Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Special Reports

Bad Parenting; Alleged Rape Victim Speaks Out

Aired July 14, 2014 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon.

It just keeps happening. This weekend, another father reportedly leaves his son locked in a hot car, this time in Florida. Thankfully, that child is fine. It's not just hot cars. What about the mom who was arrested for leaving her baby on a New York subway platform? Is America in the middle of an epidemic of bad parenting or are we more sensitive to these cases?

Tonight, I'm going to talk with a friend who defends the parents of Atlanta toddler Cooper Harris, who died in a hot car.

Plus, 16-year-old Jada said she was drugged and raped and she says she had no idea what happened until other teens started tweeting about it. What about the parents of those teens? Tonight, Jada tells her story to me live right here.

Also, talk about what I did on may summer vacation. It will be hard to top this. A kid who got this shot of Paul McCartney and Warren Buffett on a bench. He tells us how it happened.

And, as always, we want to know what you think about all this. Make sure you tweet us using #AskDon.

But let's get right to the question people across the country are asking right now, what is behind what seems like an epidemic of bad parenting? And where do you draw the line when children's lives are at stake?

Miguel Marquez has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cooper Harris, 22 months old, left in a hot car to die. It's the case that shocked the nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There will always be some fool who wants to leave their kid in the back seat of the car and forget all about them.

MARQUEZ: Now a trend, parents locking themselves into hot cars, showing solidarity with Cooper Harris, urging others to pay attention, putting it all on video.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, don't be the next fool on the damn news.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am covered in sweat. I feel nauseous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do not leave your kids in the car. That is freaking stupid.

MARQUEZ: It is dumb but it happens, more than you know.

BARBARA BAUGHMAN, MOTHER: I know it can happen.

Barbara Baughman, mother of six, moving into a new house, distracted, left her 1-year-old in the car for 45 minutes on a hot summer day.

BAUGHMAN: I came down to get Emma from the car. I felt so horrible about what I might find. I was so afraid to look. All of a sudden, nothing mattered.

MARQUEZ: California meteorologist Jan Null has tracked hot car deaths for 13 years.

JAN NULL, METEOROLOGIST: About half the cases are where children are accidentally forgotten in cars. Another 30 percent are where children gain access to a car on their own. Almost 20 percent are where parents or caregivers make a conscious decision to leave a child in a vehicle.

MARQUEZ: Seventeen hot car death this is year so far is sadly about the norm, says Null. It is the cases we never hear about that will shock you.

NULL: There are literally thousands that where children are left in cars and they're rescued in time, where they don't fall into that death or injury category.

MARQUEZ: And it is not just leaving kids in cars. Where parenting is concerned, there is the good, the bad, and the ugly.

There is Frankea Dabbs in New York who last week casually rolled her 7-month-old baby girl in a stroller off a subway, stepped back into the car and watched as the train pulled her away from her own child.

She told police she felt she couldn't provide adequate care for the baby. She's been charged with abandonment and acting harmfully toward a child.

Then there's the case of Sarah Markham in Florida. An avowed vegan and against doctor's orders, she used only soy-based products for her newborn. The child became dehydrated and a doctor told her to take the child to the hospital. She refused and was arrested for negligence. She has pled not guilty.

(on camera): Where is the line between bad or questionable parenting and criminality?

ROGER CANAFF, FORMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Well, when it comes to hitting children, the line in almost every state now, if you leave visible marks, that's the line.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Roger Canaff has spent decades prosecuting bad parents and advocating for kids. He says they are some of the hardest cases to try and negligence can be tough to define.

CANAFF: Is what you did so just ridiculously unreasonable that it just cannot be excused?

MARQUEZ: That brings us back to Barbara Baughman, who made a mistake 12 years ago. She is one of the lucky ones.

(on camera): Can you imagine a world without this lovely 13- year-old?

BAUGHMAN: No. And I couldn't then.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Emma today, healthy, happy, holding no grudges. And to help others remember, this family has made up stickers along with a little rhyme, a potentially fatal episode turned into a lifelong lesson.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Miguel, thank you very much for that. The tragic case of little Cooper Harris has outraged people around the world. But what could have been going on in his father's mind when he left the boy in a hot car? Was it bad parenting or something far worse?

Joining me now is a man who knows Justin Ross Harris better than most. And that's his friend, Tyler Bryan.

