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Witnesses Heard Barrage of Gunfire; Obama Meets with China's President; Actress Arrested in Ricin Case; Mandela in Hospital for Lung Infection; U.S. Tracking Phone Calls and More?; TSA Under Fire; Transgender Former Navy SEAL Speaks Out; Bombing Survivor Meets Hero Stranger;

Aired June 08, 2013 - 12:59   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, welcome back to the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A look at the top stories we're following in the NEWSROOM at this hour.

We're getting new details about the alleged gunman in a deadly shooting rampage in Santa Monica, California. What we're learning about possible mental health problems next.

And overseas Nelson Mandela is in the hospital for a lung infection. We'll go live to find out how he's doing that's a few minutes from now.

And it's a low-key meeting but the stakes are high, President Obama holding an informal summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in California. A major issue, cyber security and reports that Chinese hackers have stolen American military secrets.

All right, let's get started in Santa Monica, California. A gunman opened fire on a college campus yesterday, even shooting at police before police shot and killed him. A law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation says the alleged shooter had mental health issues.

We still don't know the identity of the gunman. But we do know four people died after that rampage that started at a home in Santa Monica and then ended on a college campus. Kyung Lah is live for us at the police department. So Kyung, what more have we learned about this investigation?

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, we are hoping to learn much more in the next couple of hours from the Santa Monica police here holding a news conference. We're hoping to learn some of those details, namely, who and why. Those are the big questions that remain here.

Overnight investigators were working a sprawling investigation through this quiet beach community. From what we understand investigators working nine separate crime scenes at about half a dozen different locations where shots were fired, all of this occurring in just 15 minutes according to the police here in Santa Monica.

It began at that house you were talking about, that house that was set on fire. Two victims found there. We understand that they are relatives, believed to be the father and the brother of the gunman. And then the frightening part, according to witnesses he started randomly firing at people. A person who just happened to be driving by in her vehicle shot. Another victim, a second victim, in a different car, carjacked, and then a drive to Santa Monica College.

Along the way the gunman stopping to fire, shoot, at various people, including people just sitting on a city bus, when he made his way to Santa Monica College, firing again. A total, as you said, Fredricka, of four victims.

At the college one of the witnesses told CNN that he was shot at. Here's what he told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ORCUTT, WITNESS: He fired two in the parking lot area. And then when I turned around and he shot at me, I was the third, and then I heard probably another three, four individual shots, until maybe three, four minutes later I heard just a barrage of fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: All the victims describe the gunman as wearing all black. Dressed, you know -- in all black. Also wearing some type of vest. Some type of vest as well. So the other thing that we are learning this morning is the name of one of the victims who was killed during this rampage. He is -- he is identified as 68-year-old Carlos Navarro Franco.

Again a total of four people killed, Fredricka, but we under that that death toll is expected to rise to five because a fifth victim is in very grave condition.

WHITFIELD: All right, sad situation. Thanks so much, Kyung Lah there.

And, again, a press conference on later on today, possibly at 3:00 Eastern hour, more details about the investigation and the direction in which it's going there in Santa Monica.

All right, meantime also in California, President Obama is hosting a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two men are meeting at an estate in southern California for talks on everything from North Korea to cyber espionage.

The U.S. is angry over reports that Chinese hackers have stolen U.S. military weapons information.

Chief White House correspondent, Jessica Yellin, with the two presidents.

So, Jessica, you know, last night they talked about cyber security. Did they agree on anything?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, they agreed, Fred, that they need to come up with some sort of rules of the road, so to speak, on how both countries will address cyber security going forward. But there's clearly a big gap between where the U.S. and China stand on this issue.

President Obama said that this is uncharted waters, that this is new terrain because this is new technology, but China should have an interest in setting up standards because when their innovators start to come up with valuable intellectual property, they won't want it stolen either.

But it was interesting to hear the Chinese president say that he feels that the U.S. press has overhyped this issue ahead of the summit because China isn't as great a threat on this issue as we've all made it out to be. He did acknowledge that he feels we do need to come to some agreements on this as well and we'll be open to working on them going forward.

