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Leaders Of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine Agree To Meet Wednesday To Discuss New Peace Agreement; Brian Williams Steps Down From Nightly News Anchor Chair - For Now; Serial Podcast May Have Helped Convicted Murderer Win New Appeal; Another Major Snowstorm Barrels Through New England; Aaron Hernandez Jury Tours Home And Victim's House; Employee Screening At Atlanta's Airport Under New Scrutiny

Aired February 08, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again and thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin in Ukraine where artillery continues to fall on the city of Donetsk. Pro-Russian rebels say that eight civilians were killed this weekend in fighting. According to Ukrainian forces, they have lost 12 of their own soldiers and killed dozens of rebels during the fighting.

But there may be a glimmer of home for renewed peace. The leaders of France, Germany. Russian and Ukraine have all agreed to meet end means on Wednesday to discuss a new peace agreement.

CNN's senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is in Donetsk.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredericka, the shelling has been intense the past few nights and it is no exemption tonight as dark falls over Donetsk.

Today we saw how people are picking up the pieces from the last 24 hours of shelling, which killed eight separatists, so many civilian homes here destroyed by artillery.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (voice-over): While this is the backdrop to peace talks, Donetsk is finding a deathly routine of picking up the pieces. Here lived and died Vladimir, home alone when the shells struck. These fragments may have been hit to hit a separatist base nearby.

Idiots, the man says.

Around these shops, a day earlier, shells landed, a woman died, two others wounded, each lost dragging this self declared republic further away from Ukraine.

Well, as so often in civilian neighborhood like this, those shells land on what both side will continue to blame each other for firing them. The net effect is so often clear amongst the residents of Donetsk and it fuels the loathing they have for their government in Kiev.

The way out towards the rest of Ukraine is complicated, so the Donetsk to Moscow bus this day is full, we're told.

She says, they're all fleeing, the shelling.

Take a look at what one stray shell did to one warm happy family life here.

(INAUDIBLE) shows us where it landed in the bathroom, shrapnel through windows and walls, in to the girls' bedroom, wounding their mother, Yana (ph), in the kitchen. Nobody died here, but childhood's innocence were surely lost.

Why are they destroying us?, he says. Why is the west supporting the Kiev government?

The 3-year-old (INAUDIBLE), the family's sheep dog was killed. These private homes, he says, what are we meant to do, wait for them to kill us and not take up arms? Why are we fighting?

(INAUDIBLE) said he never wanted to fight in the war, but is now thinking about it.

The violence here fermenting the kremlins narrative, this is a NATO backed war on ethnic Russians. With each torn home greater the challenge of making Ukraine whole again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: Now Fredericka, the real fear I think is we now have this tentative date for the peace talks, Wednesday, in (INAUDIBLE). The four leaders, Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany attending. That may yield something if the propriety work goes well. That's what we're told like diplomats. But there is a fear too. And on the ground here, that potentially gives a 48-hour window in which the two sides have to fight hard to improve that (INAUDIBLE) potentially before ceasefire maybe imposed upon them.

A lot that could still go wrong, a lot of people here, fearing for their lives on both sides of the lines, I should say. And a lot resting on whether or not the diplomats can make anything work in Minsk (ph) -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much.

Let's bring in CNN global affairs analyst and "Daily Beast" contributor Kimberly Dozier.

So Kimberly, is there a diplomatic solution on the horizon here?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, you do see the various different sides maneuvering to make it look like there could be one. France and Germany making noises that they think they can get Russia to agree to something. You would think that these leaders wouldn't show up for a meeting without the series staff agreed beforehand.

We also see vice president Joe Biden making some really sharp remarks again about Russia and then anonymous officials saying that the U.S. is considering arming the Ukrainian rebels. Something we know Germany and France don't want. But what we could be seeing here is a good cop/bad cop situation. In other words, Russia, we got a chance this week to help solve the situation and pull back and get some relief from those economic sanctions here suffering under or this is the tough guys, that tough route that we're going to take arming your opposition.

WHITFIELD: Is there a feeling, particularly among these European leaders that just arming the Ukrainians, I mean, they still are going to be dwarfed by what the Russians have. And so, it seems like a futile attempt for the Ukraine to be able to, you know, stand up against Russia. Is that why they are against arming Ukraine?

