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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  November 16, 2014 2:00pm-3:01pm PST

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good evening, everyone. you're in the cnn newsroom. isis militants in syria have release add new video that shows the aftermath of yet another beheading. president obama has confirmed
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that the victim is american, peter kassig. just moments ago peter kassig's parents, ed and paula, issued a statement. i want to read that you statement in full. we are heartbroken to learn that our son abdul-rahman peter kassig has lost his life as a result of his love for the syrian people and his desire to ease their suffering. our hearts also goes out to the families of the syrians who lost their lives along with our son. fed by a strong desire to use his life to save the lives of others abdul-rahman was drawn to the camps filled with displaced families and to understaffed hospitals inside syria. we know he found his home amongst the syrian people and he hurt when they were hurting. as he wrote in march 2012 in a letter announcing he was taking a leave of absence from butler university to serve the syrian people, here in this land i have found my calling. i do not know much. every day that i am here, i have more questions and less answers, but what i do know is that i
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have a chance to do something here, to take a stand, to make a difference. we are incredibly proud of our son for his life according to his humanitarian calling. we will work every day to keep his legacy alive as best we can. we remain heartbroken, also, for the families of the other captives who did not make it home safely. the families of james foley, steven sotloff, david haynes remain in our thoughts and prayers and we pray for the remaining captives. we remain eternally greateful fr the many, many words of support and prayers from all over the world on our son's behalf. we ask people to continue to pray for the safe return of all captives being held unjustly and all people being oppressed around the world and especially for the people of syria, a land our son loved. in lieu of flowers, the family asked that contributions in honor of abdul-rahman kassig be
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made to the syrian-american medical society which is working to meet the medical needs of the syrians displaced and injured by the war. that is the full statement coming from the parents of the 26-year-old who was so brutally murdered by isis. this new isis video features the familiar image and voice of the same hooded figure seen in previous execution videos but unlike past recordings it is longer, much more graphic, and it does not include any remarks by the victim. peter kassig, who converted to islam and changed his name to abdul-rahman kassig, was a former u.s. ranger. he previously fought in iraq. he later returned to the region as an aid worker. he was captured while helping syrian refugees. and while he was in captivity he shared a cell with americans james foley and steven sotlof who were also beheaded. bob, watching this video is horrifying, it is horrific. it made me so angry this continues to happen.
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i know you've looked at it as well. what stands out in terms of what is different this time? >> well, it's the production, poppy. it's less complicated. what that tells me is the hostage takers are on the move, they didn't have time to plan their idea of marketing this. there are platforms all over syria and iraq. it's difficult for them to hide. we've been doing geomapping from previous videos that show where they've been and they're taking more precautions. >> some analysts are calling this a sign of desperation that isis is feeling the air strikes more. >> they did lose the refinery a couple days ago. they were unable to take kobani.
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they had great aspirations. they've told their followers they were on the move, they're going to move into saudi arabia, this and that. they haven't moved. there's a certain amount of desperation and anger these air strikes are work to go a degree. it's been a huge setback and they are lashing out. this is what happens. >> interesting to note in this video, it's very long, and it ends with the video. accepted these oaths of allegiance from the affiliate groups so expanding their goal, their caliphate into yemen, saudi arabia, egypt, talking about that. what does that tell us about the timing of this? >> i think, again, they would like to show some progress.
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these groups in algear yeah, and there is no can he ordination between them but it's called swearing allegiance. they are -- it is the caliphate and this is symbolic. i think, poppy, the more i see this, i don't think this isis moving is long for this world. it cannot govern at the end of the day. it's too violent for the people in the area, all muslims. i think it will collapse under its own weight and the question is when. how hard do we push it or let it collapse on its own. >> i want your reaction to comments the president, president obama made at the g-20 talking about isis saying if isil had gotten possession of a nuclear weapon, he said he would order ground troops into the region. you believe, though, that needs to happen sooner.