We're still waiting to hear what kind of details they have discussed and hope to hear more on that later today -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And then what about the North Korean, you know, peninsula and all that is taking place in that region?

YELLIN: You know, that's a top concern, and it's on the agenda. They did not share with us what they had discussed yet. When the president last spoke yesterday, he said that all these issues were discussed at the macro-level and they were going to dig into the details at dinner and then they had -- they spent some six hours together last night.

They are, again, meeting now and they're just taking a walk around the -- they took a walk around the estate and sitting down for their daily summit today. And I expect we'll hear more about North Korea later today.

If I could just tell you, though, for a moment. This is a very unusual situation for the two presidents to meet like this. Because -- the Chinese leader comes to the U.S. it's typical that you get a very formal meeting. A state dinner. And all the pomp and circumstance. Today this is a private estate. And as you point out, but it's also a very relaxed, casual environment and it's very much about these two men getting to know each other and build a relationship going forward in a state where Bing Crosby has spent time and eight presidents, et cetera.

WHITFIELD: So, you know, relationship building, it's the Annenberg Estate, and I understand there's beautiful, I mean, quite the collection of Chinese art throughout that estate, so apropos, you know, to be hosting the president of China. But is there more to why this kind of relaxed, you know, setting --

YELLIN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- was chosen for this relationship building?

YELLIN: Yes. Because the Americans see this as an opportunity to forge a new relationship with China which is the world's other great super power right now. So President Xi just as -- just took office essentially, and they want the president -- he's seen as a sophisticated, modern Chinese leader, unlike the previous Chinese leaders who were sort of your grandpa's president.

This one is a sort of young person who understands America and seems more open to a new kind of relationship. They didn't want to wait to take a meeting, and this is an environment where the two leaders can sit down really and just have a private meeting for many hours. And that's what they're doing. It's not about formal events. It's about sitting behind closed doors and hashing out the issues. And I'll just say this estate is fascinating.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

YELLIN: You know, Ronald Reagan spent 18 New Years Eves there.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well --

YELLIN: It's got quite a history.

WHITFIELD: Yes. The garden is quite the backdrop there for any photo-op.

All right, thanks so much. And of course the history is, you know, icing on the cake.

(LAUGHTER)

YELLIN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much.

All right. In a bizarre twist, an obscure actress in Texas is now accused of mailing ricin-laced letters to the president and to the New York City mayor. Take a look. This is Shannon Richardson. Investigators say she plotted to blame the poison letters on her husband.

CNN's national correspondent Susan Candiotti joining us now from New York.

Boy, this is a bizarre case that gets even more twisted as we get more details.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'll say, Fredricka. To hear authorities tell it, this was one troubled marriage, and if the charges are true, you've got a wife who went to some pretty bizarre lengths to get back at her husband.

Her name Shannon Richardson. She's also an actress, stage name Shannon Rogers and Shannon Guess. In court papers the FBI charges her with setting up her husband. Framing him. Accusing her of writing and sending letters tainted with ricin to President Obama, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the mayor's director of a gun control group in Washington, Michael Glaze. She's charged with planting evidence in and around her house, creating ricin research on her husband's computer, putting together a Tupperware container with ricin ingredients inside. Scattering castor beans used to make ricin in the trunk of her husband's car. She allegedly mailed the letters in Texas and drove to Shreveport, Louisiana, and met with the FBI to accuse her husband of sending the ricin letters.

The letter said, in part, quote, "You will have to kill me and my family before you get my guns. Anyone who wants to come to my house will get shot in the face. The right to bear arms is my constitutional, god-given right and I will exercise that right until the day I die. What's in this letter is nothing compared to what I've got planned for you."

Now the FBI interviewed her husband. He blamed his wife, so it was he said, she said from the very start. She allegedly then told the FBI her husband made her do it. Now on Twitter, we went to Twitter, there's reaction.

