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Testimony about 911 Calls Excluded; NSA Leaker Charged with Espionage; Food Network Drops Paula Deen; NFL Star Tied to Murder Investigation; New Questions about Plane Crash
Aired June 22, 2013 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks for being with us. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now.
Heavy duty charges have been filed against the man who leaked top secret information and then fled to Hong Kong. We have the latest on Edward Snowden and what another famous leaker is saying about him.
In just a few days, Paula Deen had gone from being a sweet-talking celebrity cook to admitting she had used the "n" word. So are sponsors standing by her? We'll tell you in a moment.
And flooding is so bad in Alberta, Canada, houses are floating away. Streets are now rivers, and thousands are being evacuated. We're going to take you there straight ahead.
Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. Welcome to the NEWSROOM.
First, we go to Florida where the judge in the George Zimmerman case just made a key ruling this morning. She says two experts who analyzed voices screaming on 911 calls cannot be used. George Howell joins me live now.
George, what is in this ruling?
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alison, let's start out by listening to that audio because what you're listening to, the screams on that tape, is it Trayvon Martin? Is it George Zimmerman? Let's listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he look hurt to you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't see him. I don't want to go out there. I don't know what's going on. They're sending --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you think he's yelling help?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. What is your --
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOWELL: Here is the deal. The prosecution brought in its own expert witnesses and through their methodologists they were basically trying to show that it was not George Zimmerman screaming for help. But what we're finding now because of this ruling now the prosecution cannot suggest that it was not George Zimmerman. They're basically saying that it was not George Zimmerman in self defense of his life.
KOSIK: This is a key piece, isn't it?
HOWELL: Very important. And you know, to explain this a little better, I want to go to Mark Nejame is on the phone, he's a CNN legal analyst. And Mark explain to us, if you could, why this is important for the defense as opposed to the prosecution.
MARK NEJAME, CNN LEGAL ANALYST (via telephone): Well, this is a devastating blow to the prosecution's case. It's already been a challenging case for them and the cornerstone of their case was that the voice that was heard on the 911 tape was in fact, Trayvon Martin. Because it would have suggested that he was the one being victimized and that George Zimmerman was the aggressor.
Well, all other witnesses have indicated that the voices are unintelligible and that there's no scientific standard which permits them in. And the state attempted to put in a couple of witnesses, a witness, who would indicate that he could determine singularly from everybody else in the world that it was, in fact, Trayvon Martin who was saying or screaming help me, help me.
Well, the defense put on a stream of witnesses which indicated that this is basically hocus-pocus and it had no scientific validity and the judge opined that they were correct. So this basically guts the state from being able to use any scientific evidence indicating that it was, in fact, Trayvon Martin's voice heard saying help me, help me.
(CROSSTALK)
HOWELL: Mark what's --
NEJAME: Through that we come down to basic forensics and the state having to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt, which will be extremely more challenging as a result of the exclusion of their witness.
HOWELL: Right. Mark let's get into the weeds a bit on this with Dr. Allen Reich and Tom Owen. These are the people that the prosecution brought into the case. Tom Owen, you remember, looped segments of that audio to make his determination that it was very likely not George Zimmerman. And then Dr. Allen Reich, who had his own methodology who amplified that audio and determined that it was a higher pitch, someone with a younger voice, someone whose voice was still developing.
What does it mean now though as far as looking at their methodologies? Is that what it came down to, to make sure that you know they can't be heard in this case? NEJAME: Yes. The standard which the judge in a very well-written, well-reasoned order she was very anxious to get off the bench yesterday, and now I think we know why, she already prepared and entered a written 12-page very complex order to the extent that it really took apart everybody's testimony over the four days of hearing -- of hearings and included the facts and then interweaved them and came up with her opinion.
Well, basically what she's saying, a lot of things, but she put the most credence on Dr. French, a world-renowned expert in the area, who basically considers any other opinion to be embarrassing and what the state was trying to get in is that their witness who ended up having a financial vested interest in the -- the method that he used because he gets a commission on it, but basically needs 16 seconds of tape and all they had was seconds.
