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First Santa Monica Victim Identified; Mandela In Hospital For Lung Infection; Cory Booker Making A Run For Senate; Obama Meets With China's President; Judge To Rule On Zimmerman Evidence; Source: Gunman Had Mental Issues; Government Spying On Your Phone Calls; Government Mines Data But Access Limited; Ariel Castro Indicted On 329 Counts; Report: Chinese Hacking The U.S. Military

Aired June 08, 2013 - 12:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you so much for joining us. "CNN NEWSROOM" continues now with Fredricka Whitfield. Take it away, Fredricka.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We'll see you again tomorrow morning. We've got lots straight ahead, updates throughout the afternoon. Beginning with this, new details now about the alleged gunman in that deadly shooting rampage in Santa Monica, California, what we're learning about possible mental health problems. That's next.

And President Barack Obama in California, hosting a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, it's a low-key, informal meeting taking place outside Los Angeles, but the stakes are high.

This week the conspiracy theorists are crying out, I told you so. The government reveals it tracks nearly every phone call made every day and much more to fight terrorism. So, if the government is watching you and me, who is watching the government?

And a day after now that shooting on a California college campus, we just learned from a law enforcement source that the alleged shooter in the Santa Monica rampage had mental health issues. Our source tells us that he was hospitalized several years ago after talking about hurting someone.

We still don't know the gunman's identity. He was killed by police yesterday after killing four people in Santa Monica. Two were found dead in a home that was on fire, video right there, and they're believed to be the shooter's brother and father. The victims, that is.

Two others were killed when the gunman opened fire at Santa Monica College. A short time ago the coroner said one victim was a 68-year- old man who was driving a red SUV. Miguel Marquez is live for us now in Santa Monica where we're expecting to get an update from police hours from now. Miguel, what can you tell us now about the new information especially that involving the mental state of this suspect? MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is something that we had heard all night last night, and it's good to have it confirmed I guess. Although it's going to raise a lot more questions for investigators now because obviously he had an AR-15 type assault rifle. He had several handguns and it will now come to a question of how exactly did he get all of those weapons and the ammunition that goes with it?

Investigators dealing with a sprawling scene across the heart of Santa Monica, nine different crime scenes, six or seven locations where this individual opened up and fired, some of them fatal shots. We know that warrants were either drawn up or were acted on overnight or will be today. We also know that this thing started at the house that was on fire.

The individuals related to the shooter, and then it went down to Santa Monica College with shooting along the way. We're not entirely sure why he went to Santa Monica College. He did direct the person who he carjacked to take him to Santa Monica College.

And that's where he shot Mr. Franco, the 68-year-old in a red SUV in a parking lot at the university, just sitting out there. He shot and killed him, wounded somebody else in that vehicle as well. We spoke to one witness at the school who told us this about the shooter --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETH TOPPING, WITNESS: It's terrifying, you know, there was a lot of panic. I realized that I don't really know what to do in this kind of situation because I instinctively ran and I probably shouldn't have.

MARQUEZ: And he never brought the gun to bear on you.

TOPPING: No.

MARQUEZ: Even though you saw him twice and you were well within range?

TOPPING: I was well within range. I mean, he was coming right towards us and he had the gun close to his chest and he never pointed it at us and the reason it felt so strange is because he just was walking down the hallway so casually, he wasn't raging, you know, he wasn't in a chaotic state at all.

MARQUEZ: Did he say anything?

TOPPING: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: And I'm afraid we have even more bad news. One of the women who was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and was operated on yesterday, she was in very dire conditions last night, and we understand that she may have expired overnight. So, that death toll may go up -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, sad situation, thanks so much. Miguel Marquez there in Santa Monica.

All right, overseas now, Nelson Mandela is in serious but stable condition at a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa. The former South African leader was hospitalized earlier this morning for a recurring lung infection. A spokesman said he is now breathing on his own and receiving the best possible care.

Robyn Curnow joining me live now from Johannesburg, what can you tell us about his condition and the kind of medical care that he's getting?

