying their fair share. Here is the kicker. It's only going to affect about one out of 20 Americans. When you look at the actual requirement to get the insurance, because of the subsidies and other things, it's probably only going to affect two out of 100 Americans. So a very small number of people are actually going to be affected by the mandate despite all the political brouhaha over it.
KAYE: That what gets most of the attention. In terms of enforcement, if somebody doesn't buy insurance, if the mandate does in fact go through and isn't overturned, is there any type of enforcement? Like perhaps the IRS, can they do anything?
JACOBS: You know, this is one of the real myths about the mandate. The law actually says that the IRS cannot collect what is a pretty small penalty, a few hundred dollars. It tells the IRS you can't put a lien on people's houses. You can't force them to pay that. It's really meant to be kind of a little bit of an effort to encourage people to get insurance, but it is not truly enforceable.
KAYE: So how does the mandate really stack up? Is it even an important part of the overall law?
JACOBS: A lot of people have said this. In fact, the insurance companies, which at the end of the day came out against passing the health reform, they were for it for most of the 2009-2010 bloodbath because they liked the mandate. Get everybody in, then we can offer a quality insurance package and make money. The insurance companies came out against health insurance reform once the mandate penalty got smaller and smaller and it was not enforceable. Look, people are getting subsidies and they are giving access to health insurance, we expect the vast number of Americans to say, hey, that's a good deal. We'll sign up.
KAYE: Let's talk about Medicare now because a lot of people are certainly worried about cuts and perhaps loss of benefits. They think if there are cuts, it will cost them more. What is the real issue here?
JACOBS: About a quarter of Medicare beneficiaries who are on a program called Medicare advantage, which allows private insurance companies to offer coverage to Medicare folks. There has been a cut in their reimbursement. We were paying the private insurance companies a bit more than 10 percent more to get them to just play in the game. That was costing a lot of money. So that part has been scaled back. Some of the folks in Medicare advantage are feeling the crunch there.
But look, there's a lot in here for seniors. To begin with the prescription drug benefit is now being expanded already. Seniors can get a $250 rebate. This is the so-called doughnut hole that seniors know about. That's going to be gradually filled in over the next seven years. That's a great benefit.
One of the really unspoken benefits in the health care reform are the first national steps to try to get a handle on the awful abuse of seniors in nursing homes and by family members. There's real steps being taken here to get a handle on that abuse of seniors.
KAYE: A lot to chew on, a lot to make sense of there. Larry Jacobs, thank you so much. Nice to see you.
JACOBS: Good to see you.
KAYE: Next hour I'll be talking with real people on both sides of the law. Personal stories of what the law has meant or could mean to them and their families.
A raging wildfire out west isn't letting up. It is burning down more homes as residents leave for safer ground.
And jumped in a school cafeteria, beaten and left blind in one eye. Now this middle school student is fighting back. He'll join me live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It is 16 minutes past the hour, checking stories across country.
First to Washington state where a 30-year-old cold case has been solved with the help of a made for TV movie. Twenty-year-old Sandra Major went missing in 1982. Now we know the notorious Green River serial killer Gary Ridgeway took her life. Police had the bones but never knew who they belonged to. When the family saw this TV movie profiling the case, they sent DNA samples to the police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DET. TOM JENSEN, KING COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: You can't investigate a case if you don't know who the victim is. It's huge for the families. I think it's huge for the investigators who spent a lot of time over the years trying to figure out who these girls were.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Ridgeway pleaded guilty to killing 49 women and is serving a life sentence. Three victims have still not been identified.
In Colorado more people are evacuating their homes to escape a raging wildfire. Nearly 200 houses have gone up in flames since the high park (ph) fire started. The wildfire has burned about 70,000 acres near Ft. Collins. It's less than 50 percent contained.
In Petaluma, California, the world's ugliest dog has finally been crowned. Do you think that little guy's ugly? I don't know. Muggily is his name. He's a Chinese crested. He won $1,000 and a year's worth of doggie treats. He came all the way from Britain to beat 28 other dogs to win the contest. Judges say they critique dogs based on their natural ugliness. I see beauty.
Bullied, beaten and left blind in one eye, now a New York middle school student is suing for millions. Who he wants to pay for his abuse when he joins me live in just moments he'll tell us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back.
