Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

New Developments in Sandy Hook Shooting; Zimmerman's Brother Explains Tweet; Police: Woman Bought Gun For Killer; U.S. Sends Bombers To South Korea; "The Bible" Finale Is Sunday

Aired March 28, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, a new arrest in the killing of Colorado's prison chief. A woman is arrested for allegedly buying the gun used to kill Tom Clements.

Bombers over South Korea, the United States flying stealth planes over the country.

Also, the Heat streak -- over. After 27 incredible wins, the Miami Heat was no match for the Chicago Bulls.

And a woman taking vacation photos in Hawaii loses her camera under water.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I was just floored that, my goodness, even my pictures, brought back a lot of memories of things we had done there that I had forgotten about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Six years later, it washes up but you won't believe where. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And good morning, thank you for joining us. I'm Carol Costello. We do begin with breaking news. We're learning more about what led to the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. New documents just released to the court last hour are mostly about Adam Lanza who murdered 27 people in December and then took his own life.

CNN's national correspondent Susan Candiotti has been poring over the documents. Susan, new information about a holiday card?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Among the things listed in the documents about what authorities found inside the house, a gift card. A gift card, as authorities put it, authored by his mother, presumably purchased by her.

And it is to buy a C-183 firearm, a C-183, this is something that we're looking into as best to describe that firearm for you. Don't have the details for you at this time, but a gift card purchased by his mom. And that's what is still so stunning about all of this information. How much did his mom know about this? We certainly know that the two of them, according investigators would visit various gun ranges, did fire weapons at gun ranges.

So obviously, she was aware of his use of guns, say, fired at target practice together, but we're also learning that will was a virtual -- you could describe it as an arsenal inside this house in terms of how much ammunition there was.

We count up at least, and we're not quite through yet, 1,400 rounds of ammunition at the very least, all kinds of gun magazines, bullets, some of them spent, knives, samurai swords, a gun safe, a shoe box full of bullets.

And there was even a photograph of a child holding guns, various guns. Now this has been previously identified by the New York "Daily News" as Adam Lanza, a photograph taken of him posing with these weapons about two years ago.

We also know that he had a gun safe inside his bedroom. Some of these other items were found in shelves inside his closet. We see descriptions for a .22-caliber rifle, a .12-gauge shotgun with two magazines, 70 rounds in those magazines, a bolt-action rifle.

We know that according to a witness, there was also an NRA certificate in Adam Lanza's name, we might add, and paper targets found as well. We also note from these court documents that according to a witness, he told police that Adam Lanza was an avid gamer, as he called it.

One of his favorite games, one called "Call of Duty," that he rarely left his house. That he was known as pretty much a shut-in according to this friend. And there's an image of that game "Call of Duty."

There was this friend, a cooperating witness, we should say, also knew about the safe that was inside the house. And according to this witness again, Sandy Hook was, quote, "Adam Lanza's life." Sandy Hook Elementary where he went to take the lives.

We're still trying to figure out a motive for this and so were authorities, the lives of at least 20 children and six school teachers there. Before he went to Sandy Hook Elementary that morning, he first took the life, his first victim, was his mother.

These documents tell us some of this is hard to hear that her body was found in her bedroom with a single shot to the forehead. So all of this information we're learning, just again, Carol, makes us wonder, did mom approve of this? She was aware, certainly, that he used guns.

They used them together. Did she know the extent of it? We also know -- remember, we're still waiting to hear from the medical examiner as well. We know there were prescriptions found inside that house as well.

Was he taking prescription drugs? We don't know the answers to these questions yet. Still waiting for the police to wrap up their investigation and they don't expect that to happen until at least June.

COSTELLO: What would you say that Sandy Hook was Adam Lanza's life? I mean, where did that come from?

CANDIOTTI: This is coming from someone who is being described as a citizen witness. Authorities are not identifying this person. They're asking the court and the court agreed, to leave this person's name out of it.

We only know that after this terrible massacre that this person spoke with authorities, and this is the information that came from this person. We don't know whether this is a friend. We don't know whether this is a relative. We just don't know at this point.

COSTELLO: Fascinating, really disturbing, too. Susan Candiotti, we'll let you get back to it. Thanks so much.

Two photos of black teenage boys are creating quite a controversy. Not because of their obscene gesture because Robert Zimmerman Jr. tweeted out the photos. His brother, George Zimmerman, is the man accused of murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last year.

You see Martin on the right and on the left is D'Markese Altkins, one of the two teenagers accused of killing a baby in Georgia. After the public cried foul, Robert Zimmerman apologized and explained his actions to CNN's Piers Morgan in an exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, "PIERS MORGAN LIVE": I've read all the tweets that you sent. There's no doubt, they were incendiary. I want to draw particular attention to two of them. One, Santiago's alleged killer, and Trayvon Martin, the two pictures we saw side by side. Hash tag @uncanny.

