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NSA Leakers Girlfriend Adrift; Daughter Tracks Down Father's Killer; Grandmother Did Not Back Down from Intruder; Severe Weather Threat in Midwest; Woman Killed Man with Shoe
Aired June 12, 2013 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Hitting a soccer ball might be bad for the brain but when compared to head-on collisions, this football, hitting a soccer ball, might seem OK. But researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York say even mild hits to a soccer player's head might damage the brain at a deep molecular level. The study looked at the brain scans of 37 young, healthy soccer players. It compared it to the number of times players said they headed the ball. The more they headed the ball, the worse their memory tests were.
George Zimmerman back in court for the third day of jury selection in his murder trial. He has seemed engaged in the process. He's been taking notes and chatting with his attorneys as they question the people who decide his fate. Zimmerman said he shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in self-defense in February of last year in Sanford, Florida. Each of the potential jurors questioned has acknowledged hearing about this case in some way.
He's on the run. Now his girlfriend says she's adrift. We're talking about Edward Snowden, who admitted leaking information about government surveillance on the Internet and phone traffic. His girlfriend, Lindsay Mills, says she's lost her compass since Snowden went underground. She posted that message on social media before putting her blog on hold.
Miguel Marquez reports on the couple's sudden departure from Hawaii.
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MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The man at the center of the controversy left everything behind for his beliefs.
EDWARD SNOWDEN, NSA LEAKER: You have to make a determination about what it is that's important to you and if living unfreely but comfortably is something you're willing to accept.
MARQUEZ: Snowden said he cut his ties cleanly with everyone he knew or was close to, including his girlfriend, Lindsay Mills, who lived with him here in Hawaii.
Mill's father said his daughter dated Snowden for some five years but met him only a few times. JONATHAN MILLS: LINDSAY MILLS' FATHER: He's always had strong convictions of right and wrong. And it kind of makes sense. But still shocked.
MARQUEZ: Snowden prepared for that shock, telling "The Guardian," "My primary fear is they will come after my family, friends, my partner, anyone I have a relationship with." Snowden told "The Guardian" law enforcement had already been in touch with Mills.
In her blog, adventures of a world-traveling pole-dancer super hero. Just days ago, June 10th, Mills wrote, "My world opened and closed all at once, leaving me lost at sea without a compass."
She and Snowden moved out of this rental home just outside of Honolulu on May 6th. He told "The Guardian" he left for Hong Kong May 20th, telling Mills he would be back in a few weeks but leaving the reason vague.
What's curious, she also packed everything up and left for the mainland.
(on camera): As the story unfolds, the people in the neighborhood are a little more cautious about going on camera. But one thing several have told us what they found peculiar about this situations is that when they looked at this garage, they saw boxes all the way to the top of the windows here. The question is, where have the boxes gone and the contents of the house?
(voice-over): Mills father told CNN his daughter is now on the west coast, visiting friends. Just when she left Hawaii, still a question. So is whether she had any clue about her boyfriend's plans.
On her blog, she said Snowden's family was in town on May 17th, three days before he left his life behind.
Her next post, on June 3rd, she wrote, "The past few weeks have been a cluster jumble of fun, disaster and adventure." Six days later, her boyfriend revealed he was the source of the leaked security documents, triggering as many questions as answers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Miguel Marquez joins us from Honolulu.
What more do we know about Mills and where she is, or why she even left the House? Did she believe that perhaps she had been broken up with or do we have that detail? Do we know?
MARQUEZ: If she believes what she said on her blogs and what he told "The Guardian," he said he was going away for a few weeks and left the reason vague and she said OK. It would stand to reason they would then move out of that house. They had to move out because it was being sold by the owner, to somewhere else. Instead, she packed everything up and moved off.
Her father previous said she was on the west coast. Now he's not saying where she is.
There's still questions about what she knew before this great escape took place.
MALVEAUX: Miguel, do we know if investigators are interested in where she is? Do they think she has anything to do with these leaks?
MARQUEZ: We understand they have spoken to her twice. We know investigators, a Honolulu police officer, a plain-clothes office we believe to be a federal investigator was at the house last week. They seemed to have been looking into a missing person's report, simultaneously, probably in Washington, there was an investigation into the leak. Nobody put those two together until Mr. Snowden came out publicly -- Suzanne?
MALVEAUX: All right. Miguel, thanks. We appreciate it.
This woman never gave up. Now 26 years later, she tracks down her father's alleged killer. All she needed was the Internet and less than $300 to find him.
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MALVEAUX: Getting some new information about the 10-year-old getting an organ transplant, lung transplant. An operation that's ongoing this very hour. We have learned that she entered surgery about 11:30 this morning. The procedure will take about six hours. The new information we're getting is that this was a lung from an adult donor and, with that expectation, we've heard from medical experts who say that that likely will have be the altered, those lungs, in order to fit into a 10-year-old girl like Sarah Murnaghan. But, again, this is an extraordinary move for her, her mother, her whole family who had been rallying at her support and fighting to get donor rules changed to allow her to get moved up the list to allow for adult donors as well to be eligible. And she has received an adult set of lungs and she is undergoing that operation as we speak. We wish her and her family the very best.
