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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Toronto Mayor Caught on Tape Again; FDA to Ban Transfats from Processed Foods
Aired November 07, 2013 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight a shocking nauseating caught-on- tape murder rant. Just when you thought Toronto mayor Rob Ford`s behavior couldn`t get any more outrageous, any more repulsive, think again.
After admitting just yesterday, "Yes, OK, I smoked crack," tonight a video just surfaced of the mayor of the fifth largest city in North America, clearly wasted in a living room, shouting, cursing, and threatening to kill someone by ripping their throat out.
Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell. Thank you for joining me.
This shocking, just-released video of Mayor Ford of Toronto is so unbelievable you have to see it for yourself. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB FORD, MAYOR OF TORONTO: `Cause I`m going to kill that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) guy. I`m telling you it`s first-degree murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike Tyson!
FORD: But I`ll fight him. I`ll (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me the phone. I`ll (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
FORD: No holds barred, brother. He dies or I die, brother. Brother, you`ve never seen me (EXPLETIVE DELETED) go. You think so, brother? But when he`s down, I`ll rip his (EXPLETIVE DELETED) throat out. I`ll poke his eyes out. I will, (EXPLETIVE DELETED), when he`s dead, I`ll make sure that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dead. I need (EXPLETIVE DELETED) ten minutes to make sure he`s dead. It`ll be over in five minutes, brother. If I`m done in ten minutes...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After you win the by-election.
FORD: It`ll be a bad so -- I am a sick (EXPLETIVE DELETED), dude. Like, no one`s going to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) around with me. My brothers are, don`t tell me we`re liars, thieves, birds? It hurts. That little prick`s a racist (EXPLETIVE DELETED), daddy. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Randy walks (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- 80-year-old birds. (EXPLETIVE DELETED) this (EXPLETIVE DELETED), brother. I just need to go, (EXPLETIVE DELETED) by myself in my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) underwear. I want to go with this guy. I need 15 minutes, that`s all. No (EXPLETIVE DELETED) interference, brother. If I win, I will (EXPLETIVE DELETED) donate...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These kids are pros, buddy.
FORD: Yes? No problem, bro. No problem. I need 15 minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Too much time.
FORD: No, no, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five minutes.
FORD: No, no. Not going to do it for five. No, no, no, no, no. Not doing it in five. I`m going to prepare for it. I will call it. And I will (EXPLETIVE DELETED) be in that ring.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: He says he needs 15 minutes. He needs rehab. This all started back in May when the mayor was first accused of smoking from a crack pipe. Mayor Ford initially denied the accusations, accusing the news media of being out to get him.
But when cops said they had video proving Mayor Ford smokes crack and said they would show it in court, he finally confessed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORD: Yes, I have smoked crack-cocaine. But no -- do I? Am an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors. Probably approximately about a year ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Still, crack-using, murder-threatening, caught-on- tape drunk Mayor Ford said he has no reason to resign. I call that the defiance of the addict. And yes, in my humble opinion as a recovering alcoholic, this guy is an addict, either addicted to drugs, alcohol or both.
What do you think? Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
Straight out to our fantastic Lion`s Den debate panel. Former prosecutor Wendy Murphy, apparently, he cannot be thrown out of office unless he`s convicted of a crime. Isn`t there a way to turn this murderous rant, where he`s threatening to rip somebody`s throat out, into some kind of criminal prosecution?
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: You know, I just don`t understand why politicians who get caught red-handed like this don`t quit in shame out of respect for, you know...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Maybe because he has no shame? He has no shame.
MURPHY: Exactly. But look, if he -- if there`s no crime to charge here -- and there may be nothing that can be formally done -- people can camp out at his office in large numbers until he quits. How`s that for democracy in action?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, they could get a contact high if they did.
I will say this, Judy Gold, comedian/actress. I looked up his official duties as mayor of Toronto, and it says "to represent and promote the city of Toronto nationally and internationally." So he is representing. We are talking about Toronto.
JUDY GOLD, COMEDIAN/ACTRESS: He`s doing a great job. I`m sure tourism is going to be through the roof now. I can`t believe -- the fact that he thinks he can still keep his job. If I smoked crack on my job, I would get fired. Everyone...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you`re a comedian.
