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Family of Slain Pregnant Woman Speaks to Media; Student Opens Orphanage in India
Aired June 25, 2007 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news on our biggest stories on the left -- live pictures, as a cop goes to court in Ohio, charged with killing his pregnant girlfriend. One of his former classmates will be there, too, and not for moral support.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And a state of emergency in South Lake Tahoe. Police are about to brief us on a wildfire that's burned more than 200 homes since this time yesterday.
Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.
It's a busy hour right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: And, happening right now, we want to take you to the courtroom, live pictures.
What happened in the last moments of Jessie Davis' life and the life of her unborn baby? We're learning more now, as we wait for her accused killer to appear right here in court. It was moments ago we saw the family of Jessie Davis enter the courtroom. The Porters are now there.
Davis' body was found in a northern Ohio national park over the weekend. This is the man accused of killing her, nine months pregnant. Canton police officer Bobby Cutts is his name. He's charged with killing her at her home and causing the death of their unborn child.
Cutts is also the father of Davis' 2-year-old son and is believed to have fathered the baby that Jessie Davis was carrying. Cutts' former high school classmate, Myisha Ferrell, also accused of obstructing justice. Both are due in court.
Let's take a listen in.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... at this time, Your Honor, copies of the complaint are being served on (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (OFF-MIKE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do the two of you have a date in mind?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would like to do it as far away as we can, Your Honor, 10th day (INAUDIBLE) the 23rd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: July 2 would be the tenth day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would be fine with us, Your Honor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What time?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will set it, for now, July 2 at 1:00.
Bond will be set at $5 million.
PHILLIPS: Sort of hard to make out what exactly the judge is saying there, but we did hear $5 million bond.
Joining us now, Tom McKean is a defense attorney, and also has been following this case for us. He's a former prosecutor as well.
Tom, I don't know if you were able to hear exactly what the judge said. I heard $5 million bond. What's the next step for Bobby Cutts, the man accused of killing his girlfriend and their unborn baby?
TOM MCKEAN, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, they continued the case until July 2. I think what will happen, there will be a presentation before a grand jury. The defense counsel got appointed today. He will do his investigation, and start the process that he will be involved in.
And it's really just a stepladder approach. There hasn't even been a grand jury indictment yet. So, that will occur. And trials generally, in these capital cases, are somewhere in the better part of a year. So, it takes a while.
PHILLIPS: Tom, we're seeing -- we're Myisha Lynne (ph) Ferrell now in court. She's being charged with obstruction of justice by providing false statements to investigators.
Let's listen in to what's going to happen with her.
(JOINED IN PROGRESS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We would also ask the court to consider bond in this matter. Miss Ferrell has a very limited minor misdemeanor record. She is a lifetime resident. During the pendency of this matter, she did not try to leave town. We would ask the court consider pretrial release.
We would also put the court on notice that we have filed a notice of assertion of rights accorded to her through the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and 14th Amendments of the United States and the Constitution of the state of Ohio, requesting that she not be approached or contacted by either law enforcement or media without the presence of counsel. We have served copies of that notice on the appropriate authorities. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
Preliminary hearing will be set July 2 at 2:00. Bond will be set at $500,000. Thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right, $500,000 bond for Myisha Lynne (ph) Ferrell, $5 million bond for Bobby Cutts. Bobby Cutts is the one accused of murdering Jessie Davis and her unborn child.
Myisha Lynne (ph) Ferrell contributing to the action in some way. She's being accused of that. You're seeing her walking right in now. This is Myisha Lynne (ph) Ferrell when she was coming in.
There, you see the family of Jessie Davis, a supporter, family. You can see the mother, Patty Porter, other members of the family there to listen in to what was going to happen to the two accused.
Once again, Tom McKean, prosecutor, also defense attorney.
We were just listening to now the next court date. It looks like July 2. That will be the next hearing. Now that the bond has been set for both individuals, what's next?
MCKEAN: Well, they will be held until the next date of July 2. As I stated, the attorneys will begin their work and the prosecution will begin the presentment before the grand jury.
PHILLIPS: Now, do you think, in any way, shape, or form, the fact that Bobby Cutts was a police officer, that that could work for or against him in any way?
MCKEAN: Well, it could cut both ways. And, obviously, I think police generally are held to somewhat of a higher standard. They certainly know the law. However, without knowing more about him, whether there was a lot of pressure, psychological stress that he might have been experiencing, that could perhaps gain him some sympathy.
But I think, given the nature of this crime, it's pretty difficult to have a factors like that play a large role. It's really the nature of the crime that's going to move this case along.
PHILLIPS: Now, a charging document was filed on Monday, saying that Cutts -- quote -- "purposely caused the death of Jessie Marie Davis at her home."
The word purposely, does that mean that they have some type of evidence?