The former executive producer of the highly popular show "The Walking Dead" where Richardson once appeared in a minor role, wrote this, quote, "Some actors from 'The Walking Dead' sent ricin letters to the press? Never heard of her. Anyone know what role she played?

And then he gets an answer from of "The Vampire Diaries" TV show, who says, quote, "If she played an equivalent role to the one she supposedly played on "Vampire Diaries" she was third background from the right or something."

Now, sadly, Fredricka, this case plays like a made-for-TV movie, but it is a real life drama.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. So, Susan, you know, sending the president a letter allegedly tainted with ricin, obviously putting this woman in serious trouble, even though she's trying to frame someone else. What is she facing in terms of the legal road for her?

CANDIOTTI: Well, you know, if she is found guilty, she faces 10 years in prison, but, of course, that's a long way off. Let's see if this goes to trial. This is a criminal complaint. It has not yet led to an indictment. So let's see what happens next.

WHITFIELD: All right, Susan Candiotti in Newark. Thanks so much for keeping us posted on that very bizarre case.

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

Robyn Curnow is joining us live right now from Johannesburg.

So, Robyn, any more on his condition,? If family is with him? Any other details? ROBYN CURNOW CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nothing. I mean, we've been talking about this for 12 hours now, haven't we? And we've heard absolutely nothing else coming from authorities here. Essentially that one line saying he was serious but stable and that his condition had deteriorated in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Beyond that we don't know a lot. And I think there's a reason for that. The South African government and Mandela's family have always very, very quick to limit information about his health. They say it's about protecting his privacy. But what is interesting, I must say, Fredricka, is that a few months ago a photograph and some videos were leaked to the press here of Nelson Mandela. The most recent ones we have of him, because he hasn't been in public since 2010.

Now if you have a look at this video you can see just how frail he is. He looks quite dazed. He looks quite bewildered, he looks quite confused. And he certainly doesn't look very well. He certainly looks very, very old. He's 94, of course. And it's all of this I think that plays in to South Africans here, thinking, you know, the end might be inevitable, if it's not now, it will come soon.

People are quite pragmatic about the fact that he's old and frail, so, too, it seems is the presidential spokesperson who's been also slightly more frank than usual about this recurring lung conditions and the implications for this most recent hospitalization. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAC MAHARAJ, SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT SPOKESMAN: Lung infections can spread very fast. I'm not a specialist in the matter. But it does affect people, a person's breathing, it can be very serious and life threatening. And I think that the doctors would be very, very careful when they're dealing with a man of his age. He has a history of prominence to this infection. It is containable, but it has to be looked at in the context of his age and frailty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: OK. We do understand his wife is with him at his bedside and it's more than likely he'll spend tonight in hospital.

WHITFIELD: All right, Robyn Curnow, thanks so much for keeping us posted on that.

All right, back in this country now, a tropical storm Andrea has lost some steam as it's moving up the East Coast, but there has been some heavy rain in parts of Boston and New York and actually flash flooding in Pennsylvania as well after streams and creeks overflowed their banks, causing real traffic nightmares as you see right there.

The heavy rain also resulted in flight delays in New York and a flight from Boston on its way to Florida was diverted to Newark Liberty International Airport after being struck by lightning. Fortunately no one was injured. That is some scary stuff.

Alexandra Steele now in the Weather Center.

Boy, a hodgepodge of some crazy weather but amazingly it's not as severe as, I guess, Andrea could have brought.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, and this thing has just been cruising. Look, northeast at almost 40 miles per hour, this thing is just a bat and it is running, but it is the final advisory that post tropical storm Andrea. The National Hurricane Center has written the final advisory on this as of 11:00 this morning. So what we've got it is now east, about 75 miles east of Portland, Maine, the center of circulation, so it is all scooting to the north and east. Pretty much fait accompli for most people but certainly has left quite a mark.

Even though that's really quick movement it left a lot of flooding as we just heard Fredricka talk about, but also record rain. These are all records. North Miami Beach really coming in almost 14 inches of rain for the duration of this storm. Raleigh, Durham, picking up 5.1 inches, Philadelphia, a record 3.5, LaGuardia, 3.3, Boston 3, so some incredible amount of rain with it.

