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Sandusky Speaks From Jail; NRA Robo Calls Newtown Residents, Tells Bloomberg to Butt Out; Italian Court Considers Knox Retrial; Actors Support Same-Sex Marriage

Aired March 25, 2013 - 13:30   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: The calendar says we're in the second week of spring, right? But you can't really tell. Across the Midwest, mid-Atlantic and into the Deep South winter has refused to leave. Parts of 12 states under a winter storm warning. The snow has delayed or canceled 350 flights across the country. The airlines say there might be even more. Some places are expecting as much as a foot of snow. Despite the impact, some people, well, you know, they're taking it in stride as you can see. It's fun. It can be.

And she's being hailed a hero, but a 9-year-old is in mourning today. The girl and her father, they were involved in a car crash. Their SUV plunged off a California highway, landed upside down in a ravine. The girl crawled out of the window then walked through the pitch darkness and terrain filled with brush and coyotes. She desperately tried to get help for her dad who was injured in the car. Sadly, she could not save him. By the time the officers arrived, he had died. Now, the girl she has only minor bruises. She's going to spend at least today in the hospital. We are wishing her the best.

We are hearing from the first interview -- this is with Jerry Sandusky -- since he was convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys. The former Penn State assistant football coach, now working with a documentary filmmaker who is working on a documentary about the case, and the late coach, Joe Paterno.

Joining us is CNN's Sara Ganim.

You broke this story from the very beginning and you followed it. And now you have Jerry Sandusky talking from behind bars, some of it where he's actually laughing.

I want to play a little bit of this just so we can get a sense of this interview. And this is actually where he's talking about the scene where one of his assistants walks in on him and this boy in a locker room.

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

JERRY SANDUSKY, CONVICTED OF CHILD ABUSE: I don't understand how anybody can walk into that locker room, where he was, and heard sounds associated there was sex going on.

(LAUGHTER) I mean, there was -- that would have been the last thing I would have thought about. I would have though maybe fooling around or something like that. But I --

(LAUGHTER)

(END AUDIO FEED)

MALVEAUX: So, Sara, you followed it from the very beginning. You followed the trial as well. What do you make of the laughing that he's -- when he describes and explains about what this other individual thought was taking place which was sex with this young boy?

SARA GANIM, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, Suzanne, this is a case with potentially dozens of victims and family members whose lives are ruined. You know, to hear him laugh, that hurts them. CNN talked to the attorney for victim 5 this morning. He said any time Jerry Sandusky is given a forum to speak out like this, that hurts those victims. I talked to a child advocate right after that, that says the only thing she sees could possibly be good from this platform he was given was that people might realize that, for these kinds of victims, the healing process is never complete. There's always going to be this kind of rip of the Band-Aid, salt in the wounds continuously over and over forever. You don't completely ever heal from this because of stuff like this.

MALVEAUX: Absolutely. Sara, explain for us, what is the point of this? You have a filmmaker doing a documentary. How does he explain what he's doing to give him a platform like this?

GANIM: He says his motive is to clear the name of Joe Paterno. Joe Paterno is the late coach fired in the wake of the Sandusky. Interestingly enough even though he's been working on this for more than a year, last weekend or so, the family actually began to say, look -- the Paterno family said we do not support this. We do not support Jerry Sandusky being used in this way and this audio recording being made public. They actually -- let me read to you a statement from the family attorney that was released last night. The Paternos believe that, quote, "Any attempt to use this recording as a defense of Joe Paterno is misguided and inappropriate."

A source tells me that came after they consulted with a child sex abuse advocate who had been working with them on this case for a long time.

MALVEAUX: Do we know if there's anything else that is revealing that is going to come out of this doc that would give us any sense of Jerry Sandusky's thinking and his mindset regarding all this?