MCKEAN: Not necessarily.
I think what it means is that there's going to be a murder indictment, and that there will be a determination made as to whether this was in the heat of the moment. There's no indication that it was accidental or that it was involuntary, so, that I think they are throwing what they have forward on this. And time will tell. The defense hasn't spoken at all yet.
PHILLIPS: Well, Tom, a source close to the investigation also told CNN that Bobby Cutts led investigators to the body. Could that work for or against him in any way?
MCKEAN: Well, it's going to perhaps work against him, in terms of it shows that he knows where the body is, which would tie him into the murder. It may well help him, in terms of showing that there's a sense of remorse and trying to right the wrong, so, that it will help in the sentencing aspect of the case. Probably won't help in terms of the -- whether he did it or not.
PHILLIPS: So, no leniency at all for cooperating with authorities?
MCKEAN: Well, sentencing, there might be a degree of cooperation. But, murder, there is a limited amount of leeway that anybody's going to be given.
PHILLIPS: All right, Tom McKean, appreciate it.
MCKEAN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: We're going to continue to follow up with this. We will stay in touch with you. You can help us sort of weave through all the legalities concerning this case.
Also, we're looking at another live picture just outside the courtroom there. We can actually see our reporter Jason Carroll, who is there, trying to get interviews, working this story for us. We possibly might hear from the Porter family, the family of Jessie Davis. If they step up to the mike, we will take that, and also pay attention to various attorneys on both sides.
OK, I'm told that Jim Acosta was actually in the courtroom there. He joins us now.
I don't know. Do we half you by phone, Jim, or -- or -- OK, we have you live.
So, Jim, we're waiting. I don't know how far you are from this other live location. I -- OK. You're right next to it. So, you will let us know if something happens there.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
PHILLIPS: OK.
ACOSTA: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Bring us -- bring us up to date here. It looks like $5 bond for Cutts, $500,000 for Ferrell. They're not going to be going anywhere any time soon.
ACOSTA: That's right. And the dramatic development that happened in this court appearance -- this was just an initial court appearance here in the municipal court in Canton -- was not what was said in the courtroom. Yes, the bond was set for $5 million for Cutts, $500,000 for Myisha Ferrell.
It was what wasn't said. We saw the mother of Jessie Davis, Patty Porter, standing in the courtroom. As everybody was seated in this courtroom, Patty Porter stood in the courtroom, so she could look into the eyes of Bobby Lee Cutts. And she also did the same thing during the initial cost appearance for Myisha Ferrell.
It was something stunning to see. Everybody was seated in the courtroom, except for MSNBC Porter, who was standing right there in the front row, her mouth shut, but her eyes fixed on Bobby Lee Cutts. You could you just see a tear forming in her eye, her face welling with emotion, as she looked at the man who is now accused of killing her daughter and her unborn grandchild -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And, just to give a little background and context to who Bobby Cutts is, a police officer, I think that's shocked a lot of people, not only just what happened here in the case, but the fact that he is a cop, also married, has other children, in addition to apparently had a relationship going with Jessie Davis -- so, a lot of interesting twists to the background of this story.
ACOSTA: That's right.
Bobby Lee Cutts Jr. is not only a Canton police officer. He is the father of Jessie Marie Davis' 2-year-old son, Blake. He is also believed to be the father of her unborn child. And, as it stands right now, he is charged with two counts of murder, one for Jessie Davis, one for a child that is presumably his.
And, according to charging documents that were filed in court this -- this morning, as we have been reporting all day, something has been cleared up in this case, in terms of what authorities believe. It was unclear last week as to whether she was abducted and then pulled out of the house and then perhaps murdered later, her body placed in that park in nearby Summit County.
But, no, as it turns out, according to the authorities, Jessie Davis was killed inside of her home, according to investigators, by Bobby Cutts.
PHILLIPS: And just to add one more point there, their 2-year-old apparently saw what happened; correct?
ACOSTA: Well, we're not really sure about that. We do know, from what he said to his grandmother that was passed on to the media, and that is: Mommy's crying. Mommy broke the table. Mommy's in the rug.
And, as Patty Porter, the grandmother of that child, explained to all of us, he mistook what was a comforter, she believes, that was missing from the home for an oriental rug. And, so, it isn't clear if something happened in another bedroom, another part of the house, and the boy did not see what happened, and he just heard all of this commotion, and then saw his mother coming out of the house in that comforter, if you were to believe that course of events, if that's, indeed, what happened.
But, as the picture is being painted here, that apparently is what happened. If you listen to what authorities are saying, not only at press conference, but in these charging documents. But it's not really clear if he indeed saw what happened to his mother.
PHILLIPS: All right, Jim Acosta, we will continue to follow the case. Jim, thanks -- Don.
