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Carjacking Survivor Key to Tsarnaev Capture; Movie Star Gives Bionic Arm to Little Boy.
Aired March 13, 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: Let me take you back to the bicyclist. We were talking in the commercial break and you said that this is a store are that never came out until the testimony. There was a bicyclist that came by and stopped when, Sean Collier, the MIT police officer that was shot and killed. Tell me what the bicyclist did.
VALENCIA: Well, we were hearing in general about the Sean Collier shooting that we had never heard before. One of the accounts was an MIT grad student, Nate Harmon -- no one heard the story before. He came on the stand, and visibly nervous, shaking as he grabbed for water. He described riding the bike and about 10:30 at night, just left work, and riding by a police cruiser and noticed someone inside, a strange figure, an then a person was startled and stood up, and he noticed the person and it was like a frozen moment in time. And he was the first in the courtroom to say that's him. He remembered the sweat shirt that he wore, and tall and skinny. He remembered the nose for some reason. This was first time we've heard this account. It provided some insight into the shooting that we had not heard much about before.
BALDWIN: It's gripping. We played the clip a moment ago, and it brings you back to the street that Patriot's Day. It's a bloody day and gruesome. The defense is complaining that the testimony is fairly gruesome. What's the defense say to that?
VALENCIA: Right. They want to move this as quick as they can. It will be gruesome. The government has to prove the case and the keys is that they set off two bombs that killed people three and we're seeing that. We're seeing victims being brought in and double amputees being escorted and wheelchairs to tell the story about the blast and the what smoke and the chaos and losing loved ones and how his sister jean was hurt, and we saw her. We have seen the accounts of others and a firefighter that came to the aide. These are stories that we heard about that two years horrific stories and we're hearing them being played out and the jurors.
BALDWIN: And seeing some of them openly weeping as you have been reporting in the courtroom.
Milton Valenica, thank you so much. And we're back up Monday with them.
Thank you so much in Boston with "The Boston Globe." I really appreciate it. Just ahead, an American admiral sounding the alarm bells over Russia.
He says it must be tough to defend against the United States as Russia steps up its military activities. All of this, and asking where in the heck has Vladimir Putin been? More on that.
And my favorite story of the day, an awesome little 7 year old with a bionic arm. Think Iron Man. We will talk live about how it came down with this little guy's mom.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr, makes a special appearance here. The audience is a 7-year-old boy with a partial arm, until Iron Man presents him with a brand new one. It was designed by students using a 3D printer. You have to see the video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX PRING, RECEIVES BIONIC ARM: They each look the same.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR, ACTOR: Actually, I think that yours might be better than mine.
What do you say that we both try them on and do a progress report?
ALEX PRING: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know who that is?
ALEX PRING: Iron Man.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's his name?
ALEX PRING: Robert.
DOWNEY: Great.
God, it's even cooler than I thought.
I am having a technical glitch. As you can see, my light is not working. Half of the time that design one of these, it breaks on me and I keep working on it.
ALEX PRING: He keeps on working and working until he gets it right.
DOWNEY: Yeah. I think that yours is still more rights than mine because at least, you know --
ALEX PRING: The light works.
DOWNEY: Yeah, the light works.
Ah, look at that then. It's a marriage of robotic technology. Bang, nailed it. Love it. Hey, good job, Albert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sir.
DOWNEY: Albert is made --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Love it.
Joining me by phone from Orlando is Alex's mom, Allison Pring, and Dominique Courbin, who you see her, director of productions for Limitless Solutions, a volunteer organization that donates artificial limbs to lids in need.
To both of you, welcome.
Mom, I have to go to you first. I know that we could not get Alex on. He is in school. I don't want to get him in trouble. Was it cooler for him, getting the arm or meeting Iron Man?
ALLISON PRING, MOTHER OF ALEX (voice-over): I think that it was equal amount of cool because we asked him afterwards why he was looking at the ground and so quiet and he said I was freaking out. That was Iron Man.
BALDWIN: Too, cool.
