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Two Escaped Killers Captured; Can Obamacare Be Fixed?; Cruz Says He Works for Texans, Not Party; Florida Prison Escapees Back Behind Bars; Filner Booked Into Jail, Released; Blog Post Stirs Income Inequality Controversy; Eight-Year-Old Chases Purse Thief; Bum Phillips Dead at 90; Grambling State Forfeits During Student Athlete Protest; Eighth Biker Arrested in Manhattan SUV Attack

Aired October 19, 2013 - 19:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.

The breaking news. Remember the two former inmates, former inmates who got out on a technicality from a Florida prison, we are now learning that they have been caught. We are being told that they were caught without incident, caught without incident.

Their names are Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins. They had been spending time in the last few weeks with their families. They have even been going to church in Orlando. They have been visiting their grandparents. And now, we are hearing that the men who may not have been in hiding for that long, just within the last couple days have been caught without incident.

This is just into CNN. It is from Panama city, Florida. IT is saying the Florida department of law enforcement, along with the U.S. marshal service, arrested a escaped inmates, Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins, both 34.

We are being told that the fugitives were found at the coconut grove motor inn in Panama City, Florida, around 6:40 p.m. and apprehended without incident. 6:40 p.m. just happened a short time ago.

Our Nick Valencia has been covering the story for us. He joins us with the new information.

Nick, what can you tell us?

VALENCIA: Hey Don, I just got off the phone with the Florida department of law enforcement source and she tells me that both of the escaped convicts who have been on the loose, one since September 27th, the other since October 8th, were caught earlier this evening, as you mentioned, about 6:40 this afternoon. I am just reading this information her coming to us now.

Both were caught at the coconut grove major inn just up the road from where we are at in Panama City beach at about 6:40 local time. These fugitives have caused a big problem, an issue, a very embarrassing issue for all agencies involved here. A lot of questions being asked as to how these inmates could have escaped this facility behind me by forging documents. If you remember, just to recap, some of our viewers ere these fugitives forged documents from the court that allowed them to get out early. And of course, no one was able to understand how exactly that happened, Don. A lot of finger pointing going on. But clearly, a successful capture of these two suspects without incident, just a short time ago, 6:40 caught in Panama City Beach. And it appears that they were both together -- Don?

LEMON: OK, a little bit more, Nick. Let's talk about the suspects, their pictures are up on the screen.

Inmate Charles Walker, 34. He was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole until this forged paperwork came about which has a lot of people asking questions. Life without the possibility of parole on a second degree murder conviction from Orange County.

He escaped from the Franklin County Correctional Institution, that was back on October 8 of this year, after the Department of Corrections received fraudulent release of the documents from the clerk of courts.

And then the other inmate here, Nick, who they just caught is Joseph Jenkins, 34, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole as well. He was serving on a first degree murder conviction, again, escaping -- happening in Orange County. He escaped from the Franklin County Correctional Institution after the department received a fraudulent released of documents from the clerk of courts.

So, second degree murder charge, first degree murder charge, shouldn't say charge, convictions. They are out there on the loose.

Earlier, do we have the mother earlier, pleading with one of her sons? One of the mothers pleaded earlier for him to turn himself in.

Nick, let's listen and we'll talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LILLIE DANZY, MOTHER OF ESCAPED INMATE CHARLES WALKER: Charles, is there anything too hard for God? God knows who you are. I know who you are. Your family knows who you are. We want you to return home safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That is Charles Walker's mother, Nick, pleading with him to come out early. You have been speaking to family members of victims as well. It's important, also, to point out to viewers, Nick, this is just 80 miles in Panama City from the prison where they escaped in Franklin County. They did not get very far.

VALENCIA: That's right. And all along, Don, the sheriff's department there in Orlando, where they suspects -- they were from around the same neighborhood in the Orlando neighborhood. All along, the sheriff's department was telling the media that they suspected these two individuals were still in the state of Florida, despite, you know, what they did, forging these documents to get out. Just a few more details about their capture: we understand that the U.S. Marshall Service, in conjunction with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, were able to capture these two earlier this evening. If you remember, over the course of the last week, there's just been so much finger pointing and questions as to how this could happen. But, they were able to do it, the Florida Department of Corrections, just to recap a little bit here, they said they did nothing wrong in processing that paperwork. They were merely following the procedures of this court order.

