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Erin Burnett Outfront

Interview with Robert Menendez; Jobs Report; Interview with Ben Labolt; New Trial for Convicted Killer?

Aired May 04, 2012 - 19:00   ET

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

ERIN BURNETT, HOST: OUTFRONT next a blind Chinese activist may soon be free, but others may pay an extremely dear price for that and we hear for the first time from the Colombian escort at the center of the Secret Service sex scandal, plus certain models are going to be banned from the pages of "Vogue". Tyra Banks comes OUTFRONT.

Well good Friday night to all of you. I'm Erin Burnett and OUTFRONT tonight, crackdown in China. Just as a breakthrough appears possible in the case of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, the Chinese government is clamping down, perhaps harder than ever on other voices of dissent. There are new reports tonight of the government intimidating Chen supporters and other dissidents who have criticized the Communists Party's authoritarian rule.

Now we spoke to several on the inside today. The organization Human Rights in China told us they haven't heard anything from activist and Chen confidant Zheng Chengdu (ph) for several days. You're looking at her there. She's an active tweeter whose latest tweet was two days ago when she announced she was under house arrest. Human rights lawyer Jang Tinyoung (ph) was also reportedly detained and beaten. He tried to visit Chen in the hospital Thursday evening.

And then there's Qua Payyong (ph), also known by her English name, Pearl (ph). You see her there. She's the woman we told you about who helped Chen escape his house arrest in the dead of night, took her to the Embassy, but she was detained herself. Now we are told by human rights groups today that she was released yesterday.

Take a look at this man. An unnamed supporter of Chen's who actually would not allow CNN to identify him today, as you see these pictures from behind him and his computer, but not his face. Why? He says he fears for his safety. And as our Stan Grant who has been covering this story, he and his crew, you see these pictures here. This is obviously -- you can see an altercation. They've been followed by plain-clothes police who hassled them at every stop as they have tried to approach Chen's village.

Now it is impossible to know just how many stories like these are out there. Reliable statistics on political prisoners in China are extremely hard to come by. The Congressional Executive Commission on China keeps a political prisoner database. Since the 1980's they have recorded 6,886 cases of political or religious imprisonment in China. They believe that the numbers are much higher. Currently there are 1,437 known political and religious prisoners in the country. The commission knows of 23 cases of house arrests. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Beijing today acknowledged the human rights problem is not just about Chen Guangcheng.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: This is not just about well-known activists. It's about the human rights and aspirations of more than a billion people here in China and billions more around the world, and it's about the future of this great nation and all nations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Did the United States make it worse for the other dissidents, even if there is a decision to the case of Chen? we're going to find out right now. Senator Robert Menendez is on the Foreign Relations Committee. Our Stan Grant, of course, you just saw video that he shot there, has been covering the story from the beginning, spoken to all of the players. They're both OUTFRONT tonight and Stan, I know over the past 48 hours -- more than that you literally have barely slept as you've been talking to all of these players.

You've been intimidated yourself. How tense is the environment in Beijing and are you hearing that even if we could get a resolution in the case of Chen that there could be a broader crackdown on dissidents?

STAN GRANT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erin, extraordinarily tense and it's been that way for the past year. This is a leadership transition year in China. It only happens once every 10 years and they wanted to orchestrate this with absolutely no problems. Frankly, it's blown up in their face not just with this case but other cases as well. Just overnight more man 20 journalists were called -- international journalists were called in and given this warning. If you continue to go to the hospital where Chen is being held, you will have your visas revoked and have to leave the country.

We know that people that we've spoken to over the past week have been arrested. They've been detained, under house arrest, and that some are being forced not to speak out on this at all. This is the response of the government. The one hand they look as though they're giving something by opening the door to a resolution here, but just as they open the door they're slamming one behind it -- Erin.

BURNETT: And Senator, let me ask you about this. We were just sharing some of the numbers and obviously it's very hard to know, right? I mean, obviously human rights organizations thinks they're a lot higher. Do you worry about the other Chen Guangcheng's out there and that fact that if the Chinese government ends up having to I guess give him back or let him go to the United States, and it's such a public problem for them, that they're going to crack down much harder on those who remain?

SEN. ROBERT MENENDEZ (D-NJ), FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Well, Erin, China's an oppressive regime, and Chen Guangcheng has been part of being on the end of the repression that exists in China. So any time that we give, you know, an opportunity to a Chinese dissident, either to come into our embassy or to try to negotiate as we are doing in this case, for him to come to the United States with his family, the reality is, is that regime is going to still be there and it's going to continue to oppress its people.

BURNETT: Right.