Imagine this -- you send your child to school and he comes back home badly beaten and blind in one eye. That's exactly what happened to Brooklyn middle school student Kardin Ulysse. A group of boys jumped him in the school cafeteria earlier this month and now he is suing the city for $16 million.
Kardin and his mother Rose join me with their lawyer Sanford Rubenstein.
Good morning to all of you. Thank you for joining us this morning.
Kardin, let me ask you first, how are you doing? I understand you've had a couple of surgeries so far.
KARDIN ULYSSE: Yes, I'm not doing very good. I'm completely blind in my right eye and I do want to see through it. I've been having lots of headaches and it's really been hurting me.
KAYE: What's next for you? Do you expect to have more surgeries?
K. ULYSSE: My mother can answer it.
ROSE ULYSSE, KARDIN'S MOTHER: Yes. The 28th, in a week, he's going to have two big surgeries in one day.
KAYE: Rose, when will you know if your son can get his vision back? R. ULYSSE: That we don't know.
KAYE: Kardin are you --
R. ULYSSE: They don't tell us anything about that. They just try if they can fix the eyes and what they can do.
KAYE: Kardin, do you plan to go back to school at this point?
K. ULYSSE: No.
KAYE: How come?
K. ULYSSE: Wait. Repeat the question?
KAYE: Do you plan to go back to that same school?
K. ULYSSE: I don't plan to.
R. ULYSSE: Kardin, let me answer that for Kardin. Kardin already graduated the 21st of this month, like two days ago. He's going to high school.
KAYE: OK.
R. ULYSSE: Hopefully he can see in the eyes and then people will not make fun of him.
KAYE: Kardin, if you can, just tell me briefly about what happened when you were jumped. Tell me about this attack.
SANFORD RUBENSTEIN, ULYSSE FAMILY ATTORNEY: I think at this point, I'd like to do that for you.
KAYE: OK.
RUBENSTEIN: Basically, he was in the cafeteria. He was having breakfast. Students started to yell racial -- not racial, gay slurs. They then, one of the students, held his hands back while another one started to beat him. This was on the cafeteria table. He was being beaten there.
He was able to get away from the kid who was holding him down to run to a wall where he was continued to be beaten by the other student who had been beating him. Then, the student who was holding him down came to the wall and started punching him also.
As a result of this, he has suffered the loss of sight in one eye, which we hope might be reversed with a cornea transplant but we don't know.
The fact of the matter is, he very well could be the rest of his life without sight in one eye.
KAYE: So Sanford, did he know these boys? RUBENSTEIN: He had seen them around school. He didn't particularly know them at the time as friends. He had complained before. His parents had complained on two prior occasions at the school with regard to other bullying situations that had occurred. So the school was on notice, the teachers, the school aides who at the cafeteria were there. Too much time went by before this fight was broken up and this terrible injury occurred.
KAYE: Rose, if that's the case, did you even feel safe sending your son to this school?
R. ULYSSE: Excuse me?
KAYE: Did you feel safe sending your son to this school?
R. ULYSSE: Yes, because when you have your kids, you raise your kid the right way, you think you send your kids to school to be safe, like the same at home.
When you're in this country they want your kids to do the right way. You show them to do things for them not to be in trouble. But what happened, if he's at home, you tell them what to do when they are in the street. If you send them to school, you don't send them to school to get hurt? Even when you're at home, if you do something to your kids, they ask them questions like if you see any mark on them, teacher ask question, then they will take you to court or to jail.
But to send your kids to school and get beat up and lose his eyesight, I don't think so that's the right thing for somebody to do.
KAYE: Sanford, we reached out to the Roy H. Mann junior high and they told us they quote, implemented programs to address bullying, mentioning a two-day training program called respect for all, where apparently about 5,000 teachers and counselors and parent coordinators and other staff members have participated. Is this true or are those programs simply ineffective?
RUBENSTEIN: Look, the fact of the matter is they are not doing enough. I've had other people contact me since this case has been public about incidents that occurred at this school. Other parents have talked to Rose, his mother, about incidents that occurred. This is a serious problem at this school that has to be addressed so this doesn't continue to happen to kids who go to school expecting to have a safe environment but come home sightless in one eye.
KAYE: Sanford Rubenstein, thank you very much. Rose Ulysse and Kardin, thank you, I wish you well.
