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New Developments In Case Of Murdered Man Found Near Aaron Hernandez's Home; George Zimmerman Trial To Start On Monday; Snowden Being Charged With Espionage And More; New York State Passes Bill To Protect Sex Trafficking Victims From Being Charged With Prostitution

Aired June 22, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A look at our top stories we're following.

We have new developments in the case of NFL star, Aaron Hernandez. We'll go live to Massachusetts in just a moment and get the latest on police activity at Hernandez' house.

And in just a few days, Paula Deen goes from being a sweet-talking celebrity cook to admitting that she used the "n" word. So, are her sponsors standing by her? We know already the Food Network has dropped her. Who is next?

And big news for airline passengers. The FAA could start letting you use more gadgets at the start of your flight. I'll tell you which ones.

We have new developments in the case involving New England patriots star Aaron Hernandez. CNN's Susan Candiotti is there.

So Susan, what more do we know, and I understand there's been quite a bit of activity in and out of that household.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's been about an hour and a half, Fredricka, when this new search began at the home of Aaron Hernandez. And we counted at least a dozen investigators who are here, both with the Massachusetts state police as well as the local police here in the town where he lives.

Now, this is significant because it is the second time this week that investigators have descended on this home, and we saw many of them carrying kits, some of them wearing blue latex gloves. We saw at least two police dogs also in and around the house here.

It is unclear what they are looking for, but as you said, this is part of the ongoing murder investigation into the death of a man whose family has described as a friend of Aaron Hernandez, the New England Patriot tight end.

The body of that man, Oden Lloyd, was found less than a mile from this home on Monday afternoon. And reportedly surveillance cameras showed both Hernandez and Mr. Lloyd, the victim, several hours before his body was located on the street, or rather, the video showed him on the very same street where the victim lived. That is according to a newspaper here in Boston, the globe.

So what exactly they are looking for, as I said, we don't know. We do know this. We have sought out a comment from the district attorney's office that has acknowledged that it is conducting a murder investigation. We have sought comment from the attorney representing Mr. Hernandez but he has not returned our repeated phone calls. So for now we're waiting to see how long authorities will stay in the house and try to find out more about exactly what they're looking for as part of this search.

WHITFIELD: And then I understand the friends may have been at a strip club or something apparently recently. You went to that strip club, that is, and learned what?

CANDIOTTI: Well, we learned that another search warrant -- remember, they executed a search warrant at this house earlier this week on Tuesday. We also learned that another search warrant was executed at a strip club in Providence, Rhode Island, which is really not that far from where we are here. And we are told by police, a spokesman confirmed that that search warrant is, indeed, part of this ongoing murder investigation, and that they took video -- surveillance videos from inside the nightclub, that the owner of the nightclub can send it to the search and those are now part of the investigation -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Susan Candiotti, thank you so much. Keep us posted on that case, that very quickly evolving case.

All right, a big step now in the George Zimmerman case today that could change the course of this trial. The judge ruled the testimony from two prosecution witnesses who analyzed a scream on that 911 call cannot be used.

George Howell joins me live with more on that.

So, the analysis cannot be used, but jurors will hear that tape.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes. The tape can be played in court. The jurors can hear it. What they won't be able to hear is that expert testimony that the prosecution that they wanted to rely on basically showing George Zimmerman as the aggressor. Not the person screaming for help on that 911 audio. Specifically that's what we're talking about. Again, on February 26, 2012, this 911 audio, there were a lot of people calling 911 when this was happening. There is one particular clip that has been highly scrutinized, and in the background you hear someone screaming, help, help! Was it Trayvon Martin? Was it George Zimmerman? Take a listen for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he look hurt to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't see him. I don't want to go out there, and I don't know what's going on. They're sending --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think he's yelling help?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, what is your --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: So the prosecution, they had two audio experts, Fredricka. Tom Owen, he was initially hired by the Orlando Sentinel, but he did his own test where he took that audio clip, he looped it several times, the part where you hear the scream, looped that long enough so that he said -- so that he could get a sample that he could test. And he compared what he heard on that tape to a scream test of George Zimmerman, and he was able to determine in his opinion that it was not George Zimmerman.

