Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Edward Snowden, the Whistleblower on the NSA Secret Surveillance; Fifth Victim in the Santa Monica College Shooting Dies; Judy Blume at the Movies

Aired June 09, 2013 - 17:00   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 CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks for joining us. A look at our top stories right now in the NEWSROOM.

Identity revealed that young man admits to publicizing the NSA's secret surveillance program. He is a former CIA employee who has fled the country to Hong Kong. And he says he's voluntarily coming forward because quote, "I have done nothing wrong."

The George Zimmerman trial begins tomorrow with jury selection. We go live to Sanford, Florida in a moment for a preview what have to expect.

And fifth victim has died after a terrifying shooting spree that spread onto a college campus in Santa Monica. She was going to buy textbooks. We have the latest next.

All right, we begin with the breaking news about the man who says did he it, gave away the NSA's secrets to a British newspaper. 29-year- old computer technician Edward Snowden said he is voluntarily coming forward and he says he is not sorry for releasing details of the top- secret American program that collects Americans' e-mail and phone records.

LISA DESJARDINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is in Washington.

So, he is hiding out in Hong Kong. Why would he come out publicly today?

DESJARDINS: Right, so many questions about this young 29-year-old. He says, Fredricka, he is coming out today because he felt that freedom itself was being threatened by the scope of these government programs and that he thought they were getting bigger from his desk at the NSA.

Let's look at first of all how "the Guardian" ousted him, of course with his cooperation. They did it online, fitting for this young man who was able to get so much information as a computer technician himself.

Now, Edward Snowden told "the Guardian" that he had worked most recently for four years at the NSA and it was from post that he had access to these documents. He also said that he was very specific in which documents he leaked, not mass quantities but specific programs that he thought affected large groups of people -- millions, in fact. Now, where as for him being in Hong Kong, he has left his life behind, he tells "the Guardian." He says nonetheless he's worried about possible retaliation from the NSA and intelligence communities. But even though, he says he was willing to take those risks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDWARD SNOWDEN, NSA LEAKER: Even if you're not doing anything wrong you're being watched and recorded and the storage capability of these systems increases every year consistently by orders of magnitude to where it is getting to the point you don't have to have done anything wrong. You simply have to eventually fall under suspicion from somebody, even by a wrong call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DESJARDINS: In that interview, Fred, Snowden says he did feel government's power was increasing, and he felt it would just keep going in that direction if nobody stood up. Now, this raises so many questions but right off the top, one question for this young man of course is if he was a contractor for working outside of government, how was it that he had access to such highly classified documents? I'm sure agencies will be looking at that.

And there is a question now for our government, how did they prosecute this man who is now hiding out, as you say, in Hong Kong? Lots of questions and I think we'll hear so much about him over the next couple of days. Fascinating and important story.

WHITFIELD: And so, clearly, this administration has been -- the department of justice in particular has been saying that it wants to be tough on prosecuting leakers. How might the DOJ be able to approach this situation?

DESJARDINS: You know, I am not willing to say, not being an expert in the extradition laws of Hong Kong. But I think -- we know, as a matter of fact that Edward Snowden chose Hong Kong carefully. He says in the interview it was because he felt like it was a relatively free government that he would work with there. But you have to imagine he also chose it because he thought he ran less risk of being extradited or rendered, even, in his words by the CIA from that location.

I guarantee you that right now in Washington, experts at the justice department and also probably intelligence agencies are trying to figure out how to access this man, do they prosecute. It is amazing, Fredricka. We just found out about this story a few days ago. It was only yesterday that the director of national intelligence said he was suggesting that an investigation start by the justice department. As far as we know, that investigation hadn't even started and here we have the end product, the leaker. So agencies probably all around Washington are playing catch-up with the international laws at play here and also with the politics involved in going after this man who, some say, is perhaps a hero. Others say has done his country harm.

WHITFIELD: All right, Lisa Desjardin, thanks so much.

Not done with this topic. So what happens next potentially for Edward Snowden and to the United States, for that matter?

Joining me from California is CNN analyst, Bob Bear, a former CIA case officer.

OK. Good to see you. So, might Edward Snowden be looking at charges from espionage to perhaps revealing classified information if the department of justice or the U.S. is able to get their hands on him, given that he is in Hong Kong?

