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California Shooting Suspect Identified; Philly Building Worker in Custody; Missing Teacher's Car Found; Zimmerman Jury Selection Begins Monday; Nelson Mandela Rushed to Hospital; Obama Defends Secret Surveillance; Man on Trial in Alleged Gang Rape; No Ruling on Zimmerman Evidence; Nelson Mandela Hospitalized; Secret Government Program to Grab Data; Suburban Mom Alleged Pot Ring Leader
Aired June 08, 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: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. A lot going on in the news right now. We are tracking four major crime stories across the nation. Any one of them could be our lead story. We're going to have a brand new developments from California, from Philadelphia, from Florida, and from Louisiana.
Police have identified the suspect in the Santa Monica, California mass shooting. They are not releasing his name yet because his next of kin are believed to be out of the country. The suspect was born 24 years ago today. Santa Monica's police chief says, the bloody mass shooting was almost certainly planned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF JACQUELINE SEABROOKS, SANTA MONICA POLICE DEPARTMENT: I would presume that any time someone puts on a vest of some sort, comes out with a bag full of loaded magazines, has an extra receiver, has a handgun and has a semi-automatic rifle, carjacks folks, goes to a college, kills more people and has to be neutralized at the hands of the police, I would say that's premeditated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We have new information on the suspect's criminal record. Santa Monica police dealt with the suspect back in 2006 when he was a juvenile. More details on his mental health just moments away.
Plus this -- stunning developments in Philadelphia's deadly building collapse this week. A heavy equipment operator wanted in connection with the collapse has turned himself in to police. Hi will be charged with involuntary manslaughter. He reportedly tested positive for marijuana and pain medication.
And this -- in Louisiana, authorities found a car belonging to missing teacher Terrilynn Monette. She was last seen in March after leaving a New Orleans bar. Police say, a body found in the car.
Coming up, I'm going to talk with the mother of Terrilynn Monette and get her reaction. And in Florida, George Zimmerman was in court just hours ago. Experts testified about screams heard on the 911 call after Zimmerman shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. You'll hear how today's hearing might affect Monday's trial. Zimmerman has pleaded not guilty saying he killed the teen in self-defense.
We'll going to begin with the latest on the deadly shooting in California though. Kyung Lah is live outside the Santa Monica police station where police held a news conference just a short time ago. What new information are we learning Kyung?
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, police would not release his name, Don. But they are characterizing him as quote, as "cowardly murderer." They will say that they believe that he was armed and ready for a fight. The reason why they are saying that, take a look at this table. This is some of the ammunition, some of the weaponry that he was carrying with him in a bag. This is just a small portion of the weaponry, some of the weapons as well as the ammunition that he was carrying on him.
If you look at this, you are looking at a number, a large number of magazine clips. You can see some of those gold bullets poking out from the magazine clips. He was also carrying in that bag a handgun, a 44-caliber handgun as well as an upper receiver to the rifle. Now, police say that on his body they also recovered something they did not display, it's a full A.R.-style semi-automatic rifle. And he also had additional bullets, he had a potential of firing off an additional 1,300 rounds.
So police again saying he was certainly ready for battle. They would say that they did have contact with him in 2006, but he was a juvenile then. So, they can't release any details of that particular contact. They will say that he and another family member were, in 2010 enrolled at Santa Monica City College. The last thing we have learned is that police are also saying he would have turned 24, Don, had he survived yesterday -- Don.
LEMON: And also, more about his mental health issues. That's what law enforcement are saying right now, that he had some mental health issues.
LAH: What they wouldn't comment further than what we have actually from our law enforcement sources. What they will say is that they did have some sort of contact. But what we are getting from outside the Santa Monica City Police Department that we are learning that he did have a history of mental health issues. So the big question will be, how did he obtain those weapons? How did he obtain the bullets? How did all of this happen that he was able to be so heavily armed and hurt so many people in a very short period of time here in Santa Monica?
