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Expert: Seinfeld May Have Inspired Routh to Kill; A Look Inside Isis Stronghold of Raqqa; Search for Another Suspect in Road Rage Case; 87th Academy Awards Get Serious

Aired February 23, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Mark, we're days before closings. We were talking -- Joey and I, in the commercial break -- insanity, it's basically like, do you know what you were doing was wrong, right? Butt's so much more nuance than that.

MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST & CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It's very nuanced.

BALDWIN: Talk about that.

O'MARA: It's very nuanced. That's the problem. The people -- what we have to look at is the way the Texas statute plays out. Basically, if you knew it was wrong, what you did, you're responsible for your actions. Here's what the prosecution is going to do. They'll say, all the defense wants to say is please forgive us for that event even though other events are somewhat rational. Don't forget, when Routh drove away, he knew how to drive the car. He knew how to start it and what side of road to drive on. When he stopped for tacos, he knew to stop at a taco restaurant and pay for it. All those incidents that happened prior to it and before are relevant.

A couple of things particularly relevant, it's a nuance, but he said he had to kill them Littlefield but he had to do that. Then he had to kill Chris Kyle because he was going to kill the other person. Well, killing Chris Kyle makes that a rational event to get away with a crime.

The other thing that's very relevant and very telling, if I was a prosecutor, what I would focus on, is he told the officers when they stopped him, one, after he was getting away, which is a rational act, that he was paranoid and schizophrenic. Well, don't forget, mentally ill people, insane people don't know they're insane. I think he probably messed himself up when he was trying to argue that to the officers.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: But the defense is going to say this is a person that's paranoid. That's why he ran. He ran not because I knew what I was doing was wrong, but because they're chasing me and following me --

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: -- and I'm hearing things and seeing things.

O'MARA: Joey, paranoid is not insanity.

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: I get it. But certainly, the defense is going to use that as an element to say he was not all there. Don't forget the medications he was on, his past history. There's a lot to argue in those closing statements tomorrow. Ought to be argued tomorrow.

BALDWIN: Thus, the nuance.

Mark O'Mara and Joey Jackson, we'll be watching. Thank you so, so much for that.

JACKSON: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, we will take you inside Raqqa, Syria, the so-called capitol of the Islamic State where ISIS fighters basically run the show. My next guest has been there and lived there for some time. He tells us two major addictions of the ISIS fighters that may surprise you. Do not miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Past the bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Today, we wanted to give you this unprecedented look inside the so- called capitol city of the Islamic State inside of Raqqa, Syria.

Abu Ibrahim Al-Raqqawi is a Syrian activist with the group Raqqa Is Being Slaughtered Silently. That is not his name. That's how we choose to refer to him because he has to remain anonymous for his own safety. He has witnessed day in and day out the devastation, executions, crucifixions, mutilations ISIS has brought to the people of Raqqa.

I spoke with him earlier, and this is part of what he shared with me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: We have wanted to cover the city of Raqqa but it's difficult without eyes and ears on the ground. So thank you for talking to me.

I have to ask, though, if an ISIS fighter were to find you or know you were exposing what they're doing, what would happen?

ABU IBRAHIM AL-RAQQAWI, SYRIAN ACTIVIST, RAQQA IS BEING SLAUGHTERED SILENTLY (voice-over): Yes. Actually, we had campaign official members, but after we launched our campaign, one of our members, a 20- year-old, got arrested by ISIS because he's one of our members, and he was tortured and executed by ISIS because he's one of our members. Everyone inside the city of Raqqa asked if anyone has information about our campaign or who we are or who are the guys running this campaign. "Give us this information and if anyone catches anyone of these members campaign, kill him and you will not be judged for that or killed for that. It will be very good for you." They ask the people to slit our bloods in the street.

BALDWIN: You paint this picture of Raqqa with the black ISIS flags, which then becomes a target for the U.S. coalition and the air strikes. And so now these ISIS fighters have painted some of these buildings pink and gold?

