Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

"He Almost Ran Over Me"; The Aura Of Jodi Arias; Obama Kicks Off Easter Egg Roll; Jackson Family Suing Concert Promoter; "The Bible" Draws Millions; Game Dedicated To Newtown Victims; Baseball Season Opens

Aired April 01, 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: So how did this happen? Was it a mistake? Was it an accident?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, witnesses say this appeared to be intentional. It all began yesterday morning at about 11:00 a.m. at that San Jose Wal-Mart. Witnesses say the suspect, 33- year-old Hamid Zaid was seen driving erratically in the parking lots. He side swiped two cars before he plowed right into that front entrance.

You're looking at pictures there from yesterday. Witnesses say he could have been going as fast as 40 miles per hour. Now Suzanne, this is where it gets really bizarre. Police say he got out of the car, picked up a blunt object in the store and began attacking customers. As you can imagine, it was a very scary scene for those inside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He almost ran me over and some guy picked my bike up and it hit the back of his car and he was going inside the front door. I mean, he was in there to hurt people, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: There were about 70 people inside the store. Now they played an instrumental role in subduing the suspect. Police when they arrived, they didn't have to use force. He was already tied up by the customers. He's right now being held in a Santa Clara County Jail and he's being charged with four counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and hit and run -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Nick, do we have any idea -- I mean, does he have a vendetta against Wal-Mart? Does he know anybody in the store? Is he connected to the store in any way? Was there a motive?

VALENCIA: You know, we talked to police this morning in San Jose, and they were very limited with the details that they did release to us. They gave us his name, his age, but so far they haven't released a clear motive.

Just a bizarre incident, witnesses, as I mentioned, Suzanne, they said this appeared to be intentional, that he made a couple of efforts before he finally drove about 40 feet into that Wal-Mart and was stopped only by the beer display.

MALVEAUX: Well, OK, bizarre. Nick, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

A lot of people have been watching this, of course, Jodi Arias murder trial. Starting back up tomorrow and a lot of folks who are addicted to this and it is not soon enough for it to get back on stage there and on the stand, 32-year-old, you know, there she is, and people are just captivated across the country about the riveting murder and what is behind it?

And you know, folks are dropping just about everything just to get a glimpse of her in person. So, what is it about her that fascinates folks? Ted Rowlands, he's got that part of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To Linda Kur, a direct mail production manager in Washington, D.C. is hooked on the Jodi Arias trial.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm addicted, I get home and I immediately turn my TV on, I turn my computer on.

ROWLANDS: Thousands of people around the country are watching this trial. Some are even showing up at the courthouse in Phoenix, like Kimberly McDonald who says she passed on a trip to Hawaii to see Arias in person.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I asked if he could instead take a road trip and come down here and get a ticket into the courtroom.

ROWLANDS: Marilyn Landis from Akron, Ohio dragged her husband into the courthouse from his baseball sprint training trip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I watch it every day starting at 5:00 all night long.

ROWLANDS: Why do they watch?

TRELYNDA KERR, ARIAS TRIAL WATCHER: I think it's just the manner of death. It's the whole toxic relationship between the two. It's the whole Mormon faith.

ROWLANDS: And of course, there's of course the graphic testimony.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's somebody that you cannot stay away from sexually, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ROWLANDS: Nude photos, even phone sex.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No one would ever believe that they would record all these tapes sexually and the pictures. KERR: It is graphic and quite frankly I tweeted about that, I said I needed to take a shower after I heard some of it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You've got some new information just in. What do you got?

ROWLANDS: Ratings are way up for CNN's sister network HLN, which is not only carrying the trial gavel to gavel, but providing near constant analysis going so far as building this replica of the bathroom where Travis Alexander was killed.

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST, HLN'S "JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL": It's sex. It's the attractiveness of the defendant. It's the salaciousness of the testimony. This case has it all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder.

ROWLANDS: This, of course, isn't the first trial to draw high ratings. There were three O.J. Simpson trials, Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson and most recently Casey Anthony.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a real good one. Casey Anthony did not have this.