LEMON: And, as we wait for this post-hearing press conference that's about to happen in just a little while -- and you won't miss any of it -- we will bring it to you live here -- again, Patty Porter, the mother of Jessie Davis, expected to speak, as well as Whitney, her sister.
And Bradley Iams, who is Cutts' attorney, may speak at this press conference as well. So, if it happens, we will bring it to you live. That's a live picture of them getting ready for that right -- right there.
So, here is what we want to talk about. He is a cop who has had run-ins with the law. He swears he is innocent, but now he's charged with murder. He's been called caring and has fathered kids with three women.
CNN's Alina Cho takes a look at Bobby Cutts.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Canton police patrolman Bobby Cutts Jr. denied any involvement in the disappearance of Jessie Davis to a local newspaper reporter last week.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TODD PORTER, "CANTON REPOSITORY": Bobby, did you have anything at all to do with the disappearance of Jessie?
BOBBY CUTTS JR., FATHER OF JESSIE DAVIS' CHILDREN: No, I didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: The 30-year-old Cutts fathered a 2-year-old son with Davis, and authorities believe he is the father of Davis' unborn child. He also fathered two other children from two previous relationships. He carried on the relationship with Davis even as he was married to another woman. Last week, Cutts said he believed authorities had their eye on him.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
PORTER: Have authorities given you any indication if you are a suspect?
CUTTS: I mean, they continue to say that I'm not a suspect. But, I mean, I would be dumb and naive to think that they weren't treating me as a suspect, like, different things I have had to go through in the past couple days.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
CHO: "The Cleveland Plain Dealer" says Cutts studied sociology in college for three years, but left six months before graduation for family reasons.
Before joining the Canton Police, he worked for GE Capital in Canton as a collection coordinator. This is not Cutts' first brush with the law. He pleaded no contest to trespassing in 1998, after forcing his way into the home of a former girlfriend, Nikki Giavasis, with whom he has a daughter.
Canton police fired Cutts in 2003, claiming he lied about a gun, but later reinstated him with back pay. And, according to "The Akron Beacon Journal," the minister who performed his 2001 marriage ceremony called Cutts loving, compassionate and caring, and said he volunteered with the church's youth ministry.
Bobby Cutts says he is innocent. And that's the hope Jessie Davis' mother expressed before his arrest.
PATTY PORTER, MOTHER OF JESSIE DAVIS: Bobby Cutts is my son's -- my grandson's father. This is the most painful part of this whole thing for me, is that I pray every day that it's not Bobby Cutts.
CHO: Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Live pictures you're looking at outside the courthouse in Canton, Ohio, where Bobby Cutts has just been -- a judge has just ordered a $5 million bond for him, $500,000 for Myisha Ferrell. She's accused of obstruction of justice. Of course, he is accused in the murder of Jessie Davis, 26-year-old Jessie Davis, and her unborn child.
As soon as this press conference gets under way, we are going to bring it to you -- the family here of Jessie Davis expected to speak at this press conference -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, straight to the NEWSROOM -- T.J. Holmes working details on another developing story.
Hey, T.J.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, just need to show you some pictures here out of Dallas, south of downtown Dallas, actually, where a pretty big fire is going on, a warehouse fire.
We're told it is a warehouse, again, south of downtown. We're getting these pictures courtesy of our affiliate WFAA down there in Dallas. You can't make out much from this picture you're seeing here, but a three-alarm fire, as it's being described now by our local affiliate at this warehouse.
We are -- do understand our affiliate also reporting that officials telling them that there's nothing toxic in this warehouse, so no worry about the fumes and the smoke going up in the air being a danger to anyone, might be a visibility risk of some kind, but nothing people need to worry about inhaling right now, is at least what the fire officials are telling our local affiliate.
We don't have any word on exactly how this thing started, how long it's been going. Don't know either about any possible injuries, if anybody was in it, what kind of work was being done. But we do know -- and, again, we're at the mercy of our affiliate here. We appreciate the shot they're giving us, but we're trying to get -- trying to give you a better shot of exactly what is happening there, not much perspective we can give you from this particular picture, but a pretty large fire, three-alarm now, south of downtown. A lot of that smoke can certainly be seen in downtown Dallas right now.
So, we're on top of this story, keeping an eye on it. The more details we get, we will pass along to you -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, T.J., thanks.
LEMON: A press conference expected to get under way in just a short while now. Bobby Cutts, a judge has placed a $5 million bond on him, $500,000 on the woman accused of obstructing justice -- the family expected to speak at this press conference. As soon as that happens, we are going to bring it you to live, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Don't go anywhere. We are going to get a short break in. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: That is -- you're looking at Bradley Iams. He is the who man who is representing Bobby Cutts Jr. -- Bobby Cutts Jr., of course, charged with killing Whitney Davis -- I'm sorry, Whitney -- Jessie Davis and her unborn child.