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he's being treated by medical doctors and just remember he is treated by doctors around the clock at his home. He has literally an intensive care unit, the fact that his doctors felt it necessary to rush him to hospital early Saturday morning, they said his condition had deteriorated enough for them to do that means that this is, again, another worrying sign in terms of Nelson Mandela's health.

This recurring lung infection is in layman's language essentially pneumonia but with a 95-year-old man who is weak, who is frail, this is becoming increasingly worrying as the presidential spokesperson explains --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAC MAHARAJ, SOUTH AFRICAN 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're able to celebrate it even when he's not with us because there is a simple message in his life for all of us. It telephones us that our humanity is derived for what we do for others rather than what we do for ourselves. This is what he 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)

CURNOW: So, the big question is when you hear government spokespeople talking like that, are they preparing people? Are they warning people that the end is near, that there's some sort of inevitability about this, that there's a sense that people are looking towards his message after he's gone by the tone of comments like that?

We put it to them, are you preparing people for the worst, particularly because the government has used the word serious, that he's in a serious condition, this is not language that they've used before. And he said he can't really determine. It's up to the doctors in terms of what information comes out.

Giving, again, mixed messages, so South Africans very much on tenterhooks not quite sure how significant this hospitalization is. What you do know seeing behind me night has fallen in Johannesburg and it's more than likely he'll spend the night in hospital.

WHITFIELD: All right, a very tender situation, keep us posted on that. Robyn Curnow, thanks so much, from Johannesburg.

All right, back in this country now, a big announcement out of Newark, New Jersey, involving the mayor, Cory Booker.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR CORY BOOKER (D), NEWARK: Officially announce my candidacy to be New Jersey's next United States senator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: He will run for the seat left vacant by the death of long time Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg who died earlier this week. After Lautenberg's passing Governor Chris Christie announced there would be a special election in October to fill that seat. Booker will face other challengers in a Democratic primary come August.

And, of course, next hour, we'll be talking more about this. I'll talk with someone who has written a biography of Cory Booker and find out why the mayor is considered and has been considered a rising star for some time now in the Democratic Party.

All right, we're also expecting to hear from President Barack Obama later on this afternoon on how his talks are going with Chinese President Xi Jinping. They're holding a rare, low-key summit at an estate outside Los Angeles in Rancho Mirage. It's the first time the U.S. president has hosted a series of informal meetings with a new Chinese leader.

Chief White House correspondent Jessica Yellin will be joining us live and she's there with us right now, in fact.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi.

WHITFIELD: Jessica, what is this meeting all about? What are likely to be the high points that these two presidents want to focus on?

YELLIN: Hi, Fred, good morning. Well, the issues that the two of them are talking about are cyber security, North Korea and its nuclear weapons program, nuclear enrichment program, and the economic relationship between China and the U.S. those are the headline topics.

Now, last night when the president spoke to the press, the two leaders had been meeting for some time, but the president said they'd only addressed the major issues in the broadest terms and they were headed into a dinner discussion where they would drill down into more specifics and more details and when we next hear from the president, it will be about 45 minutes into today's first meeting.

So, we hope to get more about the details of these topics that they talked about. We perhaps, you know, they don't share that much by way of detail, but we hope to get a little more insight. Last night the president only addressed the cyber security issue. We hope to hear more about North Korea, perhaps even Iran and Syria -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, does it not seem a bit of an awkward topic that these presidents would be talking about this cyber security especially in light of all the discussions involving the NSA and what has transpired this week involving this administration?

YELLIN: Well, the irony seems to be that the U.S. is accusing China of cyber attacks on American companies and stealing American intellectual property. And many Americans would say that it looks like the government is conducting cyber attacks on some U.S. people or on foreigners using U.S. companies.

Now, the president insists that that's just not a fair comparison and those are two separate issues. His argument, he made this argument yesterday in his remarks, is that basically China is taking what they're learning and making money off of it at the expense of American companies. The government isn't making any money.