ROWLANDS: Casey Anthony did have a dramatic ending, being found not guilty which sent some trial watchers into his hysterics.

The verdict in this case is expected at some point later this month, when it does come, thousands, make that hundreds of thousands of people, like Trelynda Kerr will be tuning in to find out what happens. Ted Rowlands, CNN, Phoenix.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: This is one of the biggest cheating scandals to hit the country's public schools ever. Thirty five Atlanta educators are now indicted on racketeering and corruption charges. Well, they're supposed to turn themselves in today.

They are accused of changing or falsifying answers on standardized tests and according to the indictment, the alleged cheating actually goes back as far as 2001. Among those faces charging is former Atlanta School Superintendent Beverly Hall. The D.A. calls her a full participant in the conspiracy. Paul denies any involvement in the cheating scandal.

So is someone other than Conrad Murray to blame for Michael Jackson's death? The singer's mother and children, well, they think so and they're headed to court to prove it.

Plus new technology and some old-fashioned team work open up Easter egg hunts to kids who can't see.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: It's the largest annual event at the White House. I love it. Thirty thousand people actually participate in this. It is the Easter eggs, yes, Easter egg day, the big hunt itself. The Easter bunny is making a special appearance there at the White House with the first family.

You see he's actually being escorted down the stairs, so he doesn't trip and fall. There's a lot that goes on, clearly, they read stories, they run around. They have little games.

And the first family, the first lady in particular, Michelle, she's always talking about promoting healthy lifestyle and healthy eating and urging kids to be really active. So that's part of the theme as well.

And children living with disabilities, they're not always able to participate in some Easter egg hunts, but one group, they're actually trying to change that, so military and bomb technicians are actually using their skills to make eggs that beep. Pretty cool stuff. Barbara Starr, she's got the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Max, I hear the Easter egg, where is it? Go find it.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 8- year-old Max has plenty of challenges beyond his blindness. His mother, Jenny, cheers him on when he locates the beeping Easter egg. For visually impaired children, an Easter egg hunt usually means sitting on the side.

But at this suburban Virginia home, a most unusual group is hoping to bring some spring cheer to the kids. Beeping Easter eggs are being assembled by military and police bomb techs. A battery, a beeper and a plastic egg is all it takes.

COMMANDER HUNG CAO, U.S. NAVY: You build these devices that make a sound so that visually impaired children can locate them.

STARR: Iraq veteran and Navy Commander Hung Cao and his buddies have put hundreds of dollars into the effort. Don Noah of the Virginia Beach Police Bomb Squad started much of the effort three years ago.

OFFICER DON NOHA, VIRGINIA BEACH POLICE DEPARTMENT: After the first or second year, I started getting phone calls from as far west as Texas, as far south as Alabama, as far north as Massachusetts, all seeking information about how to build the eggs, or how to obtain them.

STARR (on camera): I look at this table, and to me, it looks like you should pardon the expression, an IED factory.

CAO: It's basically taking that was meant for evil and then turning it to good. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Each person around this table has probably lost somebody or known somebody or been affected by someone who's been affected by IED, infected by a bomb.

LT. GLENN MOFFAT, U.S. NAVY: To be able to use your skill set in a positive way is always a good thing.

STARR (voice-over): Hung's son and helper, 10-year-old Gabrielle says it's all about children that can't see well enough to hunt Easter eggs.

GABRIEL CAO, HUNG CAO'S SON: I'd say that that if they participated in a regular Easter egg hunt, they probably would not get any eggs at all and then they would be very sad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Hung and his family have started a non-profit charity in hopes of raising enough money to build the beeping Easter eggs every year and send them to Easter egg hunts around the country. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

MALVEAUX: So was a concert promoter responsible for Michael Jackson's death? That is what the singer's mother and three children say, their case is going to go to court. That is happening this week and we're going to have a preview up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The late Michael Jackson's family heads to court tomorrow. Now, they are suing the concert promoter who was supposed to be responsible for Jackson's come back. Kyung Lah has a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL JACKSON: This is it and see you in July.

