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Teacher Accused of Molesting Kids; Anti-Abortion Protesters March on 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade; News Stomach Virus Strain Going Around; Cold Temperatures Across the U.S.; Washington Redskin Players Victims of "Catfishing"; Gun Advocates, Some in Law Enforcement Oppose Feinstein's Gun Ban; New Mexico Teen Kills Family.

Aired January 25, 2013 - 13:30   ET

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

Adding to the sort of mystery about this story and the outrage by some parents and taxpayers is the fact that both the principal and the teacher, who is now in custody, retired before they could be fired by the school district, which means that, for now, they are eligible to collect their entire pension.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Wow. You can imagine if these allegations are true that that would be very disturbing. This is odd too because it also is very similar to an alleged child molestation case last year at another California school with a student population now mostly Hispanic. Might that -- how would that impact this case?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're right. The elementary school had that horrific incidence of alleged child abuse last year where many of the students were from -- their parents were undocumented immigrants. And the speculation is the allegations that the teachers, who were accused of abuse in that horrific case, thought they would not be targeted by the parents because they would be afraid to report the teacher's behavior to authorities. This school almost also exclusively Latino. A large number of students here are English- language learners. It's probable that parents are undocumented immigrants. It's possible that teachers may feel freer to engage in this behavior, believing that the parents will not go to the authorities -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: All right. Casey, thank you very much.

Anti-abortion protesters are marching now to the Supreme Court in opposition to the Roe v. Wade decision which made abortion illegal. Taking a look at live pictures here. Abortion rights activists also are there protesting. This week marks the 40th anniversary of that ruling. Coming up, we'll take a closer look at the abortion debate in Texas where Roe v. Wade began.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Thousands of anti-abortion demonstrators are marching to the Supreme Court right now. You are seeing live pictures there. They are protesting the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision upholding a woman's right to an abortion. This week marks the 40th anniversary of that ruling. Roe v. Wade was a case brought on by a woman in Texas back in 1973. At the time, Texas law prohibited abortions except to save the mother's life.

Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, returned to the state where it all began and spoke to both sides.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Roe v. Wade originated in Texas and, 40 years later, the situation here and in much of the U.S. is complex. On the one hand, the governor has made this vow.

RICK PERRY, (R), GOVERNOR OF TEXAS: My goal and the goal of many of those joining me here today is to make abortion at any stage a thing of the past.

COHEN: On the other hand, this is the reality.

(on camera): It's Elizabeth at CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on in.

COHEN (voice-over): I'm at the Whole Woman's Health Clinic in Austin where seven women will have abortions today.

AMY HAGSTROM MILLER, CEO, WHOLE WOMAN'S HEALTH CLINIC: Do we have anymore of the ultrasounds?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think we have anymore. I think they just did the last.

COHEN: Amy Hagstrom Miller started Whole Woman's Health 10 years ago and her business has grown. Now she has five clinics in Texas, offering gynecology care that includes providing abortions to 9,000 women a year.

HAGSTROM MILLER: My main goal is to provide an oasis where she feels safe, where she feels comfortable, where she can feel at peace.

COHEN: In the entire state, 72,470 women received abortions in 2011. In the U.S., nearly one in three women will have an abortion before the age of 45, according to the nonpartisan Guttmacher Institute.

Elizabeth Graham is the director of the anti-abortion group, Texas Right to Life.

(on camera): You have a lot more work to do?

ELIZABETH GRAHAM, DIRECTOR, TEXAS RIGHT TO LIFE: We do have a lot more work to do. Because we continue to miss this many women in Texas and in other places, we double our efforts.

COHEN: Anti-abortion groups like hers have been hard at work. Texas cut off funding to Planned Parenthood and women in Texas have to see a doctor and then wait 24 hours before having an abortion. Plus --

(on camera): -- before a woman is allowed to have an abortion, she has to come here to the ultrasound room. The doctor has to ask her do you want to see the image? Do you want to hear the heartbeat? She can say no, but she does have to listen to the doctor describe the image. Are there internal organs? Are there arms and legs? Is there a heartbeat?

(voice-over): These restrictions haven't stopped people like Amy Hagstrom Miller, who provide abortions.

(on camera): The anti-abortion movement here is so huge. They are so strong. Have they won?