ROBERT BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVES: I think almost inevitably they'll charge him. He revealed signals intelligence, top-secret. The government is obligated to go after him, bring charges against him. I just don't see any way out of it, you know, whether you agree with him or not, he's violated the law. They cannot let this pass.

WHITFIELD: And apparently he was formally a technical assistant for the CIA. He has been working for a defense contractor, one that has offices in Atlanta, Hawaii, as well as in Virginia. And he has apparently been working at the National Security Agency for the last four years as an employee of one of those contractors. So, he clearly had access to this kind of information and reveals that he thought it was the right thing to do in which to reveal it. But that he chose Hong Kong to, in which to flee, to find safe haven, tells you what about maybe the support that he might be getting, about taking this information and publicizing it?

BAER: Well, here's the problem, is that Hong Kong is controlled by Chinese intelligence. It's not an independent part of China at all. You know, I've talked to a bunch of people in Washington today in official positions and they are looking at this as a potential Chinese espionage case. And I'm not saying this because I disagree or agree or believe it had enough prisms is necessarily a good thing or this whole program. It is simply that it was unwise of him to go to Hong Kong to do this.

On the face of it, it looks like it is under some sort of Chinese control, especially with the president meeting the premier today. You have to ask what's going on. I mean, China is not a friendly country and every aspect of that country is controlled, so why Hong Kong? Why didn't he go to Sweden? Or if he really wanted to make a statement, he should have done it on Capitol Hill. I'm, you know, we don't know yet, but you can count on it the FBI and the CIA is looking at this now as potential counterintelligence problem.

WHITFIELD: And if indeed Hong Kong finding refuge there would make it very difficult for the United States to actually extradite him. Given that the president of the United States and the president of China have been meeting all weekend long, you have to wonder whether the dialogue is changing about how and which the U.S. would be able to get their hands on Edward Snowden, how they would be able to strike some sort of a chord or agreement so that the department of justice or other entities or agencies would be able to pursue him.

BAER: We'll never get him from China. There is not a chance. He will disappear there. He won't be able to go anywhere else. I can't believe a TV interview was done there in Hong Kong without some sort of knowledge of the Chinese. They're not about to send him to the United States and the CIA is not going to render him, as he said in the tape, is not going to try to grab him there. It is not going to happen.

It almost seems to me that this was a pointed affront to the United States on the day the president is meeting the Chinese leader, telling us, listen, quit complaining about espionage and getting on the internet and you know, our hacking. You are doing the same thing. I can see the Chinese doing that.

WHITFIELD: Bob Baer, a former CIA case officer, thanks so much for joining us from California. Appreciate your input.

All right, on to Turkey now. Thousands of protesters are demanding the prime minister's resignation.

Police fired teargas and water cannons to try to disperse the crowds. Meanwhile, the prime minister addressed several rallies of his owned supporters today. He made it clearly that his patience for anti- government demonstrations is coming to an end and that people would have the chance to choose their leader in elections next year.

Back in this country, the murder trial of George Zimmerman begins tomorrow. The first piece of business is going to be jury selection. There can also soon and ruling on whether expert voice analysis of 911 tapes is admissible in court.

Martin Savidge is at the courthouse in Sanford, Florida.

So Martin, you actually got a chance to talk to one of the defense attorneys who says is he very specific about the kind of juror he is looking for.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Mark O'Mara. I said him by the way and said are you ready because it all begins of course tomorrow. And he said, well, they have to be ready, they will be ready. Jury selection, as we know, is crucial in any trial. It is going to be even more so probably in this trial. And the defense and the prosecution are probably likely looking for two different types of jurors. But I did ask Mark O'Mara what would be the kind of jurors he wants. Here's the response.

(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 the case on the facts and the law and not on external public pressure. My concern about this whole case all along has been we have so much pressure on the case, on the system, that any verdict, whatever it might be, might not be accepted as the proper one even if it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: As it stands right now, there are only six jurors that actually have to be selected. That's because it is a second degree murder case down here in the state of Florid, at least two alternates. There are 200 candidates, at least the first 200, will show up tomorrow morning. As many as 500 people have been notified that they could be called in this particular case -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then Martin, the judge still has to render a decision about whether a voice analysis of the 911 tapes would be admissible. Are we getting any more information as to when that ruling could come down? Would it happen as early as this week or does it take a longer amount of time?