Of course, there's some debate there because we're talking about America's -- American rights and the American constitution, and this is a field for rich debate, and the president is on the receiving end of the fiery critics in that debate as you well know -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jessica Yellin, thanks so much. Keep us posted. Of course, we're going to be awaiting those comments this hour and bring them as soon as we can out of Rancho Mirage.

All right, meantime, in Florida, a critical hearing is under way right now in the George Zimmerman murder trial. At the center of it all, the 911 call from the night Trayvon Martin was killed. Live images right now I'm told? All right, all this taking place live right now at this hour.

You're seeing the defense attorney and you see George Zimmerman there in the background. Experts analyzed this 911 call trying to figure out who is calling for help. Is it Trayvon Martin or is it George Zimmerman? Have a listen for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

911: Does he look hurt to you?

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: I can't see him. I don't want to go out there. I don't know what's going on so -- they're sending.

911: So, you think he's yelling help?

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Yes.

911: All right, what is your --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, even though experts may be able to tell who is voice is in that call, the evidence may not be suitable for trial. That's what the judge will have to decide. CNN's George Howell is live at the courthouse in Sanford, Florida. So George, this is unusual, "A," that it's taking place on Saturday, all these preceding --

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- what would be the beginning of this trial with jury selection starting on Monday. What is it that the judge has to decide, besides the kind of testimony that will be taking place, to try to extrapolate whose voice is on this tape?

HOWELL: Well, Fredricka, yes, it is comes down to the methodology used. Not necessarily the science, but the methodology here, you know, how did the people, how did these experts do the work that they did. How did they reach the conclusions that they reached.

Now, right now you can see Dr. George Doddington on the stand. Dr. George Doddington worked at Texas Instruments. He's an electrical engineer and worked on voice and speaker recognition. And then, Fredricka, before that we heard from Dr. John Peter French.

Now, he's a professor with an extensive background, extensive training with phonetic and conversation analysis. Both of the witnesses are being used to debunk, to scrutinize, the testimony that we heard the other day from the state's expert witnesses in voice recognition.

For instance, today Dr. French made the point that in his opinion it's nearly impossible to compare a person's scream to their normal voice. Now, that's what we heard from the other day from Tom Owen. Now, he was hired by "The Orlando Sentinel" to examine that audio.

He says that he took a scream test from George Zimmerman and compared that to the scream heard on that 911 audio and he was able in his opinion to rule out that the scream was George Zimmerman. Now, that's not what Dr. French thinks could happen. Take a listen to what he said --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOHN PETER FRENCH, FORENSIC SPEECH/AUDIO EXPERT: My view in this case is that that recording isn't even remotely suitable for comparison purposes. If it had been submitted to my lab just for that by prosecution agency, it wouldn't have even got to first base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Dr. French also questioned and scrutinized the testimony of Allen Reich. We heard from Allen Reich the other day, another state's witness and he says because of the high pitch, the high pitch, the quality of that scream on the tape, that it's more likely to be a person whose voice is still in development, a younger person, in his opinion likely Trayvon Martin. But Dr. French said that in his opinion, that sort of conclusion would not be accepted widely in the scientific community -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then, George, help us understand why it is crucial that the voice be recognized or that it be made clear whose voice was yelling "help."

HOWELL: Well, for the prosecution. Now, if they can prove that the voice was not George Zimmerman screaming, then that helps their argument that George Zimmerman was not acting in self-defense, in fact, they believe, they would like to argue, that it was Trayvon Martin screaming for help.

And that's why it's so important in their opinion to get this voice recognition, these experts, in to the trial because that helps their argument. And you can see the defense now bringing in their own experts, again, highly decorated experts, these scientific -- yes, scientific experts, who say that, you know, in their opinion a lot of these methodologies couldn't be used.

WHITFIELD: All right, George Howell, thanks so much. Keep us posted throughout the weekend with this very rare and unusual Saturday proceeding just ahead of the expected trial to begin on Monday.