The second one says, liberal media should ask if what these two black teens did to a woman and a baby is the reason people think blacks might be risky. Now the first one I thought was very controversial.

The second one I'm blatantly honest with you I thought was boarding on outright racism. It seems to me you're saying this is why young blacks are risky. In other words, that is why my brother, George, did what he did to Trayvon Martin?

ROBERT ZIMMERMAN JR., GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S BROTHER: Yes, certainly that's one way to read it. That seems to be the way that a lot of people have interpreted it. And I don't think Twitter is the place to make points about what you recall a year ago.

Because the recollections that I have or that we have, as a family specifically, are very different than what can portrayed in 140 characters. I realize they're controversial and offensive.

And I did publicly apologize for them. I don't think it was the right thing to do that way. The one point about the pictures is the larger point on the media, and their honesty in portraying the person who encountered my brother February 26th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: George Zimmerman's attorney told reporters the tweets, Robert Zimmerman's tweets, about sorted and inappropriate and he added Robert Zimmerman does not represent his brother George.

Now to Colorado in new developments of last week's killing of the state's prison chief, you might remember two days after Tom Clements was found shot to death at the door step of his home, a gun battle in Texas led to the chief suspect.

Evan Ebel was killed and the gun used to kill Clements was found with his body. Police now say this woman supplied that murder weapon. The 22-year-old Stevie Marie Vigil is accused of buying the handgun for Ebel, a convicted felon who could not legally buy firearms.

CNN's Jim Spellman is in Denver. How are the two connected, do we know?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone) Well, we know -- investigators tell me this morning that she was not associated at all with this prison gang or any white supremacist gang that they're aware of at this point.

They don't know yet how they know each other. They don't know if this is a woman that does this sort of business. They call these women straw brides. They buy a gun at a gun store and then sell it to somebody who could not pass the background check.

So they don't know if it's a woman who just dealt like that. We did a background check and could not find any criminal background check in Colorado. Investigators are working on that, Carol.

We also have some more information from investigators today. They've been very busy working this case. The car, this Cadillac that was part of this shoot-out and this chase, we now know that that car was not stolen or anything. It was bought legally.

And when it was bought, Ebel was with several other people. Investigators have told me they've tracked those people down and they are interviewing them. They really want to piece together everything that was going on.

Since he left jail to when the shooting began first with the pizza driver in Denver and the shooting of Tom Clements. They want to know specifically it it's some kind of conspiracy involving members of this prison gang, this 211 gang that he was a member of in jail -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jim Spellman reporting live for us this morning.

It's one of the biggest television hits this year and on Easter Sunday we'll see the most moving story about Jesus. I'm going to talk with several stars from "The Bible" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: American stealth bombers have just finished practicing an attack on the Korean Peninsula. The B-2 Bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons 6,500 miles from Whiteman Air Force Base outside of Kansas City, Missouri, all the way to South Korea.

Pilots then dropped inactive, inert bombs and then turned around and came back home. This is all comes as the North Korea ramped up its threat. Our senior international correspondent Matthew Chance is in Seoul, South Korea. Did you see it?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, I didn't. Because they're stealth bombers, they're not visible to anybody.

COSTELLO: As they dropped the inert bombs, I just wondered.

CHANCE: No, there must have been a sort of dull thud because they didn't explode. But, yet, this is something that the United States has obviously made quite a song and a dance about because these are stealth bombers, they could have done this without raising any fuss at all, particularly in a time of high contentions on the Korean Peninsula.

But they chose to publicize this and I think it comes in response to the threats they've been getting from North Korea over the course of the last several weeks, a threat, for instance, to carry out the pre- emptive nuclear strike on the United States mainland, as well as bases in Japan and in Guam as well.

But this is a clear, sort of practical, physical illustration, by the United States that they are capable of carrying out long-range attacks on the Korean Peninsula. These B-2 stealth bombers, they flew through, as you mentioned the 6,500,000 miles to the Korean Peninsula and then returned home again in a single mission.

So quite an astounding sort of military feat in that sense, but it's something, of course, the North Koreans are likely to react very negatively against -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So no official statement from North Korea yet?

CHANCE: No, there's been no official statements so far, no reaction about these B-2 bomber flights, but there was very strong reactions, of course, to the flights earlier, about a week ago, of the United States B-52 strategic bomber flights over the Korean Peninsula, which took place as part of these wide-ranging, joint, military exercises that the United States is carrying out along with its ally South Korea.