Tyler, thank you for coming here and talking about your friend. How do you know Ross Harris?

TYLER BRYAN, FRIEND OF HARRIS: Ross and I, we met actually playing little league baseball together and this is when we were about 10, 11 years old.

And we became actually really good friends together. I had an older sister, he had an older brother, and they knew each other. And then we wound up going to school together for quite some time and we wound up at the University of Alabama at the same time, both as students and also as sort of employees of the university. And, you know, he was just one of those guys that, you know, you may have gone your separate paths as you sort of branched out on your own, as you grew up.

But he was one of those guys that you still -- you always knew, you always saw, you always ran into, you always talked to, and he was just one of those people that you knew were out there and you had a friend that knew him and he had a friend that knew you. He was just that kind of person.

LEMON: I'm sure you never thought he was capable of doing anything like this. I will talk to you more about that and whether you think it was intentionally or unintentional.

But I want to know first, how did you find out about Cooper's death? What was your reaction when you found out?

BRYAN: I first found out about it like most people nowadays, via social media. We actually -- my wife came across the general story when it first hit before any names were involved, and then I think it was the next day when my mother, who knew, of course, Ross as well, when she called me and she said do you know who that is that they're talking about in Atlanta?

And I said no. And she said, well, it's Ross. And I said, are you sure it is the Ross Harris that we know? Because that's not all that peculiar name. It could have been somebody else. And that's when she said, no, they have a mug shot of him. It is Ross. And that's when I was just...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Speaking of the Ross Harris that you know, any of the charges, the allegations, does that match the person you know?

BRYAN: No, it does not. Not at all.

I cannot speak for every part of Ross. I can only speak for the Ross that I knew. But the Ross that I knew was -- you have to picture the nicest guy that you have ever met that nobody has a problem with, everybody seems to know. Nobody has a problem with him. Everybody knows him. That's Ross Harris.

That's who Ross Harris was to me and a lot of other people growing up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

LEMON: So, listen, he has claimed, his attorney at least has claimed that he lost hearing in one of his ears. Do you know what happened or how that happened? Did he ever share that with you?

BRYAN: He did. This is back when we were -- when both of us were still working at the University of Alabama, he was working delivering mail and things like that. I was working as a building manager at the student union there.

And so because of where we were in our jobs, we actually crossed paths a lot, because he would deliver stuff to the student union. I remember it wasn't long after it had happened and he had surgery, it was -- the way it was explained to me, a bottle rocket had somehow gone off and shot into his ear and exploded in his ear.

And he literally lost a very good portion of his hearing. The way he described it to me was he pretty much just general hearing, he could not hear out of that ear anymore. After the surgery that they had to do to reconstruct everything that was damaged from the incident, he lost a lot of it.

LEMON: Yes. The reason I ask you that is because they're saying he may not have heard the child because of that if he actually went back out to the child or if he got distracted in some way. You have a child that's around the same age as Cooper was. Do you ever speak to your wife about the possibility of leaving your child in the hot car? Have you ever talked on your child about that? Does that concern you?

BRYAN: Of course.

Even before this happened, my wife and I have discussed this situation, because it's true. You do see it on the news. You do hear it reported. And when it doesn't happen to you, you're one of the ones that so far has been able to escape a tragedy lake this, you do. You immediately think, oh, my God, who would be so stupid as to do something like that?

But I think it is something that all parents need to talk about, especially young parents, because we live in a world today that is so fast-paced, it's so hectic, it's crazy. We have social media, all this technology everywhere. It's -- I'm not going to say it is easy to do, to leave your child in a car, but I can say it is easy to get distracted.

LEMON: Can you see how it can happen?

BRYAN: Sadly enough, I can. I pray that -- yes, I have two kids. My daughter is a little over 2 years old now and I have a 9- week-old son. When you look at both of them, you think, I would never do this. I would never, ever in a million years put myself in this position.

But if you're honest with yourself, then you realize that tragedies happen.

LEMON: Tyler Bryan, thank you very much. We appreciate you coming here on CNN tonight.

BRYAN: Thank you.

LEMON: When we come back, my team of experts will weigh in on this. Where do we draw the line between bad parenting and crime?

Plus, the 16-year-old who said she was drugged and raped and only found out when other teens tweeted about it. Jada tells her story.

And chilling with Paul McCartney and Warren Buffett. The kid who got this picture.

