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"Holdout" Wanted To Find Guilt; Boston Bombing Suspect As Cover Boy; Heat Wave Grips Northeast; Asiana Drops KTVU Lawsuit

Aired July 17, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, I've been sitting here. I've been reading your tweets. You've been watching this interview. I mean, no doubt there is outrage over the choice made by the six Zimmerman jurors. If you hear what five of them say now, there is no choice they had to acquit him.

Here's a portion of Juror B37's statement now. Quote, "My prayers are with all of those who have the influence and power to modify the laws that left me with no verdict option other than not guilty in order to remain within the instructions." And I want you to listen again here to what happened with the woman who juror B37 called the holdout. Here she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to find him guilty of something. She wanted to find him guilty of something, but couldn't because of the law. The way the law is written. He wasn't responsible for negligible things that he had done leading up to that point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I want to go back now to our former prosecutor, Wendy Murphy and Criminal Defense Attorney Eric Johnson. Wendy, with you, you hear this Jury B37 talking about the holdout. We know three of these people came in the deliberations room ultimately thought it should be manslaughter or murder two. What do you make of that? This holdout kept going back to the law, had questions about the law?

WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: You know, I think it's because when you think about this case from a moral perspective, you really do think there should be a law somewhere that allows for something. I think maybe criminal harassment could have been charged as a lesser offense. He probably would have been easily found not guilty. Frankly had he been charged in Massachusetts, he probably would have been found guilty of manslaughter for using excessive force in self- defense.

In stand your ground states, you know, they really were mandated. There's no doubt about it. She's correct. They were mandated, commanded by the judge to find him not guilty. Because he had a right to use lethal force even if he didn't think he was about to die. Even if he only thought he was going to suffer a serious head injury. That's the law in 21 states.

BALDWIN: You know, often "Stand Your Ground," Eric, she had talked to Anderson saying the jury instructions were confusing. They had the one question as to manslaughter on Saturday. It wasn't a clear enough question. They came back and ultimately we got the not guilty verdict. Do you think there's room for improvement there or the law is the law?

ERIC JOHNSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think there's room for improvement. What the judge actually -- what the judge did in response to their question. Normally in this type of situation the judge will bring a jury back out and reread the charge to give them some clarification. By them not doing that in this matter, they forced the jury in their position that they didn't have any clarification and they had to go the way that they went.

BALDWIN: Let me play both of you something else. Something else Juror B37 told Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC 360": That George Zimmerman in taking out his gun and pulling the trigger did nothing wrong?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm 101 percent that he was -- that he should have done what he did except for the things that he did before.

COOPER: You mean he shouldn't have gotten out of the car. He shouldn't have pursued Trayvon Martin, but in the final analysis, in the final struggle --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the end came to the end --

COOPER: He was justified?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was justified in shooting Trayvon Martin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wendy, 101 percent. That is pretty darn certain. What did you think when you heard that for the first time?

MURPHY: The only thing I can think of, there are a couple of issues. One is she's a woman. She's thinking if that were me, if I'm on the ground, someone's punching me, my head is cracking up against cement, my nose looks to be broken, I think that makes us afraid. It makes people afraid that if that were me, would I probably shoot? I think I would. And I would hope not to get in trouble for it.

When you put yourself in the position of George Zimmerman, especially if you feel vulnerable, and women feel more vulnerable than men, then I think that's a natural verdict. If this had been a group of male jurors I think they might have found him guilty in part on the grounds that they would have said, Zimmerman was a big slump. He should have fought like a man instead of pulled out his gun. That made him a weakling. They wouldn't have liked that. They might have judged him more harshly.

BALDWIN: It was interesting point when she pointed out the glaring physical differences between the huge concrete block that you know, Mark O'Mara had pulled out and the Skittles and the fruit drink. Eric, final question to you because something else that she said really resonated with me, saying that she and the other jurors if fact wanted to know more about Trayvon Martin as a young man. Knew plenty about George Zimmerman, had seen the pictures of Trayvon Martin, has seen the evidence, knew where he lived, that's it. Should there have been more from the state?

JOHNSON: Well, I think that there should have been a little bit more to personalize Trayvon, to humanize him so to speak. However, you didn't want to go into too much because this case was not about Trayvon. This case was about George Zimmerman so regardless of how Trayvon was, his personality, school habits or anything else, that had nothing to do with the incident and the facts that took place on this day.

BALDWIN: Eric Johnson, Wendy Murphy, thank you both very much. I appreciate it.