GANIM: I think it's important to note that this documentary isn't definitely going to happen. John Zeigler, the filmmaker who did this interview, is trying to raise the money to do the documentary. So it might not even come to fruition. But at this point, he says his entire motive is to give Joe Paterno his, quote, "day in court," which Jerry Sandusky already had, but a lot of people, of course, believe Joe Paterno was wronged. MALVEAUX: All right. Sara Ganim, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

There was a crash, injuries and then a brawl. This is all on track at NASCAR. Wait until you see it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It is March Madness like we have never seen before. True Cinderella story. Living on in the NCAA A-Team in its second season as a Division 1 squad and making basketball history.

CNN Sports' Carlos Diaz is here.

Everybody's talking about it. Tell us what they're talking about.

(LAUGHTER)

CARLOS DIAZ, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Florida Gulf Coast University. I love these guys. Here's why I love these guys. They're not just winning, they're winning with style. They're having fun while playing basketball. Isn't that what college basketball is all about?

Florida Gulf Coast University, small college in Ft. Myers, becoming the first-ever number-15 seed to advance to the Sweet 16. After stunning number two, Georgetown on Friday night, Florida Gulf Coast University actually had an easier time in the next round facing San Diego State. And Florida Gulf Coast didn't just beat them, they beat them with swagger with dunks like that. High fliers. And then a little chicken dancing right there on the bench. That's what I'm talking about. That kind of style. And they showered their head coach, Andy Enfield, in the hallway after the game.

They talked about all these emotions afterwards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY ENFIELD, FLORIDA GULF COAST HEAD COACH: The only water I had was the water they threw on me when I got in the locker room. So I haven't cried yet. I might cry tomorrow.

SHERWOOD BROWN, FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY PLAYER: Something we like to do we like to get the crowd involved. As you guys who watched the game, you seen over the course of the game the whole crowd started to get behind us, even if they're not from Ft. Myers or, as I like to say, Dunk City.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: Suzanne, he made that observation during that. They look so young.

MALVEAUX: They look like babies. DIAZ: Here's a stat for you. Every one of the players on the team are older than the college itself. The college was founded in 1997. That's when it opened its doors. So Florida Gulf Coast University is --

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: For them to get that far, that's crazy.

DIAZ: They only started being eligible to play in the tournament last year. And so that's the thing. These guys are beating the Giants and doing so having a great time.

MALVEAUX: So how far would these guys go?

DIAZ: Well, they play Florida on Friday. And ironically, they wanted to scrimmage against Florida earlier like this year before the season started. Florida wouldn't do it. They were like maybe we get a chance to do it now kind of thing.

But there's so many great story lines for this team. Their coach is a multimillionaire because he had a software company that he founded and things like that. So you have all these great stories with this team. The number-one thing to remember is Florida Gulf Coast University the first-ever number 15 seed to make it to the sweet 16 and doing it with a great time.

MALVEAUX: What's next? I'm still in the running, right?

(CROSSTALK)

DIAZ: Louisville and Indiana, all number ones except for Gonzaga are in the tournament. You're probably doing better than I am. I can't guess right is my problem.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

DIAZ: I can't guess right, is my problem.

MALVEAUX: Oh, like I can.

DIAZ: This is true March Madness because of the fact you have the Cinderellas and big teams doing well. The big question, will we see a big-ten final four? With the big-ten teams in it, that will be a great thing for the big-ten.

MALVEAUX: We'll be watching. Pretty hot. I like it.

DIAZ: It's great stuff.

MALVEAUX: Good job. The dunking and everything.

DIAZ: The high flying. They call it Dunk City, Ft. Myers.

MALVEAUX: Little chicken dance.

DIAZ: The little chicken dance.

(LAUGHTER)

This one here. Very nice. Very refreshing.

MALVEAUX: You're good at that. We'll bring you back tomorrow.

DIAZ: I pride myself on being a chicken dancer.

(LAUGHTER)

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Carlos.

Want to bring up NASCAR. We're going to continue here. Joey Logano continues to make enemies on the track, fighting for the lead on the final lap and Denny Hamlin getting tangled up there. Hamlin crashes hard into the wall. He was air-lifted to the hospital but would be OK. After the race, Logano's troubles continued as Tony Stewart came after him. The two actually had to be separated there. Boy, there you go. Lots going on.

