Bernie Fine's Wife Sues ESPN; Korean Car Crash Blamed on Mechanical Failure
KING: This half hour, the wife of a former basketball coach says ESPN ruined her life. Her husband is accused of molesting boys. She's accused of knowing about it. But now she's suing. Imagine being behind the wheel when your car goes berserk, suddenly speeding to 80 miles an hour. Why the driver says there was no stopping this out-of-control vehicle. Plus, sick of negative campaign ads? Well, I hate to break it to you. But this is just the beginning. The truth about who's spending millions to sway your vote. Here in Washington today, President Obama visited a local deli that supplies sandwiches, chips and cookies for his lunchtime get-togethers with congressional leaders. You see the president there. The White House, though, not releasing any pictures of the actual meeting, which just like this entire session of Congress, didn't seem to accomplish much. CNN senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins us from Capitol Hill. Dana, let's start with that meeting at the White House. No pictures. What's the word?</s>DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know people out there may hope -- they're optimists out there -- that when the cameras aren't there, that the microphones aren't there, the presidents and leaders are behind closed doors, they can roll up their sleeves and really discuss the issues and problems, not just big speeches. Well, guess what? According to accounts from sources in both parties, that's not what happened. Apparently, what they discussed in private is pretty much what they say in public. The president talked about his five-point to-do list that he wants Congress to accomplish when it comes to the economy. And the Republicans with the House speaker, John Boehner leading the charge, talked about what he said in public, that he really believes that spending cuts have to be a big part of any debt ceiling vote in the coming months. And of course, they talked about tax cuts. So you know, it's certainly -- is a little bit disheartening to hear that they didn't get a lot done. It might be what's going in the second time in almost half a year that they had this kind of meeting. But one thing they did agree on, John: they liked the sandwiches.</s>KING: We can't name it here; it would be wrong. We know that deli. They make good sandwiches. So I guess we can say that. All right. Let's turn then. There's a lot of posturing, as you just noted. I want you to listen here to a man you know well, to Democratic -- Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper of Tennessee. I think a lot of Americans would think this is a great idea.</s>REP. JIM COOPER (D), TENNESSEE: I'm proud that the Fix Congress Now Caucus is supporting no budget, no pay. That's a bipartisan reform to get Congress to do its most basic work on time. They would have to pass a budget and the appropriations bills before October 1 of each year. Now, the way the Constitution works, we can't change it this year, but we can change it for the next Congress.</s>KING: So Dana, you've got to love this idea. You do your work, you do it on time, or you don't get paid. That's what Congressman Cooper says and his friends say should happen in Congress. But I'm going to be there, take us to the Senate floor today. No?</s>BASH: Not so much. They spent all day, John, six hours of debate and almost two hours of voting on five budgets that everybody knew from the get-go had no chance of passing. And that's, of course, what happened. Now, it was Republicans who pushed this issue. They wanted to make the political point that Democrats who run the Senate haven't passed their own budget in three years. And so they did it by proposing several conservative budgets to show that at least they have ideas. And also, the president's budget, to try to embarrass the president, to show that he is getting no votes. In fact, it was 99-0. Not even one Democrat voted for his budget for various reasons. But you know, Democrats took their opportunity of this political theater to stage their protests against conservative ideas. I've got to tell you: watching this all day today, people out there who are worried about the fact that members of Congress are speaking past each other and they're not getting things done. This is a perfect example of politicking instead of problem solving.</s>KING: Posturing, politicking, speeches, your government not at work.</s>BASH: Not so much.</s>KING: Our senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash. Dana, thanks. ESPN dropped a bombshell on the college basketball world when it aired a report suggesting that a Syracuse assistant coach, Bernie Fine, molested boys and that his wife knew about it. Fine lost his job, and now his wife is going after ESPN, suing the network, a reporter and a producer for libel, saying they falsely painted her as a monster who witnessed the molestation and didn't stop it.