Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Police Question Suspect's Widow; Lapierre Linking Boston to Gun Rights; Kentucky Derby Steps Up Security After Boston Bombings; African-American Jockey Hopes to Win Derby; LeRoy Butler Talks Speech Cancellation; Illegal Weed Dealers Advertise in Colorado; Found Missing Mom Arrested
Aired May 04, 2013 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up this hour in the CNN NEWSROOM, new information on how Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev died, where he will be buried and why police continue to question his widow.
Residents near Los Angeles running for their lives as wildfires burn out of control and threaten thousands of homes. In Florida, investigators are combing the beaches for cocaine. I will explain.
Plus a Pennsylvania mom who abandoned her kids more than a decade ago and turned up in Florida this week back in jail tonight. We've got the details for you. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.
It has been nearly three weeks since the deadly attacks at the Boston marathon and the country's most visible gun rights activist referred to the bombings when he spoke at the NRA national meeting today in Texas. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAYNE LAPIERRE, NRA EXECUTIVE VP: How many Bostonians wish they had a gun two weeks ago?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We'll stay right there. We have more on Lapierre's comments live from Houston in just a moment. But in Boston today, we know the officially report on how one of the bombing suspects died. In a word, it was violently. We have the death certificate. That says Tamerlan Tsarnaev died after several gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to his head and upper body. Police believe he was run over and dragged by his younger brother trying to get away.
Also, President Obama is standing by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies who worked together in those days and hours after the bombing. He said this in an interview published today. "I don't think it is fair to say that law enforcement dropped the ball. I think this is a very difficult challenge when you have individuals who are self-radicalizing. They are not part of some massive conspiracy or a network. I will be making sure that we are following up on any additional improvements that can be made." I want to get to Erin McPike now, she is in North Kingstown, Rhode Island where the wife, now widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev is staying with family. Katherine Russell has stayed pretty much out of sight since the bombings. But today, police said some questions for her and Erin, tell us what you know about that as she has been cooperative.
ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Don, she has been cooperating. And she's been meeting with investigators about 90 minutes at a time. On average every other day we have seen her go to her attorney's office in Downtown Providence. And she did that on Thursday morning. Now, on Friday morning, I was there as well. And talked to her attorney. And he made clear Don that investigators are questioning her, they are not trying to cut some deal. And in fact, they are showing her pictures and asking her to comment on them. So, this investigation is still ongoing. And she will continue to meet with investigators in the coming days -- Don.
SHARPTON: So, Erin, it was more than two weeks since Katherine Russell's husband Tamerlan Tsarnaev died. And that police shoot out in Boston, have they buried him yet?
MCPIKE: They have not. And his body is now in a funeral home in Worcester, Massachusetts. Now, as you know there's been a lot of controversy over whether or not he will be buried in Boston. A lot of people who were at the Boston marathon have complained about this. But Peter Stefan who directs that funeral home spoke with CNN's Randi Kaye this morning about why he made that call when Tamerlan Tsarnaev's uncle has been trying to find a place for him. Let's listen to that -- Don.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER STEFAN, FUNERAL PARLOR OWNER: Here, I can't separate the sin from the sinners with what I do. I can't pick and choose. If someone comes to me and says, look, I want you to bury my Uncle Freddy, but he murdered nine members of my family, I can't say them, look, I don't bury murderers here. It's just not that type of thing. And also, being a civilized society I'm not burying a terrorist. I'm burying a dead body which is what this country does. We buried the Oswalds, we buried the McVeighs, the Damas, the Bundies. If they want to stop doing that, let me know and I will stop being civil, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCPIKE: Now, Don, of course they are still looking for a place to actually bury the body. But it remains in that funeral parlor right now -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Erin McPike, thank you very much. The main speaker at the NRA Convention in Houston today linked the Boston bombings to the debate over gun rights. Executive Vice President Wayne Lapierre reminded supporters the day Boston was shut down while police searched for the marathon bombing suspects.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LAPIERRE: Imagine waking up to a phone call from the police at 3:00 a.m. in the morning warning that a terrorist event is occurring outside and ordering you to stay inside your home. I'm talking of course about Boston where residents were imprisoned behind the locked doors of their own homes. A terrorist with bombs and guns just outside. Frightened citizens sheltered in place with no means to defend themselves or their families from whatever might come crashing through their door. How many Bostonians wished they had a gun two weeks ago?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Athena Jones at the NRA's National Convention. Athena, Wayne Lapierre didn't stop with Boston. He had strong words for President Obama and lawmakers in Washington, too, right?
