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Paul Walker Pay Tribute; Ice And Snow Storms Continue To Plague Dallas; Remembering Nelson Mandela
Aired December 08, 2013 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Deborah Feyerick.
Does anybody remember summertime? I certainly don't. It seems like a lifetime ago.
Got a big chunk of the country to show you today. People in several states were dealing with a one-two punch of ice and extremely bitter cold. This is the twin cities, Minneapolis, St. Paul where normally they eat winter storms for breakfast. Twelve degrees right now in Minneapolis and with the wind chill, zero degrees Fahrenheit. Forecasters there say this might be the coldest cold snap in ten years.
Question, are you a casual football fan or are you a diehard football maniac? An impressive of blanket of snow didn't keep fans out of the stands or the players off the field in Philadelphia. Look at that. The Philadelphia Eagles won, by the way, 34-20 over Detroit. Actually both teams were winners when you think about what they played in. The highway patrol says ice and bad visibility to blame in this terrible pile-up on I894 in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Eighteen wheelers jack knifed and cars smashed into them. More than 40 vehicles wreck in all. Police up and down the shore of like Michigan, are advising people, guess what? Stay home.
Headed toward the east coast now, Washington D.C., it is not Wisconsin cold, but it is certainly nasty, 31 degrees and it is freezing fog. It is making for an interesting day at Reagan national airport and that's where we find our Erin McPike.
Erin, first of all, people are still encouraged their flights will get out, but how many flights are actually stuck right now?
ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've got a lot of freezing rain coming down right now, Deb, which we've had for the past couple of hours. And because of that freezing rain U.S. airways especially which cease a lot of air traffic coming in and out of this airport has cancelled a number of the flights this afternoon and this evening and there are also a number of delays. And we've seen a lot of flights canceled between Washington, D.C., and New York and also O'Hare in Chicago.
And I can tell you now that Chicago's O'Hare airport, they're not allowing any planes to depart or arrive until after 6:00 p.m. eastern because of some de-icing that they need to be doing there.
We're also seeing a big delay happening in Philadelphia. The average wait time for planes departing right now is an 1:43. That's about the worst of it. So the mid Atlantic region is taking the brunt of the storm. And also inbound flights are being delayed throughout the mid Atlantic region and all three of the airports that service the New York area, as well as some of the airports here in Washington, are seeing those inbound delays.
So, as this storm gets worse, tonight and into the morning, we're probably going to see more delays and more cancellations and that, of course, will delay Monday morning's start of business, Deb.
FEYERICK: Yes. Always cumulative.
Well, all right, we will keep an eye on this. Thanks so much, Alexandra.
And if there's one good thing to say about this early winter storm is that it won't hang around for a long time.
Alexandra Steele at the center in Atlanta.
Alexandra, what is the countdown until this storm passes? We are thinking maybe tomorrow, right?
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, tomorrow. Tomorrow will just be rain but it's also countdown toward the end of this. Erin, of course, in Washington, D.C., where we will see the changeover from snow to freezing rain. But look at the back edge of the snow and freezing rain line, already in western Maryland and western Virginia. But it is not over. There is a break in the action and then there is the rain that will come through this area through the overnight hours. So, a couple of hours break and then the rain moves in.
So, here's the forecast tonight. You can see in Washington around 6:00, 7:00 and there's the freezing rain, a break. You can see tonight by 10:00, still freezing rain. Overnight it's a rain game and will be for tomorrow. You know, we're talking about the upper Midwest. The upper Midwest temperatures are 35 degrees colder than this. All right, these temperatures will be in the 40s tomorrow. So, whatever we see tonight will certainly melt tomorrow.
But the bridges and overpasses will be still little slip, Deb, for tomorrow for the commuters.
FEYERICK: You know, as a thermal optimist, we tend to go to the airport, however, as a realist. I know that's going to be a long, long wait.
All right, Alexandra Steele for us there in the weather center. Thanks so much.