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much, Kyung Lah. We appreciate your reporting. In Philadelphia right now, and big news from the scene of that building collapse just a few days ago. That killed six people. Police have been combing the city, looking for this man who was operating heavy equipment at the time of the tragic accident. Well, he is now in custody. Police say he turned himself in.
We want to get straight now to CNN Susan Candiotti who's going to tell us who this guy is and why this may have happened and why police were so eager to get him -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. A lot of area to cover here. Of course, Don. The man is Sean Benschop. He's 42 years old. And as you said he was operating a crane at the time when the building came crashing down these four stories. We understand also at the time he was wearing a soft arm cast on one of his arms. We can tell you as well that police after this collapse did a preliminary blood test on him and discovered at the time that he has traces of both marijuana and prescription pain medication in his system.
He is going to be charged now with six counts of involuntary manslaughter. That of course is because of the six people who died. Thirteen counts of recklessly endangering the life of another person. That of course covering the 13 people who were injured as a result of this. And one count of risking a catastrophe. So, Don, a lot of work ahead on this investigation.
LEMON: All right. Susan Candiotti in New York following this for us. Thank you very much, Susan.
We have movement right now on another major story that we are watching this weekend. A New Orleans woman, a teacher who is missing and hasn't been seen since March. Well, today police divers found Terrilynn Monette's car and we are told they also found a body. On the phone with me right now is Terrilynn's mother Toni Enclade. Mrs. Enclade, thank you for joining us. We spoke to you when we're looking for her earlier.
TONI ENCLADE, TERRILYNN MONETTE'S MOTHER: Yes.
LEMON: What are police telling you now?
ENCLADE: Actually, to be honest with you, we only know that her car has been found. As of you, I don't know yet the content of the vehicle.
LEMON: They don't know the contents of the vehicle.
ENCLADE: No.
LEMON: We are looking now at video of the family members and people who know your daughter in the median. And it appears everyone is just stunned and devastated. How are you guys dealing with this?
ENCLADE: Yes. It's very hard. It's very difficult. You know, actually I have been coming down here every month since my daughter has gone missing. And you know, I just -- I can't believe that it has taken them this long to find this car. I'm in shock right now. I'm in shock.
LEMON: How far is it? This is Bayou, St. John where they found the car and she went missing in New Orleans. This is Slidell. Do you -- how far away is this?
ENCLADE: What? LEMON: From where she went missing to where they found the car. This is City Park where we are looking at the people who are gathering in the median here. How far from where she went missing to where they found the car?
ENCLADE: That was from her apartment or from -- which location? Where she was last seen at?
LEMON: Yes, ma'am.
ENCLADE: I would say it's about, what, maybe no more than five minutes.
LEMON: Mm-hmm.
ENCLADE: No more than five minutes from where she left from.
LEMON: Why are you surprised that it took so long to find the car?
ENCLADE: I'm surprised. Because they have had several departments that have been out there searching. And, you know, I just don't see why it took them three months to locate this car. I just don't. I just don't. And I think that the more frustrating thing more than anything is to know that she was there -- possibly could have been in there for three months.
LEMON: Did police saw you when you can expect to hear more from them on an identification?
ENCLADE: As of yet, no, they haven't told me when I can hear more.
LEMON: You know, I asked you this question last time and I have to ask you again. Have you prepared yourself for the worst?
ENCLADE: To be honest with you, I can't even begin to go there right now. I can't believe this. I can't believe this. I can't believe this. If I have to, (INAUDIBLE). Until I see something in black and white I can't believe it. I still can't believe it. I still can't believe it.
LEMON: Yes. I hate to ask you that question. But thank you so much Mrs. Enclade. And we will get back to you.
ENCLADE: She was my baby.
LEMON: Yes. She was your baby. We appreciate it. We will check back in if you hear anything, please get back with us. We are hoping for the best for you.
ENCLADE: Thank you.