Some Newtown residents not happy today after getting a phone call asking them to oppose gun control. And the NRA telling Michael Bloomberg, butt out. Why the guns rights lobby is coming out against the New York mayor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The gun debate is heating up after some residents in Newtown, Connecticut, report getting automated phone calls from the NRA.

Tom Foreman, he's following all of this. This is the fight over gun control.

Tom, first of all, you know, you can imagine people very sensitive about this issue. The shooting occurs and then there's a debate over guns. And people are getting calls. They didn't ask for these calls, just getting calls. What is it about?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's about normal political procedure, I'm afraid, Suzanne. That's what many of these groups do out there. The NRA said they were targeting only people who shown an interest to the NRA or contact to them. That doesn't seem to be the case. Some of these parents of kids who went to Sandy Hook school say they've also received these calls and they're offended and upset.

The bigger offense and upset for many gun control proponents is that all this talk that has occurred since the Sandy Hook shooting and since the Colorado shooting that everybody thought was going to lead to some kind of big change in gun law in this country seems to be losing a lot of steam right now, Suzanne. And it does not look like there's going to be any kind of groundbreaking legislation at this point. MALVEAUX: And we know, Tom, that there's a battle, of course, that's taking place. You have New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who's using a lot of money essentially to promote gun control. And the NRA is pushing back at this. Where does that stand in terms of the showdown between the mayor and this lobbying group?

FOREMAN: As I was saying a minute ago, I think what you're really seeing right now is, I won't say panic, but there's certainly an urgency on the part of people like Bloomberg saying something must be done now. Because even though the public opinion polls favor some kind of control, that's been eroding a little bit. And we know whenever you have one of these big events and there is a surge in support, the more you get removed from it, the more time passes, the less that support is there. And the simple truth is even though the president used his radio address this weekend to say Congress needs to vote on the gun control measures, that is really what he said, they need to vote on it. He didn't really go out there and say you must pass this, this must be passed now, even though he's in favor of it. That is a reflection of the political reality right now, Suzanne, which is very difficult for many gun control proponents who feel very strongly about this issue. The political reality is there are a lot of lawmakers who live in purple states who rode into their seats in the senate basically when Barack Obama rose to power. And they're not sure that if they come out strongly in favor of a strong gun control measure that they can keep their seats in the next election. That's the political reality here. And those purple states are having a very strong voice in this process right now -- Suzanne?

MALVEAUX: That is the political reality.

Tom, thank you. Appreciate it.

This story, Amanda Knox, once convicted in the murder of her roommate overseas, well, that conviction was overturned. But now prosecutors in Italy, they are going after her again.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Amanda Knox, the young American student whose murder conviction was overturned in Italy, may not have heard the last from this case. Because Italy Supreme Court has just concluded a hearing to decide if she should face a retrial of the 2000 death of her British roommate. The decision expected to be announced later today, going to have a live report on the story coming up at the top of a 2:00 hour.

To Phoenix now. That's where a psychologist returns to the hot seat. This is the Jodi Arias trial, of course, the murder trial. Psychologist Richard Samuels, he is a key defense witness. Now, he claims that Arias suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and can't remember details about killing her ex-boyfriend. Samuels, he has been grilled by prosecutors, and today the judge read him questions now from the jurors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE SHERRY STEPHENS, MARICOPA COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT: Can you be sure Jodi is not lying to you about the events on June 4, 2008?

RICHARD SAMUELS, PSYCHOLOGIST: Not with 100 percent certainty, I can't say that. However, when you look at the repeated stories, several different times, asked the same question, the story was not 100 percent the same, but the basic aspects of the story was sufficient.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Arizona, it is just one of the few states where jurors have the legal right to question the witnesses.

