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NEW DAY
Nigeria: What Can U.S. Do?; Slow To Call Boko Haram Terrorists; GOP Fundraises Off Benghazi Probe; Does Deer Antler Supplement Work?; Michelle Knight On Surviving A Nightmare
Aired May 8, 2014 - 07:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JAKE TAPPER, HOST, CNN'S "THE LEAD": What's so interesting about this, guys, is -- is that it's as if it's just a couple next door talking about how much they wish they could do something and not the guy with the most powerful military in the world under his command and his wife. Why the sense of futility?
JULIANNA GOLDMAN, BLOOMBERG: Well, in many ways what they are doing is projecting the limits, or his own limits on U.S. power right now. But what the administration says is that for weeks they've been offering support to the Nigerian government. It's only this week that they realize that this really is a problem and, look, that there teams from the State Department, Pentagon, FBI that will be on the ground within days and the challenge now is really going to be about tracking.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, "THE WASHINGTON POST": I think the challenge that this president has and is some ways created for himself is this perception of weakness. You said the Obama was idea of hitting singles, hitting doubles, every once in a while you hit a home run. You imagine this is only going to underscore a lot of criticism that people have had of him, which is that there is this sort of shrinking of the American footprint and the shrinking of this idea that America is this indispensable nation.
TAPPER: And there are those as you know in the human rights community as well as conservatives who say the limits that you're setting, you are setting.
HENDERSON: Right.
TAPPER: We could be doing more to help the children in Syria.
GOLDMAN: All the more profound he was make that statement last night at a fundraiser around the holocaust. But even the first lady's tweet, bring back our girls, that's been tweeted out over a million times over the last few weeks. They try and bring --
TAPPER: A little late.
HENDERSON: Late to the ground swell of Twitter activity and Twitter activism. Here she is a little late.
TAPPER: Interesting story in the "Daily Beast" this morning by Josh Rogan talking about how Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state refused to brand this Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, as terrorists. Why? Why the reluctance?
GOLDMAN: Look, the administration is quick to point out that they labeled it a terrorist organization in November of 2013 under Secretary of State John Kerry, but it's not a black and white issue. I mean, some of the concerns, as Josh Rogan points out had to do with whether or not they wanted to elevate Boko Haram to that status. They didn't necessarily think it posed the kinds of threats broad that would hurt U.S. interests.
TAPPER: There's also a concern, Nia, about whether the government of Nigeria, which is not exactly winning any good government awards, use this designation to crack down on people that had nothing to do with Boko Haram.
HENDERSON: You saw the Nigerian government actually raiding them and killed civilians in 2009 after Boko Haram had really unleashed a spade of violence. I think this goes back to the whole idea of hard choices, which of course is the book that Hillary Clinton is coming out with next week. It isn't black and white. It is complicated by all of these factors that, you know, it's not easy to just make a speech about.
TAPPER: Members of Congress pointing out here's a letter from a couple of them in 2012, the day had been urging Secretary Clinton to do this.
GOLDMAN: She's going to have to confront this, her record as secretary of state and how it plays into current events and the daily news cycle.
TAPPER: Speaking of her record as secretary of state, the House Republicans have set up a select committee on Benghazi. A lot of criticism because the National Republican Congressional Committee put out an e-mail fundraising off of Benghazi, the deaths of four Americans and the tragedy as well as the ensuing scandals and controversies.
I asked Trey Gowdy, the congressman from South Carolina who is heading up the select committee what he thought about the fundraising. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPRESENTATIVE TREY GOWDY (R), CHAIRMAN, SELECT COMMITTEE ON BENGHAZI: Jake, I cannot and will not raise money --
TAPPER: But the NRCC is, sir.
GOWDY: I also advise my colleagues to follow suit and I think I did so in a pretty unambiguous way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So my interpretation is that he was calling for the NRCC to stop the fundraising. This is a risky area for Republicans, to raise money off of this tragedy. GOLDMAN: Yes. Raising money off the tragedy, also making it look like it's a partisan witch hunt. The administration sees those comments that you had Congressman Gowdy say and, you know, it exposes the tensions in the Republican Party right now and if the Republicans are trying to rally the base around Benghazi then what the White House and Democrats are saying is, OK, you're obsessed with these kinds of conspiracies and that's coming at the expense of working on other economic matter, pay equity, gender equality, minimum wage.