LEMON: OK. Again, Terrilynn Monette went missing on March 2nd. She was out in the bar celebrating. She has been nominated for teacher of the year down in New Orleans. Here's what happened, they found this car just a short time ago, Bayou St. John which is near City Park. The exception here, the bit of a confusion, a diver from Slidell found the body in Bayou, St. John.
It wasn't in Slidell but she said about five minutes from where her daughter went missing is where they found the car that has a body it in. But they have not identified it. We will stay on top of the story, we'll bring you the very latest of course here on CNN.
We move on now to talk about a critical hearing that just wrapped up in the George Zimmerman murder trial in Florida. At the center of it, the screams for help heard in the 911 call the night Trayvon Martin was killed.
CNN's Martin Savidge is in Sanford, Florida. Martin, hello to you. Judge Debra Nelson did not make a ruling on the evidence today. What does this mean for the trial?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: No, she did not rule. And this is a hearing that had gone on for three days now listening to expert testimony provided by both the defense and by the prosecution. It means actually that the trial is still going to go forward. Jury selection will begin on Monday. At least that according to Judge Debra Nelson. I had a conversation with the Defense Attorney Mark O'Mara.
He says, actually he is put in for a last minute motion to try to delay the trial. He believes that they still have other material that needs to be worked through. They need to go through before they are ready to begin. The judge has not made many rulings in favor of the defense. So, it's doubtful, she seems quite adamant that this trial is going to begin on Tuesday or Monday -- excuse me. I asked Mark O'Mara just what kind of jurors does he want to see seated for this trial. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK O'MARA, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S ATTORNEY: I want open minds. People who have not made up their minds and people who are strong enough to decide that the case on the facts and the law and not on the external public pressure. My concern about this whole case all along is that we have so much pressure on the case, on the system that any verdicts, whatever it might be, might not be accepted as the proper one even if it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: And Don, the belief is that the jury selection process could take anywhere from maybe a week, that according to the judge, or weeks, that according to the defense team.
LEMON: Martin Savidge. Thank you. Sanford, Florida.
Nelson Mandela hospitalized in serious condition now. We'll going to go live to South Africa for the very latest, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Two U.S. soldiers and an American civilian were killed today in Afghanistan. NATO says, a gunman wearing an Afghan army uniform opened fire on the Americans in an Eastern province. The gunman was then killed. In a separate attack an Italian soldier was killed and three others wounded in an attack on a convoy of military advisers in western Afghanistan.
Many South Africans are on the edge this hour waiting for an update on their beloved former president. Nelson Mandela was rushed to the hospital early this morning for a recurring lung infection. It is the fourth time in less than a year the 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon has been hospitalized. And this time, the government is being unusually frank about his condition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAC MAHARAJ, PRESIDENTIAL SPOKESMAN: I think people should think about him. I think we should be celebrating his life. While he's with us so that we are able to celebrate it even when he's not with us. Because there is a simple message in his life for all of us. He tells us that our humanity is derived from what we do for others rather than what we do for ourselves. This is what Madiba has done. This is what makes us better people. And I think that the adoration that we see is a simple manifestation of people's desire to be better. And we can be better if we serve and make other people's lives better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Robyn Curnow joins us now live from Johannesburg. Robyn, hearing the presidential spokesman speak, it sounds as if Mandela's condition is more dire. Is that the case?
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Sounds like he's talking about his legacy, doesn't it? But perhaps this is the kind of emphasis the government and the South African authorities want to give. Even if Mandela is not here, just remember the message that he gave and what his life meant to you. But very much the tone of the language coming out of today's hospitalization, I think very different. And particularly the use of this word "serious."
In a report, in a statement coming out from the government 18 hours ago, I must say, that's the last time we heard any official comment. They said that he was in a serious but stable condition. And as you said earlier, this is definitely more frank. Because this is a government that's traditionally trying to downplay any health concerns, any health problems when it comes to President Mandela. The fact they are coming out and saying, he's serious had many people worried just how grave he is, excuse me, I don't know.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much. Robyn Curnow. We appreciate your reporting.