All right, so, we all found out this week big brother just might be watching, and it's all in an effort to keep our country safe. So, why didn't this program prevent the Boston bombings? We'll take a closer look.

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WHITFIELD: We're getting new details in the deadly shooting spree in Santa Monica, California. A law enforcement source close to the investigation says the gunman had mental health issues and he was hospitalized a few years ago after talking about harming someone. We're expecting to get more details from police later on this afternoon.

Here's what we know right now. Four people were killed. The coroner says a 68-year-old man was driving an SUV that the gunman fired into. Another woman was killed on Santa Monica College campus, and two bodies were found in a home that was on fire. A neighbor describes what she saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GERRY CUNNINGHAM, WITNESS: That's the first thing I noticed was smoke coming out of the house across the street and the heat. He had a bag laying in the street and he kind of glanced up at me, and then he walked over here to this corner, this intersection, and he pointed the gun at a woman in a car and told her to pull over, which she did.

And then the woman behind her in the car, he waved her through with the gun. And she kind of hesitated. She kind of slowed down and he just fired, like, three or four shots point-blank into her in the car.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Police are expected to have an update at 3:00 Eastern Time. We'll take that live.

All right, Americans got proof, perhaps more so than ever before, that big brother is watching. The government admitted it monitors the data of nearly every call made every day and reportedly it tracks credit card activity as well. It's all in a fight to stop terrorism, but critics say while the government is watching for terrorism, who's watching the government? Here's CNN's Joe Johns.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the government says its surveillance programs to catch terrorists have been audited and are carefully controlled, but recent evidence suggests that those limits that protect the rights of all Americans can lead to a suspected terrorist slipping through the cracks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS (voice-over): When the U.S. was tipped off by Russia in 2011 that the Tamerlan Tsarnaev was becoming radicalized, law enforcement was sitting on some valuable tools to pursue, but law enforcements say because of legal constraints they could not tap into data from either of the recently revealed programs.

He was a U.S. resident, so the secretive ability to tap into internet messages was a no-go limited only to foreigners and without enough information from the Russians, investigators did not have enough to prove to the secretive intelligence court it was serious enough to tap into the database of phone calls that the National Security Agency had been collecting.

Limited to more traditional means, law enforcement concluded he was not a threat. But as the world learned in April, he should have been watched. But the intelligence failure underscores the message government is trying to project that all this snooping is being very carefully controlled by Congress, the courts, and the White House.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: To anticipate and prevent possible terrorist activity. And the fact that they're under very strict supervision by all three branches of government and that they do not involve listening to people's phone calls.

JOHNS: The director of National Intelligence James Clapper said in a statement that the highest priority of the intelligence community is to work within the constraints of the law. But critics of federal secrecy and surveillance say there's simply no way to know whether the people doing the supervising are advocating for privacy or being rubber stamped unless you take them at their word because it's all secret.

ELIZABETH GOITEIN, CO-DIRECTOR, BRENNAN CENTER LIBERTY NATIONAL SECURITY: It's simply not correct that there's sufficient oversight from all three branches of government. There is an -- within each branch there is a clear problem.

JOHNS: The only metrics the public has about the work of the Secret Intelligence Court that is supposed to control all of this, are the annual reports. Last year, for example, the government asked the court 1,789 times for authority to conduct electronic surveillance and 67 times for permission to conduct physical searches. The court did not deny any of the surveillance requests, but modified or made changes to 40 of the surveillance requests. The government withdrew one of the requests.

GOITEIN: Since 1978, I think only 11 out of more than 30,000 applications were outright denied.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: According to the annual records the last time a request was denied by the court was in 2009. That was the same year the Department of Justice made changes to the National Security Agency's data collection program apparently because of problems, which reportedly involved a mistake at the agency that led to capture of information of a group of innocent Americans -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Joe Johns.