DOZIER: In large part, they're worried about seeing this situation devolve into a Bosnia-like civil war, where you have yes, the U.S. could agree to give limited aid to the Ukrainians on the ground, but then the Russians with all their resources right over the border, can match that and overmatch that with so much more firepower, possibly bringing in their air force. And then you've got an escalating situation, whereas, right now, you have an opportunity to keep it from sliding into that. That's what European officials are arguing.

U.S. military officials I have spoken to have said they would really like to step up, even some sort of special operations aid where you have advisors on the ground helping some of these Ukrainian forces with better intelligence to better concentrate the fire power that they do have.

WHITFIELD: OK, so that is kind of the push for some, you know, American leaders. But if Europeans like Germany and France saying they don't want them to have more arms, meaning, Ukrainians have more arms, and they feel like there's some hope in more discussion, diplomatic discussions, if the talks haven't worked thus far, what is it about France Germany's position that they don't want to depart from that, that they want to give diplomacy a chance.

DOZIER: Well look, they have managed to get Russia to agree to possibly show up this week. So they have another opportunity to prove their point. But they do have three major sticking points that are going to be tough to solve, if there is some sort of a ceasefire, do you put peacekeepers or something on the ground to make sure Russians aren't coming in with more covert aid, what happens with eastern Ukraine? Ukraine gave them some more autonomy, Russia and the separatists say there's not enough, how do you resolve that? And in the third case, how do you keep the Ukrainian government onside if the separatists start attacking again?

WHITFIELD: Right. And if there is a deal reached by these talks, is there a real feeling that separatists will go along with what they conclude?

DOZIER: True. Russia doesn't command them. WHITFIELD: All right, very prickly situation to say the least.

Kimberly Dozier, thanks so much. I know I'm going to see you again in the 4:00 eastern hour.

All right, still ahead, Brian Williams taking himself off the anchor desk at least for a while as NBC sorts out what is true, what's not. What more about this story is being told over the years? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: NBC's Brian Williams won't be anchoring "Nightly News" tomorrow night or for the next several days, in fact. He has decided to pull himself off the anchor desk temporarily over the scandal surrounding his inaccurate account of one of his Iraq war stories.

In a memo to his staff, Williams writes this. Quote "it has become painfully apparent to me that I am presently too much a part of the news due to my actions," end quote.

The long-time anchor has apologized for a story he has told multiple times about a 2003 trip to Iraq in which he describes being part of chopper convoy that was hit by a rocket propelled grenade. But one of the pilots who was in the helicopter convoy, that actually got hit, shared his story for the first time on television to our won Brian Stelter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: Do you know where Brian Williams at the moment your helicopter was hit by the RPG?

DON HELUS, CHOPPER PILOT: Well, we had a lot going on, but I am pretty sure he was not on our flight at all.

STELTER: Meaning he must have been so far away that he couldn't see the incident happen?

HELUS: Yes. I mean, because you know, we had two units, each at us different missions. They were separated, you know, by time, their destination may be different from what our destination is, you know. So it can put time in between the two flights as they're heading up north.

STELTER: And what is the first time that you ever heard Brian Williams describe what happened inaccurately?

HELUS: When I return back to Kuwait for repairs on the aircraft, a friend of mine have been had alerted me of the story of, you know, and basically asked me if we had Brian Williams on our flight, of which I told him not -- we did not, and then he showed me a video of it on the Internet.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: So another point of view on where Brian Williams was on that day, Brian Stelter spoke with the chief Allan Kelly who says he knows the answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Is it right to say that Brian Williams was aboard your helicopter and not on board the helicopter that was shot at in Iraq that day.

ALLAN KELLY, PILOT: That's correct. He was aboard my aircraft that day in march.

STELTER: What was your aircraft doing and was it ever in sight of the Chinook that was shot at?

KELLY: My aircraft along with my -- the chalk one, I was chalk two in a flight of two Chinooks, we were carrying bridge pieces up to the Euphrates. We are afraid that we are going to blow the bridges and we wanted to make sure third ID (ph) had the capability of crossing the Euphrates. As far as the Chinook (INAUDIBLE) that was shot down, we were not within visual range to them. And they would have to be almost on top of this with the same that we are flying through in order to get up there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Brian Williams told his staff that he will be back on the anchor desk in the next hour. I'll speak with media experts about what the network is weighing to see if indeed that will be the case.