MENENDEZ: And that's why speaking up about human rights in a more broader discussion is incredibly important.

BURNETT: And maybe that could be a silver lining here. I'm curious though you know talking to people who spent significant time in China familiar with these situations, they say to their knowledge there's never been a dissident who came into the U.S. Embassy and then was basically released on to the streets? It is resolved another way. They come to the United States, for example. The U.S. was under incredible pressure to resolve this before the secretary of state and Timothy Geithner's visit. Do you think that they made a mistake, a mistake that's now caused China to feel in a sense humiliated that could hurt other activists?

MENENDEZ: Well from everything that I've seen, Chen Guangcheng originally wanted to stay in China. He wanted to continue his activism, but he wanted to be reunited with his family. He wanted to be out of the province where he was being severely harassed and there was an opportunity to achieve that for him. He obviously had a change of heart and now it seems that we have a deal where he can come to the United States to study, with his family. And then pursue whatever his future course might want to be.

BURNETT: Right. Stan, the senator, of course, is referring to the possibility that Chen could be coming to New York University. What's your sense of Chinese officials sort of what you're hearing? Are they feeling that they lost face and were humiliated in any way by this or do they feel more that the U.S., the U.S. bungled it?

GRANT: I think it's the latter, really. You know they appear to be magnanimous here. They are the ones who are offering a resolution. They're the ones who hold the cards. They're the ones who were saying they can give him a passport and allow him to apply for a student visa. (INAUDIBLE) been lecturing the United States today saying if you want to keep this relationship on an even path then you need to act better, be much more vigilant and make sure this type of thing doesn't happen in the future. They're still demanding an apology from the United States for harboring Chen. You know the more I look at this I've come to this conclusion.

We're talking about the most significant defining relationship of the 21st Century, the two big powers of the world and this exposed some serious flaws on both sides. If you look at the United States they had a man who had been beaten, locked up, held under house arrest, who made it to the embassy. He was under their protection, facing enormous stress and they handed him back into the hands of the people who had been oppressing him. On the other hand, you have China, a country that despite all of the development, despite the lifting people out of poverty and the economic success, it's still so bad, has such a tawdry human rights record that people want to flee in fear of their lives. This is the defining relationship for the rest of the century. There is some huge work to do.

BURNETT: All right, well thanks very much to both you, appreciate your taking the time tonight, CNN Stan Grant and Senator Menendez.

"OutFront Story 2" is next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Still OUTFRONT a bang-up job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a sad time in America when people who want work can't find jobs.

BURNETT: Secret Services.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Just go (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I'm not going to pay you.

BURNETT: All this OUTFRONT when we come back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: OUTFRONT honors the passing of one of the "Beastie Boys" and "Vogue" takes a stand on models. We salute it and Tyra Banks joins us live.

All right, well the future of "Warfare" (ph) may be playing out on your Xbox or PS3, so we've been wanting to do this all week for you. Take a look at the new trailer for "Call of Duty: Black Ops 2". The game takes place in 2025 when a terrorist takes control of American drones of robots and uses them against us, one of the battlegrounds, China. Besides foreshadowing a war fought by machines, these types of games bring in serious, serious money. The last "Call of Duty" release "Modern Warfare 3" (ph) logged over a billion dollars in sales in 16 days.

Holy cow and the trailer we've been showing has already been viewed over 10 million times on YouTube. But it's the gaming industry's own future it should be worried about, not necessarily drones. That brings us to our number tonight -- I love tapping on this thing -- so this is $553 million, the value of video games that were sold in March according to NPD Group (ph). You say well that's great, right, no, down 25 percent from last year. And one of the big problems is actually not how cool, sexy, amazing violent, terrific, horrific and swear-inducing those games are, it's actually the lack of new devices. The Playstation 3 was released just over five years ago. That's the last time we got one and the Xbox 360 which used to be the hot, hot thing, it's been over six years since we got one of those. Tap twice -- there it is -- oh twice for each, sorry I'm learning the wall -- I got it. But anyway you get the point.

All right our third story OUTFRONT tonight, a drop in the unemployment rate. The rate (INAUDIBLE) down to 8.1 percent from 8.2 and you say that's good news, right? Well the problem is it just doesn't add up. The economy added 40,000 fewer jobs than expected in April and the unemployment rate only fell because people were giving up. They don't have jobs and they don't count anymore in the formal government number. The number of people in America with jobs or are looking for jobs right now is at its lowest level since 1981.