So he thought, well I'll just loop it. So he looped it twice to get a larger segment. And everybody is basically concurred that that somewhat preposterous it would be like if you needed 16 seconds and you had a one second voice could do you that 16 times to get to your 16 seconds. So he looped it so that it would become 14 seconds and which was closer to the 16 seconds. And there is just no other scientist in the community which said that that was an appropriate way to do it. And it didn't satisfy any scientifically acceptable standards.
And accordingly, I think the judge, which is what we were saying previously, made the correct legal ruling. It's simply not scientifically acceptable.
HOWELL: Mark this one last point that I want to ask, so, you know, they can still play the tape. You know the jury can still hear this audio, but now the prosecution can't bring in its witnesses, but what's to stop someone from bringing in, say, Trayvon's father, Tracy martin, from making -- giving his opinion on this? Can that still happen?
NEJAME: Well you raise a very good point. I will be very brief. The last paragraph of the judge's order says, this order does not prevent the parties from playing the tapes at trial or from calling witnesses that they were the voice of the defendant or Martin to testify regarding the identity of the persons making the screams.
Well as all the viewers have listened as it's been played repeatedly, nobody can really ascertain those. As I remember it, Trayvon Martin's father initially said that was not his son's voice and then later came to say that it was.
HOWELL: Right.
NEJAME: So remember, the burden is on the state to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. So if you're going to have a variety of people saying a variety of things, therein lies doubts and where doubt lies there's typically an acquittal. So it's going to be -- it's very much of an uphill battle for the state. This in large part guts their case and I think that they're going to have to huddle and figure out where they're going with this case. One has got to presume they're going forward, but without this critical, most critical we said from a year ago that this would be the cornerstone of the case of the state of their case and they've now lost it.
HOWELL: CNN legal analyst Mark NeJame. Thank you so much for taking time -- Alison so --
KOSIK: This all gets started.
HOWELL: Yes it gets started on Monday. I'll be headed to Sanford for those opening statements but definitely a big blow to the prosecution.
KOSIK: Ok. Thanks very much, George Howell.
And the man who admitted to leaking top secret details about NSA surveillance programs has been charged with espionage. Those charges were just unsealed yesterday.
Dan Lothian joins me live from Washington now. Dan, what else is Edward Snowden facing?
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, under the Espionage Act, Snowden is charged with unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence. In addition, he's charged with theft of government property.
As you pointed out, this complaint was filed in U.S. District court in Alexandria, Virginia, late last week. It was only unsealed late yesterday, made public. But at least one prominent attorney feels that the government may have made a mistake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, HARVARD LAW SCHOOL: I think it's a dumb decision by the Justice Department to charge him with espionage. That's a political crime under the extradition treaty we have with Hong Kong. It gives Hong Kong an excuse to say we don't have to extradite him. They should have indicted him only for theft and conversion of property. Then Hong Kong would have to comply with the extradition treaty and turn him over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LOTHIAN: So where does this case go from here? Well, a U.S. official tells CNN that the State Department has sent the legal paperwork to Hong Kong to its consulate in Hong Kong. That paperwork then has to get into the hands of Hong Kong officials and then ultimately to a judge who would issue a local arrest warrant.
What's unclear is where we are in that process. Whether it has gotten into the hands of a judge and the judge has issued that warrant. That remains unclear so far.
KOSIK: Ok. And -- and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, he spoke this morning. What exactly did he say? LOTHIAN: That's right. Well you know we have the text of this speech that he was supposed to give, but he didn't. And he does defend Snowden saying in part, quote, "The charging of Edward Snowden is intended to intimidate any country that might be considering standing up for his rights. That tactic must not be allowed to work. The effort to find asylum for Edward Snowden must be intensified."
He went on to take a shot at President Obama suggesting that the President is a traitor for broken promises and for not having transparency when it comes to these kinds of surveillance issues. So some tough words coming from Assange who, by the way, was to have made this speech at the Ecuadorian embassy where he's been hiding out there in London but according to WikiLeaks, they postponed the address for security reasons.
LEMON: Ok. Dan Lothian, thank you.