The other person, Dr. Allen Wright, he had a different method basically where he amplified the audio and said because of the high pitch of that scream, it's likely someone whose voice is still in development, likely a younger person. Very likely, in his opinion, Trayvon Martin. We won't hear that now, and basically Judge Debra nelson sided with the defense and their experts. They had audio experts as well who said, you know, this science just won't hold up. I want you to listen one of those expert as he -- his opinion in court.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JOHN PETER FRENCH, FORENSIC SPEECH, AUDIO EXPERT: My view in this case is that recording isn't even remotely suitable for speaker comparison purposes. If it had been submitted to my lab just for that by prosecution agency, it wouldn't have even gotten to first base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWELL: Wouldn't have gotten to first base.

WHITFIELD: That's fascinating. So, the prosecution or the defense interprets this order from the judge in what way?

HOWELL: Well, look. I mean, the simple fact the prosecution won't be able to have this expert testimony in the trial, it is a big blow to the prosecution. We heard from Mark Nijame who explained that. He basically said, you know, the fact that they won't be able to use this testimony, that jurors won't hear it. You know, it hurts their argument.

WHITFIELD: All right. George Howell, thank you so much. I know you'll be covering it. Opening statements beginning on Monday. Jury now seated. All women, six women. It should be a fascinating case that will be unfolding, of course.

HOWELL: Certainly.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, George.

All right, we have a report of two dead now in the crash of a stunt plane at an air show in Dayton. CNN affiliate WHIO reports the plane burst into flames when it hit the ground, killing the plane's owner, the wing Walker, Jane Wicker, as well as her pilot.

A race car driver has died in Le Mans, France. Allan Simonsen of Denmark crashed just nine minutes into the race. Organizers say he was in his fourth lap when he swerved his Aston Martin to avoid a car hitting a wall on the driver's side. Rescuers took him to a medical center where he later died. Warriors reports, this is the first driver death during the race, Le Mans, since 1986.

High flooding hitting the city of Calgary, Canada.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Remnants of an entire house or perhaps building going under the bridge there. One of the worst hit areas is the city's downtown. Around 75,000 people in the region have already been evacuated and shelters are quickly filling up. The flooding has been blamed for at least two deaths across the province of Alberta.

The man who admitted to leaking top secret details about NSA surveillance has now been charged with espionage. These charges against Edward Snowden were just unsealed yesterday, and according to the "Washington Post," the U.S. is asking Hong Kong to detain him.

Dan Lothian joins me live now from Washington.

So Dan, what's the latest on this? Is Washington getting a response that they will get some cooperation from Hong Kong?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, you know, we're just getting new information from a senior administration official who confirms that U.S. officials have in fact asked Hong Kong to extradite Mr. Snowden. This, they believe this is in accordance with a treaty that the U.S. has with Hong Kong for a surrender of fugitive offenders.

A senior administration official saying quote, "if Hong Kong doesn't act soon, it will complicate our bilateral relations and raise questions about Hong Kong's commitment to the rule of law." So clearly the administration through this statement putting pressure on Hong Kong to release him or extradite him back to the United States where he can stand trial for those charges.

The big question, though, is whether or not Hong Kong will, in fact, do that. We talked about this extradition treaty, but there is a some exceptions for political offenses. This potentially could be included in that, these kinds of charges, espionage; that could be part of that, so it's unclear whether they would be willing to, in fact, extradite him.

And then, there's this other component as well. Remember that Hong Kong is a Chinese territory, so at any point, China could sort of step in and block extradition. So this is very complicated. We know all the steps along the way that could happen here, but unclear how it will all play out, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: I wonder, Dan, do you know whether or not there is like a timeline that the state department or Washington folks have put on this request for Hong Kong to cooperate?

LOTHIAN: Well, it's clear that they want this to happen as quickly as possible, but we were talking to a legal expert who said this is the kind of thing that could take some time because it's delicate diplomacy. Not looking at this playing out in days but perhaps months. Clearly, the administration wants to move this forward now that they have these charges which, of course, were unsealed yesterday.

(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: That was prominent lawyer, Alan Dershowitz, of course speaking his mind, believing the move by the justice department to bring this espionage charges wasn't the wise thing to do, because it further complicates this case, but the administration obviously moving forward trying to put pressure on Hong Kong to extradite him back here for trial.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dan Lothian. Thanks so much. Of course, we respect Alan Dershowitz's point. We're also going to be talking to Professor Jonathan Turley of George Washington University for his take on what could potentially happen, the legal road ahead for Edward Snowden if he is, indeed, extradited.

All right, Paula Deen, she is apologizing for using a racial epithet. But it has already cost the celebrity cook for contract with the Food Network where she has three shows.