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don. Good afternoon. And, you know, Wayne Lapierre isn't the only person who had strong words for President Obama. Pretty much every speaker we have heard from for the past two days, had had tough words for not just President Obama but also folks like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Anyone that they feel is trying to restrict their second amendment right to bear arms and while there's been a lot of celebration of the defeat a couple of weeks ago in the Senate of a series of gun measures including one that would have expanded background checks on gun buyers, Wayne Lapierre is telling NRA members that this is just part of a long battle to continue to fight for their rights. Let's just know what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAPIERRE: It's up to us. Every single NRA member. Every single gun owner. All Americans, all over this country to get to work right now and to meet them head on with an NRA that's strong enough, and large enough to defeat any and all threats to our freedom. Today --
(APPLAUSE)
Today, we are a record five million strong. We must not and we will not slow down, not one single bit. By the time we are finished the NRA must and will be 10 million strong. Ten million.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: So there you heard from Lapierre. The goal for the NRA membership. But he also said, the members should be ready to get to work. You know that the NRA is a big political force. So, what is he talking about in terms of getting to work? He's talking about making sure that pro-gun rights representatives are elected to Congress in 2014 -- Don.
LEMON: So, Athena, the Newtown school shootings launched the latest push for gun control. Did Lapierre mention Newtown in his remarks?
JONES: He did. That's an interesting theme that we have also seen over the last couple of days mentioned by Wayne Lapierre and also folks like Sarah Palin and Chris Cox, who is part of the legislative arm of the NRA. They have said that people like President Obama, people like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and all the people who want to see gun control measures go through Congress are using events like the shooting in Newtown, like Aurora and various gun tragedies to try to play on the emotions of people and manipulate them emotionally in order to take away the rights of law abiding gun owners. That's one of the themes we have seen here.
There have been some people I have spoken with, that's one people coming from as far away as California and Florida who traveled here to attend this NRA Convention. And they have said that they are worried about the government trying to take away their rights. Even if they would support some kind of measure of expanded background checks, their biggest concern is that it would be a slippery slope to take away gun rights -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Athena Jones, thank you very much. As far as Wayne Lapierre's comments, how would it make a difference if people in Boston had guns? Well, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, I'm going to talk with the executive director of the Violence Policy Center, he's at the NRA Convention. And he says, it is simply a way for the gun industry to promote its latest and greatest products. Even some of the same firearms used in Newtown and Aurora, that's at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN, of course.
The Pennsylvania mom who made headlines this past week after being missing for 11 years, back in jail right now. Police say, years ago Brenda Heist freaked out and walked away from her husband and two kids. She's been secretly living in Florida, often homeless. Well, yesterday she turned herself in to Florida authorities on a parole violation. Earlier this year, she served two months after stealing a woman's driver's license.
Now some video that we must warn you, it is pretty disturbing. Police in Middlefield, Ohio have released dash cam video of a shootout during a March traffic stop.
(GUNSHOTS)
(SCREAMING)
Police had just pulled over the suspect, James Gilkerson when he opened fire with an AK-47. Two officers returned fire and Gilkerson was killed. Inside Gilkerson's car, police say, they found an arsenal of weapons and ammunition. The two officers were wounded but later released from the hospital.
Wildfires still out of control near Los Angeles. Our Paul Vercammen is there.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But Don, there is also something in the air that has firefighters and residents here rather optimistic. We'll tell you all about it, that's coming up here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LEMON: Good news for firefighters in Southern California. Winds are calming down, helping the efforts to battle a massive wildfire. Flames got out of control fast, there's a devouring 28,000 acres and 15 homes. Four thousand homes still in danger. This picture taken from space earlier this week, it shows a smoke coming off the California coast. Look at that. Paul Vercammen live in Newbury Park. Paul, how are things looking now?
VERCAMMEN: Don, they are looking so much better. If I just turned out, this is among the concerns right now but we have smoldering hot spots and no active flank of raging flame anymore. You mentioned about that, 28,000 acres. They say the fire has not grown. That's a great sign. And then for the first time, a short time ago they told us this. Predicted 100 percent containment. For Monday if there is no change in the temperature. And that is super good news. What's leading to all of this?