GOLD: I know!
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re a comedian and you`d get fired.
GOLD: I`m a comedian, and I would get kicked out of the club. Why does this guy think he can keep his job? I can`t -- I don`t understand it at all. And why aren`t people infuriated?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know what? Initially, when the scandal broke, his approval ratings went up. And that was -- you know, my head exploded at that moment in time when I read that.
MURPHY: You think that would only happen in the United States. But apparently, that also happens in Canada. You know, it`s unbelievable. Mayor Ford told a radio program he may be sorry that he smoked crack, but he`s not going to be putting the bottle -- namely alcohol -- out for good. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORD: I`m not going to sit here and say I`m never going to drink again. That`s not realistic. Anything in moderation is fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. We`ve got to talk about the elephant in the room here.
(SOUND EFFECT: ELEPHANT SOUNDS)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The elephant in the room is, when you`ve got a problem with alcohol or drugs, the very definition of addiction is you cannot do it in moderation. OK? I speak from experience. I have 18 years of sobriety, but I was a blackout drunk.
He clearly has a substance abuse problem. He`s wasted. He`s incoherent. He`s admitted to smoking crack when he was really drunk. OK. So in my opinion, he`s an alcoholic and an addict.
Now, Robi Ludwig, psychotherapist. He`s, to my mind, showing classic addict behavior.
ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Absolutely.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: First of all, defiance. You know, "I don`t care. I`m terminally unique. The rules don`t apply to me. I`m different. I`m special."
LUDWIG: That`s right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: "I need to be treated differently, because I`m not like anybody else in the world." That is what`s going on inside the addict`s head at all times -- Robi.
LUDWIG: Absolutely. And I would say even his position might interfere with this man getting the kind of treatment that he needs. Because he really feels that he is better than most people and doesn`t have to follow the same rules. And he`s not really seeing himself realistically. This is a man who`s going down.
Plus, I don`t know if people can smoke crack and not be addicted. But this man is addicted to many things.
And how can he lead? If he wants to be a responsible person, he needs to step down, acknowledge he needs treatment. And...
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That is so obvious that it`s crazy to even have to say it. I mean, it`s so obvious. If you`ve been running around drunk out of your mind screaming about ripping somebody`s throat out, using every curse word, and I worry, because when I hear this stuff I don`t want to repeat it accidentally. Then I`d get in trouble.
LUDWIG: Right, right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But it`s so obvious that he needs to step down. The idea that he has the arrogance, the audacity, the chutzpa, the sense of entitlement to say, "Yes, I smoked crack. And now I have this rant on tape where I`m threatening to kill somebody by ripping their throat out and I`m using every curse word in the book." And by the way, those who have seen the video say he makes racist and homophobic comments. I don`t know. I haven`t seen the video. But it`s all beyond comprehension.
Right now we`ve got somebody from Canada. So I want to talk to Sue from Canada. What the heck is going on up there, Sue? What do you think?
CALLER: I don`t know. I`m a little disgusted by the whole situation. I think he`s an absolute embarrassment to Canada across the board.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re right. He`s an absolute embarrassment. But I think most people are reasonable enough to know that this has nothing to do with Canadians.
I hate the idea that when somebody from a particular region of the world or ethnicity or group does something that it somehow reflects badly on everybody. Nonsense. People are people. And that`s called stereotyping. So I don`t think that this is any more of a reflection on Canada than somebody in New York doing something, and we`ve had our share of scandals across the United States that say Americans are this way -- or Italy. There have been scandals with the leaders of Italy in terms of the ladies, et cetera. No, I think that people are people, and people are flawed.
But, you know, one thing I can say is that he`s so arrogant that he loves to go on camera despite all that. Despite everything that`s happened. Even if the reporters are like screaming questions at him. Here`s his response to the new leaked video. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FORD: Elmo Stardis (ph) released the video that I was very, very inebriated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who were you talking to?