Dominique, I know that you work with Albert, who we saw on the video, Limited Solutions to help make these and build these with the 3D printers and this technology. Can you tell me more about that, and how many people do you help?
DOMINIQUE COURBIN, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTIONS, LIMITLESS SOLUTIONS (voice-over): So we have helped four children so far, and Alex is a special case. He was our first volunteer to try out the arm, and we worked really hard. We did use 3D printing to make new solutions and try something out. If it did not work, we were able to print something and try that. So since Alex got the first arm, it was really important for us once we had developed a better solution and newer technology to come back and revisit his arm and see what we could do for him.
BALDWIN: Allison, how is Alex's arm?
ALLISON PRING: It's amazing. You know, he has not been able to wear it to school just yet because we're having technical difficulties, but he cannot wait to wear it to school to show the friends and everybody how cool it is because his friends are freaking out just like he was.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Kind of amazing bragging, right, to have an arm like Iron Man? What's the final message or thank you to the fine fellows at Limited Solutions? ALLISON PRING: We're just so thankful. We have told them since the
very beginning there's no words that can say to thank them. We just try and keep giving them feedback so that we can make the next version of the arm better and better for other kids in needs.
BALDWIN: It's wonderful. The red bow tie matching the arm. Please tell him I said hello and fantastic work.
Allison Pring and Dominique Courbin, thank you so much.
ALLISON PRING: Thank you.
COURBIN: Thank you.
BALDWIN: You've got it. Hi to Alex.
Coming up on the hills on the big announcement that there will be -- you know the song. You know where I am going with this. A "Frozen" sequel. A six-year-old managed to stump Disney's CEO. Hear the question that he was asked next.
(SINGING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SINGING)
BALDWIN: You're welcome. The song will be stuck in your head, as it is in mine, for the rest of the day. Here's the deal. Disney announcing that "Frozen" is going to have a sequel. The entire cast will return for more fun in the show and in the snow, Elsa and Anna, Christophe and Olaf. Actress Kristin Bell (ph) was excited she tweeted this photo of her resting her head on the bag of ice and #too much vent.
Here now is CNN senior media correspondent, host of "Reliable Source," Brian Stelter.
I will say that I spent my valentines day two years ago with my seven- year-old BFF. She showed me "Frozen."
(LAUGHTER)
And I watched the whole thing. Thank you. This is mega, mega money for Disney.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: It's one of the top five and that includes Mickey Mouse. The CEO took over 10 years ago today, and the stock is higher than it was. It's partly to franchises like "Frozen." It still feels like it's out today and so many people watch it and re-watch it as you can attest to there. It feels like it's with us. And "Cinderella" comes out today and they have a short film version of "Frozen" attached to "Cinderella," which is going to get more kids to go out and see it. They know what they have as a unique asset, and they're exploiting it.
BALDWIN: I was in Tanzania and in a car with six-year-olds and popped in "Let It Go," and they knew any word in English.
STELTER: There's no better example of the power of pop culture than in that story.
BALDWIN: Incredible in Africa. Quickly, the CEO of Disney was stumped by a kid.
STELTER: Yeah, the 6-year-old asked him a question at their annual shareholders' meeting yesterday and asking them about renaming the theme park and he was not ready to announce it, but they're going to rename it at some point in the future. I was fun to get a 6-year-old up there and challenge the CEO.
BALDWIN: And stump them.
STELTER: It did. By the way, they announced the next "Star Wars." We have "Frozen Two" and the next "Star Wars" this December, and so Disney is making the most of a good thing.
BALDWIN: They're on a role, gangbusters.
Mr. Stelter, we'll see you Sunday morning.
STELTER: Thanks.
BALDWIN: Thank you very much.
Coming up next, Bill Weir. I want Bill Weir's job. How amazing is this?
(LAUGHTER)
He has a new show called "The Wonder List." He has visited the island of Vanuatu, currently now under threat of a major cyclone. We will tell you where it's heading.
