Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Mother Reveals Life With Mentally Ill Teenage Son; Newtown Tragedy Memorial at National Cathedral; "Ghost Parties" -- Crime, Teenagers and Social Media; FCC Moves Closer to Removing Cell Phone Ban; Instagram Reveals New Feature; Trisha Yearwood Cancels SeaWorld Concert

Aired December 12, 2013 - 15:30   ET

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


DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We wanted to get to know Daniel and understand what life is like for a teenager with mental illness.

There's laughter.

Fights about homework.

DANIEL, TEEN DIAGNOSED WITH MENTAL ILLNESS: That's all I got.

GUPTA: Daniel's in the eighth grade.

But also, this.

STEPHANIE ESCAMILLA, MOTHER OF MENTALLY ILL TEENAGER: Is there any way that I could just show up there and just wait in the waiting area? I don't want to be driving around with him like that.

DANIEL: I was hearing voices and, all of a sudden, I had the urge to cut, so I started cutting my arm.

GUPTA: He was cutting himself again. It ended with a trip to the hospital. Daniel stayed for a week.

If Stephanie seems to take it all in stride, it's only because she's seen worse, even worse than what you're about to see.

DANIEL: Please. Go away. Please go away.

GUPTA: What is that like to record your son?

ESCAMILLA: It was horrible. What gets me the most are his eyes on the video. He's got these huge pupil eyes and he's just crying. And you see the fear in his eyes. It breaks my heart.

DANIEL: Make it go away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Sanjay joins me now, along with Wayne Drash. Wayne, you were the senior producer, the writer, who broke the story initially, who spent months and months, I know, with this family. Your piece is on CNN.com. I just tweeted it out, folks who are following me, @BrookeBCNN.

So, Wayne, I want to begin with you because since this piece went live on CNN.com, I know you have e-mailed with me, saying you have gotten hundreds if not thousands of e-mails from people.

Take me back. When did you first meet this family and how much time did you spend with them?

WAYNE DRASH, CNN DIGITAL SENIOR PRODUCERS: I first traveled out there in June, and we really -- that was an initial visit to see how we got along, to see how comfortable everyone was.

With the kid, with these issues that Daniel faces, you want to do a slow introduction, so we thought that was going to be about a two-week process.

But Stephanie and I got along immediately, and by the next night, I was introduced to Daniel, and -- but I didn't interview him, where didn't talk to him.

We did tell him about what our hopes and dreams were, that he would be able to affect and change a lot of lives by coming forward and speaking out.

BALDWIN: We'll get to those hopes and dreams, and I know Stephanie's desire to defy the stigma.

But Sanjay, you, too, talked to Daniel. At the age of 14, this young man is fully aware of what's happening to him and what his illness is doing to his family, which really is remarkable.

GUPTA: Yes, you know, and I tell you, I spoke to Wayne a bit ahead of time and read a lot of his reporting on this.

And even despite, it was still jarring, Brooke, when you actually sit down and talk to Daniel, because you realize how self-aware he is of just how profound this mental illness is.

And you know, he's a young kid. He's 14-years-old and he's been dealing with this since he was 10.

You also see the impact on his family. Wayne talks about Stephanie, who is this incredibly powerful mom.

She comes home at the end of every day, not sure if Daniel may have attempted suicide that day. She just doesn't know from day to day what her life's going to be like.

To see that first hand is incredibly powerful.

BALDWIN: We'll hear from Stephanie in just a minute. Wayne, you know, in reading where it sounds like Daniel is self-aware enough to say it's time for my pill. I'm hearing these voices, or mom says we need to go to the hospital.

But let me quote one more thing from your piece talking about Stephanie, this mother.

"Worry will occupy Stephanie the rest of the night. 'If we're asleep and he does something, you know, that's just one of my fears,' she says.

"'I have never had that fear as bad as I have it now because he's getting older, bigger, stronger.'"

So she's having a tough time sleeping. How does she afford all this? We saw the shot with all the pills, when you talk about the hospitalization.

DRASH: Just to back up for a second, like that episode of psychosis you saw on that video, Daniel was 9-, 10-years-old at that time.

So, he was a young boy, so she could scoop him up in her arms. Now, he's 14-years-old.

BALDWIN: Tougher.

DRASH: About 5'7", 5'8", 150 pounds, so she no longer has that. That is something that she worries about, as you say, getting older and getting stronger.

BALDWIN: What about the cost?

DRASH: Yes, the cost, that's a fascinating question. She lives in the state of Texas.

With ObamaCare coming, the restrictions on Medicaid have kind of come into effect.

Actually, they were dropped from Medicaid as of last month because of this income gap/disparity that has kind of been created by this non- expansion of Medicaid.

However, she does have insurance through her work. That does cover much of the cost.

But when you're seeing a psychologist twice a week, psychiatrist, and then any potential hospitalizations, just the co-pays alone add up quickly.