FORD: I -- it`s just on a -- all I can say is again, I -- I -- I`ve made mistakes. At least -- all I can do is reassure people that -- I don`t know what to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, you should say, "I resign." That`s what you should say. All Toronto...
GOLD: It reminds me so much of Anthony Weiner. I mean, Anthony Weiner still thought he should be mayor after even more of these photos came out. These people, I don`t understand why...
LUDWIG: There`s a grandiosity. But you`re not seeing a naked selfie of this guy, I bet.
But doesn`t he look like an overgrown fraternity brother? He really looks like he`s stuck in time. And even his obesity shows that this is a man who`s out of control on many different levels and probably has used his charm to get over on people and not address his own issues.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, actually, I feel sorry for him. As a person in recovery with 18 and a half years of sobriety -- God willing, by April I`ll have 19 years -- I know what it`s like to experience the embarrassment and the incomprehensible demoralization of acting like an idiot because you are -- I was in a blackout. I didn`t know what I was doing, but I wasn`t the mayor of Toronto!
Nicole, Toronto.
MURPHY: That`s what I was just going to say.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And thank God it wasn`t caught on tape.
Yes. Go ahead, Wendy.
MURPHY: Well, I just wanted to say if this guy wants not to recover, however you feel about him, he`s entitled to go home, eat buckets of doughnuts, snort whatever he wants, you know, smoke crack, drink whatever. He can be the elephant in his own living room, OK. But he can`t be the mayor, because that`s not allowed. You can`t be the mayor. Toronto is a great city. You can`t just be the mayor. You represent people. Not your fat self. Go away!
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly.
MURPHY: Step down!
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Step down! Step down! Step -- come on, ladies. Let`s chant.
Step down! Step down! Step down!
MURPHY: Step down! Step down! Step down!
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Step down! Step down!
Nicole, Toronto.
MURPHY: Or roll down or something.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Roll away. What do you have to say, Nicole in Toronto?
CALLER: Hi, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.
CALLER: I just want to say I love your show.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you.
CALLER: I watch you every night.
And I`m a citizen of Toronto, and you know, it`s very, very embarrassing to see our mayor of Toronto splashed all over international news like this. And, you know, I just wish that he would step aside, get the help that he clearly needs, because he clearly has a problem, and let`s focus on our city and not on this man that clearly has issues.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, and I hear you Nicole. I mean, yes, people in Canada are embarrassed, but as I said again, I don`t really feel it`s a reflection on them. I think, you know, addiction is all across the globe.
In all seriousness, Mr. Ford, get some help. You`re very sick. I`m saying it as a person in recovery. I wish you the best.
The mistress back on the stand in the trial of a doctor accused of killing his wife. Prosecutors were asking Gypsy "mistress" Willis how deep was her love with Dr. MacNeill?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GYPSY WILLIS, FORMER MISTRESS OF MARTIN MACNEILL: "Know that I love you and have loved you from the day we met. I will work hard to keep your love from me."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he said he loved you from the day he met you, correct?
WILLIS: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARTIN MACNEILL, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER (My wife`s fallen in the bathtub.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who`s in the bathtub?
M. MACNEILL: My wife!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Prosecutors say Dr. MacNeill killed his wife of 30 years by drowning her in the family`s bathtub.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And hiring his lover, Gypsy Willis, as the family nanny.
WILLIS: It was a very casual thing.
This relationship has been over a very long time.
We probably had sex half the time. Sometimes it was just lunch.
"I love you and miss you more than you can imagine. I have always loved you and always will. I think of you all the time."
SABRINA MACNEILL, DAUGHTER OF VICTIM: I thought she was our nanny. Why is she up in dad`s room?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight love letters and lies. The prosecution wraps up its case against the wealthy doctor with a bang, putting his mistress, Gypsy, back on the stand.
Prosecutors say Dr. Martin MacNeill was so obsessed with Gypsy, so determined to start a new life with her, that he murdered his wife in the tub. Remember, this is a guy who proposed to his lover just three months after his wife`s death.
The first story we got from Gypsy, the first time she testified a while back was nothing to see here. It was a casual affair. Sometimes we had sex. Sometimes we just had lunch. No big deal. No big whoop.