We also learned throughout the course of the last week that this isn't the first time that this has happened. There was another, third man, who tried to forge documents as well for an early release. He was unfortunately caught before he was released.

But these two suspects, these two convicted killers, as you mentioned, both Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins, both serving life sentences in this correctional facility behind me. A lot of people saying that this was a very clever way for them to get out of this facility. But they were on the run.

And earlier that press conference from the family members of those suspects pleading for their sons to give themselves up, and we don't know whether or not they saw that press conference, but these arrests came just a couple hours after that press conference where the family members. You just played the sound bite from Charles Walkers' mother, where she pleaded to her son to turn himself in. We also heard from the so-called father figure in the life of Joseph Jenkins, asking Joseph Jenkins to turn himself in.

And the details that emerged from that press conference, Don, just incredible to see and to hear that these two individuals were walking amongst us as if nothing was wrong -- normal walking around. We also understand, they voluntarily checked themselves to be committed as felons. There's a procedure after you are released to check yourself in with the clerk of the court to voluntarily say that you are a felon. They did that as some speculated that they did that not to raise any red flags. We know that they attended church services. They were seen at the mall, not together, but we have sightings and different sources telling us that.

And we also heard that the family members, they say that they were not involved at all in their escape. They reiterated that at the press conference. We heard from Charles Walker's mother saying that she has nothing to do with it. And she's also saying that she made no attempt to try to conceal the whereabouts of her son.

But some very good news for these agencies that were involved in this bureaucratic bungle that led to these two convicted killers being released early from this facility behind me -- Don.

LEMON: Nick Valencia, stand by. Nick, we've got a whole lot to cover here. I just want to update our viewers here, if you're just joining us.

Those two inmates that were released on not even a technicality, they were forged documents in Florida, they have been arrested, again. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement along with the U.S. Marshal Service arresting those two escaped inmates, Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins, both of them, 34 years old.

The fugitives were found at the Coconut Grove Motor Inn in Panama City, Florida, around 6:40 p.m. I would imagine Panama City, Florida, Central Time. It may have been an hour ago, rather than just a few minutes ago. Panama City, Florida, 6:40 p.m., and apprehended without incident we're told.

The first inmate, Charles Walker, we played -- we showed his mom just a short time ago pleading for his return, 34 years old serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. The other inmate is Joseph Jenkins, 34, serving life sentence without the possibility of parole. He was in for a first degree murder conviction. The first man, Charles Walker, was for a second degree murder conviction. They have now been apprehended.

Our Nick Valencia, who's been covering this story, is standing by for us in Florida. John, also we are getting him up. He's going to be with us shortly. He's been covering this as well in Florida. And also, Danny Cevallos, our legal analyst here on CNN, will join me now to talk about exactly what's going on. Join me after a quick break.

But again, these two escaped inmates back in custody. Details on the other side of this quick break. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. The breaking news here on CNN: Two escaped convicts now back in custody in Florida after they forged documents when they were serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. They managed to escape and they have been on the run really now for weeks. They really weren't on the run in the beginning because they were visiting their family members, they were going to church, visiting grandparents, and then all of a sudden, when that scheme came to light about them forging those documents, and then escaping, that's when they went into hiding.

Apparently, according to Florida officials, they got only 80 miles away from the Franklin Correctional Institution where they were being housed to Panama City, Florida. And that's where authorities caught them without incident.

I want to bring in now, Danny, who is a legal analyst here on CNN.

Danny, it's very interesting. So, to try to figure out how they forged these documents and how this came about. They are not the only ones that have gotten away with this.

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I mean, early release by accident is nothing new. But we don't know yet exactly how they were able to forge the documents. But I can tell you this, one of the greatest conveniences have been electronic filing. Documents used to be official, but by official you mean you got a crinkled stamp and some red ink on there. But, now, for example, the courts are exclusively electronic filing. If you get an order from a federal court, it's something that appears on a PDF on your computer. So, it takes a manner of seconds. I was personally able to find one of Judge Belvin Perry's orders online posted by the ninth circuit themselves in PDF form.