STEELE: Sure, Deb.
FEYERICK: Well, evangelist Billy Graham is very weak but not in eminent danger. This is according to his son. This is Graham in the celebration in North Carolina last month for his 90th birthday. Franklin Graham, his son, says his dad got an infection after his birthday and has not quite regained his strength. He did say that Graham's vitals are good.
And President Obama ordered U.S. flags ordered to half-staff until tomorrow in honor of Nelson Mandela. It was lowered in a police station in South Carolina, but it had nothing to do with Mandela. Instead, the sheriff said it was for a deputy killed in the line of duty and in remembrance of Pearl Harbor.
Today, the flag is flying at full staff and in direct defiance of the President Obama. The sheriff explained why he refused?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF RICK CLARK, PICKENS COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: The show of sign of respect to what Nelson Mandela has done, and I have no problem for them lowering it in South Africa in their country. But for our country, it should be the people, in my opinion who has sacrificed for our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Now, the sheriff faces no legal action for his defiance and he said he's grateful that he can disagree with the president without fearing a reprimand.
And a newlywed couple is accused of killing a man simply for the thrill of it. That's when police are saying about this young couple. They were married just three weeks at the time of the alleged crime. The details are horrific.
CNN's Alexandra Field is on the story in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, northwest of Philadelphia.
And Alexandra, what are you learning?
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Deb, Elytte Barbour is telling police he and his new wife wanted to kill, they had made attempts and then they met Troy LaFerrara, a 42-year-old married man who they met after they posted an ad on craigslist. LaFerrara found dead three weeks ago. Now, the married couple is behind bars and both are charged with criminal homicide. LaFerrara was discovered in the backyard of a Sunbury home and had been left there with 20 stab wounds. A resident looked outside her window and saw the body.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRITTANY SETTLER, DISCOVERED BODY: I walked up and I saw -- because -- a little bit of skin was showing. And I saw blood all over his arms were just -- everything was just covered in blood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: Police say that Miranda Barbour has admitted to stabbing LaFerrara repeatedly after he got in her car. Investigators say that Elytte Barbour was hiding in the backseat of that car and that he put a rope around LaFerrara's neck while Miranda Barbour stabbed him -- Deb.
FEYERICK: And Alexandra, one of the most frightening things about all of this is that this is a man who answered an ad on craigslist. Do you know what that ad said? How did they actually connect?
FIELD: Well, police are telling us that the couple had put an ad out there offering paid companionship services and that LaFerrara had responded to that that ad and then arranged a meeting with Miranda Barbour which took place outside a local mall. She then picked him up and he was in her car at the time. She told police that he started to touch her after they drove away from the mall and that's when she started to pull out the knife and attacked him.
FEYERICK: Now, Miranda Barbour has been denied bail. What's next for the suspects?
FIELD: All right, so Miranda Barbour and Elytte Barbour, they both have court dates later this month. Police are still working this case. It took them three weeks to make those arrests and to get to that point. LaFerrara was found without any identification on him. So police say they used his cell phone in order to make the connection and then linked them to the Barbours.
A lot more to see here, Deb.
FEYERICK: All right, just amazing. Just amazing.
All right, Alexandra Field, thank you so much. We appreciate you bring the details on that story.
Well, imagine waking up, it is cold, it is dark and guess what? You're inside a plane. No one else is around and you can't get out. That's next.
And protesters in a former soviet state anger at their government's recent move back towards Russia. Take down a statue of Lenin. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: We all tend to doze off every now and again when we're on a plane. But the next time you take a nap think about this. A man, a Texas man named Tom Wagner, he says he took off his hat and he dozed off on a united airlines express jet plane. And once the plane landed in Houston, actually no one bothered to wake him up. Everyone else simply left. He was alone in a cold, dark plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM WAGNER, LOCKED IN THE PLANE: I woke up, and I saw the lights were out and I said what's going on?
