Return to Transcripts main page

Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

New Severe Weather Warnings from Washington State to the State of Maine; Jonathan Martin NFL Bullying Scandal; No Verdict Yet in Michael Dunn's Murder Trial; What's That Baby Thinking?; Oscar Pistorius: Shooting Death Of Girlfriend "Consumes Me With Sorrow"; Cupid's Digital Reach

Aired February 14, 2014 - 20:00   ET

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


ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST, OUTFRONT: Sounds incredible. Did you realize sinkholes can be three times that size? Three times that size and one could be under you right now. Happy Valentine's Day. "AC 360" with John Berman is next.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Good evening again and get ready again. Winter taking another shot at the country and virtually no state goes untouched. It is breaking news tonight.

Also, the lowdown on the slowdown. How this weather is crippling air travel to a degree not seen in years and why there is still more to come.

And later, what's going on behind those baby blues? Anderson's continuing series on how even the youngest children seem to be hardwired for grown-up thinking. Tonight, can babies discriminate?

We do begin though with the breaking news. Another round of dangerous winter weather. New watches and warnings posted from Washington State to the state of Maine including a blizzard watch in Massachusetts, a blizzard watch. And if you lost count it all, don't worry, you're in good company. All 50 states have now seem know this winter, 49 in just the last 24 hours. The impact continues, literally.

Take a look at this. About 100 vehicles were involved in a series of crashes and pile-ups today on a stretch of the Pennsylvania turnpike just north of Philadelphia. We will take you there shortly. It was a mess.

First, though, let's check in with Chad Meyers in the weather center.

Chad, a blizzard watch after all we've been through already, a blizzard watch. What's going on here?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: But for a tiny little piece of the world.

BERMAN: But they are my people. They're in Massachusetts.

MYERS: Cape Cod. Well, they know how to leave and they know how to deal with it. It happens all the time. Here we go, John. Low around Louisville heads down across the south of West Virginia and in to Pennsylvania. And Pennsylvania will get more snow. Probably four to six more inches for you. Now, the forecast isn't perfect right now. I don't even like how computers are talking about this model. But we do have watches all the way across the country, all the way from, literally, from Kentucky all the way to Maine as you said. And there's your winter storm warning right across Cincinnati and points to the south into the southern Ohio.

There is the blizzard watch. And there's going to be a lot of snow here. I mean, this area right there is going to pick up six to ten inches of snow and maybe even all the way out to Long Island. Forecast doesn't like the forecast the amounts for New York City yet. So I'm going to have to kind you have watch this and see what happens. I think there's still more to come here. But there's the storm. There it goes. It winds up a big wind event tomorrow night too for New York City and Boston.

But just kind of skipping over New York a little bit and then bombing off the east coast. So the real heavy numbers are eastern parts of long island, also Boston and Nantucket. And there you go. There's how it grows throughout the afternoon and night tomorrow. So the Chatham area, the Plymouth where I was two weeks ago, that is the area that should get most of the snow with this. New York City with this model completely in the clear. One other model that I just looked at, says by tomorrow night into Sunday morning, New York gets five inches it of new snow. So the computers are just not agreeing on this one yet. The great news is the weekend.

BERMAN: Great news so the kids can't get snow days again. We will keep our eye on that one. We'll be focusing a lot on the east coast, Chad. But there is weather out west, as well.

MYERS: Yes, certainly is. There is an awful lot of weather out west. And we'd like to have more weather out west in the southwest where the growing season is maybe not even going to happen. But this is the next storm. There's a low coming on shore here and it's going to make snow in the higher elevations east of Seattle all the way down the Cascades through Boise all the way back to Jackson hole, 20 inches of snow. But where they want it, the snow is where you want to ski in it, where they want to go play in it and they really need the moisture because there's a huge drought going on out here.

There is no rain, no snow, nothing expected for southern California and into the San Joaquin Valley. That has been dreadfully dry, John.

BERMAN: All right, back out east in the other areas hard hit, Chad. When they finally see a break? When we will know we're in the clear?

MYERS: Finally, this pattern we've seen for so very long, John, where the trough's in the east and it's been cold, cold, cold flips. And six to ten days, the six to ten days forecast has everybody east of the Mississippi above normal for the first time in as long as I can remember.

BERMAN: All right. Hallelujah. Chad Myers, thank you so much for that. But we do have keep our eye on that storm throughout the weekend because that looks like it is moving right now.