SAVIDGE: Yes. We thought that we would hear that before this would begin on Monday morning. We did not. Even despite three days of testimony. But because of witness that was unavailable, it is now determined by the judge that that's going to be figured out a little later.

Now, what's a little later here? Of course, it is going to be before they start playing the 911 tapes and start bringing in this expert analysis. So, maybe after jury selection has done they could then take up that matter. The judge was not specific.

WHITFIELD: All right. Martin Savidge, thanks so much for bringing us coverage from Sanford, Florida.

All right, in California, a fifth victim has died after a horrible shooting in Santa Monica. Family members say 26-year-old Marcella Franco died at the hospital today. She was driving to Santa Monica College with her father on Friday to buy textbooks when a gunman shot them. Her father, Carlos, also died.

Sources say the shooter was a 23-year-old man by the name of John Zawahri. Authorities say he killed three other people including his owned father and brother.

And the biggest mob trial in perhaps the last 20 years starts Wednesday. CNN's Deborah Feyerick has more on the riveting case of the mob boss known as James "Whitey" Bulger.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, without doubt, this is one of the biggest mob trials in the last two decades. It comes after an exhausted man hunt for the reputed rime bust of south Boston's once- feared Irish mafia. It is a trial about murder, about betrayal and about retribution. For the city of Boston, it is about time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK (voice-over): After more than two decades as the reputed head of Boston's criminal underworld, followed by 16 years on the run, this is how James "Whitey" Bulger returned home two years ago after one of the FBI's largest and longest manhunts.

Since that disgraced homecoming, Bulger's been incarcerated at Plymouth County correctional facility. He is accused of extortion, money laundering and 19 counts of murder, charges to which he has pleaded not guilty.

J.W. CARNEY, BUGLER'S COURT-APPOINTED ATTORNEY: Mr. Bulger this afternoon stood up and said good afternoon to the jurors.

FEYERICK: The trial will likely close a traumatic chapter in Boston's history, as well as the history of the FBI. By all accounts, Bulger's ruthless empire was allowed to grow unchallenged in the '70s, '80s and early '90s because of this man, John Connelly.

BARRY MAWN, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, NEW YORK DIVISION: He destroyed the reputation of the Boston office. A lot of very good agents were hurt and the whole office was tarnished.

FEYERICK: Connelly was raised in the same housing projects as Bulger and ultimately cut a deal with the alleged mob boss.

GERALD O'NEIL, FORMER BOSTON GLOBE JOURNALIST: Whitey Bulger was (INAUDIBLE) in Boston. And Connelly knew that.

DICK LEHR, FORMER BOSTON GLOBE JOURNALIST: And he did everything including breaking all kinds of laws over the years to keep that alive.

FEYERICK: Protected by the rogue FBI agent, Bulger got names of other informants and rival gang members, people he's now accused of killing. He knew when police were watching, when they were moving in and knew when to disappear.

In 1994 Bulger got one of his last tips. He was about to be indicted on federal charges. He had planned ahead stashing cash in various security boxes. He fled Boston later taking his girlfriend, Katherine Grieg. More than 12,000 poured into the FBI while he was on the run. Reported sightings in Ireland, London, and South America.

THOMAS FUENTES, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: So, in a way, he became the eldest of gangster. He was constantly being spotted somewhere.

FEYERICK: But, in the end, Bulger was found here in Santa Monica, three days after a public service announcement seeking information about his girlfriend. The couple had been living under the alias "Charlie and Carol Gasco," a self-described Chicago businessman and his younger wife. Inside the partially shielded third floor apartment, agents found $800,000 in cash and more than 30 weapons stuffed in the walls. Whether Bulger planned to shoot his way out is anyone's guess. He was lured to the basement garage on the ruse his storage locker had been broken into. The feared Whitey Bulger was arrested quietly and without incident.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FEYERICK: Through his lawyers Bulger had argued that he was given immunity by the FBI and a former prosecutor. The judge dismissed the claims saying any purported immunity is not the defense against crimes Bulger is now facing -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Deborah.

The White House is about to have a lot on its plate. We're following breaking news about who leaked information on the NSA surveillance program. What we can expect to see from the White House next.