(END VIDEO CLIP) FEYERICK: Well, he used his cell phone to call his girlfriend and she called the airline which sent workers to the plane to release him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAGNER: I said don't put the blame on me. I said I didn't do nothing wrong here. They didn't sweep the plane? I mean, who shut the door?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: Well, an ExpressJet spokesperson told CNN affiliate KTRK, quote, "ExpressJet is investigating to determine how this occurred. We sincerely apologize the inconvenience this caused the passenger."
And fans, friends and car enthusiasts are gathering to pay tribute to actor Paul Walker. He died in a hurdle car crash last Saturday alongside friend Roger Rodas. The Porsche that they were driving burst in to flame after crashing into a tree and pole. Memorial rally and car cruise in honor of Walker just got underway. Some of the vehicles Walker drove in several installments of the "Fast & Furious" franchise are also on display.
CNN's Paul Vercammen is live at the memorial in Santa Clarita, California.
And Paul, this is a serious event, but there's also a celebration of this -- of his life, correct?
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely right, Deb.
In fact, it is more of a celebration of his life of anything. I would say there is anywhere from 2500 to 3,000 people up and down this street. This is near the crash scene and right over here is the memorial and Deb, it just keeps growing.
More candle, more flowers, they've add in a Christmas tree today. They've started to decorate the Christmas tree. All of this as fans here come out in what was basically an event that grew up on the internet and people started using social media to talk about it and it's not -- as the sheriff's department said a sanctioned to them, but as we said, you have 2500 to 3,000 people out here in Santa Clarita right now. A lot of people taking pictures. People just professing their love for Paul Walker and it's a youth movement of sorts. Here's Brendon.
Brendon, what did you like about Paul Walker and those movies?
BRENDON PALOMANRES, PAUL WALKER FAN: I liked -- because I know the -- I wish they could do the "Fast and Furious 8."
VERCAMMEN: Well, they have planned a seventh, so that is a good though. He's hoping a "Fast and Furious 8."
I should note that someone wants to rename this street Paul Walker street. No, I don't know -- go ahead.
PALOMANRES: They already did the number seven.
VERCAMMEN: They're working on shooting that right now. You're a very good fan, Brendon. Thanks for your knowledge.
Also Jennifer, another Paul Walker fan. What do you remember most about him?
JENNIFER MINA, PAUL WALKER FAN: Just describe him like amazing movies and he has great acting and stuff.
VERCAMMEN: And Ty, Paul Walker, for you?
TY GRANDBERRY, PAUL WALKER FAN: He's the best, man. You know, when he got that R-34 beat up, you know I'm saying, he just built it up by himself, you know, and that's just the best about the movie, you know? It just kind of let you know that anybody can put in work and make that money and just build up what they love and do what they love every day. And he lets you know, he lets all of these people know out here that that's what it's about, you know. If you don't have it you can get it some way, somehow and that's why I love him so much, man.
VERCAMMEN: Appreciate it, Ty.
A lot of these fan, and you know, a car culture of California saying that they really like Paul Walker.
Hang on just one second, Brendon. Do you have a final thought?
PALOMANRES: If -- I think --
VERCAMMEN: Go ahead and tell me and I'll let everybody know, OK?
All right, thank you so much, Brendon. I appreciate it, and a brave young man offering his thoughts on Paul Walker. A lot of his fans as many as 3,000 of them paying their tribute after the crash that would claim his life and that of his good friend Roger Rodas. But as you pointed out Deb, this is more of a celebration and, you know, a very, very sad memorial.
Back to you.
FEYERICK: Yes. He really has sort of a Jimmy Dean quality to too in him that sort of an early and premature death and , of course, police are still working on the investigation.
Paul Vercammen for us there in California. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.
We'll let you get back to Brandon right now.