Our Nick Valencia has more details.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, it's been a tough past couple days for Paula Deen as she and her camp are in full-pledge damage control after a deposition was made public in which she admits she used the "n" word in the past.

Now, despite all the criticism and all the negative backlash that Paula Deen has received, there are still people standing up for her saying, there is no way she could be a racist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PASTOR GREGORY A. TYSON SENIOR, FIRST JERUSALEM MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH: Would a racist give thousands of dollars to an organization to help black boys? And not only that, but we can't count the amount of things that she has done charitable for black organizations. I mean, she's not keeping a record on everything she does to help black people. She don't have to, she just does it because it's in her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: Deen has already lost her contract with the Food Network. She will not be renewed. There are other sponsors that will be looking at to make sure that she doesn't lose anything else. But Deen, for her part, has tried to come across as sincere in her apologies, asking and begging for forgiveness from her partners, her fans and her supporters. It's going to be a tough road ahead for her as a fallout continues in the next couple weeks -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. Nick Valencia there.

All right, violent video games may get a shot of new realism. A Miami man wants gamers to get the full gun experience with this invention.

And do you want to keep playing words with friends during take-offs and landings? Guess what, you might get your wish. Alec Baldwin would be happy.

And a talk show host has earned the title the Jon Stewart of Egypt, and guess who showed up on his show? Straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Four workers injured on the campus of Texas A&M after a portion of the equine center collapsed. The center was under construction. Four of some 30 workers were tying steel together in that portion that collapsed this morning. You're looking at live pictures right now of the center. A pretty sizeable space there right off a main road. Three of the people are now in critical condition. Authorities searched the structure for more people. Thus far no one has been found. You see right there kind of the skeletal remains of the building that was under construction.

All right, Turkish police and protesters are clashing in Istanbul today. Police used water cannons to disperse thousands of demonstrators in the square. They have gathered to lay down carnation in memory of four people who had been killed in the recent unrest.

A month ago, no one knew a thing about Edward Snowden. Now he's facing charges of espionage and theft on government property. That is after he admitted to leaking top secret details about NSA surveillance programs and then fled to Hong Kong. We're just learned the U.S. is seeking to extradite him.

I'm joined by Professor Jonathan Turley from George Washington University.

Good to see you, professor.

JONATHAN TURLEY, LITIGATED ESPIONAGE AND NATIONAL SECURITY CASES: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, you have defended espionage cases in the past. Does this situation have the hallmarks of the king of espionage cases that you have been involved with?

TURLEY: Well, the UC espionage act by this administration was controversial even the Snowden case. There is only been nine of these case. This administration brought six, this will be the seventh. And this is a president who has already been criticized because they have bringing these types of charges against sources of reporters. That's what Snowden is. He was a source for a reporter. This is not what you would normally consider a case of espionage. And indeed, this administration seems to be working hard to make this look political, which is a dangerous thing when you're trying to extradite someone.

WHITFIELD: So you said it's a -- you are saying it is mistake, then, to charge him with espionage. But perhaps the other charges, including theft are more reasonable and perhaps you'll get better cooperation overseas to have him extradited just on that alone, theft of government property?

TURLEY: Yes. Those are more straightforward. And I got to tell you, part of the mistake of using espionage is that if it sticks for a trial, it could expand the evidence that Snowden could bring in. Usually what the government will do is through what's called a motion limine (ph), try to keep out motivational evidence, things that would appeal to the jury. If you're bringing an espionage charge, a lot of that is going to come in because intent is part of the crime. But what's really of greater concern is that Snowden, in the view of many people, is a whistleblower. There is no evidence that he was trying to harm the United States. To the contrary, you know he says, and a lot of people support that, he was trying to reveal this program which he considered to be a danger to democracy, danger to privacy. He's not the only one that takes that view.

WHITFIELD: And do you think -- well, Hong Kong will be sympathetic to that or even China, the mainland as a whole, will be sympathetic to that and be less willing to abide by that U.S. treaty and have him extradited.

TURLEY: Well, remember, a few years ago the United States embassy gave shelter to a dissident from China. And China was very bitter about that, believed that it violated the protocol for embassies. They could very well use the Snowden case as a way of evening up for that. Because it certainly gives them an opportunity to say, all right, well, you bent the embassy rules in that earlier case. We view this as a political case, and they're not alone. Even people in the United States believe that Snowden is being pursued because he embarrassed the government. He embarrassed the Congress. He embarrassed people like Mr. Clapper, the head of international intelligence, who has been accused of committing perjury. There is a lot of embarrassment, and that makes it look a bit political.

