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CNN Saturday Morning News

AEG CEO Grilled about Jackson's Death; Murdoch Divorcing 44- Year-Old Wife; NASCAR Driver Races to Find Cure; Persistence Pays Off for Organ Recipient; Jolie Applauds Gene Patent Ruling; Major Punishments for Base-Brawl

Aired June 15, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I am Alison Kosik.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 8:00 on the East Coast and 5:00 out West. Thanks for starting your morning with us.

We begin this morning with some startling developments in the way the government watches American citizens. Late last night, Facebook revealed its role in the National Security Agency's search for information about users with permission from the government.

Facebook says that for the last six months of 2012, it received between 9,000 and 10,000 requests and that those request affected between 18,000 and 19,000 users.

CNNMoney correspondent Laurie Segall is following the story.

Laurie, we heard from the government what they're looking for when they contact Verizon about phone calls.

But what are they looking for from Facebook?

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a good question. That's what everybody seems to be asking themselves, because think about it, Facebook has over a billion users. We're all on Facebook, so this affects all of us, if you think about it.

And really what they said that they were looking for, Victor, were use cases, like a sheriff looking for a missing child, the National Security investigating a terrorist threat. So you wonder what they're going through. Are they going through certain conversations that are private? You can only imagine that that is the kind of thing that they would go through, but you want to know the scope of it.

You see that the NSA was able to ask Verizon for three months of cell phone data. I mean, are they able to do that? I think these are the questions we really need to ask ourselves. And they have been doing this, if you look at those leaked slides from the NSA, they have been doing this since 2009.

Microsoft also came forward and said we have had 6,000 to 7,000 warrants over the last six months as well. They've been doing this since 2007. So the idea is that this is an invaluable tool from National Security. At this point, so many people are using the Internet. So many people are using social media. And now the government is going and we are beginning to really see this transparency.

BLACKWELL: So what kind of reaction are we seeing from the people who run the companies that collect this data?

Because in some respects, it's not really a request. They are just asking for it and they have to hand it over.

SEGALL: I talk to these founders for a living, these guys in hoodies who hack something together and all of a sudden it becomes this huge company and you're having to comply with government requests, and they say this is a really big deal. This is a huge deal and they are talking about it quite a bit in Silicon Valley.

And also they're really demanding transparency and then being able to tell their users how -- what's going on. I actually spoke with one founder who is beginning this initiative to get a lot of investors together, and listen to what he told me, Victor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SINA KHANIFAR, FOUNDER, OPENSIGNAL: A whole bunch of communities want to come together and put their voice behind one movement to say that, you know what, we are not OK with this. We need to know what's going on. We want some sort of investigation and we want legislative reform, and we want people to be held accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEGALL: It's time to have this open discussion. And I think you can -- you are really beginning to see it with Facebook and Microsoft pushing forward. You already have Google; they have been publishing transparency reports for the last couple years.

But because this is such an invaluable tool now, we are going to really need to begin to have a conversation around what data we are sharing and what data the government can access it and how -- and how they are able to access.

BLACKWELL: And this broader discussion continues. Laurie Segall in New York ,thank you.

SEGALL: Thank you.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Edward Snowden stunned the world this week when he revealed he is the person who leaked information about the government snooping on Americans' Internet and phone use. The 29-year-old former government contractor is believed to be hiding out in a safe house in Hong Kong, where some are hailing him as a hero.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOSIK (voice-over): Now there are concerns Snowden may defect to China. Thirty-five years ago, Chris Boyce found himself backed into a similar corner. Boyce was also a government contractor with access to state secrets.

In 1977, when he was just 22 years old, Boyce was arrested then convicted of espionage for selling classified information to the Soviet Union. Hollywood told his story -- you may have seen it -- in the 1985 Sean Penn movie called "The Falcon and the Snowman." Boyce spoke with CNN in 1985.

CHRIS BOYCE, CONVICTED U.S. SPY: Someday I might be let out of these prisons, but it is so far in the future that it's really painful even for me to think about all that time passing, you know, because what, other than your own life, is more precious to a person, you know, and I forfeited the great bulk of mine.

KOSIK (voice-over): OK. So Chris Boyce, he is now out of prison. He's working on a new book coming out this summer, called "The Falcon and The Snowman: American Sons."