Once you have that, all you have to do is crop it, stick it on a piece of paper and voila, you've got Judge Perry's signature on anything you want to create.

The electronic system has made life incredibly convenient. But, of course, like any other technology, it has its risks.

LEMON: Apparently here, one of the officials really thought twice about these documents and had their concerns but because he was pressured saying this is the law, I have to let them go.

CEVALLOS: Sure. I mean, there are so many moving parts in the prison system between -- the communication between the court system is not always so smooth. So, it's no surprise that each person who reviews the document, if they may be had some concerns about it, they could have run it up the flag pole.

But, look, a signature is a signature. So, but -- a signature is a signature until it isn't. And we are getting into a technological era where people are electronically signing things, or were just cutting and pasting images. It happens all the time.

I even found some of judge Perry's signatures on an order online that used what we lawyers call an electronic signature, we just a slash, an S, slash and then you type your name. And that's it. And there are a lot of documents that don't even use that traditional handwritten signature anymore. It's just slash S slash, my name, or Don Lemon, typed out. Court order.

LEMON: How do we -- I mean, do we know how many people have done or could be trying to do this same thing?

CEVALLOS: Who knows? It requires some level of sophistication and that you need a laptop and they don't have those in prison.

LEMON: They obviously had to have some help, don't you think?

CEVALLOS: They absolutely do, and even more, this is just conjecture, sheer conjecture. But even more, people in the legal field have access to actual more private court documents. Judge Belvin Perry has been around and in the public eye. His documents are out there on line, but maybe some more -- less known judges have some orders that you have to get into the dockets that are secured areas, and perhaps people are accessing that. But the reality is once you have a judge's signature and you know about the format of a court document, it is incredibly easy to generate some kind of facsimile.

LEMON: OK. So, here's the thing. They say that they talked about the town they left. One of them left in early October, one of them left October 8th. The other left in late September, September 27th. That's according to authorities.

They had motions indicating the sentences had been reduced, as well as court documents or court orders granting the request. Investors later discovered obviously that these documents were forged. The legal looking documents contain bogus reproductions of several key player signatures including those of the Orlando area state attorney Jeffrey Ashton and the assistant state attorney, Judge Belvin Perry, which you have been talked about, for the seal of the Orange County clerk.

Prosecutors first learned about what happened was after they were contacted by a member of Walker's family. The family said hey, listen, these guys are out, how did it happen?

LEMON: Oh, sure. It's more brazen that that. These guys actually left and then went on to register as felons in their local official's office, the sheriff's office. So, it's amazing, they behaved as if they were legitimately released. You almost wonder if they believed it on some crazy level, or they just so brazen.

But I should add, you mention Jeff Ashton, he is a very famous prosecutor. He was Casey Anthony's prosecutor. When you have high profile cases, frequently the courts will put all the important motions online and you can access them by PDF.

So, Jeff Ashton's signature I bet is out there and just as easy to find, as Judge Belvin Perry.

I want to update our viewers, Danny, and we're going to get to CNN's Nick Valencia to see what he has on this. But again, I want to tell you that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the U.S. Marshal Service announcing that they have caught those two inmates that escaped. They have arrested them, Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins, both of them, 34 years old. They were fugitives who were found at Coconut Grove Motor Inn on Front Road in Panama City, Florida, 6:40 p.m.

Those are the two men there.

I want to thank Danny.

Nick Valencia following the story for us as well. Nick is in Florida. Nick is working his sources, I'm being told right now, to try to get more information. We'll get to Nick Valencia very shortly.

In the meantime, Danny, we're going to thank you and we will be back in just a minute with more information on this.

Also, I want to tell you, 8:00 Eastern, we're going to have more on this case, those Florida inmates that were accidentally released and now captured today. Certainly adds another fascinating element to our story, our program tonight. What happens next for them?

"Making the Case" tonight at 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN. Make sure you tune in. It's going to be a very interesting program now, especially with this new element. OK. Moving on now, let's talk about the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare as it's become known. It might be the last legacy of President Obama. Right now, the only thing that's lasting are problems with the Web site. How did this happen? Does this thing need to be scrapped and rebuilt from scratch? That's next.