All right, still ahead a convicted murder may get a second chance at freedom, all because of a popular podcast. Nick Valencia is following that story for us next.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hey, there, Fred. It's a show that captured the attention of millions and brought new life to a 15-year-old murder case. Coming up, we'll tell you how a serial the podcast may have helped a convicted murder win new appeal.

You are watching the CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Buying a home used to mean hiring a licensed real estate agent and visiting place after place after place until you find the one you loved.

Thanks to technology, buyers can now browse real estate listings whenever and wherever they want.

DOTTIE HERMAN, PRESIDENT/CEO, DOUGLAS ELLIMAN: At least 85 percent of all Congress assumers search, go online before they actually buy anything and well before they're ready to buy.

QUEST: Today, even with technology, red tape and paper abound -- that's the matter of transform of real estate would take it all online. That's the vision of Square Feet, an internet based realtor.

JAMES SIMPSON: We have streamlined the process so you as the seller would download the app, you take pictures of your home, and once you're finished, it take, you know, five or six minutes to create a listing. It's just going to be cleaner, simpler and faster.

QUEST: And it's cheaper too. List your home with a traditional agent and you pay six percent commission. Do it yourself with square feet and pay one percent. That's a $25,000 saving on a half a million dollar home. The question two the future is whether people really will want to do it themselves.

HERMAN: I wouldn't mess around trying to take shortcuts with a big investment like real estate.

QUEST: Technology may not put the broker out of business, but it does let us decide whether or not we need one.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, checking our top stories now.

A deadly crash involving Bruce Jenner was not caused by paparazzi, according to Los Angeles county sheriff's investigators. They say photographers were not chasing Jenner when his SUV ran into a Lexus from behind. The Lexus van is oncoming traffic on the Pacific coast highway and then was hit by an oncoming car, a Hammer. The drive of the Lexus died.

In Monroeville, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh, a 17-year- old has been arrested in connection with a mall shooting that injured three people. Police say the suspect faces adult charges of attempted homicide. According to investigators one of the three people hit by gun fire was the intended targets while the other two were apparently by standers.

And public health authorities in Chicago say three more babies have come down with measles, all three attended a Chicago area daycare, where two other children came down with the disease. Officials are unsure whether these cases are linked to the multistate outbreak that began at Disney land in California.

And if you have any questions about the measles you can ask them right here on CNN. Just tweet me @fwhitfield #measles. And at 4:00 eastern time, we will put your question to a doctor who will be joining me right here on the set to answer your questions.

All right, the wildly popular podcast known as "Serial" may end up helping a convicted killer get a new trial. Each week 12 episodes chronicled in Cliff hanging detail. The inconsistencies in the (INAUDIBLE) trial for the murder of his high school girlfriend back in 1999. Here's a sample of what listeners heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I first met Adnan in person, I was struck by two things, he was way bigger than I expected, barrel-chested and tall. In the photos I had seen he was still a lanky teenager with struggling facial hair and sagging jeans. But now he was 23. He spent nearly half of his life in prison. And the second thing which you can't miss avoid Adnan is that he has giant brown eyes, like a dairy cow. That's (INAUDIBLE) my most idiotic length of inquiry. Could someone who looks like that really strangle his girlfriend? Idiotic, I know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, I want to bring in CNN's Nick Valencia who has been following this case.

So hugely popular podcast and now the plot thickens.

VALENCIA: Absolutely. This story just keeps on giving. It's a story that gripped so many around the world, millions tuning in every week to listening to the potential podcast serial. And now the attention that that show brought to this case has given it new life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): This is "Serial," the most talked about podcast in 2014. And now the man at the heart of it is getting a new chance to overturn his conviction.

On Friday, the Maryland court of appeals agreed to hear at Adnan Syed's case. A decision based on the claim that (INAUDIBLE) original attorney failed to call a key witness who gave them an alibi. It's a huge victory for the 33-year-old. In 2000, he was convicted of murder in the death of his then ex-girlfriend, Hayman Lee (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The last time 18-year-old Hayman Lee was seen alive she was here at Woodlawn high school. This past Tuesday she was finally found, a passerby in Leakin Park discovered her body hastily buried in a shallow grave.

VALENCIA: Syed became a familiar name to millions around the world last year because of journalist Sarah Koenig who focused her podcast on the 199 Baltimore murder case.