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was billed as Michael Jackson's 2009 comeback tour. "This Is It." At 50, Jackson was in the last weeks of rehearsal before his death from an over dose of anaesthetics Propofol.

Dr. Conrad Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for giving Jackson the fatal dose in an effort to help him sleep. But Jackson's last weeks are expect to be played out again in a Los Angeles courtroom where the wrongful death lawsuit is set to begin on Tuesday.

The pop icon's mother, Katherine Jackson and his children, are suing concert promoter AEG Live.

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, CNN'S "PIERS MORGAN LIVE": What do you think as his mother caused his death?

KATHERINE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S MOTHER: I don't know. All I know is they used Propofol and that's all I know. LAH: The lawsuit contends AEG Live is responsible for Jackson's death because it hired and supervised Dr. Conrad Murray.

PROFESSOR JODY ARMOUR, USC LAW SCHOOL: The gist of the plaintiff's claim against AEG is that you controlled Dr. Murray and you used your control over Dr. Murray to pressure him into taking unnecessary and excessive risk with his patient, Michael Jackson, leading to Michael Jackson's death.

LAH: AEG live dismisses the claim and says Jackson chose Murray as his personal doctor and Jackson, not AEG Live hired and supervised him.

MARVIN PUTNAM, ATTORNEY FOR AEG: There never was a contract. In fact, what is says if you look at the draft explicitly is that he was chosen by Michael Jackson, to be there at Michael Jackson's behest. That he would care for Michael Jackson alone, it was only being done because Michael Jackson asked for it. Michael Jackson was the only person that could get rid of him at will.

LAH: We may hear for the first time from Michael Jackson's two older children, 16-year-old Prince Michael and 14-year-old Paris who are expected to testify about Jackson's last days along with his mother. The prosecutors want to call Dr. Murray to testify, but he said he would refuse to answer questions invoking the fifth so as not to incriminate himself.

ARMOUR: It may not hurt the Jackson case at all that Conrad Murray doesn't speak. Actually his silence may be deafening in the sense that the jury may conclude from his silence that maybe there's something to hide.

LAH: The trial is expected to last at least two months. What's at stake for Katherine and the king of pop's three children? Billions of dollars in lost earnings they argue Jackson would have made from "This Is It" comeback tour and other future projects. Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And Conrad Murray, he is telling his side of the story in his first ever TV interview from jail. This is an Anderson Cooper exclusive. This is tomorrow night, 8:00 eastern. You're not going to want to miss that.

And the crucifixion of Jesus, seems so dramatic, many couldn't even hold back the tears. More on the emotional finale of "The Bible," that TV miniseries just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: This is actually a real surprise blockbuster hit. This is the History Channel. The epic miniseries "The Bible" wrapping up five weeks last night. Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You claim to be your king. You must decide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: This is a series that attracted more than 10 million viewers for each show. Nischelle Turner joins us. Tell us about the series. Why was this so madly successful?

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Suzanne, you can count me in as one of those 10 million viewers because I was there all five weeks watching it. It was just great television.

You know, it has been referred to as the greatest story ever told and for the History Channel, this miniseries, "The Bible" has turned into one of the most popular shows they ever aired.

You know, last night's finale had a really graphic representation of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It touched the nerve among viewers. You could see it played on social media. Twitter lit up with comments about how the last episode was just so moving.

People were having really emotional, visceral reactions and there were comments about people being reduced to tears. You saw that over and over again last night. I was monitoring. And the whole series was a ratings windfall for the History Channel.

They brought in like you said more than 10 million people an episode. And listen to this, more than 3 million of those viewers were between the ages of 18 to 49. That's a big get for them. And, you know, we don't have last night's numbers yet, but you can expect to see the biggest ratings of the series with the finale because it fell on Easter Sunday.

Now, not all the twitter chat was serious. Yes, we got to give you a little bit of this too. Diego Morgado, he was the actor that played Jesus has developed this devoted following of his own.

He's become the focus of an -- I can't believe I'm saying this, the hot Jesus hash tag. If you're a fan of it and want to catch up, you can get a DVD of the series available now on history channel's website. I expect that will do pretty good.

