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Investigation in West, Texas Continues; High Profile Court Cases in Focus; Kidnap Survivors Try to Move Forward; Spurs Advance to NBA Finals

Aired May 28, 2013 - 09:30   ET

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

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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining us. Stories we're watching right now in the NEWSROOM, at 32 minutes past the hour. Opening bell on Wall Street rang a few minutes ago. Stocks are already up more than 100 points after the Memorial Day break. Let's check in with CNN business correspondent Zain Asher. Hi Zain.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi Carol, yeah we are expecting a nice rally today. Stocks bouncing back from the rocky road we had last week, Investors excited that Japan's central bank has said it will keep the cheap money flowing.

We also got good news about home prices that Christine just mentioned. Up 11 percent compared to last year, plus a report on consumer confidence is also out in about a half an hour. That's expected to rise to the highest level since November.

Finally we have earnings from a company reaping the benefits of a more confident consumer, jewelry retailer, Tiffany & Co. reports a 9 percent rise in first quarter sales. Let me just check now, Tiffany shares up roughly around 6 percent. Carol?

COSTELLO: All right, Zain Asher reporting live for us. Thank you so much.

Want to take you back briefly to Sanford, Florida where a pretrial hearing is underway in the George Zimmerman case. Attorneys for George Zimmerman had been arguing that they be allowed to introduce into evidence at trial that Trayvon Martin allegedly had a history of fighting. They also wanted to introduce his past drug use, they wanted to introduce texts from Trayvon Martin, and they wanted to introduce cell phone pictures from Trayvon Martin's phone.

But, we understand that Judge Deborah Nelson has ruled that the jury will not -- will not hear any evidence of prior marijuana use by Martin, and regarding the allegations of Martin's history of fighting, the judge has ruled there will be no mention of his prior fighting incidents, unless, of course, the defense can find a way around the hearsay rules of evidence. So this pretrial hearing is ongoing, because there are many matters to settle before the actual trial gets underway on June 10th. It has been nearly six weeks since explosion leveled a Texas fertilizer plant and as investigators narrow down the cause, the small town of West slowly works to rebuild. On April 17th, the explosion at the plant left 15 people dead. Many of those people were first responders. Several hundred homes were destroyed. And the damage left behind will cause millions of dollars to repair. Ed Lavandera in West, Texas, this morning. Good morning, Ed

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know the official cause for what caused the fire that led to the explosion for now has been ruled as undetermined. It's a ruling that many people in this town will have to grow to live with for now as investigators continue to work. They may never find out answers, but that is not all these people in West have to worry about. Many people are not only just rebuilding homes, but rebuilding their own personal lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you okay?

LAVANDERA: Right in the middle of that chaos was firefighter Robert Payne, which makes seeing him now, six weeks later, all the more remarkable.

The explosion, do you remember it?

ROBERT PAYNE, WEST FIRERIGHTER: Don't remember it at all. No. Watch it in video and see how violent it is, how loud it is, no, I don't remember any of that at all. I don't really remember anything until the next morning, waking up in ICU.

LAVANDERA: This was the blast site. Payne was trying to retreat, and made it about 35 yards away behind a fire truck, which apparently shielded him just enough.

The truck was left a mangled ruin. Somehow Robert Payne survived.

PAYNE: When I visited with the guy that rescued me, Brad, he filled me in on a few things about where I was found and about the fact that I was blown out of my boots. My boots were in one place, and I was -- he described I think about 35 feet away.

LAVANDERA: Payne has nerve damage in his right arm, broken ribs, broken facial bones and bone chips in his leg, and he needs surgery to repair his right eardrum. But he's alive. Twelve other first responders weren't so lucky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are some of the firefighters that we lost.

LAVANDERA: West mayor, Tommy Muska took us to the fire station. The names of the firefighters who died are still on the lockers. There are two new donated fire trucks and West firefighters just resumed handling calls again this past week.

Got to be hard for guys to come in here. MAYOR TOMMY MUSKA, WES, TEXAS: May want to get back on that horse, but they going to have to get back on that horse. That whistle blows, we're in charge of this place, we have to get on the trucks and go. They don't quit.

LAVANDERA: The hard work is just beginning.

This is foundation from the building that just blew up.

MUSKA: There are pieces all over the place.

LAVANDERA: Mayor Muska needs $4 million just to fix sewer and water lines and several hundred homes need to be rebuilt. But, he does say one building won't be welcomed back. The fertilizer plant.

MUSKA: We don't have the ability to say you can't -- you can't build here.

LAVANDERA: What would the town reaction be?

MUSKA: The town reaction would probably be to the point where they don't want to rebuild anyway.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAVANDERA: We heard from a spokesman of the owner of that fertilizer plant, 83-year-old Don Adair (ph), whose spokesman says that it is, quote, "highly unlikely that Mr. Adair will rebuild that fertilizer plant."

