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Cruise Ship Fire; Kentucky Police Officer Killed

Aired May 27, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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


JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: You're looking there at them. And let's listen now.

(SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: May they all rest in peace.

JOHNS: Barbara Starr, you have been there all day, it seems. Give me a sense of the feeling right now.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: I don't know that we could have been anywhere else but here, of course, today, Joe.

What we're seeing is the families, the friends, the battle buddies, the children of those who fell on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Some 800 troops from those wars buried here, many, many of them young people from all over this country.

And every year, what we see is the people come here to leave mementos, memories. It is especially moving when we see the children, when we see the battle buddies come here to say hello and goodbye to the friends that fell on the battlefield with them.

Many of these people have been here since early this morning, when the cemetery opened. And we see them year after year, when they come to visit their loved ones. So, it is a very emotional day, very emotional moment, full of love and respect for the troops.

And we ran into Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, himself a Vietnam veteran, highly decorated, served many tour -- served multiple tours in combat, wounded, and he came here today to pay his respects and spoke to us a little bit about what he remembers from his war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: Are there on this day men that you served with in Vietnam that you remember, that you would like to tell people about?

CHUCK HAGEL, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, there are.

And there is an individual that is buried over here, because these are new graves, Dean Phillips (ph), who was a Green Beret and an individual I got to know after I came home from Vietnam, working with him at the Veterans Administration.

People I served -- John Summers (ph) was another one that was killed in an ambush, but there is an inventory of people that you remember, and you remember every one. I gave...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STARR: You remember every one. And that's what we find here, half-a- century perhaps after Vietnam ended. The troops will tell you the same thing. They can tell you everyone who served in their unit. They can tell you every battle, every firefight they were in, everything that happened to them on their tour of duty. And they come here to remember and pay their respects to those who didn't make it back -- Joe.

JOHNS: CNN's Barbara Starr at Arlington National Cemetery, thanks so much for that on this Memorial Day.

Earlier today, the commander in chief urged us not to forget those brave men and women who have died ensuring our freedoms. That's President Barack Obama.

The president was there late this morning, commemorating Memorial Day at Arlington. Since last Memorial Day, we have lost 234 fighting men and women in the war in Afghanistan, but as the president noted, those numbers are going down as a nation ends its involvement there. He said this time next year will mark our final day of war in Afghanistan.

Senator John McCain has just become the highest ranking U.S. official to enter war-ravaged Syria. He went there and met with rebel leaders today. The Daily Beast reports McCain entered Syria from Turkey with this man, General Salim Idris, the leader of the Supreme Military Council of the Free Syrian Army.

McCain reportedly met with rebel leaders from across the country. The senator continues to urge more U.S. intervention in the conflict, which is all now in its third year and has led to the deaths of more than 70,000 Syrians.

You're looking at pictures of the aftermath of a cruise ship fire. This morning, chaos erupted when a fire broke out on the Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas, just off the coast of the Bahamas. Passengers were woken up in the middle of the night by an emergency announcement over the ship's intercom, this video showing the moment terrified passengers were evacuated on to the deck and asked to put on life jackets.

Earlier, I spoke to the woman who shot this video and asked her what happened when she heard the announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIELLE MILLER, PASSENGER: Our stateroom attendant was pounding on our door, and I opened the door and just see people running around and yelling at us to get our life jackets on and run as fast as we can up to deck five.

So I woke up my roommate, and she honestly didn't even believe me. But we were both just, like, shaking and so much adrenaline pumping through our veins. We probably ran up to that deck faster than we have ever ran before. So, we were terrified, though. And a lot of people were just crying and freaking out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: For more now on the unfolding situation, our Erin McPike joins me from the port of Baltimore where the ship originally set sail.

Erin, what is the Royal Caribbean company saying about what happened?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe, it's tweeted updates today for passengers and for loved ones of passengers.