The bottom line, these numbers seem to be good for Mitt Romney, who's trying to run as Mr. Fix-it for the economy. Some other numbers making Mitt happy today (INAUDIBLE) the swing states in Florida, a nine-point lead over the president in handling the economy; in Ohio, a four-point lead; it's only in Pennsylvania, where the two are virtually tied. Well just a couple of moments before the show began I spoke with Ben Labolt, press secretary for President Obama's re- election campaign, and I started by asking him about the jobs report today, and the fact that every single month this year fewer jobs have been added.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN LABOLT, PRESS SECRETARY, OBAMA 2012: Well, you know, there is a trend, and the trend is that the president took office in the midst of a severe economic crisis. We're losing 750,000 jobs. He brought us back from the brink of another depression and now businesses have created more than 4.2 million private sector jobs. Manufacturing is resurgent. The auto industry is back. We're on track to double our exports.

You talked about the workforce participation rate. The fact is over the course of the past year the unemployment rate dropped one point -- from 9.1 percent to 8.1 percent, three quarters of that was attributable to an increase in employment. So it's those policies under the administration that is moving this economy forward. What Mitt Romney has proposed is a return to the same policies that got us into the economic crisis in the first place. More tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and letting Wall Street write its own rules again.

BURNETT: And I see how -- you know you're trying to say look most of the improvement in the unemployment rate, you know you're saying it's coming from job creation, but still you've got the lowest participation rate since 1981. Doesn't that worry you? There's a lot of people out there who have got to feel really upset and worried about their futures. They don't count in those numbers.

LABOLT: Well -- well part of that workforce participation rate are the baby boomers retiring and others going back to college. We're going it keep at it. There are additional steps we can take right now that have been outlined in the president's budget to keep teachers in the classroom, to keep cops on the beat, to provide a further boost to the manufacturing sector. There's no doubt that Congress should take action on those policies.

Mitt Romney doesn't have any -- any plan to create jobs in the short run and in the long run, he's proposed $5 trillion tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, the same sorts of tax cuts we tried in 2001 and 2003 that didn't unleash growth, didn't unleash job creation. You saw a slower pace of job creation during that recovery period in 2001, which, by the way, Mitt Romney praised at the time, when those same policies were in place. So those are the last sorts of policies that we should be returning to.

BURNETT: Each of the answers you've obviously talked about trying to contrast the president with Mitt Romney, and I know you're trying to talk about policy, but obviously there's already been some studies out, Wesley University (ph) did a study showing this has already been the most negative campaign in history. And obviously a big part of that was clearly the Republican primaries, but your campaign has been jumping on board. Here's an ad right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLITICAL AD: Newt Gingrich is throwing his support behind Mitt Romney?

NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As a man who wants to run for president of the United States who can't be honest with the American people, why should we expect him to level about anything if he's president?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person. He was referring to the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, POLITICAL AD: It's just what you'd expect from a guy who had a Swiss bank account.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Shouldn't the president as the incumbent be the guy who says I'm going to hold my head high and not engage in this negativity, petty politics?

LABOLT: This election, like any election, is going to be a choice between two candidates, two records and two visions for the future. We know Governor Romney wants to declare his record off limits, but we are selecting the next commander in chief here. And the fact is that the president is somebody when he ran for office in 2008 said he would end the war in Iraq in a responsible way. He's done that.

He said he'd refocus on al Qaeda. Key terrorist leaders have been taken off of the battlefield. He said he's refocus on Afghanistan. Afghanistan is no longer a safe haven for al Qaeda and the Afghans are stepping up to take control of their own security. And he dedicated resources to going to get Osama bin Laden and made a tough call to authorize the mission to do so. When a specific policy choice was put on the table in 2007, the president was asked if he had actionable intelligence against a terrorist target in Pakistan would he go after that target without the permission of the Pakistanis.

He said yes. Governor Romney criticized him for doing so and also said that he wouldn't move heaven and earth and that we shouldn't dedicate all these resources to getting one person, so that's a foreign policy discussion. We're selecting the next commander in chief and it is entirely appropriate to the discussion.

BURNETT: The first executive order President Obama signed, of course, though was to close Gitmo. As we talk about Khalid Sheikh Mohammed today, it's an important day to note that that's his first promise and he has not kept it.

LABOLT: He's certainly moved forward the process to ensure that the detainees at Guantanamo, those who committed acts against the United States, or harbored intentions to do so are brought to swift and certain justice. He reformed the military commission process to ensure that it was constitutional. You see detainees like the alleged bomber of the "USS Cole" in military commission proceedings right now. All the detainees at Guantanamo have had their cases reviewed to determine whether or not they're threats to the United States. And if they're not a threat to the United States they've been transferred to third party countries. Some in Congress have tried to hamstring this administration's efforts to bring those detainees to swift and certain justice but the president has continued to move forward.

