Total Disregard For Sandusky's Victims
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Suzanne. Thank you so much. Hello to all of you. I'm Brooke Baldwin. A lot of news coming in to me, including word of a huge development in the case involving this major bank and accusations it gave white home buyers better mortgage rates. More on that. Plus, has Mitt Romney been stretching the truth when it comes to his time at Bain Capital? His camp is denying it today. We are learning more here at CNN. But first, we have to begin here. A monster hiding in plain sight on the campus of Penn State University, with cover provided by school officials and the winningest coach in all of college football history. This is the picture painted by independent investigators hired by Penn State to examine the Jerry Sandusky scandal. You have former FBI Director Louis Freeh released these findings. And I've got to tell you, they're appalling.</s>LOUIS FREEH, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: Most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky's child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State. The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized.</s>BALDWIN: Now, this report accuses four of Penn State's top men of protecting the university's reputation over the safety of children. They are the late Joe Paterno, Penn State's head football coach for 45 years, fired last November. Also, former president Graham Spanier, also forced out in November, still a tenured faculty member. He is not charged. Former Penn State senior vice president, Gary Schultz, the man who oversaw university police, charged with failing to report abuse and perjury. And finally, Penn State athletic director, Tim Curley, on suspension right now, also charged with failing to report abuse and perjury. And the man at the center of all of this, Jerry Sandusky, sitting in a prison cell right now, convicted of 45 counts of facing a sentence that could be more than 400 years. But today's report is more about who knew what and when. The findings, they are another damning blow to the legacy of this man, Joe Paterno, who knew about Sandusky long before he admitted it, according to this report. And this is really a wide-ranging investigation. More than 430 people were interviewed here, but not Paterno, who died before investigators could speak with him. I want to bring in Brian Claypool. He's a criminal defense attorney. He's also a child advocate and also a graduate of Penn State. So, Brian, welcome to you. If I may, just your initial reaction. What's your initial reaction to learning about this Louis Freeh report today?</s>BRIAN CLAYPOOL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Brooke, I'm absolutely shocked, and like you said, appalled, to a point where I believe, as an attorney, that Graham Spanier, George Schultz, and Tim Curley, they need to be prosecuted criminally for conspiracy to commit child endangerment. There is now tangible evidence that's been generated that shows that these three had an agreement in place to conceal the abuse that Sandusky was carrying out. They failed to report this information to the police. They failed to report it to the Department of Child Welfare, and they put many other kids at risk for over a decade. And they actually facilitated Sandusky carrying out these predatory acts. They need to be prosecuted.</s>BALDWIN: Brian, I just want to highlight one of the internal e- mails that was released actually within this report. Let me read this to you here. This is an e-mail chain with Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley. It's about that '98 investigation into Sandusky's abuse of a boy in a school locker room. So Curley wrote, quote, "anything new in this department? Coach is anxious to know where it stands," end quote. Investigators say the coach referred to here is, in fact, Joe Paterno. Again, this was in 1998. Paterno told a grand jury he didn't know anything, you know, about that incident there and he didn't hear about, he says, any allegations until 2001. But just in that exchange, Brian, is that enough of a smoking gun in your opinion?</s>CLAYPOOL: Well, it's a smoking gun because it shows that Joe Paterno's anxious. Where do things stand? Back in 1998, Paterno knows about the incident in 1998. All the top administration knows about it in 1998. This litany of e-mails clearly shows that the top administration and Joe Paterno were more concerned about the football program, the image of Penn State, the money that's generated through the football program. They were trying to preserve that at the expense of protecting children. That's reprehensible and it needs to be taken care of. And the only way to do that is through prosecution. I mean, Brooke, Tim Curley said -- you know what he said in one of the e-mails? He said, let's play it by ear on whether we report this to the Department of Child Welfare. You know, you have to be kidding me!