Royal Caribbean also put out a statement explaining what happened early this morning, and I will read that to you. They say: "Today, at approximately 2:50 a.m., Grandeur of the Seas experienced a fire on the mooring area of deck three. The fire has since been extinguished. In an abundance of caution, the captain deemed it necessary to muster all guests at their assembly stations."

Now, the fire took about two hours to put out, Joe. But at this point, they are saying that all guests are safe.

JOHNS: So do you have any sense of how operational this ship is? Passengers apparently have the option to leave from Freeport or stay.

MCPIKE: Well, Joe, the ship actually is operational. And some passengers are still on it and they will be staying on the ship. Now, passengers who were in impacted rooms, though, some of them are being put up in hotel rooms in Freeport.

JOHNS: So there is also a question about what caused this fire and whether they're actually going to end up giving the passengers some of their money back.

MCPIKE: They haven't made any sort of recommendations yet on what they will be doing, but we just got word that the National Transportation Safety Board is launching a team to investigate today. Also, the Royal Caribbean CEO, Adam Goldstein, has already been to the ship to inspect some of the damage, Joe.

JOHNS: Erin McPike at the Port of Baltimore, thank you for that.

People in Moore -- people in Moore, Oklahoma, who lost everything in last week's deadly tornado today are searching for anything worth salvaging from the rubble of what used to be their homes. Some 12,000 houses were either damaged or destroyed, so cleaning up is going to take a long time.

Our Nick Valencia is in Moore, where he's been speaking with residents as they begin the daunting task of trying to pick up the pieces -- Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Joe.

Yes, for so many people, their lives are really going to be divided by what happened before the storm and how are they going to carry on afterwards. But this community is used to this sort of thing.

And we're going to talk to two people who were pretty prepared for what happened. This is J.T. and his wife , Kelly. Tell me where you were during the storm.

KELLY BYRNE, SURVIVOR: As the storms came in, we had been sheltering in an inside closet. We had been watching the weather all day, and we knew there was severe weather. We didn't know where it would go. And my girls and I -- I have a 1-year-old and 4-year-old -- we had made a pillow fort in our inner side closet.

And as the weather got worse, we started to really stay in there. I brought the girls in with the movie, so they weren't really worried. And we just listened and were paying attention to the different cross streets and finding out it got closer to us and it was getting bigger.

We heard that it was coming for the Warren Theatre. And I know a lot of people have heard that is a landmark. And we were pretty much a mile east of that. So at that point, when they said it was headed toward the Warren, and they said that an interior room wasn't sufficient, the girls and I grabbed our rain boots and we went to a neighbor's storm shelter.

VALENCIA: The neighbors have been so good to each other here.

J.T., you were telling me that there's really a lot of good and uplifting things that have come out of here. You're really encouraged by what?

J.T. BYRNE, SURVIVOR: Well, the biggest thing is, is friends and family come from without the wood works. People that we haven't seen long time have come and they have been very giving, very supportive.

And we had one friend that came out, and she basically called us up and said, you know what, somebody comes out and said what do you need, give them my number. I am take over and make sure that you guys are good to go.

VALENCIA: A lot of people look at this, when you look behind me, it is just block after block. You live just on the other side in another subdivision here, and your home made it. It was not as bad as the others. It was totaled, you say, but not as bad as the others. Tell people why you want to rebuild here. You plan on staying here. Why?

K. BYRNE: Well, we live in Oklahoma. And anywhere in central Oklahoma, you might have a tornado. So, you know, it is a good neighborhood. And actually through this, we have met more of our neighbors. We have gotten a lot closer with them. And we like the area still.

So we're just going to make sure we build a storm shelter this time.

(LAUGHTER)

VALENCIA: Well, we hope for next one you're safe as well. Thank you, J.T. and Kelly, for joining us. Just incredible stories of survival, and, like they said, they're meeting their neighbors. There is a lot of good that is coming out of this. It's too bad that what had to happen had to happen, but if there is any good news, J.T. and Kelly have it -- all right, Joe, back to you.