And, beloved author Judy Blum hits the big screen. A movie based on her book, "Tiger Eyes," it will open this weekend. She takes us behind the scenes of making the films with her staff.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, a busy week ahead in Washington. The U.S. Senate begins the betting immigration reform but the Obama administration was hoping to talk about the success of the summit with the Chinese president.

Joining me now is Charles Blow and Ross Douthat, both write for 'the New York Times."

However, gentlemen, all of that maybe excess (sp) with this breaking news about Edward Snowden, the defense contractor, computer (INAUDIBLE) that work for the CIA was doing some more frizzy. NSA, for the past few years who apparently admits to leaking the information about the NSA's surveillance program.

So, Charles' you first, how might the administration best try to deal with this given he is now in Hong Kong, all of this on the hills of the president meeting with this president of China?

CHARLES BLOW, CNN ANALYST: I don't know exactly how they're going to deal with him. I mean, they have been very -- some would call it overzealous in going after leakers. He's come forward. We know who he is. He's in Hong Kong. How you get him out of Hong Kong, prosecute him, if that is what they intend to do, and all indications is that that is exactly what they would do.

How they do that, I have no idea. But, I think this leads to a bigger conversation which the president says that he wants to have, which is about, you know, what do we think about security and privacy in a post-9/11 world? And I think that bigger conversation which is what Mr. Snowden was getting at, was what says unnerved him about these programs, is the conversation that we really need to have.

We have kind of disproportionately taken terroristic threats out of the content of keeping us safe when all sorts of things make Americans not safe, all sorts of things kill Americans from gun violence to reckless driving to the wars we are now engaged in for a decade. All right, those things (INAUDIBLE) terrorism, but we have basically said terrorism is a bigger issue than all of those and we will give up our rights, privacy rights for that pursuit of those terrorists. I think we have to have a conversation about whether or not that is kind of out of proportion.

WHITFIELD: Well, I wonder Ross, if that conversation would kind of get lost now or upstaged by the fact that there is this admission. Does the conversation about security versus privacy get put on the back burner now as the U.S. or this administration tries to figure out how do you pursue someone who has leaked classified information, how do you prosecute someone who is admitting to leaking this classified information an how do you retrieve that person when they are in a kind of protected zone somewhere where there's no extradition treaty?

ROSS DOUTHAT, CNN ANALYST: I know that you know, when I want to go somewhere where I'm confident that civil liberties are taken seriously, I always go directly to China. That's the first place I go. I mean -- look. I completely agree with you. I think that what Snowden has done by going public and who knows exactly what his reasons are, perhaps he thinks it's self-protection in some sense, has probably pushed the conversation that Charles wants to have, this really important to have a little bit off the front burner. I think at least for the next few days and probably beyond that we're going to be talking about this very strange case. It's repercussions for international politics, the fact that it is happening during the U.S.- China summit. The questions that --

WHITFIELD: The coincidence here, irony here that this would take place, that the location of Hong Kong would be chosen or planned just as the president's wrapping up his meetings, that according to some analysts, was looking quite positive. There was some agreement on, you know, climate change. There was some agreement, you know, between China and the U.S. but not on something like that.

DOUTHAT: The thing to keep in mind here, too, is there is an incredibly strong bipartisan census in Washington, D.C. behind at least, you know, at least the large majority of the kind of measures that haven't really been debated today.

And so, the question is how you dis-launch (ph) that kind of consensus? How do you get figures like a senator, Mark Udall, Senator Rand Paul, so that -- how do you get that civil libertarian caucus in Congress to sort of shift the consensus a little bit. I think it is less likely to happen if we are talking about this contractor. But on the other hand, I mean, what does it say about our national security that someone who was not even directly employed by the NSA at this point has access? That was incredible.

WHITFIELD: I wonder, too, you know Charles, how embarrassing this ultimately becomes for this administration which, yes, is saying we're trying to be very tough on leaks. You know, we want to look into and in excess but then you got this taking place at the time of the summit, you got to taking place involving a contractor who had access to high-security information.