Whitney Davis is her sister. Her mother is Patty Porter. They're both expected to speak at this press conference in just a short while. And, as soon as that happens, we are going to bring it to you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
But, again, this is Bradley Iams. He's representing Bobby Cutts. So, we're going to follow that for you.
In the meantime, we have some other developing news here.
PHILLIPS: All right, T.J. Holmes working details on a fire in Texas? HOLMES: Yes, in Dallas. Don't have many details for you right now. Just do have this picture for you south of downtown Dallas, a warehouse that's on fire there.
You can see the -- the size and scope, really, of this fire in this -- this other live picture we have for you here now. We're told this is a warehouse south of downtown, not much around the area. You think downtown, you think commercial buildings, a lot of stuff going on, but not a lot around this warehouse that we have been able to see from the live pictures, at least.
Another perspective here, we see in this picture -- not a live picture this time -- but a warehouse. Don't know what was in it. But we are told from our affiliates, who are being told by the fire officials there, that, no, nothing toxic, anything like that, was inside, so, saying the fumes and the smoke not a threat to people around, no word of any evacuations, anything like that.
They're saying the fumes aren't toxic, aren't a threat to anybody, but just a -- a huge fire. And, certainly, we're not that close just yet to -- to the rush hour there in Dallas. But, certainly, this is going to cause some traffic problems. The smoke can be seen for quite some distance, certainly can be seen from -- from downtown Dallas.
But this is south of downtown Dallas, where a warehouse has caught fire. Don't know how it started, why it started, exactly when it started, even. But firefighters have a three-alarm fire, a big fire, on their hands now, trying to get that under control.
So, we're keeping an eye on it. More details we get and, as it warrants, we will pass along to you -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, appreciate it. Thanks, T.J.
LEMON: All right. As we await the family there in Ohio, we are going to get some live pictures now from KCRA. This is in El Dorado County, California.
And, of course, we have been talking about those South Lake Tahoe wildfires that has taken like 2,400 -- 2,400 acres. Wind temperatures, well, they may help hinder those firefighters.
Our meteorologist Reynolds Wolf tracking the conditions from the CNN Weather Center.
Not going to help much, is it?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Not really.
What they need is, they need better visibility for those planes. I believe there's a team of helicopters, and, of course, regular aircraft that are -- that are scooping up that water and flame retardant that are battling those blazes.
I don't know if we can go back to those live images that we had compliments of KCRA that is flying over there. There we go.
And, folks, you can see the hazy conditions. And imagine planes flying around, zipping through the airspace, doing what they can to battle the blaze. It is -- it is a really, really difficult endeavor.
Something else to consider is the speed, the absolute speed of this -- of this blaze. This really got under way yesterday afternoon, Pacific time, I believe around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon. Here we are, less than 24 hours, and we have had all this widespread damage and hundreds of homes that have been destroyed. And they are nowhere close to extinguishing or really getting a good handle on this -- on this blaze.
One bit of good news that we have is that the weather is beginning to cooperate. Yesterday, the story was that we had just a southerly breeze, very low humidity. In fact, it was right around 15 percent. That's the kind of humidity you would have in parts of the desert, say, in Phoenix.
So, to have those incredibly dry conditions, and with that prevailing wind out of the south and the southwest compressing through those mountain passes, as the wind would compress, it also tends to heat up, which helps generate more fires.
Something else thing to think about with those fires, they -- they -- they tend to feed on themselves and actually spread very quickly, because all matter, trees, have a -- what they refer to as a flash point. Once a tree gets around 572 degrees Fahrenheit, it tends to explode in flame. And that's the situation you have, many of these trees burning on each other.
One thing that is working in their favor is that -- it is going to begin to -- to become more humid there. But now the fire threat is actually going to move into parts of the Central Rockies.
Let's send it back to you at the desk.
LEMON: All right, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
LEMON: Let's get back to Ohio -- the Porter family about to speak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They will let me know when they're ready.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe four or five minutes. They will let me know. They're all right.
LEMON: OK. Patty Porter, Kyra, you see there, is the mother, and then Whitney Davis, who has been speaking as well. They're about to speak up. There's the attorney.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whitney and Patty will make themselves available -- available to you for a period of time here, and try and answer your questions. Speak up. It's kind of hard to hear in the back. Speak up. We will do the best we can to try and answer your questions right now.
There will not be any commenting on the facts of the case or anything like that. That's up to the law enforcement. But, if you want to ask questions about how they're doing and things like that, they're here to answer your questions and to say thank you for all your support.
QUESTION: How is Blake doing?
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: To Ms. Porter, why was it important for you to be in the courthouse today?
(CROSSTALK)
PORTER: Because this is my daughter and my granddaughter.