And again an awful lot of flooding, we've seen that through the last two days or so. Plus the radar shown it has all moved to the north and east. You can see now well off the coast. There is some rain and clouds and showers moving. Kind of a tropical atmosphere here still in the southeast and the mid-Atlantic. But today we've got this tropical atmosphere here in the south and east, but very dry, warm, incredibly hot air to the west.

With that right along this boundary it's firing up some severe weather potentially, so the risk of severe weather is in play today predominantly in Kansas and Nebraska. Large hail, straight line winds and isolated tornado or two. Kind of these are the areas of concern, Omaha, Topeka, Wichita, so just kind of keep an eye to the sky there if you're watching us and kind of have your mobile radio or listen to the TV and see if those warnings come. Certainly do take cover.

Big picture today, there's the severe storms, kind of a soupy atmosphere here in the southeast, again, Andrea has gone but record heat, Fredricka, in the southwest, places like Phoenix and Vegas, all 105, 110, even 112 degrees for some. So heat's really in place there.

WHITFIELD: That's pretty intense stuff. All right. Alexandra Steele, thanks so much.

STEELE: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, just how much is big brother watching you? The government admits it gathers personal data without warrant or even charges. So how deep does the government dig? Hear from one of the reporters who broke the story.

And Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker, says he's ready to make the big jump to the U.S. Senate. We'll tell you about his announcement next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. This week the conspiracy theorists are proclaiming I told you so. The government has admitted to multiple cases of what many consider invasion of privacy by the National Security Agency.

Among the revelations, the U.S. government is collecting details on millions of phone calls, plus records of e-mails, texts, video chats and more from overseas. Well, outside this country the government says it's tracking the online movements of customers from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple and others. And "The Wall Street Journal" reports the NSA is also gathering credit card data on Americans.

Yesterday President Obama responded to the details by stressing the government is not listening in detail on phone calls.

So we first heard about a lot of these secret U.S. government programs from a newspaper in the United Kingdom. "The Guardian's" Glenn Greenwald has been reporting on this story and he told our Piers Morgan just how deep he believes the rabbit hole goes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GLENN GREENWALD, COLUMNIST, THE GUARDIAN: What this program enables the National Security Agency to do is to reach directly into the servers of the largest Internet companies in the world, things that -- virtually every human being in the Western world now uses to communicate with one another and take whatever it is that they want without any checks of any kind.

There's no courts looking over their shoulder to see what they're taking and they don't even have the check that they have to go to the Internet companies that ask for it any longer. They've been given or have taken, depending on who you talk to, direct access into the pipes where all of these conversations take place and can suck up whatever it is that they want at any given moment.

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, CNN'S PIERS MORGAN LIVE: I mean, what this means in a nutshell is that the NSA, on behalf of the Obama administration, have been secretly looking at just about any kind of communication they see fit from any American.

GREENWALD: Yes, I think this is really the important point, Piers, is that there is a massive apparatus within the United States government that with complete secrecy has been building this enormous structure that has only one goal, and that is to destroy privacy and anonymity, not just in the United States but in the world. That is not hyperbole, that is their objective. To make so that every single form of human communication, human interaction, human behavior can never be beyond their reach and they have developed extraordinarily sophisticated technologies and enormously expensive mechanisms in order to make that happen.

MORGAN: Let's try and clarify what their purpose was here. Was their primary purpose to root out Americans who may be up to no good or foreigners who are up to no good? GREENWALD: Well, under the surveillance law that passed in 2008 that the bipartisan Congress passed, they eliminated the warrant requirement for all conversations except ones that take place by and among Americans exclusively on American soil, so they don't need warrants now for people who are foreigners outside of the U.S., but they also don't need warrants for Americans who are in the United States communicating with people reasonably believed to be outside of the U.S.

So these programs almost certainly, the PRISM one, almost certainly are sweeping up conversations of American citizens on U.S. soil as long as the NSA decides that the person they're talking to probably is outside the U.S. but, again, the fact there are no checks, no oversight about who's looking over the NSA's shoulder means that they can take whatever they want.