BLOW: Well, I think you have to look at it at the same time that technology's making it easier for governments to track us, technology's also making it easier for leakers to get information out. And I think what we have to look at is whether or not and to what degree this administration and the administration wants to make martyrs out of these young men who have come of age in a time when they do not look at this sort of thing as something that the government should be doing. You take a Bradley Manning who had has released a lot of information. You take this young man who's released a lot of information.

This kind of generational shift, these kinds of young people who, you know, this is the age group where people put a lot of stuff online. They share a lot. They are part of an internet age and they look at information and the sharing of information and the tracking of information, a lot differently than a person like I would who came up 20 years ago when such thing as twitter around facebook and what have you.

I think that whether or not the administration wants to get into a tug-of-war back and forth with more and more of these young people who are doing the leaking and making martyrs of them and having it be a standoff about whether or not things should be kept secret that are affecting millions and millions of Americans and are these people in fact heroes or are they criminals. And I think that's a bigger question that the administration is going to have in how force this will they go after this young man.

WHITFIELD: All right, Charles Blow, Ross Douthat. Thanks so much, gentlemen.

Good to see you.

DOUTHAT: Good to see you.

BLOW: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, and in a moment, we will hear directly from Edward Snowden, the man who went public with NSA's secret surveillance program. We'll bring that to you right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The man who leaked top-secret details about the NSA surveillance program is now talking. Edward Snowden gave an interview to Glen Greenwald and Laura Poitras of "the Guardian." And he says he did the right thing by breaking the law and revealing classified U.S. information.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SNOWDEN: The NSA specifically targets the communications of everyone. It ingests them by default. It collects them in its system and it filters them and analyzes them and measures them and it stores them for periods of time simply because that's the easiest, the most efficient and most valuable way to achieve these ends.

So, while they may be intending to target someone associated with a foreign government or someone that they suspect of terrorism, they're collecting your communications to do so. Any analyst at any time can target anyone, any selector anywhere. Where those communications will be picked up depends on the range of networks and the authorities that that analyst is empowered with, not all analysts have the ability to target everything. But I sitting at my desk certainly have the authority to wiretap anyone from you or in your accountant to a federal judge to even the president, if I had a personal e-mail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And again, Edward Snowden has now found safe haven in Hong Kong. All right, the latest trending stories now and your opinions from our NEWSROOM to your living room, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, a look at what's trending right now.

Simon Cowell got egged last night during a finale of Britain's got talent. A woman who was on stage smiled and hurled the eggs at Cowell to everyone's surprise there. She later apologized after being taken off stage.

Video of a Saudi man casually texting on the hood after moving car. Well, it's gone viral. Why is he doing that? As you can see, he doesn't look at all fazed by being on that hood. In fact, he is having a really good time there. No word yet on whether authorities ever caught up with him.

The "Purge" starring Ethan Hawk topped the box office this weekend with $36.4 million. And get this, it only took $3 million to make. "Fast and Furious 6" slipped to number two after being number one for two weeks.

All right, tonight Anthony Bourdain fulfills a long-time dream been heading to the Congo. But he finds something as simple as renting a boat has a whole lot of complications.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, HOST, ANTHONY BOURDAIN PARTS UNKNOWN: I've had something of a multi-decade obsession with the Congo. It's been kind of a personal dream, if you will, to travel the Congo River. And now, for better or worse, I get that chance. We've rented a trustworthy vessel and I shall be dubbed the captain Willard. All right, did you manage load the chickens. Finding food along the way, it is anticipated, will be a challenge. Refrigeration of any kind is impossible.

OK. My dream has finally come true. Flocked by officials, this could be months. OK. Let the probing begin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do we do this?

BOURDAIN: Let's get under way before they figure a new tax to levy on us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Catch the rest of Anthony Bourdain's trip to the Congo tonight at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: After writing books for almost 45 years, best-selling author Judy Blume is getting a taste of something new, the movies. Her book "Tiger Eyes" is now on big screen. It's just one of her beloved stories that impacted people of all ages. Kids know her from titles like "Super Fudge" and "Blubber." Teens love her coming of age books. "Are you there, God? It's Me, Margaret," and "Forever," remember those. And she in that best-seller for adults like "Summer Sisters."

But it's her 1981 classic "Tiger Eyes" that's turned into her first big screen movie, and she was involved in every step alongside with her son, Lawrence, who directed it. "Tiger Eyes" tells the story of a girl who struggles to cope with the tragic death of her father with the help of a new friend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I was young, used to climb here all the time with my father. I hope it never changes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything changes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, Miss Blume and her son told me all about making this movie.