HAGSTROM MILLER: I don't think so. We've had all of these attacks from the outside and we're able to manage to provide not only access but really good care for women.

COHEN (voice-over): Like in many other states, anti-abortion groups in Texas are working to pass legislation to make it even harder to have an abortion, which means a new fight in a state where both sides have vowed to never rest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Elizabeth Cohen joins us.

It's fascinating and surprising, actually. I learned a lot from your piece. These ultrasounds, I wasn't aware that was part of the process there. Does that make any difference? Do people change their minds because of that?

COHEN: I asked that question of the head of the clinic. She said, in her experience, not at all. She said women know what they're coming in for. They know they're pregnant. She said 70 percent of her patients are moms. They have had children. They know what's inside of them. They know what they're doing.

But the people who are against abortion, those activists say, oh, yes, the ultrasound makes a difference. They say women do get up off the table and say, wow, now that I heard the heartbeat, forget it. I'm going not through with it. The answer depends on who you ask.

MALVEAUX: Does it surprise you that it is so dramatically different from state to state?

COHEN: The laws, right. The laws are dramatically different from state to state. In states like Texas, you have this waiting period. You have to come in, get the ultrasound and wait 24 hours and come back, which is the director of that clinic that does, she thinks, limit the number of abortions because some women can't do those two visits. Whereas, other states, there is not a wait at all. It depends on the politics of that particular state.

MALVEAUX: You are all things medical. Put on your other medical hat for a minute. Tell us about this as a nasty stomach virus going around.

COHEN: That's right. I won't get too graphic. (LAUGHTER)

I won't get too graphic. As if the flu weren't bad enough, now we have the stomach virus called norovirus that's out there -- vomiting, diarrhea, feeling horrible for a day or two. It's a perfect storm for three reasons. One, it's a new strain of the virus. It was just identified last year. It's called Sidney 2012 because it was first found in Australia. We don't have immunity to it because it's new. It's highly contagious. You just need a few particles of this and you are sick.

And this part is really interesting. A lot of people can get this virus and not feel sick at all, but they are contagious. You don't feel sick. You come to work, and you give it to someone else.

MALVEAUX: How do you know you have it?

COHEN: For those people, they'll never know they have it. They have the virus but they don't get sick.

MALVEAUX: Any way to protect yourself from this?

COHEN: Wash your hands a lot. I know we say that all the time and that's boring and really that's the big way to do it. In this case, use soap and water. You can use hand sanitizer if you want but don't replace soap and water. Still use soap and water.

MALVEAUX: Another thing we always hear about, eat fruit and veggies. There's another reason why that's a good thing.

COHEN: Right. This is a new study that came out that says, for one type of breast cancer, eating fruits and veggies seems to help. It seems to decrease the chance you'll get breast cancer. Yet another reason you should do it, for your heart, for your breasts, for everything.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Wash your hands and eat fruits and veggies.

COHEN: It all boils down to what mom said.

MALVEAUX: What your mom said.

All right. Thank you, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thanks.

MALVEAUX: It's winter and it's supposed to be cold. But folks in the east not adjusting too well. We've heard, Tennessee, under a state of emergency due to freezing rain, icy conditions. We'll look at the weather across the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Bone-chilling weekend ahead for millions of folks in the Midwest and northeast. A cold snap that turned fountains into ice sculptures. And cold temperatures aren't going away. Parts of the south getting hit with freezing rain.

And, of course, I couldn't help but notice my team came prepared this morning, wearing boots to keep from falling on the ice. That's what we were expecting here. Turns out, they would have been fine in high heels. We didn't get all of that.

Karen MaGinnis is here.

Karen, it was a false alarm here in Atlanta. Everyone was suited up.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we were. There were all kinds of advisories out and that's what we were expecting. But a lot of that moved across Kentucky and into Tennessee and northern Alabama, moving out fairly quickly now. But as it does it is making its way into this tri-state area, extreme northeastern sections of Georgia and North Carolina and into Tennessee. Kind of this area right now. They are saying some of the cars are off the roads as you head towards that Asheville, North Carolina, area because they have mixed precipitation and also in Knoxville and Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

But not just ice, frozen precipitation, but we're looking at snow in Washington, D.C. Also in New York City. One to two inches of snowfall. It will be brief. It will move in. It will move out. But what it left behind are the very treacherous road conditions. Right now, there are various warnings and watches out across the southeast into the central and southern Appalachians region where the ice storm warning is in effect across a good portion of Kentucky because of the lingering effects along Interstate 65. That's where they saw a 10-car pileup. No injuries reported there. Right now, readings in upstate Georgia mostly in the 20s. We've got 31 in Kentucky. Knoxville reporting 32. But Atlanta is 41.