RUBENSTEIN: Thank you for having us.
KAYE: Former football coach Jerry Sandusky convicted for sexually abusing young boys. Some experts say more charges could be on the way.
Plus in Mexico where the drug cartels operate a multi-billion dollar business, they will do anything to protect their cash flow. I'll talk with a filmmaker about what he has uncovered. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back everyone. Thirty minutes past the hour. I'm Randi Kaye. Thanks for starting your day with us.
A painful chapter for victims in the Penn State community is over. After weeks of horrific testimony and more than 20 hours of deliberation, former football Coach Jerry Sandusky has been found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of sexually abusing boys over a 15-year- period. After the verdict was read, the judge revoked Sandusky's bail and ordered his arrest.
Joining me now attorneys Holly Hughes and Paul Callan, I'm glad you're with us this morning.
Holly, let me start with you on this one. Was there a moment, do you think, in that courtroom that swayed the jury?
HOLLY HUGHES, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think it was probably cumulative, Randi. And by that I mean one after another after another of these young men got up and started telling these painful stories. And some of that testimony was graphic when they talk about you know bloody underwear and some of the things that were done to them.
And I think when the jury just started to hear all of these horrific facts and you've got to picture. They are young men testifying now, you know they're 19, they're 20 -- they're in their 20s, but think about the stage that the prosecution set for them. When these horrible things happened, they were eight years old, nine years old, 10 years old. And I think as the jury is listening and picturing a little boy being victimized in that way and it's one after another after another, I think it's that cumulative effect of the horrors committed upon a child.
KAYE: Paul, let me turn to you on this now. This was an awfully quick trial compared to what we're used to seeing and then a pretty quick deliberation, just 21 hours. What do you think that tells us?
PAUL CALLAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well it was -- one of the fastest trials I've seen, I'm betting it's one of the fastest trials, serious trials in American history. The -- a case like this on a lot of places would have taken months to try. Remember how long the O.J. Simpson case took.
And I think the impact that it had was the jury didn't get numbed to these allegations of sexual abuse. A lot of times when you have multiple victim cases and you hear one after another, it gets so numbing that it doesn't resonate with you anymore.
So prosecutors moved their case along. They told the story in a compelling way and -- and they convinced the jury. And I -- you know, I -- I -- just looking back on the moment that I thought by the way, was the biggest moment in the case was the janitor testimony. And I don't know if you remember that.
But one janitor came and said he had seen Jerry Sandusky doing something horrible to a little boy. And he was a war veteran and he said he would never forget it. That janitor now has Alzheimer's and his testimony came in through another janitor. I think that he was independent, no financial motive.
KAYE: Right.
CALLAN: It corroborated what all of the other victims said.
KAYE: Let me talk about this appeal that the defense Holly is already saying they plan. Sandusky's attorney says if you win on one of the appeal issues, everything probably falls. So all we have to do is convince an appellate court that one of the issues that we will raise is worthy of a reversal. What kind of chance do you think they have on an appeal?
HUGHES: I think it's a very slim chance, Randi. Because on appeal what you have to convince the court -- the appellate court is that the trial judge did something wrong. This isn't just a matter of arguing insufficiency of evidence. We don't like the jury's verdict. You've got to point to something that the judge did that was wrong. He either gave a jury charge which was improper. He allowed improper evidence in.
And here we don't have any evidence. Because these are long delayed outcries, these are old crimes by the time they get tried. So there's no DNA. There can't be a ruling that said you shouldn't have let that evidence in. What they're going to have to look at is the credibility of the witnesses. And an appellate court is not going to disturb that.
That is a problem for the jury. And the credibility is something that the jury and the jury alone, decides. So given the paucity of physical evidence here for them to review any kind of ruling, I don't see it coming back, I really don't. I think it was a clean trial and it's -- it's a done deal.
KAYE: Paul, do you think it would have made a difference if Sandusky had taken the stand?
CALLAN: Well, in retrospect, he would have nothing to lose. I mean he lost it all. So you know you can always look back in time and say, listen, it couldn't be any worse than it is now. They convicted him really of pretty much everything.
So he probably should have taken the stand, because the case was going in so badly, his only hope was for him to be likable and have the jury believe him. But so -- but you can't second-guess that. I mean his own son was going to come in and testify against him if he did. So I understand why he didn't.