MALVEAUX: I will. I will get the DVD. I missed it. I got to see it. Yes, OK. Hot Jesus as well. All right, Nischelle, thank you.

TURNER: All right, OK.

MALVEAUX: Appreciate it.

Yankee star Derek Jeter talks to CNN about why it is important for his baseball team to honor the victims of Newtown on his opening day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: It is opening day for most of the Major League Baseball teams. And the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox got together to dedicate the game to the victims of Newtown. The players wore special ribbons on their uniforms and ribbons were painted in front of both dugouts.

The very first game of the season was played yesterday. It was a curtain raiser between the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers. The Astros are now members of the American League.

Meantime, New York Yankees Captain Derek Jeter starts the season off on the disabled list. Yes. He sat down with CNN's sports anchor Rachel Nichols in for a wide ranging interview including future of being a possible team owner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: You called the mother of one of the teachers, 27-year-old who was protected her kids, was killed in Sandy Hook. What made you decide to pick up the phone and make that call?

DEREK JETER, NEW YORK YANKEES: I didn't do that for any intention of doing it. I just understood that a big Yankees fan, the mother was a big Yankee fan. I just did it. I thought it would -- just to reach out and say, what a hero her daughter truly was because, you know, I think sometimes people use that term kind of loosely and say this person is a hero, that person is a hero.

You speak about a true hero there. It is an unfortunate incident. I don't have children of my own. I have younger sister. I have a nephew and I can't sit here and tell you how it would feel. But just -- it is unimaginable to think what those families were going through.

A horrific incident like that and not knowing, you know, going to the school and not knowing whether your kids were safe. It is something that -- it is just mind boggling to think about it.

NICHOLS: The start of opening day on the dl because of your ankle. What is going through your head?

JETER: It is going to be odd. It is disappointing for me because, you know, I feel as though it is my job to be ready for opening day, but it just didn't happen. I ran out of time to get ready.

NICHOLS: What's different as you're 38 years old from when you were 22 years old?

JETER: Well, I think the thing is you spend much more time getting ready to play. When you're younger, you just show up 30 minutes before, don't even have to stretch, you go out there and play and move around. Now you get up at night, got to stretch before you get out of bed. It is a lot more difficult, you spend much more time at the stadium.

NICHOLS: What about out there, what are you better at now than you were at 22, 23 years old?

JETER: Answering questions from you. A lot of people don't realize, I've been answering your questions for years.

NICHOLS: You've been doing this since you were 22, 23 years old.

JETER: We've been working together for a long time.

NICHOLS: Second act for you. Is there anything else you want to accomplish?

JETER: Really want to win again. I hear from M.J. all the time. He won six times, we won five. He's always bragging he's got more. It would be fun to have just as many as all your friends.

NICHOLS: You have played baseball or thought about baseball or been preparing for baseball every day of your life, probably as long as you can remember in one way or another. What is scary about the idea of not being in the game whenever down the road it does happen?

JETER: Pretty sure I'll be involved in the game in some facet. I want to own a team one day. That's my next goal.

NICHOLS: You think the Yankees are for sale? You could buy this team.

JETER: Too expensive unless you give me some of your money.

NICHOLS: Would be you like George as an owner, the yelling, the firing?

JETER: I don't know. I have to hire people. So I don't want to tell you how bad I'm going to be before I hire anyone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Love that interview.

In Australia, a thief makes a quick getaway until a glass door gets in the way. And, of course, he -- he goes through the mall security video, he snatches this woman's purse, and then runs through the glass, yes, the glass door, glass goes flying everywhere.

He collapses, but he was able to still get up, and get away. He had an accomplice with him. Bystanders chased him away by a guy who had a gun. And the thief took off with him. But unbelievable, just hit that glass, didn't even see it, and still managed to keep on running.

That's it for me. Fredricka Whitfield takes it from here -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: I think he'll be easy to spot. He'll be the one with the cut up face.

MALVEAUX: Yes, really. WHITFIELD: That's a big old oops. All right, thanks so much, Suzanne. See you tomorrow.