Moisture is in the air for the first time in a long time. It's 38 percent humidity right now. That's a lot better than those single digits that they had on Thursday and Friday when it was such a fetch battle. Residents here knowing that they are not -- you can look over here and you can see people in the neighborhoods carefully keeping an eye on everything that's going on wanting to have a complete sigh of relief.
And imagine also Don, what it's been like for children in this area being told they might need to evacuate, being pulled out at school. We talked to couple of brothers and listened to what they had to say about their fire experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUSTIN WATERMAN, AFFECTED BY WILDFIRE: This was probably one of the coolest but saddest things ever. So many plants died and stuff.
CALVIN WATERMAN, AFFECTED BY WILDFIRE: It's been kind of scary because we were getting packed up to be ready for evacuation. And then when we got dismissed from school there have been ashes coming down and the sun's all different color from the pollution. It's been crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: And as we look at these live pictures again, that's just sort of thing that they have to monitor, little flare-ups like this. The last thing they want of course is for some reason is to burst into more flame. And ambers (ph) go shooting at in and around the neighborhood. And possibly, you know, threatening more homes. But right now, so far so good, Don. A rather great day for firefighters as they got just what they needed. You want humidity to rise and temperatures to go down. Back to you.
LEMON: All right. A chance of rain in the forest. Thank you very much. Appreciate that, Paul Vercammen.
The Taliban claiming responsibility for killing five U.S. service members in Afghanistan. They were killed by a roadside bomb in Kandahar province earlier today. In a separate attack, two coalition service members were killed in western Afghanistan when an Afghan soldier turned his weapon on them. Their nationalities were not immediately released.
A death toll from that factory collapse in Bangladesh, 11 days ago has risen to 547. Officials blame heavy machinery inside the building and faulty construction for that tragedy and also say, the way through illegal floors were added to the building contributed to the disaster. The building's owner was arrested last weekend trying to flee to India.
The tragedy linked the places you probably shop. Seven big back stores that do business in Bangladesh are on your screen right now. Bangladesh is the third biggest exporter of apparel to this country. Representatives from the garment industry and government have put together a so-called action plan to prevent disasters in the future.
Cameras captured the dramatic rescue of a man who fell into railroad tracks in China. He appeared to faint during rush hour Thursday and fell from an elevated platform. Others waiting for the train rushed to help him, some leaping on to the tracks themselves.
Coming up here on CNN, nearly 100 baggage handlers busted, caught red handed, rummaging through people's bags. Plus the fate of Jodi Arias now in the hands of the jury.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Caught in the act -- well, kind of was in Italy. You are looking at surveillance video, a baggage handlers riffling through luggage as its being loaded and unloaded on aircraft. My goodness, can you believe that? Eighty six handlers were arrested. They worked for the Italian airline Alitalia at seven major airports including Rome, Naples and Milan. If convicted, they could get up to six years in prison.
It's an FBI first. A woman has been placed on the agency's most wanted terrorist list. Her name Joanne Chesimard who is convicted of killing a New Jersey state trooper 40 years ago. She was sent to prison but escaped two years later, fled to Cuba where she received political asylum and has been living freely there ever since. A reward for her capture has been doubled to $2 million.
The Jodi Arias murder trial and the media circus that's following it is in its final stretch, finally. Arias is on trial for killing her ex-boyfriend Travis Alexander in 2008. The jury began deliberations yesterday following dramatic closing arguments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRK NURMI, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She was in reasonable fear that he was going to end her life. It's part of the reality, ladies and gentlemen, of this day is that out of this scene, out of this picture, behind which many dirty little secrets were held, somebody, somebody was not going to make it out alive. It was either going to be Jodi or was going to be Travis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Criminal Defense Attorney Holly Hughes is here. So, Holly, let's first talk about how the defense summed up the case and closing arguments. They say prosecutors didn't prove their case so you can't convict her. What do you think of the strategy?
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, they used what they had, Don. The problem with this particular case and this particular defendant is she loves to talk. And before this particular team of lawyers got involved, she gave interviews to television stations all over the place proclaiming she's innocent. She lied to the police, gave three different stories. So, they were hemmed in. They were hog tied by their client's own words. And they had to work with what they had.