BURNETT: Ben Labolt thanks very much for taking the time to join us tonight.

LABOLT: Thanks for having me, Erin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: A Florida millionaire convicted of manslaughter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: State of Florida versus John Goodman, defendant. Verdict, we the jury find as follows. As to count one we find the defendant guilty of DUI manslaughter and failure to render aid as charged in the information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Now the actions of one juror may make that verdict moot. It could be overturned -- OUTFRONT next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Coming up OUTFRONT hear the voice of the Colombian escort at the center of the Secret Service sex scandal. She told the entire story from her point of view. We have it for you and Tyra Banks. Our third story OUTFRONT a potential bombshell development tonight in the case of convicted Florida multimillionaire John Goodman. A judge is looking at a possible instance of jury misconduct that may grant Goodman a new trial. Now you may remember this case -- we've talked a lot about it on this show. Goodman became notorious for actually adopting his girlfriend as a way perhaps to transfer assets. He was found guilty of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide after driving through a stop sign.

He killed 23-year-old Scott Wilson in February, 2010 as a result. Now a juror admits to conducting a drinking experiment during the trial. Defense attorneys say it's juror misconduct. They want the verdict thrown out. Paul Callan is a criminal defense attorney and he joins us tonight, also a prosecutor.

Now Paul we were discussing this before. A juror went home, had three, four drinks enough to what he thought would be in the same condition as John Goodman. I said to you, well that's doing your reporting. Trying to find out what state you would be in and you told me, Erin, you're crazy.

PAUL CALLAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I would never say you're crazy, you're just dead wrong.

BURNETT: Oh, I'm dead wrong --

CALLAN: Because you can't let jurors do experiments, because how do we know if they're doing it properly? Alcohol, for instance, affects everybody differently. Now you may have an enormous capacity for drinking whereas somebody else might have a very low capacity for drinking. The defendant in this case, the billionaire or multimillionaire, polo tycoon as he's called sometimes --

BURNETT: Right.

CALLAN: -- Mr. Goodman, we don't know what his capacity was. So a juror doing his own personal experiment may not be reliable and the defense attorney doesn't get to cross-examine and demonstrate to the other jurors that it was an unreliable experiment. So judges really frown on this and they tell you, no experiments. It has to be based on what you hear in the courtroom.

BURNETT: Will it make the verdict moot and they have to start again --

CALLAN: Well, even though I've just said you're dead wrong --

BURNETT: I'm right.

CALLAN: -- there's a possibility you could be right because, and I'll tell you why. This is a real close call. Had he gone home and done a scientific experiment of some kind --

BURNETT: Yes.

CALLAN: -- the judge would say no that's no good. But you know everybody drinks or a lot of people drink. This is a common experience and we expect jurors to bring their common experiences into the jury room. And this juror ultimately was saying well if you have three drinks it affects the way you drive. Well most people would agree with that. So I don't know that you would say this is overly prejudicial and maybe Mr. Goodman's attorneys are pushing a little too hard. So I think it's a real close question and I think in the end notwithstanding my insult at the beginning, you're right. This is not going to be set aside. OK.

BURNETT: I can handle it. Always love to see you Paul Callan, thank you.

CALLAN: All right. Thank you.

BURNETT: "OutFront 4" next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Still OUTFRONT secret services.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They said Miss no, just go (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I'm not going to pay you.

BURNETT: Models banned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're no good to us if they're sick (ph).

BURNETT: All this OUTFRONT in our second half.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: All right. Welcome back to the second half of OUTFRONT on a Friday night.

We start the second half of our show with stories we care about, and we focus on our reporting from the front lines.

And just a breakthrough appears likely in the case of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng. The Chinese government is clamping down on other dissidents and the media now. We've learned tonight that the government threatened to revoke foreign journalists' visas if they continue to visit Chen at the hospital. Our own Stan Grant experienced of that and there are also new reports of the government detaining and beating Chen's supporters.

The organization Human Rights in China told us when we spoke to them today that they haven't heard anything from activist and Chen confidant Zeng Jingyan, He Peirong also known by her English name "Pear" -- a woman who helped Chen escape house arrest but was detained herself also appears at this moment she could be released.

And we want to show you video of plain clothes policemen who have hassled our reporter Stan Grant and his crew as he has tried to cover the story. The Obama administration issued new environmental fracking rules today. The proposed require oil and gas companies to disclose what chemicals are used during the fracking process. This is a crucial question. The rule only applies, though, when the process is conducting on federal land.

Now, hydraulic fracking involves dumping water, sand and chemicals deep into the ground. Basically, they blasted an incredibly high pressure against the rocks. That's how the oil and gas essentially burst out.