QUESTION: Did you want Bobby to see you?
PORTER: Absolutely I wanted him to see me.
QUESTION: And did he look at you?
PORTER: Yes, he did. I believe my whole life has prepared me for this moment. And I'm not sitting down when I see Bobby Cutts.
QUESTION: Patty, what was going through your mind when he walked into the courtroom?
PORTER: I -- I can't really verbalize the things that were going through my mind. But I wanted to make sure that he knew that I was there.
QUESTION: When you made eye contact with him, ma'am, what did you see? What did you see in his eyes?
PORTER: Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
QUESTION: Do you, as a family, have a sense of why he did this yet?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
PORTER: No. We're not -- we're not speculating on anything.
QUESTION: It must be going through your mind (OFF-MIKE)
PORTER: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not going to answer that.
PORTER: We're not -- we're not answering anything about the case.
QUESTION: Patty, are there any funeral arrangements?
PORTER: We're waiting for the body to be released. And, as soon as we know anything, we will let everyone know. Our own family's asking that same question. We just -- we don't know right now.
QUESTION: Patty, what's your reaction to the $5 million...
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Patty, how is your family doing?
PORTER: I almost started cheering at $5 million, wishing it would have been $10 million.
QUESTION: What are your thoughts on her bond, $500,000?
PORTER: I -- I don't know how the system works. I would have put hers at $5 million, too.
QUESTION: How did the family spend the day yesterday?
PORTER: Alone, crying.
QUESTION: Do you have any doubts that -- that he was -- that he is the right person...
PORTER: I'm not commenting on any of that.
QUESTION: How about Blake, Patty? Can you tell us how Blake is doing now?
PORTER: Blake is doing as well as could be expected for a 2-and- a-half-year-old whose mom is not coming home.
QUESTION: Does he understand that?
PORTER: No. We -- we tell him that his mom's with Jesus in heaven. And he still asks for her. And he calls her. He has a brief -- an old cell phone, and he calls her and talks to her.
QUESTION: Does he ask for his dad at all?
PORTER: No.
QUESTION: What about custody? What about seeking custody through the courts?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not commenting on that.
QUESTION: Has there been any sense of relief to see arrests happening so quickly?
PORTER: Yes, very much. We wanted -- we wanted our daughter found.
QUESTION: Can you describe the difference in your attitude between him and her? The reaction of seeing them today, if there's -- do you lump them together or do you lump (INAUDIBLE) different categories?
WHITNEY DAVIS, SISTER OF JESSIE DAVIS: There's no difference. There's no difference.
QUESTION: Would you like see a capital case?
DAVIS: I don't know.
QUESTION: What was it like for you? I know your mom was looking at him. What was it like for you? And what were you trying to convey to Bobby in the courtroom today?
DAVIS: I just wanted him to see us, to know what he's done to our family. I was disgusted with him.
PORTER: I would -- I would like him to see us and know not only what he's done to our family, but, you know, people in the community that are Christians know that he has a family as well. And we're asking people to hold his family and Brianna (ph) and Taylor (ph) -- I mean, there's a lot of little children that are being absolutely devastated over this. And we can't forget them as well.
QUESTION: What do you want to say about your daughter at this point, ma'am?
PORTER: Oh, I would like to tell you a what my daughter's normal days were like. Just a couple days before, we had talked about what absolutely boring women we were. She got up in the morning, and she brought her son to our house, and she picked up her brother and dropped him off at school before school was out, just a week or so ago.
She went to work. She came home, came in, sat down, put her feet up, and we would usually have something to eat and talk about just the normal things that had gone on at our jobs and laughed together. She would take Blake home, go outside in the driveway, and he would ride his bike.
And my daughter was in bed by 8:30 at night. And I have told people that the only way I can -- can -- can see this is if you would go to a trash yard, and you would see garbage and rubbish and trash. And then you look around and you see this little pink cashmere sweater on top of it, and you go, what is that doing there?
My daughter does not even fit in this scenario. And people -- you know, we've heard things about our daughter that are just so not her. People who know her know what a wonderful person that she was.
QUESTION: Patty, what's enough (ph) punishment?
PORTER: We cannot even speculate on that. And I'm not the judge, and I'm not -- I am not god. And god is the ultimate judge of Mr. Cutts. And I'm going to leave it at that.
QUESTION: How much did you know about Bobby Cutts before this happened?
PORTER: We knew Bobby Cutts up to a certain day in this. And from that day on, we did not know him at all.
QUESTION: Patty, at one point you thought he may not have been involved.
PORTER: I never said that, and that was -- I said, and I will say again that we prayed that it was not him. That's my grandson's father.
And as I've learned in the media, things get turned around. I never said -- I never have said that I supported Bobby Cutts. I support my grandson.