SARAH KOENIG, JOURNALIST: Something doesn't make sense here in this case. And I don't know where the problem is. And so it really is just me trying to figure that out.

VALENCIA: The drama was downloaded a record breaking five million times. But perhaps more importantly, it casts reasonable doubt among listeners that Syed might have been sentenced to life in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

KOENIG: You can take one piece of it and say well that part didn't happen, but that doesn't mean the whole thing -- the entire thing is correct.

VALENCIA: On Friday, Syed's attorney tweeted this. We will be heard by the court of special appeals. It's another step in the direction of winning a new trial for Adnan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would rather say you're a jerk, you're selfish, you're a crazy sob you should just stay in there for the rest of your life except on the future case and I looked, you know, like a little off. You look like something is not right.

VALENCIA: While Koenig's podcast may have drawn attention to the case, the wheels were in motion an appeal well before the podcast debut. But now a significant step by the court that will give serial's army of faithful followers a chance at solving the biggest mystery, did Adnan Syed really do it?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: This is the first step in what will be no doubt a lengthy process. I spoke earlier to defense attorney who said that the burden is going to be on Syed's defense to one, prove that a mistake was made by his original counsel and two, that that mistake was big enough that it would have changed the outcome of the case. So this is just the first step, Fred. It is going to be a long process.

WHITFIELD: And I guess because it's -- because the podcast highly publicized, that too is going to bring another strange component to a new trial.

VALENCIA: Absolutely. Everyone who's listened to this show has formed an opinion one way or the other. Sarah Koenig who's the sort of brain child of the show, she says she's not sure actually what happened. So every week, very interesting, she was revealing new details as they were gathering them which made the show as popular as it is.

WHITFIELD: Very fascinating.

All right, thanks so much for bringing that to us. Nick Valencia, appreciate it.

All right, and here we go again. Nick, you've been with us three weekends in a row and doesn't ill feel like a repeat cycle. We are talking about the snow on the way again, and it is going to be pummeling the northeast.

Again, Sara Ganim is live for us in Boston -- Sarah.

SARA GAMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, the city of Boston dealing with an unprecedented amount of snow, a budget that is already been spent and up to two feet of snow still on the way. How are they dealing with that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Boston, canceling school tomorrow and Tuesday as yet another major snowstorm barrels through New England. Here we go again. More than 6.5 million people the time are in its path and it comes as Boston is already dealing with record breaking amounts of snow.

CNN's Sara Ganim joining us now from Boston, hopefully from a safer place.

OK now, you you're off the street, maybe in a big mound that is supposed to be the sidewalk.

GANIM: That's supposed -- this is still the street side. And as we said earlier, this is the problem. Because these snow piles are making this street very narrow, very difficult to drive through, it decreases visibility for drivers, it also forces people to walk on the street where the sidewalks aren't plowed, and this has become a problem.

The mayor just spoke a few minutes ago. He said that this amount of snow is unprecedented because it has fallen back to back to back in these snow storm in such a short amount of time. They are having trouble getting it out of the city, getting it off the street and plowed in time before people start to go back to work and get back out on to the street. The mayor mentioned something he said that private contractors are causing the problem. I want you to listen to why that's become an issue when it comes to snow removal. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR MARTY WALSH, BOSTON: We have had many case where is businesses have been cleaning their parking lots out and their parking lots look beautiful and they're pushing it out on toe the street or into a pile across the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GANIM: So, he was saying is that private contractors are taking snow off the properties where they contract is to remove it. But then they're dumping it into streets and into allies. He also said it's become a problem that people aren't honoring the parking bans in some places and they're not able to fully plow the streets and therefore remove all of the snow.

Now, removal has become an issuing because their budget is completely block busted already, Fred, this year for snow removal. He said he's going to find a way to pay for it to get the snow off the streets. But they may have to loan these snow warmers from the state of New York. They have one here in Boston. They're thinking of loaning two more to try and melt some of this snow. It's only the second week of February, pretty early in February to wait for all of this to melt with just simply be too long. As I mentioned, up to two more feet could fall, between now and Tuesday, Fred. And that's a lot of snow and it's causing a lot of trouble for people in the city who are trying to get around.

WHITFIELD: It certainly is, as another vehicle now passes and creeps by you there, see, Sarah, I'm so glad now you're no longer in the street.

All right, thank you so much, Sara, be safe. I appreciate it.