All right, well, one family's struggle on two fronts. The young son is battling leukemia while mom is battling for kids to get more of the cancer research out there. You won't believe how little goes to kids. That is coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FEYERICK: Did you know that of all of the money raised in the U.S. for cancer research, less than four percent is actually put toward fighting childhood cancers? One Florida mother is out to change that, inspired by her young son's heroic battle against leukemia. Turns out playing football was just as important to his recovery as keep on therapy.
CNN's John Zarrella explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There was never a time Josh Pita says where he was a stay inside kind of kid.
JOSH PITA, CANCER PATIENT: I don't really like doing that. I love to play outside and be active.
ZARRELLA: Football is his number one passion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Run! Where? Off tackle. Where?
CHILDREN: Off tackle.
ZARRELLA: Josh and his Cooper City, Florida Pop Warner team just wrapped up a season. For the 12-year-old just being out there was a blessing. Three years ago Josh came down with a high fever. Turned out he had what's called pre-base cell acute lymph on Ballistic leukemia. Suddenly, Josh went from making tackles on the football field to tackling cancer.
LAURA PITA, JOSH'S MOTHER: The first words out of his mouth were am I going to die? The second words out of his mouth were I can't play football anymore.
ZARRELLA: But in fact, Josh could. After the first tough year and a half of treatment, spinal taps and chemo, Josh was told go play.
J. PITA: It felt really good because I love playing football.
ZARRELLA: In fact, his doctors at Joe DiMaggio children's hospital encouraged it. Getting the kids back to doing what kids do is as much a part of the cure as the treatments themselves.
DR. BRIAN CAUFF, PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGIST: We know that if we can get these kids back into a normal life doing the things that, you know, boys and girls their age are supposed to do, the whole pictures is going to be better. They're going to feel better.
L. PITA: His doctors would actually tell him his platelets were skateboard good or not skateboard good so we were always outside. Being outside is very important to Josh.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Play any sports?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Football. ZARRELLA: Josh is still going through periodic treatments, maintenance, it's called. He'll be done and declared cancer-free in March. His is a very common childhood cancer, one that is highly treatable, doctors say with a survival rate of 90 percent. As with most parents Josh's mom had no idea what the road to wellness would be like.
L. PITA: I didn't understand the world of pediatric cancer. It is so -- I was so far removed from it in my happy little bubble. I didn't realize what these kids go through.
ZARRELLA: Now Laura fund raises to find a cure for childhood cancers. And Josh, well, he's just waiting for football season to come around again.
John Zarrella, CNN, Cooper City, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Sports really keeps it normal.
Well, protesters in a country once part of the Soviet Union are now furious with the government's recent moves cozying back up to Russia. So angry, take a look at that. In fact, they destroyed a statue of Lenin. That's next.
Also, a rare one-on-one with Nelson Mandela. He once told CNN's Bernie Shaw there how he wanted the world to remember him after his death. You will only hear that interview here. That's just ahead.
But first, in today's human factor, chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the story of a Detroit firefighter. His career ended in an instant, but his fight back from tragedy is an inspiration to us all.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Multiple firemen down!
DOCTOR SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're listening to the actual 911 call from August 13, 2010.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The roof has collapsed. We need everybody here now!
GUPTA: It's a day that began like any other, but one that would change firefighter Brendan Milewski's life forever.
BRENDAN MILEWSKI, RETIRED DETROIT FIREFIGHTER: I remember we were working on the facade of the building and somebody had yelled some sort of caution and the bricks were kind of raining down in front of my face, and you're in taught in a collapse situation to run toward the collapse and your human instincts came over. I thought I had it beat is what caught up to until one hit me in the back.
GUPTA: Brandon knew right away his career as one of the Detroit's bravest was over.
MILEWSKI: You see these war movies like "Saving Private Ryan" when these guys are in combat that you lose sound. You can't hear anything and it was exactly like that. I tried to place my hands on the ground in front of me and do a push up and when I did that push up I couldn't slide my knees to my chest I knew instantly what happened and that I was paralyzed and had a spinal cord injury.