QUESTION: Patty, the morning that you called 911, in the background your daughter was trying to reach him, and he arrived on the scene. Can you tell us now what his demeanor was?
PORTER: No, no, we cannot comment on that at all.
QUESTION: Patty, can you take us through a little bit of your Saturday, how you learned, certain events, where you were at? Would you mind just giving us a little thumbnail sketch of that?
PORTER: All I can say is that they called the family all together and took us out to the sheriff's station. And we were all together.
QUESTION: What time was that?
PORTER: I have no idea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shortly before the press conference.
QUESTION: Whitney, will there be justice for Jessie?
WHITNEY DAVIS, JESSIE DAVIS' SISTER: Ys. I think everybody knows what happened here. Everybody knows who's guilty.
PORTER: We do not want vengeance. We want justice.
QUESTION: We're trying to figure out who Bobby Cutts is.
PORTER: Good luck.
QUESTION: So you don't think you ever knew him?
PORTER: No. I don't think my daughter ever knew him either. I don't think -- maybe his family never knew him.
QUESTION: Why is that? Were there specific things he did that made him impossible to know? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next question.
PORTER: We just -- I don't know that anybody knows him. That's all I'm going to say.
QUESTION: Patty, do you know if you or your daughter ever knew Myisha?
DAVIS: We're not commenting on that.
PORTER: No.
QUESTION: You never met her before?
PORTER: No, my daughter didn't know Myisha.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what we will do is probably some combination of that. The Summit County Coroner's Office is not done processing their information yet. Once they are, and they get that information back to us, we'll set it up. And I'm sure that Patty will probably -- there will be some time for the press to come in. She does appreciate all of your support that everybody's given her.
PORTER: Oh, yes.
QUESTION: Whitney, you said earlier that you were taking it on yourself to be strong and a significant role for someone your age. How are you feeling and how are you able to support the rest of your family being the one who has sort of taken Jessie's role on to your self?
DAVIS: I'm just -- you know, I'm doing the best I can right now. I'm trying to do what I know that -- what I think that Jessie would do in this situation if it were one of us. I'm just doing the best I can.
QUESTION: Whitney, on your finger I just noticed that you're wearing two wedding rings. Are those the wedding rings that the couple gave top you? Can you tell the people the story behind those wedding rings?
DAVIS: There is a gentleman that came down to the search location at the Greentown Fire Department, and he gave our family -- he and his wife, they gave us their wedding rings. They said anything they could do to help our family in this time right now, they would do. And I've just been wearing them.
PORTER: And we are planning on returning the rings. We appreciated it so much, but we just really felt very strongly that, you know, a couple needs to keep their rings, but we just haven't had time to do any of that. And we don't want to draw more attention to them either.
QUESTION: Do you that kind of shows the whole outpouring... PORTER: Oh, my -- yes.
QUESTION: Has there been a child endangerment placed on him, charge?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On him?
QUESTION: On Bobby, for leaving the child alone?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The charges are filed in the courtroom.
QUESTION: Patty, Bobby Cutts was a police officer. How have you and your family -- describe how you feel how they've handled your family?
PORTER: Oh, the police have been wonderful. I don't think at any point you can blame -- I don't care whether it's a race, a culture, I don't think you can group people together. I -- I am not blaming the Canton Police Department at all. I believe they didn't know Bobby either.
QUESTION: Patty, can you tell us a little bit how the outpouring from this community has affected and helped your family through all this to this point?
PORTER: I -- I mean, it's -- the amount of things and the things that we wouldn't even have thought that we needed or the things that we thought needed to be done, there just seems to be always -- when we turn around, there's somebody there that -- probably because our thinking is, you know, not real clear, and, you know, when you're heart is breaking, it's hard to think about toilet paper. I mean, just the common, everyday things like toothbrushes and stuff people have just -- I mean, in our -- we live in a two-bedroom apartment, and half the time we can't find our shoes. We can't find our clothes.
It's just -- because there's been so many people and things have got moved. But it seems like that god has always provided somebody there that just seems to know what we need. And it's just -- to me it says as much or more about god and how much he cares about us.
QUESTION: So many people in this community were not only brought in by Jessie but the fact that she (INAUDIBLE). Can you talk about the double loss that you've gone through?
PORTER: I don't know if there are even words to express the heartache. It's absolute -- just, you know, we know that only god can heal this kind of pain. Because if there was something we could take to make it go away, we would have. It's just an unbearable loss.
QUESTION: Did anybody warn Jessie about Officer Cutts? Anybody...
PORTER: I can't answer that.
QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE). What can you guide them -- what can they do, folks that are watching them at home, what would you ask at this stage?
PORTER: I don't know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think their continued support, their kind words. There's been a lot of -- there have been numerous people that have called requesting, you know, are there any donations they can make or things like that?