In his first TV interview in almost 30 years, Chris Boyce joins us now by phone from his home on the West Coast.

Good morning, Chris.

BOYCE: Good morning.

KOSIK: The news about Edward Snowden: I know you have been in a very similar situation. What do you think he is feeling right now?

BOYCE: I assume he is feeling a whole lot of fear, a gnawing fear, tension, stress. I read the other day that he had disappeared out of his hotel, but he certainly hasn't disappeared from the Chinese police. They will be watching his every move.

If I was him, I wouldn't trust the Chinese. And I would not be surprised if, at some point, they didn't extradite him back to the United States, sell him, in effect, for some political concession.

And when and if that happens, his life -- if you think it's stressful now, it will just go further and further down the drain.

KOSIK: So what do you think, what lengths is Snowden going to right now to stay out of sight?

BOYCE: Probably I think that all of his movements and activity are controlled now by the Chinese government. He can no more hide in China, I think, than my wife's French poodle. And I don't really think he can go into a fugitive -- you know, complete fugitive status in China, like I did, and hide. The government there will have complete control over him.

KOSIK: So I want to know this; I followed your story. What drove you to share state secrets with the Soviet Union, and if you could do it all over again, would you have done it? Would you do it again?

BOYCE: No, I would not. I grew up in a different time than Snowden. I grew up with a huge love of the American republic, you know, where we -- it was a country, at one point that, you know, sent its armies out to free other people.

But I -- in my youth, as I started to grow up, I watched the Vietnam War and the assassinations and Nixon's impeachment and the race riots, and it just always seemed to me that the government, the federal government was becoming worse and worse.

And of course my perspective was flawed. But I don't know -- I think that Snowden is motivated to protect the interests of the American people.

I know that there might be some narcissism and egoism involved in it, but I think that he is primarily motivated to show everyone all the crawly things under the intelligence community's rocks. And I think that it's in the interest of the American people that he had done that.

KOSIK: So do you support Snowden in what he is doing?

BOYCE: Yes, I think that what he did was correct.

And -- but I realize that what's -- you know, they are going to indictment him. They're -- the federal government will have a task force to get him. Eventually I believe they will get their hands on him and the Justice Department will arrange to have him convicted and sentenced to life in prison and then he'll be turned over to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. And they will maintain that other prisoners will kill him.

So they'll put him in solitary confinement. And that could go on for 10 years and he will just sit there and his mind will turn to mush. And after about -- he will tough it out for a year or two and after that, he will utterly regret that he ever did this to himself.

KOSIK: So what do you think about "The Falcon and the Snowman," the movie based on your life.

Is it an accurate portrayal of what you and Dalton Lee went through?

BOYCE: Yes, and it was very surreal, actually, to be brought out of solitary confinement myself and to sit down with the actors that portrayed me and watch the film in a room with federal bureaucrats and wardens and officers of the government. And as each scene unfolded in the film on -- in front of us, to feel the fury and anger of the bureaucrats around us watching it, sitting there with us.

And...

KOSIK: So was there a satisfaction then that you felt in watching that?

BOYCE: Yes, but it was also very strange. Everything about my life then had become strange. I hadn't seen the sun in, you know, years, you know. But it was as bizarre and surreal a moment in my life as I ever could have imagined. And I would still be sitting in that, you know, in jail, in solitary, in prison, were it not for the legal wizardry of my wife, but that's another story.

KOSIK: All right, Chris Boyce, thanks for your time.

BOYCE: All right. Good day.

BLACKWELL: I think that's fascinating. And -- because there are few people in the world who really can understand the reasons and the response and the reaction to what Edward Snowden has done.

KOSIK: Well, it's interesting to hear that he supports him, knowing everything that Chris Boyce went through in his life, that he still supports this guy.

BLACKWELL: And he says that in some time, he will realize that he is going to regret what he's done because of the way it's changed his life, and his mind will turn to mush, as he said.

KOSIK: Until, of course, he comes out and writes a book like Chris Boyce is doing.

BLACKWELL: Very few people could have given that perspective. And I'm glad we got that on (inaudible).