Today prosecutors called her out on that description. They confronted Gypsy with love letters between her and the defendant, where they gushed about their love and their future together as husband and wife.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You saved letters?
WILLIS: I had them in a box in a garage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And how is it addressed to you?
WILLIS: Dearest love.
"Do you now think you want to settle here? I don`t mind settling in Texas or anywhere else you may want. I love you and will write again soon. I wish I could sleep for the next 20 months and do nothing but dream of being with you. I love you with all of my heart and I think of nothing but a future with the two of us, never to be separated again." You know, this was two years after she passed away. I don`t...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ll ask the questions, thanks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, looking at Dr. MacNeill listening to her, I can till he`s still obsessed with her. His eyes say everything in a case with so little forensic evidence, Gypsy is crucial.
So let`s go out to our very, very expert panel. Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor, did they get what they needed out of Gypsy this go around when the last time they just let her slip and slide and basically own the courtroom?
MURPHY: You know, I disagree with you, Jane. I know you felt that way about when she was up there. I didn`t perceive her that way. I think she`s just a horrific person in this drama that comes across as both, of course the chosen, thinner, younger, you know, woman that he wants to dump his older fatter wife for, and she`s completely arrogant about it. Dismissive. No affect. And more of that came out today. Even when she`s trying to underplay the significance of these love letters, as if "Dearest love, I can`t wait to be with you" was, you know, "I hope you`ll pick up some eggs on the way home."
It`s so incredible to me how understated she is when it`s a gushing motive for murder.
Who thinks that she slipped and slide? Who driveways with me she managed to downplay what was an obsessive relationships that prosecutors say led to a murder plot that was Kerid out? Lisa Lockwood?
LISA LOCKWOOD: Yes. Let`s be realistic. How convenient is it that his wife had a heart attack and died in the bathtub? Immediately she moves in and comes in as the nanny. Immediately moved her in. They`re engaged. They start living together. It`s a ridiculous and ludicrous thing. I`m so sorry the first time around that forensics did not prove what they needed to. Toxicology was not able to prove it was not a heart attack.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, the state`s medical experts can`t say it was murder for sure. Two convicts who met the doctor testified against him today and said he bragged about murdering his wife and even described how he did it. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said, I`m getting away with murdering my wife.
He said he gave her some oxy and sleeping pills and he got her to get in the bathtub. He said he held her head under the water for a little while.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Robi Ludwig, do you find as a psychotherapist these cons believable when they say he confessed to them?
LUDWIG: Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Sometimes these cons are very believable. And I guess you have to put it all in a context. I mean, we certainly know the doctor had a motive to want his wife dead. He has daughters who feel that he acted in an unscrupulous way. Certainly, his girlfriend also appears to be equally sociopathic it all fit. Sometimes they do give out very valuable information that resonates with the jury.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Coming up next. Could the government be making changes that will change how all of us eat and what we eat? It`s breaking news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The FDA made a major decision on transfats in your foods.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Artificial transfats are no longer, quote, generally recognized as safe.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Are you in favor of the FDA eliminating transfats? Yes or no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the first step to getting these artificial transfats out of the food supply.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight breaking news. A major change on the horizon in what we as Americans will be allowed to eat.
The FDA announcing it no longer announces partially hydrogenated oils or artificially-produced transfats as safe. That means food companies may be forced to use other ingredients. The question is, will those other ingredients be healthier?
Naturally occurring transfats found in meat and dairy products will not be banned.
Doctors have long said that transfats, the artificial ones found in many processed and fried foods are very dangerous. The CDC did a study that found that avoiding artificial transfats could result in 20,000 fewer heart attacks a year.
The FDA is giving food companies 50 days to comment.
But here`s what I think. Alternatives like butter, which is filled with cholesterol; lard, filled with cholesterol. Fat is not necessarily better. Popular palm oil is also controversial. It happens to be decimating the orangutan population in Indonesia.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Palm oil is an alternative. It happens to be decimating the orangutan population in Indonesia. That`s not good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that`s transfats.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I guess there`s olive oil, canola oil.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Great. Yes. I have a huge tub of olive oil at home. That`s all I cook with.
