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New Fighting in Libya; 400-lb Man Appeals Lethal Injection; Jewel's Baby Book
Aired September 22, 2012 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, welcome back to the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
Our top stories now. President Barack Obama making a campaign stop in Milwaukee at this hour. It is his first time in Paul Ryan's home state since Ryan was added to the Republican ticket. And with only a month to go before early voting starts, it is a state that could play a role in deciding the election.
Athena Jones is with the president today. Does the president feel like he has an advantage in that state?
JONES: Well, certainly, Fredricka, the Democrats have a historical advantage here, but you know, the campaign spokesperson, Jen Psaki, was asked about this on the way over on Air Force One and she says, we have always thought that Wisconsin was going to be closer this time than last time around. You will remember that President Obama won the state by 14 points in 2008. And it has not gone for a Republican since Ronald Reagan, so nearly 30 years ago.
But she also said you know, yes, you can see the latest polls showing that the president is ahead. Our CNN polls of polls has him up 52 percent to Romney's 43 percent. But Sake said they are going to treat Wisconsin like any battleground state, which is to say they are going to act like they're five points behind up until election day. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. So what is the expected message from the president today there?
JONES: Well, the day is going to be all about energizing their supporters. You know, when we got here today several hours ago there were already people lined up. It is also, we expect him to touch on this early voting that you mentioned. It doesn't start here in Wisconsin until October 22nd. Absentee voting has already begun and you know in many states across the country the election has already started, early voting started on Friday in Idaho and in South Dakota, and by some estimates by election day 40 percent of voters may have already cast their ballots. So this is something that we're hearing the president and surrogates stress a lot, along with registering voters. There were people standing in line outside here making sure voters are registered, walking up and down with clip boards, so energizing the base and making sure they get out and vote as early as possible. Fred.
WHITFIELD: And does the president and his team have high expectations for their fundraising today?
JONES: Well, looks like they are going to pull out at least $600,000 with these two fundraisers, with baseball Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, one of those close to press and the other one where we should see tape from. One is a lower dollar fundraiser, $250, the other $25,000, all told, given to people who they expect to come. Over $600,000 they expect to raise here, which is, of course, going to be important when as we head into these last 45 days before the election, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Hard to believe, just 45 days election day. All right. Athena Jones, thanks so much from Milwaukee.
All right. Republican vice presidential nominee, Paul Ryan, teamed up with former Florida governor Jeb Bush on a visit to Miami's Little Havana today. While there, Ryan vowed that a Romney-Ryan administration would be tough on Fidel Castro. Then Ryan moved on to Orlando and had a conversation about U.S. debt.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL RYAN, REPUBLICAN VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look at where we are today. This is our public debt. This is the - is not even the full total debt. This is the amount of treasury bills our Treasury Department has to sell on the open markets, 48 percent of our debt today is owned by foreign governments. By overseas. Number one is China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Jeb Bush told the crowd that he thinks Romney and Ryan will carry Florida into the election.
Mitt Romney spending the day focusing on raising money for his campaign, but it is his personal finances that are getting most of the attention this weekend. Yesterday, the Republican presidential candidate released some of his tax documents, including his full 2011 tax return. It shows he made $13.7 million last year and paid nearly two million in federal income taxes. Because Romney's income came largely from investments he is taxed at a lower rate, 14.1 percent.
Mitt Romney may not think his presidential campaign needs a turnaround, but Sarah Palin sure thinks he does. She is the latest conservative to voice her frustration with the direction of the Romney campaign. The former vice presidential nominee told the "Weekly Standard" "with so much at stake in this election, both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan should go rogue and not hold back from telling the American people the true state of our economy and national security." And then she went on to say "America desperately needs to have a come to Jesus moment in discussing our big dysfunctional disconnected and debt-ridden federal government." That from the former Alaska governor, Sarah Palin.
All right. In Libya, there is new fighting in Benghazi.
But it is not the Libyans who support the U.S. who are under siege. It is the radical Islamist group tied to that attack that killed the U.S. ambassador. Friday hundreds of pro-U.S. Libyans stormed the extremist headquarters, forcing the group to flee the city. Libya still has no organized police force.