</s>BALDWIN: Brian, to your point, to your point, though, about preserving this really legendary football program, I want to read just a little bit of this, and I'm sure you've seen this. This unpublished op-ed that Joe Paterno wrote before his death, defending the school, defending the football program. So here's part of that. Quote, "this is not a football scandal and should not be treated as one. It is not an academic scandal and does not in any way tarnish the hard-earned and well-deserved academic reputation of Penn State." You're a graduate of Penn State. Was Paterno, was he misperceiving the scandal right up until the end?</s>CLAYPOOL: Brooke, I went to Penn State for four years. I played basketball with the guys that played on the football team. No question about it. At 7:00 every night, they had to go to the library from 7:00 to 9:00. So Joe Paterno's right. He developed a lot of good athletes who became good people who studied hard at school. But he's missing the point. The football program is the heart of generating revenue for Penn State. Without the football program, you would not have a world-renowned university. You wouldn't have endowments. You wouldn't have federal grants. He -- Paterno and the university needed the football program to generate hundreds of millions of dollars to sustain the university. And what they did is this money that they generated, it masked a reality for the -- for Paterno and the football program. It clouded their judgment. And money, it was like a drug and they needed another fix. And they had to keep this going in order to keep that money coming. So they covered up this horrible scandal.</s>BALDWIN: Money like a drug and they need the fix. You're a criminal defense attorney. I mean people -- we have to remind people, this wasn't a criminal investigation. What do you think the ultimate impact from all of this will be?</s>CLAYPOOL: Brooke, the time is now to make change across this country in protecting kids and students. You know, I'm the lead lawyer in the Miramonte case. There's another disaster. It all results from top administration looking at abuse. These people all know about the abuse. And what they do, Brooke, is they decide, this is a business decision. It's about money.</s>BALDWIN: You think this will go to a farther-reaching NCAA investigation? Should it?</s>CLAYPOOL: Well, yes, the NCAA is investigating. The federal government's still investigating it.</s>BALDWIN: Right.</s>CLAYPOOL: But I really believe the only way you will ever make change in this country to start protecting kids and safeguarding kids at major institutions is you need to start prosecuting the top administers who not only know about the abuses taking place, but they facilitate it. And as former FBI Director Freeh said, they empowered Sandusky to do this. So you need criminal prosecution to stop this pattern of facilitating abuse nationwide.</s>BALDWIN: Brian, let me jump in. I just want to get this Paterno family statement. This is what was released after this report came out. Part of it said, quote, "Joe Paterno wasn't perfect. He made mistakes and he regretted them. He is still the only leader to step forward and say that with the benefit of hindsight he wished he had done more." Again, as an alum of this school, is there any piece of you, Brian, that feels some bit of sympathy for Joe Paterno and really to the damage -- the damage to his legacy?</s>CLAYPOOL: Yes. I revered Joe Paterno growing up. And, in fact, I don't know if you know this, but throughout Pennsylvania, they sell Joe Paterno pizzas in the grocery stores. I mean people used to buy pizzas with Joe Paterno's picture on it. I love the guy. He spoke at my National Honor Society event many years ago and he talked about integrity. So I know the man has integrity. And he developed a lot of great people that have graduated from Penn State. He's done tons of things for Penn State. The one comment he made, though, that really resounds in my heart and soul is that he wishes he could have done a little bit more. Because he is -- that, to me, is an admission that he probably wishes that he picked up the phone and called the local police department and then let it take its course. That's probably what he wishes for. I know in his heart he probably wanted to do the right thing. But the reality of it, Brooke, is, he didn't do the right thing, and nor did Schultz, Spanier, and Curley. All of them should have called the police and they should have called the Department of Child Welfare and we wouldn't have had another 10 years of Sandusky performing these lurid acts on kids.</s>BALDWIN: Horrible. Brian Claypool, thank you.</s>CLAYPOOL: Thank you.</s>BALDWIN: And a quick reminder to all of you, programming note, Joe Paterno's son, Jay, will be on "Erin Burnett OutFront." That is 7:00 Eastern tonight. And a lot more unfolding this hour. Watch this. A suicidal soldier calls up the Pentagon's crisis hotline and is put on hold for 45 minutes. In the end, he takes his own life. And we're going to talk about why the military can't keep up with this epidemic. I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now. Two jetliners needed fixing, yet Delta flew them anyway, with you on board. Plus, Mitt Romney shows up, but the president does not. So, today, the NAACP gets Vice President Joe Biden.</s>JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much.</s>BALDWIN: And as Iran steps up it rhetoric, the U.S. is considering a big move in the Persian Gulf.