Cook food at home instead of buying packaged goods.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s great advice. The key, in my humble opinion, is to stop eating processed junk food and stick to whole foods. Cook at home, using healthy oils like olive and canola.
Straight out to my very special guest, from HLN`s new show "Cook Your Ass Off," the one and only Keri Glassman. So glad to have you on, Keri.
This is the elephant in the room. Nobody is talking about what might replace partially hydrogenated oils if they`re banned. What would you say, given that this ban could go in? What should the alternatives be?
KERI GLASSMAN, HOST, "COOK YOUR ASS OFF": Well, first of all, you made a really good point: we shouldn`t be eating most of these foods. Most of the places where we find transfats, we shouldn`t be eating them. Things like these package-processed foods, chips, cookies, frozen pizzas, those aren`t the things that we should be consuming. We should be consuming more whole foods. When we`re consuming more whole foods, we`re not going to be consuming these transfats.
You also mentioned other forms of oils that can be used. Those oils can be used in other foods. Transfats don`t have to be used.
And butter, as you mentioned, would actually be an even better choice. I`m not suggesting that we go out and continue to eat all these different packaged foods loaded with butter. But it still would be a better choice than transfats, which are manufactured. When companies manufacture those oils and they hydrogenate those oils, they are actually worse for you than transfats -- than regular fats that you would find in a butter.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Now I did look up the top ten foods high in free cholesterol, and after eggs, caviar, liver pate, foie gras, butter is No. 4 in terms of high cholesterol. So I don`t know. My personal opinion is go for olive oil or canola oil or peanut oil or even, in small doses, coconut oil. Although that has some dangers, it can be a good alternative.
Or why don`t you skill the oil. That`s what a lot of people are doing. It`s like actually using spices and mustards and all sorts of things. Instead of pouring high-calorie oil on anything.
I`ve got to say, Keri, congratulations. You are part of a brand-new Sunday night lineup, "Upwave" on HLN. I can`t wait to start watching it. It`s a place to begin to live a healthier, more balanced lifestyle. I want you to check Keri out at 7 p.m. on "Cook Your Ass Off" and maybe we`ll lose a little bit of our tookus in the process. With celebrity chef Richard Blais from the producers of "Chopped." So tell me about your show.
GLASSMAN: It`s so much fun, and thank you so much for that intro there about it. Because it is really going to be so much fun, so I hope everybody tunes in on December 1. It`s really fantastic, because I am a registered dietitian. I`m into nutrition. I love food. But it`s all about nutrition meeting taste. Because if it doesn`t taste great and the food isn`t delicious, people aren`t going to want to seat it. And so it`s really -- the show`s just a really wonderful marriage of taste and nutrition. It`s so much fun. Richard and I have a great time.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The proof is in the transfat-free pudding, and you look fabulous, my dear.
GLASSMAN: Thank you, so do you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you. All right. Well, we`ll see you on that show. Can`t wait.
A young woman knocks on a stranger`s door, looking for help after getting in a late-night car crash. She ends up dead. What happened after the homeowner answered the door? It`s a very, very compelling mystery. The teen`s family angrily demanding answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m asking for justice. I don`t think that he should be able to walk. She`s not able to walk. I don`t think that he should be able to be free to do anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do we want it?
CROWD: Now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do we want?
CROWD: Justice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do we want it?
CROWD: Now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It shouldn`t take 24 hours or more to see whether or not she`s going to bring the charges.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So much violence here. We need peace.
CROWD: Justice for Renisha. Justice for Renisha. Justice for Renisha.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re not going to let him get away with this senseless act of murder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Breaking news tonight as we speak. A crowd of a few dozen people have gathered in Dearborn Heights, Michigan in protests. They were shocked and outraged after a 19-year-old woman was shot dead. Cops are now investigating whether Renisha McBride who was shot and killed on the front porch of a home was simply looking for help after a car wreck. That`s what her family claimed happened early in the morning this past Saturday. Now they`re demanding answers and justice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If people will stop identifying instead of judging people, this will be a better world. . There`s so much violence here. We need peace. I need peace. I need justice for my niece.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The family believes it all comes down to race with Renisha`s aunt telling "Detroit News", quote, "You see a young black lady on your porch and you shoot," end quote. But is that the whole story? Was this whole terrible incident an accident perhaps?