Thanks so much, Chad Myers.

So needless to say, all this will not make things any easier for air travelers who are already coping with epic delays. And to give idea of just how epic we are talking, consider this. The last time we've seen so many flight cancellations was when the entire U.S. air space was shut down after 9/11. With the holiday weekend ahead of us, many passengers are wondering if it could get worse before it gets better.

Let's get more now from Sunlen Serfaty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Madison Wolf and her mother have been stranded and sleeping at Charlotte's airport for two days. The junior Olympic competition in Portland, Oregon, for them now on hold.

MADISON WOLF, STRANDED PASSENGER: It's very frustrating. I mean, I've been prepping for this for a long time. And it is very frustrating not to get there for this.

SERFATY: Their story was repeated at airports all along the east coast. More than 6500 flights were canceled Thursday, over 1100 flights today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what was necessary because this storm was so broad and impacted so many key cities and so that's why those numbers get so big.

SERFATY: Add to that, thousands of delays. Patience worn thin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our original flight was earlier this morning and it was delayed and still is apparently. But it won't let us get a ticket because our connecting flight in Philadelphia has probably got to be rescheduled. So, we're in line to actually talk to an agent.

SERFATY: From Charlotte and Newark hit with the most cancellations to Philadelphia, New York, and Washington, D.C. Thousands are still stranded today. No idea when they could get home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're trying to get our flight rescheduled to Atlanta. It's been canceled like three or four times. Basically, we're going through hell.

SERFATY: Airports were still working to clear snow from the runways and airlines still working to clear boards like this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest sin that you can have on a big went like this is let a one-day event become a two-day event or a two-day become three-day event when the weather doesn't drive that.

SERFATY: Passengers who spend the night at the airport are still waiting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I took time off from work going to San Francisco for Valentine's Day. And it's pretty enough over with.

SERFATY: One thing flying freely, anger on social media, one airway passenger tweeted quote "sop canceling flights, Philly airport."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm supposed to officiate my sister's wedding. And so, it was a small wedding but still, it was incredibly emotional not to be able to be there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: A lot of frustration. Sunlen Serfaty joins me now from Washington D.C. at Reagan national airport.

And Sunlen, the thing is, this is a holiday weekend. I imagine a lot of airlines were booked up already with reservations. So, how are they now dealing with the backlog here?

SERFATY: Well, John, they've got a huge hole to climb out of but they are trying. And they have two things they think are going for them. First, is that they pre-canceled a lot of these flights. Six thousand fights yesterday were canceled. That might not sound like good news, but from the airline's perspective, that gives them a lot more flexibility, a lot more ability to recover.

And second, they say that even though this is a holiday weekend between Valentine's Day and Presidents' Day, they say a lot of these flights weren't completely booked. They weren't at peak levels like we saw in the January storm just after the holidays. Again, having a few seats here and there they can play with gives them a lot more flexibility. All that said, John, it still is going to take a lot of time.

BERMAN: And it can be expensive in the end for consumers too, Sunlen.

SERFATY: This is already costing a lot of people a lot of money. John, you're going to be frightened by this number. $3 billion it cost consumers this year alone just on these storms in this travel season. That's out of pocket costs for hotels and meals, lots of productivity. And the airlines are losing money, too. $200 million, the airlines have lost because of all these delays and cancellations. So basically, no one's a winner. Everyone is losing money.

BERMAN: Well, there is extra night in the hotel, the mini bar tab adds up.

Sunlen Serfaty, great to see you. Thank you so much.

Let's go now to Margaret Conley who is near the scene of that huge pile-up on the Pennsylvania turnpike.

Margaret, this was an incredible scene. I spoke to you this morning. You were stuck in some of the traffic associated with it. Is it all cleaned up now? Give us the latest. MARGARET CONLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, the turnpike is now open. You can see it here behind me and the lanes are clear. That's the latest from the police. But it's been a long messy day otherwise starting at 8:00. We were on that road. We got stuck in traffic. There are about 100 cars that were part of a massive, massive pile-up. And we learned that there were about 20 separate accidents that contributed to that pile-up.

Now, I talked to one of the people that was involved in one of those accidents. He was released from Abington hospital not too long ago. And he said that all he saw were brake lights and then a wall of cars. His head hit the steering wheel and right now, half of his body is very numb. And he says he's a bit shaken up.