Just how much is big brother watching you? The government admits, it gathers personal data without warrants or even charges. Well, how deep does the government dig? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Cory Booker wants a new job officially Newark's mayor announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR CORY BOOKER (D), NEWARK: It's hard even to pick up a daily newspaper and not to feel somewhat skeptical about Washington, D.C. in our federal government. But I tell you today that I reject that attitude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, the 44-year-old Democrat is running to finish the term of the late democrat Senator Frank Lautenberg. Right now, Booker is running against fellow democrat Congressman Rush Holt. But others are expected to hop into the race. A special election set for October.
President Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have ended their two-day summit in Southern California. During a walk around the Sunnylands Estate in Palm Springs, Mr. Obama told reporters that his meeting with the president, with President Xi has been terrific. The two men discussed a wide range of topics including the highly contentious issue of cyber security.
This was his last stop after a lengthy trip through the Americas. The Chinese president took office back in March.
Millions of Americans now know their government is collecting a wide variety of information on them. All of this after reports in the Guardian and the Washington Post newspapers. Now we are learning about a possible criminal investigation as a result of media leaks.
We want to go to Rene Marsh, now she joins us from Washington with that. What can you tell us about this?
RENE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Don. You know, today the director of National Intelligence James Clapper who oversees all U.S. intelligence agencies sent out this letter, essentially lashing out at the media and attempting to set the record straight on a how the agency acquires and uses intelligence information. Now, he also told NBC that he's asking the Justice Department for a criminal investigation into these leaks to the media. The intelligence leaks.
And Clapper also says that these leaks have hurt American intelligence. He says as all of this is being aired out on our public air waves, others are learning exactly how America defends itself. Also for the first time, Clapper named the internet monitoring program that the agency uses. It's called prism. But until now the program had only been named in media reports. Clapper also emphasized that the government is monitoring internet activity of foreign nationals only. And it's a practice, he says, that's been OK'd by Congress.
They only collect data from tech companies with a court order and knowledge of the tech company. And he also says that the government cannot -- cannot -- arbitrarily target anyone to collect their data without foreign intelligence cause. But of course we have seen and heard a lot of pushback. Of course the president defending this program. Here's what he had to say about the revelations, the federal government collected phone numbers as well as the duration and location of phone calls. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Nobody's listening to the content of people's phone calls. My assessment and my team's assessment was that they help us prevent terrorist attacks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARSH: All right. Well, critics are concerned that this practice could pull Americans into a dragnet just simply based on their associations -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Rene Marsh. Thank you very much for that.
Later on here in the Newsroom, we'll going to explore ways to better protect the information you want to keep secret. So, make you sure you stay tuned. Just when you thought you had heard it all a defense team representing a young man accused of taking part in a heinous crime is arguing their clients DNA was spread to a condom by the wind. Yes, wind. Will that defense hold up? We'll going to talk with criminal defense attorney next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: New developments to tell you about in the Santa Monica, California mass shooting. Police have identified the suspect but they are not releasing his name right now because the next of kin is out of the country. The video shows some of the suspect's weapons. Santa Monica police chief says the suspect would have turned 24-years-old today. Police have dealt with the same suspect before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEABROOKS: I will confirm at this point though that the Police Department did have contact with this individual in 2006. However, because the individual was a juvenile at the time, I'm not at liberty to discuss the circumstances of that contact. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: He allegedly killed four people as he left a bloody trail across Santa Monica on Friday. Police shot and killed him in the library at Santa Monica College.
It looks like a New Orleans mystery has been solved now. This pictures shows where New Orleans police found a car in a Bayou today. The car belongs to a teacher, Terrilynn Monette, who has been missing more than three months. Police say a body was found in the car. A few minutes ago I talked with Terrilynn's mother, she says, she hasn't been told officially if the body is her daughter. But she fears the worst. We'll continue to update you on that story.