And the fact that it's all behind a wall of secrecy and they threaten people who want to expose it, means that whatever they are doing even violating the law is something that we're unlikely to know until we start having real investigations and real transparency into what it is that the government is doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: On Piers Morgan's show. And the TSA apparently has spent millions of dollars trying to catch terrorists at airports. Well, in a minute I'll tell you why a new report says we aren't any safer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A big announcement from Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR CORY BOOKER (D), NEWARK: I'm here today to officially announce my candidacy to be New Jersey's next United States senator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: He'll run for the seat left vacant by the death of longtime Democratic senator Frank Lautenberg who died earlier this week. After Lautenberg's passing, Governor Chris Christie announced a special election in October to fill that seat. Booker still faces a Democratic primary in August.

The Transportation Security Administration says it will drop its plan to allow small knives on planes. The plan faced strong opposition from Congress and within the industry itself. The TSA is also under fire for some of its security tactics used at airports.

Rene Marsh explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The TSA screening process which uses trained officers to look for suspicious behavior to weed out terrorists is under fire again. The Department of Homeland Security's inspector general says the TSA cannot ensure that passengers at U.S. airports are screened in an objective manner.

Congressman Bennie Thompson called for the audit.

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D), MISSISSIPPI: We spent about a billion dollars. And we've not caught one terrorist. And there's no science to go with it.

MARSH: The TSA's Behavioral Detection Program singles out passengers for additional screening. If body language, facial expressions or any other behavior suggests they could be a security threat or a terrorist. But the audit says there's no proof the program works. In one year behavior detection officers pulled aside more than 37,000 travelers. Only 199 of them were arrested for a criminal act. None of them terrorists.

MICHAEL GERMAN, ACLU: I think it says a lot about the problems at the TSA, that they're spending so much time trying to generate arrests that aren't related to airline security to justify a program that's simply unjustifiable.

MARSH: The ACLU maintains the program racially profiles travelers but the head of the TSA has long stood by the screening.

JOHN PISTOL, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: So I'm a big proponent given my almost 27 years in the FBI and having seen behavior detection work.

MARSH (on camera): According to this report the TSA started the program in 2007 at 42 airports. And over the years the program has gotten bigger. Last year it was at 176 airports. The total estimated price tag? $878 million.

GERMAN: It's $870 million that could have gone to more effective methodologies, but that people are being selected out based on basically junk science.

MARSH: The IG made six recommendations and the TSA says those recommendations have either been addressed or are in the process of being addressed.

Now Congressman Thompson is planning to introduce legislation that would defund the program.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And a terrifying shooting spree sends college students in California diving for cover under desks. Witnesses describe the gunman as shockingly calm. We'll have a live report from Santa Monica next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Police in Santa Monica are trying to piece together a huge crime scene after a deadly rampage on a college campus. At least four people were killed. Police shot and killed a gunman in the Santa Monica College library. And a law enforcement source close to the investigation now tells us the shooter was hospitalized two years ago with mental health problems. We're expecting an update from police later on this afternoon.

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

Leaders of both Facebook and Google deny the government has access to their servers. They're reacting to the U.S. admitting that it tracks the online movement of some foreigners. The government also said this week its National Security Agency tracks the data of millions of phone calls, and one senator says it has been doing so for the last seven years.

All right, in California they're holding what's being called an informal summit. President Obama holding meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping today in Rancho Mirage, California. Cyber espionage has been a big topic at the talks, but despite the tension surrounding that issue, China's president says the talks could chart the future of U.S./China relations.

Back to Santa Monica, California, right now. We're expecting to hear from police in about 90 minutes or so. And we could learn the identities of three victims and possibly the identity of the gunman.

Kyung Lah is live at the police department.

So, Kyung, what more have we learned about this investigation now nearly 24 hours after it all happened?