All right, he's accused of holding three women captive for nearly a decade, but he's facing his own imprisonment and it could last a lot longer. There are now 329 counts against Ariel Castro and they only cover half the victims' captivity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. Cleveland kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro indicted on 329 charges. He's accused of holding Amanda Berry, Gina Dejesus and Michelle Knight in his home for 10 years. The indictment describes years of brutal assault from chaining the victims to poles and cars to tying vacuum cords around their necks. One charge accuses the 52-year-old Castro of aggravated murder for purposely causing the end of a pregnancy.

Our legal guys are joining us right now, Avery Friedman in Cleveland and Richard Herman in Las Vegas. Good to see you, gentlemen.

The breakdown of the indictment, it is lengthy, 139 counts of rape, 177 counts of kidnapping, 7 counts of gross sexual imposition, 3 counts of felonious assault and one count of possession of criminal tools.

So, Avery, let's go with you first. This is kind in your backyard and I know you're watching this case as everyone is closely. The aggravated murder charge, that makes it rather complicated, does it not?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: It really does, 328 clearly understandable, rape and kidnap, but in Ohio and 37 other states, they have an amendment to the murder law that actually where you have the unlawful termination of a pregnancy, it's equivalent to murder.

Well, did the murder take place at the moment of conception, one day, one week, one month later? I think that charge is problematic and I think it's a problem because it forces the defense lawyers to bring the victims in.

Believe me, with 328 charges, Fredricka, this man, Castro, is put away for life without possibility of parole. I don't think that one charge was necessary, and do you know what, we're going probably see another 300 or more coming, so at the end of the day, he's gone.

WHITFIELD: Because this is -- FRIEDMAN: You will not see him and I don't think the prosecution can make that murder conviction.

WHITFIELD: This really is kind of the tip of the iceberg that are more charges that are likely to happen. Richard, are we looking at these indictments coming as a result of the cooperation of these three young ladies that perhaps their detailed account helped establish some of the counts that we're talking about here?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely, Fred. They're being debriefed probably daily. They're giving a ton of information to law enforcement and this was the first wave as Avery said, the government's promised another superseding indictment.

But the significance of the aggravated murder count here, when you commit the murder during the course of a felony, and here it was under the kidnapping that the pregnancy was terminated, it might be a little difficult to prove that she was actually pregnant at the time. But the significance --

WHITFIELD: Her testimony will not be enough, because that's what it would rely on.

HERMAN: Well, it may be enough.

WHITFIELD: And the other young ladies' too.

HERMAN: The significance is that they may seek the death penalty and they need that aggravated --

FRIEDMAN: Right.

HERMAN: -- murder charge in order to get the death penalty, so we'll know if they're going to do that probably within the next month or so, and that's the significance of the aggravated murder count.

WHITFIELD: OK, now, let's move on to the George Zimmerman murder trial in Florida. We're talking about, you know, proceedings getting under way Monday with jury selection, but today they are in court right now in Sanford, Florida, and we're looking at live pictures, I think right now. Still live, yes? Live pictures right now.

And we're talking about testimony that's taking place as they try to verify the voice. Trying to go through voice recognition of the 911 call, was it George Zimmerman that was calling for help? Was it Trayvon Martin? The 17-year-old ultimately killed. Was it him calling for help?

Avery, why is it significant? Why have this -- this right now trying to establish whether this is going to be significant in this trial? Why take place now as opposed to after jury selection?

FRIEDMAN: Well, because the prosecutors have to convince the judge that the science backs up what they want to say in their opening statement after jury selection starts. So, this is a very, very important proceeding. They're using state of the art technology and there is a battle raging in that courtroom right now.

That Judge Debra Nelson has to resolve. You've got experts saying this software, this technology is good. We can recognize a voice. We think it's Trayvon Martin screaming for help. The defense experts and these are distinguished experts, are saying there is simply no way to prove that, that is not what this shows and any way the technology is not sufficient.

So, what Judge Nelson does will have a profound effect, not certainly on the opening statement, but also in the trial itself.