John, we were also talking about the reason for these pile-ups. The officials were saying at first it was not attributed to weather. But now, they are saying that the gun glare and possible ice on the roads could have been a factor.

BERMAN: All right, Margaret Conley for us. Amazing scene in Pennsylvania. We really appreciate you being there.

Let us know what you think about all this weather. Keep it clean please. Tweet us at #AC360.

Coming up for us next, still no verdict in the trial of Michael Dunn, charged with murder in the killing of a teenager in an argument over loud music. But, the jury did ask a question tonight that could give some clue of what they're thinking.

Also ahead it, is it still bullying if it happens inside an NFL locker room. The report is in on whether Ricky Incognito harassed his teammate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: In Equal Justice tonight, a Florida jury appeared close to a verdict in the Michael Dunn murder trial, but in the end, decided to call it a night. Deliberations are set to resume first thing tomorrow in morning in the case of a white man accused of killing a black teenager after an argument about loud music.

Now, just a quick reminder in, in 2012, Michael Dunn got in argument with four teens in an SUV. He was complaining their music was too loud. After the argument, he ended opening fire on the vehicle killing 17-year-old Jordan Davis. Dunn says he was acting in self- defense. At this point he's charged with first degree murder as well as lesser murder charges including three counts of attempted murder. This evening the jurors asked the judge a question that could give some indication where this is going.

So joining us now to talk about this, CNN Martin Savidge, former federal prosecutor Sunny Hostin and criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos.

Martin, let me start with you. As we said the jury is done for the night, but they asked very specific questions. What were these questions tonight?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It was all day they were pretty quiet. And later around 4:45, they came out with two questions initially. The first was, could they have a 30-minute break which was yes. But it was the second one that got eyes popping. And that question -- I'm going to read it to you because it was kind of awkward the way they phrased it. They said, is it possible to not reach a verdict on one count and reach a verdict on other counts. The short answer coming from the judge is yes. The big question on the minds of everybody who is hearing that is, my goodness, what does this really mean. Clearly, it sounds like this jury is caught up and where are they caught up? Most people tend to think it's on the murder charge, the death of Jordan Davis and was it murder one.

And so, if it's not essentially what it would mean is that the jurors could come back and rule on whatever else they've decided, but they couldn't rule on that, and that would be declared a mistrial on that particular count. Certainly, not going to be heartening for the supporters of Jordan Davis's family and everyone else.

BERMAN: All right. Sunny, Mark, let me get you to weigh in on this. They asked if they could agree on some charges but not another. What do you think that means? Sunny, you first.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, I think it probably means that self-defense is off the table and they have agreed already on the attempted murder charges as well as the sort of shooting a missile, shooting bullets into a moving vehicle. I think that's what it means. Because it's pretty clear that self-defense, I don't know if Mark agrees or disagrees with me, is a defense to the attempted murders, as well. So, if they can agree on the other count, so that means the dispute is between is this first degree murder, is this degrees murder or is this manslaughter.

I've been in the courtroom. I have been looking at these jury. They seem like such a cohesive group. I will tell you, when they came out later tonight right before they were dismissed, they are a group with a lot of tension. It's a very different jury right now. And hopefully, they'll be able to come back, start fresh tomorrow and reach some sort of consensus on that one count that seems to be giving them the most trouble.

BERMAN: Mark, what do you think? What are they hung up on?

MARK GERAGOS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, let me tell you something. I've said from seeing the jury composition initially, that this, to me, had hung jury written all over it. They could very well have come to a conclusion and reached a guilty verdict on the one count that's throwing a projectile and whatever that is, they could still hung on the other counts.

And I agree, believe it or not, with Sunny. I don't think that they've reached a verdict on the first degree. If they reached a verdict on the first degree, I don't think they'd have trouble with the attempt counts. So my guess is it they've reach a guilty verdict on the one count. They're probably hung on one or more of the other counts. And my rule of thumb is, if they go past Friday afternoon, the jury goes past Friday afternoon, that's about a 90 percent chance that they're going to hang on at least one of those counts.

BERMAN: Martin, there were other questions that the jury had, as well. Asking to see surveillance tape from the video store, asking to see the mannequin used to demonstrate bullet angles, asking for a dry erase board easel. What do you think can be read into the questions taking all that together?

SAVIDGE: Well, I mean, you know, it's the last question that really has everybody caught because you know, you come this far. Today we already exceeded the amount of time of deliberation it took for the Zimmerman trial. You know, that was a long and really sensational and controversial trial. This one certainly wasn't as long, and yet this jury was hung up.