Coming up next, could police have stopped the Boston bombings before the attacks this spring? New clues tying Tamerlan Tsarnaev to those three murders back in 2011, what investigators may have missed that's next.

Plus have you seen this? The cover of the "Rolling Stone," so many of you are furious, ome of you thinking, they want to sell some magazines. Well, "Rolling Stone" is now responding to the backlash. We'll have that for you coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Have you seen this today? We're going to show this. Put it on the screen. Here it is. This is the August 3rd issue of "Rolling Stone" magazine. We've seen this picture before. That is Boston marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, but the alleged killer as a cover boy. It's drawing all kinds of backlash, tasteless. We've also seen sickening.

Another word to describe this is disgusting, several words. Just some of the words being used within social media to describe what you're looking at. You won't find this issue I can tell you in CVS pharmacies or Tedeschi food shops because both chains are refusing to sell it. Listen, to this man, he pretty much sums up the feeling in Boston.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why the heck you going to put an alleged bomber, knowing that he's caught, and there are playing like he's a rock star? What kind of crap is that?

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Well, we have now gotten reaction from "Rolling Stone." Let me read this to you. This is from their web site. Quote, "Our hearts go out to the victims of the Boston marathon bombing and our thoughts are always with them and their families." It goes on, "The cover story we are publishing this week falls within the traditions of journalism and "Rolling Stones'" long standing commitment of serious and thoughtful coverage of the most important political and cultural issues of our day.

The fact Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is young and in the same age group as many of our readers makes it all the more important for us to examine the complexities of this issue and gain a more complete understanding of how a tragedy like this happens." Inside this issue is what "rolling Stone" describes as a deeply researched account of how this younger Tsarnaev fell into radical Islam.

It says on the cover, became a monster. The writer, I should tell you, will be on tonight with Erin Burnett on "OUTFRONT" at 7:00 Eastern so certainly stick around and watch that. But right now we have new details in the Boston bombing case that's led to new questions. In particular, could the carnage on that finish line and all around have been prevented?

Did investigators in a triple murder case miss clues that could have led them to Dzhokhar's brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, before the bombs went off? Watch this with me. This is from CNN's Deborah Feyerick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): John Allen still remembers Tamerlan Tsarnaev's reaction when he learned their mutual friend, Brandon Mast, had been viciously murdered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He kind of laughed it off saying, you know, that Brendan probably got what he deserved, making bad choices, that those were the repercussions he had to face.

FEYERICK: Tsarnaev was never interviewed by state troopers in connection with his friends' murder or the murder of the other two victims, Eric Weisman and Rafael Teken. But Allen and others we spoke with question whether the drugs strewn over the dead bodies were an effective smoke screen, distracting investigators from interviewing people who could have been Tamerlan Tsarnaev squarely on the radar.

(on camera): Did Tamerlan ever tell you police had come to speak to him? What he knew about Brendan --

JOHN ALLAN, OWNER, WAI KIU MIXED MARTIAL ARTS CENTER: No.

FEYERICK: -- about the drugs, about anything?

ALLAN: No. Around here we call it NHI.

FEYERICK: Which is?

ALLAN: No humans involved. FEYERICK: OK, which means?

ALLAN: They were three drug dealers that were murdered over drugs and money.

FEYERICK (voice-over): That at least was the perception even though only one of the three victims had drug-related charges. But four months after those murders, Tsarnaev left Boston and traveled to Dagestan where it's believed he became radicalized. Law enforcement sources questioned whether the outcome could have been different if investigators had reached Tsarnaev in the first place.

Jamal Abu Rubieh saw victim, Brendan Mess, a few times a week. He owns the Brookline Lunch Diner in Cambridge where Mast often ate with Weismen and Teken. He says police never questioned him and so he never told him about a meeting weeks before the murders, which made Mess and Weisman very, very nervous.

JAMAL ABU RUBIEH, OWNER, BROOKLINE LUNCH: He sounded different. He acted different and they were all nervous. He was very serious and wasn't himself.

CANDIOTTI: Neither he says was Eric Weisman, co-owner of Hitman Glass, a high-end bond company. Journalist Bobby Black, who new Weisman, believes too many solid leads weren't followed.

BOBBY BLACK, SENIOR, EDITOR, "HIGH TIMES": Anyone who knew Eric would know that he wasn't in no way some kind of dangerous drug dealer. He was a college-age kid who loved weed.

FEYERICK (on camera): They didn't take the money and didn't take the drugs.