According to the Energy Information Administration, 21 percent of this country's natural gas production is done on federal land, but obviously that means 80 percent is not and not susceptible to the rules.

Well, we told you yesterday about the Yahoo! CEO's resume. Scott Thompson's bio claimed he graduated from Stone Hill College with a degree in computer science and accounting. The truth is he did not have a computer science degree. Now, Daniel Loeb, the activist investor who caught the error is demanding Thompson be fired by Monday, calling Yahoo!'s response to his findings insulting.

Yahoo! said the error was an inadvertent. It had been right on his bio and prior job, but they are now investigating what happened.

The George Zimmerman's legal team has issued new details about his reopened defense fund tonight. The fund is administrated by a third party, a former IRS agent. Neither Zimmerman nor his attorney Mark O'Mara have direct access to the fund. Now, the $204,000 already raised that we're aware of, and there has been more since given they have those recent number, $150,000 is being moved to funds.

Now, if you (INAUDIBLE) asked us about the tax implications when we first learned about the fund, Mark O'Mara told us about it on this show, according to the site, Zimmerman will have to pay taxes on the money raised. The donations are not tax deductible for the donor item.

Well, it has been 274 days since this country lost its top credit rating. What are we doing to get it back?

Well, one side effect of the weaker than expected jobs number was oil prices. Fewer jobs, fewer people driving, bad for the economy, bad for oil prices, which I guess helps some people, because oil fell down to $98.48 a barrel. That's going to help everyone that buys gas at the pump.

Well, our fourth story OUTFRONT, we've gotten new details tonight from the escort that is at center of the Secret Service scandal. Finally, an interview -- an explosive interview on a Colombian radio show. As you can see they also videotaped it. You're looking at Dania Suarez and she spilled all the details about her night with American Secret Service agents in Cartagena.

It all began at a local bar. The agents drinking heavily and one of them picked her up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIA SUAREZ, PROSTITUTE/ESCORT (through translator): He asked if I wanted to go out with him and I said, yes. I can go out with you, but I want a little gift. I mean, I directly -- I didn't say how much. We just danced. We had drinks and then one other time that he wanted to leave I told him, "Well, dear, you know, you have to give me $800. That's the gift that I want so I can go with you." He said, "OK, baby. Let's go."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Now, of course, the Secret Service agent in question here is Arthur Huntington. Suarez said that he and she stopped for condoms and she spent the night at Hotel Caribe, but she didn't know that he was a Secret Service agent until the morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: I told him to wake up and to give me my gift I asked him for. He says, no. No. Just -- just go (EXPLETIVE DELETED), I'm not going to pay you. And then he -- he just -- put out -- 50,000 pesos for the taxi, and I was like, I was in shock in that moment when he just said that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Suarez called the police then and an international debacle ensued. Twelve agents, when all is said and done, have been implicated in the scandal so far. Nine have been dismissed.

Sheila Jackson Lee spoke to the director of the Secret Service today about the latest developments. She's OUTFRONT tonight. And, of course, we're going to play a little more of this interview. I thought it was just amazing to hear her and hear her tell the story.

But I know had you a chance to speak to Mark Sullivan, the director of the Secret Service, today. What was his reaction to the interview now that she's given a lot more details about what she said happened that night?

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D), TEXAS: Well, Erin, first of all, good to be with you. Obviously, the behavior is hideous and a complete dereliction of duty and unacceptable. But I think it's important to note that the Secret Service is not ceasing in its investigation and continuing to reach out to Ms. Suarez.

I personally would like to say, I understand there's some comment about her feeling threatened. I would certainly welcome her to Washington, D.C. and indicate that I believe no Secret Service person or anyone affiliated with the Secret Service or wit U.S. government would be threatening this woman and certainly would welcome her telling us the truth.

What we've heard is enormously, if you will, reflective of how much we need to do and how much I believe the Secret Service has already done. So the Secret Service continues to want to speak to Ms. Suarez. It's continuing to determine where she can be reached. Certainly would like the media sources that have been talking to her to help them communicate with her. They've looked everywhere, and they believe they have not been able to find her.

BURNETT: And you've answered the question. I just want to make sure loud and clear. It's your understanding Mark Sullivan hasn't spoken to her? This interviewer we're hearing now and I'm going to play a little bit more of it in a moment, because there's something she said I'm dying to get your reaction to.

But that's all the Secret Service has from her either. This is the interview right now?

LEE: It is the interview that they have to rely upon. But, again, as you well know, the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security has now initiated its own -- that office has initiated its own investigation. Director Sullivan is cooperating, but his agents are still in the field, and they are looking for Ms. Suarez and anyone else as hard as they possibly can.