KOSIK: Very interesting, yes. He -- it's -- you saw the movie, yes?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

KOSIK: It's a good movie. Great movie, interesting to talk to the guy behind it.

BLACKWELL: All right.

KOSIK: All right. We've got much more coming up ahead this hour.

BLACKWELL: Yes, coming up, Warren Buffett speaks exclusively to CNN about women, about work and the message his parents gave him as a child.

KOSIK: Did Michael Jackson need a straitjacket? That's what some AEG executives were wondering during his final days Why the CEO was warning he's have a mental breakdown.

BLACKWELL: And would this get your attention?

KOSIK: Oh, boy.

BLACKWELL: How about this?

KOSIK: Oy.

BLACKWELL: The shocking way Chicago is making people care about a nationwide problem.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KOSIK: The Chicago Department of Health has an important message to get across and they have chosen to tell it in a shocking way.

BLACKWELL: Check this out. Look at these pictures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL (voice-over): There are pictures like this, similar to the pictures we are seeing, on buses and billboards throughout the Windy City. Although it looks like an Abercrombie & Fitch ad gone wrong, it is actually about teen pregnancy.

KOSIK (voice-over): Yes, they are using these boys, these teen boys looking pregnant.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): And you see the tag line here, "Unexpected," because they say that most teen pregnancies are unexpected.

Now your reaction when you saw this the first time was just that it's a little odd.

KOSIK: It's creepy. It's very creepy. Look how realistic it looks, you know, the whole belly button bulging out, it's literally a woman's stomach place on a boy, on a man. It's creepy -- I wonder if it's going to help, because, you know, you look at the Chicago teen pregnancy rate; it's 1.5 times the national average.

Is this really going to help?

BLACKWELL: It's getting attention. It's getting us talking about it. And I'm sure people look at it, the bus, and see the billboard.

The question is, you ask, will it get some reaction? We know that when they put these up in Milwaukee in 2009 -- because this is not a new idea -- that Milwaukee saw a dramatic drop in teen pregnancies after their ads, the BeYouBeHealthy.com (ph) for more information there; they're putting this up.

But you know, I just wonder if guys are going to look at this and still think, well, that will never happen to me. I mean, physically it can't happen to me.

KOSIK: I think that's enough to scare them away from anything that will get them into that situation.

BLACKWELL: You would hope, but it's not going to happen to them. So hopefully they still have some sense of responsibility. Of course this guy cannot get pregnant, but hopefully something changes because the rate in Chicago is just far too high.

KOSIK: All right.

Coming up, the debate over women in the workplace. First Facebook executive Sheryl Sandburg said women need to lean in.

Now Warren Buffett is saying women are held back and companies need to do more.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN BUFFETT, CHAIRMAN & CEO, BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY: We said all men are created equal, and we treated women as totally second-class citizens and so we ignored all this talent.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: You know, that glass ceiling? It's still got a way to go before it's shattered.

Less than 2 dozen of the Fortune 500 CEOs are women. That's barely 4 percent.

My colleague, Poppy Harlow, sat down with famed investor Warren Buffett. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: You say the flood of discussion about women in the workforce in this country recently has neglected one big thing.

What is that?

BUFFETT: Well, I would say this, that, until recently, structurally, women were held back. They are still to some degree. I mean, they are not getting a totally 50-50 shake.

But you know, for 150 years after we said all men are created equal, we treated women as totally second class citizens, and so we ignored all this talent.

That's getting corrected to a degree, although there is a ways to go on that.

And then the second problem is whether women believed it when they sort of got what I would call brainwashed. And I use the example of Katherine Graham, who was an incredible person, bright as all get out.

HARLOW: The first female CEO of a Fortune 500 company, "The Washington Post" company.

BUFFETT: Sure. And in all kinds of ways, a top notch individual. And -- but she had been told by a mother, by a husband, by the whole world that women couldn't do as well in business as men. And I said she saw herself in a funhouse mirror that others presented in front of her and, as successful as she was, she never totally got over it.

HARLOW: Never? BUFFETT: No, it shows how strong a message can be, the message my sisters heard, that -- they didn't hear it verbally, they just heard it through all kinds of actions of people that they didn't have the same future I had.

