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Gandolfini Died of Heart Attack, Autopsy Concludes; Aaron Hernandez Involved in Murder?; All Female Jury for Zimmerman

Aired June 21, 2013 - 11:00   ET

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


NICOLE CLAMP, GRAYSON'S MOTHER: I knew it would work, but just seeing it work was just a huge, just -- it was just the culmination of a long journey to get there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: That was his uncle trying to control things and our floor director, Pete -- and he made a good catch, didn't he?

But, as you can see, Grayson is doing just fine. He still communicates by signing, but it won't be long.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

CNN NEWSROOM continues right now.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, Nice to have you with us.

I'm Ashleigh Banfield, a very busy show ahead with the day's main news stories and, as always, our take on "Daytime Justice.

Let's begin here. After all the protests, the pretrial hype, the stage is now set for the Trayvon Martin trial, and George Zimmerman's jury of his peers turns out to be all women.

Also ahead, what happened in the final hours and minutes before James Gandolfini's sudden death? What do today's autopsy results tell us?

And 60 nights in a row without ever really sleeping, is it humanly possible? Hey, this is Michael Jackson we're talking about, and the details do get stranger by the minute in his wrongful death trial.

First up this morning, the autopsy results are now out. What was widely believed to be the cause of actor James Gandolfini's death has officially been confirmed. The 51-year-old "Sopranos" star died of a heart attack.

And we now know the details of his final moments when he collapsed Wednesday in his hotel room in Italy where he was vacationing with family.

CNN entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner joins us live now. And I've just got to show, Nischelle, the audience, what you and I wake up to these papers here in New York City, and I often show, you know, what they say, "Tony's Last Act" and "The Last Supper," all these last photos of him on vacation, what he was eating, what he was drinking, and then these reports.

I guess it's not a surprise, but it's disquieting.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: It is. And I think that we're seeing so much response for this because it was a shock to all of us when we woke up to the news that James Gandolfini, 51-years-old, this consummate actor that we all know and loved as Tony Soprano, had died.

But as shocking as it was to all of us, imagine what his family was feeling. And today, they did have a press conference in Italy to kind of update us on where they stand, and also just talk a little bit about James, the man that we didn't know.

So can we listen to just a little bit about what they had to say at this press conference? Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL KOBOLD, FRIEND OF GANDOLFINI FAMILY: We are all devastated by this loss.

James was a devoted husband, a loving father of two children, and a brother and cousin you could always count on.

We thank you for giving us the privacy that you have given us and afforded us at this difficult time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TURNER: Now he was just kind of giving that statement, saying thank you to everybody. But they also went into some explanations about what happens next, now that they do know it was, in fact, a heart attack that killed him.

What they have do now is go through a bit of a process because they're in Italy, and there is an Italian law that prevails here over U.S. law, so they have to go through procedures in order to bring his body back here to the United States.

In all, they said, it could take up to 10 days but they're trying to work with authorities there and they did say that authorities are being cooperative to get him back earlier.

BANFIELD: Ten days? I thought I'd heard something about a funeral even own Wednesday. That's ...

TURNER: Thursday or Friday is what they were thinking. And what they're saying is that authorities in Italy are working hard with them to shorten that process so they can get him back here and get him buried as soon as possible. BANFIELD: And, of course, there's so many details that are streaming out about those last moments and how he was found. What do we officially know?

TURNER: This is tough, too, because we do know he was vacationing with his family. His 13-year-old son is the one that alerted the authorities that something was wrong.

What we know is they were in their hotel room and he apparently went to the rest room. He was in the bathroom for a little longer than his son thought he should, so he went and knocked on the door.

He wasn't getting any response from his father, so he got really concerned.

BANFIELD: It was locked.

TURNER: Exactly. And so he called authorities, called the hotel staff. The hotel staff came in and they actually had to break the door down to get in and get him and then that's when they found his body.

So just think, though, it was his 13-year-old son who started this ball rolling.

BANFIELD: I don't know if anybody knows, but did the hotel staff get the child out of there while they did this? Or do we know?

TURNER: We don't know. But we also know that he was traveling with his wife, Deborah Lynn, and their young daughter, who is not even a year old, Liliana.

So all of the family was there together. I don't know exactly where they were at the moment, the wife and daughter, but they all were in Italy together, so presumably she was able to get the 13-year-old.

BANFIELD: Look, it's sad for us. But it's just awful for this family.

And then, of course, Nischelle, these pictures, it's hard to kind of make this out, but these are pictures of Gandolfini I think just out for dinner in -- is it the night before?

TURNER: Tuesday night that we saw these photos.

BANFIELD: OK. And I think people have reported, you know, details of where he was, what he was eating, what he was drinking. Any of it relevant?

TURNER: You never know. You never know.

I mean, we do, like we said -- I was talking to Sanjay Gupta the other night, and he said, usually when we see people starting to have heart attacks, they're in their mid-60s, but there could be, you know, other mitigating factors, health, weight, history of heart disease, history of drug abuse or whatever. So we don't know really, but we do know he was a large man. We do know that he's been that way ...

BANFIELD: A history of substance abuse.

TURNER: Yeah. And he has admitted to that, to rehab and having a cocaine problem back in 2002.

So we don't really know, but we do know, again, that it was a heart attack that killed him.

BANFIELD: All right, well, keep us posted on ...

TURNER: Absolutely.

BANFIELD: ... what authorities are able to do to effectuate his return home. And then, of course, I'm sure there will be -- in New York, right? A funeral in New York?

TURNER: Yes, New York, Thursday or Friday.

BANFIELD: Thank you.

TURNER: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

BANFIELD: Wish we could talk under better circumstances, Nischelle Turner, live for us.

The way the media is treating a shooting death in Boston you might think that this was an O.J. Simpson case, almost.

But it's a mysterious case involving New England Patriots' Aaron Hernandez and a friend who was discovered shot to death not far, about a half mile, from Hernandez's Boston-area home.

Everywhere Hernandez goes, look at the scene, reporters clinging close behind, trailing him on foot, by car, overhead, in the air, cameras even watching him pump gas.

He is not saying boo, not talking, but his lawyer is on board and also decided not talk either, probably because police have been searching his home.

He has not been charged.

We've got more now on the case from our national correspondent, Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The embattled Patriots' tight end spent much of Thursday away from home.

First, he drove to Gillette Stadium as a news helicopter hovered overhead, tracking his white SUV. Hernandez hustled into the facility. Next, he stopped for gas where he was bombarded with questions from reporters.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell us anything you want to say? What happened on Monday night? Can you just tell us what happened on Monday night?

CANDIOTTI: The family of Odin Lloyd also wants to know what happened Monday night. They wonder why Lloyd, a friend of Hernandez, was shot dead, his body discovered a half mile from Hernandez's home.

Police are not calling Hernandez a suspect in the murder. Yet, Lloyd's family wants to know why police are searching Hernandez's home.

What do you make of the questions that he is being asked? And what would you like to know?

OLIVIA THIBOU, VICTIM'S SISTER: I'd like to know why. He was a very great guy. What could he possibly have done to anger anybody to do that? That's all I can really say.

CANDIOTTI: Do you think he might have had something to do with it?

THIBOU: I don't want to make a comment.