KAYE: Yes and I'm glad you brought that up, Paul. Because I mean, could -- could there be additional charges if we have one of his six adopted sons, Matt Sandusky, who is saying that he was also sexually abused and willing to testify?
CALLAN: Well I always thought, Randi, there were a couple of reasons why he opted not to testify. One was because his son would come in against him. But secondly, there are other victims out there who have testified in front of the grand jury who are not part of this indictment.
And if he took the witness stand and said something like "I've never harmed a child, never touched a child," that would have opened the door for the prosecutor to ask about uncharged incidents as well. So there was grave danger for him in taking the witness stand.
So and, of course, when the son came forward and indicated he would testify against him, that just really was the straw that broke the camel's back and he couldn't do it.
KAYE: And the pain for -- the pain for this community, Holly, really is nowhere near over. Because you have the two Penn State officials who are facing charges for not taking action. I mean these -- these allegations go back to 1998.
HUGHES: Exactly.
KAYE: There's that and then there's the civil cases, right, that these --
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHES: Right.
KAYE: -- these men can now bring against the university or even Sandusky.
HUGHES: Absolutely. If some of the more recent victims still fall within that statute of limitations, yes, I suspect we're going to see some civil suits filed. And I think we might even see some legislation.
You know we've seen some of the bigger cases over the past couple of years where you know in the Casey Anthony verdict, for instance, a lot of people didn't agree with the verdict. But the good that came out of it is legislation enacted new laws. And said hey, if you have a child, you're a care taker, you don't report that child missing in 48 hours, that's now a felony.
I think if we're going to see a lot of administrative policy and procedure changes as far as if someone comes to see you and says something as horrific as Mike McQueary and the janitor said.
KAYE: Right.
HUGHES: "I saw him raping a child on your campus" and they do nothing and they sit on it. I think we're going to see a lot of laws. And I think there's a lot of what they could have been charged with is past, criminally speaking, is past the statute of limitations.
And so I think we're going to see a lot of policy and procedure change. And we're going to see some change in criminal law. I think to be able to hold these people responsible.
KAYE: Yes.
HUGHES: Because every child that was victimized after that was reported in 2002 is on their head, Randi.
KAYE: Yes.
HUGHES: Let's just be really frank about it. It's on their head.
KAYE: No question about that.
HUGHES: Yes.
KAYE: That certainly could have been stopped. It certainly sounds like that.
HUGHES: Yes it's heartbreaking.
KAYE: Holly Hughes, Paul Callan; thank you very much. Nice to see you both.
HUGHES: Thanks.
CALLAN: Nice being with you, Randi.
KAYE: A storm is brewing in the tropics. And our Bonnie Schneider is tracking it all for us.
Plus they say they are the best in show in Vegas. Iconic duo Donny and Marie Osmond talk about their records, their show and plastic surgery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Each week our "Travel Insider" takes you along as we vacation, head to our favorite restaurant or anywhere else that we go in our time off. And this week it is Kyra Phillips' turn. She visited Donny and Marie Osmond in Vegas. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONNY OSMOND, SINGER: This is the weirdest interview I've ever had in my life.
MARIE OSMOND, SINGER: I know no kidding.
D. OSMOND: Yes go ahead Kyra, go ahead.
M. OSMOND: Go ahead. We'll just talk to each other.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Tell me, tell me what's weird.
D. OSMOND: Well, you're the cameraman and the interviewer.
M. OSMOND: I'm not sure if we talk to your eye or to the lens. Where would you like?
PHILLIPS: Where ever you like. D. OSMOND: Ok.
M. OSMOND: Ok.
D. OSMON: What question would you like to ask us, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Well this is what I'd like to ask.
M. OSMOND: You have four seconds. Go ahead.
PHILLIPS: I have four seconds? Ok, I'm going to ask you a really serious question. Why should people come and see you in Vegas?
D. OSMOND: This is the best show in Vegas. We were just voted. I'm not making this up. We were just voted best show in Vegas and best performers and --
M. OSMOND: Best vocalist.
D. OSMOND: Me, not her.
M. OSMOND: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Actually Donny and Marie are both amazing. Not only does the Vegas show bring back all our favorites like Donny's yo-yo and his "Dancing with the Stars" moves but Marie actually sings opera, dedicating the song to her son who passed.