HARLOW: So it's interesting because you saw this play out in your own family. You had two sisters who you say that your floor was their ceiling.

Was that parenting? Was that society?

BUFFETT: Yes, it was -- it was society, but it came through parenting and it came through their teachers. In every way, they were told that the best thing was if they married well, and I was told that everything in the world was available to me.

If I had been -- I was born in 1930. If I had exactly the same wiring I have, but I had been a female, my life would have been entirely different.

HARLOW: I wonder if your message is more for women or more for men?

BUFFETT: It's for both. It's for both. Men should realize, if they had male workers and those workers could accomplish more if they had more education or whatever it might be, they would jump on that in a second.

And to take half the people and not recognize that they have just as much potential as the others and use them is a big mistake.

HARLOW: So what about in American business? Because if you look at the Fortune 500 companies, less than 20 have female CEOs.

BUFFETT: Well, it's a mistake not to use all the talent. We have one woman at Berkshire Hathaway that is now chairman of four companies, but that's all new. And she is doing a terrific job.

It comes slowly, and partly that's just a mindset that is different.

HARLOW: So as you have been more outspoken about women and the workforce, there are some that have come back at you and said, what about Berkshire Hathaway, you have got 70-plus companies and you have five female CEOs and only three of your 13 board members are women. They think should change be happening at Berkshire? Should you be doing this?

BUFFETT: Change is happening at Berkshire, and in the last directors that have been appointed, three are women. And in terms of CEOs, I have probably only appointed maybe six or seven CEOs because they come with the businesses and they stay.

HARLOW: When there is a new CEO needed or a new board member do you look specifically more at women to see if there a woman of equal caliber to take the job, to have that diversity?

BUFFETT: Probably I'm going to pick the best person in the end. But if there are two that are 9 on a scale of 10 and one is a woman, she's probably going to get the job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KOSIK: And that was Poppy Harlow with Warren Buffett, talking about women in the workplace, and to get ahead most women need a good education under their belts.

And CNN is focusing on girls' education around the world with the film "Girl Rising." It airs this Sunday at 9:00 pm Eastern time.

BLACKWELL: Almost half of all Americans have more credit card debt than money n savings.

KOSIK: Isn't that amazing?

BLACKWELL: It is.

And that could be --

(CROSSTALK)

KOSIK: The American way.

BLACKWELL: -- unfortunately. That could be why people under 30 are ditching the plastic.

KOSIK: Maybe. A new report shows that more people between the ages of 18 and 29, they are just saying no to credit cards. And here are some of the reasons they may be saying no: the high unemployment rate, student loan debt -- astronomical -- fewer big purchases and income restrictions.

Also the card actually requires anyone who is under the age of 21, they need a cosigner if they don't make enough money. So that could be turning the under 30 crowd away from plastic as well. And it's harder to get a credit card these days.

BLACKWELL: Yes, you know, it's so difficult to resist, when you are in college especially, because they hand it out with like a pizza or a soda, and then as you get older, it's like, I could get the points for a free flight or a free hotel stay.

KOSIK: But you know, it's not too -- if you carry a good amount of debt, I mean, you have to show --

BLACKWELL: What is that?

KOSIK: Well, listen, you have to show that you are able to pay your bills on time. You don't want to carry these astronomically large credit card bills, but you want to show that you can pay your bills on time, you build that credit rating so when you get old enough, you can apply for a mortgage and show that you've been responsible.

So there are plus sides to having a credit card if you charge responsibly and pay your bills.

BLACKWELL: Charge responsibly when you are coming up on spring break, it's tough to do.

KOSIK: I know.

BLACKWELL: It is tough to do.

Hey, Michael Jackson, AEG and a straitjacket? Why the CEO of a major entertainment company worried the King of Pop was going insane. The latest from the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial. That's coming up next.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

KOSIK: Welcome back. I'm Alison Kosik.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Here are five things you need to know this morning.

KOSIK: Number one, 473 homes in Colorado have now gone up into flames in what's believed to be the worst wildfire in that state's history. Hard rain on Friday helped fire fighters north of Colorado Springs get some control over the Black Forest fire. It's now 30 percent contained.

To the south another fire in Royal George Park is 65 percent contained but in western Colorado lightning is being blamed for sparking a new wild fire. Across the state 800 people are battling the flames.