And the search now for a missing Brown University student is expanding. He has not been seen now for 10 days. Police in Providence, Rhode Island, they say they are no closer to finding him. His wallet, I.D., credit cards, cell phone, all found in his room. Posters are going up all over Providence, looking for anyone who might know what happened to him. Police say they are now expanding the search to Boston, Connecticut, New York, as well as Philadelphia.

It is now a waiting game, waiting to see the big Powerball winner to step forward. We want to know who you are. We know the only winning ticket was sold at Eagle Liquors, Passaic, New Jersey, and whoever has it will be $338 million richer. We'll wait for the winner and the clock is ticking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAROLE HEDINGER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW JERSEY LOTTERY: The winners have one year to come forward. And I think -- I would like to say, it is not unusual that somebody winning a prize this large, whether it is a sole person or a group of people, they often take their time. We don't hear from them right away because they are seeking professional advice, which, of course, I encourage them to do, to make sure that they have, you know, got everything lined up before they face the big prize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: So if the winner chooses to take the cash option that will cut the winnings to $211 million. Pretty good, still.

And Hollywood, immersing itself in a little bit of politics as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It is about time the Supreme Court weighed in on it and, hopefully, they'll come down in favor of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: We're talking about the biggest names in Hollywood tackling same-sex marriage. We're going to hear from them up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: The powerful Hollywood celebrities throwing their star power behind the push for same-sex marriage, Brad Pitt, Lady Gaga, George Clooney, just to name a few. They're targeting Prop 8. That is the California law that bans same-sex marriage. But the U.S. Supreme Court is going to be hearing the case starting tomorrow. But Hollywood wants to be heard now.

Here is Nischelle Turner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is the fight for same-sex marriage, a war many in Hollywood are on the front lines.

BRAD PITT, ACTOR: What makes this nation great is our freedoms and the idea of equality.

LADY GAGA, SINGER: We must demand full equality for all.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It is about time the Supreme Court weighed in on it, and, you know, hopefully they'll come down in favor of it.

TURNER: From music to movies to television, there's a long list of famous entertainers who publicly support same-sex marriage.

JESSE TYLER FERGUSON, ACTOR: We have been talking about this for a long time.

TURNER: For "Modern Family" star, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and his fiance, Justin Mica, the fight is personal.

FERGUSON: It is like an uphill battle. Justin worked in the field. He lives that every day.

TURNER: Mica works for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which was created in 2008 to sponsor the lawsuit filed by two California couples challenging Prop 8, the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It's in my heart.

TURNER: AFER's board is full of entertainment heavyweights like Oscar-winning producer and screenwriter, Bruce Cohen and Dustin Lance Black and Rob Reiner.

ROB REINER, ACTOR & PRODUCER: This is a nonpartisan issue.

TURNER: While some in Hollywood are working behinds the scenes, others are openly asking the Supreme Court to allow gay people to marry.

(SHOUTING)

TURNER: Talk show host and comedian, Ellen DeGeneres, married her wife, Portia de Rossi, four years ago, when same-sex marriage couples were briefly allowed to wed in California. The legal recognition of their marriage will hinge on how the state Supreme Court weighs in on the state's Proposition 8. In a letter to the court, DeGeneres addressed marriage equality with a touch of her trademark humor. Reading in part, "Portia and I have been married for four years, and they have been the happiest of my life. And in those four years, I don't think we hurt anyone else's marriage. I asked all of my neighbors and they say they're fine."

(SHOUTING)

TURNER: It may be months before we know how the Supreme Court will rule on same-sex marriage. But many celebrities believe Hollywood is already on the right side of history and hope the court follows.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Absolutely will be done this week. I just can't even imagine anything else. To me, it is an embarrassment that it hasn't already been done.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I'm quoting Martin Luther King here, "The march always leads toward equality." I think I terribly paraphrased that, but that's what we're hoping for here.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It is going to be overturned, I hope.

TURNER: One corner of California that's united under the banner of marriage equality.

Nischelle Turner, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: That's it for me. But CNN NEWSROOM continues.