But first, I asked what inspired her to start writing in the first place?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUDY BLUME, AUTHOR: My inspiration was I was a creative kid and I needed a creative outlet and I always made up stories inside my head when I was growing up. And one day I just sat down and started to write. It didn't, you know, it didn't all happen that easily, but that's basically it. The inspiration was that I was always a story teller, although I never shared my stories. But they were there.

WHITFIELD: So one of the books, 1981 "Tiger Eyes," that is one that right now is on the big screen. It tackles the loss of a parent, you know. And it really may be not just special because mother and son are involved here, but also special because it does deal with some really kind of risky and touchy subjects. How and at what point did you decide, Lawrence, you wanted this to be one of the first projects you would be undertaking with your mom?

LAWRENCE BLUME, DIRECTOR, TIGER EYES: Well, when it first came out, I was on my way to college and I read it and I loved it. I thought it was the best thing she had written. I found it very moving and my instincts just said, you know, at 18 years old, I want to make this into a movie, because I could see it had imagery of New Mexico where we were living and I could sort of see it in my mind's eye. It was very cinematic in a sense. And I had just, you know, I had followed the story in the sense that I had grown up in New Jersey, then moved out to Los Alamos, New Mexico. So, it was very close to home for me, emotionally, even though the character is fiction and the character is a girl. It was very moving to me. It was very close to home emotionally. Visually, I understood all the places and locations because that's where we are living at the time. And it just felt like something I really wanted to do at some point. I didn't know how, when or where, but it was something I always wanted to do.

WHITFIELD: And so, mom, Miss Blume, you know, how gratify, how touching -- what does it feel like to embark on this project with your son being the director?

JUDY BLUME: Well, I have to say first that when we're working together, as professionals we're Larry and Judy. We have to separate, you know, the mother-son relationship I think is the most important and we would never do anything to jeopardize that. But working together on this film, for me, at this point in my life has just been, well, one of the highlights certainly of my professional life. It's been a joy. It's been a thrill, and now that it's done and it's actually coming out, it is the most exciting. I'm thankful to Larry, because, you know, we did this together. I mean, we did the casting and I was on the set every single day, every moment of every day, for better or worse for him. And he was generous and welcomed me.

LAWRENCE BLUME: Better.

WHITFIELD: So those are all the regards. Were there any real challenges, Lawrence?

LAWRENCE BLUME: I mean, challenges, not really. I mean, it was sort of a joy. You know, I wish I had a great story for you, but it was a joy to finally be able to get into this material, to dig underneath it, to work together on the screen play, to figure out how to do it together was a lot of fun. To then, you know, cast it and shoot it with her sitting next to me at every moment and be able to turn and say did we get that right, are we doing the right thing, are we on the same page, are we hitting the right emotional moments? That was just pretty exciting especially after all these years of wanting to do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And thanks to Judy and Lawrence Blume for joining us. "Tiger Eyes" has already won awards at several film festivals for best film, best actress and best supporting actor. It's right now in theaters.

A little girl's health is failing more every day as she awaits a lung transplant that her family hopes would save her life. More on her fight to stray strong and how is she doing the day when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A 10-year-old girl is waiting for a lung transplant and she's getting sicker every day. Sarah Murnaghan has now been incubated to help her breathe.

National correspondent Susan Candiotti is live for us from New York.

So Susan, has there been any improvement in any way involving this little girl?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred.

Well, certainly not that we know of. Sarah's family is watching her closely. She is under heavy sedition, they said, to let her body rest and try to recover. Saturday night, the family revealed that Sarah now has that breathing tube in place. This is family video of her taken recently but her condition is worsening. The tube placed into her airway will not only help her breathe. If necessary, it allows doctors to perform another procedure to keep her well enough to receive a new lung if one becomes available.