I think they did an effective job of pointing out to a jury, look, it's possible it happened this way. It could be self-defense, if you believe the liar because it's been proven she lied over and over. If you don't believe self-defense, then do us a favor, think about manslaughter. Maybe it's not first-degree murder. Maybe she just snapped. And honestly, they did the best they could with what they had.
But I've got to tell you, I've been a little critical of the prosecutor in this case, Don. We've been watching. He's very pit bullish, very, you know, aggressive. But when it came to the closing argument in this case, he really brought it home. Because what he did was he brought the victim back into the case. We've been here, oh, sex, lies and audio tape, right? And this trial has gotten off track sometimes. And we lose sight of the fact.
LEMON: This is about --
HUGHES: A man was slaughtered in his own bathroom.
LEMON: That's what I'm going to ask you a little -- because for people who are not -- people are, and if you are, you know that's fine.
HUGHES: That's great.
LEMON: I have been -- you have been living and breathing it for how long?
HUGHES: Right. It's been four months now.
LEMON: Four months. And you stream in your office and the testimony the whole time.
HUGHES: I do, absolutely.
LEMON: I was just wondering, like, what is there to say in four months on the stand? Like how many times can you go over -- HUGHES: And a lot of people have asked this. And I got to tell you. This has a lot to do with how a judge runs a courtroom. The judge in this case, Sherry Stevens was very permissive. She allowed both sides to go over a lot of testimony. What we as lawyers call cumulative. You know, the same thing over and over but in different ways.
LEMON: Is it too much for the jury at some point, is it too much to absorb?
HUGHES: Well, here is the thing. This is a death penalty case. And as we lawyers like to say, death is different. So, what the judge did here in an effort to make sure that this doesn't come back on appeal, let's look at it this way. You can take four months to try it once or you can rush them through, have them file a successful appeal and have to try the whole thing over again, two and a half years later when some of your witnesses might not be available.
LEMON: How long do you think the jury will deliberate?
HUGHES: I think it's going to be pretty quick. Because she confesses in the end to having done the killing. So, the only question for this jury is, do they think this was premeditated cold blooded murder, that she drove hundreds of miles fully intending to kill Travis Alexander or did she act in self-defense or heat of passion? And that's all it comes down to. Kind of why did it happen? This case is not a who done it, but why did she do it?
LEMON: Yes. So, what are the possible outcomes? Obviously --
HUGHES: First-degree murder which could happen with a premeditation murder or a felony murder charge. Then if they convict her that we go to what we call the penalty phase, it's a whole another mini trial, Don. Because the state is seeking death.
LEMON: Really?
HUGHES: Yes. This could go on for another two weeks if they return a first-degree murder. Because then we have what we call mitigation experts. Both sides will say, you know, the defense is going to argue have mercy, she's messed up, she's had a bad childhood and the state is going to say this is a brutal, heinous, vicious crime. She did it intentionally and she doesn't deserve another chance to do it again. Kill her.
LEMON: Oh!
HUGHES: Yes.
LEMON: All right.
HUGHES: And that's what we come down to if it's first-degree.
LEMON: Right.
HUGHES: If it's anything less, she might get out on parole. Scary thought. Right, Don? LEMON: Are you kidding me?
HUGHES: No. If it's comes back, second degree or a manslaughter at some point in her lifetime, she will be parolable.
LEMON: Yes.
HUGHES: We're talking about a woman who stabbed 29 times, slit a throat from ear to ear, almost decapitating the man, and shot him in the head. Kind of frightening, isn't it?
LEMON: Get your sleep now if you can. Because if that happens, you will be on TV 24 hours a day.
HUGHES: I'll be back over on our sister network HLN working it.
LEMON: Twenty four hours a day.
HUGHES: Exactly. Yes.
LEMON: Thank you. Thank you, Holly. I appreciate it.
HUGHES: Absolutely. Thanks, Don. Great to see you.
LEMON: You as well. We are about an hour away from the start of the Kentucky derby. Coming up, meet the man who hopes to become the first African-American jockey to win the race in over a century.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Getting close to the bottom of the hour. We want to update you on our top story now. The latest on the Boston bombings investigation. The woman who was married to one of the bombing's suspects is cooperating with police. Katherine Russell is the widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev who was killed in a police shootout in the days after the marathon attack.