Cops are now feeling the pressure to get answers as the prosecutor`s office says they can`t decide whether or not to file charges until police have finished their jobs.
Straight out to Nic Robertson, CNN senior correspondent who is outside the home where the shooting occurred. Nick, what do you know tonight?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Jane, we know that there are more questions than there are answers. There are more details that are unclear than facts.
The facts that we have are that on that porch behind me in the early hours of Saturday morning, Renisha McBride she was killed. According to the man who lived at that house who talked to the police he says that he told the police it was an accident. That he fired a 12-gauge shotgun at this young lady that hit her in the face. The police say they have the weapon. They`re investigating the weapon right now.
Her family`s attorney says -- the McBride`s family attorney say that they know that she was in a road traffic accident. That she hit a stationary car and then some time later arrived at this house, coming to the house asking for help.
What the attorney is saying, what the family`s attorney is telling us is that they`re angry, that they want answers. And he says, why -- how could this have been an accident? How could it have been an accident that she was shot at such close range? Why was the door not -- why was the door open? Why did the family inside not just answer -- shout through the door "we can`t help you". The attorney says there are no bullet holes in the door, which does indicate the door was open.
Now we talked to a lot of people in this community here. They know the man who lived in the house behind me, the gunman. They say that he was a nice man, that he was well known in the community. That he didn`t do wrong. He was not a troublemaker. And the family`s attorney has told us this is a man who had no criminal record whatsoever. He`s told the police it was an accident -- Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, thank you for that excellent report -- Nic Robertson reporting from Dearborn Heights, Michigan. And again, there is some sort of demonstration. Several people gathered, and we don`t know exactly how large it is. But you can see that they are seeking justice for Renisha McBride.
Now, of course, all of this comes on the heels of a story we told you about recently, a similar shooting in North Carolina less than two months ago. A 24-year-old black man crashed his car, knocked on the door, and the homeowner called 911 thinking that the man who was outside seeking help because he had a crash was somehow trying to break in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you at?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s a guy breaking in my front door?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s a guy breaking in your front door?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he`s trying to kick it down. He`s in the front yard yelling. Oh my god. Please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now unlike what happened in the Renisha McBride case, the homeowner didn`t shoot. However, when cops got to the scene responding to the 911 call, Jonathan Farrell, the man who was looking for help that night, there he is on the right, in the uniform with the tie underneath, he allegedly approached the officers, and that`s when he was tasered. He allegedly continued walking towards the cops, and police officer Randall Kerrick, the man on the left, opened fire, shooting Jonathan ten times. Jonathan was not armed.
So out to the "Lion`s Den". Areva Martin, attorney out of Los Angeles, getting back to the initial case. Do you find how the authorities have handled it thus far ok, or do you feel that something else should have been done already?
Areva, can you hear me? All right. Let me go to Wendy Murphy.
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes. You know, the Renisha McBride case is interesting because unlike Trayvon Martin there`s not even any evidence recorded yet that the guy who shot the gun feared for his life or great bodily injury. Remember, that was the thing that allowed George Zimmerman to shoot, even using lethal force under the Stand Your Ground law.
The interesting thing about this case is, if it is, as it appears to be a disoriented young woman between 2:00 and 4:00 in the morning going to somebody`s door to ask for help even if the guy was afraid because she was acting funny, it was the middle of the night, you can`t just shoot somebody in the head. You just can`t do that. Shoot them in the foot. Call 911. Don`t open the door.
The notion that you would think your only choice in this situation is to shoot somebody in the head it may not be racist, but it is really creepy.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me go back to Areva. We want to apologize -- we had a little problem with the audio. Areva, you are back -- give us your thoughts on this.
AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY: You know, I`m very disturbed by this Jane. I think of the Henry Lewis Gates case. That was about 2009. He`s trying to get into his own home. His neighbor calls the police. The police come, they arrest him.