So, those previous questions were things they needed to do the job. The last question seems to be telling us in pretty stark terms that they will not necessarily be able to complete all of the work they were supposed to do. There's one charge or maybe more of which they are hung up and that means this could be in some respects a retrial down the line.

BERMAN: Sunny, you said race that brace, the issue of race in many ways has been the elephant in the room during this trial. Do you think that's affecting the jury deliberations right now? Because it is a pretty diverse jury.

HOSTIN: It is. And we have 12 jurors this time as opposed to six in Zimmerman. I think that race is certainly an issue here and no one seems to want to talk about it. There are two African-American women on the jury, a Hispanic man. Those two African-American women, I will tell you, every time the jury comes back, I look at them. They looked like they have dogged their heels in. I mean, they're looking down at the ground. They are looking very, very (INAUDIBLE), very different from everyone else. And the bottom line is I think we can all agree, everyone's been using this sort of code word, thug music, subculture, rap crap.

Bottom line is that if there were four white kids in that car listening to heavy metal or even listening to rap, we wouldn't be here. And so, I think this case, and I think Mark will agree with me again, is really about that perception of the inherent criminality of the black teen. People seem to be at least in Florida, maybe other places, as well, scared of the black male teen. And it's something that I think we need to put front and center when we are talking about this case.

BERMAN: Mark, you're nodding through at least part of that.

GERAGOS: Look, when people use thug, they use rap culture, they use loud bass filled music, things like that, that's all code. And I don't think that they're discussing race in the jury room for a second. But what happens is it is the perception that people have, the prism through which they look through is colored, pun intended by that. And one of the reasons you probably, and I said I don't think that you're going to find the defense hoping for a not guilty here. I think the best the defense can hope for is a hung jury or a guilty on one of the lesser counts because I don't think, given the demographics of this jury, that you're going to find 12 people who are going to acquit him.

BERMAN: No, so it does seem to be you're all saying he's going to be convicted of something, guilty of something. How much remains to be seen and some ways this drama is increase.

Stay with CNN all weekend. We'll, of course, be covering the verdict when it comes in.

Martin Savidge, Sunny Hostin, Mark Geragos, thanks so much for being with us.

Up next, we were puzzled what driving NFL star Jonathan Martin suddenly left the game last year, then troubled by his allegations of bullying. Now, the league's report is out and some of the details are just plain shocking.

Later, we all know where babies come from, but do you really know where they're coming from? What Anderson uncovered about how babies think might just change the way you think about them.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Welcome back, everyone.

If you think that only school kids get bullied or the physically frail or socially vulnerable, this next story will really open your eyes. That is because it concerns a 6'5", 300-pound, physically aggressive hulk of a man who gets paid to knock other big aggressive guys on their backsides.

We are talking about this guy, Jonathan Martin, Miami Dolphins defense attacker. He says he is a bullying victim and now the NFL has a very good reason to believe him. When he suddenly left his team last fall saying he was bullied by this guy, number 68, teammate Richie Incognito, the league appointed attorney Ted Wells to head up an investigation into those allegations.

Today, the report is out. The bottom line from them? We conclude that three starters on the Dolphins offensive line, Richie Incognito, John Jerry and Mike Pouncey engaged in a pat an tern of harassment. What's more, the authors say it wasn't just Martin who aim ca in for abuse but also another young offensive lineman whom they call player a and assistant trainer who goes unnamed. The report says the trainer was hit with racial slurs, player a came in for homophobic name calling and improper touch. And Martin quote "was taunted on a persistent basis with sexually explicit remarks about his sister and his mother and at times ridiculed with racial insults and other offensive comments." The report also details records Richie Incognito kept of fines he levied as team captain including one against himself for in his own words "breaking J Mart." That would be Jonathan Martin. Asked for what breaking J Mart entailed, here are some of the taunting.

Quote "we're going to run train on your sister." In other words, we're going to gang rape her. Or this voice mail message he left for Martin. Hey, what's up you half "n" word piece of extra man (ph). I, of course, sanitized that for TV.

Martin told investigators the bullying led him to contemplate suicide twice last year. They say text messages to his parents during that time frame reflect his anguish.