GANIM: We are further away, yes.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

All right, then, more snow on the way, Tom Sater, I know it's one day at a time. But OK, now we're three weekends in a row.

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Groundhog day, it is the movie.

WHITFIELD: I know. We're just in February, and a lot of times that's the biggest, you know, winter month in the northeast, so God.

SATER: You know, there could be up to two feet. Now, Boston so far to this day, has had about 58 inches, typically they should have half of that. I mean, (INAUDIBLE) mass has had 78 inches, they have never had that much snow to date.

Here is the forecast. This is not a nor'easter, this is not like the last storm last week. And this is a clipper that come in from Canada. They drop a couple of inches, right, typically. There's a cold front entering (ph) down from the south, which is allowing moisture to come in. So yes, easily 10,12, 15 up to one to two feet in a few areas.

Let's break it down for you. Here's the low. This is the one that typically drop a few. But there is cold air in place. It is going to be a freezing rain issue for New York City that begins tonight into rush hour tomorrow.

The snow mainly from New York, Pennsylvania border northward and then east and that's Hartford. Yes, that's providence. That's up toward Portland, where Boston, you could get a lot more snowfall. Think of the budgets for the city. Think of the budget for all the municipalities.

So the snowfall, really, it is going to start to fill in. Boston, 3.7 inches so far. But again, we're looking at least 15 for you, for isolated amounts. And then here you go in the west coast, flash flooding, there's going to be the threat for mudslides again, three, six inches possible, the snow is really high elevation, so that's good news. But we have a chance for isolated tornadoes and hail with us. Every weather element you can think of, Fred. Because keep the earthquakes at bay today.

WHITFIELD: Please, that's right. This is enough. So let's take a look at Boston one more time, how about that?

SATER: All right.

WHITFIELD: All right, so right now, yes, just that. And you know, typically, Boston has a nice, thick fog, but now is this kind of like the prelude of the snow? Is the snow falling right now.

SATER: Just lightly right now, yes, but with two feet on the ground, it is very cold. And so, the coldest air of the seasoning moves on, after another batch of snow, Fred, Thursday into Friday. We will talk about that later.

WHITFIELD: So that will be the fourth weekend in a row, possibly, that we're going to talk about.

All right, thanks so much. I'm sorry folks in Boston, but that is the way it is. Just be strong.

All right, thanks Tom.

All right, still ahead, we're answering your questions about measles. Tweet me @fwhitfield #measles.

And coming up in the 4:00 eastern hour, we're going to actually put your questions to our medical expert in house here when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, for a third time a snowstorm is now postponing the murder trial of former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez. Tomorrow's court session has been called off. Right now, it is scheduled to restart on Tuesday. The trial took an interesting turn on Friday when jurors took a rare field trip to better understand the evidence in the case.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A field trip that's all business requested by prosecutors and defense. The Aaron Hernandez jury escorted by bus in a police motorcade for an up- close view of evidence that might make it easier to understand the case. In court, prosecutors give a preview.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to direct your attention to a cell tower that's located in that area.

CANDIOTTI: The jury sees four cell phone towers that prosecutors say generates signals along the route, the former Patriot tight end takes with Odon Lloyd the night he was murdered.

Next stop outside Odon Lloyd's home. During the jury tour, prosecutors point out a security camera at the house across the street. It capture this surveillance video of Lloyd getting into a car investigators say is driven by Hernandez. Hernandez is in not allowed on this trip, but the jury gets to see the spot where prosecutors say Odon Lloyd's bullet ridden body is found in this industrial park. After about 15 minutes, they head for Hernandez's neighborhood.

The jury's bus tour winding up here at Aaron Hernandez's home. They are inside right now. Both prosecutors and defense wanting to show off the home security system which includes at least 12 cameras. It is going to be critical evidence in this trial. Now, you also, the defense, that is, had to remove various football

memorabilia and family photos that were not there in June of 2013 when Hernandez is arrested for Lloyd's murder. Inside the home they also see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The kitchen area and then into a living room and again we'll be pointing out certain features, the layout of the home.

CANDIOTTI: Including the great room, seen in this surveillance video, of Hernandez's fiance and her sister recorded a day after Lloyd's death.