GUPTA: Brandon now spends three hours a day, three days a week here at the rehabilitation institute of Michigan, working to make the most of what muscles he still has control over.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your height's OK?
MILEWSKI: Yes. It's perfect.
There are days when I question whether or not I'm OK mentally, but to me it's simple. I learned early on that I have a voice through this and I have something to say and I have a message.
GUPTA: Doogie, as he's known to his family, because he joined the fire department when he was 25 years old and he is featured in the award-winning documentary "Burn" from executive producer, Denis Leary.
DENIS LEARY, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, BURN: What happens to Doogie in the movie is something that I think a lot of people would consider tragic. His response to what happens to him is heroic.
MILEWSKI: As much as I hate that it's me and my story, I think it's something that we need to open up people's eyes to.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Protests rocking Ukraine's capital city are escalating. Demonstrators today toppled a half-century old statue of the Soviet Union's founder Vladimir Lenin, but it didn't end there. Outraged that the government suspended talks to integrate with Europe, people hacked away at the monument leaving it in pieces. Kiev halted negotiations with the E.U. last month angering Ukrainian nationalists who believe a deal would have opened boards to trade and modernization.
Thousands of South Africans packed into churches and halls praying for the life of former president Nelson Mandela. Of course, Nelson Mandela's legacy is not likely to be forgotten any time soon if ever, but what did he think that that legacy might be? In 1994 the global icon sat down with then CNN anchor Bernie Shaw just one day before he would be elected South Africa's president.
Here is that part of interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BERNARD SHAW, FORMER CNN ANCHOR: Everyone is curious about you. You have one cavity filling. You're 75 years old. Your body has many muscles. Your smile is earnest, but your eyes and your mind come the ages. Who are you?
NELSON MANDELA, FORMER SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: Well, this is a difficult question. I have not been able to answer it. But I am part and parcel of a team which has been part of the pro of the anti- apartheid movement of this country. And there are many men and women from different than political affiliations who have contributed with this struggle. I am one of those.
I would like to be remembered not as anybody unique or special, but as part of a great team of this country that has struggled for many years, for decades and centuries to bring about this day.
SHAW: When did you last cry and about what?
MANDELA: Pardon?
SHAW: When did you last cry and about what?
MANDELA: I see. Well, I can't remember. But one of the things that has worried me is the fact that I do not have the chance to sit down with my children and grandchildren and be able to quiet them in the many difficulties that children and grandchildren have. That has been one of my greatest sources of concern.
SHAW: Would you share with us your reflections as you react to this question? After you, Nelson Mandela, take your last breath on this earth, how do you want to be remembered?
MANDELA: Well, as I say, I would like to be remembered as part of a great team, and as one has contributed not anything unique, but as much as other countries and even less than them towards the departed struggle in this country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Now Nelson Mandela wasn't always such a mythic figure. In fact, this is how millions of Americans first heard about him.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
FEYERICK: That's right. Rock stars and MTV. How pop culture taught many of us about Africa's apartheid. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Music was the gateway for many Americans to learn about Nelson Mandela and his battle against white minority rule apartheid in South Africa. MTV and pop stars helped draw attention to Mandela's plight and the oppressions of blacks.
Back in 1985 Steven Van Zandt spearheaded the musical boycott of South Africa's resort town known as Sun City which was known to paying a lot of money for superstar rock stars. Take a listen.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
FEYERICK: NOW across the pond, a British band scored a top ten hit in 1984 with this Mandela-inspired tune. Listen.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
FEYERICK: Now, "Rolling Stone" magazine contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis joins me here in New York.
Anthony, when you first heard "Sun City" by Stephen Van Zandt, what did you think of the song?