They really need help. They want to be able to investigate and determine what she has said and you know that we spoke just a week ago and indicated that right now, no drinking is allowed and no fraternizing with foreign nationals, at all.

BURNETT: And I want to just play another little bit of what she said. She was asked specifically during the interview, I thought it was a very good interview, where if she ever had access to the agent's belongings, you know, any information that he may have left out.

LEE: Yes.

BURNETT: That perhaps could have compromised the president's safety. And here's how she answered that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: Of course. At that moment, if I had been a member of one of those terrorist gangs, it's obvious that I would have been able to get everything. Just like the newspapers say I put them in checkmate, they're a bunch of fools. They're responsible for Obama's security and they still let this happen.

I told them, I'm going to call the police so they would pay me my money. They didn't care. They didn't see the magnitude of the problem even when being responsible for Obama's security. I could have done 1,000 other things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: She's certainly -- she says what she thinks. I got to give her credit for that.

But what's your reaction to that? You know, even with all the bluster. It's a pretty damning statement.

JACKSON: Well, this lady is a profession and she's certainly well spoken. I would say to her that we're as interested in the extent of her information as she is interested in telling it. The idea of exposed clothing, papers, that may have been classified documents is frightening. It's simply frightening.

That's why I'm glad the agency acted quickly. As you well know, the agent in question that dealt with this woman is no longer an employee of the Secret Service at all. And 12 have been addressed or disciplined in some way or another. But the Secret Service is not stopping to look for any others that might be involved.

But in this instance, Erin, we can only seek to comfort this woman and to let her know that there is no threat on her life, either here in the United States or if any of our agents are able to find her. We absolutely need this information, and I guess the Secret Service agent who was involved in this was very lucky that during his inebriated status, this woman did not take these particular items.

I've heard that there was drinking extensively. It's all wrong. It's unacceptable -- we're not going to accept it any longer, and there are investigations that are proceeding. The Secret Service is not letting up on hopefully finding this particular woman, this escort, to give her the kind of comfort necessary to say that all we want to do is get information to make this right.

BURNETT: All right. Well, thank you very much. Appreciate you taking time, Representative Lee, and talking to you. I'm sure we'll be talking to you again soon. Thanks and good to see you.

LEE: Thank you for having me.

BURNETT: Well, today something happened. "Vogue" decided to ban certain models from pages of fashion magazine. This is something that -- it's great. It always bothered me.

Supermodel Tyra Banks is our guest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: We're back with our "Outer Circle," we reach out to our sources around the world.

And tonight, we go to Egypt, where there's been violent protests, people taking to get streets, frustrated with the military government and protesting the disqualification of candidates, presidential elections are this month.

Ian Lee has been there covering these riots and I asked him what he's been seeing in the streets of Cairo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erin, the crisis in Cairo continues. At least one person is dead and over 300 are injured in today's violence. It all started earlier this week when a group of unknown assailants attacked sit-in protesters near the ministry of defense. Now, these protesters were demanding their presidential candidate be allowed to run in this month's presidential election, but violence peaked out Wednesday when we saw at least 11 people killed.

Now, the ruling supreme council of the armed forces says that they are not going to tolerate any sort of activity like this so close to the ministry of defense. This is their country's red line. So today, when a group of protesters approached this area, they were dispersed with water cannon, with tear gas and with shotguns.

Well, to prevent any of these clashes happening again, the army has imposed a curfew on the area -- Erin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right. Thanks to Ian there in Cairo.

And now, let's check in with Anderson Cooper with a look at what's coming up on "A.C. 360".

Hey, Anderson.

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "A.C. 360": Hey, Erin, we are keeping them honest tonight in "360."

Backpage.com, you probably know about this, they are not backing away from a small but profitable corner of the Internet when ads like these have drawn attention of 51 attorneys general who want them off- line, taken down, literally thousands of these ads from Backpage.com right now. You'll hear from the company which said there's nothing illegal about it. Critics say they are helping the sexual trafficking of young women.

We'll also speak with California's attorney general, Kamala Harris, and "New York Times" columnist Nick Kristof has written about human trafficking for years.

Also tonight, breaking news. Federal prosecutors are looking to the case of the killing of Kenneth Chamberlain. This video from a taser camera and the ailing 68-year-old African-American man tasered, shot to death by a white police officer. Our legal panel, Mark Geragos, Marcia Clark, take the case tonight. He was shot in his own apartment.

Those stories and tonight's "Ridiculist" at the top of the hour, Erin.

BURNETT: All right. Anderson, looking forward to that. See you in a few 15 minutes.