Our crew in Rhode Island says, she met with investigators, she meets with investigators about every other day and her attorney says, she is looking at pictures and answering questions, not cutting a deal of any kind. Given what happened in Boston, security has been tightened at this year's Kentucky derby. And once fans get through security, fans will have to contend with some very messy conditions.
Pamela Brown is in Louisville, Kentucky, with more. Pamela.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, more than 160,000 people turned out today to watch the run for the roses. Everything is going smoothly from security to the horse racing here today. Officials have been scrambling for the past few weeks trying to put these new measures into place. Now, after 9/11, security was tightened. And now officials are cracking down even more in the wake of the Boston bombings. Banning coolers, cans and purses larger than a foot.
There is increased wending at the entrances and local, state and federal authorities were out in force with a hundred more here today than normal. Also additional bomb sniffing dogs were brought in this week. And this is the largest sporting event since Boston but it seems people aren't letting fear of another terrorist attack. Hold them back.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I was happy to hear that they have increased security. It means, you know, less makeup and goodies we can bring in, but it's, you know, it's worth that they just to be more comfortable and to know that we are all going to look after each other.
BROWN: Is what happened in Boston on your mind today at all?
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Yes. It definitely is on my mind just for the fact that it's such a large crowd. You just never know how people's intentions are. Definitely. But I'm not going to let that spoil my time. We're going to enjoy ourselves.
BROWN: According to a CNN/Time/ORC poll, only about a quarter of those polled said they would be less likely to attend an event because of terrorism fears. Based on the turnout here, at Churchill Downs today, that seems to be the case -- Don?
LEMON: Pamela, thank you very much.
Today's derby could mark a revival of Churchill Down's history. Kevin Krigger is riding the horse Golden Sense in today's race. He's African-American. And an African-American jockey hasn't won the derby since 1902. Krigger said there is no reason why he can't win today's race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN KRIGGER, JOCKEY: I thank these guys for sticking with me. I have thought of myself as the best rider in the world. There is no reason I shouldn't. Golden Sense is the horse that will help me prove that. That's what I'm out to prove.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Krigger grew up in the U.S. Virgin Islands. His horse is partly owned by University of Louisville basketball coach, Rick Pitino.
See that guy right there? There he is. That's former NFL star LeRoy Butler. You know, the guy who invented the Lambeau Leap. Coming up, I'll tell you how a supportive four-word tweet got him axed from a speaking gig.
But first, here's Christine Romans with this week's "Smart is the New Rich."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Would you trust Justin Bieber with your money? What about Russell Simmons? Suze Orman? They are pushing prepaid debit cards. You load it with cash and swipe away. But it will cost you.
GREG MCBRIDE, SENIOR FINANCIAL ANALYST, BANKRATE.COM: The fees on prepaid debit cards can really run the gambit, anything from a monthly service fee to an activation fee, even fees for doing things like calling customer service or having a transaction declined due to insufficient balance, sometimes even checking your balance at an ATM triggers a fee.
ROMANS: Traditional bank fees are rising, too. Maybe that's why consumers don't seem to mind they're paying so much for prepaid debit cards. The amount of money put on prepaid debit cards almost tripled from 2008 to 2012. It's expected to top $168 billion by 2015.
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Prepaid debit cards, essentially, it is spending money to use your own money. But they don't necessarily fix your credit. It's too expensive.
ROMANS: Mack says, if you don't have a checking account, look for a credit union in your area. Check out a smarterchoice.org or go to joinbankon.org to find a local bank that can help you open an account or build up your credit.
Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: NBA player Jason Collins's announcement that he's gay has triggered a lot of reaction. Some is positive, some is not. Then there's what happened to NFL player, LeRoy Butler. He spent his career in Green Bay, invented the famous Lambeau Leap. And these days, he speaks out about bullying to youth groups. His four-word tweet, "Congrats to Jason Collins," caused a church to cancel his speech on bullying to a group of young people.
LeRoy Butler joins me now from Milwaukee.
Good to see you. Doing OK?
LEROY BUTLER, FORMER GREEN BAY PACKER: Good, Don. How are you?
LEMON: I'm great. Thanks for coming on.