Then of course, we have the football player just recently who was shot by a police because someone again was afraid. There are too many of these cases that are too similar. And one of the incredible similarities is race. We`re talking about African-Americans in all of these cases, unarmed African-Americans. And in the case of the young woman in Detroit and the football player, unarmed African-Americans who are shot and killed for no apparent reason.
I don`t think we can avoid asking the question, is there something? Is there bias? Is there prejudice? Is there racial profiling that`s motivating these shootings in both cases?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Briefly, Lisa Lockwood, 15 seconds. Your thoughts.
LISA LOCKWOOD, AUTHOR, "UNDERCOVER ANGEL": It`s an unfortunate series of events. There are a couple of things to keep in mind that I want everybody to be aware of. Think about being awakened with somebody either pounding on your door or attempting to gain entry. You`re just as disoriented as somebody who`s been in a car accident and wandered the streets for possibly two hours.
So in those moments you have no idea of the coherence of the individual who answered the door and what he was thinking in that moment.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Although, I would not answer the door if I was not sure of what`s happening on the other side. And if I was concerned, I would call 911. I wouldn`t open the door with a gun in my hand. I personally would not.
But again we don`t know a lot about the story. We`re going to continue to investigate. We`re going to keep you posted.
This story is just crazy. Bad Santa -- that`s a hint. I don`t want to give it away. But it happened there.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I realize it`s the shock of all shocks.
DALE BRYK, NATIONAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL: The film is so misleading.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need a game changer to solve this problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: To nuke or not to nuke -- that is the question. It`s a lightning rod controversy -- pitting environmentalists against environmentalists. A stunning new movie makes the case that nuclear power plants are going to save the world.
That`s right. The very same nuclear power plants that have provoked protests and demonstrations and screaming matches as people demanded they be shut down. We all know the names that have become synonymous with horror -- Three-Mile Island, Chernobyl and most recently Fukushima in Japan -- three major nuclear catastrophes. Or were they really?
Now comes along "PANDORA`S PROMISE", a controversial new film, must- see TV; it airs tonight on CNN 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Check it out. It claims anti-nuke activists are hurting our planet by over-exaggerating the dangers of nuclear power plants while those alternatives, you know, the ones we`re all talking about all the time -- coal, oil, natural gas -- continue to devastate our environment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It turns out that the United States has been buying up nuclear war heads from the Russians for over ten years now. 16,000 nuclear war heads and are recycling all of these nuclear warheads into energy, electricity, nuclear power. So nuclear power is doing more to denuclear-weaponize the world than any other thing that we do.
Poetically it`s rather beautiful. The very things that were designed to blow up our cities are now lighting up our cities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Who knew? Never heard that before. Could nuclear power hold the key to peace? To fighting climate change? Could it give the planet cleaner energy?
Straight out to the "Lion`s Den to debate it. Speaking out in support of nuclear power, Michael Shellenberger who`s in the film, he`s a former green activist who now supports nuclear power to fight climate change; versus Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste watchdog at Beyond Nuclear who is clearly on the other side.
We`ll start with Michael. What made you change your mind to become this huge supporter of nuclear power plants?
MICHAEL SHELLENBERGER, SUPPORTS NUCLEAR POWER: If you care about human health, even if you don`t believe in global warming, go with nuclear to get cleaner air, greater safety and the chance to deal with this challenge of moving away from coal.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now just this week four climate and energy scientists wrote an open letter and they urged world leaders to support the development of safe nuclear power plants. Kevin Kamps, I guess the bottom line is that in a perfect world, sure, solar power, wind power -- what these folks are saying is this is not a perfect world.
We`re going to hell in a hand basket. The population is exploding and everybody on the planet wants TV and their iPhones and what have you, and we have to be practical here and nuclear power is practical. What say you?
KEVIN KAMPS, BEYOND NUCLEAR: Well, it`s a nonstarter as a climate solution. It costs way too much. It takes way too long. I mean the price tag for a new reactor starts at $10 billion -- it skyrockets from there. Energy efficiency is ten times more cost effective at reducing greenhouse gas reductions.