BLACKWELL: Number two, Facebook revealed overnight that it has received thousands of requests for user information. And that disclosure comes just days after Edward Snowden leaked information about the NSA surveillance of American citizens. Facebook says it received as many as 10,000 requests in just the last half of 2012 and that those requests encompassed everything from sheriffs looking for missing persons to terrorists investigations.

KOSIK: At number three, new video of the Castro brothers in Ohio, the first moments the brothers were in police custody. It was just hours after three missing girls escaped from Ariel's home last month. The suspect Ariel looks emotionless. His brothers Onil and Pedro who had no part in the crime appear upset with their brother.

Also this week authorities are conducting DNA test on evidence to determine if any additional victims may have been held inside his Cleveland home.

BLACKWELL: Four, he took heat from some Republicans for saying positive things about President Obama well now New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie has been hanging out with another Democrat -- Bill Clinton. Christie spoke last night at a forum sponsored by the Clinton's Global Initiative. He skipped an event by the Conservative Faith and Freedom Coalition to attend the forum. Christie's speech comes the day after Hillary Clinton spoke at her husband's forum. Both Hillary Clinton and Christie are considered possible contenders and potential rivals in the 2016 White House race.

Number five -- the murder trial of one of the most -- well we should say infamous -- mob bosses in U.S. history started this week in Boston. After a 16-year manhunt, reputed Mafia kingpin James "Whitey" Bulger now faces 19 counts of murder, as well as allegations of racketeering, extortions, money laundering, firearms violations. The trial is expected to take up to three months and has the potential to reveal sensational details about both mobs and the FBI corruption.

KOSIK: All right let's go to Los Angeles where the CEO of Michael Jackson's concert promotion company got raked over the coals this week during the pop star's wrongful death trial. According to the testimony executives chatted days before Jackson's death if the king of pop was having a mental breakdown and needed a straight jacket and said he deteriorated so badly that he fall on his backside as he tried to dance. Attorneys for the Jackson family are trying to convince jurors that AEG was negligent in hiring and supervising a doctor who was found guilty of manslaughter.

CNN legal analyst Paul Callan join us now. Good morning, Paul.

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

KOSIK: Did -- did this week mark a turn in favor of the Jackson family?

CALLAN: From a public relations stand-point, it most certainly did because their attorney Brian Panish really did a number on the CEO of AEG, the company that hired Michael Jackson to do the tour. He caught him in a lot of contradictions, he was able to -- to show that clearly anybody who was looking at Michael Jackson knew that Jackson was sick and was looking pale and had problems.

So as I said from a public relations standpoint I think clearly the Jacksons scored a lot. Whether they are winning the case, though, is another matter I think. Yes -- go ahead.

KOSIK: No, no -- finish your thought.

CALLAN: No the reason I say that is because when you step back on this case, the thing you have to remember ultimately is the claim here is that they, the concert company, the you know the AEG, was negligent in hiring Conrad Murray, the doctor that Jackson wanted.

Now Jackson suggested Conrad Murray. Conrad Murray had never up until that point in time been disciplined. He had -- he had a valid medical license. So is it the job of a private corporation to, you know, vet and do some kind of substantial analysis of the financial problems of a doctor who is being suggested by a movie you know guy or a movie person and a music person like Michael Jackson. And that's really what the case is about.

And I'm not so sure that you win on that case. I mean was it AEG's job to pick the right doctor for Michael Jackson?

KOSIK: Ok well we will continue to watch that case unfold. Let's switch topics for a moment. Let's turn to the NSA leaks and the search for Edward Snowden, officials believed that's he's in Hong Kong now and they fear he could defect to China. What do you think? Does this make him a hero or a traitor?

CALLAN: That's the question of the week. Hero or traitor we have revelations here of what I think everybody thinks is a disturbing amount of governmental surveillance and collection of data. Of course the U.S. government says they have to do this in order to fight terrorism. That -- those who think that Snowden has exposed improper, unconstitutional surveillance of American citizens think he's a hero. But I'm starting to lean in the traitor department personally only because of the way he's acting.