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>> if this movement expands again, the iraqi government cannot do it on its own. it's a shia army, a militia. if it does become a threat to the gulf, for instance, saudi arabia or real outside the borders of syria and iraq, this president will have no choice but to put troops in that region. >> and general dempsey has said it is not off the table at this point in time. appreciate the expertise. thank you. kassig's violent death contrasts very much with the peaceful life he led as someone who dedicated himself to helping the syrian people caught in the middle of this brutal war. this report on him back in 2012. he told her about how his life changed from when he was a soldier to a humanitarian aid worker working to save lives. and he says he felt this was really his calling. here is how arwa remembers him. >> reporter: the first time we met peter was during the summer of 2012. it was quite the sight. peter, a former army ranger,
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pale, tattooed, and though at the time speaking only a handful of arabic, tend to go wounded syrians with a compassion that transcended the language barrier. >> we each get one life and that's it. we get one shot at this. we don't get any do-overs. for me it was time to put up or shut up. the way i saw it, i didn't have a choice, you know. this is what i was put here to do. i guess i'm just a hopeless romantic and i'm an idealist and i believe in hopeless causes. >> reporter: for peter doing something meant starting his own nonprofit. just months after he we met him he was already delivering humanitarian aid and medical assistance to syrians in refugee camps and inside the war torn country. profoundly touching all who lived and worked with him. in the words of this syrian activist he would treat everyone. no one was exempt. he trade many on first aid. he lived in the house with us.
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he was extremely kind. he was sad during our times of sorrow and happy for our times of joy. a doctor recalls his last conversation with peter saying, i asked him if he was afraid he would be killed. and he said, no. my life is not worth more than yours. and that he considers himself to be like any other person who was part of the seyrian revolution. peter was kidnapped shortly afterwards in october 2013. at some point during his captivity he converted to islam and took on the name abdul rahman. in this letter drafted to his parents during that time he wrote, if i do die, i figure that at least you and i can seek refuge and comfort in knowing that i went out as a result of trying to alleviate suffering and helping those in need. and that is how peter will be remembered, for his humor, laughter, but mostly his drive and compassion and the way he inspired us all more than he could ever imagine. >> there was this impression,
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this belief that there is no hope, you know. that's when it's more important than ever that we come in against all odds and try to do something. >> thank you for that story so we can get to know more the man peter was. we're going to talk more about peter kassig's extraordinary life right here in our next hour. meantime this. after days of silence, bill cosby's lawyer is respond iing multiple rape allegations against the comedian. this as cosby prepares to take the stage to perform tonight. our panel weighs in next. (receptionist) gunderman group. gunderman group is growing. getting in a groove. growth is gratifying. goal is to grow. gotta get greater growth. i just talked to ups. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics.