And if you'll also remember, there was a former EMS worker here in the town of West, that was arrested on an unrelated firearm charge several weeks ago, just a few days after the explosion. Brice Reid still in jail and we're told that he's still awaiting trial and several city officials over the past few days say they don't believe he had anything to do with this explosion, but investigators say that that has not been ruled out. The fact that perhaps this fire might have been intentionally set. Still one of the things they are looking at, Carol.

COSTELLO: And he hasn't been charged in the West, Texas, explosion? Correct?

LAVANDERA: No, not directly to that. On an unrelated firearm charge.

COSTELLO: Gotcha. Just wanted to make that clear. Ed Lavandera reporting live from West, Texas, thank you.

Coming up in the NEWSROOM, the U.S. Supreme Court about to change America. Momentous rulings could come down today, on same-sex marriage and affirmative action. We'll talk about that.

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COSTELLO: Four weeks, four major legal rulings that will change the country in important and controversial ways. The U.S. Supreme Court expected to release its rulings on same-sex marriage, affirmative action, voting rights, and gene patents, all of those decisions expected by June 24th. So let's talk about that, with George Washington University's Jonathan Turley. He's a constitutional attorney and a Supreme Court observer. Welcome.

JONATHAN TURLEY, LAW PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Hi Carol

COSTELLO: I can't believe all of those momentous cases will be decided in the same month.

TURLEY: It's going to be a very intense period. These truly are cases that will affect people's lives in a myriad of different ways.

COSTELLO: Well, okay. Let's start with same-sex marriage. We remember those large demonstrations for and against making same-sex marriage constitutional. Everybody at the time thought we don't think the court will rule on this. We believe the court will punt and leave it up to individual states. What do you say?

TURLEY: Well, the justices seemed very interested in types of off- ramps (ph), ways to get off this highway without going to the end. A number of them expressed concerns whether this was the right time to make such momentous decisions about same-sex marriage. If they were to do that, they very well could come out with an opinion earlier than we thought.

The court tends to have a sense of theatre about it. They hold their most significant cases to the end. But if they were going to take one of these off-ramps, something like a technical or standing rejection of the cases, they could issue those cases earlier. But most people expected they would hold on to those to cases, Hollingsworth and Windsor, to the very end.

COSTELLO: So, going back to whether they'll punt or not. The reason -- one of the reasons they might decide to punt is they'll leave it up to individual states to decide whether same-sex marriage is legal in that particular state, and what nine or 10 states have done that so far.

TURLEY: Right, and Carol in order to reach the merits in these cases, the court is going to have to do some walking back from earlier decisions. This court is extremely hostile towards what's called "standing." That's the basis on which you could get a court to look at your case. You have to have a constitutional injury. This court has been very hard on public interest groups, environmentalists, civil libertarians, trying to bring cases, and just a few weeks ago, they handed down a really rough decision rejecting an effort by civil libertarians to review surveillance policies.

In order to get to the merits on these cases, they're going to have to walk back a bit from earlier standing decisions. So they have a very easy out. If they want to stay consistent and just simply say in both of these cases, they are not sure if these are the parties that should be bringing the case.

COSTELLO: Interesting. Okay. Let's move on to affirmative action. So in a nutshell, a white student named Abigail Fisher says she was denied college admission in part because she is white. It appears the court with its conservative members will rule race should not be a factor in the University of Texas's college admission. Give me your take?

TURLEY: Well this is a -- an enormously important case, the Fisher case. In 2003, the court decided by 5-4, a decision called Greuters. It's a very close decision obviously. And it was -- and Justice O'Connor at the time who's now left the court, upheld an affirmative action program.

But it was a very controversial decision, because O'Connor said she didn't think that we needed to do this beyond 25 more years and many people felt that date sort of came out of the head of Zeus or -- or O'Connor but didn't have much of a basis.

So now we have essentially a redo. And the court has changed Justice Kagan one of the more liberal members has recused herself. So it will be a case decided by eight justices.

COSTELLO: So that means they could tie.

TURLEY: And they could tie. If they tie, it would be good news for the school. Because it would uphold the lower court decision that said that this affirmative action program was ok. But Kagan is coming from the wrong side of the ledger. She would have likely have voted for the school.

So once again, as you know, all eyes are on our swing voter, and Justice Kennedy could decide the issue.

COSTELLO: We'll see when they see very soon. And you're going to stick around in case a decision is made. A ruling is made. Jonathan Turley, professor of law at George Washington University. Thanks so much.

TURLEY: Thanks Carol.

COSTELLO: You're welcome.

Coming up next in the NEWSROOM, it's like Mardi Gras or Disney World, except it's a real life house of horrors, we'll take you back to the Cleveland neighborhood where those three girls were held captive for so many years.

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COSTELLO: It's been three weeks since the dramatic rescue of three women in Cleveland after they spent years in captivity. Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were all rescued when Berry screamed for help to a screen door. Police arrested Ariel Castro. He is charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape and he's being held on $8 million bond.