AL-RAQQAWI: Yes. That's true. It's about three weeks or a month they paint all in and around the city. It's like the Times Square. It's pink, gold and white and green. I don't know why they change it. I think they're afraid of the air strikes because of the ISIS places.

BALDWIN: And it's these pink buildings and green buildings where these gruesome executions are taking places?

AL-RAQQAWI: Yes, yes. The most famous is the square. They were making their beheadings and crucifixions in this area. It's gold and white and green now. Not the black like before.

BALDWIN: How often are people executed in this main scare?

AL-RAQQAWI: There's a lot of executions in the city of Raqqa. For example, in the last two months, 40 people got executed in Raqqa city and the country side of the city and different charges. Some of them, they charged with homosexuals and some of them are charging are killing some people. So if anyone, the ISIS will know he is against them. If you're an activist they will take you to death. So they executed a lot of people. They make crucifixions and it was very bad.

BALDWIN: So they're not discriminatory. You talk about how ISIS is short both because of the war on blood and they're short on money. Can you first talk to me about the money and how they're getting money? ISIS is getting money through keeping stores open during prayer and accepting fines instead of punishing people?

AL-RAQQAWI: Yeah. When the coalition started in the city of Raqqa because ISIS depends on the oil and oil refineries and when the coalition destroyed the oil refineries, they started to have a new strategy for money. For example, extra for the, there's taxes on the people of Raqqa. They must pay 1,000 or 1,500 Syria pound. They also make the people donate for blood. They force them into donating blood. For example, if you have anything they say go to the hospital and donate the blood and bring me the receipt. If you don't have it, I can't help you. Also, they're starting, for example --

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: What do you mean people are being forced to give blood? Do they stop you on the street and force you to donate?

AL-RAQQAWI: No. They don't stop you on the street. For example, if you have anything to do in the Islamic court, papers or stuff like that -- it's the city and the people have problems. They force them to go if someone's house got robbery or they have trouble or something like that. They say to you, we can't help you until you go to the hospital and donate blood and back with the receipt. So we make sure that you give us blood because there's a lot of air strikes and these air strikes make a lot of ISIS fighters and a lot of ISIS fighters got to go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Again, that was just part of my conversation. We're going to play much more of it next hour. We pivoted and talked a lot about women and the mutilation of a lot of young girls. How this is like a prison for women and how ISIS fighters know which women are marriageable based on what they're wearing. We talked about how they're addicted to sex and the Internet. Do not miss the rest of this conversation the next hour.

Coming up next, a teen accused of killing a Las Vegas mother in this so-called road rage incident was in court today. What police are saying about another suspect in the crime. We'll take you to Vegas, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, the world news network.

BALDWIN: The man accused of killing a mother of four in an act of road rage said little in court today. Before his arrest, what Eric Nowsch apparently told his friends calls into question whether this was road rage at all. Nowsch has yet to enter a plea and will return to court next month to face charges of murder, attempted murder. He allegedly shot and killed this mother in her Las Vegas driveway the week before last. The family says he was after Meyers and her family over an earlier run-in in their cars. But two of his buddies told police after the shooting he said, quote unquote, "Got those kids. They were after me and I got them," end quote.

And then there's more. Nowsch's attorney says there's a chance some of his statements to police may be tossed out since he was high when he was arrested.

So with me now, I got defense attorney, Randy Zalin; and former prosecutor, Dan Schorr.

Guys, good to see you both.

First, on the notion that this may not be road rage after all, is that because apparently they knew each other?

RANDY ZALIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Certainly, that's going to play into it. What made this national headlines -- and I will give you all the credit for this -- was the fact this was strangers driving. Road rage incidents are so rare, so scary. We've all been on both sides of them. It's like, oh, my god. And now to find out that mom may have gone home, hey, son, do me a favor, grab your gun, we're going to go hunting for somebody who threatened me. And then throw into it, do they know each other, not know each other. This is not the national, oh, wow, road rage that we thought it was.