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have you compared plans yet? it's easy at medicare.gov. or you can call 1-800-medicare. medicare open enrollment. you'll never know unless you go. i did it. you can too. ♪ people are asking why respond with silence. during an interview with npr this week the xhcomedian respond to allegations of sexual assault with nothing but silence and shaking his head. well, today cnn talked to the
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npr host who intervaud koiewedc and asked what his face looked like during those moments of silence. >> this question gives me no pleasure, he began to shake his head and go like that. i think he certainly understood which question was coming. at the gave what i would refer to that delightful impish cosby smile at first. and then was silent. didn't answer the question. i thought there was a good chance the interview would be canceled. obviously it wasn't. i think we can fair ly safely sy they had a strategy in place for when the question was asked which maybe they thought we couldn't use silence on the radio. >> today cnn did get a statement from cosby's lawyer. it reads in full, over the last several weeks decades old des credited allegations against mr. cosby has resurfaced. the fact they are being repeated does not make them true. mr. cosby does not intend to
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dignify these allegations with any comment. he would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support. there will knob further comment from kocosby or any of his representatives. let's discuss. joey jackson joins me now. host of cnn reliable sources and also cnn political commentator. thank you for being here. let me begin with you -- >> good to be here. >> -- brian. looking from analyzing media and how people handle the public relations side of things, is it the right move not to say anything? >> i think scott is on to something about maybe the theory was if he stayed silent in the interview, they wouldn't broadcast that audio. i can't understand why else they would have agreed to give that interview. it was supposed to be about art donations the cosbys made to the smithsonian, and that's a nice gesture, a nice reason for an interview n. light of these events right now it's surprising he agreed to do it at all. i must imagine they now regret
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it given that the lawyer came out this morning and said he's not going to be speaking at all about this again. >> and no representative will give any more statement. what is your take? >> i think that's interesting. as a communications specialist, what i've done for many years, i'm sure they were looking at how do we best handle this? we want to do something that's positive because they have -- cosby has a new special coming out, a series allegedly on nbc that's coming out, touting this african art thing. let's try to spin it and control the environment. on radio you don't have the facial expressions. you can't see his disposition so maybe they could get away with it. i think they've allowed this to get out of hand. if you look at the website, they did the cosby mean, thinking that people were going to -- >> twitter. >> on twitter. that was a disaster. these rape allegations came back up and people destroyed bill cosby on this, fairly or unfairly. that's the world we live in with social media. >> these are still all allegations. but from 13 different women. cnn cannot validate any of it.
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cosby is choosing not to respond. legally, looking at this from a lawyer's perspective, there was a confidential settlement years back but he's never been prosecuted for any of these allegations so legally is this upon advice of counsel? >> we don't like any of our clients talking or saying anything at any time, right? this adds new meaning to radio silence. they ask him the question, he stays shut. weigh don't like as a general matter for your clients to talk. as for the allegations, originally i was saying, you know what, they could prosecute him for this because the statute of limitations in new york, there is no statute for rape. >> but that changed in 2006. >> it changed in 2006, poppy. so as a result the statute of limitations was five years. it would have ended in 1990. bill cosby from a legal perspective is out of the woods criminally and civilly he can't face a lawsuit as it relates to miss bowman. >> mark, you were part after heated debate overall of this
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last night on the program. what is your take on whether bill cosby has a responsibility to answer to people on this one? >> there are two things. the panelists are giving bill cosby too much credit. one is a strategy from his publicity team. i think it's a certain level of arrogance that he has defensemen on straighted consistently. in the midst of rape allegations to go on the internet and say, hey, hash tag me. you're either naive or you have a publicity team that's completely dropping the ball. consistently he has had allegations chase hem throughout the years and he's relied on his charm, his fame to avoid strict investigation and scrutiny. and now over the last ten years as he's positioned himself as america's sort of racial grand poobah, he has been walking around talking about sexual impropriety in the black community for fave years.
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i don't think it's unreasonable to say, hey, bill, you've been challenge d on this. why don't you give what happened from your perspective on this very issue. >> i think whether it's the right thing to do or the legally responsible thing to do are two different areas. i actually agree with mark on this. i think bill cosby has escaped a certain amount of scrutiny because of the image portrayed for him. >> seen as america's dad. >> a lot of viewers have skipped these questions over the years. >> i think that's unfair. it's happened oftentimes when men get into a certain position, they're in a protective class and they have people around them that will do whatever they need to do to protect their asset. that goes from bill clinton on down. >> quickly before -- quickly before we get to a break, brian, you said a lot of interviewers haven't asked him that. >> have passed on these questions. even a new bay iography came ou. he chose not to go down this road because of the settlement you described. an example of can decisions not
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to pursue aggressively. >> and you heard the npr host say i am in the news business, i have to ask you these questions, even if you're going to remain silent. >> the more he stays silent, the more that he can just say i'm not going to dignify -- >> that is true. >> much more on this after the break. mark, i will start with you. we're not forgetting about you because you're not in new york.