ANTHONY DECURTIS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE: Well, I thought it was really terrific. I mean, Stephen was somebody who I really --you know, he's Bruce Springsteen's guitarist and after they went to Europe, it kind of brought into his, you know, intellectual and historical knowledge and apartheid became an issue for him and he totally went for it, as is his way. And, you know, he united hip-hop musicians and rock musicians and jazz musicians to make his statement and it catalyzed action.
FEYERICK: It catalyzed because it is also mobilized all of these people to realize what that was going on in South Africa was simply unsustainable.
DECURTIS: Yes. There were a variety of things going on. I mean, I went to cover a concert to free Nelson Mandela in London for "Rolling Stone" and it was amazing how controversial that issue was at that time. I mean, there were conservative ministers of parliament in England who were very upset that the BBC was going to broadcast this concert. The concert was broadcast in the United States and kind of stripped of all of its politics. There was fear of offending advertisers, companies that had investments in South Africa.
You know, this was a highly charged issue. It wasn't just, there's poor people or starving people and let's help them. This was a real political issue with real consequences. So it was a battle.
FEYERICK: What's amazing is when we talk about "Sun City," Sun City was a region where the Zulus were kicked off their land without their consent and it was turned into a mega resort. So, it really became almost a symbol of white opulence.
When you think about what people began to learn listening to this music, even here in the United States, how did it also catalyze people here?
DECURTIS: There was a greater sense of, you know, it was around the time of "we are the world" and a concern with issues in Africa and this took people beyond, you know, philanthropy and charity. It made them understand that there was a real -- a terrible political situation that existed in South Africa, Sun City being a perfect example. I mean, like a lot of, you know, really bad regimes, bring sought respectability by bringing, you know, musicians over there to perform and gave them a lot of money. You know, Steven Van Zandt tried to put an end to that and other people, as well, and the free Nelson Mandela concerts and even something like Paul Simon --
FEYERICK: Or Graceland.
DECURTIS: Around that time, as well, which was something that called attention to what was going on in South Africa.
FEYERICK: Does this kind of pop activism still exist? You've got a lot of musicians, a lot of rock stars who are very politically active.
DECURTIS: Sure.
FEYERICK: But this kind of movement, is it still there or --
DECURTIS: Well, I think it's there and it's little more fragmented. You know, I think that there's not one issue right at the that galvanizes people certainly the way South Africa did. But you know, it's taking place along a variety of issues from the environment to immigration, to you know, other things that individual musicians care about.
FEYERICK: Right. But it's certainly not one that mobilized so many people to make such a political change. But I do want to switch gears for a little bit because I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that John Lennon today, 33 years, people gathered around strawberry field right outside the home of where he was killed. Just take a little bit of a listen for a second.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
FEYERICK: John Lennon really pushed for love and peace and very much in the mind and spirit of Nelson Mandela, as well. What in the world lose when John Lennon was shot? His music continues and even younger generations are catching on, basically. But what do you think?
DECURTIS: Well, I think that there were a lot of great possibilities if John Lennon had stayed alive. I mean, one, we missed whatever he would have been doing for the last 33 years. But also, you know, there's, I think, a good chance that the Beatles would have gotten back together if he'd lived.
FEYERICK: That would have been incredible.
All right, Anthony DeCurtis, thank you so much. I could sit here and talk to you for hours especially about the impact of the musician with respect to Nelson Mandela.
DECURTIS: They can all be proud.
FEYERICK: Yes, they really can.
All right, thank you so much.
Well, the band Heart just cancelled a gig at SeaWorld. Their twitter page says they were prompted to cancel after the documentary "Black Fish" that aired on CNN. Black Fish chronicled in part the treatment of killer whales in captivity. They're the third band to cancel SeaWorld concerts because of the film.
And tonight there is a premier of another incredible documentary on CNN. A man between 25 hard years in prison for killing his wife. But here is the thing, he didn't do it. And some argue the prosecution knew that all along. He told the story to CNN and we'll have a preview of that coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Imagine being arrested and tried and then convicted of a murder that you didn't commit, losing your family, two decades of your life, your freedom. That was the nightmare Michael Morton lived for a quarter century until evidence vindicated him of killing his wife. How could this happen?