Plus this, a girl's blog post has landed her in the middle of a class warfare controversy. She tilted it, I'm not going to pretend that -- she titled it, excuse me, "I'm not going to pretend that I'm poor to be accepted by you." That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Welcome back, everyone. We're not going to go far from our breaking news story down in Florida.

Those two inmates have been captured, but in the meantime, we are going to tell you about some other news as we await new information.

New today, CNN confirms that JPMorgan Chase reached a $13 billion deal to resolve investigations of its mortgage business. U.S. officials tell CNN the Justice Department deal provides JPMorgan Chase would pay $9 billion in fines and penalties.

You may remember, mortgage backed securities and derivatives helped trigger the housing market collapse that caused a huge financial crisis.

I want to get to CNN's justice report, Evan Perez, he's is tracking the story.

So, Evan, I asked how the settlement might affect or might help homeowners under water on their mortgages, and here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER (via telephone): And for homeowners, there might be some of this money that will end up benefiting people whose mortgages are under water, for instance. There's about $4 billion in this deal that is supposed to go towards consumer relief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: JPMorgan executives and workers could still face charges in the future. The official tells CNN that the tentative deal does not include a non-prosecution agreement that the company had so fought for.

Headaches are becoming a pre-existing condition for anyone who tries to sign up for Obamacare. And let's be honest, the rollout of those healthcare exchanges has been nothing less than a fiasco really. Glitches mean it's taking forever for people to sign up. That's if you can even sign up and access the system at all.

So, what happened? I want to bring in now Russ Reeder. He's here to help us out. Russ, the big question is, quickly, what happened? And I'm going and ask you other stuff.

RUSS REEDER, PRESIDENT, MEDIA TEMPLE: Small question. Thanks, Don. What happened?

So, first of all, like anything you create or build, you have to start with the end in mind. Unfortunately, I don't think they did that. Just like if you were to build a house and try to design it as you go, you may get a little bit confused at the end where you wanted the master bedroom.

So, here we are. We launched the Web site. Millions of people are trying to sign up. By -- we have one more month that they need to sign up so they can have health care by January 1st. And they only did four days of testing, not six months of testing that they really needed to.

So, the first thing is the proper design. The second thing is testing. But, it's already starting to get better. They put a lot of hardware behind, a lot more computers, more compute power that's making it faster. So, it's starting to get there.

LEMON: OK. I have to point out, I want to give your title, because you are the president of media temple, president of the Media Temple, which is a company that powers hundreds of thousands of Web sites.

So, if you had to pick one fatal flaw for this, one flaw that's really above all others in this Obamacare site, what do you think it would be?

REEDER: Right. So, Media Temple, we have millions of Web sites. People come to us to ask what their flaws are, right? So, this is exactly what we do every day.

The one flaw would be they tried to launch a Web site without -- like I said, with the end in mind. But understanding they had to sign up millions of people on this Web site.

So, just on -- there's a few layers. The first layer is the Web site where you need to go to. The user interface, it's complicated. The second is that the code, there's still even test code in that Web site, so that when it gets delivered to your computer, it's actually delivering lot of code that doesn't need to be there.

And the third component is all the integration to all the back end systems. The IRS and Social Security and all the different systems. So, it is a very complex process.

The one thing I think is first let's focus on the front end.

LEMON: Yes, focus on the front end. You said there's code in there that doesn't need to be, and what-have-you. This obviously should have been figured out months, if not weeks, months ago, right? How hard do you think it will be to fix? I mean, can the site be rebooted or do they need to start from scratch? REEDER: Well, you don't rip down your house if you want to change it around a little. So, you don't have to start from scratch, but they do have to accept that they need a major overhaul, right? So, from the architecture, I think they are trying to do too much. How do you take away features?

If you want to get people signed up, if that's your number one goal, how do you take away all the things you are trying to get the Web site to accomplish? So, don't have them sign in before they look for plans. Like make it as easy as possible. Right now, it's just way too complex. They are trying to solve all problems. They are trying to get you to sign up before you look for a plan, to see if you want to do that.

How about this? Just have people browse plans, then you can have them sign up.

LEMON: $292 million for a Web site that doesn't work -- did the U.S. taxpayers get scammed?