So, Richie Incognito's lawyer today sharply denounced the report. Incognito himself tweeting up a storm including this. He wrote, I am guilty of being a loyal friend and good teammate. I apologize for my poor language and rude marks. I've never denied it.

And that notion of a friendship between the two as well as another complicating factor did not escape investigators. They write, to be candid, we struggled with how to evaluate Martin's claim of harassment given his mental health issues, his possible heightened sensitivity to insults and his unusual bipolar friendship with Incognito. Nonetheless they go on, we ultimately concluded that Martin was indeed harassed by Incognito.

Late this evening, Jonathan Martin's agent told CNN sports his client is glad this is behind him. And just moments ago, Richie Incognito tweeted to followers, good-bye twitter. Be well. See you on other side.

So much to talk about here with Rachel Nichols, host of "UNGUARDED WITH RACHEL NICHOLS," also former New York fork wide receiver Chansi Stuckey. We spoke a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Rachel, this is a pretty disturbing report for the Dolphins, not one but three of their players and an offensive line coach accused of engaging in a pattern of harassment, things like threatening to gang rape Jonathan Martin's sister, calling him the "n" word, homophobic slurs against another player. Not a pretty picture at all. First, I just want your general reaction to the report.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN ANCHOR, UNGUARDED: It's not shocking but it's still extremely disturbing. And the depths are what is most disturbing. We all know that there's a culture in an NFL locker room. Let's face it, it's different than an accountant's office or lawyer's office. But just like this report states that, doesn't mean just because it's a different culture and perhaps to more loose culture that it just has no limits. And there are limits that have to be put in place here. And I think that's what the NFL is going to look at next.

BERMAN: Chansi, Rachel brought up the key point. Disturbing but is it really shocking? A cynic might say this is the coarse locker room culture we hear so much about.

CHANSI STUCKEY, FORMER NFL WIDE RECEIVER: It is shocking because it's a typical to what really goes on in an actual locker room.

BERMAN: Is it?

STUCKEY: Yes, it is. You can't have these type of things going on and win a championship. I guarantee you Pete Carroll and those leaders in that locker room did not have this going on. So, this is a typical to really what happens in the locker room. So, this is very disturbing. It is very surprising.

BERMAN: But there's joking in a locker room.

STUCKEY: Absolutely. Just like at a men's club, you have a golf club, you have guys there that's going to have fun. You are going to joke. But there becomes a point when the leaders in the locker room have to take over say hey, you are doing too much or guys stands up for himself and say hey, this is too much. So there comes a point that it has to be something done.

BERMAN: Rachel, what do you think the NFL is going to do here? They haven't commented other than to say they're looking at the report and they are reviewing it. Roger Goodell, the league's commissioner, he doesn't like turmoil. He doesn't like untidy things. This has turmoil and untidy written all over it.

NICHOLS: Well, the NFL already has policies in place that are supposed to limit or disallow any of this kind of behavior. If you read the rules, all of the stuff is against the rules. What's obviously going on here is that those rules are not being enforced or taken seriously. The players and coaching staff are clearly not familiar enough with those rules.

So that's what the NFL has to look at next is how to implement those rules better. Also has to look inside the Dolphins organization because supposedly, you had a head coach in Joe Philbin who didn't know any of this was going on. First of all, that is a little bit hard to believe. But let's say that you take that as fact. That's really almost as trouble. How does this guy not know what's going on inside of his locker room?

BERMAN: So Jonathan Martin, he wants to play football next year. It doesn't seem like it will be with the Dolphins. Be honest here, if he were to go to another team, how do you think he would be received by the players on that other team?

STUCKEY: Two things. First, it's going to be hard. If he goes out and plays great, we love you, man. You're our guy. If he struggles a little bit, you know, guys are going to be stand offish. He'll get with the online and if they like him because those guys are the cool guys on the team. They stick together all the time. So if he can mess with whatever group he goes to, I think he'll be fine.

NICHOLS: If you have a respected leader in the locker room, if you have coach like Bell Belichick that says guess what, guys, this guy's in. We've decided this had is what goes, and a team like the Patriots, what's happens. He has that kind of control. So I think the best situation for Jonathan Martin to get back into the NFL is on a team like that, on a team with strong leaders both in the coaching staff and in the locker room.

BERMAN: Chansi, in this report we learned a lot about Jonathan Martin, as well, in his struggles with depression over the last few years. This is a guy who's been dealing with a lot of demons here. Does the NFL have any resources to deal with this? A guy says I'm depressed. Is there anyone he can turn to?