BLACK: And I think that the police writing it off as that early on possibly may be the reason they didn't investigate further, which could have possibly prevented the Boston bombings.

FEYERICK: The murders took place here in the house behind me on the second floor. This is still very municipal an active investigation. A source intimately familiar with the killings defends how the case was handled, saying that state and local police acted professionally and according to protocol. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Deborah, thank you. As we show you the cover of the "Rolling Stone" for the month of August, we want to tell you that we're going straight to Boston for reaction next hour. We will talk to a man I came to know when I covered the Boston marathon bombings, Ed Kelly, a Boston firefighter. If I know Ed well, he will not mince words when it comes to this picture that you were looking at. Do not miss the conversation coming up next hour.

Meantime, it is hot. I don't have to tell you that, a heat wave rocking the northeast where temperatures are reaching upwards of 95 degrees today. Thousands are being told, don't use so much water. And our CNN correspondent there, I'm afraid to ask her, Emily Schmidt, how hot it is. We'll find out coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: A blistering heat wave is choking the northeast and it's spreading. You might say, it's summer, whatever. Don't underestimate exactly how deadly this heat can be especially when mixed with searing humidity. To make matters worse thousands of folks in the D.C. area are being told how to restrict how much water they're using because it's so darn hot.

Let's go to Emily Schmidt hopefully hanging out in the shade in Washington. Emily, I hear it's code orange there now, pretty serious.

EMILY SCHMIDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, code orange, under a heat advisory in Washington. It's a serious situation. Definitely it depends on where you are. Let me show you what I'm talking about. You see this heat gun, which tells you beyond what it feels like to what it's like on a surface. When we're in the shade here, not bad at all, take a look at that, 78 degrees. That's a pretty nice July afternoon.

When you come over and you're in the sun, although the clouds just -- sun went behind the clouds, we're at 103 degrees, a 20-degree difference between the shade and the sun. When you go over to that sidewalk where the brick is, where food trucks have been lined up all morning, 124 degrees that's a 40-degree difference in matter of 15 feet or so.

It's so hot for people having to do their jobs in a food truck. Over a 174 degree grill, 13 stories up on the top of a roof can you imagine doing construction. We caught up with a couple people working there and trying to get a little relief from the heat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We make sure the guys keep plenty of water. We try to start a little bit earlier. Usually try to finish up before 3:00. You know, the work must go on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHMIDT: And this heat advisory continues in Washington. Standard advice, Brooke, dress in layers. Don't spend too much time outside. Drink plenty of water. You certainly feel the difference if you are not doing so today in Washington.

BALDWIN: Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, and speaking of food trucks, ice cream truck.

SCHMIDT: It would come in handy.

BALDWIN: Emily, thank you very much for us in Washington.

Coming up, more than 600 new charges against Ariel Castro, the man accused of kidnapping those three women, holding them as prisoners in his home, apparently, for a decade. Find out what happened in court today. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now so some of the biggest stories in a flash. Rapid fire. Roll it. A whopping 648 new charges against Ariel Castro, now do the math with me, grand total, 977 counts in the accused Cleveland kidnapper and raiest pleaded not guilty to every single one of them. The George ordered bail to remain at $8 million. One of Castro's attorneys believes a plea deal could be reached if the prosecutor does not seek the death penalty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRAIG WEINTRAUB, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We are pleased that the recent result in the grand jury did not have an inclusion of the death penalty specification. That means that ultimately any presentation that we made on Mr. Castro's behalf was successful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Castro is accused of holding those three young women captive in his home in Cleveland for more than a decade.

Asiana Airlines is dropping its plans to sue a California TV station for using those bogus crew names in reporting the recent crash in San Francisco. KTVU Broadcast that offensive fake names which had been confirmed by an intern at the NTSB. Both the agency and the TV station have since apologized. Meanwhile, airlines as well as Boeing are facing lawsuits of their own. Passengers are suing both for any errors that led up to the crash.

To the big board, take a look with me. The Dow pretty flat today, down about 7 points, sitting at 15,444. We know this. It's coming after Fed Chief Ben Bernanke's comments this morning basically saying that stimulus cash will be scaled back by the end of the year. You can always check back with cnnmoney.com.

Coming up, please stay with me, a CNN special report. We are going to take a closer look at the heroin use across this country. You know the story here. It's the drug that killed "Glee" actor Corey Monteith. It is seeing a surge in places you would not expect. Heroin's deadly comeback, don't miss it.

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