We want to know what you think about all this. Make sure you tweet us using #AskDon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The tragic death of Cooper Harris has a lot of people asking, where do you draw the line between bad parenting and crime?

Joining me now to discuss all of this is CNN legal NATO Sunny Hostin, Alex Ferrer, a former police officer, former Florida circuit court judge and the host of television's "Judge Alex," psychiatrist Dr. Charles Sophy, and CNN legal analyst Mark O'Mara.

Judge Alex, we just heard from the friend of Justin Ross Harris. You heard him there. There's a lot of people are coming out of the woodwork to defend him. What does that tell us? He believes Harris is the last person who would intentionally harm his child.

ALEX FERRER, "JUDGE ALEX": From my perspective, that tells us absolutely nothing.

Think about it, Don. How many times have you seen something as horrible as a serial killer and the neighbors, how many times do the neighbors come out of the woodworks and say, you know what, I saw it coming, I tried to warn people but nobody would listen? They never do that. The neighbors and family and friends say, oh, my God, he was such a mild-mannered guy. I never would have expected this to happen. People don't know what is in someone's heart.

This may be a tragic accident or it may be a horrible, horrible crime. And that's what we need to determine in this case is, what was his state of major? Was this accidental? Did he just go brain-dead? Or was this something intentional or reckless? And that's what makes it a crime.

LEMON: Sunny Hostin, we know that parents accidentally leave their children in cars all the time. But the prosecution will try, will show that Harris wanted to live a child-free life. Is it your opinion that this was an accident or do you think there was something more sinister?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I don't know we know enough yet, quite frankly.

But I want to disagree with Alex, because I think what his friend said will be very important, because I think that's the view of so many people that will be on the jury. Sort of that, there but for the grace of God go I. Oh, my goodness, this type of thing happens all the time. Albeit tragic that it is almost in may view an epidemic, it happens all the time.

So when you have a bunch of people on the jury thinking, how could this be intentional when someone like me could have even done it?

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: But, Sunny, do you really think that's what parents will think or people sitting on the jury, his peers will think that, that, oh...

HOSTIN: I think this is going to be a very difficult case for the prosecution, quite frankly, because we have on the one hand he could be the worst person in the world, the most evil among us, somebody that would be willing to kill his child, or it could be someone who just made this very tragic accident.

And I think most of the time you will find, with Casey Anthony's jury, with a lot of juries, they don't want to believe that a parent could intentionally kill their child. I have to tell you, I'm still reserving judgment. I have said that over and over again. I am not certain that this man intended to kill his child in this way.

LEMON: But, Mark, even with all that, the sexting, do you think that a jury would be that sympathetic to this man?

MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the way to look at this is on a spectrum. One end of the spectrum is intentional murder of his child or worse. Close to that but up there is that real negligent behavior, that criminally negligent behavior where you just don't care.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of evidence of that. But all of that periphery evidence, and circumstantial evidence about sexting, about visiting the Web sites, about trying to find out about child- free life, all of that evidence can swing, like Sunny was saying, can swing the jury away from this is a tragedy, how can a parent kill a child, to if you're looking at all of these things on the Internet, if there is enough to suggest you could be a person to kill your child, they're going to convict him.

LEMON: Dr. Sophy, let's talk just about the facts in not only this case but other cases. It happens a lot. We heard from our Miguel Marquez, who talked about how much has happened just this here.

Are parents more distracted now between work, mobile devices, running errands or anything else? What is going on?

DR. CHARLES SOPHY, CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRIST: I think there's a lot of variables that are going on. If you look at some of the cases that you see, some of them may be postpartum depressions. They may be medical or psychiatrist problems that are missed or drug abuse, substance abuse.

But in a lot of cases, it is distracted parenting, parents who are pulled in 50 directions, have more than one child, have to work or are not at home and they're not focussed the way they should or they get to the point where they're exhausted. They think something and they act really impulsively. There's a lot of variables.

But a lot of the time, it is a mental health issue that has gone unnoticed.

LEMON: Judge...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Go ahead, Sunny.

HOSTIN: The one thing I think that we have to consider, we saw in the report 50 percent of these cases are parents that accidentally left their kids; 30 percent of the cases are generally kids that get into the car. And then there is that 20 percent of parents that intentionally leave their kids in the car, let's say, to go to a job interview or to go shopping. I have never in my experience, and maybe some of the panelists

may disagree, heard of a case where someone intentionally decided to kill their child by baking their child in the car. This would be a case of first impression. And I think that will go a long way in front of a jury, because, my God, if he did decide to kill his child in this way, which is what the prosecution seems to be alleging, he would be the most evil among...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: OK. But the question is though where is the line between bad parenting and a crime, Judge?