DAN SCHORR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: It's wasn't just the road rage. It's the idea that someone could follow you home after a road rage incident and shoot you. Now we're learning there's more to it. It really scared the public and made this such a national story. Now we're learning there was more to it, there was some kind of confrontation. The mother followed the defendant around allegedly. But then this issue with the description also. Was the defendant was the shooter. If he was, was he justified? There's a lot of questions.

BALDWIN: Right. That's one of the questions. We had the whole thing playing out live a couple of days ago, this whole standoff. There was an initial suspect description of someone who was six feet tall and turns out this guy is 5'3.

ZALIN: And a hundred pounds.

BALDWIN: How does that happen?

SCHORR: There was supposedly more than one person in the car.

BALDWIN: Correct.

SCHORR: And police, at one point, were looking for other suspects. It's unclear. Maybe it was another person or maybe a wrong description. We don't know yet.

ZALIN: But what happens is you're beginning to see the underpinnings of a defense of simply reasonable doubt because you can't get the description right. Then you say to yourself, wait a minute, why would you have all these different encounters if they each other. Apparently, mom had counseled the defendant --

(CROSSTALK)

ZALIN: So they're rather close.

BALDWIN: I don't know if "close" is the right word.

ZALIN: Well, close enough to counsel. You don't provide counseling to just anyone when suffering a loss. So they know each other. What is this chance encounter? Why wouldn't the defendant have said, "I'm so sorry, ma'am, I didn't realize it was you," or vice versa. Then the second encounter, the whole self-defense, who is the aggressor? Who is not the aggressor? Thank god the law enforcement doesn't know. Shut your mouth, put your case together and present your case in a courtroom.

SCHORR: But the defendant supposedly made statements putting himself at the scene as a shooter, saying he was defending himself. If that's true, the description issue doesn't really matter. It's an issue of self-defense.

(CROSSTALK)

ZALIN: If those are told to friends, whether coming in, not coming in, we don't know.

BALDWIN: Dan Schorr and Randy Zalin, thank you both very much. We'll see where it goes. And if there are other suspects, where are they? We appreciate both of you very much here on CNN. (CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Coming up next, the Oscars. Did you watch? The Oscars, usually a night for Hollywood to celebrate but, last night, many celebs showed their serious side. And some performances brought the audience to tears. What was different about the Oscars this year? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The 87th Academy Awards was definitely a night to remember. But this year's show wasn't just about the Oscar. Award winners took advantage of this huge, huge Hollywood platform, from wage equality to civil rights, and the stars used their acceptance speeches to, as one trophy winner put it, say something meaningful.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICIA ARQUETTE, ACTRESS: It's our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America.

(APPLAUSE)

GRAHAM MOORE, ACTOR: I would like for this moment to be for that kid out there who feels like she's weird or different or doesn't fit in anywhere. Yes, you do.

(APPLAUSE)

JOHN LEGEND, ACTOR: It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live. We wrote this song for a film that was based on events that were 50 years ago. But we say that "Selma" is now, because of the struggle for justice is right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now, film critic and out.com columnist, Michael Musto; and social media blogger and founder of TheList, Rachel Sklar.

Welcome to both of you.

MICHAEL MUSTO, FILM CRITIC & OUT.COM COLUMNIST: Hello.

We were just gabbing during the commercial break. Now we'll do this for TV.

I wanted to know, what did you think?

MUSTO: Terrible.

BALDWIN: Terrible.

MUSTO: The Polish guy is still talking, by the way.

BALDWIN: Oh, my goodness. MUSTO: And Lady Gaga is singing one more song from "Sound of Music."

(CROSSTALK)

MUSTO: I love somebody in tattoos singing in lone medley. Don't you.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm just kidding. She's OK.

BALDWIN: Hater.

MUSTO: The whole show was a weird mixture of snark and earnestness. Neal Patrick Harris was not funny and belabored every joke. He would pause and lean on the joke, and they would pump up the laugh track. It was deadly. The earnestness was good. You just saw three examples of speeches talking about rights for women and African-Americans and gay people.

BALDWIN: It seemed like such a night for advocacy. Even beyond that. We were talking to the two women behind the film that won the short doc on helping veterans that come home and hoping they don't commit suicide. It was incredibly real. She was talking about ALS.