WHITFIELD: So, Richard, you have colliding expertise here. You've got one expert that says it's impossible to examine a scream to try to compare it to the speaking voice. You've got another expert who says that it sounds like the voice of someone who is young, the scream is indicative of that of a younger voice, Trayvon Martin, as opposed to George Zimmerman.

So, how will this expert I guess testimony be extrapolated? How will it be compared? How will the judge try to surmise one expert's opinion is better than the other because that's what it boils down to, right, the judge's opinion?

HERMAN: That's what it boils down to, Fred. And here this judge has rolled over to every request the prosecution wants. So, I think in the end the judge is going to allow the experts to testify. And then tell the jury it's up to you to determine which experts you think are more reliable, more credible, and you make a determination on your own.

But more importantly in this Zimmerman hearings this week, Fred, was the prosecutorial misconduct, when the government hides evidence from the defense, when they intentionally hide it, as this lead prosecutor has done, and has testified to by employees under his control, it's outrageous! And I don't know the level of sanction that should be imposed.

WHITFIELD: What are we talking about?

HERMAN: It's horrible! This evidence.

WHITFIELD: Hidden?

HERMAN: There's evidence that was on Trayvon Martin's cell phone that was not turned over. It was disclosed to the lead prosecutor and his response was --

FRIEDMAN: They've already dealt with that.

WHITFIELD: You are talking about the texted messages.

HERMAN: It doesn't matter. He dealt with it in the opening, not in the trial. It's only for the opening statement.

WHITFIELD: OK, one at a time. Richard, establish that first and then Avery. FRIEDMAN: All right, go ahead, Richard.

HERMAN: It's only in the opening statement you can't mention it, in the opening statement. It doesn't mean it's not going to come into trial. I believe they are going to come in because they are relevant to the condition in the state of mind of Trayvon Martin and for the government to withhold this --

FRIEDMAN: Maybe.

HERMAN: -- when they have a Brady obligation to turn this over and they don't do it, it's outrageous conduct by the prosecutor.

WHITFIELD: OK, we're running out of time, but really quick, why isn't it relevant? Why do you disagree?

FRIEDMAN: Well, I'm not sure that it's relevant. I think at the end of the day it is important evidence to prosecutor wants to get this in. It kind of shows that Trayvon's a gangster, that's really why they want it in. It's really tangential to what happened that night.

HERMAN: The defense wants it in.

WHITFIELD: We're talking about the images of him, you know, smoking pot or at least the smoke coming out of his mouth and the language allegedly used.

HERMAN: The gun.

WHITFIELD: And possession of wanting to buy the good stuff. All right, we'll see it play out in the proceedings which began, of course, on Monday. We believe all scheduled to take place with jury selection on Monday. We're not done with you, because we'll see you in 20 minutes again to talk about other cases on the docket.

All right, meantime, less than 24 hours after a gunman went on a rampage in Santa Monica, California, we're learning more now about how the events unfolded, the suspects, the victims, all of that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A look at our top stories right now --

Police in Santa Monica, California, are trying to piece together a huge crime scene after a deadly rampage on a college campus. At least four people were killed and five others hurt. Police shot and killed the gunman, and a source now tells us the shooter was hospitalized two years ago with mental health problems. We're expecting a press conference later on this afternoon. We'll bring you that information as it happens.

Overseas Nelson Mandela is in serious but stable condition at a hospital in Pretoria, South Africa. The former South African leader was hospitalized earlier this morning for a recurring lung infection. A spokesman said that he is now breathing on his own and receiving the best possible care.

And President Barack Obama is holding a low-key summit in California with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meeting is being held at the Sunnylands Estate outside Palm Springs. We actually understand in Rancho Mirage. A hot topic on their agenda is cyber security and it concerns the alleged Chinese hacking attacks taking place on U.S. businesses.

And Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker is running for the U.S. Senate. He says he'll be a candidate in a special election coming up in October. The election was called after long time Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg died earlier this week. Booker also faces a Democratic primary come August.