A grand jury has indicted kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro on 329 charges. The former Cleveland school bus driver is accused of holding three women hostage in his home for ten years. The indictment describes brutal treatment. One charge accuses Castro of aggravated murder for punching one of his hostages in the stomach until she miscarried. The bulk of the charges, rape, 139 counts. Kidnapping, 177 counts.
It was a crime that left a northern California community in shock. And now more than two years after the brutal gang rape of a 16-year- old girl outside Richmond High School homecoming dance, two men are on trial for their alleged participation. They were among a group of six men and teenagers charged with attacking the heavily intoxicated girl. Police say, she was beaten, she was robbed and sexually abused over two hours while as many as 20 other people watched and they did nothing.
Criminal Defense Attorney Holly Hughes is here. OK. So, Holly, the attorney for the defendant Marcellus Peters, he claims the defendant's DNA from a beer can used to -- and a condom that was found at the crime scene that the wind -- what happened? What's going on with the wind?
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, what he's alleging is that the wind carried the suspect's DNA from the beer can to the condom.
LEMON: OK.
HUGHES: The problem with that, Don, is that they probably typed it and found out whether it's saliva or whether it's another bodily fluid. So, you're going to get blown out of the water with that if the DNA analyst was able to determine what type of bodily fluid it was.
And secondarily, the other problem the defense faces is that some of the co-defendants are going to testify and say, yes, they did participate in the rape. This young man was part of the rape. So, the whole transferring DNA isn't going to carry a lot of weight when the co-defendants say, yes, he was there and did it.
Furthermore, those co-defendants testifying got 25 years apiece. It's not like they got a sweetheart deal to turn on the guy.
LEMON: OK, let's stick with the wind thing. This is the most unusual thing most of us have heard when it comes to a trial for a rape case. Possible, but --
HUGHES: Improbable. There is cross contamination. It's possible.
LEMON: The wind.
HUGHES: It's creative. Maybe somebody on the jury will think, that could happen.
LEMON: Two other defendants took plea deals. Do you think these two will?
HUGHES: Well, if they are in trial, I don't foresee them giving up now. They are basically telling the judge and the jury we want to fight this. We want our day in court. We want the attorney to put up the evidence and let a jury decide if it's persuasive or not as to guilt or innocence.
LEMON: Let's go to the George Zimmerman trial in Florida. It gets under way on Monday. The judge in this case, Debra Nelson, didn't make a ruling on the evidence hearing today. Why is that?
HUGHES: There were witnesses she expected to hear from that were not available. She'll wait to see if she hears from everybody. Then she'll make her ruling when she has the evidence in front of her.
LEMON: So jury selection set to begin on Monday, right?
HUGHES: On Monday. Correct.
LEMON: Lots of challenges. What are the challenges?
HUGHES: There are a lot of challenges. The defense needs to just find somebody who is willing to keep an open mind, not get too emotionally upset. You have a tragic circumstance here. You have a young teenager who has been shot and killed. He was unarmed. That's a very incendiary accusation the state is bringing. The defense is looking for people to say, hey, I haven't made up my mind based on what's in the press. I will wait, I'll hear the evidence and then I'll decide whether or not George Zimmerman was justified.
LEMON: Yeah.
HUGHES: On the other side, the prosecution, they don't want people looking to co-opt it and make it their cause, like we are sick of crime in the neighborhood. We think this guy did what a vigilant should do. You want to be careful of people who won't keep an open mind from both perspectives.
LEMON: In the public area, this has been talked about in a public arena with racial tones.
HUGHES: Yes. Absolutely.
LEMON: But in a courtroom, will it be brought up? I heard somebody say something that's simple and profound. Do you mean where the kid, the adult who shot the kid down in Florida?
HUGHES: Right. Exactly. George Zimmerman has been accused of profiling. The defense filed motions to block the prosecution from using that word. They said, judge, we don't want the word "profile" in here. It's not so much about profiling as much as it's about racial profiling. They're going to want testimony about that. And George Zimmerman's own words on the tape when he said these blankety- blanks always get away, he's using racially charged language.
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHES: So when they hear that tape, it's coming.