A hero who wants to fight the system and expose unconstitutionality, comes back to the United States faces the charges publicly like Daniel Ellisberg did in the Pentagon papers case long ago. He was put on trial for leaking that information and you know what he was exonerated when the charges were dismissed.

On the other hand, Snowden seems to be in flight, he seems to be seeking asylum in other countries and maybe a country that is sometimes viewed as an enemy of the United States, China. So I think in the end regardless of how heroic his actions might be, he is certainly looking like a traitor if he's fleeing and seeking asylum in China or elsewhere.

KOSIK: Ok Paul Callan thank you.

CALLAN: Ok thank you.

BLACKWELL: Hey remember this? Wham. It was the smack heard around the world making Rupert Murdoch's third wife famous. Well now the power couple is yes they were done, it's over. How this partnership is coming to an end next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Coming up on the 39 minutes after the hour tabloid boss to tabloid star, that's what some people are calling Rupert Murdoch on Twitter after he declared he is divorcing his wife.

KOSIK: He's 82 years old, she's 44 which cause some people to call her a gold digger even though she was very successful before she got married to him and now people are wondering why. Richard Quest you're live in London, why, why is this happening -- dish?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well I think the issue is of course the way in which it's just come out of the blue. Although if you talk to some people, then they've been living together and if you talk to others they would be living separate lives. And the way in which Rupert Murdoch has filed his divorce in New York of course and there is believed to be a pre-nuptial agreement but no one need out there too much about poverty for either side. There is $11 billion worth of assets that Mr. Murdoch has from his News Corp., which is about to split. And the traditional -- the traditional issue in most divorces are getting a court out of a pipe pot getting two people to live out of one person's salary simply doesn't exist here. His last divorce from his second wife, which was rumored to be worth over $1 billion and that of course shows there was plenty of money to go around.

BLACKWELL: We'll still have to wait to see what happens with the $11 billion fortune Richard. But I want to talk about the tabloid culture which we started with the top of this. Here in the U.S. it's rough, but ferocious in the U.K. What's been the response there?

QUEST: I think the response has been what you might expect, an enormous amount of speculation, and a certain amount of titillation. A general feeling that bearing in mind Rupert Murdoch owns much of the press and of course you're seeing that in the United States, you have to look at how for example how did "The Post" report it versus the news. What did his own newspaper say? And what did his network say? And I think that's not where this thing moves forward if you like. The -- the element of schadenfreude perhaps but the totality of coverage. And as this story moves on, as some believe it will, how that develops.

Now, look, Wendi Deng has been very well known as being a protector of Mr. Murdoch, most notably at that British Parliamentary hearing when she slapped a protester who was about -- who just threw a shaving cream pie at her husband's face. So from that point of view, she is a woman in her own right and those are the issues that people are looking at.

BLACKWELL: All right Richard Quest, live for us in London. Thank you, sir.

KOSIK: And we've been talking about her for weeks, Sarah, the little girl with cystic fibrosis in need of a lung transplant. Well, she finally got the lung she needed and her case is encouraging others to come forward. Coming up you'll hear from one guy who needed lungs and said without persistence he would have been dead.

But first there are many case like Sarah fighting a disease without a cure. And now one NASCAR driver is trying to help change that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENNY HAMLIN, NASCAR DRIVER: Hi I'm Denny Hamlin and we can make an impact on finding a cure for cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a respiratory disease that affects breathing and the lungs don't function the way that they should and eventually you'll need a lung transplant. My first experience with cystic fibrosis was my cousin. I never understood why he had to take so much medicine every day until I got a little bit ordered and then I realized that he had a disease that you now that you know there was no cure for it.

This started doing (ph) my foundation doing different events that we started the short track showdown a few years after that and really just we've grown the foundation over the last three years and contributed to cystic fibrosis as well as a lot of children's hospitals in the Richmond area.

We hope that you know CF is something that people will recognize as cystic fibrosis, but eventually we hope CF means cure found. Join the movement "Impact your World" at CNN.com/impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Ten-year old Sarah Murnaghan is on a long road to recovery after getting a new set of lungs this week from an adult donor. Sarah's case sparked a national debate over transplant rules. On her Facebook page last night Sarah's her mom posted a long message detailing a new policy change, saying she wanted to clear up, quote, "misconceptions about Sarah's case".