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i got this. [thinking] is it that time? the son picks up the check?
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allegations that continue to surface against him. let's continue with joey, tara, brian and mark. mark, to you first. bill cosby still on the road, taking the stage in pennsylvania tonight. good move? >> i mean, sometimes when you're in the midst of tragedy, when you're in the midst of crisis, the best thing to do from a public relations stand point is to work, act as if you're doing the right thing, living your life and you're going to ignore that's ridiculous allegations. that's what the person who is charged or accused of doing something would do. again. i don't know -- i can't say whether bill cosby is guilty or innocent. not just because of his public relations concerns but it's the right thing to do. >> brian, to you first, the same question to you. if you're someone close to bill cosby now, either a family or professionally, what do you say to him? >> i get he's getting this kind
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of advice where people are saying you've ignored this stuff and haven't had to respond for years. not much has changed now. i would argue a the lot has changed now. cnn and others are covering this vigorously with saturation coverage in some cases. he's not the only one commenting. nbc is not commenting either. he is developing something with nbc. they've been working on it. >> when i interviewed one of his accusers, she brought up nbc and called them irresponsible. before i could even ask a question -- >> should they comment? >> clearly she is making that a story, and i think nbc will have to stop saying no comment. >> i saw that and you were asking her about the media's coverage and whether you felt it was responsible, et cetera. good interview. >> whether this was ignored up until now, the review came out and said why has this not been talked about? is it because cosby is the kind of guy people don't want to hear it, they don't want to believe it. that has changed. >> what do you say to him if you're someone close to bill cosby? >> i think i agree so far with everyone else. you have to continue on with
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what you're doing. there are no formal charges against him. the allegations are not new. these are things that have been around. the cult of personality that is bill koss can by, i think he's riding that wave of popularity and just brushing this off where it's really not something that should be brushed off. now at this point it can't be handled legally. she can't sue him civilly. 13 women have come out and accuse d him. he had a settlement in 2005. now it's the public shaming aspect of it. nbc and others have to decide if they think the alfwagss and what we know so far is enough for them to back away or not. >> you think about your legacy -- apologies for interrupting you. you think about your legacy and how you want to be remembered. don't you want to take hold of the conversation? >> you do, poppy, but here is the problem. as a lawyer -- >> if you didn't do it. >> it totally conflicts. one second, mark. it totally conflicts with the public relations, right? your public relations people and media people tell you one thing. go out, address the issues, speak about it. otherwise people will think you did it. from a legal perspective,
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there's a lot of states in the union, 50. the reality is different states have different statutes of limitations. we're addressing the allegations we know of. what if there are not legally protected under the statute of limitations? now if he says something, legally he's in a quagmire. we're going to tell him to keep his mouth shut. >> there's a reason he settled that case. >> to be clear we don't know any details. >> that's true. >> all locked up and sealed. we don't know about any deals. mr. cosby's lawyer vigorously defending him on this one and saying there will be no more comment and saying these allegations have no merit. thank you all for being with us. mark, wish you could be here in person in new york. see you soon. >> i nknow. i feel left out. >> it's okay. >> we've got you. >> thanks, guys. appreciate it. coming up next, another case of ebola being treated on american soil. the cost of treating these patients is in the millions. one lawmaker's idea, the federal
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government should cover the cost. they should pay. we'll talk about that next. but first, the season finale of "parts unknown." here's a sneak peek. >> let's accept that this is about as close to paradise as it gets, right? j jamaica. >> we like jamaican music. we like jamaican agricultural products a lot. we like jamaican food, a lot. day one, first order of business, jerk chicken. can you blame me? i think not. what do we actually know about jamaica? if you can buy a house and the beach. if you're a hotel you can make it a private beach. you can keep people out. how much of this is left? i mean, who will get to do this? it's sad to say i think it's unlikely 50 years from now anyone but the extraordinarily fortunate, the extraordinarily
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connected, and the extraordinarily rich will be able to even look at a vista like this. that is my personal theory. turn the trips you have to take, into one you'll never forget. earn points for every flight and every hotel. expedia plus rewards.