CNN's Chris Cuomo talked candidly with Morton about his years behind bars and his unrelenting pursuit for justice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL MORTON, WRONGLY CONVICTED OF KILLING HIS WIFE: When I first got to Texas penitentiary the first thing they do is they strip you naked and search you. As I was standing in line to get my boots I noticed a guy in front of me. I counted 13 stab wounds in his back.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At just 32 years old, life as Michael Morton knew it was over. His wife, gone. His family, gone. His dream, gone. He was now a murderer and his reality was prison. His new life goal, to survive.
MORTON: I am probably the personification of that old -- you remember from school you can't prove a negative. How do you prove you didn't do something?
CUOMO: Morton was trying to prove he didn't beat his wife Christine to death on August 13, 1986. There was no evidence placing him at the crime scene and no murder weapon. His 3-year-old son who witnessed the murder even told police daddy didn't do it. But that statement and other details excluding Morton didn't come out until years later while he remained locked up.
How rough was it inside?
MORTON: I never liked it, but I got used to it.
CUOMO: How long did it take you?
MORTON: Probably 14 or 15 years.
CUOMO: Fourteen or 15 years.
MORTON: To get where I was used to it.
CUOMO: Are the first years the hardest? MORTON: The first years are hard just because it's a shock and it's new and it's constant adjustment, constant recalibration.
CUOMO: Morton says life behind bars began to take away his sense of self. What he missed most was his son, Eric, who was growing up without him.
What did your son mean to you, not just as a son. He had to represent things to you or ideas over the course of this journey.
MORTON: Yes. My son for me, he ended up being more than just my child. As I began losing pieces of myself, my reputation, my assets, most of my friends, as those things diminish, my son's importance rose, just if nothing else, supply and demand.
CUOMO: And how were those visits?
MORTON: To me it was just -- I'm a starving man looking at some food on the other side and I'm just eating it up and it's great and it's wonderful and I've since found out he's looking at me as this guy that really doesn't exist in his life. Somebody he just sees once in a while.
CUOMO: As he started to grow up and wanted distance, how did you deal with that and what ultimately did it lead to?
MORTON: He suspended the visits and eventually when I found out that he had changed his name legally and been adopted. Few things are as powerful to a parent as the abject rejection of their child.
CUOMO: Morton always maintained his innocence, and on the outside his attorneys hadn't given up on his case.
BILL ALLISON, MICHAEL MORTON'S ATTORNEY: I don't keep the files of all of the cases I've tried. I kept Michael's file. Michael's case was different, and on almost every level, particularly an emotional level with me.
JOHN RALEY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I cross examine people for a living. I have a pretty good sense of when somebody is lying to me. Not always, but most of the time. There was nothing about this man that didn't speak to actual innocence.
CUOMO: Finally in 2004, progress. Attorneys for the innocence project began working with Morton and they thought they had a chance.
You say I always thought that I would get out. What fueled the hope?
MORTON: It's difficult for me to say when I knew it was faith and I knew I was right. I wasn't guilty and this would work out or just that, I didn't know how deep I was in.
CUOMO: Then, came the break through. A request for DNA testing on a piece of evidence that would eventually unravel the case against Morton.
The existence of the bandana. What could be on the bandana. What the bandana meant. What was that in your life?
MORTON: That bandana, in hindsight, was huge. Everything turned on that little square piece of cloth. It's only a big deal when you can step back and look at the whole picture and fight the impulse to say, oh, my God, there it is.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: There were allegations that the prosecutor in Michael Morton's murder trial withheld crucial evidence, evidence that might have shown that Morton was innocent. What happened to that prosecutor and how Morton feels about that man coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FEYERICK: Michael Morton spent almost a quarter century of his life locked up for killing his wife until evidence never presented at trial proved otherwise. Now two years later, he has started a new life, and he talked to CNN's Chris Cuomo about moving on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: A Texas Supreme Court justice cleared the way for Michael Morton to find out why evidence that could have set him free was not turned over to his lawyers --
CUOMO (voice-over): Nearly 25 years, that's how long Michael Morton had been behind bars waiting for this chance. His last shot at freedom. He knew he was innocent. But time had worn away his resolve.