Paula Deen is apologizing for using a racial epithet in the past but it has already cost the celebrity cook her contract with the Food Network where she has three shows. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULA DEEN, COOKING SHOW HOST: Your color of your skin, your religion, your sexual preference does not matter to me, but it's what in the heart -- what's in the heart and my family and I try to live by that. And I am here to say I am so sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Deen and her brother are being sued for alleged sexual and racial harassment by a former manager at their restaurant. Our Nick Valencia is following this story. Nick, tell us about this apology. I mean are people buying it?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well it certainly wasn't enough for the Food Network. They let her go after 11 years. Her contract has not been renewed. It's up at the end of the month. And she's in full-fledged damage control at this point trying her best to sound sincere and appear apologetic. She released though one video and then put it -- pulled it back and then she releases another video.
A lot of people saw that as kind of clumsy, but despite all the criticism that she's getting, Alison, despite all of the negative comments about her use of the "n" word there are still people that are supporting her. A local pastor in the state of George said there's no way that can be a racist. She does so much to help the black community. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PASTOR GREGORY A. TYSON, SR., FIRST JERUSALEM MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: People are going to jump on it and believe what they want to believe and they're going to add what they want to add. But one thing I can sit here today and look you in the face and tell you, that woman can't be a racist. She can't have a heart against black people with all that she's done and all that she continues to do. And that's why I'm here today with you, just to be a character witness for Miss Paula Deen because she's a beautiful person, beautiful spirit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: Now, I wouldn't say that her camp is justifying her comment, but they are saying that Paula Deen grew up in a different era, in a different era, in a different time in the United States in the south when the use of the "n" word was more widespread and was condoned. Our society has evolved over the course of the last decades and that word isn't as commonly used and it's just an ugly word and it has a lot of ugly connotation and she's paying the price for that now -- Alison.
KOSIK: You know, Nick, you look through that deposition related to the lawsuit.
VALENCIA: Yes.
KOSIK: And she talks about a Southern plantation-style wedding that she had planned. What exactly is she talking about here?
VALENCIA: So you see, it's not just the use of the "n" word. If you look at the deposition, you go into the mentality and sort of mindset and Paula Deen said some very damaging things. She brings up wanting her brother to have a Southern-style plantation wedding.
The plaintiff's attorney asked what does that exactly mean? Does that mean having a wedding that mimics that of a Civil War-era or before the Civil War? Wouldn't they technically be slaves, those people that are serving you at your wedding? And she said, yes, they were slaves, but her idea was to have a plantation wedding with black men and women serving white guests.
KOSIK: So her company is trying to excuse her actions saying she was born at a different time.
VALENCIA: Yes.
KOSIK: Are they saying that she gets a pass because of that?
VALENCIA: I don't think so. I think though they are saying that this happened a long time ago and you have to consider the context. In the deposition she said she used it in describing a story to her husband about when she was held up at a bank years ago. She says it's been a long time since she used that word and there aren't many people in this -- in this country she says that haven't used that word or told racial jokes she said at one time or another.
And so she's really trying to do the best that she can to apologize for having used that word, but, you know, she's being punished for being honest. She was very honest in this deposition and the truth came out and the truth seems to be coming back to haunt her.
KOSIK: Nick Valencia, thank you.
VALENCIA: You bet.
KOSIK: And I want to show you what it looks like in Calgary, Canada. That's where devastating floods have left two people dead and now there's a possible third victim. At least 85,000 people have already been evacuated across the province of Alberta.
Downtown Calgary, it's flooded with brown water. Look at that. Some shelters in the city are already filled to capacity.
A murder investigation has drawn in an NFL star. We're going to tell you what police want to know.
And a horrifying tiger attack in Indiana -- a young woman now in critical condition after being mauled. The shocking reason the tiger got loose.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: A woman is in critical condition this morning after a tiger clamped its jaws on her head. The attack happened at an exotic animal rescue center in Indiana. Police say the woman was cleaning the tiger's cage when it escaped its holding area. Authorities say its door was not properly shut. The tiger let the woman go after the center's director sprayed the cat in the face with a hose and lured it away with food.
New England patriots star Aaron Hernandez, he hasn't been charged yet. Police are investigating the murder of a 27-year-old whose body was found less than a mile from the NFL star's house. Right now Hernandez's house is still surrounded by reporters waiting for comment.