And I'll tell you what; it sends chills up your spine. Donny and Marie are charming, entertaining and funny as ever. So what exactly does it take to have number one records for 50 years and look so good?
D. OSMOND: Lots of plastic surgery.
(CROSSTALK)
D. OSMOND: Ok. You're not going to get a serious answer from me. Try.
M. OSMOND: How to -- you know what, let me tell you, we feel so blessed. I mean to be able to still be performing. This fall will be our -- our 50th year of performing.
D. OSMOND: 50 years in show business.
M. OSMOND: And you know which is amazing since I'm 29.
D. OSMOND: Yes.
M. OSMOND: And it's miraculous. But we feel so blessed and so fortunate. We -- we go on stage every night. We see multiple generations. I mean kids from three to 80 and -- and all the young ones are coming to see me. And so --
D. OSMOND: Yes whatever. You want a serious answer?
PHILLIPS: Give me a serious answer. D. OSMOND: We work our butts off. We work hard.
PHILLIPS: Yes, they do. And they are tons of fun. So go see them. The Donny and Marie show, the Flamingo Hotel, Las Vegas, a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, a little bit heart-warming nostalgia.
And for my entire interview with Donny and Marie, just go to CNN.com. That's this week's "Travel Insider".
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: When the police are searching for a suspect we call it a manhunt but in Arizona it is a bear they're after who is on the attack and has struck again.
And if throwing the first pitch at Oakland A's game wasn't enough of a 16th birthday gift, you should see the surprise that was waiting for this teenager.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: There is a disturbance in the tropics that could bring rain to the southeastern U.S. Bonnie Schneider is tracking it for us this morning. Good morning, Bonnie. So what's this about?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, Randi, we do have an update for you because the latest report shows that this area of disturbed weather is likely to become a tropical cyclone pretty soon -- within the next 48 hours. And you could see that already it's bringing substantial rain off shore of Florida. Look at all this rain that's off the coast.
So not quite hitting the coast yet but know that it's coming. And we are expecting this to be a rainmaker all along the Gulf Coast. But where is it right now? It's very loosely organized. Now, a NOAA buoy, meaning something offshore that's measuring some of the weather data is reporting that there are tropical storm force winds within 180 miles from the center of circulation.
Later today, a hurricane hunter aircraft will fly into it and we'll see if we have that close circulation and we have winds that are strong enough to give us a name for the storm. This will likely be Debby though before the day is over. We're monitoring it for you.
Everyone along the Gulf Coast needs to be aware of this system because the computer models are so widespread. Look at the divergence, Randi. We have some taking it towards Texas, others taking it towards the Gulf Coast, into Louisiana and then more headed towards Florida. So, a widespread area of divergence -- we'll be monitoring it for you and have more data as the morning goes through.
KAYE: All right. Bonnie Schneider, thank you for the update.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
KAYE: Well, the hunt is on for a bear that is attacking people in Arizona.
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JASON AMPERSE, BEAR ATTACK VICTIM: We kind of scared him off. We had an opportunity to take him out. But you just don't -- you're in the minute of the moment. You know, it's so scary. It's like you don't know what's going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: John Amperse (SIC) shows where he was attacked. Authorities believe it's the same animal that attacked a woman three weeks ago based on the bite mark measurements. Game officers believe the bear is a large adult male.
It happened just east of Payson, Arizona; that's about 90 minutes north of Phoenix. They have set tracks, they say, all around town.
In California, a 16-year-old girl got the surprise of her life during an Oakland A's game. Allie Pearce threw the first pitch. And then her dad, an army specialist in Afghanistan wished her a happy birthday bringing her to tears in that video. But she wasn't expecting her dad to then walk out with the team. She started crying more tears of joy.
Scott Pearce said he had been planning the surprise for six months. He wasn't supposed to be back from Afghanistan until October. I think it's about the cutest thing I've seen in a while.
Cartels are killing people by the thousands in Mexico. In a few minutes we'll talk with a filmmaker about his documentary that follows brave journalists who risk their lives to put the cartel members behind bars.
Plus Jerry Sandusky found guilty but sentencing is going to have to wait awhile. We've got the latest on the case.