FERRER: The line is a matter of the state of mind of the perpetrator and their consciousness.

For example, a mother who turns her back on her 2-year-old child has the house wide open, turns her back for a moment and the child drowns, clearly negligent, clearly an accident. Horribly tragic. A mother who decides to go take a nap with the house wide open and leave her 2-year-old running around near the pool, now the culpability goes up probably to the level of manslaughter at that point, a mother who intentionally drowns her child.

All of those are the different levels that will pull from you a horrible, tragic accident to a criminal event. And my comment before about the friend was not about whether or not the jury would sympathize with these things happening. My comment was, is it important that a friend thinks his friend is not capable of murder?

And that's absolutely very common. And it's not important at all. In fact, defendants benefit from that all the time because defense lawyers knowingly will dress up their clients to look very professional in a suit and tie and make them look in a way that jurors look at them and say, that is just not -- this person is not capable of committing that crime.

People think they have to look a certain way to be evil. Those of us in the system know that horrible people, they look like you and I.

LEMON: So, Mark, the case of the mother who left their baby girl on a stroller on a subway platform, that's entirely different from a case like this, correct?

O'MARA: That's a complete -- that's an intentional act. Did not cause immediate harm to the child, but that's abandonment and neglect and that's a parent not taking on her parenting needs.

We have these safe harbor statutes that say, look, if you can't take care of your child, take your child to a police station, take your child to a firehouse. I'm OK with that. If a parent truly cannot care for a child, put the child somewhere else.

That to me is much better than the drinking and not caring about your child. That's a separate case, abandonment, but trying to do the right thing for the child in a bad way.

LEMON: Dr. Sophy, what should we be doing? Because I guess we can all be helping out, I would imagine, in situations like this for parents who feel that they're so desperate that they to possibly leave their kid on a subway platform.

SOPHY: I think it is most important for parents to feel that it is safe to ask for help. There are safely surrender places to go, hospitals, E.R.s. Go to a clergy member, go to a friend or a neighbor.

But any of us who knows somebody who may be suffering or you see a parent who is struggling, help them out. Reach to them, because it is about making them feel safe to relinquish their child before something bad happens.

LEMON: All right, stay with me, everybody.

Up next, we're going to talk to a teenager who is demanding justice. Jada says she was drugged and raped at a party, but did not know about it until photos of her alleged assault turned up on social media.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A 16-year-old girl from Texas says she is a victim of rape. She went to a party, she drank some punch that she believes was spiked and then she passed out and was allegedly assaulted. But she says she didn't know what happened until photos appeared on social media.

In a cruel twist, teens have been posting photos of themselves mimicking her passed out.

Her name is Jada. And she joins me, along with her adviser, Minister Quanell X.

Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Appreciate it.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: You have had a very long day. I have seen from you sunrise to sunset. So, thank you.

How are you doing?

I'm OK.

LEMON: You're making it? You're very brave. Do you think you're very brave? Tell me what you remember about that night.

JADA, ALLEGED RAPE VICTIM: OK.

We went to a party of a friend of a friend. And they were drinking at first. And I was like, that's too strong. And so one of the boys went downstairs and added something to the drink and brought it back upstairs. And then that's when me and my friends started drinking. Then, after that, I passed out. And that's all I remember.

LEMON: What do you think happened to you? You're saying that you passed out and obviously they took advantage of you and took the photographs, correct?

JADA: Yes.

LEMON: Yes. And you remember nothing.

What did people tell you? Because there were other people at the house. Did they tell you anything, any of your friends who were there?

JADA: One of the girls said that I threw up on myself and she changed -- she put my clothes back on and cleaned me up. And that was it.

LEMON: Did you first think -- when did you first think something might have happened? Because what I'm told here is this happened by -- from the police department -- it said this happened to you on the 1st. Right?

JADA: Yes.

LEMON: Or they at least say a 16-year-old girl that it happened to.

And then, the 20th, they said, you became aware of the photos.

(CROSSTALK)

JADA: Mm-hmm.

LEMON: Correct.