</s>LAURIE FINE, WIFE OF BERNIE FINE: I am here today as a wife and mother who has had to endure the trauma of being smeared in the public as a monster. My family and close friends have stood by me. They know that I am a kind and loving person. But my life has been destroyed through the defamation that I have suffered, and this will last a lifetime.</s>KING: ESPN released a statement, that statement saying, quote, "The suit is without merit and we stand by our reporting." Let's bring in legal analyst Sunny Hostin live in New York for us. Sunny, libel is a tough one to prove. Does she have a case?</s>SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, you're right. Libel is a very difficult -- difficult case to prove, especially because truth is an absolute defense to a libel claim. And so the bottom line is she has to prove, John, that these allegations were false. She has to prove that all of the information published by ESPN that she discusses in her 44-page federal complaint is false. And that is very difficult to prove. The other thing I think that she's going to come up against is the fact that there are tape-recorded conversations between Mrs. Fine and one of the alleged victims. I've read the transcripts to one of the tapes. And she has actually confirmed that she did have that conversation with Bobby Davis, one of the alleged victims. Although, she now claims that the tape-recording itself was doctored. And so I would suspect that this is going to be a very difficult case for her to prove.</s>KING: Well, let's listen to part of one of those conversations. Again, it's a secretly recorded call. It's Mrs. Fine talking here to Bobby Davis. He's one of the men, then a younger man, who accused Bernie Fine of sexual molestation. Let's listen.</s>FINE: I know everything that went on with him. Maybe they're just not aware of but you trusted somebody you shouldn't have trusted.</s>KING: What she is saying right there, Sunny, her husband has issues. You trusted someone you shouldn't have trusted. If you're saying, wow, she's talking to a kid who was molested, it sounds pretty damning. She is now saying she was talking about her husband having financial issues. Can she make that case?</s>HOSTIN: You know, I think it's going to be difficult. Because again, I have read the entire transcript. I have it in front of me. And while certainly they do discuss financial issues, they also discuss sex acts, John. They also discuss molestation in particular. And so for her to really prove this libel claim, she's going to have to prove that this conversation either didn't happen or that the tapes, in fact, were doctored or that it's not her voice. And again, she's already confirmed that she did have this conversation with Davis. And so if it goes to court and goes to trial, it will be up to a jury to determine what the truth is, and in the face of this type of tape- recorded evidence, I think that's an uphill battle for her.</s>KING: Sunny Hostin, breaking down the legal issues for us. Sunny, thanks so much. It's a fascinating case. We'll keep an eye on it. Imagine this. A car speeds through two red lights, then crashes at 80 miles an hour. The driver says it is not his fault, claiming the car sped up on its own. And the family hopes a dashboard camera video will prove it. Here's CNN's Paula Hancocks.</s>PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The 30-year-old son of the couple in the car, who only wants to be identified by his surname Kwon, says that he posted the footage of the May 6 crash online because he wanted to prove that it wasn't his father's fault. (voice-over) The footage is from a camera attached to the rear-view mirror, which is fairly common practice in Korea. Kwon tells CNN his parents, both in their 60s, heard a weird noise before the Hyundai Sonata accelerated. The footage shows the car swerving to avoid other vehicles and also driving through two red lights. It eventually crashed into a stationary car at a speed believed to be around 80 miles an hour or 128 kilometers. Kwon says his mother underwent an operation for internal bleeding and is waiting for a second operation on her back and that his father has fractured ribs and finger. Official investigation is underway. The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs says they're currently investigating four other cases of sudden, unintended acceleration. They declined our request for an interview but did send a statement saying, "The vehicle is being investigated by the Korean national forensic service. There is no time estimate for the conclusion of the investigation." Japanese carmaker Toyota recalled millions of cars back in 2009 due to cases of sudden, unintended acceleration. (on camera) Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.</s>KING: Watching that video, woo. We'll see how that investigation goes, as well. Paula, thank you. Whether you're watching TV, listening to the radio or maybe just surfing the Web or social media, some people will be spending record amounts of money this fall to influence your vote. Next, the "Truth" about political ads you can't dodge.