REEDER: Right. So you and I paid for this, right? I don't know about scammed. They worked hard to do this.

But, I think when you start, especially in technology, if you start a project without understanding exactly what the day you are going to launch and then work backwards. So, for instance, the news is broke they had literally four to six days to test this. And their requirements were moving. That means that they were changing the design of the Web site until one week before they launched it.

Normally, you would have code complete. Code you would stop developing the Web site for six months before you launch, not four to six days.

LEMON: All right. Russ Reeder, thank you. Very good information, appreciate it.

REEDER: Yes, thanks, Don.

LEMON: Senator Ted Cruz, speaking out for the first time since the shutdown ended. You are not going to believe what he told CNN exclusively.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: For visitors to Washington, D.C., national sites around the country, this was the most welcome sight of the week. Federal park monuments, federal parks, museums, monuments, libraries, they were all closed for 16 days. Even the country's original national park, Yellowstone was closed for more than two weeks.

Now the gates are open, campers and hikers, streaming into the park again. That's a lovely sight to see.

He has only been a senator since the beginning of the year, but Republican Senator Ted Cruz has had a big impact on the senate and the country since taking office.

The man who led the charge that forced the government shutdown is speaking out today and he is talking to CNN.

Ted Cruz spoke to a Republican women's group earlier where he criticized his own party for not backing House Republicans and their push for changes to ObamaCare.

He also talked with our chief correspondent Dana Bash.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In Washington, Senator Ted Cruz may now be one of the most reviled characters in politics, but here in his home state of Texas, he is revered.

He got a standing ovation from a room full of about 800 Texas Republican women, saying that he did exactly what they wanted him to, standing up for principle.

And that's exactly why he told us in an interview that he is doing the right thing and it is his fellow Republicans in the senate he had the strongest words for.

One of your colleagues told me it was like an intervention, that there were so many of your colleagues saying, why are you doing this, and really angry at you.

And I'm just wondering, even on a human level, they told me that you really didn't flinch.

And on a human level, that's got to bother you, to be sitting in an institution like the senate and having your, not Democrats, fellow Republicans so angry at you.

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: Dana, not remotely.

BASH: Why?

CRUZ: Because the people I work for are the women and men you just saw. I work for 26 million Texans. That's my job to fight for them.

I don't work for the party bosses in Washington. I work for the people of Texas and I fight for them.

And the reason people are frustrated all over the country is that far too many people get elected and they think they're there to be part of the club.

You know what was interesting about some of those closed door discussions? What I said in the closed door discussions, I would have said the exact same thing if CNN's camera were sitting in the room.

CRUZ: In a wide-ranging interview, Senator Cruz told us that he absolutely has no regrets and continues to fight on even in the face of a lot of opposition from Republicans and in the face of a deadline, another one, January 15th, coming right up, that could cause another government shutdown.

We'll have more of that on Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And as Dana just mentioned, you can see more of Dana's exclusive interview with Senator Ted Cruz along with another exclusive interview with Senator John McCain.

That's tomorrow morning, 9:00 Eastern, on CNN's " STATE OF THE UNION," hosted by our very own Candy Crowley.

A girl's blog post stirs up an online flame-war, rich versus poor. It's like a cyber-class warfare. That's next.

Plus this incredible -- it's incredible video, a would-be robber reaches into his vehicle and steals a woman's purse, but hold on. Her young son chases the guy down.

What happened? We've got both of those stories, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Breaking news here on CNN. Two escaped inmates convicted of murder, one in the first degree, one in the second degree, back behind bars after escaping from a prison in Florida.

They did it by means of forged documents, forged documents that got them free. but they are still considered escaped inmates because it was forged.

Families pleading earlier throughout the week that they both turn themselves in. They did not turn themselves in. They were found in Panama City, Florida. They were captured without incident.

We are going to continue to bring you the latest on that story throughout the evening here on CNN.

Then, at the top of the hour, at 8:00 Eastern, we're going to have much, much more on this particular case. This is a new facet.

The Florida inmates accidentally released are captured tonight. What happens next? It's called "MAKING THE CASE." It airs in about 20 minutes or so.

In the meantime, other news to tell you about. The former mayor of San Diego was booked into jail. Bob Filner pleaded guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from his behavior from three women who say he kissed and groped them.