STUCKEY: Absolutely. The NFL does a great job of having the right people and the right connections in place to do this. They have therapists. They have everything you need, but you have to believe NFL is a game for men. If you show a softer side, it makes it tough. So for the guy to actually go and say, I want to see a doctor, I'm depressed, you know, that's tough.

BERMAN: Did you ever know another player who went to a coach, went to a doctor inside the locker room and said I'm depressed and I'm having emotional issues?

STUCKEY: Never. You might hear rumblings of it outside the locker room. There is something is going on with this guy and you kind of see it, but that's very, very rare that you hear a guy go to the trainer or to the coach and says I need help with depression or I have suicidal thoughts and things of that nature.

NICHOLS: That's the problem that players have all over. They're caught in the middle of bit. There's all kinds of programs the NFL has in terms of mental health and offering players these options, but guess what, if you do go for them, you are seen as weak. Your team and your coach does know about it. It's seen as a liability. It's really a barrier for these guys to ask for help.

If you go to the Dolphins organization, which is what this report today said was the only thing that Jonathan Martin did wrong is that he didn't go to the Dolphins organization, to the coaching staff and snitch on his teammates, if you go do that, then you're a pariah among your team mates and other guys don't want to play with you. It's a problem.

BERMAN: Chansi is here nodding and says then you can't.

STUCKEY: It's a locker room code that you have to abide by. You don't want to be that guy outside the other 52 guys looking at you. This guy is a snitch. Guys will get away from you and you're going to be alone. It's a tough, tough situation that he was in.

BERMAN: All right, now the ball is in the NFL's court. We will see what Roger Goodell and the Dolphins do and the league does. Rachel Nichols, Chansi Stuckey, great to have you here, really appreciate it.

STUCKEY: Thank you.

BERMAN: Coming up next, part three in our series on what babies are really thinking. Researchers at Yale say their experiments suggest that babies are born knowing good from bad. But are they also born with bias? Anderson tackles that question with the cutest test subjects imaginable.

Also ahead, a solemn anniversary, it's been one year since Oscar Pistorius killed his girlfriend, he says by mistake. A year later we've received exclusive photos of the couple from the Pistorius camp. He also released a new statement as he awaits trial. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: For the past few nights, Anderson has been showing us Yale's so-called baby lab where researchers are trying to learn what babies are thinking and what that tells us about human nature. The research suggests that babies are born with an innate moral compass knowing the difference between good and bad.

And in tonight's third part of the series, it goes even farther than that. Experience seem to show that we're all born with a type of bias, a preference for those who are most like us, not just those who look like us, but those who think like us. Fascinating, right? Here's Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): This is the Infant Cognition Center at Yale University, otherwise known as the baby lab. Parents bring their children here to unlock the mystery of what they're thinking. The baby whisperer is Dr. Karen Wynn. She and her team of researchers believe knowing good from bad isn't learned. We're all actually born with those instincts.

We watched babies as they were presented with a puppet show. Here a puppet struggles to open a box. First we see a green bunny who comes along and helps to open the box. Good behavior, good bunny. Then we see an orange bunny slap the box shut and run away. Bad behavior bad bunny.

When given a choice between the two, more than 80 percent of 6-month- old babies chose the good bunny. For those just three months, it goes to almost 90 percent. So if babies know the difference between good and bad, what else do they know? Researchers here say very young babies very clearly like people who are similar to them.

(on camera): Thank you. That's so nice of you.

(voice-over): And dislike those who may be different. But we're not talking about physical differences here. We're talking about differences of opinion. Think of it like people in the same political party rooting for the same sports team. For Berkeley and Parker, it's simpler. Do you like Cheerios or Graham cracker?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which one would you like? COOPER: Berkeley chooses a graham cracker. Then she watches as a gray cat and an orange cat are presented with the same choice. The orange cat chooses the same as Berkeley.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like graham crackers.

COOPER: The gray cat chooses differently.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yuck, I don't like graham crackers.

COOPER: So which cat does Berkeley gravitate towards? You guessed it, the orange one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

COOPER: The one who shares her opinion.

(on camera): So that's the idea of this, that Berkeley gravitates to the doll that's similar.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To the like-minded puppet and away from the puppet that had the different opinions from her.