WHITFIELD: OK. Now, if there is and reportedly there has been this plane, a private plane, you know, who would awaiting Mr. Snowden at an airport in Hong Kong that would take him, whisk him off to Iceland where he would, you know, find a refuge there. If that is indeed the case, to what degree would the U.S. be able to intervene or any U.S. interests in Hong Kong be able to intervene? What is the relationship, you know, with Iceland on foreign property if, indeed, this kind of he escapade were to happen?

TURLEY: I tell you, as a defense attorney, Iceland is a nice country to have him end up in. It is a country that is committed to Internet freedom. The United States is viewed rather harshly these days by civil libertarians. And Iceland would certainly give him a fair and full hearing. It would take a long time.

The problem is traveling. People like this are at risk because of Interpol. What happens is that the United States can secretly give Interpol a demand for the arrest of Snowden, and they can issue what's called a red notice to participating countries. That means that any time Snowden goes through an airport, he is at risk of running into a red notice by Interpol and getting yanked to the United States.

WHITFIELD: OK. Lots of -- I get some bits and piece in which to follow. This is an incredible case, is it not?

TURLEY: It is.

WHITFIELD: Professor Jonathan Turley, thanks so much from George Washington University. Always good to see you. Thank you.

TURLEY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, violent video games, well, they are known for their realism, but you may not have seen anything yet, at least if a Miami inventor has it his way.

And the George Zimmerman trial is going to be the most watched of the year. What happened, what exactly happened the night that he shot Trayvon Martin? We take you back and retrace the steps of both.

And you may not have to wait for the plane to land to catch the end of your movie, after all.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New York state lawmakers passed a bill early this morning to protect sex trafficking victims from being charged with prostitution. It now goes to the governor to be signed into law.

Last weekend I talked to the assemblywoman behind the proposed law and a 17-year-old girl who was a victim of sex trafficking. They laid out what the measure would do.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMY PAULIN, NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLYWOMAN: The first is to stiffen the penalties. We recognize that sex trafficking means that a young girl would be subjected to rape over and over again. It needs to be a violent felony. The second thing, and equally important, is that, you know, these are young girls. These are children. We need to treat them like children. We need to make sure that when they're brought into court, typically they're arrested for prostitution, that they're recognized as children, and they are converted to a PINS, a person in need of supervision, and it's a decriminalized act, and they get services.

WHITFIELD: In many cases, some of these young ladies are initially arrested for prostitution, but it's your hope, and let me understand this right, Brianna's hope as well, that these young lady, these children, really are victims and that they are treated as such.

And Brianna, you were just 13, if I got that correct, when you managed to break free from the sex trafficking, but your journey began at a very young age, at the age of nine. How did you get out? What made the difference to help you break free from sex trafficking?

BRIANNA, SEX TRAFFICKING VICTIM: Well, when it happened to me, I didn't necessarily break free. It was more so that the cops found me, they broke into this closet that I was locked in and arrested me on prostitution charges.

WHITFIELD: And because of that, initially you did have to face prostitution charges, but how did you turn things around or let them know that you were a victim, this is not something you elected to do but something in which you were rather entrapped to do?

BRIANNA: Well, I gave them most of the evidence that I could, mainly phones that we were using or anything that they found in the house, clothes or videos or eyewitness accounts, and things of that nature. Eventually, they caught this person and found out what was actually going on.

My main hope is that if this bill is passed, it would help girls not necessarily be criminalized the way I was the first time I got arrested but treat them as victims because that's what they actually are. So that's my main goal with it.

WHITFIELD: Amy, this is a state bill, but are you hoping this is something that will have much greater reach nationally, globally?

PAULIN: Well, we passed the first sex trafficking law in 2007 in New York. Since then, many states have done the same, but it's time that New York again becomes the leader, takes it a step forward. We've learned a lot, there's been prosecution since then, but we need to improve the law and again be the leader so that other states that this is happening, where this is happening, they also take the initiative and they improve their loss as well.

WHITFIELD: Amy Paulin, thanks so much. Brianna, thanks for your time as well and thanks so much courageously sharing your point of view on all of this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Ending human trafficking is a cause that is very important to stand in. And we're raising awareness and giving victims a voice with CNN's freedom project. To learn more about that and what you can do, go to CNN.com/freedom. You can also get more information on their facebook page.