(CROSSTALK)

MUSTO: And there was a lot of talk about the Academy's treatment of African-Americans. They were dissed in the nominations this year. And Neal Patrick Harris made some jokes about the racism inherent in that.

RACHEL SKLAR, BLOGGER & FOUNDER, THELIST.COM: At the top of the show.

MUSTO: Which was good. I felt he treated some African-American celebrities in the audience like the help. He told Octavia Spencer to sit there and look at his briefcase all night, which led to a very lame punch line at the end.

BALDWIN: I know. I cringe. I've interviewed her, and she's as lovely as can be. I did cringe --

(CROSSTALK)

MUSTO: She should have fired her agent.

(CROSSTALK)

SKLAR: I do have to put in some love. The opening was amazing.

BALDWIN: I agree.

SKLAR: And he's a very game host, very reliable as a host. Not every joke worked, but he was a very game host.

(CROSSTALK)

MUSTO: I'll be a game host.

SKLAR: And I love Lady Gaga.

BALDWIN: What I really wanted to talk about, Patricia Arquette. She won for a phenomenal movie. To me, it's crazy risky. They pull it off. She wins the award. And this is what she says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARQUETTE: The truth is, even though we feel like we have equal rights in America right under the surface, there are huge issues that are at play that really do affect women. It's time for all the women in America and all the men that love women and all the gay people and all the people of CLR that we've all fought for to fight for us now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So to be clear, that was -- so she had this acceptance speech, all the people she thanks. And finally, she had a great message about gender-pay quality and that was her having to explain it. Interestingly, she got blow back for that.

SKLAR: She did. Let's talk about the big platform, her acceptance speech. She chose to take part of her moment in front of millions and millions of people in this country and around the world to talk about the importance of wage equality and how the time is now. That's a great message.

MUSTO: Some idiots were tweeting that these rich women are complaining. You know what? In every venue there has to be equality. There's a disparity in Hollywood. Men are said to open a movie and get twice as much as with the same women. Meryl Streep was cheering for the person who won over her, Patricia Arquette.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Meryl --

(CROSSTALK)

MUSTO: -- as much money.

SKLAR: That's like the battering ram of the message. In the dressing room, you saw Arquette trying to get into the nuance of it. That's where she got a lot of blow back, talking about the ally movements like racial equality, LGBT equality, and now it's time for you guys to step up for women, and so that's where she got some back.

MUSTO: That's a little rewriting of history. Women have helped you, now you help us. It's a lot more complicated than that.

SKLAR: Everything is a lot more complicated. I think for the purposes of sort of an Oscar nominee going on stage and having a message, like she did what she could --

(CROSSTALK) MUSTO: I applaud her for having a message.

(CROSSTALK)

SKLAR: In the larger conversation about the Oscars, I think it's great we are getting into the weeds of different constituencies and who is represented and how they're represented.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: We have to go. But my big take-away from acceptance speech, number one, J.K. Simmons, "Mom, I'm calling you tonight." I love that message.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Don't text, don't e-mail.

(CROSSTALK)

MUSTO: I called mine. I said, don't watch the Oscars, don't waste your time. I love you, mom.

(LAUGHTER)

BALDWIN: Michael, Michael, Michael.

SKLAR: I love my mom, too.

BALDWIN: I know.

Rachel and Michael, thank you very much. We have to go.

Moving along, all week long, we've been previewing this new CNN film. It takes a look into the history of Jesus, separating fact, faith and forgery. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: An unprecedented CNN event.

He didn't vanish without leaving a trace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the first time in history, we've been able to place these.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And grasp something that changed the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the moment of truth.

NARRATOR: This is the story of Jesus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A rock upon which the church has built.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An icon of scientific obsession.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This extraordinary defiance and archaeological piece.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do we really have here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did Judaist betray Jesus?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody chose to write this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The science does matter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this the burial shroud of Jesus?

NARRATOR: What are the clues he left behind?

Faith, fact, forgery. "Finding Jesus" premieres Sunday night at 9:00 on CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)