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March Madness Continues; Dental Nightmare; North Korean Provocations Discussed

Aired March 29, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Rusty equipment, unsterilized needles, sickening discoveries. Investigators in Oklahoma describe this dentist's office as -- quote -- "a menace to public health." We will talk live to a patient who now has to get checked for HIV and hepatitis.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

(voice-over): An American veteran brags about fighting overseas and is abruptly arrested. Find out why he's now facing charges of illegally using a weapon.

Plus, the madness of March. Florida Gulf Coast University tries to continue its historic run tonight. We're talking with the student body president about all the hoops hoopla.

Facebook announces an event to debut brand-new technology. Tech experts believe the Facebook phone could soon become a reality.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: And we roll on, hour two. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

They say it looked normal, Tulsa dentist office, this one, but then came a case of hepatitis, two harrowing health inspections and now a warning to thousands of patients there, if you went to this dentist, Dr. Harrington, Dr. Scott Harrington, please get tested. Get tested for hepatitis. Get tested for HIV, 7,000 patients.

One of them is 69-year-old Joyce Baylor (ph). I talked to her just within past hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Mrs. Baylor, I'm just going to run through. We have reviewed the dentistry board's multiple-page complaint. This is just some of what they found here, rusty instruments, that means they can't be sterilized. They found plastic storage boxes stained by open vials of medication, multiple bottles of hydrocodone syrup at a dentist's office.

Why? Everywhere they looked, risks of cross-contamination. Did you, ma'am, when you went about a year-and-a-half ago, did you see anything that seemed suspicious at all to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not at all. I suppose I wasn't really looking for anything. It was a clean office, very well decorated. The decor was, you know, the waiting room was just immaculate. And I didn't -- you really don't go in to doctor's office looking for odd things. At least I don't.

BALDWIN: And I think...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You put your trust in them.

BALDWIN: Absolutely. I was about to make the point you made a moment ago. You go to a doctor, you go to a dentist, you go in trusting them, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. Exactly. It is like going to the grocery store and buying a certain product. You trust that product.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Now I want to bring in senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen in Boston.

Elizabeth, in all your years of medical reporting, have you ever heard of anything like this?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, this doesn't happen very often, thank goodness. Imagine if it happened more, that would be so awful.

So we asked the CDC how often does this happen? And they say, look, we know of three cases, and since 1991, where people have gotten terrible diseases from a dentist's office, two hepatitis and one HIV. So, it doesn't happen often, but when it does happen, it is so awful, it's such a terrible situation for these patients.

BALDWIN: I know we're just talking specifically Tulsa, Oklahoma. I'm sitting there thinking, my goodness, could this happen to me? People across the country could ask the same question about their own dentist office. Do authorities routinely inspect offices?

COHEN: You know, Brooke, it depends on -- the regulations depend on what state you're living in. For example, I was speaking with someone from the American Dental Association, a dentist, he said in Ohio where he practices, they come in every other year to inspect. Every other year. So is that enough? I mean, maybe, maybe not.

They just get a snapshot in time and maybe the rest of the time, but for the dentist is running a not very sterile situation. Other states I'm told even could inspect even less than that. So they're not -- authorities are not there every day making sure that these offices are doing the right thing.

BALDWIN: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you so much. I know Joyce Baylor, who we talked to, said she has to go down to the health department, can't even just go to her doctor for all the blood tests here because this is such a huge, huge deal. Thank you.

Georgia's state commissioner has now apologized after being charged with telling the family of a murder suspect not to talk to police in the case of this little baby shot dead in his stroller. James Brooks' lawyer says Brooks was trying to help the family and they had duped him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN TUCKER, ATTORNEY: Mr. Brooks went to the aid of constituents and he unfortunately found out later that what they had been telling him and other members of the community wasn't true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Police say this little 13-month-old was shot in the face last Thursday when two teenagers tried to rob the baby's mother.

These -- see these two guys? These are the two charged with murder now. Several family members of one of the suspects are charged with hindering the investigation and police are now looking into the possibility that that shooting is gang-related.

North Korea says it has rockets aimed at American targets, including U.S. military bases both in the Pacific and South Korea. Take a look at this picture. You see the leader, Kim Jong-un, meeting with military leaders. This was today. You can see him. He's flipping through document after document, but in another picture, you will see the map over his left-hand shoulder. You see the map? You see some of the lines drawn on the sort of triangular fashion, lines drawn to places like Hawaii and California?