COOPER: Is that something that's learned or is that just something innate?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we've found this in babies as young as 7 months of age. I think it's just a natural aspect of human nature that were built to judge, you know, in what ways is this individual like me and in what ways are they different from me.

COOPER (voice-over): Parker also chooses a graham cracker, but the orange cat chooses differently from him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yuck, I don't like graham crackers.

COOPER: Now, watch what happens as Parker sees the orange cat struggling to open a box. This yellow puppy is nice to the cat. The blue puppy is mean. Even after witnessing the blue puppy's bad behavior, Parker likes the mean one.

(on camera): It's almost that he wants to punish those who don't have the same opinion as him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we find over and over again is that babies will choose the individual who is actually mean to the one who had the different opinion from himself. It seems that we're at a deep level built to not like individuals who are different from ourselves and to prefer those who are similar to us.

COOPER: Is that depressing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's, you know, I think there's a lot of reasons why we might be built to orient towards others similar to us to want to hang out with them and conglomerate with them. Yes. You can think of it as, you know, how the first special interest groups get formed, right?

COOPER (voice-over): In the same scenario, more than 80 percent of babies under a year old choose the mean guy. And with babies around Parker's age, a little over 1-year-old, 100 percent of them prefer the mean guy.

(on camera): So does this mean that bias is inherent and that bias is built into us?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it does. We're biased to others who share our opinions or are similar to us in key ways. I guess to try to spin, you know, the positive is if we're built to dislike differences. We're built to like similarities. It's remembering that someone is like us in some way that gives us the connection to them.

COOPER (voice-over): We've seen babies express positive feelings liking good behavior and rewarding good behavior and we've seen them express not so positive feelings by discriminating against others. So what do these studies mean in the long-term?

Karen Wynn and her team at Yale hope that by studying these innate feelings babies, we can all learn where our moral beliefs come from. Anderson Cooper, CNN, New Haven, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Got to say this research really makes you think. The work being done at the Yale baby lab is featured in this book "just Babies The Origins Of Good And Evil." Anderson spoke with the author, Paul Bloom, who is also the husband of the woman who runs the baby lab.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: This is so fascinating to me because we think of babies being a blank slate when they're born, kind enough blob that parents can mold. But in your book, you're arguing that essentially babies are born with an inherent sense of morality.

PAUL BLOOM, AUTHOR, "JUST BABIES: THE ORIGIN OF GOOD AND EVIL": I think it's one of the great discoveries of our time actually. In our lab and in many other labs, we're finding that babies at the earliest ages you could test them have a moral core.

COOPER: There are babies who choose the bad character, who don't gravitate toward the good character. Does that mean they're -- something in them is a bad seed?

BLOOM: We're often asked this. Are we identifying little psychopaths, the 10 to 15 percent of babies that don't behave as expected? We don't know. It's possible these are really different babies, but it's also possible in these experiments some babies fall asleep or look at their toes or get gas and then they behave in an unexpected way.

COOPER: They get gas. That's a common problem?

BLOOM: This is how it's different from testing babies from testing most undergraduates.

COOPER: Is it possible some of these babies are not born with a moral compass?

BLOOM: If I had to about bet, I would say that every human has fundamental moral notions, but what you do find is differences. Take empathy and compassion. They're distributed among humans more or less on a bell curve. Some of this is genetic.

COOPER: What do you mean distributed in a bell curve?

BLOOM: Some people have very little. Most people have an intermediate amount. Some people start with little, some people start with a lot, and I think some of it is a genetic throw of the dice, babies born with a lot of empathy and compassion and feel the pain of others intently. Others a lot less so, and I don't think this is the same as saying some babies are little psychopaths or monsters.

You could be low empathy but a very good person. You could be motivated by a sense of rights and justice. You could can be high empathy and be a bad person because you're so caught up in feelings of others, so painful to you, that you can't act. You're paralyzed.

COOPER: What do you think a parent should take away from what you've learned?

BLOOM: I think this sort of research should lead parents to marvel at their kids and sort of appreciate they're not lumps. They're not meat lobes, but they have a profound understanding of the world, including the moral world and to recognize part of the project as parents raising kids, isn't to insert morals into a creature that doesn't have any, but rather take somebody who has a limited moral sense and help the moral sense flourish.

COOPER: So can you say categorically that babies have an inherent sense of good?

BLOOM: Yes, I think our research finds babies do have an inherent sense of good. But we also find that they have selfish and self- interested impulses and that their moral sense is limited. So when faced with a question, are we naturally good or evil, I think the best answer is yes. We have both good and evil within us.