LAH: Well, Fredricka, we are expecting to learn a little bit more in the next 90 minutes or so, according to the Santa Monica Police Department. They are expected to release the name as well as the picture of this gunman.

This is certainly a very complicated and sprawling investigation for the police. The Santa Monica Police, leading the investigation, which involves the FBI, the fire department as well as the college police here.

Nine different locations, nine different crime scenes, rather, at six different locations. This all happening in 15 minutes in this quiet beach community. It began as a house fire. That's how police first found out about this. A house set on fire, two bodies found inside. According to police, they believe that those bodies are relatives. We understand they may be the brother and the father of the gunman.

From there, this takes a chilling turn. The gunman, dressed by -- dressed according to witnesses in all black. Carrying an AR-style assault rifle, began randomly firing at people. A person who just happened to be driving by fired upon. A second driver, carjacked. And then ordered to drive to Santa Monica College. The gunman stopping along the way to fire randomly at people including people just sitting on a city bus.

Here's how one witness describes what he was seeing just happening on these open streets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It happened right in front of me. I mean, I was in my car. And a guy on the left side of the street jumped out of a car with a big black gun and started blasting rounds at all of our cars and the buildings and the bus. Maybe, like, 10 rounds. He jumped back in the car and went on the left, took off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And the next spot was Santa Monica College, where there was more gunfire until the gunman was killed by police.

One thing I want to add, Fredricka, we did manage to speak to -- CNN did manage to speak to the family members of one of the victims. The first victim identified in this rampage. His name -- the victim is 68-year-old Carlos Navarro Franco. He was a groundskeeper at Santa Monica College. He wasn't working yesterday. He was driving his daughter who is a student at the college to the campus when they in their red SUV were fired upon.

According to that family member, Fredricka, the girl who did survive, his daughter, is also not expected by the family to survive. So, this is just, you know, very difficult for the -- this beach community which is really considered iconically quiet, really difficult to comprehend.

WHITFIELD: Terribly tragic, all right, thanks so much, Kyung Lah, keep us posted.

Again, a press conference about an hour and a half from now there in Santa Monica.

All right, he served in one of the most intense units of the military. But this former Navy SEAL says he was always meant to live his life as a woman. You'll hear from the "Warrior Princess" in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: For years Chris Beck was proud to serve as a U.S. Navy SEAL. He won medals fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan. But the one thing he secretly wanted to be, a woman, would have disqualified him from being a Navy SEAL entirely.

Our Anderson cooper has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ANDERSON COOPER, ANCHOR, CNN'S ANDERSON COOPER 360: Christopher Todd Beck enlisted with the military in 1990, with the dream of joining the U.S. Navy SEALs. The elite unit with the reputation for being one of the toughest, the fittest and most secretive forces in the U.S. military.

Beck realized that dream, serving for 20 years with the SEALs in some of the most dangerous battlegrounds around the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan. A former Navy SEAL who knew Beck says he had a stellar reputation among his comrades. By the time he retired from service in 2011, Beck had a long list of medals and commendations, including the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

But for 20 years, while Beck was fighting for his country, he was also fighting an inner battle. A battle over his gender identity. Chris Beck wanted to live his life openly and honestly as a woman, which is what he started doing after he retired in 2011.

Chris Beck is now Kristin Beck. She's currently on hormone replacement therapy and feels like she's becoming the person she was always meant to be.

It's been a long journey for Kristin to get to this point. She's written a book about her experience called "Warrior Princess" hoping to help others.

The book comes nearly two years after the Department of Defense repealed its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military, but gender identity has nothing to do with sexuality. Transgender men and women are still banned from service. The 20-year decorated combat veteran would not be allowed to serve in the military as she lives her life today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: An exclusive interview Bell told our Anderson Cooper how hard she worked to hide the woman inside the man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COOPER: What would have happened if you had said to some of the SEALs you were serving with that this is who you are?