And then, on the 22nd, they said that your mother, you and your mother reported the assault and the investigation then began. Correct? So you had no idea until then, until saw you the photograph all -- photographs?

JADA: Yes, no idea at all.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Had you known, would you have done anything differently, like gone to the police sooner?

JADA: Yes. I would have gone to the police sooner.

LEMON: Yes.

When did you first about -- how did you first learn about the photos? Did you see them online or did somebody tell you about them?

JADA: Someone sent me screen shots to my phone.

LEMON: Yes?

JADA: And then that's when I told my mom.

LEMON: And you were horrified.

I asked your when I -- I asked your mom, what -- how did you come to a decision, meaning you? How did your daughter come to a decision to step out in front of this? And she said, there are no secrets in your family.

How did you decide, as a 16-year-old girl, to say, you know what, I'm going to tell the truth to the world about what happened?

JADA: Because the picture that was posted and how I looked is not how I am. So, I just wanted to show how I really am.

LEMON: And that's not you.

JADA: Yes, that's not me.

LEMON: That's not representative of you.

JADA: No, at all.

LEMON: No.

What do you want people to know about -- about who -- the who that you are?

JADA: People?

LEMON: Yes.

JADA: Nothing. I don't have anything to say to people unless they're supporting me.

LEMON: Did you, did social media, you think, compound this problem?

MINISTER QUANELL X, ADVISER TO JADA AND HER FAMILY: Absolutely. Social media, Don, has been the gift and the curse to society. You have people who are hiding behind a tech device. And with the press of a button can send out such vitriol, such misstatements and comments about human beings that has forced some young people to commit suicide and in cases like this, of rape victims, to remain silent. And they're bullying them through cyber bullying, to not come forward and tell someone what really happened to them. So, we have to challenge and fight as best as we can in the best positive manner the culture of silence in forcing victims like Jada. She is a very courageous young woman.

LEMON: She's not silence at all.

QUANELL X: Very courageous.

LEMON: I can't imagine that, you know, your mom raised a very strong young lady. But if it were not for social media, we might not even know. She might not even know what happened to her.

QUANELL X: Right. But these young men were boasting and bragging. They were admitting on social media that they spiked the punch. Admitting what they sexually did to this young girl and then sent out videos and pictures detailing what they had done to this young woman. And so, the dehumanization of Jada, even by those posting the Jada post sign, we want to make sure that we're saying, we are Jada also. So, to dehumanize her is not just dehumanizing her but we too are Jada. Those of us who want to see justice in this case.

LEMON: I want to read what police said, and I want to get it specifically, I don't want to get anything wrong because we called the Houston Police Department and they confirmed that there is an active investigation with the juvenile sex crimes unit involving a 16-year- old female. They were unable to confirm the identity of the victim because of the victim's minor status. But that report was failed on the same day that Jada filed her report and as of now no charges have been filed and police are following up on all leads. What do you want to happen to the people who you believe did this to you?

JADA: Everyone that's involved should just go to jail. That's pretty much what's going to happen.

LEMON: Do you believe that you were the only victim?

JADA: Oh, no. There were two other girls.

LEMON: Two other girls.

JADA: Yes.

LEMON: And you believe that they have a history of doing this.

QUANELL X: Yes. We were able to find from our investigation, Don, where there were other young women who were in like a comatose like state in naked and sexual positions with the same young men. And you can tell these young girls could not have been cognizant to what they were doing with them because they were asleep or in a comatose like state and they were bragging about it. I'm hoping that police will follow through when we asked them, identify these young girls, contact them, speak to their parents and make sure that they understand what's out there. That they were victimized also.

LEMON: You said that you don't have anything to say to the people who are not supporting you. But you have a lot of support. So, are you surprised by the amount of support that you have gotten?

JADA: Yes. I'm grateful. I want to say thank you to those people.

LEMON: Why aren't you surprised?

JADA: I mean, it's the right thing to do, so. There are still some people that have hearts.

LEMON: You held a press conference in front of the house right, where this allegedly happened?

JADA: Yes.

LEMON: As you said, most people, especially victims, they don't want to talk about it. They want to put it behind them. You chose to come out right and do it in front of the house. What led to that decision?

JADA: Well, I was told that I had to meet there anyway, so. It was just --

LEMON: But you're OK with doing that?