And now our fifth story OUTFRONT: "Vogue" magazine says models who are too young and too thin are no longer in. At statement came out from the magazine's the parent company today that says, quote, "Vogue editors around the world want the magazines to reflect their commitment to the health of the models who appear on their pages, and the well-being of their readers."

Now, it's part of a six-point pact that "Vogue" put out that. It pledges not to use models 16 or younger or who appear to have an eating disorder. "Vogue" is also asked casting agents and producers to check IDs and create healthy backstage working conditions and food options.

There is one woman who knows so much about the fashion industry and is at the center of this, talks about power of images and body images, supermodel Tyra Banks. And she's OUFRONT tonight.

Thanks so much for coming on and talking about this. We saw this today.

TYRA BANKS, SUPERMODEL: Thank you.

BURNETT: And I'm so thrilled to have you here.

What do you -- I guess the first question I would have on this is, gosh, why did it take so long for them to do it?

BANKS: You know, I think the question is not so much why did it take so long. I think it's amazing that they're doing it, because they do not have to. There's nothing legal saying that "Vogue" had to make this decision. This is something they're doing on their own.

And I -- when I heard about it, and you all called me and wanted me to be here, I'm like, oh, my God, this is a moment to celebrate. Myself and my company, I live for this. We're expanding the definition of beauty for not having a stereotype in such a one -- just a one physicality we all have to live up to.

So, I applaud "Vogue." And this is not just an American vote. This is in 19 countries. This is every single "Vogue" on the entire globe. So, that is pretty amazing.

BURNETT: And what difference do you think this will make for models? I mean, I look at your background. I mean, you started models at 15, right? I mean, you were in Paris on the runways at 17 years old. You were still a kid.

BANKS: Yes.

BURNETT: Do you think it would have dramatically made your life different, instead of starting at 15, you know, you started at 17? Or -- I mean, how much of a difference does these couple of year make?

BANKS: Well, I was 15 years old in the 11th grade. There were a lot of models starting around that time. I was very fortunate to have a very strong mother and she was there with me at a lot of my photo shoots and made sure I didn't do over sexualized things at such a young age. That's not the case for every model.

When I went to Paris after graduating from high school, I went to Paris and I saw girls that were as young as 12 years old without parental supervision. And so, it was very disturbing. And the great thing that what I think "Vogue" is they're doing, I think it's the beginning of creating almost a guild or a union for models. Models, we don't have that. Actors have that.

I've done movies and TV shows with children and they're on the stage, for a certain amount of hours then they have to leave the stage legally and rest. Work some more. Leave that stage again, legally, and go to school in a private sequestered area.

The models industry does not have that. And I think that "Vogue" is setting an example for that to one day be.

BURNETT: And, you know, it just -- I guess linked to that I'm wondering what you think? I mean, you know, it was obvious that young girl this week, eighth grade girl protest outside "17" magazine talk about photo shopping. That really connected with me. I mean, you know, I'm obviously -- you know, the television industry, we see a little of this. I mean, it's only a billionth of what you deal with.

But, you know, you get your picture taken and everybody wants to photo shop and do that. And then you always feel really crappy about yourself because you don't look like that. Think you're not going to look like people think you look. I can only imagine what it's like for models and for young girls who did this.

So, do you think should just try to cut back on all of that just to acknowledge that real women look that way and make that beautiful?

BANKS: The interesting thing about retouching is what has happened with technology and photography, and the image of photography on a printed page is the public is now used to retouching so much --

BURNETT: Yes.

BANKS: And that when they see something that's real, they go, ew, and then they blame that actress or they blame that model for looking bad. So it's an interesting place that we have come because of technology and photography.

I tweeted a picture of myself just a couple of days ago, with absolutely no makeup on, making a joke about somebody said that I looked like Tyra Banks but younger. I got so much response saying, ew, you look ugly.

BURNETT: I just looked at that and they went, oh, my God is that you 20 years ago? You look so gorgeous. You look good in both. But -- I mean, you're you. You're a special case. But it does, right, I mean that wasn't the picture that's up on the screen now --

BANKS: That was not the picture that's up on the screen now. There was a different picture --

BURNETT: But that is you with no makeup?

BANKS: Just to be clear, that is me with no makeup, yes. So it's interesting that we are -- we are like brain washed to want this retouched image. And what I say is I retouch my girls in "America's Next Top Model." Photos of me are retouched. But what I do is I tell the truth. This is a hair weave, which it is. I was just in the makeup room with the wonderful CNN makeup staff and like worked together as a team putting my face on really fast together.

I don't wake up like this. And it's important for girls to understand that models and actresses do not wake up looking like they do in photographs or on a red carpet.