LEMON: So it will be about race.
HUGHES: It will be about race to a certain extent. The defense is fighting that, saying, no, no, no. George's words will come back to bite him. The defense will have to come up with a plausible explanation for why he was speaking like that.
LEMON: Another trial we'll pay close attention to.
HUGHES: Yes.
LEMON: Thank you, Holly Hughes.
HUGHES: Absolutely.
LEMON: Appreciate that.
Nelson Mandela is rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night after his health deteriorates. Next, we'll speak with someone who knows the former South African president and his family and found out what they are asking the public to do.
But first, as the stock market rises, investors are dumping money into stocks and pulling out of the gold market. Prices are way down from the peak in 2011. So is gold losing its luster?
Christine Romans takes a look in this week's "Smart is the New Rich."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: America's latest gold rush.
(SHOUTING)
ROMANS: When even reality TV fans are watching "Gold Rush" and "Yukon Gold" is that a signal that the bubble has burst?
(SHOUTING)
ROMANS: For centuries, investors have depended on gold as a safe store of value in the face of rising prices. But now, the precious metal's luster seems to be fading. Gold prices are down more than 20 percent since September.
What's going on? Why now? Is gold still a safe haven?
Economic growth numbers out of China are enough reason to worry. Slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy would mean lower demand for precious metals with industrial uses, like gold. But some aren't buying it.
STEPHEN LEEB, LEEB CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: A lot of people are taking it as evidence that the world is slowing. No inflation. Commodities are dead. Get out of gold. That's not the deal. This is real desperation on the part of the West to set off some sort of panic so no one will go near gold again.
ROMANS: The move out of gold would suit many central banks just fine. Lower gold prices imply higher confidence in monetary policies, which right now could be summed up now in two words -- print money. That confidence may have pushed investors away from gold and into stocks, which are now trading near all-time highs.
But it can't last forever. All that extra money in the financial system could fuel inflation and that would make gold attractive again as a safe hedge against rising prices.
T. DOUG DALE, SECURITY BAILEW: My suspicious is that gold is looking for a bottom either this month or next. You will likely see gold resume its upward trend in the coming years.
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Nelson Mandela is in serious but stable condition this hour with a recurring lung infection. A spokesman for the South African president's office says the 94-year-old icon was rushed to a Pretoria hospital this morning.
Nadia Bilchik is a friend of the Mandela family and she just got back from South Africa and joins us now.
You spoke with the family at length. What are they saying?
NADIA BILCHIK, NELSON MANDELA FAMILY FRIEND: I spoke to the family earlier this year. They called me when he was hospitalized the last time. I want to let you hear what they said early in the year about the press attention and rumors about his failing health. This was earlier this year. Let's go and listen to the granddaughters of Nelson Mandela.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZAMASWAZI DLAMINI, GRANDDAUGHTER OF NELSON MANDELA: He has every right to his privacy. As the family, we call on people and urge people to give us the privacy to be able to deal with whatever we are going through as a family in private. I think many people reported, you know, that simple right to just, you know, if their family members are in the hospital they can deal with it privately. So it just boils down to the fact that it's a private matter. Whatever goes on with him, especially when it comes to his health, should be dealt with privately as a family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BILCHIK: They keep saying "privately." Although, he's no longer officially a public figure, he is still a public icon. There is nothing about privacy because he's really a state figure. Don, that's why they there is so much privacy around his health.
LEMON: I remember the interview. Beautiful granddaughters.
BILCHIK: Aren't they? (CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I remember speaking to you about them and how gorgeous they are. Nice people to boot.
The interesting thing is you heard what the press secretary said about him.
BILCHIK: Yes.
LEMON: We would love for Nelson Mandela to last forever, but nobody lives forever. He's 94 years old.
(CROSSTALK)
BILCHIK: He'll be 95 on July 18th. The first time they said serious but stable. I did reach out to the grandchildren this morning. They said, we can't comment at this point.