The sheriff's office says he was booked this morning and released a few hours later. He was San Diego's mayor for a few months when the sexual harassment charges started flying.

Nineteen women came forward saying Filner was inappropriate with them. He resigned in August.

Rosa Flores joins us now with headlines capturing the nation.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Don. Good evening to you at home.

A blog post from a young girl is stirring up controversy about income inequality. The title of her post, quote, "I'm not going to pretend that I'm poor to be accepted by you.:

Rachel Sacks goes on to say, "I'm not one of those people who try to be poor to relate to people. I think it's honestly disgusting behavior."

The post was inspired by a trip to the grocery store and what she describes as an encounter with a rude cashier that made her feel, quote, "like a turd" for coming from a family with money.

As you might imagine, some people defended her by saying this. Sam posted, "Why should you apologize for a situation you were born into? It's the same concept as apologizing for being good at a sport or being an amazing dancer."

But Brooklyn responded, "Silly girl, you don't have to pretend to be poor to be accepted by me. You'll never be accepted by me."

Now these are just some of the comments we are able to share with you because most of them, as you might imagine, well, are just not fit for TV.

Now sounds like this girl from this story could learn a little something from the 8-year-old in this next story who chased down a thief who stole his mom's purse.

Now you've got to take a look at this surveillance video. Take a close look at your screen. A thief goes for the purse inside the vehicle. You can't see him, but 8-year-old Jose Alonso is inside that vehicle, and he tries to stop him.

But when the thief takes off, young Jose goes after him, and believe it or not, folks, he even manages to recover his mother's wallet.

Now listen why he says he wasn't going to give up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE ALONSO, FOUGHT ROBBER: My sister's party was coming up, and I wanted her to have her party. And I wanted my mom to get all of her stuff back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: He's just so precious.

Now there's nothing safe either about this next unwanted encounter. You are going to have to look at this, too. Yeah, that's a deer in a convenience store in Ohio.

The deer busts through a window. Customers run in all directions, of course. Some hide in the closet as the six-point buck wanders into that store.

This didn't happen in a rural area, folks. It appears that the deer weaved through five lanes of traffic before busting into that store.

The bad news? Authorities had to put that deer down, they say, all in the name of safety.

LEMON: Rosa, no.

FLORES: It doesn't have a good ending, but back to the little boy. Was he just not so precious, Don?

LEMON: He was. Yeah, you end it on it a high note.

Bambi, poor Bambi, gone.

But that was a cute kid.

FLORES: Right, exactly. He was going to protect that money.

LEMON: Amen. We like him.

FLORES: Hardworking man.

LEMON: Thank you, Rosa. See you in just a little bit.

The football game officially ended today, 1-to-0. Very strange, but no one took the field after a player revolt.

Grambling State University was forced to forfeit the game. What led to this and could the players lose their scholarships, next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers will battle it out tonight for a chance to meet the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

The Cardinals clinched their spot in the Series last night, pounding the L.A. Dodgers and their ace pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, nine to nothing.

I happened to be in L.A. last night. It was not a happy time there.

NBA legend Bill Russell was arrested this week at the Seattle airport when the TSA found a loaded .38-caliber handgun in his carryon bag.

The former Boston Celtics center and coach, now 79-years-old, was issued a citation and he was let go, but faces a fine up to $7,500. We'll keep you updated.

Former Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints head coach Bum Phillips has died. Phillips was a pure Texas, known for his giant Stetson and cowboy boots. He turned the Oilers franchise into a consistent winner in the late 1970s and early '80s.

Phillips twice took Houston to the league championship game with a big assist from star running back and fellow Texan Earl Campbell. He loved that hat, didn't he?

His death was announced by his son, Wade, also a longtime NFL coach. Bum Phillips, dead at the age of 90.

Police are trying to figure out who killed a 20-year-old Eastern Michigan football player. Someone shot wide receiver Demarius Reed Friday at his off-campus apartment.

Reed's roommate found his body. Eastern Michigan went ahead with today game and lost to Ohio University.

One of the most storied college football programs in the South facing a player mutiny this weekend. OK, stay with me. Grambling State University had to forfeit today's game against Jackson State because only 22 Grambling players showed up Friday to board the bus.