The interesting thing is girls have so much pressure. If you think about a basket gall game and a guy goes to a game with his dad and they watch and they cheer on LeBron James and they go home, there is no one telling him that that little boy is not good enough if he can't grow as tall as LeBron and slam the basketball as hard as LeBron can in that -- on that court.

BURNETT: Right.

BANKS: But when a girl who's looking at a magazine with her mother and they want it to be just entertainment, there are all these other images from birth that are telling you that you're not good enough unless you look like that.

So the fact that "Vogue" is doing this I think is so amazing. When I was a model -- you see, I have so much to say about this. When I was a model, we were sizes 6s. A size 4 was, oh, my god she's so skinny.

And now models are size zero. I actually mentor a lot of girls that the world doesn't know. Big supermodels that are in "Vogue" every single month and they have my phone number and they can call me any time. And what I love about this is my phone is going to ring a little bit less right now because they could eat a little bit more.

BURNETT: Well I love it. I guess they're really supportive. I know just knowing people growing up through high school, people got eating disorders from that. It's awful what they do to girls and women.

BANKS: Yes.

BURNETT: Thank you so much, Tyra. I really appreciate you coming out and talking to us.

Well, of course the name of the show is OUTFRONT. And on our first episode, we described the word as what we really want it to mean -- original, creative, energetic and passionate. And we lost someone today who represented those things.

Adam Yauch, also known as MCA, was one of the founding members of the groundbreaking hip hop group, the Beastie Boys. Emerging from the New York punk scene at the late '70s, Yauch might be an Ad-Rock, one of the first white groups that successfully cross over into mainstream rap. The songs like "Fight for Your Right," "Brass Monkeys," Hey, ladies," "Sabotage" and "Intergalactic". They topped the charts for almost a quarter century.

Adam and his band mates even started their own record label called Brand Loyal to produce and promote the music of others. In 2006, the Beastie Boys were honored at the VH1 hip-hop awards. And last month, they became the third rap group ever, only the third, to be inducted into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame.

Adam also had a successful career in film under the name Nathaniel Hornblower. He directed many of the group's videos and concert films. A documentary about high school basketball players and even started a production company which released some critically acclaimed movies.

Now, on top of all that he was a practicing Buddhist. He pushed for Tibetan independence he used his celebrity to organize concerts for the cause, making that something that now other groups do -- appeared on television to talk about it as well.

Adam Yauch was a trailblazer. He was an innovator. He was OUTFRONT.

(COMMERICAL BREAK)

BURNETT: This week, "Reuters" reported that Icelandic haddock sales are booming. And sailors in Iceland are earning double what they did before the financial crisis.

You may remember, Iceland was the first economy to crash when a lot of people there went into investment banking and real estate. Like that was it. Like I mean it was everywhere. It was a boom. I was there, it was insane, a glass of wine cost $25.

But now, post-crash, the country has abandoned financing, gone back to the industry that made the country, fishing. In March, Iceland's ships hauled in 21 percent more than the prior year and that's great news.

I love Iceland. I've actually bathed in the blue lagoon next to a Danish stag party and had a good time. And Iceland will need to reel in those bachelors, along with the fish, to get back on top.

That will take strong leadership. And that's why Iceland's presidential election next month is so important. I was cruising ice news today and I noticed something interesting. Of the four people front-runners for president, two are women. Thora Arnorsdottir is a journalist. Herdis Thorgeisdottir is a lawyer.

Yes, dottir means daughter of, and this isn't new for Iceland. They happen to be nordically gorgeous, too. The prime minister of the country, Johanna Sigurdardottir is also a woman. She's led Iceland since 2009 and happens to have the same last name as a couple of other amazing Icelandic women.

Agnes Sigurdardottir was just named Iceland's first female bishop ever, as in like in 2000 years. And one of my favorite authors, Yrsa Sigurdardottir writes some of the best crime I've read. Now, last night, I tweeted asking for help with my Icelandic pronunciation. One of the responses led me to Magnus Bernhardsson. I'm sorry, Magnus, if I got it wrong. Son being son (ph).

He's a professor at Williams College, my alma mater, and he even sent me this -- a photo of Icelandic presidential candidate Thora Arnorsodottir and her family. She is currently the front-runner.

So, next time you think of Iceland, don't think of economic crises, think of fish and fiction, and yes, impossibly amazing females. They're smart. They have six kids, absolutely stunningly gorgeous. By the way, for those of you native Icelanders I'm sorry if I pronounced it wrong, I tried.

We're back on Monday at 7:00.

"ANDERSON COOPER 360," though, starts right now.