QUANELL X: Yes. We wanted to make sure. Because these perpetrators committed that crime in the house. They were still bullying her, cyber bullying from that address and we wanted to make sure that they understood, you didn't break her. You see she is not afraid for herself, she is not running and hiding anywhere. And those of us who support her will stand with her at ground zero of that location and say to those perpetrators, we are coming after you. We're not going to tolerate what you've done to this child.

LEMON: You know, you speak for young women who this has happened to. A lot of young women who have been afraid and they will look at you probably as a hero for coming out to speak. What do you say to victims like you? To other young women?

JADA: I just think everyone should speak out. Because it is not right at all. And I know many people who just sit there and don't do anything.

LEMON: Jada, thank you.

JADA: Thank you.

LEMON: We appreciate it. Thank you as well.

QUANELL X: Thank you.

LEMON: We appreciate you joining us. Best of luck. If we can ever do anything for you, make sure you be in touch with us.

JADA: All right. Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you. Up next, more on Jada's case with my team of experts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You just heard Jada's shocking story. The 16-year-old told us she went to a house party where she said she was raped. Photos of the alleged attack were then posted on social media and now Houston police are investigating.

So, back with me, CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin, Alex Ferrer, host of television "Judge Alex" and Dr. Charles Sophy, and also CNN legal analyst Mark O'Mara. Sunny you first, just heard from that young woman, what did you think of the interview?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: She is such a brave young girl. I mean, it was remarkable. And let me say this, what I found astounding was her ability to get in front of this, to give this press conference. When I was prosecuting child sex crimes, and crimes against women, one of the most difficult parts of my job was being able to get these survivors on the witness stand. Many of them didn't want to come forward. Many of them were unfortunately they felt ashamed. They felt like the system wouldn't work for them. And now, I've seen a real change with this generation. Perhaps in part because of social media. Because they live their lives so openly and publicly and transparently. I've seen this change of women coming forward, girls coming forward and standing up saying, I will be counted.

LEMON: Are you surprise though that no one has been charged so far Sunny as a former prosecutor?

HOSTIN: I am not surprised only because, and Judge Alex is agreeing with me. I'm not surprised only because these cases are very difficult to prove. I think what is going to be crucial here is the fact that social media played a part and there is video of the attack and photos of the attack. That is going to be evidence, you know, put forth on the first day.

LEMON: OK.

HOSTIN: And so I think there's a good chance that this case will go to trial. But it still doesn't make it easy.

LEMON: Mark, I hear you in the background.

MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, you know, social media is the bane of adolescence. Because now everything you think, do and say is now under the public review. But just like Sunny said, the good side about public -- I'm sorry, about social media is that they're recording everything that's going to be used by a prosecutor to prove the case against them. So it is very sorry to say that when this happened a generation ago, but four or five people might hear about it. Now 400,000 people are hearing about it. And it is a shame that someone like Jada goes through this, but it may be an opportunity for us to really grab this by the throat and make a turn-around with it.

LEMON: Dr. Sophy, with what's happening on social media, you know, how does that affect children? And why did they feel that they can get away with such things on social media.

DR. CHARLES SOPHY, PSYCHIATRIST: Because the very word children is who, you know, that's who is operating these devices. And you don't have a developed brain. You have a brain that is developing but it doesn't fully have good judgment. It doesn't have impulse control. It doesn't think through things. Plus you have alcohol or drugs on board sometimes and that's a bad combination.

LEMON: Why would a child want us -- why would a young person want to share pictures like that online? I don't understand it, doctor. SOPHY: Well, because I think somewhere they're getting a message

that that means that they're, you know, moving into manhood.

LEMON: They think it is cool.

SOPHY: They think it is a medal of honor. It is very cool. They have access to everything. So, that's how they are going to stand down with their buddies and their friends. But let me tell you something, this young woman is a good example of great parenting.

LEMON: Who is agreeing that they think it is cool?

HOSTIN: Oh, I think there's no question, Mark is right. I mean, kids today seem to just live their lives so transparently and put everything out there as a result of social media, as a result of reality television. And I think this is a great sign of good parenting. Because I know myself, as a mom my worst fear is my children on social media. Because I don't think what they understand, is that you put yourself out there on social media. That digital footprint lasts forever. When you're going to college, when you're trying to get a job, people are going to look at that. And prosecutors and investigators look at social media first things first when they're conducting these types of investigations. And so, you know, I think it seems to be the way this generation is just living their lives.

LEMON: Go ahead, Judge.