On to Syria now, rebels are taking their fight closer to the front. The leader of the Free Syrian Army says his troops are moving in to Syria from Turkey to better coordinate with rebel soldiers. That announcement comes after another day of fighting across the country. This is the city of Homs. CNN cannot independently confirm he authenticity of the video but residents blame this on warplanes and shelling by the Assad regime. Activists say 166 people have been killed across Syria today.
A prisoner on death row claims he is too fat to execute. The legal guys are weighing in on this case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, just seconds away from our great legal minds, you guys will take a swipe at a case that may make its way all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Richard, what is it about this case? The swabbing of cheek DNA for everybody?
RICHARD HERMAN: Unreasonable search and seizure, fourth amendment, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will overturn the law in the state of California, get your tickets for D.C., it's going to the Supreme Court, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Avery?
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Hey what is the difference between the swab and fingerprints. Makes absolutely no difference. Most of the federal courts hold it constitutional. I don't think it will ever get to the Supreme Court. We got the answers for you and more coming up.
WHITFIELD: All right, in 90 seconds, in fact.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, over the years we've heard different arguments as to why a state should not go through with an execution. But is weight a good reason? An Ohio inmate claims he is to obese to die by lethal injection in January, and wants it to be delayed.
Our legal guys are back, Avery Friedman in Cleveland, Richard Herman in Las Vegas. All right. Gentlemen, so this convicted killer, Ronald Post weighs 480 pounds. And he has tried to lose more, but at 53, he says you know what, it is not just an issue of his weight, but that his veins are not good enough for lethal injection, and that would constitute a complicated process, which will lead to cruel and unusual punishment. So Avery, you know, what are the options here?
FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, it is interesting that the opinions about this have been thermo nuclear, everybody says well he shot this lady so we should shoot him but you know, under the constitution that isn't how we do these things. The fact is, that there are legitimate arguments which U.S. attorney judge, Leslie Wells, who has the case, has to decide based on science. To me what's really intriguing here, really intriguing and I haven't seen any opinion on this is that you know what, the prison officials had to know, Fredricka, this was coming, this was coming.
WHITFIELD: Really?
FRIEDMAN: Why in the world didn't they just do a quick gastro bypass, which by the way, Post had asked for, done. Insurance companies do it. It's done all the time.
WHITFIELD: Really?
FRIEDMAN: With a gastro bypass, the guy wouldn't be 500 pounds and this issue wouldn't even exist.
WHITFIELD: In order to make sure - so a procedure like that -
FRIEDMAN: To make sure -
WHITFIELD: To make sure that his execution would be able to go through?
FRIEDMAN: Absolutely right. Why in the world do these prison officials screw around with this? This thing should have been taken care of a long time ago and the federal judge now has to make the decision. Should have never, never happened.
WHITFIELD: Interesting. So Richard, how often does this happen that somebody's physical condition kind of precludes them from being a eligible candidate for execution, when they have been convicted and they are serving what is left of their life on death row?
HERMAN: You know, Fred, there must be something in the water in Cleveland these days. Avery, come on, this guy has been in prison for almost 30 years.
FRIEDMAN: That's the point.
HERMAN: They have exhausted every single appeal right they could. He is in a wheelchair right now. He is not going anywhere.
FRIEDMAN: Yes.
HERMAN: He is going to get stuck with those needles. They are going to give him the three-drug cocktail. He's going down. He says "I tried to lose weight," Fred. "I went on the exercise bike in prison but it broke because I was too fat."
FRIEDMAN: Yes.
HERMAN: Listen, the fatness didn't preclude him from killing and murdering someone so it's not going to protect him from getting the death penalty. FRIEDMAN: Irrelevant.
HERMAN: He exhausted his appeals. He's getting the needles. They're going to find veins. I know doctors who will find those veins, and this guy is going down. He's going to die in prison. They'll execute him.
FRIEDMAN: Bring the doctors in from Las Vegas.
WHITFIELD: Interesting.
HERMAN: And there are no further defenses. It is over.
WHITFIELD: This is fascinating. Of course, the family of the hotel, the motel clerk that was killed in that 1983 murder is saying this is just another, you know -
FRIEDMAN: That's right. Of course.
WHITFIELD: - last-ditch effort to delay his execution. So it will be interesting to see what happens. It is not over yet.