We're working on stuff like that. We're trying to get the correct paperwork in order. And when we have that, we'll let everybody know.
But there's been a -- it's been overwhelming. I've tried to filter as much of it as I can for the family. But they are still getting inundated. Just the show of support from not only locally but nationally. It's been overwhelming.
QUESTION: Patty, do you know Bobby Cutts family members? A lot of them were in court. They were standing. Did you have any words with them beforehand?
PORTER: No.
QUESTION: Do you know any of them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you guys ready to go?
All right. We appreciate it. We will try and make ourselves available sometime later in the week when we get everything else.
LEMON: That was Patty Porter and Whitney Davis, the mother and sister of Jessie Davis. And all you can say at this point is I can't even imagine that family is still standing.
Patty Porter, really just a strong woman in all of this. Expressing her feelings as best she could.
Kyra, talking about Bobby Cutts, the man who is accused of killing her daughter and her unborn grandchild. At a time right now where this family should be preparing for one of the happiest times of their lives, they are preparing to bury their loved one.
You just heard their comments. Nothing more needs to be said after that.
We're going to continue to follow this story in the CNN NEWSROOM.
PHILLIPS: Also straight ahead, wildfires whipping through Lake Tahoe. Hundreds of people flee. Now they can only wait and worry.
An update straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.
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PHILLIPS: Well, it's being called a monster of a fire, and it's raging near Lake Tahoe, one of the most popular vacation spots in the country. The flames have destroyed more than 200 homes now and a number of other buildings. And they're threatening many more.
That's meant mass evacuations near the Nevada border. On the ground and from the air, firefighters are still battling what some have called the biggest disaster ever to strike that community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's one of the things that people might take for granted. You know, these -- these people that are out here working, there's a lot of stress and a lot of things that are going on, not to mention that some of those firefighters out there, as well as some of the officers that are in the office -- that are in the emergency center here, some of those people lost homes of their own and they have family members that have lost homes.
There's a lot of emotion that goes on in there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Now, investigators are sure that it was started by a person or people. They're not sure it was started on purpose, however.
LEMON: Working toward her degree and a better world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would sit here at night after tucking the kids into bed and I would do my homework. And then I would just send it by email.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A lesson in compassion ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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LEMON: We've got so much sad news today. Hope this one helps.
India, home to one billion people. I recently spent three weeks there covering the fascinating people and places. One of those people is an American college student proving that one person can make a difference. India has 35 million orphans, and she's helping them, one at a time.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice over): Just walk with Elizabeth Sholtys through one of the poorest slums in Puna, India, and you'll see why this 23-year- old is beloved here.
ELIZABETH SHOLTYS, ORPHAN OUTREACH WORKER: This is -- this is our outreach project. We do education for street girls.
LEMON: Outreach in her spare time.
SHOLTYS: One, two, three!
LEMON: Full time, she runs a home for street children that she started here while still a freshman at Emory University in Atlanta.
SHOLTYS: I would sit here at night after tucking the kids into bed, and I would do my homework. And then I would just send it by e- mail. Yes.
LEMON: Now four years later, she's the guardian of nine Indian children.
JYOTI, CHILD IN ORPHANAGE: I have three sisters and five brothers.
LEMON: Not exactly the Brady Bunch. Elizabeth said most of the children had problems when she got them, from alcoholism to abuse issues. They didn't go to school. They didn't speak English.
SHOLTYS: Everybody have their notebooks snout?
LEMON: But for two years they've been a growing family. She's enrolled them in private school and also tutors them herself.
(on camera): Did you guys sing the ABC song?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Yes.
LEMON: Can you sing it for me?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN (SINGING): A, B, C, D, E, F, G...
LEMON (voice over): But it's more than just ABCs. It's discipline and team work.
Even the meals here are a family affair. It's expensive, and she relies on personal grants and donations. She's hoping to get a bigger home so she can help six more children.
Eight thousand miles away, where Elizabeth was to graduate this May, people were taking notice of her work.
ROBBIE BROWN, ELIZABETH SHOLTYS' CLASSMATE: I felt great, yes.
LEMON: Especially Robbie Brown, who was also about to graduate and had just been awarded $20,000 from Emory for his exceptional leadership.
BROWN: I tried to think of how I could make $20,000 go the farthest, and I immediately thought of the work that she was doing there.
LEMON: Robbie gave it all to Elizabeth.
SHOLTYS: And that's incredible. That's selflessness right there.
BROWN: I'm inspired by her, like most people are.
LEMON (on camera): That simple?
BROWN: Yes.
LEMON (voice over): Elizabeth graduated in May. The expensive plane ticket from India, Robbie and his classmates convinced the school to pay for it.
SHOLTYS: I can't believe that everything's actually fallen into place.