CNN's Alina Cho has the latest on the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much, Aaron.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is Aaron Hernandez August 2012, in the glow of signing a five-year contract extension with the New England Patriots worth as much as $40 million -- nearly a half million per game.
AARON HERNANDEZ, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: All I can do is play my heart out for them, make the right decisions and live like a Patriot.
CHO: That was ten months ago, this is now. The 23-year-old Patriots tight end is trailed by the media wherever he goes -- leaving his lawyer's office on Friday, coming home, an O.J. Simpson-like helicopter chase on Thursday, followed by this exchange at a gas station.
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? CHO: Investigators are looking for clues in the mysterious death of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, whose body was found in the woods less than a mile from Hernandez's home, about an hour outside Boston. Police are not calling Hernandez a suspect, but investigators have searched his home.
Lloyd's sister confirms the two were friends and went to a Boston nightclub together Friday night. Olivia Thibou says there was even a deeper connection. Lloyd's girlfriend and Hernandez's fiancee are sisters.
OLIVIA THIBOU, SISTER OF ODIN LLOYD: I'd like to know why. He's a very great guy, what could he possibly have done to anger anybody to do that.
CHO: Hernandez's attorney says neither he nor his client will have any comment at this time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: And Alina, we also know he's had a bit of a troubled past. Can you tell us more about that?
CHO: Yes, Alison, there are two incidents actually. The first is a civil lawsuit that stems from an incident at a Miami nightclub in February. According to court documents, Hernandez got into a fight with a man. He allegedly shot that man who ultimately lost his right eye. What's interesting is that man went to police at the time, did not name names, certainly did not name Hernandez, and no charges were filed.
In another incident, this is dating back to 2007, there was a shooting of two men in Gainesville, Florida. Hernandez was a student at the University of Florida at the time. He was brought in briefly for questioning, but again in this case, there were no charges ever filed -- Alison.
KOSIK: Ok CNN's Alina Cho -- thank you.
TWA Flight 800 crashed in 1996 killing 230 people. An exhaustive investigation called it an accident. We're going to tell you why some of the crash investigators are now saying that conclusion may have been wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: It's been 17 years since TWA Flight 800 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean killing all 230 people on board. What followed was an exhaustive four-year search for answers and a 50,000-page report that it found a spark from faulty wiring, that that is what caused a fuel tank to explode on board. But a new documentary is challenging that theory arguing it was instead an external blast. Earlier I spoke with Jim Polk, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and CNN investigative reporter and Jack Cashill, he's the author of "First Strike: TWA Flight 800 and the attack on America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM POLK, CNN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, to begin with, the dispute over whether a missile brought down the plane and not an internal explosion begins with the witnesses on the ground. A number of them said they saw a streak in the sky that they thought was a missile. But there were two airline pilots in the area who had a front row seat on this tragedy that happened right in front of them. Let's look and listen to what they said.
DAVID MCLEAN, PILOT: It blew up in the air and then we saw two fireballs go down to the water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the voice of David McLean, piloting a 737 over Long Island. A bright light caught his eye.
MCLEAN: All of a sudden, boom. Almost instantly, a fraction of a second later, two streams of flames came out the bottom of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another pilot, Captain Paul Wheeler, was in the cockpit of a Virgin Atlantic 747.
CAPT. PAUL WHEELER, PILOT: I could see the cigar tube of the fuselage and the windows and bits falling off, fire everywhere, and it falling into the sea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both had flown in the military, both know what a missile looks like. Neither saw a missile that night.
WHEELER: I was aware from both the height off the ground and the fact there were no vapor trails in the sky that it was unlikely to have been a missile that brought the aircraft down.
MCLEAN: I thought there was a bomb on board. That was my initial -- I did not see any missile at all.
POLK: Now, Alison, there was a helicopter pilot who says he did see a missile before the explosion, but he was at lower attitude than those two airline pilots.
KOSIK: Ok. So let me ask Jack. Jack, what do you think happened if it wasn't an internal explosion like those two pilots saw?