Players have been angry since head coach Doug Williams was fired in September. His replacement was reassigned earlier this week, and players walked out of a Tuesday meeting with school administrators and boycotted two days of practice.

Want to talk about this now with Jamal Anderson. He's a former college and NFL running back.

Jamal, listen, I grew up in Louisiana. My mom went to Grambling. My uncle -- my mom went to Southern. My uncle went to Grambling. It's a huge rivalry there.

Grambling is stories. An historically black institution that was once led by Eddie Robinson, the famed Eddie Robinson, one of the greatest coaches in the game, and sent many players to the NFL.

So what is your reaction to this? What in the world is going on? Is this team unraveling?

JAMAL ANDERSON, FORMER NFL RUNNING BACK (via telephone): You know, Don, I'm proud of the players on that football team for standing up for several things.

Number one, you know, let's be frank. If you talk about to most people about HBCU school, an historically black college or university, most of the people right off the top of their head know Grambling. Obviously Eddie Robinson had a long history there. We're talking, Don, these guys were getting on the bus to play in football games riding 14, 15, sometimes 16 and 17 hours to get somewhere where there were officials from the university were taking a flight.

Now mind you, they are on a bus for 14, 15 hours to go to a game. The president or whoever, other people high up in the university, are flying there, but you have to physically go out and take what has appeared this year to be -- not appeared but what has been butt whippings.

So there was some difficulty, obviously, with Doug Williams being fired, no conversation. It's not unusual. Universities can't get into the practices of asking student athletes what they think about the next coach, but, obviously, he rubbed these guys the wrong way.

And then, Don, the big -- another greater issue, mold on the equipment, equipment not properly cleaned. I mean, we are -- when you are on a football field, the type of work that you're doing and the type of sweat and all this stuff, the mud and dirt and everything else and your equipment is not cleaned properly?

It's just -- it's unbelievable when you look at the set of circumstances that they were dealing with.

LEMON: Jamal -

ANDERSON (via telephone): Now I understand --

LEMON: -- let me get in here, because again, I said, this is a part of -- this is what we did on Saturday evenings, right? And then we went to the Bayou Classic for Southern against Grambling, every year, every single year down in the Superdome.

What -- Grambling State University, as I said, has an historic football team, you know, led by, once led, buy Eddie Robinson. What about money?

It would seem that Grambling would have a very highly-funded football team, but maybe has this HBCU fallen on tough times financially, and is that why they're taking 16, 17 hours to go to games on buses?

ANDERSON (via telephone): I mean, here's the thing, Don. If that's the justification, how officials who aren't participating physically in these activities taking the flights and the kids are riding buses, I don't know.

There was an incident prior to Doug Williams -- the Doug Williams firing, when he got flooring donated because I guess the weight room was fallen into ill repair and other parts of the facility have --

LEMON: Sounds like money then. Sounds like money, Jamal.

ANDERSON (via telephone): Right. Right.

Or the money, apparently -- here's the deal. Money is coming in for the football team that is also being allocated -- and I don't know. My argument is not with the university for spreading it amongst their other athletic programs.

But if money has come in -- in fact, Doug Williams had a floor donated. Because of some sort of protocol, the flooring that he had donated for the weight room to upgrade it was never utilized.

It sounds like they need to figure out exactly who is running the program, where the funds are going.

LEMON: And some misappropriations of money, not that there's anything illegal, but maybe they need to have some priorities.

I don't know. I'm not -

ANDERSON (via telephone): Precisely.

LEMON: We haven't investigated that.

Listen, I've got to run here.

Are these players going to lose their scholarships?

ANDERSON (via telephone): They should not. They should not.

And, Don, you know, it's very interesting. This is the first time we are seeing football players, especially at a major university or a storied program band together.

There is a lot of funny stuff going on with college football. Does Grambling State start something we see carry over in other issues -- in other universities in the future? You've got to look out for that, Don.

LEMON: I would venture a guess, yes.

Thank you. We appreciate it, Jamal Anderson. Good to speak with you.

By the way, Jackson State University, which was supposed to host Grambling, held a scrimmage instead. Homecoming festivities took place as scheduled, during that scrimmage.