The constitution's fourth amendment protects you against unreasonable search and seizure, so how can the government track your phone calls and e-mails? We'll have the answer after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The U.S. government is collecting details on millions of phone calls, plus records of e-mails, texts, video chats and more from overseas. It's all in an effort to fight terrorism. But privacy experts say the government is going too far. So, does this basically come down to an issue of your privacy versus your security?

Our legal guys are back, Avery Friedman, civil rights attorney and law professor joining us from Cleveland and Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us from Las Vegas.

All right, guys, so the president laid out his case very strongly yesterday, at least some said very strongly. He said these surveillance programs are necessary and are very highly supervised, but there are others who have concerns that these programs violate the fourth amendment, protecting you against unnecessary search and seizure. Avery, is it that times change and the use of our constitutional rights must be pliable as well?

FRIEDMAN: Well, you know, the fourth amendment has always been in a state of flux. We actually had a fourth amendment opinion this past week by the Supreme Court and there's always a balance, the government's interest and, for example, tracking crime or in the federal government's circumstance, trying to maintain security.

So, there's always a balance, and since patriot act and the FISA courts, there have been efforts by the federal court to expand efforts in counterterrorism. So, naturally, we are going to be subjected to a certain amount of scrutiny. Whether that goes over the line is the real question.

And ultimately, Fredricka, what we're going to see, and I predict we'll see it this year, a constitutional showdown in a courtroom of whether or not that type of counter surveillance actually violates the fourth amendment.

WHITFIELD: Richard, that's what has to be determined, has the government crossed the line. The patriot act is allowing this very thing to take place. The president saying this is part of anti- terrorism. This is what everyone has to be subjected to. But no details of conversations, of communications, are being scrutinized. Is that enough of a defense for this administration to say the NSA program must continue on the way we are seeing it play out?

HERMAN: Yes, they're going to continue to say that, Fred, with the NSA and the special prism group that's monitoring and --

WHITFIELD: Is it legally sound?

HERMAN: Yes, I think, in order to protect under the guise of protecting national security, since 9/11, our government is getting away with everything. The constitution's being trampled and it started with President Bush who didn't even address the FISA court. President Obama takes his request to the FISA court.

And I think we said earlier in some of the segments earlier, some 30,000 requests were made and they were all granted, so the FISA court is just a rubber stamp. There's no comfort level in knowing they're going to a special court for permission when that court is a rubber stamp for the White House. So, here we are. We're going to have to give up and sacrifice certain rights and privileges under the constitution.

WHITFIELD: It sounds like get used to it. It will not be challenged. This is just the way it is.

HERMAN: That's how it is. That's how it is.

FRIEDMAN: I don't think that it is. I don't think that it is.

WHITFIELD: No?

FRIEDMAN: Because first of all, the FISA courts are not a function of the executive branch. They're a function of the judicial branch and there's at least in theory counterbalances, you know, and to me --

HERMAN: No, it's a rubber stamp.

FRIEDMAN: -- while most of the requests -- most of the requests have been approved, that don't mean all of them.

WHITFIELD: OK.

FRIEDMAN: And the question is where is the reach going and that's where the constitutional challenge is here.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's move on to something else because we're not going to resolve this matter in the next 30 seconds.

FRIEDMAN: That's for sure.

WHITFIELD: Here's something else, you might really love this case, and we're talking about that of Joran Van Der Sloot, remember, he was a suspect in the Natalee Holloway case in Aruba, and then he was convicted for the murder of a young lady in South America, and now apparently there will be wedding bells, I know quite the juxtaposition here, Avery. How is this to be? Who is he marrying and why does this matter?

FRIEDMAN: Well, it matters because if he gets married, the argument is that he can't be extradited to the United States for wire fraud. But he hired a guy named Maximo Altiz, and I think he hired him because of his name because Maximo wants to minimal the sentence. He's also seeking a reduction on the conviction from 28 to 20. So we'll see what happens, but all the best to this guy. What a terrible, terrible guy.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Richard, you get to punctuate this one before we go.