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a surgeon is in extremely critical condition right now at nebraska medical center. he is the tenth person to be treated for the deadly ebola virus in the united states and treat iing ebola costs a lot of money, largely because of the, many people that are needed to treat these patients around the clock while they are in isolation. i want to talk about this with a special correspondent for "the daily beast." an interesting development on this front, michael. today new york senator chuck schumer came out and said, look, it's cost $20 million so far for new york city to treat dr. craig spencer who was treated here. one guy, and track the 300 different people that may have come into contact with him since he returned to treating ebola patients. he is calling for a fund so cities and states don't have to bear the cost. is that the right move? >> absolutely. it's a national threat. you have 43% of the people arriving from west africa come
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through jfk airport. you have the nebraska hospital. that guy probably never has after arriving in an ebola suit. other hospitals around the country are named as hospitals good at caring for this. we saw down in texas what happens if you have a hospital that's not prepared. we saw at bellevue what happens if you have a hospital that is prepared. you want a place like bellevue no matter where -- what state, surrounding state. you can go there and have it done. >> he's specifically calling for new york city, right, the state he represents. >> he lives in brooklyn. >> to be reimbursed. it also got me thinking, also don't we pay taxes in part for unknowns like this? >> i think we pay taxes more for problems -- state taxes, for problems and needs that arise specific to that state.
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>> dr. spencer is a new york city resident. >> he is. but if he had been in connecticut and he got sick, they would have brought him to bellevue probably. >> right. >> and the whole idea is to have these centers that are very good at caring for this disease and that will prevent it from spreading and if it is a new york thing and he's on the a-train with someone who gets on the metro north train who ends up in connecticut who has dinner with -- >> fair point. that's why they're monitoring so many people. also talk iing about the small businesses, for example, that bridal shop in ohio that had to shut down for a matter of days because one of the ebola patients was there, for example, right? how do you -- how do you take care of reimburse -- especially the small businesses that are impacted. >> well, i mean, that's what -- we all pay a lot of federal taxeses and some of it should go back. i think the other reason we ought to do it federal rally is particularly with the health care workers, these are great
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americans. and there's nothing it -- i get choked up thinking about it. >> right. >> what is better about america than people who would go to that place and help people knowing they could suffer the same fate. >> and die. >> and die that way. that's what is best and we ought to honor that and welcome them home. i think we ought to have a ticker tape parade for them. when it comes to money say, all right, sure. we have some money, here. >> it bothered me when dr. hunter came back and there was so much criticism of him for going out and about. and i'm not saying that was the right thing to do that he should have done that. i'm saying let's not forget this is someone who risked his life to save other lives in west africa where more than 5,000 people have died from this. not everyone would do that. >> you're absolutely right. if ever a guy deserved the night out in brooklyn, it was that doctor. he spent two weeks watching
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people die, watching women and kids die in front of him and him not being able to help them. >> follow protocol. he was following protocol. appreciate it. good to have you in as always. thank you so much. coming up next on the program, see what you think about this incredible story. a young man behind bars for a crime his parents only thought he might commit. we're going to talk about this next. first in today's "american journey an amazing woman is still dealing with the terrible side effects. just lost the lower part of her leg after 17 operations trying to save it. she told our anderson cooper what she's not losing is her sense of humor. >> when the mayrathon bombing first happened and i was in the hospital and the possibility of a.m. paw tags came up, i told the doctors, hey look, my leg is just a leg.