Pamela Brown talked to neighbors in that community, she's in Cleveland. Good morning Pamela. PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well good morning to you Carol. You see Ariel Castro's home behind me, still boarded up, guarded by a fence. We've seen people from all over coming by just to take a look at it. In fact we spoke to one family who drove here six hours out of the way just to come see the house in person and take pictures.

So while it has become a bit of a tourist hot spot, it's also a haunting reminder for neighbors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice over): Anthony Westery (ph) lives just two doors down from the home where a decade-long secret came to a very dramatic end.

(on camera): Is it sort of a creepy feeling to think that for all these years they were there just two doors down?

ANTHONY WESTERY, NEIGHBOR: With the bogeyman.

BROWN: He's talking about Ariel Castro the man accused of kidnapping Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and Amanda Berry and holding them captive for years. Now neighbors like Westery (ph) say they are just trying to adjust to their new normal.

(on camera): If we were to spend a day with you, after what happened right next door, what would it be like?

WESTERY: Almost like a Mardi Gras, a constant stream of cars.

BROWN: But what's a tourist attraction for some it's more of an eyesore for neighbors like Israel Lugo (ph).

ISRAEL LUGO, RESIDENT: Every time you wake up, you see the same scene there. You've got a building, a 16-foot gate in the middle of the house of horrors as the say in Cleveland and you know it's the same, you know they're saying it's my backyard but it's like I wish they could just go and knock it down.

BROWN: Though what allegedly happened inside these walls has left an indelible mark, the women's courage has inspired people in this community and beyond.

CHRIS KELLY, JONES DAY LAW FIRM: The e-mails keep coming and coming wanting to help. And we're trying to channel those now more towards the contributions to the fund.

BROWN: Chris Kelly at the Jones Day Law Firm runs the Courage Fund set up for the three women and little girl rescued earlier this month raising $650,000 with the funds to be equally distributed into four separate trusts.

(on camera): What does it say about the girls that they chose to put it in a trust rather than take the money directly now.

KELLY: They have the savvy and sense to know that they want to have the money protected. BROWN (voice over): Those who know the women say they are drawing on the same strength that helped them survive so many years in captivity.

KELLY: And they are exceptional human beings. Having gone through this ordeal and to be able to come out of it and start to heal and move forward so quickly is amazing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And in addition to the Courage Fund, there has been a slew of free services offered to the girls including free college tuition for four years, free dental care, free spa services. But the biggest need right now, of course, is the financial help -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And privacy. Thanks very much. Pamela Brown reporting from Cleveland.

If you would like to donate to the fund for these women, you can visit our Web site at CNN.com/impact. Then on there you'll find a link to the Cleveland Courage Fund.

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COSTELLO: Age is only a number, at least that's what the veteran group of San Antonio Spurs are proving. They advanced to the NBA finals last night. Andy Scholes joins us now with more in this morning's "Bleacher Report". Good morning.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hi good morning, Carol.

The Spurs big three have been together now for 11 seasons. And they continue to prove why they are one of the best groups to ever play the game. With a win over the Grizzlies last night Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili are heading to their fourth NBA finals together. They are the first trio on the team other than the Celtics or Lakers to accomplish that.

Now in last night's closeout game, it was the Tony Parker show. The Spurs point guard scored a season high 37 points. San Antonio led wire to wire to win game 4, 93-86. Parker said he promised Duncan last year that they would make at least one more great run together and sure enough the Spurs are back in the finals for the first time since 2007.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY PARKER, SAN ANTONIO SPURS: Every year it gets tougher and tougher. Every team wants to beat you. That's why it makes it even more special to go back after all those years playing at a high level with the same coach, the same big three.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: On bleacherreport.com, today is Brittney Griner's rim- rattling WNBA debut last night. In the fourth quarter of the Mercury- Sky game, Griner throws it down with a one-handed slam. And moments later she's going to go up for the two-handed dunk. This is the first time in WNBA history that a player dunked twice in one game. Despite Griner's above the rim play, Phoenix lost to Chicago 102-80.

A week ago Robert Griffin III tweeted out a pic of him laying on all the empty boxes from all those wedding presents he received from fans filling orders off his Bed, Bath and Beyond registry. Now he's busy sending out those thank you notes. One of the fans who sent RGIII and his fiancee Rebecca a gift, received a thank you note. And he tweeted a picture of it out, it included a nice handwritten message and an autograph from RGIII. Pretty cool deal there.

All right. Well, Lebron James currently trying to lead the heat back to the NBA finals but could the NFL be in his future? While, it's not likely former NFL great Joe Theismann said in an interview, he thinks Lebron could be a star quarterback. Theismann says Lebron's already the most tremendous physical specimen in sports and his skills would translate to the game of football.

And Carol -- Lebron is asked if he could play quarterback after a game three and he said, if he put his mind to it, he'd be pretty good at it. I believe him.

COSTELLO: Hey, he played in high school, right?

SCHOLES: Yes, he did.

COSTELLO: So, funnier things have happened.

Andy Scholes thanks so much.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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