KRISTIN BECK, TRANSGENDERED FORMER U.S. NAVY SEAL: Well, it's probably very similar to some of the -- some of the support I'm getting right now, but it wouldn't -- it would have been only that, you know, a few of them that would have said, hey, you know, you're my brother and I've never seen you do anything wrong and totally honorable. And you're -- it's good to go, and they even might have accepted it and maybe half and half, maybe less. I don't know. That's a chance that if I took it, I might be dead today.

COOPER: You might be dead because of what?

BECK: If it had got out while I was in active duty. I don't know. I mean, it's hard to say what the -- what the reaction would be. I don't know.

COOPER: But you -- that was a legitimate -- that was an actual fear of yours, though, a concern of yours that if this got out somebody might kill you.

BECK: Yes. That's my fear I have right now. I don't know.

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: Do you worry about that now?

BECK: Yes. There's a lot of prejudice out there. There's been a lot of transgender people who are killed for prejudice, for hatred. But when the book came out, some amazing support and some amazing praises, but also some pretty amazing bigotry and hatred, and they don't want to know.

It's the comments, like, I will never read that book, you know, if you read it you could educate yourself a little bit and at least I don't want you to love me. I don't want you to like me. But I don't want you to beat me up and kill me. You don't have to like me. I don't care. But please don't kill me.

COOPER: Everybody knows that SEALs are incredibly strong. In my opinion to do what you're doing now requires a whole other different kind of strength, though.

BECK: Yes. I've seen that comment quite a bit and some of my SEAL team brothers, they said, it's a whole different type of courage, and I look at it and it's not something that I look at myself or I say, you know, I'm courageous. I never thought about it that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, coming up, Beck says there are many others just like her in the U.S. military, and they have to hide who they are. We'll have more of Anderson's exclusive interview coming up in the 3:00 Eastern hour.

Also straight ahead, the last victim of the Boston bombings to leave the hospital meets the stranger who helped save her. It's an embrace and a reunion you just don't want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's been nearly two months since the Boston bombings. For many of the victims help came from total strangers. Well, since the attacks some have been able to meet those that helped them.

Randi Kaye was there for one especially emotional reunion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what someone looks like waiting to meet the person, a stranger, who saved their life. ERIKA BRANNOCK, BOSTON BOMBING SURVIVOR: I told my cousin last night that it's kind of, like, the night before Christmas, where you're so excited but nervous at the same time and you can't sleep.

KAYE: Her name is Erika Brannock. Just two days ago she left a hospital in Boston, the last victim of the Boston bombings to be discharged. They were two strangers who met in a moment of terror at the finish line.

Erika was gravely wounded in the bombing, losing one leg and breaking another. As she lay on the sidewalk in agony, she remembers this woman in the yellow sweater with the brown hair, coming out of nowhere to help her. Her name is Amanda North, but Erika didn't know that at the time.

AMANDA NORTH, HELPED BOSTON BOMBING VICTIM: I do remember moving over and crawling over and reaching out to her because she was conscious and --

KAYE: Amanda was the first to hear Erika's screams. She saw Erika's lower left leg had been blown off and yelled for help. Amanda took off her belt, which was used as a tourniquet. A photographer for "The Boston Globe" captured the moment.

When we visited with Erika on Monday, the day she was released from the hospital in Boston, we showed her the photo of the woman she so desperately wanted to find. Erika thought she'd said her name was Joan and she was from California.

BRANNOCK: That's Joan right there. And then she's holding my hand right there. And then this is my right leg.

KAYE: Monday night after our story aired on "AC 360," we found Erika's Joan who we now know is Amanda North. We arranged for her to fly from California to meet Erika in Baltimore where she is in rehab. What did Erika think when her mom told her the good news?

BRANNOCK: She has said do you want to meet Joan tomorrow? And I just -- I started crying.

KAYE: Within 24 hours the two were set to meet.

BRANNOCK: I really just want to thank her for helping me and, you know, being there and holding my hand the whole time.

KAYE (on camera): Are you a little nervous as we head inside?

NORTH: Yes, you know, I really am. It's a strange thing because in a way she is a stranger to me, but when you share things like this, you feel like you've known someone your entire life. So it's -- I'm looking forward to meeting her but I'm a little nervous.