Sarah's parents fought tirelessly for her and would not take no for an answer. The situation was very similar in the case of Gavin Maitland. Gavin needed two lungs. He had a couple of weeks, maybe even days left to live. But his wife fought and fought refused to give up.

Gavin joins us now from London. Welcome Gavin, how are you feeling?

GAVIN MAITLAND, ORGAN RECIPIENT: Yes, I feel great, thank you.

KOSIK: Tell us what happened to you. You were in perfect health until your mid-30s, and then you started having a nagging cough.

MAITLAND: Yes, I get these repetitive cough that lasted really six years. No one knew what was wrong. No one could diagnose anything wrong with me. But they knew my lungs were not in good shape and they gradually got worse and worse until eventually they said the only thing that would save my life was a lung transplant.

KOSIK: But you needed two lungs and you were turned down by as many as 15 hospitals but your wife Julie, she refused to take no for an answer.

MAITLAND: Yes, it was a real shock to us when we were turned down by the first hospital that was in Denver, Colorado. But Julie really fought. She contacted everyone she knew. She called doctors. She went to see doctors. We contacted many, many hospitals and were turned down by many, many hospitals.

But she just kept on fighting, and that was -- we're turned down in December of 2007 and then we eventually found a hospital in February of 2008. And I was really -- I was in my last few days, last few weeks before it was all over for me.

KOSIK: And yes, before you found that hospital, did you think that was it? I mean did you ever feel like you were at the end?

MAITLAND: Well, I did. I must say that I did. With hindsight, it's easy to say I was strong and I was resilient, but really I wasn't. I couldn't breathe. When you can't breathe, really nothing else matters. You can't think straight. You can't do anything I could barely walk. I was on oxygen 24 hours a day. And I really mentally given up; I thought it was the end of the line.

Julie just did not give up. She kept fighting and fighting and without her absolutely I would not be here today.

KOSIK: I am not sure if you know, but right now more than 118,000 people are waiting for an organ, and 18 people die each day waiting for one.

MAITLAND: Yes.

KOSIK: What did you do that really forced doctors and hospital officials to meet with you, you know. Tell us what worked for you that could help other families -- that could work for other families.

MAITLAND: What works is to understand the system and to understand the pressure that doctors are under and administrators are under and to really keep yourself in front of them and don't take no for an answer. There are many hospital options and don't put all your eggs in one basket and say this is the only hospital that can treat me, because there are many hospitals that can do it.

But keep on pushing. Don't give up. It's easy to give up in that position. It's easy to feel so ill you can't keep going, but you have to keep on going. Keep yourself in front of them.

KOSIK: Does it wind up mattering more who you know? Is it a who-you- know thing? Does it become sort of an inside baseball kind of thing to win those organs?

MAITLAND: I don't believe so. I believe the system is very fair once you are on the list. The issue I found, and this is just our experience, was getting through the bureaucracies to get on the list in the first place. I believe from the best of my knowledge that the list is very fairly distributed and the decisions the doctors make are based on the medical situation of each patient.

KOSIK: Gavin, your recovery was long. What kind the Murnaghan's expect -- what kind of advice do you want to give them?

MAITLAND: For me, I always believed that once you can breathe anything is possible. So breathing in, breathing out, it sounds very simple. And the vast majority of people take it for granted. When you have a lung transplant, you don't take it for granted. Every day -- take every day that comes. Keep on going. You find -- I found that every day I felt better and better.

It took me two years, three years, four years -- I am five years out now and right now, and I feel better than I ever felt since my transplant. And after two years I thought I was feeling well, but every day, every week, every month after your transplant you feel better and better. It's an amazing, amazing procedure.

KOSIK: Gavin, I'm glad to hear that you're doing very well and thanks for joining us.

MAITLAND: Thank you. Thank you very much. KOSIK: Your book is called "Breathe and Let Go: a Lung Transplant Adventure". A big thank you again to Gavin.

BLACKWELL: Angelina Jolie reacts to the Supreme Court's ruling on gene patenting. What she's saying -- that's coming up.