O'MARA: Well, they're completely, yes, they completely desensitized about privacy, but also, they're desensitizing women. Because women for the past few generations, particularly this past one, there's so much more of a focus. You know, the sexting. You're not allowed into the group unless you sext a picture of yourself. As the adolescence, taking on this desensitizing women and it is showing up for things like this where this is actually semi acceptable behavior to show this to your buddy, what you do to a girl last weekend.

LEMON: Judge, I have a question for you. You know, if someone is convicted of rape here, I mean, there will be a serious consequences, I mean, should the consequences of promoting the rape with images online be equally as severe?

JUDGE ALEX FERRER, HOST, "JUDGE ALEX": Oh, absolutely. But they're facing a lot of potential problems in this case. And that may be the reason why the police haven't arrested anybody yet. There is an investigation, I'm sure, into the question of two other females who they supposedly had sex with. Who were even younger, 14 and 15 years old. If they photographed them, you have possible child pornography charges as to all of these girls being photographed and pictures being disseminated if they had sexual photos that they posted or that they took.

You know, sex with a child that young or pornography, you're facing 20 years, life in prison. I mean, it is a serious, serious case. You know, sexual assault happens in this country every two minutes. Every two minutes. That's how frequent it is. Date rape makes up more than one out of every two cases and date rape and drug use to incapacitate your victim are both on the rise. Social media has made it so much worse. And as Mark pointed out, better for prosecution. Because, you know, the victim is victimized again when it is publicized. And that's why I think it was great that Jada came forward. Because there's a lot of victims out there who are keeping this inside and are being eaten up by it. And it helps them to see other people have gone through and it they're holding their head up high, it's not my fault.

LEMON: Especially to see a 16-year-old going through and it coming out front. So, I think she will actually help a lot of people. And Dr. Sophy, here's the question. What is the conversation that parents should be having with their children to avoid these types of situations? And make sure they even be snooping on their kids more?

SOPHY: It is not about snooping. It is about knowing what your child is doing. If you're going to give them a device to have, make sure that you're on it and you know what's going on. A discussion should start with a story like this. This explaining the ramifications and educating your child but most parents are afraid to even think about this stuff themselves. So, opening yourself up and then talking to your child and be in your child's media.

LEMON: Sunny, I have a question for you. Quickly Mark, and I'm going on get to Sunny.

O'MARA: No, you have a responsibility to know where your kid is. It used to be, are they on the street corner? Now it is where are they on social media? Parents have to know where their kids on and what they're doing.

LEMON: Sunny, I just had a really short time here. So, she doesn't remember, I wonder if it changes the equation that she had admitted that she remembers nothing about this and learned through social media what happened, is that change anything in this case?

HOSTIN: Well, it makes the case very difficult to prosecute. I will tell you as a former prosecutor, that part of the problems with a lot of these assaults, sexual assaults is that the women are drugged. They're drunk and they can't testify as to who did what. And so, that is one of the reasons probably why there haven't been charges yet. But again, because this has been documented, it is possible that this case will be tried.

LEMON: Sunny, Judge Ferrer, Dr. Sophy and Mark O'Mara, I appreciate all of you, thank you very much.

HOSTIN: Thanks.

LEMON: Coming up, two mega millionaires sit on a bench in Nebraska. It sounds like a joke or a "Saturday Night Live" sketch but it is real and the pictures gone viral, that story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: So just last week I got a selfie with a Beatle and I took

this picture with Ringo Starr and John Varvatos. Well, this week I got upstaged by a teenager, no less. Sixteen-year-old Tom White got this picture of himself with Warren Buffett and Sir Paul McCartney just still in out in the background.

Joining me now to talk about this is CNN Cristina Alesci, so what do you think? You spoke to these three boys. How did they come about getting the picture and seeing these two guys on a bench?

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: This is about the power of social media and the power of seizing the opportunity when it presents itself. It all boils down to one kid who saw Paul McCartney at a local ice cream parlor and rallied his seven friends. And within seven minutes, they were there. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB MURRAY, SNAPPED PHOTO OF TOM WHITE WITH BUFFETT AND MCCARTNEY: Paul McCartney, this great icon that like, you see once in a life maybe, is just a rarity.