BALDWIN: Just the access this mother allowed both of you into their homes, she talked to Wolf earlier today about why she gave this raw and open access to her family's life.

Here she was, Stephanie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ESCAMILLA: I made a promise to myself that one day I was going to do something to help others that were just like me. And now here we are.

It's actually very overwhelming. I fight back the tears because it's something that I wanted to accomplish, and I'm actually doing it, and the overwhelming responses, everybody -- I have a lot of people behind me, supporting me, and it's awesome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I just want to hear from both of you, Sanjay first, and then ending with you, Wayne.

The response that you all have received, that she has received since being so open about this.

GUPTA: Yes, it's incredible. You know, there was an expert that Wayne had quoted in his piece that one person's love can make all the difference, and Stephanie embodies that. She's making a huge difference.

It hasn't been easy. Simply to get her son treatment, for her to believe it, and then to get her son treatment, has been a remarkable journey.

But we hear from so many people. I have heard from tons of people in social media and e-mail. I think we pay attention to these things in the wake of some tragedy. At that point, no one really thinks about all the preamble to this.

Hopefully, you know, Daniel is going to plateau. He's not going to have increased problems. But he's an example of just how difficult it is for mentally ill people in this country to get the help they need.

BALDWIN: Wayne, just 20 seconds, response? Do you expect it would be so overwhelming?

DRASH: No. When you do a story on mental illness, when you have access like this, that's a worry. You're not sure how it's going to be received.

But really, it was her honesty that really helped the story. She would tell me, time and again, I don't want you to sugar coat it.

BALDWIN: Wow. And you didn't. Neither of you did.

Sanjay Gupta, you'll have so much more on this on "SGMD." It airs Saturday, 4:30 p.m. Eastern, Sunday, 7:30 in the morning right here on CNN.

And you can read this entire poignantly, eloquently written piece here on Stephanie and Daniel and their family, written by Wayne Drash. Go to CNN.com/FamilyOnTheBrink.

Thank you both so much. Coming up next, we are two days from the first anniversary of the tragedy in Newtown, and any moment, bells will be ringing at the National Cathedral there in Washington, D.C. to honor the lives, the children lost.

Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Coming in, live pictures, this is the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The bells will be ringing here any moment now.

We'll pause, of course, for that, for the victims of the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut.

We're two days away now from that one-year anniversary. The town will be marking exactly one year without their loved ones, 26 people of that 20 were children.

Poppy Harlow is in Washington for us right now, and, Poppy, tell me who's attending this service.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People from all over the country, Brooke, they're expecting about 1,000 people to be here, and it will start in just a few minutes, as you said, after the bells toll.

This is a vigil, not only to honor the victims lost in Newtown a year ago on Saturday, but also to honor all of the victims of gun violence.

We're going to hear from survivors of gun violence, going to hear from family members who have lost ones, both in Newtown and elsewhere, to gun violence.

But there's a fascinating and touching back story to this. It's about the two men that are largely responsible for putting this vigil together, their names, Monte Frank from Newtown, and Pastor Sam Saylor from Hartford, Connecticut.

Pastor Saylor lost his son to gun violence last year, and Monte Frank, of course, a father in Newtown who grieves with that entire community.

The two of them met after that tragic shooting, came together. They have been lobbying Congress. They have been fighting for stronger gun regulation.

And they are both very outspoken against gun violence. They worked to put this together.

We sat down with them for a long interview last week. I just talked to them again today. I want you to listen to what they told me, why they're here, why they're doing this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PASTOR SAM SAYLOR, SON KILLED BY GUN VIOLENCE: Well, I hope it sends a message that we're united as a (inaudible) honor with action, the children that have fallen, the lives that have (inaudible), that we honor their dreams, rather the lives that were lost, with action to make sure that we have a better world.

HARLOW: For you, Monte?

MONTE FRANK, NEWTOWN RESIDENT: When Americans look at the faces of the people on the stage, all those who have been lost to gun violence, I want them to see that this is unacceptable.

I want Congress to see this is unacceptable, and I want them to have the courage to move ahead with stronger gun legislation so we don't come back here next year and have to honor another 30,000 gun victims.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: And the reason this is being held here, Brooke, is for a few reasons. First, obviously, to send that message to Capitol Hill. Both of them want to see tougher federal gun laws.

But it's also so that it's not in Newtown, because as you know, the town of Newtown has asked the press to stay away on the one-year anniversary, to give them the privacy to heal on that day, so they're having it here, hoping people won't go there but come here to honor the lives lost.

It's going to be a beautiful service. We're going do hear from singer Carole King, from the World Children's Choir, and the speakers I mentioned.

It's about to begin in a few minutes, and the bells will toll for three minutes before the vigil starts to honor not just the Newtown victims but all victims of gun violence.