They didn't want you voicing support for Jason Collins. But they said you could make the speech if you did several specific things. What did they want you to do?
BUTLER: I think for the most part they wanted, I guess, to protect the kid that I wouldn't mention anything having to do with homosexuality, gay rights or anything like that. But if I was able to take the tweet back and ask for forgiveness, they said I could do my speech but I would get paid my speaker's fee. That really bothered me. For the most part, I thought -- because I shot a lot of videos and talked to a lot of kids. I have polled a lot of kids, where is bullying coming from, and church was one of the top ones. I thought, if I took that back, I would take away the voice of so many young kids right now who are determining whether or not they should come out. There could be violence against them or things of that nature. I wasn't willing to do that.
LEMON: I'm sure you explained how could you do a speech on bullying without mentioning gay kids because gay kids are a big portion of kids who get bullied?
BUTLER: No question about it. I don't judge which kids we talk to. We took a hundred random kids and we just sat down and talked to them.
I'm a social science major at Florida State. It gives you a chance to just talk to some of the kids. Through talking to some of the kids, we've learned some of them were gay. I said, well, what happens to you at school? That's when it got vicious.
Don, it caught me by surprise. I thought in America in 2013, I didn't know this many people hate gays. I was shocked. Not to know, how can we put this bullying thing under wraps, that's when I started to continue to shoot the documentary and interviewing these kids. I learned a lot of gruesome things.
LEMON: You learned from your experience probably how many gay kids -- I mean, you can empathize more I'm sure now with gay kids.
BUTLER: Yes.
LEMON: OK. You're not naming the church. Why?
BUTLER: Well, Don, here's what me and my mom sat down and talked about. I thought we would be doing evil for evil. If I release the church, the pastor's name, his family and kids, then there may be people who come after them. We didn't want that. We don't want people to go, think church is bad or vandalize the church. We didn't want to do that.
We just want to get the message that hurt me personally by not letting me speak and hurting me economically. It's one of these things, if you don't believe what I believe, then you have to walk a fine line. I wanted to concentrate on the issue at hand, not make it so much, something happens to the church, I didn't want that to be one of the focuses.
LEMON: OK. You've been invited to speak by a different church that heard what happened. Is that encouraging to you?
BUTLER: Oh, yes. It is. It really is. Don, to be honest with you, I have gotten a lot of churches reaching out. As a matter of fact, there is a church in Madison that's going to take their place, and we are putting that together now.
It seems like a lot of people try to make it political. It's not the church people, the religious people that I'm getting all that negative stuff. It's the conservative people who are making it more conservative. And it's not political. This has nothing to do with political. Has really nothing to do with religion. It's just about a young man, African-American who came from the projects, single parent home. From my mom, Eunice Butler, taught me to love everybody. That's a message I want to spread to kids. That's why I wrote the book. How can I turn this into something positive? It seems a lot of people want to make it kind of political and I get disappointed by that.
LEMON: Loving everybody. It seems like the godly thing to do, doesn't it?
Thank you.
BUTLER: That's what I was taught. And I went to church everyday.
LEMON: Thank you, sir. Appreciate you coming on. Best of luck to you.
BUTLER: Thank you very much.
LEMON: Coming up, take a ride on the Med-Ex Express, a marijuana delivery company that probably isn't legal -- yet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Voters in Colorado legalized the sale and use of pot for personal use in November. Authorized retail stores won't open for several months but many illegal weed dealers in the state are getting ahead of the game, going so far as to advertise on craigslist and even offering delivery.
CNN's Jim Spellman went along for the ride.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's Saturday night in a suburban Denver office and Eric's work day is just getting started. His business is marijuana delivered to your door anywhere in the Denver area, usually in 45 minutes or less.
ERIC, MED-EX EXPRESS: Now it's just a matter of a small wait. We should see an order or something come in.
SPELLMAN: His company is called Med-Ex Express. They advertise on craigslist and, so far, have five drivers and employees who prepare the marijuana for delivery.
ERIC: This is on-demand. If you have product they have cash.
SPELLMAN: Within minutes of placing the ad, the first order comes in.
ERIC: How much are you looking for today? OK, OK.
SPELLMAN: The order completed online, his client gets an e-mail confirmation and Eric hits the road.