OK. Let's talk about another case, I want you gentlemen, to take a swipe at this one. This involving the ACLU that is looking into a case that involves a - a cheek swab for DNA. And this taking place involving a person before they have is actually been charged with a crime. And this is all, you know, predicated on an actual California case. Avery, what happened in this case?
FRIEDMAN: Well, the protester was told by the cops "Look, we'll let you out of jail early if you let us do a little DNA swab." Well, she did. A federal district judge said that was not unconstitutional. Wasn't an unreasonable search. The Federal Court of Appeals, 2-1, said yes, that is not unconstitutional. This week, 11 federal appeals judges got together and heard arguments on the question. Even if they rule that it is unconstitutional, you have courts like the Maryland Supreme Court that said, "Well, it is unconstitutional."
So the question is, is this case, a DNA swab going to find itself in the U.S. Supreme Court as an unreasonable search? And that is really the question this presented. Is it any different than fingerprinting? And that's the (INAUDIBLE).
WHITFIELD: Well, that was going to be my next question actually, Richard. How is this any different from fingerprinting because you may be suggested to giving up your fingerprint before you are charged and the same is being asked here, giving up the swab before you're charged.
HERMAN: That was one of the arguments made in the Court of Appeals. And the judges completely rejected that argument, Fred.
But listen -
FRIEDMAN: Two to one - HERMAN: In 2004, the interesting people in the great state of California, many of whom participate in those legal marijuana sales facilities that they have there, voted in this law, which says that even if - even if you are arrested upon a felony arrest, you must give up your DNA swab. You must give a swab upon a felony arrest. The people voted that. So what happened was Avery gave you the facts of the case. It is on appeal right now. Look, defense attorneys argue this all the time, it is an unreasonable search and seizure, you're protected by the fourth amendment. I think Avery this is going to D.C., get your tickets now, this will be in the U.S. Supreme Court.
WHITFIELD: U.S. Supreme Court - and it will be very interesting.
FRIEDMAN: Wow. No kidding. Well, Fredricka's already there. So -
HERMAN: Right. That's what they did, Fred.
WHITFIELD: I'm going to camp out in the steps and wait until it happens.
FRIEDMAN: Right, right.
WHITFIELD: And then I'll consult with you, as well, yes.
HERMAN: And you can swab it, weigh it in and just hang out there.
WHITFIELD: OK, as long as the weather is good. All right, thanks, gentlemen.
FRIEDMAN: Yes, that's right.
WHITFIELD: Good to see you, always a great treat. Appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: The legal guys are here every Saturday, noon Eastern, to give us their take on the most intriguing legal cases of the day.
A suburban Atlanta couple charged with unspeakable crimes. It is a bizarre story that you just have to see to believe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID EAGLEMAN, NEUROSCIENTIST: I'm interested in neuro law, because it is really where the rubber hits the road in neuroscience. It's where we can take all the things we're learning about human behavior and how humans are different and translate that into social policy, how we're actually running the system here. I'm David Eagleman and I'm a neuroscientists.
At some point there will be a crime committed like the Virginia Tech shooting or the Columbine shooting or the Aurora movie theater shooting. And we will find that the perpetrator had a brain tumor. I'm not suggesting that any of those events were explained by brain tumors but at some point that will happen. And then society is going to have to deal with this very difficult question about this relationship between brain and behavior and this question of culpability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A horrifying story of alleged child abuse in Georgia. Police say a teenage boy had been locked up in a blacked-out room for four years by his own parents. And now they're under arrest.
Nick Valencia has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was in this unsuspecting and comfortable looking suburban home northwest of Atlanta that 18-year-old Mitch Comer says he spent four years confined to a blacked out room, starved, and abused. Comer's stepfather and mother were arrested last week after the teen was found wandering around a bus station in downtown Los Angeles, more than 2,000 miles away from home. A security guard there spotted Comer, mistaking the disoriented and emaciated young man for a lost child.
DICK DURBAN, PAULDING COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: He weighed 97 pounds. He was 5'3", the LAPD also said that his skin was translucent. That he was obviously malnourished.
VALENCIA: The teen told officers his stepfather drove him to Mississippi earlier this month on his 18th birthday. He gave him $200 and put him on a bus to L.A. with a list of homeless shelters, he says. But despite the years of alleged torment and torture in captivity, investigators say the teen has been talkative.