KAYE (voice-over): Moments later, raw emotion.

NORTH: Oh, my god. Look at you. Look at you.

BRANNOCK: So glad we found you.

NORTH: I have thought about you every moment.

BRANNOCK: Me, too.

NORTH: The marathon. I didn't know how to get ahold of you. I didn't know what had happened to you.

KAYE: Like old friends, the two exchanged gifts. Erika gave Amanda a necklace with a dragonfly on it to match hers.

BRANNOCK: I wanted you to have one, too.

KAYE: Amanda brought Erika her favorite scarf.

NORTH: I want you to just think of me, whenever you wear this to know that I'm always there for you. This never goes away. We're friends for life.

BRANNOCK: We are. We are always going to be connected.

NORTH: Yes, we will. I'm never going to stop holding your hand no matter what happens.

BRANNOCK: Yes.

KAYE: Both suffered serious injuries.

BRANNOCK: They started wrapping my leg, so they have it wrapped up really tight.

NORTH: Yes.

KAYE: Including perforated eardrums. But today they laughed about getting each other's names wrong.

NORTH: You thought my name was Joan and I thought your name was Irene.

BRANNOCK: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

I don't know how we could have gotten them so wrong, but it was so loud.

KAYE: Finally together, they relived terrible day.

BRANNOCK: I had this horrible feeling that I was going to die. Like I could sense something was really wrong. Right away you came right up to me and you grabbed my hand and you told me that you weren't going to let go. And you didn't.

NORTH: I felt like there was a reason I was there. I just felt this compulsion to go over to you. KAYE: Erika's extended family all thanked Amanda for helping save Erika that day, but it was this moment between Amanda and Erika's mother who had been given Erika's belongings at the hospital that said so much.

CAROL DOWNING, ERIKA BRANNOCK'S MOTHER: I was just thinking I could be holding these and she wouldn't be here, and I am so thankful for you that she is here.

KAYE: To Erika and her family, Amanda is a hero, but Amanda just wants to be known as a friend, a new friend for life.

Randi Kaye, CNN, Baltimore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And also out of that Boston marathon bombing, the headline after the bombing screamed "Bag Men," that one right there. Well, the two young men in the picture are responding lawsuit. Their lawyers say the "New York Post" made it appear the men were involved in the attack. The lawsuit claims liable, negligent infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy. The man want an unspecified amount of money in compensation.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We try to bring you stuff that's new and interesting and very different. This is in that category.

Police in New Mexico got a big surprise when they found a black bear, that one right there, just trotting through the neighborhood. And as you see, it got pretty close to the cruiser. Kind of looks like a young one, doesn't it?

Well, police chased it for three hours. And they still couldn't catch it. Young and very fast, our affiliate KRQE says it probably weighed about 100 to 150 pounds and, guess which street it was spotted on? Black Bear Lane.

And then spectators in Massachusetts got to see something very unusual or rather unique procedure taking place there in Massachusetts General Hospital. Yes, that is a mummy. It's called Patti. It is a 2500- year-old mummy who apparently calls that hospital home and has for some time.

Yesterday it was restoration day and spectators got to see it happen right in the open there, new x-rays, body scans, looks like a little dental cleaning, too.

Patti was a gift given to the city of Boston in the 1800s. And it will go back on display at the hospital in a new custom built case.

And we'll be right back with much more in the NEWSROOM with more unusual stories just like that. Right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Police in Santa Monica, California, are expected to give an update on that deadly campus shooting in about an hour from now.

Yesterday a gunman walked onto Santa Monica College and opened fire. Officials say he killed a man in a car and another woman on campus. Police say two people were also found dead in a home nearby in a fire. That taking place before that campus massacre.

We'll bring you much more from police who reveal new details of their investigation coming up.

Also in California, we're keeping a close watch on that summit. President Obama and Chinese president Xi Jinping taking place. A low key informal meeting. All that straight ahead one hour from now.

Right now time for "YOUR MONEY." I'm Fredricka Whitfield. See you in about an hour from now.