What's more, you have this North Korean propaganda video. What it's showing here is animation of North Korean missiles, like this one, then destroying U.S. bomber planes. You see the blast. Now, this comes just one day after the United States sent B-2 stealth bombers over South Korea for military drills. It is a move that North Korea says is a threat of nuclear war, their words.

Want to bring in Gordon Chang, author of "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World."

Gordon, good to have you back.

You make a couple of pretty bold predictions here, your first one saying that you say there will likely be a deadly provocation this year, and that that will probably happen after April 30, so specific. Why do you say that?

GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR, "NUCLEAR SHOWDOWN: NORTH KOREA TAKES ON THE WORLD": Well, North Korea never strikes when we're at a high state of readiness, which we are right now, because the U.S. and South Korea are participating in these joint military drills.

Now, when our readiness falls back to normal, which will be in May, then there could be a problem. There could be a problem because this is more than just bluster. The regime in Pyongyang is in disarray. Kim Jong-un has been in power for less than 16 months. He's purging officials who were loyal to his dad, the previous leader, and really right now we have got a situation in Pyongyang where really nobody is in control. When that happens, the hardest-line elements set the tone. That's why we're hearing some pretty disturbing rhetoric.

BALDWIN: One other prediction, Gordon, you say in as little as three years North Korea will have a nuclear warhead able to hit any American city it chooses. First, what evidence do you have to back that up?

CHANG: Well, in January 2011, then Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the North Koreans would have a ballistic missile that would be able to hit the United States. We're now two years down the road. We saw a very successful missile test in December.

We know that the Chinese have been selling their warhead designs to other countries. So the North Koreans probably have them. They had a successful nuclear test last month. So North Korea is making fast progress and we have got to assume that it is within a three-year time frame, five years at the most that they will be able to do that.

BALDWIN: And then how do you imagine the U.S. responds to some sort of action, ultimately?

CHANG: Well, it really depends what the North Koreans do. On Monday of this week, we had that agreement announced between Washington and Seoul that the United States would participate in retaliation against low-level provocations.

That really brings us in. We also, of course, have a defense treaty with South Korea that obligates us to protect South Korean territory. I think that we probably will participate in a retaliation if the North Koreans reach out and do something horrible, which many people think that they will.

So this is a dangerous situation right now. It is not going to get any better.

BALDWIN: You mentioned a moment ago the leader Kim Jong-un and how he's been in power, what, 16 months or so, less than, really, and how he's been getting rid of officials who were loyal to his father. Makes the regime seem unstable. Does this instability make North Korea's threat bigger or smaller?

CHANG: Well, I think it makes it bigger.

In no time during the history of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea, that's more than six decades, has a ruler had a smaller support group in Pyongyang. We know that he is going after the top military officers and demoted them. That's not good. It has caused a lot of dissension in the ranks, especially because of the people that he promoted.

I think this means that Kim Jong-un needs the support now of the people who are left. And that means he sort of backed himself into the corner with this pretty harsh rhetoric. He can't back down, unfortunately.

BALDWIN: Gordon Chang, author of "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World," Gordon, thank you.

CHANG: Thank you.

BALDWIN: This year, Final Four in Atlanta. But March madness taking place all over America right now.

Rachel Nichols has been in the thick of things following it on the CNN Express bus.

Rachel Nichols, I saw you last night. I was trying to catch some of the games myself. You're there, in D.C. I love that we have sort of, you know, pimped our ride, so to speak, on what once Election Express bus here. There you are in D.C. where Syracuse and Marquette advanced to the Elite Eight last night. How has it been so far?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Sports will eventually take over the world. This is a first step. I have a small bus as my first step. But I'm coming for the rest of the block, I just want to point that out.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Nice.

NICHOLS: It has been fun. It has been a great time. The tournament is always a time of uncertainty in the NCAA Tournament this year, probably more uncertain than ever. We had a number one seed go down here right here in Washington, D.C., last night, when Indiana lost to Syracuse.