Jurors also see the foyer where Hernandez's photographed walked into the house minutes after Lloyd murder. And prosecutor say holding the murder weapon that has never been found.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Fall River, Massachusetts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's bring in Joey Jackson, HLN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney. All right, good to see you.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good afternoon, Fred, good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right, so how much of a difference does it make when a jury gets to go on a field trip like this.

JACKSON: Well, you know, it could be significant. In a normal case, what ends up happening is, remember, attorneys are arguing in court, they're showing photographs, they're showing surveillance evidence and they are trying to persuade a jury and bring that jury to the crime scene, though that jury is empanelled in a courtroom.

In this instance, of course, that is otherwise corroborated and buttressed by the fact that now the jury gets a hands eye view of what, of the cell tower that they're going to be talking about that relate to pings on Aaron Hernandez's home as it relates to voiding Odon's actually house, right? They were right there. And so, they saw when there was the pickup. Of course, Aaron Hernandez in that car, Mr. Wallace's star co-defendants too, and then they go to the home of Aaron Hernandez. But before that, Fredericka, they go to actual crime scene.

So it is somewhat helpful to have a jury who otherwise is confined to the courtroom go to the actual scene to get a sense and a flavor of what the case is all about.

WHITFIELD: So before they go to -- the jurors get a chance to go to Hernandez's home, a number of items as we heard in Susan's piece are removed. Any kind of football memorabilia, anything like that. Is that because of the risk of, you know, any kind of prejudicial influences here? I mean why would the jury -- why is it OK the jury would go to his home, try to get a lay of the land, where the door that he would, you know, appear with what appeared to be a gun or something in his hand, but everything else has to be sanitized.

JACKSON: You know, it is interesting, Fredricka, because just bringing back by way of history, O.J. Simpson, February 12, 1995, what happened then? That jury in that case was brought to O.J. Simpson's house and surrounding areas. And in that case, Johnny Cochran and the team put a bible in O.J. Simpson's home and they otherwise quote- unquote strategically manipulated the house to make it appear that O.J. Simpson was a God fearing man and everything else.

WHITFIELD: Which is the norm.

JACKSON: Right, exactly. But guess what happened in this case, Fredricka. The night before the prosecution team actually went and they saw that things were added to the home, religious items were items, memorabilia of Aaron Hernandez relating to hiss high school days, his college days, in addition to NFL days, and they said judge, we can't have that. And the judge said look, make that house appear as it did appear on the date of Odon Lloyd's alleged death and nothing else. So they were tried as the defense team to sanitize the house make it look like -- it should have looked like so as not to influence the jury in favor of Aaron Hernandez.

WHITFIELD: Very fascinating.

All right, Joey Jackson, thank you so much.

OK. So we will see if court resumes on Tuesday, big snowstorm heading, we know that school is closed Monday and Tuesday. But we will see if that impacts the court and whether it will resume on Tuesday.

Thanks so much, Joey. Appreciate it.

JACKSON: See you soon, Fredricka. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, next in the NEWSROOM, saying goodbye to a legend, former North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith died last night. His impact on and off the court, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Fans are leaving flowers on the campus of the University of North Carolina outside the dean's mid-center, the home of its basketball team. Former head coach Dean Smith died late last night. And it is no wonder why Smith is considered one of the greatest coaches of all time.

Here is a look at his life on "an Off the Court."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dean Smith's 36-year coaching career at North Carolina will likely stand forever as one of the most distinguished in the history of college basketball. At his retirement, he won a then record 879 games, 65 of them in NCAA

tournament play, another record. His tar heels won two national championships and made 11 trips to the final four.

But perhaps Smith's most astonishing accomplishment was that his teams won 20 or more games 27 years in a row.

DEAN SMITH, HEAD COACH, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA: We have been lucky the type of young men and student athletes at the University of North Carolina.

TURNER: Smith's influence on the game was as easily as great as his statistical achievements. His innovations included team huddles at the foul line and the four quarters offense which led to the introduction of the shot clock in college basketball in 1985.

Former UCLA coaching legend John Wooden once said of Smith, he's the best teacher of basketball I have ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm here only because of my players, I think that's obvious.

TURNER: Character and class, words often used to describe Smith were hallmarks of the man's entire program.

On the court, he taught unselfish play, team work and tenacious defense. Not surprisingly, dozens of Smith's former players went on to careers in the NBA, including Michael Jordan, perhaps, the greatest player of all time. In fact it was said that Smith was the only man who could hold Jordan to under 20 points a game because of his emphasis on team play.