JACK CASHILL, AUTHOR: Well, unlike what Jim says, there were 270 eyewitnesses to a missile strike, 96 of them, this is FBI eyewitnesses, saw it from the horizon ascend all the way up to the plane. They all described it the same way, that it was a red tip, a plume trail after it, gray, and then it gets near the plane and it arcs over, zigzags, hits the plane, blows up.
One of those numbers, number 73, described in detail the breakup sequence of the airplane and she's an aviation professional, before the FBI even knew what it was.
Here is the challenge I have for Jim. The FBI recruited the CIA to recreate this animation to show what the witnesses purportedly saw -- basically discredit the eyewitnesses. What they said is after the nose of the plane fell off, that it turned into a missile and it ascended upright for about 3,500 feet confusing the eyewitnesses on the ground, several of whom were military people, pilots, commercial fishermen, et cetera -- sophisticated people -- into thinking they saw a missile.
Now, when CNN did its animation ten years later -- ten years after the crash, they eliminated that zoom climb altogether. So I ask Jim this, if those -- why did you eliminate the zoom climb if the CIA -- and what was the CIA doing involved in this in the first place -- if the CIA used that to expressly discredit the eyewitnesses?
POLK: Very quickly, I would agree with you the CIA animation is controversial. We did not make it climb in our animation because, frankly, the transponder disappeared on the radar at the time of the explosion, so there's no altitude readout on the rest of the flight and so there's no supporting evidence for the CIA's animation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: And you can see more about the investigation into this crash on an Anderson Cooper Special Report: "TWA FLIGHT 800" Sunday night at 11:00 p.m.
Coming up in the 1:00 hour today, we're actually going to talk to the man who headed the criminal investigation into the crash and we're going to ask him if he thinks the investigation should be reopened.
A crucial ruling coming down just minutes ago in George Zimmerman's murder trial. This could change the prosecution's case a lot. I'm going to explain.
Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): Rushing through the early traffic and hurrying to their desks, Dana Shanley and Barry Friedman are honing their talents and hoping to prove their worth during a Summer internship at the big public relations firm Ogilvy.
But they know just by being here, they've already beaten the odds.
DANA SHANLEY, INTERN: They told us here at Ogilvy that, almost 500 people --
BARRY FRIEDMAN, INTERN: Yes --
SHANLEY: Applied for ten spots. So, it was very competitive.
FRIEDMAN: We definitely feel very lucky --
SHANLEY: Yes --
FRIEDMAN: Me too -- SHANLEY: Very lucky --
FRIEDMAN: Been offered a position here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This will not be your average internship.
FOREMAN: The new hit movie "The Internship" pokes fun at adults stepping up the competition in this arena, but it's no joke.
Once the purview of the ambitious few, internships are now being aggressively sought by grown-ups looking for career changes and younger and younger students, too, according to the website InternMatch.
ANDREW MAGUIRE, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, INTERNMATCH: One of the things we noted in our report is that 50 percent of the students that do an internship are completing it by the end of their sophomore year.
You know, so this isn't just something that juniors and seniors are doing. It's happening earlier and companies are recruiting earlier just, you know, try to stay a step ahead.
FOREMAN: The goals for a great many, make contacts, open doors, and spin that internship into employment. That's what Shefali Vyas was after. So, how did you make that happen?
SHEFALI VYAS, FORMER INTERN: I tried to make the best of my internship to try to gain as much experience as I could and then I left a note I wanted to work here.
FOREMAN: It worked.
VYAS: It worked.
FOREMAN: She interned at Ogilvy three years ago and she's never left. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: Welcome back, I'm Alison Kosik. If you're just tuning in, thank you for joining us. These are the top stories we're following right now in the CNN newsroom.
The judge in the George Zimmerman trial issued a key ruling this morning that could affect the whole case. The judge ruled that two audio experts cannot testify about who is screaming on 911 calls.
That was key to the prosecution's case. Those experts would have said it was not Zimmerman screaming on the call. Zimmerman has said he shot and killed Trayvon Martin in self-defense.
The U.S. government has now charged, admitted NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Snowden is in hiding and has last been seen in Hong Kong. He's facing three charges right now, including theft of government property. The other two charges amount to espionage under the federal espionage act.
Secretary of State John Kerry is in Qatar today for the so-called friends of Syria meeting. Supporters of Syrian rebels discuss possible aid to the opposition that could include military support.