First stop, the fulfillment center, AKA, the apartment where they keep the weed. No cameras allowed, Eric says (on camera): What did you get?
ERIC: OK, so the packaging is done. We guaranteed freshness, so that's why we use these. We have an eighth here. This is 3.5 grams of L.A. Confidential.
(LAUGHTER)
SPELLMAN (voice-over): Weed in hand, Dr. Dre on the radio, and Eric is on his way.
(on camera): The first customer is a businessman from out of town staying at a hotel. He ordered an eighth of an ounce and will pay $45 for that, plus a $5 delivery surcharge.
(voice-over): Last year, Colorado voters passed Amendment 64 making recreational use of marijuana legal. Retail stores won't go online until January 2014. But under state law, anyone in Colorado can possess small amounts of marijuana.
Eric says this means Colorado is in a gray area. He thinks this makes his business legal. It's probably not. But so far, he says, the police haven't bothered him.
To hedge his bets, he advertises that the payment is a so-called donation. Make of that what you will.
ERIC: We understand it's pretty rogue as far as what's going on. But we want to be the pioneers to set up a legitimate business instead of this being ran by some thugs.
SPELLMAN: 35 minutes after the order was placed, he pulls into the hotel parking lot.
ERIC: Hey, this is Eric. Hey, I just pulled up.
SPELLMAN: They agree to meet in front of the hotel, trade cash for weed, shake hands and go their separate ways.
(on camera): He's just finished his first delivery and already two more orders have come in to the dispatch center.
(voice-over): Eric, whose last name we have agreed not to use, won't say where the pot comes from. His employees and customers all declined to go on camera.
Back at the fulfillment center, his team has another order ready to go.
ERIC: This looks like Mountain Gorilla.
SPELLMAN (on camera): That's an ounce of marijuana?
ERIC: That's an ounce of marijuana.
SPELLMAN (voice-over): Eric also runs a financial services company and a debt consolidation business but thinks this will be his most successful business yet.
(on camera): Ultimately, where do you want your business to be?
ERIC: I'm a big planner. I'm an entrepreneur and a businessman. I want this to be the future. I want this to be something we can set up that has a great operation, maybe a franchise.
(LAUGHTER)
SPELLMAN (voice-over): Back for another order, headed to a house in an up-scale Denver suburb.
ERIC: This is a quarter here, once again, Mountain gorilla. Hot special tonight. Then this is going to be also a quarter of White Fire.
SPELLMAN: He'll keep going all night, delivering marijuana, staking his claim in Colorado's marijuana gold rush.
ERIC: If this was crack or something like that, I wouldn't do this. This is something that probably should have been legalized long before. It's not something I'm ashamed of in any way. I think it's a great business opportunity, a great way to support my family.
SPELLMAN: Jim Spellman, CNN, Parker, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Starting Monday morning with our Carol Costello at 9:00 a.m. eastern on CNN, we'll spotlight Colorado's new industry. Watch "Pot Boom: Colorado's Road to Establishing, Creating and Implementing a Legal Pot for Recreational Use Industry," here on CNN.
A Pennsylvania mom, who abandoned her kids more than a decade ago and turned up in Florida last week, is in jail tonight. New details next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The family of the mother who just turned up after disappearing 11 years ago in Pennsylvania, for now at least, doesn't want to see her. Here is Brenda Heist in 2002. This is Brenda now. There she is. In 2002, facing divorce and financial troubles, police say she was sitting on a park bench and crying. Two guys and a woman approached her, concerned. On a whim, she joined them hitchhiking to Florida, abandoning her husband and two children. Last week, a homeless Brenda Heist approached police and told them who she was. Her husband has since remarried. The family she left behind spoke to Piers Morgan after the daughter had lashed out recently on social media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIERS MORGAN, HOST, PIERS MORGAN: One of your tweets said you hope she rots in hell. I understand the anger. Do you think your anger may calm enough to be more rational or is it beyond redemption or apology? MORGAN HEIST, DAUGHTER OF BRENDA HEIST: I hope to eventually forgive her one day for myself, not for her. But I eventually hope to forgive her and move on with my life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: So now mom is back in jail. Just yesterday, she turned herself into the Florida authorities for a parole violation. She'd served two months after stealing a woman's driver's license. Clearly, she has issues.