HENDERSON: They've got to figure out Democrats whether or not they're going to participate in these hearings that's a debate that's going on in Congress. I do think Democrats have to be careful not to seem too flip about this. You had that former aide saying, dude, this happened two years ago. So they've got to be careful about that. I think the danger for Republicans as you said is the idea of have they over politicized this to where it's just sort of white noise to most people who aren't, you know, exercised by this.
TAPPER: I agree. Obviously there are still questions about Benghazi. One other Obama administration controversy, the IRS scandal, the House voted last night 231-187 to approve a contempt citation for one of the key figures in this controversy, Lois Lerner, former IRS executive. And there's a store ray from roll call circulated among Republicans from a few days ago talking about the House's little used about to actually arrest individuals.
GOLDMAN: Yes. They have this room, right, on the Hill that, I mean, I don't know that they put Eric Holder in that room either. But again, this is just, you know, the distractions rallying the base around Democrats labeled this the week of conspiracy week for Republicans and we'll see what kind of traction.
HENDERSON: Right, some overshadow that whole Lewinsky thing and Benghazi and Lerner. Nothing is going to happen. Let these show votes and show actions and show hearings.
TAPPER: You don't think they're going to haul her away?
HENDERSON: I don't think so. I would get what they want.
TAPPER: What would Frank do, throw her in jail.
HENDERSON: Maybe so.
GOLDMAN: Look in the camera and tell us.
TAPPER: Julianna Goldman, thank you so much.
Before we go, Chris and the gang back in New York, I want to play a little bit from our friend, Conan O'Brien, that you might enjoy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN: In a new interview, Hillary Clinton, said her guilty pleasure is eating chocolate. Yes. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton said his guilty pleasure is being Bill Clinton. (END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Back to you in New York, folks.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Just leave it there. Just let it marinate.
TAPPER: I'm not saying anything. That's his joke.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
TAPPER: Just laughing because that's what I'm supposed to do.
BOLDUAN: Exactly. Cue the laugh track. Thanks, Jake.
Coming up next on NEW DAY, she endured a decade of abuse in Cleveland's house of horrors, now Michelle Knight describing in chilling detail the moment she was rescued. Her powerful interview with Anderson Cooper, ahead.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Listen to this. Is it a miracle cure? The latest performance enhancer, all natural, or a hoax? Deer antler. Google it. It's on the rise. Some athletes swear by it. So our resident superman, Sanjay Gupta, investigates. Surprises ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CUOMO: Deer antlers, they are not just for mounting on your wall anymore. People are taking it and saying it promotes healing, recovery, can make you stronger. Are deer antlers the real deal? The question that chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, was made to answer.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: By you. You are interested in this so we've been out investigating this for some time. It's pretty fascinating. This product has been around for over a thousand years. People really believe in it, but what exactly is it? What's in it? And does it work?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Deer Antler Velvet, it's this dietary supplement that a surprising number of athletes, trainer, and doctors are turning to. They believe it helps improve muscle strength, recovery, and boost energy. It's been used in China for thousands of years and the premise is pretty simple. A deer's antlers grow fast, more than an inch a day. Could those regenerative qualities transfer over to human beings?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tore my rotator cuff 90 percent all the way through.
GUPTA: Desperate after his injury professional ballplayer, Adam Greenberg, turned to Deer Antler Velvet at the suggestion of one of his doctors.
(on camera): How quickly would you feel these results after taking the pills?
ADAM GREENBERG, LURONG LIVING MANAGING DIRECTOR, FOUNDER: Within the first couple of days I knew there was something positive going on. Doctor called me up and said how are you playing? I said, what do you mean? He said, you don't have a rotator cuff. It's basically non- existent.
GUPTA (voice-over): Intrigued by Adam's story, his orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Patrick Kwok, decided to start testing this on his own. The first thing he wanted to try and confirm, safety.
DR. PATRICK KWOK, ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON: First 100 we tracked them fairly closely, you know, with questionnaires, phone calls, to really make sure if there's any adverse effects that could come from taking the product.
GUPTA (on camera): So the 100 patients or so that you followed, you haven't seen any harm?
KWOK: Correct.
GUPTA: What about benefit?
KWOK: Increased energy, you know, decreased joint pain and muscle ache and decreased recovery from injury.
GUPTA: The immediate reaction is, suspicious, dubious about this sort of thing because this sounds too good to be true, probably is all of that. What are you comfortable saying about this now?