Next, this is about a daughter's relentless search for her dad's alleged killer. It has finally paid off. Joselyn Martinez used the Internet to track down the man who police say has now confessed to the murder. It cost her less than $300.
Poppy Harlow has the amazing story.
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JOSELYN MARTINEZ, TRACKED DOWN FATHER'S KILLER: This was his last birthday.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's like a dream for Joselyn Martinez.
HARLOW (on camera): What's your greatest memory of your father?
MARTINEZ: Those parties we had at the restaurant. HARLOW (voice-over): After 16 years, her father's alleged killer, arrested. His capture, thanks in large part to her.
MARTINEZ: My family told me don't forget that name.
HARLOW: Joselyn was just nine when her father was murdered in 1986. Jose Martinez was shot and killed outside the New York City restaurant he and his wife owned. The suspect fled to the Dominican Republic. The NYPD says the murder case was closed in 1988 after receiving information that he was jailed in the Dominican Republic. What they didn't know is, just a year later, he was released.
RAY KELLY, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: They should not have closed the case. Should have been looked at to see if there was additional information.
HARLOW: In 2006, she started hunting online for her father's killer going into websites like background.com.
(on camera): What did you find?
MARTINEZ: I didn't know I had so much stuff. I really didn't
HARLOW (voice-over): After years of searching --
MARTINEZ: I'm like I think I have something. I said, oh, my god. I had this person in the background check.
HARLOW: She took what she found here to the 34th Precinct in November.
MARTINEZ: November is my father's anniversary of my father's death, and I get upset.
HARLOW: Police say it was only because of her efforts they were able to capture Santos.
KELLY: Obviously, she made a concerted effort and it paid off.
IDALIA MARTINEZ, JOSELYN MARTINEZ'S MOTHER: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
HARLOW: Wow.
IDALIA MARTINEZ: And my daughter has accomplished it.
HARLOW: A police source tells CNN, after Santos was arrested in Miami Thursday, he confessed to murdering Jose Martinez.
MARTINEZ: It's been trying. All I wanted was to figure out what happened.
HARLOW (on camera): What do you think your dad would say?
MARTINEZ: I think he would just hug me and smile. He would smile a lot. (END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: I want to bring in Poppy Harlow.
That's an amazing story. It took her about seven years. She started back in 2006 looking for this guy. First of all, what do we make of the suspect and his future and the charges and then I'll follow up.
HARLOW: He's down in Miami now. They will bring Santos up here to New York on Friday. He will then be arraigned next week and he faces second-degree murder charges.
The way this happened is there was an argument, an altercation in the restaurant that went outside, and that's where he shot Jose Martinez. I can tell you, it's fascinating why she started this search in 2006. She said it never sat with her well that her father's killer wasn't in jail in the U.S. And she read a book called "Coach Yourself to Success." She said it was that book that made her do this.
MALVEAUX: That's great. Does she have any plans of ever confronting this guy?
HARLOW: That's a great question. I asked her that and she said, no, even when he's back here in New York in court, I don't want to. This chapter of my life is done. I want to move on and focus on singing, acting. That's what she does.
Also I asked her, do you ever use his name. And she said, I never use the name of killer. I don't want to focus on him, but isn't it ironic this happened just before Father's Day.
MALVEAUX: Good for her. So proud of her.
Thanks, Poppy. Appreciate it.
Hail, severe winds and possible tornadoes even. That's the weather threat across the Midwest right now. Up next, we'll tell you if it's headed your way.
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MALVEAUX: President Obama on the campaign trial now attending an event. You're looking at live pictures in Boston where Congressman Ed Markey. Markey and Republican Gabrielle Gomez (ph) are competing for John Kerry's former senate seat. The special election is in two weeks and polls show the race is tightening.
A 72-year-old grandmother did not back down when someone tried to break into her home. That's right. She pulled out a .357 magnum revolver instead. Jan Cooper was worried when she saw a man jump her fence and try to break in through a sliding-glass door. She fired one shot at the intruder with her trusty Smith and Wesson. It missed but it was enough to scare the man away from the House. Cooper then called 911.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAN COOPER, FACED INTRUDER WITH GUN: Back up you (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
Mr. Perez, you have no idea how lucky you were to walk away from my house.
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MALVEAUX: There you go. There's the warning.
Police say Brandon Alexander Perez was found hiding in the bushes nearby when they arrived. He is now facing burglary charges.
In just a few hours, severe storms expected to hammer the Midwest. Tens of millions of people from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio, will be affected. Tornadoes a very real threat. These storms could produce a rare weather phenomenon known as derecho. They are powerful straight- line winds that can cause massive damage. One of those last year killed 13 people, caused $1 billion in damage from Chicago to Washington, D.C.
Chad Myers of the CNN Weather Center.
Chad, tell us what that is again. Give us the pronunciation.
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CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It you don't like that, we'll just go with measured still convection system. How's that?