Suzanne, I have to mention this before I go. 335 days, that is how long it's been since Chicago has seen one inch of snowfall and this set a record. Never before has it taken them so long to see an inch of snowfall but they finally did it. Just about a year's time. They've only seen about two inches of snow so far this season.

MALVEAUX: Overall it's been warm, but now we're dealing with the cold.

Karen, thank you. We'll bundle up here.

Manti Te'o lied about seeing his fake girlfriend but he says he was duped. And guess what? He's not alone. A look at how players on the Washington Redskins were also "catfished."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Manti Te'o, the Notre Dame star linebacker, admitting that he lied about seeing his fake girlfriend. But he says he was the victim of a hoax. Now we are hearing the voice of the person who pretended to be the girlfriend in this call with Te'o.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE: I'm just calling to say good night. I love you. I know that you're probably doing homework or with you're the boys. I love you and good night. I'll be OK tonight. I'll do my best. Yes. Get your rest and I'll talk to you tomorrow. I love you so much. Sweet dreams.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Te'o's former coach told my colleague, Erin Burnett, says Te'o is only guilty of being naive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN POLIAN, FORMER NOTRE DAME ASSISTANT COACH: This is as good hearted and selfless a person as I have ever met in my life. I think just in general the public and certainly the media are having a hard time wrapping their head around the image of this young man. Could he be that naive? And naive is a better word, to be honest with you. He really is a completely trusting person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Manti Te'o is not the only high-profile athlete who has fallen victim to an online scam.

Brian Todd reports that this happened to players with the Washington Redskins.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It was about the same time Manti Te'o claims he first learned his online girlfriend was phony, an indication that other high- profile football players had been Te'o'd.

A memo went up in the locker room of the Washington Redskins in December. The gist of it was, "Stay away from @RedRidnHOOd. Avoid her on Twitter, avoid her on Instagram, do not converse with this person on any social media platform. She is not who she claims to be." That's according to an article on nfl.com, the league's official web site, which says the memo was posted by Philip Daniels, a former Redskins defense ends who is now the team's director of player development.

(on camera): The Redskins said Philip Daniels was not available to speak to us and the team wouldn't put anyone out to talk to us about the players' interactions with the woman on social media.

But Daniels told nfl.com that on multiple occasions several Redskins players tried to arrange meetings with the woman who the report says went by the pseudonym Sydney Ackerman.

(voice-over): She not only wasn't Sydney Ackerman, report says, she also wasn't C.J. Miles, the Internet adult entertainment star, whose pictures were ripped off and used in correspondence with the players. There is an unverified Twitter feed registered to C.J. Miles with pictures of a similar looking woman. Tweets there warn fans that an impostor has used her photos and say she feels sorry for the players who fell for the hoax.

The nfl.com report says none of the players were successful in arranging meetings with the woman who sent the tweets. And that raised suspicions with the Redskins.

Nfl.com sources say the woman's a Redskins fan, didn't ask the players for money or perks, and didn't threaten them.

But former Redskins tight end, Rick "Doc" Walker, now a radio analyst, says the communications were fraught with risk.

RICK "DOC" WALKER, RADIO ANALYST & FORMER REDSKINS TIGHT END: Yes, not the smartest thing you do. But you do things when you're young that aren't real bright. You look back on it as you grow up. But the whole Internet deal is odd to me. Manti Te'o deal to me is ridiculous.

TODD (on camera): And the players have women coming at them from all directions anyway, right?

WALKER: I would assume. I don't know. It's not my world. But I know a lot of guys who are very popular and I would say that anybody who believes that pros are chasing ghosts is a damn fool.

TODD (voice-over): Who is the woman who sent the tweets to players? The nfl.com reporter said they were unable to verify the woman's identity.