All right, violent video games are pretty realistic. But a Miami inventor wants to take realism to a whole other level with an unreal new controller.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Police are now at the home of New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez. They're investigating the murder of a 27-year-old man whose body was found less than a mile from Hernandez's home just outside Boston. Police have not named Hernandez a suspect in the murder. The victim's sister told CNN that her brother and Hernandez were friends. No one has been charged as yet in the man's death.

It is now two full weeks since former South African president Nelson Mandela was hospitalized. The 94-year-old icon is suffering from a recurring lung infection. We now have confirmation that an ambulance broke down while rushing him to the hospital on June 8. Officials insist the incident did not compromise his health.

Heads up, folks. A super moon will appear in the sky early tomorrow morning. It will be the largest and brightest moon of the year. You don't want to miss it. The super moon happens when the moon is full and is at its closest point to earth. And it won't happen again until August of next year. Try to catch it this time.

All right, violent video games. They have their share of critics and a huge share of the market. Now Miami inventor wants to elevate the realism of the games with a controller that looks and works just like a real weapon. Victor Blackwell has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Call Of Duty. The military-style video game franchise has sold more than $125 million. Games like this are among the most popular in the gaming industry, but they are simple toys compared to the Delta 6.

(on camera): So this is the Delta 6.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BLACKWELL: What is it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Delta 6 is a realistic gaming gun.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): An inventor in Miami is developing a controller that he hopes will change the way gamers play. It's a video game controller designed to replicate the look and feel of the G-36 semiautomatic rifle.

DAVID KOTKIN, OWNER, AVENGER ADVANTAGE: If I do my job right, you're going to feel like you're shooting a real gun. BLACKWELL: David Kotkin runs Avenger Advantage. Like a lot of Avengers (ph), he works from home. But don't be fooled by the living room workspace. Sales of his 2010 Avenger controller allowed him to retire from his career as a high school art teacher.

KOTKIN: It's not just the realism that's different from most gaming guns, it's the functioning.

BLACKWELL: To reload, tap the magazine. To steady the shot, pull the Delta 6 in closer.

KOTKIN: So basically when I go like that, it's zooming.

BLACKWELL: A sensor helps peering into the scope.

KOTKIN: What you want to do is hold it like this.

BLACKWELL: And Kotkin wanted me to feel a feature of the controller.

KOTKIN: Yeah, but we (INAUDIBLE) that spins, and then every time you shoot, it shakes a little bit and gives you that feeling that rounds are happening.

BLACKWELL: Kotkin says he came up with the idea for the Delta 6 after his wife made him get rid of his real guns.

KOTKIN: You know, I started doing this. And when I put the headphones on and the kickback, I don't have that outside need of shooting.

BLACKWELL: He invested $50,000 of his own money to build prototypes, then raised almost $200,000 online to mass produce it.

(on camera): What has your wife said about this?

KOTKIN: She thinks it's a nightmare. She thinks it's disgusting, she thinks it's terrible.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Possibly because she knows that violent video games has attracted some now infamous players. According to investigators, the shooters in the Newtown, Virginia Tech, Norway and Columbine tragedies were all shooting game fanatics.

Still, Kotkin doesn't see the harm.

KOTKIN: This cannot hurt anybody. This is electronics inside of this. This is just a regular controller.

BLACKWELL (on camera): But is it training the player to hurt someone?

KOTKIN: Well, you have a point there. Have I make it too good? Sometimes I wonder.

BLACKWELL (voice-over): Kotkin acknowledges the controller is not for everyone, especially children. He says he's looking beyond his critics. KOTKIN: I can't be worried about this person or that person or wife even. I have to think, OK, how can I make this great? As long my morality is I'm not hurting anyone, I can live with it. I can do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: If the Delta 6 does hit store shelves, gamers will be able to use it to play all Xbox or PS3 games. And with an adapter, it can also be used with a PC.

All right, the little girl who got a new adult lung transplant is recovering from her surgery. We'll tell you how she's doing after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, some very good news about the little girl who had a lung transplant recently. According to her family, Sarah Murnaghan is out of a coma and responsive. The 10-year-old received new lungs last week after her parents won a court battle allowing children to receive adult lungs. Her surgery lasted six hours and included resizing lungs from a grown-up.