MONICA MOORE, PAULDING COUNTY INVESTIGATOR: He is very polite, very timid, but you know, and surprising to me, you know, he let us in.
VALENCIA: Neighbors say they were not unaware the teen even lived in the home. And investigators say his 13 and 11-year-old sisters had not seen their brother in two years. Right now, his two sisters are in protective custody. A family has volunteered to care for Comer until the investigation is completed. The teen's parents have been charged with seven counts of child abuse. They are being held without bail.
Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: The U.S. is on alert as new anti-American protests erupt overseas. Demonstrations in Bangladesh's capital city turned violent today. Several protesters were arrested. The demonstrations are over an independently made film mocking the prophet, Muhammad.
Three people wounded in the Colorado shooting are suing the theater owner. They say the theater didn't have proper security and alarm systems. They want to be compensated for their loss in injuries, 12 people were killed, 58 wounded in the July 20th shooting at the Aurora multiplex.
And U.S. Congress averts a possible government shutdown by passing a spending bill, working until after midnight, senators approved a $524 billion package to fund the federal government for the next six months. Its passage was delayed for days over partisan bickering.
And the U.S. Senate also pass a measure, almost unanimously that strengthens America's resolve on Iran. The non-binding resolution enables the U.S. to pursue a policy other than containment if necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The one dissenting vote came from Senator Rand Paul, who argued the resolution was a de facto declaration of war.
As if being a singer, songwriter, mother and wife isn't enough, Jewel, now has a new hobby. How her one-year-old son, Kase, inspired her, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Jewel has been nominated for four Grammys, her debut album sold 12 million copies. She is a singer, songwriter, actress, poet and producer. And now you can add children's book author to that list. She just released her new book, and it's called "That is what I Do."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Congratulations on the book. It's so sweet.
JEWEL, SINGER: Thank you so much.
WHITFIELD: So tell me, what inspired you to write this book?
JEWEL: I wrote this song for him when I was pregnant. And as I was writing the lyrics out into a notebook, it really struck me that I wanted to make it into a children's book, and have it illustrated, so a year later, here I am.
WHITFIELD: Oh, here you are. So was it difficult thing to do to, you know, kind of extrapolate what you've written, you know, for music and now putting it on the pages?
JEWEL: I'd like say it was an arduous process that took a lot of time to craft but honestly, it's the exact lyrics from the song. As soon as I had that done, it's just in song form, sort of, sort of hear it, it rhymes, which I really like because I want to teach my son rhyming as he gets a little bit older. And mainly because it's a sentiment, you know, this is a love letter to my son, I wanted him to know how loved he was, and all the things that I would do for him because I love him and I wanted to give that to other parents, as well.
WHITFIELD: Would you mind reading maybe a favorite, you know, verse or two?
JEWEL: Yes. If I had the sun, I would put yellow in a brush, and paint you a portrait that you could feel and touch. The sun would hit your face from my picture filled with light, and as darkness came the canvas would fill up with night. That is what I do, do, do, because I love you, you, you.
WHITFIELD: It is very rhythmic. In fact, we have a little portion of that CD, that's included in the book and we're going to listen to it right now.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
JEWEL: If I owned the sky I would tell you what I would do, gather up the clouds and leave only the blue. If I had the sun, I would put yellow in a brush -
WHITFIELD: Awww, so sweet.
What's his response when he hears your music?
JEWEL: He loves music. I don't know if he loves my music or not but he seems to be agreeable to it. He really enjoys the book. He likes pointing at the little animals, and all the things that he recognizes in the book. It is a neat gift to have been able to give him.
WHITFIELD: Is there any way you can recognize whether he might be musical, too?
JEWEL: He likes my guitar, and he loves my music. But I think all babies do, so we'll just have to see with time but whatever he's into I'm 100 percent supportive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: "That is What I Do," a very cute book. Jewel is also raising money for breast reconstruction awareness. She is donating proceeds for downloads of her song called "Flower," for research and charitable care of breast reconstruction patients. She is also performing a benefit concert in New Orleans at the end of October.
All right, that is going to do it for me. From Washington, I'm Fredricka Whitefield. "CNN Newsroom" continues at the top of the hour, with my colleague, Don Lemon, for now, keep it right here for my colleague, "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D.."