KWOK: I think it really boils down to like we didn't invent this. The proof is in the 2000 years of use in Chinese or Asian medicine.
GUPTA (voice-over): Deer Antler Velvet is sold now in the United States as liquid drops, capsules, or sprays. The cost ranges from $30 a bottle to a couple hundred dollars depending on the product and the strength. Because it is sold as a supplement not a medicine, companies don't have to prove there's any benefit so we decided to look into it. Combing through dozens of studies looking at the effects of Deer Antler Velvet on humans. Despite the enthusiasm of people like Dr. Kwok, none of these studies showed a convincing benefit from talking the products.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Heart rate is coming up. Everything is looking great.
GUPTA: Only one on strength training showed even a possible positive effect. Craig Broeder was that study's author.
DR. CRAIG BROEDER (PH.D), MEDICAL RESEARCHER: I had some really positive findings, but it's so small it needs to be repeated with a large number of subjects before I would say you got to take -- this is a given. This is absolutely going to help you. The biggest effect we saw didn't have anything to do with effected strength, but the biggest effect happened to turn in on the aerobic conditioning side.
GUPTA: Dr. Alan Rogo believes any positive effects are due to nothing more than a placebo effect.
(on camera): If I were something who came to you and said, look, I'm taking this stuff, it seems to work for me. I feel stronger, I feel faster. What would you say?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say don't take it. That would be easy.
GUPTA: Because it doesn't work?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
GUPTA: I'm not going to die from it, but it doesn't work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly.
GUPTA: But that doesn't stop Dr. Kwok or many doctors we spoke to for this piece who do believe Deer Antler Velvet replaces deficiencies that we all have.
KWOK: It has naturally occurring glucosamine and the building blocks of cartilage.
GUPTA: In fact, Dr. Kwok was so impressed he invested in a company that Adam Greenberg and a team of athletes started to sell the product themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will jump it to the whole next level quickly.
GUPTA: But even they acknowledge the science is not yet there and this is by no means a magic potion.
GREENBERG: So it's not take this and you're just going to be an amazing athlete. It's eating a non-inflammatory diet, putting the right food in your body, taking deer antler.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: Now one thing I should point out, cutting the deer antler doesn't actually hurt the deer. They grow back so quickly. An inch a day. They take that deer antler, the velvet on the deer antler, and create all these different products.
CUOMO: So two obvious observations, one, you look amazing. Obviously whatever it's doing for you is, you know, it's working off.
GUPTA: You've got a band-aid.
CUOMO: Because you're so cut?
GUPTA: Because I'm cut.
CUOMO: I love it. You didn't take it, to be clear.
GUPTA: I did not take it. You know, it was interesting I was really fascinating with all of these varying doctors' opinions on this and I've studied traditional Chinese medicine, these things have perseverance in China. Over 1,000 years this product has been used. They will say, look, we haven't tested it. We don't know but the proof is in the pudding. It keeps lasting and people keep wanting to take it.
CUOMO: You tested this element of it, this I.G.1 or whatever it's called, that might have some effect. You look and say there's not much in it anyway.
GUPTA: Fascinating. We decided to go to an independent laboratory in Salt Lake City. Did not tell them what we were looking for. Here are the products. Give us your assessment. Look at the products. They say igf1, plus on them, all different things. That is a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. They found there's hardly any in these products. The small amount that's there you couldn't possibly absorb in your body. It's not even in the product.
CUOMO: So when you hear these anecdotal, you know, big proofs of support from like a Ray Lewis miracle recovery, of Vijay Singh saying it made such a difference, you attribute it to what?
GUPTA: They talk about yin and yan. What Dr. Kwok believes is that we all have deficiencies for various reasons. Those deficiencies become enhanced as we get older. Things in our cartilage, whatever. It is not a growth performance sort of thing. It's not a growth enhancer. But if it's replacing some of those things, could it possibly have benefit? Maybe. Again, they've been using it for so long. This is something they used now in China. You can buy it here. You can put it in teas. They feel that's part of the reason for their longevity.
CUOMO: So, you know I'm doing the 12 weeks for men's health magazine.
GUPTA: I've been watching.
CUOMO: Is this something you would recommend, or no?