So we have to start with the smart choices -- efficiency, renewables like wind and solar. That`s exactly what Germany is doing. They are phasing out nuclear power by 2022. They`re going to phase out fossil fuel use by mid-century and they`re going to replace it with renewables like wind and solar and maximize efficiency.
Nuclear has enjoyed the lion`s share of subsidies for the past half century. Wind is half as expensive as new nuclear; solar PV -- photovoltaic -- became cost equivalent in 2010 despite the disproportionate subsidies the nuclear has enjoyed. And believe you me, the health impacts of people living near Chernobyl -- people are dying, people getting sick. The National Academies of Science has affirmed for decades that any exposure to radio activity, no matter how small the dose carries a health risk for cancer.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But the film says that three million people die every year in the world from the traditional sources of coal and oil, natural gas and all of that together. I`m not breaking it down.
KAMPS: We`re no fans of fossil fuels. It`s a false choice. We don`t have to choose between fossil fuels and nuclear. We have real answers to the climate crisis 00 that`s renewables and efficiency.
SHELLENBERGER: If you`re against nuclear, you`re in favor of burning fossil fuels. That`s not in doubt.
KAMPS: No, we`re not.
SHELLENBERGER: That`s the effect of it when you`re --
KAMPS: We`re not in favor of fossil fuels.
SHELLENBERGER: By opposing nuclear, you guys have allowed the expansion of coal, which kills millions of people. And if nuclear --
KAMPS: The nuclear in this country is --
SHELLENBERGER: That`s nonsense.
(CROSSTALK)
SHELLENBERGER: You name the company. You can cite (inaudible) -- NASA climate scientist Jim Henson, 1.8 million lives saved by nuclear or you can go with various conspiracies by anti-nuclear activists.
KAMPS: Unfortunately we don`t have 50 years for the integral fast reactor that the film promotes. It`s already --
(CROSSTALK)
SHELLENBERGER: You guys cut off the funding for it in the early `90s. It was one of your key things.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We have to do something because let me tell you the developing nations that are spewing all this, they`re not doing enough. And that includes Uncle Sam.
Don`t forget to watch this stunning new documentary, "PANDORA`S PROMISE", tonight 9:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN -- the world depends on it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Time for Pet of the Day. Send your pet pics to hlntv.com/jane.
Starla -- you are a starlet. And Salt -- you little spice, salt and pepper, oh yes. And Cosmo -- you should be on the cover of Cosmo, you are gorgeous. And Nilla -- oh you are silla. I love you, Nilla.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was the view from above, looking down at Richard Brandon stuck in the narrow chimney. From below a lone foot dangled above logs in the fireplace. Police say Brandon was trying to break into the house just before 2:00 a.m.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Two friends were out drinking, when they apparently ran out of cash. What did they do? Call it a night? No. Cops say these two geniuses decided they would break into this house to get some extra money. One of them decided to shimmy down the chimney and it didn`t quite work out the way he planned.
His friend had no choice but to leave him dangling there as he went for help. Two hours later, Brandon was finally freed. Except that he got arrested and both men are charged with two counts of burglary.
Listen, actress/comedian Judy Gold, you think alcohol might have been involved here?
JUDY GOLD, ACTRESS/COMEDIAN: No, not at all. I mean, first of all, clearly he could not see gremlins, number one. And number two is what number on the list of ways to break into someone`s house is going down the chimney? Really I mean, who does that?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Santa Claus.
GOLD: Exactly. But not to steal. Can you imagine getting up and seeing a foot in your fireplace? Forget it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What if somebody decided to light a fire? You know, it is Florida, but sometimes it gets chilly there.
Why do they have fireplaces in Florida anyway?
GOLD: I know. I read this story and I thought, who has a fireplace in Florida. I mean that`s number one, but number two -- and please, go to the ATM. When you run out of money, you go to the ATM -- ok.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, I agree 100 percent. Thank you, Judy Gold, funny lady.
GOLD: Thank you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Stay right there, we`ll be right back.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: "Slice of Happiness" tonight. This adorable doggy wants to help mommy clean the glass. Way to go, way to go, working overtime.
Nancy Grace next.
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