Eight motorcycle riders are now charged in the New York City road rage beating. There was another arraignment today.

Full details and the list of charges, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Beautiful shot of Lady Liberty, back open now after the government shutdown is -- the government is no longer shut down.

In the meantime, an eighth biker is under arrest for his involvement in a clash with the driver of an SUV in Manhattan last month.

Police say Kaliq Douglas was one of the men who pulled the driver from his Range Rover and beat him.

CNN's Susan Candiotti is following new developments in this story.

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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: An SUV taking a pounding before its driver is dragged out and beaten. Thanks to a biker who hit the record button on his helmet-cam we see the attack unfold.

It's Sunday, September 29th, with exhaust fumes filling the air, motorcyclists are revving up in New York's Washington Heights to join an estimated 1,000 bikers for a yearly rally circling Manhattan.

For Alexian Lien, his wife and 2-year-old daughter, it's a special day. They are out celebrating their wedding anniversary.

On a six-lane highway, suddenly one of several bikers from that rally slows down right in front of Lien's SUV. He hits the biker, who is not seriously injured.

Moments later, bikers surround the SUV, start pounding, and police say slashing its tires.

Lien steps on it, telling police he feared for his life. Lurching ahead, he rolls over at least one biker whoever is critically injured.

According to a statement from Mrs. Lien, "We were placed in grave danger by a mob of reckless and violent motorcyclists."

The family of injured biker Edwin Mieses says he's paralyzed and blames Lien for overreacting.

GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY: He could have honked his horn. He could have said, everybody get out of the way. He could have slowly rolled out instead of gunning the motor and running him down.

CANDIOTTI: Lien takes off with his wife and child. The bikers are in hot pursuit.

The Liens call 911 twice. Police describe the calls as frantic.

Down the highway, the SUV stops again, and so do the bikers. One approaches and pulls open the diver's door, but Lien takes off again with the door still open.

Several minutes later, Lien is forced to stop in traffic. With emotions boiling over, bikers use helmets to slam the SUV.

Lien's wife again calls 911 again. Her husband is dragged out of their vehicle, kicked and stomped.

Finally this man, Sergio Consuegra, a father of 10, bravely steps in.

SERGIO CONSUEGRA, WITNESS: It was, like, I mean, like -- it was like hell in there.

CANDIOTTI: He describes several bikers stomping on Lien bleeding on the ground. His wife looked like she might be next.

CONSEUGRA: She started screaming and then we saw the baby. That's when we started the baby inside the car with her, you know?

And everybody started screaming no, no, not lady, not with the baby! Please don't do that. I scream, too.

CANDIOTTI: The bikers back off. Help arrives.

Police use videos to track down and arrest at least eight bikers. Charges include gang assault.

Then a stunning twist, an off-duty undercover detective is among those busted. Investigators say that's him among the bikers.

Wojciech Braszczok is accused of hitting the SUV and smashing its rear window. A law enforcement source tells CNN Braszczok didn't step in to help because he didn't want to blow his cover. Not only that, Braszczok waited three days to tell his superiors he was even there.

JOHN ARLIA, ATTORNEY FOR WOJCIECH BRASZCZOK: The video will exonerate our client.

CANDIOTTI: His lawyers says the detective's not guilty.

ARLIA: They allege that he struck the rear portion hatchback window, which has a gaping hole already in it. It's already destroyed.

So under the law, it's a fatal flaw. You can't break what's already broken.

CANDIOTTI: But despite what we see on camera there may be more to the story.

The video is gripping, but what about before the camera started to roll? Did something else happen between the SUV driver and the motorcyclist before this biker right moves in front of the SUV?

Investigators are still nailing that down. This much we do know. The biker wearing a built-in helmet camera claims that he saw the SUV driver throw a plastic water bottle out of his sunroof, apparently at a biker.

If true, why, and was that the only thing that happened?

Lien is recovering from his injuries. Neither he nor his wife have spoken publicly.

Former prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Paul Callen says the law appears to be on their side.

PAUL CALLEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Remember, his wife and 2-year-old child were in the car. The SUV had been surrounded.

He had the right to try to escape, and if he accidentally strikes somebody, that is not a criminal offense. CANDIOTTI: Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.

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