GUPTA: I just don't think -- I love you, but I don't think the science is there yet. I think a lot of people are probably taking it. I don't think it's going to harm you. Got a lot of extra product here if you want to have it. You can have all of this. I don't think it's going to provide the benefit that you're looking for. The down side is that you may not do other things that you otherwise would do thinking you're taking the stuff.
CUOMO: Maybe I'll try it. If I grow any horns on my head, I'm coming after you, Gupta. Tune in to "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." weekends right here on CNN. It airs Saturdays at 4:30 p.m., Sundays at 7:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Love having the doc on the show. Thanks for being here -- Kate.
BOLDUAN: Coming up next on NEW DAY, after a ten-year nightmare inside the Cleveland house of horrors, Michelle Knight is speaking out. Wait until you hear her describe her first moments of freedom, her unforgettable interview with Anderson Cooper, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BOLDUAN: Welcome back to NEW DAY. One year ago this week, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina Dejesus were freed from the clutches of Ariel Castro. A man who held them in a Cleveland house of horrors for a decade. He took Michelle Knight first in August 2002. She's written about it and her survival in a new book. In an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper, Michele describes the moment she realized the nightmare was finally over.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KNIGHT: Sometimes I felt hopeless because there was nobody out there for me. No one.
ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC360" (voice-over): For 11 long years, Michele Knight was held captive inside 2207 Seymour Avenue where along with Amanda Berry and Gina Dejesus she was brutally raped and tortured. For them it seemed there was no end in sight that is until May 6th, 2013.
on camera): Did it seem like any other day?
KNIGHT: For me, it was the most awesome day ever, but it was also terrifying at the same time. Because me and Gina, we actually thought somebody was breaking in.
COOPER: You heard what, noises down stairs?
KNIGHT: Yes.
COOPER: What happened?
KNIGHT: There was a crash, pounding on doors. Then we didn't hear no sound.
COOPER: Did you know that Amanda had run out of the house?
KNIGHT: No. We didn't have no clue. Whatsoever that she had taken off.
COOPER: Did you know that he was gone?
KNIGHT: Well, yes, we knew he was gone somewhere, but we thought it was a trick. You know, like he was just in the backyard, but he was waiting for somebody to be stupid.
COOPER (voice-over): But this time, it wasn't a trick and Amanda Barry was able to break through the front door with her 6-year-old daughter, Joslyn.
AMANDA BERRY: Hello, police. Help me, I'm Amanda Berry.
911 OPERATOR: Do you need police, fire or ambulance?
BERRY: I need police.
911 OPERATOR: OK. What's going on there? BERRY: I've been kidnapped and missing for ten years. I'm here, I'm free now.
COOPER: The police arrived, but inside their boarded up bedroom, Michele and Gina were hiding from what they thought were burglars.
KNIGHT: I hear a noise but anybody can say police. Then I noticed some form of a big person. I was like OK, maybe this might be, and I see a badge. I see numbers and then I hear the police radio. I just said, I ran right into her arms, and I literally choked her.
COOPER (on camera): To the police woman's arms?
KNIGHT: Yes.
COOPER: Do you remember saying anything?
KNIGHT: I said please don't let me go. Please don't put me down.
COOPER: You actually were in her arms?
KNIGHT: Yes, I actually had my legs wrapped around her and my arms like this. She was like that girl literally choked me and then when --
COOPER: Did it seem real to you?
KNIGHT: At that time, no. It didn't. It seemed unreal.
COOPER: What's the past year been like?
KNIGHT: Amazing. Overwhelming but amazing as hell.
COOPER: What's it like to -- I mean, to have friends, to have a life? To be able to be the person you want to be?
KNIGHT: It's amazing. It's something that I never thought I would have.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: Unbelievable, the fact that she survived it. She didn't believe that they could actually be free. She thought it was a trick at first. The fact they survived all those years, an amazing story she should be able to tell and tell and tell and I want to listen to it again and again.
CUOMO: She looked at him in open court and said her brave words, tried to take the power from him and let him know that, that was a big moment.
Coming up on NEW DAY, a sickening reminder of the danger those hundreds of kidnapped girls face. Boko Haram brutally attacking villagers, killing 300 people. Nigeria responding with America's help. Is it already too late? We hope not. BOLDUAN: Plus a Mother's Day moment times a million. The speech you just cannot get enough of. Kevin Durant's mother joining us live to talk about her son, the NBA's MVP and what it took to get there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