My feeling is the government of South Africa is keeping this very private. They don't want any misinformation to get out. They don't want there to be panic.
I was in South Africa recently and spoke to South Africans across the board. What happens when Mandela is no longer physically with us? People say there may be a lot of unrest. It's going to be, again, he's frail as you said. He's certainly slightly incapacitated. But he's still in so many ways this icon and unifies the country. We are human through the humanity of others. Let's hope that Nelson Mandela does make his 95th birthday on July 18th.
LEMON: We hope so. The father of anti-apartheid and freedom of peace all over the world.
Thank you very much.
BILCHIK: Thank you, Don. We love you in Atlanta.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Thank you. Good to be here.
The U.S. spy chief just a few hours ago released a statement saying the government is not illegally looking into your Internet activity. We've got more on that. And we'll explain what's known as the program known as PRISM, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Revelations this week about secret spy tactics. It shocked some people, angered others, and had conspiracy theorists screaming, "Told you." Well, the news forced a visually uncomfortable President Obama to change topics at a routine stop in California and explain instead what the NSA was doing with the something called -- something called the PRISM. What is PRISM?
Our Laurie Segall explains what we know.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW GREEN, ENCRYPTION EXPERT: What we learned is there is a program and the program is basically designed to get information from Silicon Valley companies.
LAURIE SEGALL, CNNMONEY.COM TECH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Major tech companies including Google, Facebook and Microsoft deny any knowledge of a program called PRISM run by the National Security Agency.
According to classified documents on obtained by "The Washington Post," PRISM collected data from nine major tech companies. At the heart of the matter, data mining.
GREEN: Data mining is the process of taking huge sets of data, information about what you have done, what you bought, all of this information that by itself would be very hard for a person to make sense of. But applying modern computer algorithms to it to pull information out, you can see how that would be useful for a national security agency, for example.
SEGALL: It's a common practice, but some users were shocked to hear about when these leaked slides give a look at how far the NSA was able to go.
GREEN: The slides mention e-mail. But they may have other information, things that -- like photos, for example, you upload or took on your phone, and were uploaded to, for example, Apple servers.
SEGALL: All of the companies mentioned have denied granting the government sweeping access, saying they take user privacy seriously and will only share information when there is a court order.
So how could the NSA gather the information without the company's knowledge?
GREEN: One of the conjectures people are making is they are tapping into the data that goes over the wire.
SEGALL: The director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, says the law covering such surveillance, quote, "Cannot be used to intentionally target any U.S. citizen, any other U.S. person, or anyone located within the United States."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: OK. So, PRISM. Laurie Segall is here with us now.
Laurie, the government just released a statement to clarify some of this. So what does the statement say?
SEGALL: Let me read it to you. This was released a couple of hours ago by James Clapper. You saw him in the piece. It says, "Under Section 702 of FISA, the U.S. government doesn't unilaterally obtain information from Internet service providers. The information is obtained with court approval with the knowledge of the provider."
So, Don, what they are trying to make apparent here -- and they also say they can't intentionally target any U.S. citizen, another U.S. person or any person known to be in the United States. So what they're really trying to clear up here is some of these reporting because a lot of people thought, hey -- when "The Washington Post" initially came out with the report they thought, hey, there might be direct access that the government has to these Internet service providers, which is a scary thought, as you can imagine. What they are saying is you have -- they only can gain access to certain entities with legal approval, with FISA's stamp of approval. There is still tons of questions. They are trying to be a little bit more transparent when it comes down to it -- Don?
LEMON: OK. The idea that the government might think your information is up for grabs isn't limited to just this story. Recently, there was a concern that the IRS may read any e-mail it wants to.
SEGALL: Look, at the end of the day, this is just showing us there is not much transparency. A recently disclosed document by the IRS lawyers show they might be able to obtain information from our social network.
You are looking at a post from the ACLU there, talking a little bit about it. I think, at the end of the day, what this is showing -- I spoke to a former government source who says this is a watershed moment where the power of surveillance is revealed to society. It's something to take a look at -- Don?