And two elite programs, two giant programs, with long history, and the Syracuse zone got another team and we will have to see when they play tomorrow in the Elite Eight what they do to Marquette, although that's a team that is a lot more used to the way they play because those are both Big East teams, played a few times already this year, so it is going to be interesting. It will be a very different matchup than it was yesterday.

BALDWIN: And then what about tonight? I know, of course, everyone is watching for the late game, the 10:00 Eastern game. You have Florida Gulf Coast and then you have Florida Gators, two teams about, what, 270 miles away from one another. So many people watching this little, you know, school out of Ft. Myers, the first 15 seed in the tournament. Do you think they could actually pull off a win?

NICHOLS: Look, it is interesting to see these Cinderella type teams when -- after they had a week of being celebrated because it is certainly different when you go into the tournament and that weekend where nobody really knows who you are and you shock the first team and then there's really only 36, 48 hours before you play the next team. And they don't really know who you are or what to expect and people aren't taking you seriously. But then you go back to campus, and they're holding pep rallies for you, and everybody is so excited, the national media, like us, or ESPN, or anybody else who has descended and everybody wants a piece of you and everybody's family is telling you how great you are. And then you go to try to play an even better school at an even more difficult round. And that's going to be the challenge for Florida Gulf Coast in tonight's game.

They have got to be able to later tonight not only play up to the level of Florida's competition, but get rid of those all -- those other distractions tonight. We will see if they can do it.

BALDWIN: No pressure for dunk city. No pressure at all. Rachel Nichols, we look forward to seeing you in person in Atlanta for the Final Four, just next door to us here at CNN. Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate it.

And coming up a little later this hour, speaking of Florida Gulf Coast University, we will talk to the student body president, who, of course, is in Dallas for the big game tonight. Do not miss that. That's a little later this hour.

But, first, the trial of Jodi Arias getting even more weird, if that's the right word here. We're going to tell you why as the prosecuting attorney seen signing autographs, taking pictures at court. What is going on? We will talk to "In Session"'s Jean Casarez. She was actually called in to testify in this trial. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If I were to say Juan Martinez, would you know who I talking about? Juan Martinez, here he is, Jodi Arias trial, prosecutor. Yes, that guy, the one who is always strutting around, flailing his arms. Kind of sour. Made Jodi cry a bunch of times. Remember that?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN MARTINEZ, PROSECUTOR: And you're the one that did this, right?

JODI ARIAS, DEFENDANT: Yes.

MARTINEZ: And you're the same individual that lied about all this, right?

ARIAS: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Pretty tough cookie, this Juan Martinez, so it turns out Juan Martinez has a softer side. Wait for the smile. Who knew? Here he is, pulling off that sharpie, signing autographs, posing for pictures outside court.

And the Arias folks, her defense team, yes, they don't like this one little bit. So before you knew it, our own Jean Casarez of "In Session," here she is walking up to testify at the Jodi Arias trial about Juan Martinez.

Jean Casarez, why in the world? I looked up at the TV and I saw you yesterday. Why are you testifying in this trial?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It all happened very quickly. And the judge asked me to come forward. You know, as an objective correspondent taking notes in the courtroom, I suddenly heard my name from the defense table in open court, the jury was not present, saying that I had said something on the air in regard to a juror watching and witnessing the prosecutor signing autographs.

I never said that on the air at all. And I knew I hadn't. And then the judge asked me to come forward. So I was sworn in and there was nothing I could do virtually because the judge asked me to come forward. I was sworn in. It was very solemn. I have never testified before. It was very serious. But I clarified what the defense attorney said and that was basically it.

BALDWIN: So, then back to Juan Martinez, and the Martinez groupies, if you will, I mean, could what is happening outside of the courtroom pose a serious problem or could the Jodi Arias folks be reaching just a little bit here with this?

CASAREZ: No, I understand what the defense is saying, because the defense's concern is there is a jury here that is responsible for determining whether Jodi Arias is convicted of first-degree murder and then if it goes on whether she should be sentenced to death.

And you want a jury not to be tainted by anything. And so their concern was that a juror could see this and it could influence a juror. And I have seen jurors -- one juror outside that area, walking around, sitting on the bench, but I never observed that juror seeing Mr. Martinez and I never observed Mr. Martinez outside of the courtroom.

BALDWIN: Just quickly, is this typical behavior of a defense team or a prosecutor in big, big cases like this to do these kinds of things?