TOM WHITE, STARS IN WARREN BUFFETT AND PAUL MCCARTNEY PHOTO: We knew he was here. But when Jacob saw the Instagram post, he with immediately reacted and got in the car and went to the creamery where he was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALESCI: So, as you pointed out, this is not technically a selfie. Because another teenager shot the actual picture of Tom who is in the picture.

LEMON: OK. So, were they really Sir Paul fans? They knew who he was?

ALESCI: Legit.

LEMON: And Warren Buffett?

ALESCI: They didn't care about Warren Buffett too much. And part of that could be, look, he is a local there. But it kind of begs the question, which would you rather be? An international pop star or one of the richest men in the world?

LEMON: Yes.

ALESCI: Which one would you rather be?

LEMON: I don't know. I would probably take money, right, and the anonymity. Listen, here's the thing, they wanted to get a guitar and get it signed, right? But they ended up with just this epic -- not a selfie but kind of a selfie. Were they disappointed?

ALESCI: Totally disappointed by the fact that the guitar and the album weren't signed. They grabbed a guitar and an album. But here's the thing. This is what's really interesting in this story. Teenagers nowadays kind of value this kind of social phenomenon and fame more than an autograph. It kind of reminds me of Katy Perry wrote this op-ed in the Wall Street Journal just a couple of weeks ago about how the music industry isn't dead. It is just changing.

LEMON: Right.

ALESCI: Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITE: Yes. I think the selfie is just as good as an autograph, if not better. Because I mean, it is with Paul McCartney.

MURRAY: Not to mention that we talked to him and saw him in our own neighborhood. That we go to on a daily basis.

DREW TURDY, TOM'S FRIEND: I probably would have cried if he signed my guitar. Because that would have been a huge deal.

WHITE: I think if we got an autograph, it wouldn't be as crazy on social media.

TURDY: Yes.

WHITE: So, yes. If you had a signature on social media, you maybe get a couple likes. But if you have a picture, a selfie kind of with Paul McCartney and Warren Buffett, it would just go crazy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALESCI: So they valued their 15 minutes of fame more than an autographed guitar that could go for, I don't know, I saw them on eBay for several thousand dollars.

LEMON: Yes. So, this is like the best and this is like the new modern autograph.

ALESCI: Yes. It replaces an autograph.

LEMON: And Sir Paul, to top it off, he re-tweet it.

ALESCI: He totally re-tweet it and he re-tweeted it to his two million followers. So these kids have seen their social profile skyrocket.

LEMON: OK. Let's do it.

ALESCI: Oh, we're going to do --

LEMON: We'll get this selfie with the selfie in there and then we'll tweet it out. There we got. One more.

ALESCI: Nice.

LEMON: Look at the kid. I thought he is probably wondering like, these people are wondering if he has a mullet. He doesn't. That's the street light behind him. He has a nice short hair cut.

ALESCI: All that said. All that said. It is a well styled photo.

LEMON: All right. We got to go. Thank you. It's a pleasure. Christina Alesci, we come right back, can soccer fans change the world? This week's CNN hero finds out. He certainly thinks so. More when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This week's CNN hero has made it his mission to turn World Cup fever into philanthropy or poor kids in World Cup host countries like Brazil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JON BURNS, CNN HERO: The atmosphere at the World Cup is like nothing else. It's electric. You get that rainbow of kaleidoscope of all the differ nations that come together. Football is the only worldwide sport, really. In 2004, we saw all the fans around, like it was a little untapped army.

Some of the children that love football the most are from very poor areas, and I started asking myself, what can could I do if I could mobilize some of these people to do some good? So at Line Drop we bring people to the World Cup. They get to watch games, they send a huge chunk, we find local charities that work with the children, and ask how can we help you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be three classrooms. To come and do this for us, for the children, this is a World Cup spirit.

BURNS: In Brazil we've got about 300 volunteers here from about 12 countries. Within a couple of days they're part of the team, full of fun and working really hard.

When we invest in the players, it's for long term, lots of guys come and kind of get in their blood. That's what we're about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My second go. This time my son has come with me. I've been bonding and just building things together.

BURNS: I know you've not good every morning, you tie it out, but look how far we've come in a week. It's fantastic.

(APPLAUSE)

BURNS: Football has always had the ability to break down barriers. We've taken it step further, trying to harness to passion of football fans to make a difference.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And go to CNNHeroes.com to nominate a hero right now. I'm Don Lemon, thanks for watching. That's it for us tonight. See you back here tomorrow night. "AC360" starts right now.