LEMON: Laurie Segall, thank you very much.
Authorities are accusing a New York woman of a double life -- suburban mom by day, leading a multi-million dollar pot ring by night. Her story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A multi-million dollar marijuana operation run out of an unlikely spot. The alleged ring leader, even more unlikely, a suburban mother of two.
Our Alina Cho has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER (voice-over): In the quiet town, this single mom is learning to deal.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The story is straight out of "Weeds," a Showtime TV series, but this story line is real. A suburban mom by day, alleged pot grower by night.
Take a look at what drug enforcements agents found in a warehouse in the Queens area of New York City. More than one thousand plants, large amounts of dry marijuana. Street value, $3 million. State of the art lighting, irrigation, and ventilation systems, and the most incredible part is that authorities say the woman heading up the pot- growing farm is a 45-year-old mother of two from upscale Scarsdale, New York.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pot growing is not something I have on the radar screen --
(LAUGHTER)
-- certainly not from a neighbor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You wouldn't expect it in this community, a safe community, good school district and marijuana, someone busted for marijuana?
CHO: The woman busted who was Andrea, or Andy, Sanderland, arrested May 20th.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw her drove by. She didn't stop usually how she stops. She stopped and they pulled in there, and all the guys came out. It was like, get down, open the door, open the door. Just nuts.
CHO: Sanderland is charged with narcotics trafficking. Her lawyer said she's pleaded not guilty. Still it is not what you would expect from a mother of two girls 3 and 13. A woman who, until recently, took her teenage daughter riding at Twin Lakes Farm. The owner says Sanderland told him she worked in interior design.
SCOTT TARTER, OWNER, TWIN LAKES FARM: She was like the rest of the moms. We have 45 borders here, she was like the rest, had two daughters, was very nice. Never stood out of place. I had no inclination this would even be a possibility.
CHO (on camera): Federal agents say they also raided Sanderland's home, found $6,000 in cash, as well as books on how to grow marijuana and how to launder money.
For her part, Sanderland is in jail, pending a bail hearing. If she's convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison.
Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Never know.
Thank you, Alina.
It is one of the military's sacred sayings, "Never leave a fallen comrade behind." Coming up, meet a soldier who is taking that saying to a whole new level.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Time to meet this week's "CNN Hero." She's a soldier on a new mission, committed to helping homeless female veterans. Not only does Jasmine Booth inspire, but she follows a sacred rule among soldiers, "Never leave a fallen comrade."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAPT. JASMINE BOOTH, NATIONAL GUARD & CNN HERO: When Americans think of veterans, they're only thinking about the men.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Chiquita. I am an Operation Enduring Freedom-veteran.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Sandra. I am an Army veteran.
BOOTH: Women veterans are forgotten heroes of America. A lot of them have fallen on hard times.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Ann Marie. I am a Reservist in the Air Force, and I was homeless.
BOOTH: My name is Jasmine Booth. I am a captain in the Army National Guard. And it is my mission to get homeless female veterans and their children back on their feet.
In 2005, I was called to serve in Iraq. During my mobilization, I lost everything in Hurricane Katrina and, the next month, I was diagnosed with cancer. I was a single mother and 28 at the time.
The V.A. didn't have any programs available. When I left the V.A. and went to social services, you were not a soldier, you were treated basically as a baby's mama or a crack head.
It wasn't until I relocated to D.C. that I started to hearing about homeless female veterans. That's when I decided to found an organization that would house them and their children.
Let us know what you need. I am like a procurement whisperer.
We offer wrap-around support, child care assistance, unemployment placement.
You're a Marine. Hoo-rah, hoo-rah.
We're not a student body environment (ph). We give you all the tools that you need, but your success in this program is up to you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a job now. This is my space to prepare myself to be better. Jas set me up for success.
(LAUGHTER)
BOOTH: Why do I do what I do? It is the right thing to do as an American and it is the right thing to do as a soldier.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you back here one hour from now.