Was there any moment or period during your incarceration where you doubted yourself or you doubted maybe even reality?
MORTON: I wondered. I started to doubt a little bit, or question, and you really start thinking, well, I might die here of old age.
CUOMO: Morton's attorneys fought for years to have DNA testing done on a blue bandana found near the Morton's home where his wife, Christine, was murdered. The prosecution called the bandana insignificant.
RALEY: I told the court, and I'm quoting, this bandana may contain the blood of the victim, Christine Morton, plus perhaps mingled with the blood of the murder.
CUOMO: It did. The DNA was a match. Not with Morton, but with this man, Mark Allen Norwood. Norwood was eventually found to have murdered Christine Morton and afterwards another woman, Deborah Baker, a life that could have been saved.
Morton was finally cleared. But there was another twist. Ken Anderson, former prosecutor who helped put him behind bars, allegations that he withheld key evidence during the trial that could have helped Morton's case. He said, he didn't remember.
KEN ANDERSON COOPER, FORMER PROSECUTION: I don't remember a lot of this. I have no recollection.
CUOMO: Anderson, who had become a Texas judge, was disbarred and charged. He pleaded no contest and was sent to jail, but only for ten days.
Do you blame him?
MORTON: Yes. But at the same time that I blame him, I also forgive him.
CUOMO: Why?
MORTON: If you want to be forgiven, you have to forgive. I am not going to spend the rest of my life pointing my finger at him and wanting his head on a stick and going after him.
CUOMO: In order to be forgiven, you must forgive. For most of us, that is on a prayer card somewhere, pressed into a book or on a refrigerator.
MORTON: Yes.
CUOMO: And we say it to others, usually. What is it to live it?
MORTON: The difference between just saying forgiveness or giving forgiveness is all the difference in the world. It's like saying, I can fly or actually flying.
CUOMO: Morton was released in October 2011. He entered prison at 32, left at 57. But more had changed than just his appearance. He was out of prison, but not entirely free. That would come only when he reconnected with his son, Eric, just a toddler, when Morton was locked up.
ERIC OLSON, MICHAEL MORTON'S SON: I was raised by my aunt. I like to think that my family kind of set a standard, that we're not going to act differently because of what happened to my mother.
CUOMO: Eric visited his father in prison at first, but eventually shut him out. And even changed his name.
MORTON: When I got out of prison, that meant that the under pinning of everything that my son believed, that the motivation for all he had done, and others around him, had been shown to be false.
CUOMO: Where does that leave the two of you?
MORTON: In the middle of our process. It was slow-going because he had so much to change in his head and in his heart.
CUOMO: Eric married and eventually started his own family. Recently, he had a daughter named Christine, after his late mother.
What does it mean to you that your granddaughter has your late wife's name? MORTON: I was pleased by it. It made me smile. And I have to admit, it brought a little bit of a tear to my eye. But I like it most of all, because of what it says about my son and myself that we're reconnecting.
CUOMO: Perhaps one of the most shocking parts of this story, is that Morton says losing a quarter century of his life because the system failed him, changed him.
How different are you now than you were in 1986?
MORTON: I'm different, not just because of maturing and incarceration, but I'm different because I can really appreciate colors and association with good people. I love people's pets, small children, good food, clothes that fit and are comfortable, a nice bed means a lot. Things that you take for granted, I get all that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: There is so much more to this story. Catch "An Unreal Dream", the Michael Morton story, tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. We'll be watching right with you.