We will go to psychologist, Wendy Walsh, here in studio.
WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: Here in Atlanta. Good to see you.
LEMON: Your book, I left it on my desk. Sorry.
(LAUGHTER)
WALSH: I'll autograph it later.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Your book is finally out. We will talk about that in a little bit. Real quick, the story of the mom and the family. Is there any value into letting her back into their lives? No?
WALSH: Not really. I was at CNN New York yesterday talking with Dr. Drew about this. Both of us agree she probably has frontal lobe damage, whether she suffered injury to the frontal lobe or it's from drug use. We haven't examined her. There may be personality disorders, too. But the bottom line is, probably the best gift she could have given those kids was to leave.
LEMON: Really?
WALSH: She didn't have the psychological ability to be a good mom.
LEMON: OK. We hope it works out for all of them.
You have been on the show for years talking about relationships, poring over research. And it's all the culmination of this, "The 30 Day Love Detox. "30 Day Love Detox."
(LAUGHTER)
It is out now. And a lot of this is about men. But how do you talk about men in general?
WALSH: You know, it is a way to purge yourself of men that won't commit, is what it's about.
(LAUGHTER)
But, you know, I do talk a lot about men because I don't think women understand men and male psychology. It is important you don't categorize men. If you do, that's trying to pick one color of OPI nail polish. There are so many kinds of men out there. Trust me.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: You say men are dogs.
WALSH: I do not.
LEMON: I heard that. I have heard that.
WALSH: I do not.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Wendy and I are friends. She will tell you.
(LAUGHTER)
No. So I've heard men called dogs, pigs, what have you. Basically, we are animals. Haven't guys moved beyond animal though? Do we still have something in common with animals?
WALSH: Here is the fascinating thing. Human males have the widest range of paternal investment and sexual appetite of any primate species. Do you know how anthropologists figured this out?
LEMON: No.
WALSH: The size of the family jewels. It's true. You knew I had to go there.
(LAUGHTER)
Listen. Let's think about the other species. Chimpanzees, big coconuts, tiny body weight, very promiscuous. Think of orangutans, tiny chestnuts, large body weight, very monogamous, very paternal. Human beings, somewhere in the middle.
(LAUGHTER)
So don't judge an individual man, by the way. I'm talking species wide.
So what that means is that some men's investment in their child might only be a teaspoon of juice. Another might be a baby wearing, softball-throwing, car-pool driving, doting dad, and everything in between. When women are missing out. In this day and age, when women are so powerful and have risen in economic power, of trying to get what they call the George Clooney Effect. The want a guy higher, more gorgeous, makes more money than them, they need to look at those nurturers now.
LEMON: OK, "The 30 Day Love Detox."
Wendy, you're a show favorite. You have been coming on forever. Appreciate you being part of our show.
WALSH: Thank you. Thank you.
LEMON: Get out and get that book.
WALSH: Thank you.
LEMON: Thank you --
(CROSSTALK)
WALSH: I'm happy to be in Atlanta.
LEMON: Wendy, you look great.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: We will be back with our "CNN Hero" of the week next.
Thanks, Wendy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD NARES, CNN HERO: It is paralyzing when you hear those words, "Your child has cancer." I know what those families are going through.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: The sun.
NARES: The sun is coming out.
It is extremely difficult. My son, he was diagnosed with cancer. It was such a horrifying time. We were fortunate we had rides to the hospital. Many families don't have that support.
Good morning.
We found out many of them were missing appointments.
My name is Richard Nares. No child should miss cancer treatment due to lack of transportation.
Ready to go?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ready.
NARES: We give over 2,000 rides a year.
Our furthest cancer patient is 120 miles.
Ride with Emilio plays an important part of the treatment. We get them here in a nice, clean environment, and on time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We live here. It is every day treatment. We want to fight. We're in this together. That's all I care now, my daughter's life. NARES: When you're fighting for your child's life, nothing else matters.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They pick us up in the morning and give us our ride back. They'll help us every step of the way.
NARES: 70 percent of our families are Spanish speaking. Having a bilingual staff is extremely important.
I feel like it's my obligation to help them navigate the system.
Take good care of yourself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
NARES: From someone that's been there. Even though he's passed away almost 13 years, he's the main force of this, and I feel that I'm the right person to help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