Some say doctors make the worst patients. But in this doctor's case, her cancer diagnosis motivated her to help others in similar situations. Meet Dr. Rebecca Johnson in today's Human Factor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. REBECCA JOHNSON, ADOLESCENT & YOUNG ADULT ONCOLOGY, SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: How are you doing today?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Her research got national attention.

UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: Cases of advanced breast cancer in younger women is on the rise. That's the alarming headline just published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association."

GUPTA: But it was Dr. Rebecca Johnson's own diagnosis of breast cancer at age 27 that motivated her to conduct the study in the first place.

JOHNSON: When I was diagnosed, I was trying to figure out how common breast cancer was in young women. All the articles I read said breast cancer was rare in young women.

GUPTA: Dr. Johnson was a medical resident in 1995 when she discovered a lump in her chest. A biopsy confirmed it was a malignant tumor.

JOHNSON: I looked over at the surgeon and his eyes were huge and striken-looking, and I said, what. He said, I think this is cancer.

GUPTA: A mastectomy and four rounds of chemotherapy quickly followed. And that put Dr. Johnson in the unique position of being a patient in the same hospital where she worked as a doctor. She says the experienced changed the way some of her colleagues treated her JOHNSON: If the subject of my diagnosis came up, I could see, like a veil come down over their eyes. Like, oh yeah, right, well, you're one of them. And a sick person. And it scared me so badly. So I vowed to myself I would never do that, and whoever my patients were, I would just stay with them through the hard times and just be with them, whatever happens.

GUPTA: Today, Dr. Johnson heads the Adolescents & Young Adult Oncology program at Seattle Children's Hospital. Her patients are typically in their teens to mid-20s.

JOHNSON: Take a big breath in.

GUPTA: When she's not at the hospital, she's conducting research focused on studying cancer in younger people. She wants to be able to give her patients vital information that she didn't have when she was in treatment.

JOHNSON: How are you doing today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm good.

JOHNSON: Good.

The chance to be able to do something for these patients that are having a hard time in a way that I understand very well, it's a tremendous opportunity, a tremendous gift to be able to help.

Last day of chemo.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm really excited. Awesome.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And Brad Pitt takes on zombies in his new movie World War Z. find out why zombies aren't the only thing he's fighting against this weekend.

And comedian Jon Stewart goes on the other side of the talk show desk. Find out why he's the one being interviewed.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, a talk show host pokes fun at its government, and we're not talking about Jon Stewart. But the man called "the Jon Stewart of Egypt," Bassam Youssef, has been under investigation for his insults of Islam and Egypt's president. And Friday, he had a special guest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASSAM YOUSSEF, TALK SHOW HOST: Ladies and gentlemen, Jon Stewart!

(APPLAUSE) (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I don't know. Did he like having that hood on his head? OK, Jon Stewart being interviewed this time, and he actually had some pretty serious things to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": I do Bassem's job in a country that has carved out already. It is settled law. Satire is settled law. Governments have realized that jokes -- if your regime is not strong enough to handle a joke, then you don't have a regime.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Stewart has been on hiatus from "The Daily Show" to do a film project. Now we know how else he's been spending his time.

Superstar Brad Pitt is taking on zombies in his newest movie. It's in theaters right now. Entertainment correspondent Nischelle Turner tells us why Pitt has everything to prove with this new film.

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred, zombies aren't the only thing Brad Pitt is battling with his new movie, World War Z, this weekend. Just a few months ago, this passion project of his seemed like it could be doomed, but now he is ready to go up against the odds this weekend at the battle of the box office.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: As if outrunning the wrath of the undead wasn't hard enough --

BRAD PITT, ACTOR: I can't even run fast, you know?

TURNER: Brad Pitt is trying to open his World War Z in a season crowded with established hit franchises. Films with characters audiences have proven they will pay to see.

DANA BROWN, DEPUTY EDITOR, "VANITY FAIR": This summer, and it's unbelievable that every weekend is a gigantic blockbuster opening.

TURNER: Pitt produced and stars in the apocalyptic zombie thriller. It opens on first day of summer, up against the debut of Monster University and the second weekend of the Superman reboot, Man Of Steel.

There is only this little window now in the film industry to knock it out of the park.

BROWN: Tiny, tiny. You have this first weekend to really kill it.

TURNER: The box office showdown is the final frontier in the battle to bring World War Z to theaters, as "Vanity Fair" documents in its June cover story. We know that movie had a huge budget. There were a lot of problems with it.