Right now rebel forces are fighting mostly with small weapons and no air power. Kerry said today's discussions focused on ending the violence and bringing a peaceful resolution to the crisis.
Nelson Mandela's family visited him in the hospital today. The former South African president has been hospitalized since June 8th. He is said to be -- he's said to be in serious condition but -- he's said to be in serious but stable condition with a recurring lung infection.
We now also have confirmation that an ambulance broke down whiles rushing him to the hospital two weeks ago.
He had to be transferred to another military ambulance, but officials insist the incident did not compromise Mr. Mandela's health.
The Food Network is dropping celebrity chef Paula Deen after she admitted using a racial slur in the past.
Deen has since apologized, but the network says it will not renew her contract when it expires at the end of this month. Deen has released a statement thanking the network for having her show for the last 11 years.
Coming up, from a family on vacation to a family on edge, desperate to find their son who was just a few minutes' walk ahead of them when he just disappeared.
The latest in the search for this Oklahoma teenager.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: It's been six days since an Oklahoma teenager disappeared during a family vacation in Ecuador. 18-year-old August Reiger was hiking in the town of Banos when he didn't meet up with his family as planned on Sunday.
His loved ones say he was just five minutes ahead of them on a mountain trail. The trip was a graduation gift for Reiger who speaks Spanish and was valedictorian of his class.
His father spoke with me earlier about the search.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS REIGER, FATHER OF AUGUST REIGER: Even though they sure searched just extensively with military people and dogs and helicopter and all kinds of stuff. But since it started really, they did one more search yesterday in a couple of localized places where I really feel, you know, it's actually possible he could have been.
A lot of the places they searched way up on the mountain I just know he couldn't have gone up there.
KOSIK: Take us --
REIGER: But didn't hurt to look.
KOSIK: Take us back to last --
REIGER: But they found nothing.
KOSIK: Take us back to last weekend, Chris, what -- tell me what you remember, your son was just five minutes ahead of you guys on the hike, was it like your son to wander off? Is that unlike him to do something like that?
REIGER: Oh, yes, totally unlike him. Oh, yes, I mean, yes, when we were going up, going to take this trail that all the tourists take here, it's nothing, you know, remote or dangerous or anything like that.
It just makes a loop on this mountain overlooking this, you know, this town, and we started up -- but first there's the kind of a halfway through the loop, there's -- you get up on a ridge where they have pavilions and there's a cross up there.
And we started about halfway up to that, stopped at the little overlook thing, we started walking on, and then he walked faster on ahead.
And his brother was trying to keep up with him but he kind of fell behind, but he was ahead of us, and when they've been -- you know, not just been, it really definitely not more than -- he couldn't have gotten five, more than five minutes ahead, probably not that much.
You know, maybe two or three and he's just walking faster than we are on this mountain trail, and, you know, when we got up to that ridge where they have, you know, seating, a beautiful overlook, I fully expected to see him.
KOSIK: And he wasn't there? --
REIGER: And we did, you know, he wasn't, he wasn't up there. My other son had gotten up there first and no, he hadn't seen him.
KOSIK: Oh --
REIGER: So that, you know, that concerned me because, you know, we'd done things like this a lot, and he certainly might have gone up ahead of us and then waited, but to go off -- you know, not waited when it wasn't obvious way to go, that -- nothing like this has ever happened. And we sat up there for, maybe about 15 minutes and he wasn't coming, so I thought, well, he must have just gone on ahead, and so I was a little mad at him, you know, for doing that --
KOSIK: Yes --
REIGER: But I thought well, we'll catch up to him later on the trail. But then I thought at the time that it was really just one trail only that was just totally obvious.
But when we started off to finish our loop, it became clear that it wasn't really that obvious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KOSIK: Chris Reiger also says his son is an experienced traveler, August has a full ride to the University of Oklahoma beginning in the Fall.
The shuttle Atlantis completed its final mission two years ago, but that doesn't mean the ship has stopped flying. John Zarrella is going to be explaining that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: NASA, once the world's premiere space agency is struggling to reinvent itself now that it's no longer sending people into space.