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KAYE: Welcome back everyone. The Mexican drug cartels run a big business. Take a look at these numbers. The U.S. government estimates they can sell up to $29 billion worth of drugs in one year; yes, that is billion with a b. And kingpins will do anything to make sure that money keeps rolling in. The Mexican government says the cartels have killed nearly 48,000 people since 2006.
So you might wonder why you don't hear more about the slaughter going on south of the border. For one, the Mexican government estimates cartels spend more than a billion dollars a year paying off police officers. And if they can't buy them off, well, they kill them.
That brings me to my next guest Bernardo Ruiz. He filmed a documentary about reporters who cover narco-trafficking in Mexico.
Bernardo, thank you for joining us this morning; great to have you on the program. For "Reportero", the name of the documentary, you followed a veteran reporter for two years; with him day in and day out as he uncovered these stories about the cartels. Tell me what you learned from him.
BERNARDO RUIZ, "REPORTERO": One of the things that I learned is how dedicated this specific group of journalists have been. Sergio Haro, who's the journalist that I profile in the film, writes for a legendary weekly called "Semanario Zeta" based out of Tijuana.
And although they are not the only aggressive investigative reporting unit in northern Mexico, they are certainly one of the few. They are very outspoken news organization. And they have paid a heavy price for what they do.
KAYE: Why do you think they continue to do it? I mean did you ask them this? Because it's so -- it's deadly.
RUIZ: It certainly is deadly in the case of "Semanario Zeta" in Tijuana. They've lost -- Sergio Haro who I put on the film has lost three of his colleagues, including a very close friend who's a 29- year-old journalist gunned down just in front of the steps of his newspaper.
I think it goes to a larger commitment and a hope that by getting information out there and getting information out into the international community that it will force a change within Mexico.
Obviously since December 2006, there's been a level of violence that's horrific. I saw the number that you posted that's close to 50,000, which is the official number. Just a few weeks ago a very well- regarded newsweekly "Proceso" put that number closer to 88,000. So, somewhere between 50,000 and 88,000 -- we're talking about those are recorded homicides.
KAYE: And you show in the documentary that cartels really have police in their pockets; I mean that regular people really have nowhere to turn. So have journalists basically become their only source for justice? Is that part of why you made the documentary, to show that?
RUIZ: I think that's a very good question. And unfortunately that is the case in many regions where police departments, state police departments -- municipal police departments have been corrupted. We know that in the last six years, at least 48 journalists or media workers have been murdered or disappeared.
When I finished my film in January 2012, that number was at 40. That means in the last six months we've seen the murders of at least eight journalists. Unfortunately the worst of that violence has happened in the state of Vera Cruz, which is a port state. We know that six journalists have been murdered in the most gruesome way, their bodies found in garbage bags in the last two months.
KAYE: And why -- I mean, you know, as a journalist myself, it's hard for me to imagine going to work and wondering if I'm going to come home. But why are the cartels actually targeting the journalists? RUIZ: We're talking about organized crime figures that are used to operating with impunity and anonymity. Anything that threatens their profits is going to be a reason to attack a journalist. So typically what I saw and what you see in the film, in the history of the film, any time you publish the names and the faces of organized crime figures, any time you show the links between organized crime and local politicians or corrupt politicians, that's when organized crime bites back and that's when journalists are attacked or killed.
KAYE: So they are killing them to silence their stories and silence them as well. It's a fascinating documentary. I definitely recommend it.
Bernardo Ruiz, thank you very much.
RUIZ: Thank you for having me.
KAYE: Jerry Sandusky locked up; the former football coach facing life in prison now that a jury has found him guilty. We'll talk to you a little bit more about the verdict.
Plus health care in focus this morning. What's the real effect of the Supreme Court's expected ruling this week on Obama care? We've got some very personal stories.
And "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" coming up in about 30 minutes; Christine Romans has a preview of what's ahead. Hi, Christine.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN HOST, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE": Hi, Randi. Are you better off today than you were four years ago? It's your call to make with five months left to the presidential election. I'll give you the facts.
Plus, it doesn't matter what the Supreme Court rules on health care reform, millions of Americans won't like it nor will they understand it but we're going to explain it.
And African-Americans were crushed by the recession and left behind in the recovery. We'll look at whether President Obama has let them down and whether Governor Romney could even do any better. That's all coming up at 9:30 a.m. Eastern -- Randi.
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