MICHAEL JORDAN, NBA PLAYER: He went through the basics, just studying hard, understanding more about people, being respectful, being appreciative of the things that were given to me. And you know, from that day on, I carried that along.

TURNER: But for most of Smith's players, the lessons his taught went well beyond basketball. Ninety seven percent of Smith's letter (ph) men received a degree.

Smith retired from North Carolina before the 1997 season. He'll be remembered not only as one of the college basketball ace winningest coaches, but also one of the best men to ever team the game.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An exclusive CNN investigation is revealing a serious gap in airport security around the country. Our team started doing some digging after the story broke about a Delta airlines baggage handler being charged with smuggling guns onto plains in Atlanta. He was able to do it, authorities say, because he did not have to go through the kind of screening that you and I do, when we travel. And he's not alone. With very few exceptions, there are two different

security standards at American airports, one for passengers, another for all those people with access to the planes that we fly. The question is, after all these years after the 9/11 attacks, how can that be?

Here's CNN's Drew Griffin.

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DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At Miami international airport, this is the security you don't see standing in line. CNN got exclusive access to the screening that takes place for what they call the back of the airport employees. These are the baggage handlers, the mechanics, the cleaners, anyone you don't see going through screening with passengers. It's the same screening, no matter what kind of security badge or security clearance the employees holds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: IDs are not enough to stop malicious intent. I mean, you can bet employees for basic information on their backgrounds, but it's not going to necessarily prevent them from carrying out some kind of malicious activity against an airport.

GRIFFIN: What may surprise you is what's happening at Miami's international airport, the full screening of every airport employee is the exception, not the rule.

CNN contacted 20 of the major airports across the country and found that screening of employees is random and partial at best and no national standard exists. The only other major airport that does full screening is Orlando.

Many airports like Seattle's Sea-Tac, telling us an extensive background check and airport security badge is all that's needed for employees to get on the tarmac and gain access to airplanes.

It's a similar story we heard from Dallas, San Francisco, McCarron airport in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, even JFK in New York.

Pass a background check, get a badge and you have access to the inner works of America's airports, without going through the same screening passengers face up top. Airport officials have told CNN the cost of screening all employees is simply too much for their budgets. Security expert Wayne Black says relying on badges for security is stupid.

WAYNE BLACK, SECURITY EXPERT: You don't have to be a security expert. I mean, a fifth grader can tell you that if you are checking security at the top end, at the front end of the airport, you got to be checking the back end of the airport. We have a saying in our business. And that is budget-driven security will always fail.

GRIFFIN: The TSA which sets standards for airport security says that in the wake of the gun smuggling case in Atlanta, it is implementing or considering a range of measures, including additional requirements for airport and airline employee screening, but so far no national changes. Restaurant employees and flight crews that go through terminals do pass through a checkpoint. Those that work below do not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the terminal we've got to be careful with the bags.

GRIFFIN: In Miami, airport security director Lawrence (INAUDIBLE) says checking some but not all airport employees just isn't enough. The threats at her airport are the same across the country -- smuggling guns, drugs and the potential of terror.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the greatest vulnerability is for this airport and probably any other major airport like MIA is the insider threat. Basically people that are going to attain your credentials and use their access to exploit the system.

GRIFFIN: Miami international has been screening like this ever since a drug smuggling scandal in the late '90s, every employees with access to airplanes goes through metal detectors and screening, going to work, coming back from break, every time, every one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today's day and age, we have to deal to terrorism.

GRIFFIN: If Miami is an example for how security should be done, the airport also has proof of why. Last year alone, 209 employee I.D. badges were confiscated due to security violations caught by screening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have intercepted guns, drugs, large sums of money, weapons, knives.

GRIFFIN: Employee screening is under new scrutiny after the arrest of a Delta baggage handler in Atlanta. The employee work with a passenger to smuggle guns to New York. The baggage handler, unscreened was able to take backpacks of gun into the airport where he passed them on to a passenger already cleared through security. Atlanta is now evaluating the cause of full employee screening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Put it this way. This is, you know, it's a costly program. It is really not that costly when you compare the cost versus the consequences of not having a program like this.

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WHITFIELD: All right, we got so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM and it all starts right now.

Happening right now in the NEWSROOM, bracing for yet another winter blast.