But the agency is still hoping to inspire space enthusiasts with its shuttle Atlantis museum set to open later this month. CNN's John Zarrella gives us a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Up close, nearly close enough to touch it, but still it begs the question, is it real?
TOM JONES, SHUTTLE ASTRONAUT: You don't realize the size when you're living in the cabin up front, you know to --
ZARRELLA: Tom Jones flew four shuttle missions, one on Atlantis. But one of the last times he saw it, it was wrapped in shrink-wrap as the museum was being built around it.
Now even he, an astronaut, is in awe of it.
JONES: But to really see the spaceship up close was a rare event. It was always cloaked in scaffolding in a hangar, you saw little bits and pieces like seeing the elephant as a blind man.
You never got this close to the vehicle fully revealed until it was right after landing and even that, it was just through a glance.
ZARRELLA: When the $100 million Atlantis exhibit opens, this is how everyone will see it, a flying machine like none ever built.
ALVIN DREW, SHUTTLE ASTRONAUT: Were we ever that audacious to go build spacecraft to do things like that?
And I think we're going to look back and it's going to be as if it was something out of a science fiction movie.
ZARRELLA: Atlantis and the other orbiters now retired, are reminders of both the past and the present. For two years since Atlantis touched down at the Kennedy Space Center, the U.S. has been without its own means to put astronauts in space.
CHRISTOPHER FERGUSON, SHUTTLE COMMISSIONER: We've called it a gap, not sure how long it's going to last, that's dependent upon these future commercial providers.
ZARRELLA: Commercial companies have taken over ferrying cargo to the international space station, but not people. That was supposed to happen by 2015.
Now the gap is widening, it's a very iffy 2017. Target dates are etched in sand, not stone. Not enough money from Congress, NASA says, so astronauts fly on Russian rockets.
Jones believes a new generation of space explorers will find their inspiration right here.
JONES: A young person can come in here and say, I want to fly something like this, I want to help design something like this and it can be a part of their future.
And that's a very bright future for America in the 21st century if we capitalize on the experience we have here.
ZARRELLA: NASA is also working on a rocket for deep space missions, that too is years away. So, for now, the inspiration gap is being filled by vehicles not on the launch pad, but in museums.
John Zarrella, CNN at the Kennedy Space Center.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: Let me ask you a question, do you think your locked car is safe? Computer hackers are hitting the road and I'm going to tell you what they're using to target vehicles.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: Car technology has come a long way to the point where today's cars are basically giant computers. Here is the problem, though.
That makes them targets for hackers who invented this hacking device, it is so effective, it's kind of scary.
Kyung Lah, has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Long beach, California, a man walks up to the car and using a small box opens it. Right next to him, another man also using a box opens that car.
The problem, they're thieves, no keys. Now they've swiped all valuables from the cars. In Chicago, exact same scenario. A man by the Sedan, unlocks it, no key. Alarm disabled by some mystery device.
STEVEN DOI, CAR THEFT VICTIM: Oh, you feel you've been outsmarted. I thought I had everything unlocked and --
LAH: The same thing happened to Steven Doi of Corona, California. His car's computer system was hacked. But the crook didn't get away clean.
Doi's dash cam caught the suspect, pacing, holding some mystery box.
DOI: And I was like, and you just see this guy just started walking right in front of the car. Sure enough in the video, you can hear the door locks go --
LAH: In just 18 seconds, the crook emptied out $3,000 worth of electronics. Same device, different cities.
MIKE BENDER, ICW GROUP INSURANCE & EX-COP AND EXPERT, AUTO THEFT: Same device, same premise.
LAH: Mike Bender, ex-cop and auto theft expert calls it the latest high tech crime tool hitting New York to L.A.
BENDER: So, you see the device in his left hand?
LAH: And like police across the country, he doesn't know exactly what it is.
BENDER: At the ease that this is working and the frequency that we're seeing it reported throughout the U.S., means, it's only become a greater problem.
LAH: Bender says your car is a rolling computer, what it takes to break in, not sledgehammers, but hacking devices.
BENDER: If you can hack into NSA, you can hack into GM.
LAH (on camera): But federal agents may be closing in on exactly what these boxes are. Law enforcement sources tell CNN, they have one of these boxes in Texas.