Sarah and another little boy, Javier Acosta, have both been given a glimmer of hope after a court order last week. A judge granted them a ten-day exemption to eliminate age restrictions that will now make them eligible for any adult lungs that become available as well as from child donors. That extension expires next weekend. Javier's mom told us in an exclusive interview yesterday, these are very anxious days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MILAGROS MARTINEZ, JAVIER'S MOTHER: It is hard for me to tell my son, you have to have faith and be hopeful, you know, this is going to happen for you and inside knowing that the chances are slim. You know, every day hurts. It is my only child now, you know and knowing the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And Susan, you know, apparently there's going to be a very important meeting tomorrow trying to determine whether should be any changes in the way this sharing, organ sharing network works.

CANDIOTTI: That's right, Fred. This national board is reviewing its transplant program for children, including how long they now have to wait, even the mortality rate and other matters as well. And they are doing this because of that court injunction that's giving Sarah and Javier, at least temporarily, a chance of receiving an adult lung. Now, it is possible that the board could agree on an interim policy change while the whole program is under review, but there are no guarantees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HARVEY, CHILDREN'S LAWYER: And they're going to consider setting aside this rule with just so that it would -- what we call the under 12 rule while they study it more. It would affect just -- that would protect just a very few children in the country who are affected by this and we hope they do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: And if they don't, the lawyer proposed Sarah and Javier could go back to a judge and ask for another injunction or an extension, Fred. WHITFIELD: Any time table here?

CANDIOTTI: Well, I mean, it's really impossible to say. In Sarah's case, of course, putting in the breathing tube is not a good sign but the family is certainly hoping for the best and her family tells us Sarah is at the top of the list in her region.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Susan Candiotti. Keep us posted on that.

It is a big news week ahead. We will give you an idea what to look for almost every day of the week coming up.

And then, much more in the NEWSROOM. About 10 minutes away, Don Lemon will be joining us to let us know what he has got for us straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, much more of the NEWSROOM straight ahead. Don Lemon on just a few minutes away, six minutes away. What have you got?

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: We have a lot. And we are going to be talking about the story, following the story that you have been talking about. Talking about 29-year-old Edward Snowden, that interview, that "Guardian" interview, it is on tape. The whistle blower, we are talking about all of these NSA documents and their -- the intelligence, the whistle blower.

Well, we are going to run the entire inter interview. It is 12 minutes long. The revelations in there are incredible. You have been running just -- you just touched the surface, Fredricka. We got permission to run the entire thing. He said why did he do it? Why did he do it? He said I don't see myself as a hero, getting to why he did t. He said because what I'm doing is self-interest. He said I don't want to live in a world where there is no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity. And then he goes on to say this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SNOWDEN: Any analyst at any time can target anyone, any selector anywhere. Where those communications will be picked up depends on the range of the network and the authorities that that analyst is empowered with. Not all analysts have the ability to target everything. But I, sitting on my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone from you or your accountant to a federal judge to even the president, if I had a personal e-mail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Anyone, including the president of the United States, he is saying. So, where many people thought after 9/11 that most of our communications were being monitored somewhere. Come on. We work for a big company. We know our communications are monitored. Most people know that. But this is going beyond his, you know, what most of us thought for someone who is a technical assistant somewhere to be able to monitor and listen to, possibly listen to our home?

WHITFIELD: But it is interesting, he has taken great risk in which to do this. He has taken advantage of his job, his access. But now, he has also taken flight. He's in Hong Kong, family still state side.

LEMON: Right. His family is still state side and he talks about that. He says I'm worried about my family now. I can't do anything to help them.

WHITFIELD: It would seem you would have been worried about it before he took the step though, so.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: We are still the tip of the ice berg about this case, his story, his motivation.

LEMON: Yes. And there is also political ramifications because he said he wanted to do this a few years ago but didn't because Barack Obama was elected president. He said after President Obama became president, he said OK, so I was re-energized again. I didn't want to -- I wasn't going to do it. But then, after awhile, here is a spoke, he said, you know, he said as he watched President Obama, as he advanced the very policies that I thought would be reined in as a result, I got harder.

WHITFIELD: Fascinating. We are going to get to hear about all of that, of that 12 minutes statement.

LEMON: It is higher interview.

WHITFIELD: That he gave to "the Guardian."

All right, thanks so much, Don. We will look forward to that, just four minutes now away.

All right, meantime, hey, what did the U.S. Supreme Court, the Bonnaroo festival and the man of steel, what did they all have in common? They are all part of the look at the week ahead details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END