BROWN: Everything started to go wrong when they went into production without a finished script. There were third act problems. Everybody knew that. And they went into production anyone, which is what you do in Hollywood. You have a big movie star who has a schedule to keep, and they just went for it and started filming.

TURNER: Early on, Hollywood buzzed of sets plagued with problems, rewrites and reshoots and a budget which reportedly ballooned to $200 million. The industry whispers, uh-oh, zombie boondoggle.

So, going into it, you think oh gosh, is this going to be a flop or disaster?

BROWN: The buzz, you know, David Lindleoff, who created Lost, came in and rewrote a good chunk of the movie and from what we're hearing, it works, it works.

TURNER: Pitt and the studio Paramount launched a high-profile publicity tour beginning with a world premiere in London, where Brad brought his fiancee, Angelina Jolie, just after her double mastectomy announcement.

ANGELINA JOLIE, ACTRESS: I'm very excited for Brad. I think it's a really fun film.

TURNER: Then the actor showed up in person to surprise American audiences at preview screenings to fuel positive word-of-mouth.

BROWN: The buzz has grown over the past few weeks since they've been screening it. And I think Paramount has averted disaster for sure.

TURNER: The battle off-screen may have been epic, but the one onscreen? The producer and actor wants us to know for him, nothing but a popcorn-fun good time.

PITT: You know, it's do the motion tense (ph) thing we do, putting really good scares and people are having so much fun. It's fun for me. Really good fun.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: Really good fun and a movie he said he just wanted to make because his boys wanted to see their dad in a fun movie. And a fun movie it is. Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: Yep, looks pretty fun. All right, thanks so much, Nischelle.

So, the movie you're watching, on say, on your iPad, it's almost over. But then it's time for your plane to take off, I know. It's so frustrating, isn't it? Well, soon you may be able to keep watching.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Turned off by having to power down your electronic gadgets when you fly? Well, that may not be an issue in the near future, at least for some of those personal devices. Erin McPike has been following the story. Erin?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, there is a catch to this. Cell phones are not included, so no last-minute calls or texts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCPIKE: Just too fidgety to power down that gadget before take-off?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your mobile phones and other electronic devices should be turned off.

MCPIKE: That instruction from the flight attendant may be a thing of the past, if the FAA approves a draft of new recommendations allowing fliers to use some of their gadgets during taxi, takeoff and landing, though, cell phones are not included.

Last year, the FAA began to look at loosening those restrictions. This morning, "The Wall Street Journal" published leaks from the alleged unfinished report.

But frequent fliers have long ignored the airlines' requests to power down. Alec Baldwin was famously booted from an American airlines flight for using his mobiles device. You may have heard he's a bit of a game player. Remember Words With Friends? Later that week, he spoofed the pilot on Saturday Night Live.

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: Would you really get on an airplane that flew 30,000 feet in the air if you thought one Kindle switch could take it down?

(LAUGHTER)

MCPIKE: Twitter founder Jack Dorsey just couldn't keep his fingers off the keys recently, shooting this Vine video while his plane took flight. He's not alone. A survey by the airlines showed 30 percent of us accidentally failed to turn off our portable electronic devices or PEDs.

MARY KIRBY, EDITOR, AIRLINE PASSENGER EXPERIENCE ASSOCIATION: The long and short of it is we'll be able to use our PEDs in the not too distant future.

MCPIKE: Mary Kirby is the editor of the Airline Passenger Experience Association.

KIRBY: There's guidance that's been out there for years. The airlines have just been essentially waiting for the FAA to make its position clear. The FAA is about to do that, and then the airlines will have guidance. However, the reality is that it's going to take some time because then these aircraft are going to have to be tested to make sure that they're at head tolerance. MCPIKE: A 2010 report found 75 instances of PED interference with airplanes, which amounted to just one incident in every 280,000 flights.

The FAA acknowledged changes may be afoot saying, "Today we tasked a government industry group to examine the safety issues and the feasibility of changing the current restrictions. We will wait for the group to finish its work before we determine next steps."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MCPIKE: The report has been delayed twice already. So, it could be a while before these recommendations go through. Fred? WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Erin McPike, appreciate it.

All right, Paula Deen's admission that she used a racial slur has upset many of her fans. Next hour, we'll talk to two experts about the celebrity cook and her shocking admissions. Stay with us.

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