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it's not my life. if you need to amputate it, you can can. >> you wrote this broke-up letter to your leg and i want to read some of what you said. i feel like you're holding me back from really reaching my full potential. talking to your leg. now i get this is pretty tough to hear me say, but i have never lied to you and i don't plant to start now. what i need is something you can't give me anymore and the empathy that you require i cannot longer handle. explain the idea of writing that letter. >> it's really funny because i didn't realize this learn was going to be such a huge deal to everybody. i wrote it in about three minutes, and it was kind of my way of saying, you know, hey, this really is a breakup. here is a part of my body, a piece of my life i've had for the last 27 years be but it's not doing me any good. i wanted to make it something that wasn't a sad thing, that really was a celebration for a new beginning. i make a lot of purchases for my business.
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[announcer] call 1-800-farmers and see how much you could save. at first glance this story may sound familiar. they avoided mass murder by a young man who purchased two assault style guns. the man was convicted and sent to prison but his parents say his only crime is he is mentally ill. dr. sanjay gupta has his story. >> reporter: like oerp new inmates he's locked up 23 hours a day. blake lambers is 22 years old and i met him at the correctional center, the maximum security prison in missouri that he now calls home. what did you do to get here? >> i bought two, i didn't tell my mom, she found the receipt
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and she called the sheriff's department. >> you were asked lots of questions. >> yes. >> at some point you said you had init tended to cause people harm. >> yes, and then the detective came out of nowhere and said i was going to threaten a movie theater. i just started agreeing with him because i knew either way he was going to find me -- he was going to charge me for something. >> reporter: police eventually did charge lammers with making a threat, arm criminal action. would you have heard anybody? >> no. i would hurt myself before i hurt someone else. >> reporter: while it is impossible to know what exactly was going on inside blaec lammers' mind when he bought those guns, we do know in this incident he didn't hurt anyone. no doubt blaec has had a troubled past. in 2011 he pled guilty to assault on a co-worker. in 2009 he was arrested in
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walmart carrying a butcher knife. he said he thought about killing a woman there. his parents, tricia and bill lammers say all that was in the past and they agreed to talk about it including the day they called the police on their own son. >> i gathered up his clothes from the bathroom floor and came upstairs and was going through his pockets and i found a receipt from walmart that he had bought a weapon for $865. i immediately went out in the garage and called bill. what do we do? >> reporter: was that the concern that he was going to hurt somebody? >> my concern was he would take the gun and kill himself. >> reporter: you decide to call the authorities? >> the next day i wept to the sheriff's department with the receipt. >> reporter: according to police documents, blaec's mother, tricia, was concerned he might shoot people at a movie theater. she says not true, that they had twist ed her words. she claims all she said was that blaec's gun looked like the one
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used by james holmes in the aurora shooting. she told me she wasn't worried about a mass homicide but rather a lonely suicide. so what did they say to you? >> they said, okay, mrs. lammers, that you for coming in. he didn't seem too concerned. didn't, okay, thank you. >> reporter: why did they put him in jail? >> they said they were doing a well-being check. they picked him up at sonic and said we need to take you to the police station for questioning. >> reporter: in an instant the lives of this family changed forever. within minutes of meating blaec, you could feel and see and hear the cause of his parents' worry. he was a broken kid. lots of smiles but lots of pain. >> trying too hard to fit in with other people. at one point in my sophomore year in high school for a whole semester from august to december, i ate my lunch in the bathroom because i didn't know anybody. i didn't know anybody that ate
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lunch at that time. >> reporter: that's caned of sad, blaec. >> looking back on it, i should at least try to talk to people, but i was shy in high school. i was afraid to talk to someone because of what i would say and how it would come out. >> he did football, basketball and karate. >> reporter: diagnosed with dislyslexia as a child, blaec struggled in school but eventually succeeded. by ninth grade he lettered academically, made the dean's list and was a 4.0 student. then seemingly overnight it all went downhill and fast. >> within six months it went from wonderful to what is going on? we have a serious problem. >> reporter: soon he was in and out of hospitals. within just a couple of years he was diagnosised with nearly a dozen different psych yiatric illnesses. mood disorder, major depression, schizoid personality. so when blaec bought the guns, his parents felt they had to step in.