And will continue to carry out until the end of April. Forty thousand troops from both sides, from the United States and South Korea, taking part in these military exercises, the military exercises

And that's something that's really infuriating the North Koreans because they see these military exercises, these war games, as a potential threat to their national security. So that's why we've had so many threats over the past several weeks -- Carol. COSTELLO: Matthew Chance reporting live from Seoul this morning.

It may be a Cinderella team, but the gulf coast says they're not like Florida Gulf Coast University. Our sweet 16 preview next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: "The Bible," the blockbuster miniseries is about to re- enact Jesus' tragic and dramatic end, and the beauty of his resurrection, and it will do that appropriately on Easter Sunday. The series is produced by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey. Here's a preview.

Roma Downey, she as plays Mary, Diogo Morgado portrays Jesus, and Darwin Shaw plays Peter, and they all join me now. Welcome.

Thank you for being here. Diogo, I want to start with you because that scene that we just saw, that must have been so difficult?

DIOGO MORGADO, ACTOR, "THE BIBLE": I can tell you this, Carol. I don't remember, that's how big it was for me. I just -- there are a lot of things that happened during those moving strong scenes that I basically disconnected my rational thought of it.

I have flashes, and I do remember how I felt. I have an emotional memory, most of all, but I -- I guess -- this is never -- I've never seen this scene before. So I'm going to join the whole audience that will be tuning in next Sunday, and I'm going to live with them.

COSTELLO: Was it because it was so painful for you?

MORGADO: It was painful, but we can say that, but it was also magical and unique. I can tell you that, at one point, being on that cross, I have a flash of my entire life, leading up to that moment. And that's really overwhelming. And that's so powerful. There's always a way it can affect you and it did. I'm still adjusting to a lot of the things that happened.

COSTELLO: It's just unbelievable. And, Darwin, what has been the audience's response to your portrayal as Peter, and to the miniseries as a whole?

DARWIN SHAW, ACTOR, "THE BIBLE": Well, everyone's been incredibly kind and generous with their response. I think everything going on with it. It was definitely a huge privilege to be part of it. And talking now about being on the cross, I remember that day so well. Because we all went and watched each other even on days we weren't shooting. We kind of lived through each other's journeys. It's amazing, an emotional experience for us all.

COSTELLO: I assume you're a Christian. Does this renew your love of Jesus? I mean, what effect did this whole miniseries have on you?

SHAW: Well, I think you can't do a job like this without really changing and exploring how you feel about the world from a deep level. I know that was true for myself and it was true for pretty much all the cast. COSTELLO: And Roma, we certainly have you and Mark Burnett for bringing this to television, 13.1 million people watched the premiere of "The Bible." I know you weren't surprised, do you feel vindicated?

ROMA DOWNEY, ACTOR, "THE BIBLE": It's been humbling and gratifying and accelerating to see that so many people have experienced the show, they've been touched by the show, they've been uplifted by the show. More curiously, we've had more response from parents who teenagers are the ones inviting them to watch the show with them because the story has been made in a cool way, made in an accessible way.

We wanted to emotionally connect. We wanted to really engage an audience. And it became clear that we did that and that the Easter miracle will be able to be seen on Easter Sunday is extraordinary in timing. And we're so grateful for history for putting it on Easter Sunday night.

COSTELLO: Absolutely. I understand it's going to be a Hollywood movie made about the life of Moses. So this seems to be kind of a trend to make these kinds of, you for TV miniseries and maybe even Hollywood movies. Isn't a growing trend?

DOWNEY: Well, listen, these kinds of numbers must have gotten the attention of Hollywood that so many millions and millions of people have tuned into "The Bible" and if it started a wave of material like this, so much the better. We're just so grateful.

We're so encouraged also that it's become a dialogue in our country. People are talking around the water cooler. They're talking around the kitchen table. It's given them an entry point in the workplace for people to discuss faith, to discuss God, to discuss Jesus. And we're just very encouraged and excited by that.

COSTELLO: Yes. Well it's a great miniseries. Thank you all for joining us this morning, Roma Downey, Diogo Morgado and Darwin Shaw.

On the edge of the abyss, backyards crumble and disaster into closer, we get a live update from Washington State.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning, thank you so much for being with me. I'm Carol Costello. Time to check our top stories at 30 minutes passed the hour. Olympian and accused killer Oscar Pistorius can leave South Africa provided he gives a week's notice. The track star can also go back to the home where police say he killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, and he can drink alcohol again, all of this after a judge reset his bail terms. Pistorius was not in court.

New court documents reveal suspected Colorado theatre shooter James Holmes has offered to plead guilty and spend the rest of his life in jail if he can avoid the death penalty. Prosecutors have not yet accepted his offer. Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others in a mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado.

The streak is over. The Chicago Bulls beat Miami snapping the Heat's 27-game winning streak. The Heat fell six games short of the L.A. Lakers all time NBA mark.