They are now trying to figure out if this is the same device used in all of these car burglaries. Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, my God --
KOSIK: And CNN NEWSROOM starts at the top of the hour -- I know I was looking at that -- it really is scary. I mean --
WHITFIELD: Yes -- KOSIK: We think that our cars are locked up with all this new technologies --
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness --
KOSIK: Think again --
WHITFIELD: This is some big giant magnet or something like that, it's just mysteriously opens your door --
KOSIK: It is amazing, I know --
WHITFIELD: And you think you have it locked.
KOSIK: Yes.
WHITFIELD: Oh, well, all right.
KOSIK: Let's take that first --
WHITFIELD: Well, we got out a lot untapped beginning at noon Eastern Time, including this mystery now involving an NFL star, Aaron Hernandez, now at the center of an investigation, however, he has not been charged.
He is not an official suspect, but investigators are looking into the death of his friend, his friend's body was found about a mile away from his home.
Our legal guys are going to be joining us, Avery(ph) and Richard(ph), to give us an idea of what investigators are looking for to try and piece things together.
And whether they're going to find any evidence that does link this NFL star. And a month shy of a documentary on flight 800, TWA flight 800, that is reigniting a lot of discussions about whether a missile took that flight down.
We're going to be joined by a former investigator who will be joining us, and he has already stood behind their conclusion that nothing criminal took place.
But I'm going to be asking him about whether reopening this investigation and whether the use of any new technology might bring about any new conclusions. He'll be joining us later on.
And then the queen of southern cooking, Paula Deen in hot water. She apologizes, but is it enough? The Food Network as you know has already dropped her, we're going to talk about whether she's done.
Is her career over or is there a way in which to reignite interest with her?
KOSIK: OK, lots going on.
WHITFIELD: Lots straight ahead. KOSIK: OK, Fredericka, it will be one of the most watched trials of the year. A neighborhood watch volunteer who shot Trayvon Martin to death, the six jurors who will decide George Zimmerman's fate are all women.
Many of them have something else in common as well, find out what that is straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KOSIK: On Monday, opening statements will begin in the case that launched protests across the country last year; the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.
And we now know the people who will decide whether the act was murder or self-defense, we know that they're all women. Here is CNN's Alina Machado.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT(voice-over): Most of the six women who will be deciding George Zimmerman's fate has had some connection to firearms. It's a common thread shared among about half of the 40 prospective jurors in the pool.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband has a nine millimeter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My brother-in-law has hunting rifles.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I fired a gun one time in my life and fell under my (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I have two handguns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you had any knowledge of shooting a gun yourself?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can shoot a gun.
MACHADO: Those answers are not surprising to people familiar with Florida, a state where there are more than a million concealed weapon permit holders.
CORD BYRD, ATTORNEY: Florida is a very firearms law friendly state.
MACHADO: Cord Byrd has spent more than 15 years handling firearm law cases in both state and federal court. He says having an all female jury could actually help Zimmerman's defense.
BYRD: As Samuel Colt said, God made man but Sam Colt made them equal, meaning, that anyone can use a firearm to defend themselves against a larger, stronger assailant.
So, I don't think it necessary -- I think the women will understand the self-defense aspect of this case. MACHADO: Also important, the level of comfort jurors may have with firearms. We saw defense attorney Mark O'Mara gauge that on Thursday.
MARK O'MARA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Firearm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you're projecting this?
O'MARA: Are you worried?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
O'MARA: OK, who is worried? I have a firearm in my hand. How about now? It's in my pocket, which you know it'll stay there. Who is concerned? Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, I don't know you.
O'MARA: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know you, how responsible you are with that.
MARK NEJAME, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: What the defense is wanting to do is to make sure that jurors are not alarmed or bothered by the fact that the defendant, Zimmerman was in fact carrying a gun in a public place.
MACHADO: Factors that will inevitably play a role as the jury tries to weigh Zimmerman's guilt and innocence. Alina Machado, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: And CNN NEWSROOM continues now with Fredricka Whitfield. Hey, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Hey, Alison, thanks so much. Good to see you, we'll see you again tomorrow morning.
KOSIK: OK.