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they saw their son as a patient. but authorities saw that same troubled boy and concluded he should be a prisoner. his mother thinks blaec was a gullible kid and easily led because of his mental illness. prosecutors tell us he had a real plan to kill. he just didn't get a chance to carry it out. they believe they prevented a tragedy. psychologist john phillips treated blaec when he was 17. were you concerned that he was a threat? >> in the four months he was at the hospital, he was the model resident. >> reporter: did you ever feel he was potentially a harm to others? that was the concern it seemed. >> i never once felt that he would ever try to hurt anyone on purpose. he wasn't a malicious child. he never actually acted out any of those threats. he never, ever once was violent
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in any way. >> reporter: how do you distinguish then the kid who is just talking, being a teenager, versus someone who could go out and do some serious harm? >> you have to find out what is going on, you know, in their head. and you've got to be able to assess whether their behavior is neurologically based and just based on an environmental reaction or whether they are actually, you know, sociopathic where they actually don't care about anybody, they just care about what they want. >> reporter: is that the distinction you see with blake blaec? >> absolutely. he's being treated with a crippminal mind but he has an autistic mind. i think because of his history of threatening, they kind of put it all the way to the other ex traem
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belong in jail. neither of the men who treated blaec were asked to testify in trail. would it have made a difference?
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what's running through their mind. but as jarring as it your life now, you're in this president on, is there anything about it that makes sense to you? >> this place is supposed to help you. i don't think it is. i think prison is supposed to keep you away from society. society is scaring you. >> should they scare you, blake? for what i >> should they be scared of you, blake? >> for what i said? actually me, me.
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no. i didn't do anything to harm anybody out there. i was just a 20-year-old kid living in a small town. >> what a story. stick with us. on the other side of the break, we're going to discuss this all. was this the right way to handle this case? that's next. they got expert advise, special discounts, new technologies. like smart pick ups. they'll only show up when you print a label and it's automatic. we save time and money. time? money? time and money. awesome. awesome! awesome! awesome! awesome! (all) awesome! i love logistics.
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we just watched sanjay gupta's report on a young man convicted own sent to prison on first degree assault charges though he never carried out any alleged plot. let's talk about this with criminal defense attorney joey jackson. thank you for joining us. fascinating piece from sanjay on this. >> absolutely. >> the difference here is that
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the young man, blake's parents, look at him as a patient. mentally ill. the law looked at him as a criminal. as a prisoner for having these thought. where does the law come down on this? >> it's a beautiful question and it's a very complicated question because on the one hand, poppy, what do you want, right? you want if they're criminals to be off the street and the prosecutors want to avert a disaster. you don't want a sandy hook, don't want an aurora, you don't want that. at the same time, is he really a criminal or a person who's really starving for mental health treatment? so that's the question, and, you know, the reality is that if you look at the statistics, right, most of the people who are committing crimes or condemn pla te ing, there's a mental lapse. the system, criminally, poppy, when you look at criminal law, it talks about punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation, but doesn't address the underlying mental health issues that it needs to. >> where is the line between protecting the public and
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undermining someone's civil liberties and get the help one needs? >> there are civil commitment laws. in missouri, there's a civil commitment law that says, listen, in the event you pose a threat to yourself or others we can commit you involuntarily for four days and can be extended up to a year in certain instances if after the four days you don't get the treatment that psychologists really feel that you feed. in-patient and there's out-patient. the law addresses it that way. it says we can civilly confine you against your will even if you say, no, i'm fine, we can put you in. i think that's what needs to be taken more seriously. look at the civil commitment laws and maybe deal with the mental health issues. don't criminalize people and throw them away. >> there needs to be more of a focus in this country on mental health and rehabilitation. >> it would make such a difference. >> thank you, joey jackson. >> always. five questions for the week ahead. we'll get to them after a quick break. to get the career you'll love.
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