LEMON: A little help going a long way, bridging borders and oceans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Just amazing, isn't it? She's like the modern-day Mother Teresa.
PHILLIPS: She's basically -- she's basically a mom to these nine kids, right?
LEMON: Yes.
PHILLIPS: And so she's able to do everything just on donations.
LEMON: Right. She does personal grants and also personal donations to the street -- the home for street children.
PHILLIPS: Does she want more kids?
LEMON: She wants 15. She doesn't want a huge, huge orphanage or street home, as you would call it, because she thinks they should be a family. And she's worked in different orphanages, different street homes, and she thought that they were too impersonal and they didn't help the children. So she wants them to be a family.
So she's looking for another home right now so that she can expand to at least 15. And then when these grow up, all 15 of them, then she'll think about adopting or becoming a mom to even more.
PHILLIPS: And so this is her full-time job. I mean, does she have any other type of career goals, or is this it? This is her life's passion?
LEMON: This is her full-time job. And in her spare time she does outreach for young girls in villages, in some of the poorest villages, because she doesn't want them to become sex workers or slaves, or become part of human trafficking, which is -- she's really trying to really save these people one at a time.
PHILLIPS: And she has a fiancee, you said. Is he coming to join her in this mission?
LEMON: She has a fiancee in Philadelphia, who, when he finishes work up in Philadelphia, he's going to move to Puna, India, to be with her and take a huge cut in pay. But he thinks -- she says what she's doing is so important that he wants to come there and help her out. And her friends come over from Emory University as well. Students come over and volunteer.
There's a Web site, Kyra, if you want to -- if you want to take a look at it.
PHILLIPS: Yes, you can donate, right?
LEMON: Yes, you can donate to it. It's ashrayainitiative.org. And you see how you spell Ashraya at the bottom of your screen there.
We just thought it was such an amazing story...
PHILLIPS: She's the next Mother Teresa. I think you nailed it on the head.
LEMON: When you say -- when you say one person can make a difference, and we talk about impacting your world, that is certainly a way to impact your world.
PHILLIPS: What a great story. All right.
LEMON: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Hats off to her.
LEMON: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Well, new developments in the Genarlow Wilson case out of Atlanta.
We're getting word now. Wilson is the young man who thought he would get out of prison after a judge threw out his 10-year sentence for a consensual teenage sex act. But Georgia's attorney general appealed that decision and now has left Wilson stuck in prison, at least until a bond hearing July 5th.
Wilson's lawyer is calling on the Douglas County prosecutor to help keep the bond within reach. Now, last hour, she announced that a group of business leaders has volunteered to help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
B.J. BERNSTEIN, GENARLOW WILSON'S ATTORNEY: If David McDade thinks that Genarlow Wilson is so diabolical and has to be protected from us, then I have had the following person step forward, along with 11 other people. Whitney Tilson, who is on the cover of "Kiplinger's" report in this July, who is a leading hedge fund and mutual fund manager in the United States, along with 10 others, are prepared at this moment to wire $1 million to the Douglas County Sheriff's Department for the release of Genarlow Wilson.
So if David McDade believes that the world is at risk and we have to have a high bond, due to the generosity of someone like Whitney Tilson and these other people, businessmen in the United States, we now have the ability to post $1 million cash bond.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Well, the county D.A., David McDade, had this response: "I have never publicly taken a stance on the bond issue because the law of Georgia does not allow it. Unfortunately, Ms. Bernstein holds a press conference again and is being disingenuous in asking for a bond to be set when it cannot. In response to Ms. Bernstein's press conference, I expect the judge to follow the law in this case."
The man leading the group of business leaders to bond out Wilson is Whitney Tilson. He's an investment manager in New York and cofounder of the group Teach for America.
LEMON: Time now to check in with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
PHILLIPS: Standing by in "THE SITUATION ROOM" to tell us what's coming up at the top of the hour.
Hey, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, guys. Thanks very much.
Coming up, he's a one-time Democrat who won office as a Republican and is now an Independent. So, if Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, did run for president, who would he hurt most? We have some brand new poll numbers that probably will surprise you.
Also, in Baghdad, a Baghdad hotel lobby is gutted, with bodies strewn across the floor. All this after a man strapped with explosives blows himself up.
Our Michael Ware went to the scene. He'll join us with the latest on this deadly blast.
And the U.S. Supreme Court's major decisions, including one on campaign finance reform, a law that bears John McCain's name. The court is slapping back part of that law. So how is the Republican presidential candidate reacting? And how might it all affect the presidential race?
All that, guys, a lot more, coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
Back to you.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Wolf.
LEMON: The closing bell and a wrap of all the action on Wall Street straight ahead.
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PHILLIPS: Time for "THE SITUATION ROOM".
LEMON: And Wolf Blitzer.
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