MALVEAUX: Oh.
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MYERS: Derecho means there will be a line of weather. There will be a squall line that charges east with winds between 70 and 100 miles per hour. And it's almost like an EF-1 or EF-0 tornado that can go for hundreds of miles in this direction.
We're expecting through here the initiation of thunderstorms. People are asking me on Twitter, why aren't they firing now? That's a bad thing actually because the more and longer the sun is out, that means the warmer the air gets. That means the stronger the storms will be. The storms will fire somewhere in here. All the way down toward Ft. Wayne and into -- even West Lafayette could see something.
Let me get you to the story as it goes. To get an idea of how big this system is, 74 million people affected by this system today. 74 million. About 12 million in the like category for severe weather damage. About another 11 million in the probably area. Another 51 million in that possible area here all the way around it.
As the storms fire here, they will go through Chicago. One hour. Another hour. Another hour. Another hour. Then charge all the way to the east.
If you remember this one that happened last year, it went for hundreds of miles, knocking down power lines for a million or more people. This is what it looked like, just all the way -- you couldn't believe that this storm was still going. It kept going for 24 hours.
And if this one does the same thing, it could be in D.C. by tomorrow. Think about starting in Chicago and going to D.C. Take you a long time even by train. This storm could be a long time tonight. We'll even see the potential for some tornadoes before the winds get going. Tornadoes all the way through here and the storms line up, then it's just the wind of it.
MALVEAUX: All right, Chad, we'll be watching closely. Thank you.
MYERS: You're welcome.
MALVEAUX: A Houston woman facing a murder charge. The alleged weapon? A shoe. We'll explain, up next.
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MALVEAUX: A Houston woman is facing a murder charge. The alleged weapon, a shoe. Ana Trujillo is accused of using her stiletto to stab her boyfriend to death.
Victor Blackwell has the story.
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VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ana Trujillo shuffled into court wearing an orange jumpsuit and flat vinyl sandals. It's the stiletto shoe, Houston police say, Trujillo wore Saturday night that led to University of Houston professor, Dr. Stefan Anderson's (ph) death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- officer rang the doorbell and the defendant, Ana Trujillo, answered the door with blood on her clothes and on her hand.
BLACKWELL: After a night of partying, police say the two went to Anderson's apartment inside this Houston high-rise.
Trujillo's attorney, Lott Brooks III, says an argument about a man who wanted to buy her a drink earlier in the night turned physical. The 44-year-old one-time massage therapist says she hit Anderson repeatedly with the heel of her shoe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- appeared to have about 10 puncture wounds to the head. Some one to one and a half-inch deep. He also had 15 to 20 other puncture wounds along his face, arms and neck.
LOTT BROOKS, III, ATTORNEY FOR ANA LILLA TRUJILLO: She had, in fact, talked to the police and given them an initial statement involving self-defense. So we're going to start there. And then work our way through.
BLACKWELL: Joey Jackson, a CNN legal analyst. JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY & CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The first thing that you have to look at is the proportionality of the force. What do I mean? I mean that you feel a right, of course, to defend yourself. But the issue becomes that the force used has to be proportionate to the threat that's posed.
BLACKWELL: According to court records, police found Anderson lying in the hallway face up, and a stiletto shoe near his head.
JIM CAROL, ACQUAINTANCE OF TRUJILLO: I could see her doing it. Yeah, yeah.
BLACKWELL: Jim Carol knows Trujillo. He's a former manager of the Houston hotel where she once lived.
CAROL: Twice she told me that if anybody ever messed with her, she pulled her shoe off, she says, I'll get them with this. It was a big stiletto heel.
BLACKWELL: Bail for Trujillo was set for $100,000.
Victor Blackwell, CNN, Atlanta.
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MALVEAUX: This guy, only 2 years old, but this boy can shoot some serious hoops. His skills put to the test against none other than Kobe Bryant. So who won? Up next.
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MALVEAUX: A flight from Las Vegas to Phoenix was delayed, leaving passengers stuck on board for hours without air-conditioning. But they coped with a little faith. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SINGING)
(LAUGHTER)
(SINGING)
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MALVEAUX: All right. They handled that pretty well. "I Believe I Can Fly."
(LAUGHTER)
I guess, eventually, they did.
Remember this little boy? The guy who shoots the baskets?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
(SHOUTING)
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MALVEAUX: OK. We're talking about the 2-year-old Titus Ashby, facing off with professional basketball player, Kobe Bryant. That's right. The two, one on one on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Take a look.
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(APPLAUSE)
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MALVEAUX: Awesome. Titus tied, he tied with Kobe Bryant, each making four shots. That's pretty cool.
That's it for me. CNN NEWSROOM continues. Have a great afternoon. Brooke Baldwin takes it from here.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: With weeks to live, she waited, she fought, she captivated a nation. And now we know this 10-year-old girl is getting a lung transplant. We'll tell you what to expect in the coming hours.
I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.
Inside the hunt for Edward Snowden. Could his pole-dancing girlfriend provide clues?