HERMAN: Yes. I heard that, Billy Idol is warming up "White Wedding." He's on his way to Peru. Within the next two weeks this guys wants to marry this Peruvian woman, Joran Van Der Sloot, how incredible. It's so transparent. He doesn't want to be extradited. He thinks this will put a roadblock in it. The whole thing is a sham. This guy's got to be erased.

FRIEDMAN: Love is blind.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, gentlemen, I figured you'd have an interesting thought or two about that case.

All right, Richard, Avery, always good to see you. See you next weekend.

HERMAN: See you soon, Fred.

FRIEDMAN: Take care.

WHITFIELD: All right, President Obama is meeting, of course, today with China's new president on the agenda, reports that Chinese hackers are stealing U.S. military secrets. Coming up, how the threat could be putting American troops at risk in the air and on the battlefield.

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WHITFIELD: President Barack Obama is meeting with his Chinese counterpart today in California, a big issue at their meeting allegations that Chinese hackers are stealing U.S. secrets. It's a growing threat. And as Brian Todd reports, the impact could be compromising America's fighting forces.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're America's most advanced combat weapons and defense systems, the FA-18 fighter jet, the combat ship, the Aegis ballistic missile defense system. According to a new report the design for these and other high-tech weapons have been breached by Chinese hackers.

A confidential version of the report from the Defense Science Board made up of government and civilian experts was given to "The Washington Post." The report doesn't accuse China of stealing entire designs, but if they didn't steal them, how did they compromise them? We spoke with Kevin Mandia, a top cyber security expert who did a separate report this year on Chinese military hackers.

KEVIN MANDIA, CEO, MANDIANT: Bits and pieces of things will be taken from many different sources and different laptops and computer systems that have been compromised, but it's hard to take a lot of these pieces and gel them into one comprehensive picture of what might be built.

TODD: CNN could not independently the latest reports findings. Several members of the Defense Science Board who we contacted declined to speak to us. U.S. defense and other officials downplayed the report saying some of the information is dated, that they've taken steps to address the concerns.

One saying, quote, "the idea that somehow whoever the intruders who got the keys to the weapons kingdom is a stretch." But the Pentagon has recently accused China of trying to extract information from U.S. government computers, including military ones. If the Chinese even got into parts of a combat or missile defense system, how could they have gotten past the safeguards?

MANDIA: There's a lot of engineering that gets done in an academic setting. There's a lot of engineering done at industrial defense base and a lot of these places have been compromised for over ten years.

TODD (on camera): China's military ambition hacks been off the charts in recent years, over the past two years they've deployed their first aircraft carrier and they have test flown their first stealth fighter jet. One expert told me the technology for that was taken from the U.S.

(voice-over): And China's alleged hacking could be deadly for U.S. forces on the battlefield. I asked one expert about the publicly released part of this latest report on the consequences of the cyber snatching of weapons technology.

JAMES LEWIS, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: If you mess with that software, the airplane won't fly. The missile will miss its target and the ship might not get to where it was intended to go.

TODD: China's embassy in Washington did not respond to our calls and e-mail about this latest report. China's government has repeatedly insisted it does not conduct cyber espionage on U.S. agencies or companies. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

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WHITFIELD: All right, forget about attack drones now we have pizza drones? It's a test, but it was something of a sight to see. A Domino's franchise in the U.K. released this video of an unmanned drone delivering two pizzas. They're calling it the Domino-copter. It was actually operated by a delivery guy as you see right there.

A U.S. spokesperson for Domino says, however, no plans to start this kind of delivery pizza system here in the U.S. with the use of such a drone. It's just as well because the FAA bans the use of unmanned aircraft for commercial use. So, a test right over the skies of London. We'll see if it becomes a regular thing.

All right, back in this country, now. A man who was a Navy SEAL is now a woman. You'll hear from the author of "Warrior Princess, a U.S. Navy SEAL's Journey to Coming Out Transgender." Her story in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.

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