BALDWIN: Poppy Harlow for us at the beautiful National Cathedral.

As we go to break, I just wanted to pause just for all of us to remember.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Question for you. Have you ever heard of a thing called a "ghost party?" It's basically when groups of people break in, they target a vacant home and they just have a good time within it.

The trouble is, the party often ends in vandalism and theft, and that just happened in Los Angeles. A million dollars worth at one luxury home. More than a dozen teenagers were arrested for breaking into this mansion.

And you see all this loot? I'm talking about medieval masks, Versace suits and a leopard. Oh, yeah. And these teenagers posted it online.

Now, this is not the first time this has happened. A group of teenagers got so famous for pulling this type of crime, their story was actually turned into a movie. It was called "The Bling Ring."

But they targeted the Hollywood elite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god. That's Paris Hilton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's Kirsten Dunst.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just think we wanted to be part of, like, the lifestyle, the lifestyle that everybody kind of wants.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Paris Hilton is hosting a party in Vegas tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You guessed it. They went after Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan, and a member of "The Bling Ring" himself, Nick Prugo, joins me live from L.A. to talk about what prompts young people to do this sort of thing.

Nick, Nick, Nick, I mean, listen, you were part of something similar, so let me just ask you.

When you look at all the loot that these kids took from this house, this mansion recently, and then they took to social media and posted selfies with some of this stuff, really, let's be real, why are teens so stupid?

NICK PRUGO, PROSECUTED FOR ROLE IN "BLING RING": I mean, I think it goes back to people wanting to show off, especially, well, teenagers.

When I was a teenager, I kind of wanted to show like, look what I have, and with Instagram and Twitter and everything, you can kind of get a constant live feed of what everybody has and what everybody's doing. And I blame social media.

BALDWIN: You blame social media. How about blaming the teenagers?

PRUGO: Well, of course. Of course. Absolutely.

No, they should not be in people's houses. That's really bad.

But I just, I feel like there's a lot of pressure on our youth and teens not to steal but just to, you know, have the nicest things or just because of, you know, who we follow and look up to on these reality shows.

BALDWIN: Remind me, when you were doing this, I think we even have a picture of you wearing the Orlando Bloom jersey in your mug shot -- sorry about that.

So when you did this, remind me, social media, were you guys tweeting and Facebooking your loot as well?

PRUGO: There was a little bit of Facebooking. It was kind of before Instagram, and Twitter was just more for celebrities, I think, then.

But, yeah, there were a couple pictures of us wearing the jewelry and clothing, and it's like a weird kind of thrill, I guess.

BALDWIN: It's a weird kind of thrill.

I'm also curious, do you think these kids, you know, most recently, is it the sense of entitlement because -- these are multimillion-dollar homes.

These are celebrities who maybe wouldn't even miss some of these items, they have so much.

Is that part of it here, part of this thrill?

PRUGO: I mean, that might play into why you could rationalize that it's not so bad to do that.

But, I mean, I don't agree with just because somebody has a lot, you should take from them.

But, I mean, that might be a way to rationalize it.

BALDWIN: Just couldn't believe the snow leopard they walked out of there worth $250,000 and they got caught.

Nick Prugo of the original "Bling Ring," the real life "Bling Ring," thank you so much for spending time with me. Thank you.

PRUGO: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, big announcement, speaking of social media, from Instagram today. We will tell you all about its new feature.

Plus, just in, the FCC moves a step closer on allowing cell phones to be used in flight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: This just in to CNN. The FCC has voted 3-2 to seek public comment about lifting the cell phone ban on airplanes.

To be clear, this is not a move to actually lift the ban, but it is a decision to pursue the idea even further.

But when you look at this recent poll, it found that nearly 60 percent of Americans do not want people to talk midflight on their cell phone. There you have it.

Instagram is going private. The company today revealed a new messaging feature called "Instagram Direct." What this does, it allows users to send a photo or video privately to up to 15 followers with comments in real-time.

What makes this app different from the rest is that Instagram users can only direct message text along with photos. Private, text-only messages are not an option.

And add another name to the growing list of celebrities' bands not performing at SeaWorld Orlando. Trisha Yearwood has now canceled her upcoming concert there.

She was supposed to perform at the marine park February 22nd, but her reps say in light of recent concerns, she has yanked her gig.

It is not clear if those concerns are specifically because of the CNN film, the documentary "Blackfish" that raised all kinds of questions about killer whales in captivity, or because of a petition on change.org that asked her to back out.

But, as we have been reporting, she is joining this growing list of performers who have canceled their shows following this film. Initially, you had the Barenaked Ladies, Willie Nelson, Heart, Cheap Trick and now Trisha Yearwood.

And that does it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin here in New York. Thank you for being here.

As always, you can check out our interviews. Go to the Brooke Blog, CNN.com/Brooke.

And now to Washington, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.