CASAREZ: You know, I will tell you, it is becoming, I think, more and more of a trend because I covered the Conrad Murray case in Los Angeles, and literally the ninth floor which had Michael Jackson supporters all over it would burst into applause during the trial when the prosecutor would come out for breaks or for lunch.

And, you know, there was a jury close by. So it is becoming more and more something that is happening, but the applause always goes to the prosecution, does not go for the defense.

BALDWIN: Jean Casarez of "In Session" covering the Jodi Arias trial, Jean, thank you.

Another court case that is making headlines here, this one happening in the U.S. Supreme Court, Prop 8 and the argument for legalizing same-sex marriage. Some supporters of this plan might surprise you. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you are old enough and your memory is good enough, you might have been surprised to see this guy step to the mikes in support Tuesday of same-sex marriage after arguing the case against Prop 8 before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Folks, that is Ted Olson, the archconservative lawyer who argued and won Bush v. Gore, another landmark case. Fascinating story, this one. Take a listen to CNN's Gloria Borger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): It was November 2008. Barack Obama had just won the White House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing civil about a man marrying another man!

BORGER: But Proposition 8 passed, taking away the right for gays and lesbians to marry in California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: California has made it very clear.

ROB REINER, DIRECTOR: We're sitting there, you know, kind of licking the wounds and saying, what do we do now, you know? And serendipitously, a friend of my wife's came by the table and she says, I think you would be very interested to find out that you might find an ally in Ted Olson on your issue.

BORGER: That's the Ted Olson, the conservative legal icon.

That stunned you, right?

REINER: Yes. It more than stunned me. It stunned me, but I said, if this is true, this is the home run of all time. I mean, the idea that Ted Olson, this arch conservative, the solicitor general for George Bush who had argued Bush V. Gore and basically put me in bed for a couple of days. I was so depressed after Bush V. Gore was interested in gay rights, I thought, let's check it out.

BORGER: But didn't you have any doubts about Ted Olson?

REINER: You know, they say that politics makes strange bedfellows. Well, you don't have a stranger bedfellow than me and Ted Olson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Gloria Borger, great interview, from Washington, our chief political analyst.

The snippet we saw just is part of this fascinating program that we will be debuting this Saturday night, "The Marriage Warriors."

And, Gloria, speaking of strange bedfellow, there was another strange bedfellow here. Tell me about that.

BORGER: So this takes another twist.

So Rob Reiner eventually gets in touch with Ted Olson, and they hire him because he is, in fact, against Proposition 8, and he's for same- sex marriage and he sees immediately that this could go before the Supreme Court. But he also decides, you know what, we cannot make this a partisan issue.

And he picks up the phone and calls of all people the liberal David Boies, as you pointed out, who he defeated in Bush v. Gore, which decided the presidential election in favor of George W. Bush.

It turns out, Brooke, that after that heated battle, that they actually became really good friends.

BALDWIN: What?

BORGER: Yes. They became really good friends. They go on bike trips together. They see each other socially. And it is interesting.

What David Boies said to me is sometimes when you're a lawyer, and you really fight a case tooth and nail, the only other person who really understands what you have gone through is the opposing attorney. And I think so after Bush v. Gore, they found each other and have been friends ever since and came together on this case.

BALDWIN: I can't wait to see more of your interviews.

BORGER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: I know we're calling the documentary, it's "Marriage Warriors: Showdown at the Supreme Court," right here on CNN 7:30 p.m. tomorrow. Watch it live, DVR.

Gloria Borger, thank you very much. Have a great weekend.

Coming up, we are getting some breaking news into us here at CNN. This is some sad news today, one Navy SEAL killed in a training exercise here in the U.S. We're getting more information. We will get that for you after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Breaking news: CNN has confirmed that one U.S. Navy SEAL has died and a second has been injured in some sort of training accident in Arizona.

We're making phone calls on the story. We are going to talk to our correspondent here momentarily who is getting up on this, again, this -- this happening just after those seven Marines were killed as part of that training exercise recently in western Nevada -- again, one Navy SEAL killed -- more on that story here coming up in just a moment.

Here we are, bottom of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Technology, sports, business, health, science, showbiz news, we're hitting it all in what we call the power block, beginning with this.