A league spokesman had no comment on the report, even though it was done by the league's web site. And we have tried to reach C.J. Miles in e-mails. We haven't heard back.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Police say a 15-year-old killed his family and was planning to shoot up a Wal-Mart. How he was stopped and why he planned to continue his rampage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: U.S. Senators propose federal assault weapons ban not sitting well with some gun advocates and some members of law enforcement. We're talking about California Democrat Dianne Feinstein's plan. Yesterday, she introduced a bill that would ban more than 150 types of assault weapons along with certain types of gun magazines. The NRA's response was immediate. The group says, quote, "The American people know gun bans do not work. And we are confident Congress will reject Senator Feinstein's wrong-headed approach."

CNN talked to a South Carolina sheriff, who called Senator Feinstein's bill scary, and says he will not enforce any federal gun ban that he sees as unconstitutional.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL CANNON, SHERIFF, CHARLESTON COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT: Another element that I strongly disagree with is the idea that, somehow or another, this is going to prevent the kind of violence that -- that everybody is concerned about. I think there is some practical problems associated with things like the magazine capacity. But I will tell you that I think that much of this is taking advantage of our grief and people's general lack of information and understanding about firearms in general.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Senator Feinstein's bill, it is the most ambitious piece of gun violence legislation that has been put forward since December's school massacre in Connecticut.

A New Mexico teen is accused of the most horrific crime imaginable, killing his mother, father and three younger siblings in cold blood. Nehemiah Griego was arrested when he went to church later that day. A staff member suspected that something was wrong and alerted police.

Our Kyung Lah has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The heart-breaking details of what happened at the Griego home start with young Nehemiah arguing with his mother, according to detectives, who say, when she went to sleep, the 15-year-old took his father's .22 caliber rifle and shot her in the head. That woke up his brother. Investigators say Griego lifted his dead mother's head and showed it to the 9-year-old before killing him as well. Investigators say his 5-year-old sister, Jael, and the youngest member of the family, 2-year-old Angelina were next. At this point, the investigators say Griego changed weapons, and waited hours until his father, Greg, came home. Detectives say the one-time gang member and now pastor was shot in the back and killed with his own A.R.-15.

(on camera): Investigators believe the boy wasn't done yet, saying he reloaded the A.R.-15 and the .22 caliber rifle and put them with more ammo into the family minivan. Investigators say he wanted to come to this Wal-Mart. Why? According to the criminal complaint, to murder more people in a populated area, and then die in a gunfight with police.

(voice-over): But for some reason, the teen changed his mind and instead drove to his family's church. Griego left the guns in the van and went inside where he spent the day like an average teenager, hanging out with his girlfriend at the church's skate park, basketball courts and bookstore.

The first sign of trouble at the mega-church was when Pastor Justine Marbury was told by a parishioner that something was wrong with Griego's family, so he asked the 15-year-old if he knew anything. JUSTINE MARBURY, PASTOR: What he was saying was, my family is dead.

LAH: Griego told the pastor and Vince Harrison he had actually been home and discovered his dead family, but for some reason did not call police.

VINCE HARRISON, CHURCH MEMBER & FORMER HOMICIDE POLICEMAN: Just his behavior was real quiet and cold, and a matter of fact. And the red flags started going up.

LAH: Harrison and the pastor decided to take Griego to the house to see if the story was true. But a mile from the house, Harrison felt something he hadn't since his days as a homicide cop.

HARRISON: Something evil was not right. It felt like darkness.

LAH: He pulled over and got out of the car so Griego couldn't hear him call 911. Sheriff deputies met them at the house. They used Griego's key and found the bodies. Deputies arrested the teen quietly.

Authorities say he eventually confessed and told officers he started his killing spree because he was angry with his mother. Griego seemed disconnected, say officers, only getting excited when he talked about his love of violent video games.

A stunning turn for his church community, who saw the youngster grow up as a normal child, until the day of the murders.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: That was Kyung Lah reporting. Griego is now in jail. He has not entered a formal plea because a grand jury has not yet indicted him.

That's it for me. Have a great weekend.

Victor Blackwell takes it from here, CNN NEWSROOM.

Hey, Victor.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. I am Victor Blackwell - thank you, Suzanne -- in for Brooke Baldwin. Let's get started with what is happening right now.

It's claimed three lives, now bitter cold is moving over the southeast. This Arctic air system you see here is expected to bring snow and freezing rain and dangerous amount of ice to the Carolinas, Tennessee, Georgia --