Baseball officials drop the hammer on eight of its players, one even hit with a suspension that baseball hasn't handed down in more than seven years. We will tell what you happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KOSIK: Actress Angelina Jolie says she hopes the Supreme Court ruling on human genes will help women in the fight against breast cancer. Jolie put the issue in the spotlight when she revealed she had undergone a double mastectomy. That's because she carried a gene mutation that puts her at a higher risk of breast cancer. A Utah company claimed it had a patent on the genes known as BRAC1 and 2 but the high court disagrees.

The justices rules that human genes cannot be patented but a synthetic version can.

BLACKWELL: In a statement, Jolie said "I hope that this ruling will lead to more women at risk for breast cancer being able to get access to gene testing and to take control of their lives, not just in the U.S. but around the world, whatever their means and whatever their background."

KOSIK: Because this test is very expensive.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And there are a lot of companies who have said that they're going to bring the price down. Within the hours of this ruling coming down they decided that we're going to make it a thousand dollars less -- $1,300 less and it's now coming into a price range where many women -- I'm not going to say all -- but many women can afford it.

KOSIK: Yes, I mean a lot of times doctors don't even bring up the subject that the test exists. And it's going to be interesting now it's become really part of the fabric of our conversation lately not only because of Angelina Jolie but the Supreme Court decision. It's interesting how it all sort of come together.

BLACKWELL: The surgery itself is a tough decision to make. I mean I know people -- having covered this story before I came here to CNN, the decision itself is tough to make, but to add money into it and can you afford it. Can you afford to even have the information to make the decision?

A lot of people would call in -- becoming more fair to a lot of women who will have access to it.

KOSIK: We will see about that.

Major League Baseball has handed down eight suspensions as a result of Tuesday night's bench-clearing brawl between the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks. Andy Scholes joins us now with more in the "Bleacher Report". Hi Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, "BLEACHER REPORT": Hey, good morning guys. Well, you knew there was going to be some big-time punishments handed down after Tuesday night's brawl. And it looks like the Diamondbacks they got hit the hardest. Starter Ian Kennedy who hit Yasiel Puig in the face and Zack Greinke got the worst punishment. He's suspended ten games, and that's the longest suspension handed down by Major League Baseball for on-field conduct in seven years.

Now his teammate Eric Hinske received a five-game ban while a couple of Dodgers players along with hitting coach Mark McGwire received two- game suspensions. Now the managers for both teams, they already served their suspensions. They did that -- it was a one-game suspension. They served those lost night. The majority of the players suspended, they're appealing the decision.

Now only two golfers were able to shoot under par through yesterday's second round of the U.S. Open and one of them was Phil Mickelson. A lefty who has placed second a record five times at the U.S. Open, he's looking for his first ever win at the major. He had an up and down day in round two but he would finish strong on 18 knocking down the 20- foot birdie putt right here. Mickelson is tied with Billy Horschel for the lead after yesterday's round.

Tiger Woods is still in the hunt despite being a three over for the tournament. He shot even par yesterday and he's four shots back of the lead. Round two, it was suspended last night due to darkness. They're currently back out on the course finishing it up right now. Round three is scheduled to begin around 11:00 Eastern.

Chris Bosh's wallet is now $5,000 lighter after he was fined by the league for one of the worst flops in NBA history. Came here in the second quarter of game 4 Bosh and Duncan collide but look, Bosh takes a full step before he decides to just go flying through the air. Duncan was called for a foul on the play. And the fine was only $5,000 because this was Bosh's first flopping offense. Game 5 of the NBA finals is tomorrow night in San Antonio. And guys, if Bosh flops again in Game 5 and gets caught, the fine is going to go up to $10,000. I still think it should be a little more considering we are in the NBA final and these foul calls can -- you know, they can be a pretty big deal.

BLACKWELL: What should it be? What is your number, Andy?

SCHOLES: I don't know. Chris Bosh makes $10,000 in what -- ten minutes? The whole game's pay, he should have to give it up if he gets caught flopping.

BLACKWELL: Such a dramatic flop. Maybe he should get like an award or something. It was very dramatic.

SCHOLES: Yes. He did sell it well. It was pretty good.

BLACKWELL: All right. Andy thanks. And thank you for starting your morning with us.

KOSIK: We have much more ahead on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.