COOPER: So they also have a sense of evil you think?

BLOOM: They have a self-interested desires. They can be selfish. They can and the sense of good that they have is limited.

COOPER: It's made me look at babies -- your studies have made me look at babies in a whole other way. They're for more interesting. I love babies and everybody does, but they're far more complex and there's so much more going on in there than you sort of traditionally thought, than I've thought

BLOOM: It's an extremely exciting area. I love -- I often find myself looking into a baby's eyes and wondering what in the world is that baby thinking.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: And then the baby throws food at you. This is just amazing research. You can find out much more on the story at "ac360.com.

Up next for us, exclusive photos of the blade runner, Oscar Pistorius and his girlfriend, some of the last taken before he shot and killed her one year ago today.

Also, we have a "360" follow, we'll take you inside that sinkhole that swallowed eight priceless corvettes. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Welcome back, everyone. South Africa's blade runner, Oscar Pistorius is breaking his silence over the fatal shooting of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. He killed her a year ago today. He charged with premeditated murder in her death. He claims he mistook her for an intruder. He will face trial next month.

Today, Pistorius tweeted a few words from my heart and linked to this statement, quote, "No words can adequately capture my feelings about the devastating accident that has caused such heartache for everyone who truly loved and continues to love Reeva." He adds, quote, "The pain and sadness especially for Reeva's parents, family and friends consumes me with sorrow. The loss of Reeva and the complete trauma of that day I will carry with me for the rest of my life."

In addition, CNN has obtained exclusive photos of the couple, by the look of them very much in love. We should mention they come from the Pistorious camp. So be advised of that.

A lot more happening tonight, Susan Hendricks here with a 360 bulletin -- Susan.

SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, the U.S. government has issued guidelines for banks that want to do business with state licensed marijuana sellers. The banking industry pushed for explicit legal authorization. Since pot is still illegal under federal law, officials say the government can't go that far. Some banks may choose to not take the business.

A 360 follow now, the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky has released new video from inside the sinkhole that swallowed eight cars this week. A contractor says it will take at least four to six days to pull the corvettes out of the 40-foot wide hole.

A little royal help for a flooded village west of London from Prince William and Prince Harry, nearly 6,000 homes were flooded after the rives burst its banks. It was the wettest January in England in two and a half centuries. They're not afraid to help out.

BERMAN: Strong backs on the princes. Thanks so much, Susan.

Up next, on this day of romance, we look at coupe cupid's growing power online.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Florists and candy shops could be heartbroken this Valentine's Day. Sales took a hit from the weather, but online romance is soaring. Tom Foreman takes us on a heartfelt "American Journey."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Once upon a time, Brook and Kyle Brandt were living anything but storybook lives. They didn't know each other, each was struggling to find love when instead they found an idea.

BROOKE BRANDT, MET HUSBAND ONLINE: We do our banking online and our social networking is online. So why not try online match making?

FOREMAN: She signed up with an internet dating service. He did, too.

BROOKE BRANDT: You called. And I think I saw you the next Friday and we've never been apart since.

FOREMAN: Online dating once widely viewed as sketchy or a haven for the desperate has become a billion dollar business filling the airwaves with ads. A study found one-third of marriages between 2005 and 2012 began online in part because the internet solves a fundamental problem.

RACHEL DEALTO, RELATIONSHIP EXPERT: The biggest question that I get from singles is where do I meet people.

FOREMAN: Rachel Dealto is a relationship consultant who says the massive growth of dating sites that the filter choices by religion, race, age, even beauty allows like-minded users to quickly connect.

DEALTO: If you can go hang out with a bunch of vegetarians and you're passionate about being vegetarian, why not join a vegetarian dating site.

FOREMAN (on camera): Another cause for the explosion, the economy. A popular theory holds when the recession hit, many people started looking for less costly ways to explore relationships. Giving online dating a big boost.

(voice-over): It does not work for everyone, of course, but --

KYLE BRANDT, MET WIFE ONLINE: Where we are now is starting our fourth year of an internet dating marriage. We have an internet dating baby. We live in an internet dating house.

FOREMAN: For Kyle and Brooke, it's a trend with a storybook end. Tom Foreman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Happy Valentine's Day to all, especially my wife. That does it for this edition of "360." "PIERS MORGAN LIVE" is next.