JOHNS: Nick Valencia, great reporting out there. Thanks so much.

Coming up, a Kentucky police officer stopped to remove some debris from the middle of the road in the middle of the night and he was shot to death. Police are calling it an ambush. We will have that story coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Now we're going to take a look at the investigation in Kentucky, where a police officer was ambushed and murdered over the weekend and his chief is vowing revenge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK MCCUBBIN, BARDSTOWN, KENTUCKY, POLICE CHIEF: It's an eye for an eye. You kill one of my guys, I'm not going to rest until I have you in cuffs or on the front side of a weapon. And I mean that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: The officer is 33-year-old canine Officer Jason Ellis. He was driving home early Saturday when he stopped to remove debris from an exit ramp.

Police say the debris was actually a trap, and that's when Ellis was shot to death. The young policeman never had a chance. Officer Ellis' gun was still in his holster when he died. He is survived by a wife and two young sons.

Joining me now is Alina Machado.

Alina, what is the latest?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Joe, there is now a reward of at least $6,000 being offered in this case.

Police are actively searching for the person they say ambushed one of their own, Officer Jason Ellis. They tell us they have several people working on this case, but no one is in custody and so far there are no solid leads. They also say the killer shot Officer Ellis from a distance using a shotgun.

Authorities believe this attack was planned. The seven-year veteran leaves behind a wife and two young boys. The killing has shocked those who knew him. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PASTOR BRENT SNOOK, FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF GLEN ESTE: When you know a guy like Jason, who is just a great man and a wonderful guy, you just don't expect this to happen. He was a courteous kid.

And when he was a teenager, a lot of times, teenagers go kind of do their own thing, but Jason stayed just as respectful as he always was when he was a kid. He wanted to make a difference in people's lives and so he had a passion and always wanted to be a police officer. There is three characteristics that come to mind about Jason, his integrity, his honesty, and his respect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: So, above all, I just want to know, was he the intended target or was this a much more random situation?

MACHADO: Well, Joe, that's exactly what police are still trying to figure out. They say they don't know if Officer Ellis was specifically the target of this attack or if the shooter was simply trying to get someone to stop on the road so they could shoot and kill them.

JOHNS: And you said there is a reward, but if he wasn't targeted, then the potential exists that perhaps someone else is also at risk there in that community.

MACHADO: Yes. And that's the thought here. Authorities have told people to be on the lookout, to be vigilant, because they really don't know what is behind this shooting.

JOHNS: Wow. What a story. All right, thanks so much for that, Alina Machado.

Accused of murdering her own son and sentenced to death, Debra Milke has been on death row for the past 23 years. But she may go free now -- the story of the woman they call Death Row Debbie coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Move over, Jodi Arias. Another woman accused of a grisly murder is stealing the limelight in Phoenix, Arizona.

Debra Milke has been sitting on death row for 23 years, accused of killing her own son. But could the woman known as Death Row Debbie walk soon?

Christine Romans has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A death row inmate convicted of killing her 4-year-old son could walk free next month.

Debra Milke had her conviction overturned by a federal appeals court after arguing for years that she was the victim of a crooked cop. Known locally as Death Row Debbie, Milke has been sitting on Arizona's death row for nearly 23 years for the murder of her son Christopher in Phoenix.

MARK MILKE, FATHER OF 4-YEAR-OLD MURDER VICTIM: He was my pride and joy. I mean, he was so much more brighter than me and stronger.

ROMANS: In December 1989, according to the prosecution, Christopher was told he was going to see Santa Claus at a local mall. Two male friends of Debra Milke drove him instead to a desert where one of them shot the young boy three times in the back of the head, allegedly on her instructions.

The two men told police the boy disappeared at the mall, but a day later one of them confessed to police and led them to the boy's body. Prosecutors argued the boy was killed to collect on a $5,000 life insurance policy. She has always maintained her innocence, but the key witness, Detective Armando Saldate Jr., said she confessed to the plot to him and him alone.

DETECTIVE ARMANDO SALDATE JR., KEY WITNESS IN TRIAL: She then manipulated two other gentlemen to get rid of the child, and they got rid of the child, then made up a story that he had gotten lost at a mall.

ROMANS: The appeals court said prosecutors should have revealed Detective Saldate's history of misconduct, which included lying under oath in other cases. Because Milke's guilty verdict was based largely on Saldate's testimony, the appeals court overturned her conviction.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: Want to dig deeper on this case now.

Danny Cevallos is a criminal defense attorney live from Philadelphia.

Danny, Debbie's lawyer was on CNN this morning. And take a listen to what she says about the man who essentially almost put the nail in the coffin for Debra Milke, the police officer who says she confessed to him. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LORI VOEPEL, ATTORNEY FOR DEBRA MILKE: This detective has a history of misconduct, lying to grand juries under oath to secure grand jury indictments. He has falsified and coerced confessions of severely vulnerable suspects. He has tainted photo lineups, and even early on, when he was a patrol officer, basically extorted a woman who he had pulled over who had an arrest warrant for sex.

And that was later discovered by the Phoenix Police Department. He was suspended for five days, and they indicated that that called his credibility and his integrity into question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: OK, so, Danny, tell me how this could happen. There is no physical evidence against Debbie. Both of the convicted killers refused to implicate her in the case, even when presented with a plea deal. So why does it take 22 years for this officer's testimony to be called into question? DANNY CEVALLOS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: So this is an unusual murder case, because the only evidence against this defendant was the testimony of the detective.

So there was no real forensics. We know who killed them. We know who killed the child. It was the boyfriend and the friend. The real question is, was she involved? And the only evidence of that that, as we know, was the confession. It is a literal he said and she said.

So, in this case, what the other courts apparently got wrong according to the Ninth Circuit, one of the second highest courts of appeals, was that the government should have turned over what we call Brady and Giglio material. That means exculpatory evidence and evidence that a defense attorney could use to impeach, in other words, call into question the credibility of this detective.

Again, his credibility is critical because he is the only witness against this defendant. So now, because the government refused to turn over this information about his prior cases, those people out there who are saying why do those prior cases matter, well, they do if they go to his credibility.

And because the court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, felt that it should have been turned over, under that those Supreme Court decisions, Brady and Giglio, we defense counsel, we're entitled to that. That's not a discretionary issue by the court or the government. They have to turn that over.

The government in this case moved to quash the subpoena. They did not want to turn that information over. But the Ninth Circuit disagreed. Why did it take so long? It -- this case was -- went through almost every avenue of appeal that it could go through. Every court underneath the Ninth Circuit held against the defendant, until it got to this circuit court of appeal, this federal circuit court of appeal.

And I should add, under federal law, the federal court recognizes it is supposed to give great deference to the state court. However, only when they find some egregious error like this, will they overturn it, and in this case, they felt they did.

JOHNS: Sounds like all they needed to do really was just turn over the personnel file and have done with it. After that, it would have been up to a jury. But thanks so much for that, Danny Cevallos, and good to see you.

Memorial Day weekend at the Jersey Shore seven months after superstorm Sandy and many businesses are back in action. CNN's Poppy Harlow went down to the boardwalk to see how things are progressing. We will go there live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Seven months after superstorm Sandy battered the Jersey shoreline, the boardwalk in Seaside Heights is back and open for business this Memorial Day weekend. President Obama is going to visit the Jersey Shore tomorrow, joining Governor Chris Christie to tour the progress.

CNN's Poppy Harlow has more on the comeback and how much of the region -- well, there is still a long way to go.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one!

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The games are back on in Seaside Heights.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, it's back. It's back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not back...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A hundred percent, but we're back.

HARLOW: And the people who came back liked what they saw.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, it's great. It's really good to see everything back to where it used to be, almost close to where it used to be.

HARLOW: Almost, because the rebuilding continues, nearly seven months after Sandy tore up much of the Jersey Shore.