And any moment, the lawyer from the new S.A. fraternity chapter at Oklahoma about to hold a news conference to announce possible legal action against the university and against the president of the university after that racist video surfaced. Stay right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Do you remember the South Pacific island of Vanuatu? CNN's Bill Weir happened to take us there a couple of weeks ago, part of his special reporting for his new show, called "The Wonder List." Well, this is it today. You can hear the wind whipping and the waves just being lashed by the tropical cyclone Pam. It took a direct hit from the category five storm.
And Bill Weir is with me.
We have a lot to talk about, including looking ahead at your show. But first and foremost, just remind us, how many people were on the island and how many does its affect?
BILL WEIR, CNN HOST, THE WONDER LIST: 83 different islands and they're completely different from the other.
BALDWIN: Oh, wow.
WEIR: The main and capital report is something that you would find in some sort of a Hawaii 50 years ago, and they have structure. But my heart broke when I saw that satellite picture because for so many of the tribes on the islands they have no shelter.
BALDWIN: I was going to ask, what do they have to cover themselves?
WEIR: They literally live in trees. These are the friends that we made in the north. And one guy I met there was so proud because he just spent about a hundred dollars and his whole savings on a tin roof.
BALDWIN: Oh, my goodness.
WEIR: These are thatched, open-sided structures. There was one car on the island that we visited and two boats. So the idea of evacuation and search and rescue is different in this part of the world. But they are hardy. They have been living there for thousands of years, so fingers crossed that the pain is as low as it goes.
BALDWIN: Yeah, fingers crossed for those that you met.
Just talk about this job of yours here "The Wonder List."
(LAUGHTER)
It's a pretty awesome gig, if you can get it.
(LAUGHTER)
Before we rip on this next place, just a little preview. This is a Greek island and I said it over and over, say it for me?
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEIR: Like many of the Greek island, it's a rock perched above the Aegean Sea, but unlike the rest of Greece and Europe and the rest of the world, they live really long and really well.
True story, a 104-year-old woman walked into a bank looking for a loan. The banker explained that financing is only available to those under the age of 103.
So how do they mange to thumb their nose at the grim reaper this way? As the ferry gets closer, the first vital hint comes into view.
(on camera): You will notice that the shoreline is not exactly the most hospitable when it comes to docking a boat. Very rocky and craggy. No real natural port. And then there are the winds around the part of the Aegean, the treacherous swirling. Sailors have been complaining of the winds going back to "The Iliad." S that combination of factors made this island a really lonely place for a long time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: OK. So not very inviting. You were saying that modern technology just passed them by.
WEIR: Yeah, they did not get telephones until the early '80s or so. Neighboring islands and modern islands, they live our life span, so the there's something about the people there.
(CROSSTALK)
BALDWIN: So you mean doing this is not healthy for us.
WEIR: Yeah, checking your watch and thinking about tomorrow and thinking about tomorrow. It's a big combination. I cannot wait for people see it. There are so many lessons that go together for our lives.
BALDWIN: Yeah.
WEIR: It really makes you connect with the simple ideas, and when they put it all together, it's a glorious thing.
BALDWIN: You were just saying the woman, the 103-year-old with the walker, goes to work every day.
WEIR: Yeah, she has her own business. She has a weaving loom and makes dresses for village. That's a clue, sense of purpose late in life, the idea of retirement, they can not wrap the head around it. So that's Sunday night.
But I have to ask you, because Mount Kilimanjaro, the snows going away and this was on my wonder list, but you beat me there.
BALDWIN: I beat you there. I know that I was gone for two and a half weeks and people where like, were did you go? I went to Africa. Took me 35 years to get there. I went to Mount Kilimanjaro. I am a life guru now. And this amazing and that was our sun rise. So you're there for seven days and climbing to the top.
BALDWIN: You start in the middle of the night, right?
BALDWIN: Yeah, you start in the middle of the night, and this is after hiking, and day six, we were up for 39 hours straight. You wake up at midnight, you start to climbing, and once I saw the sun rise, you see headlands. And you're walking in the dark and ignorance is bliss in the world.
WEIR: Right. Right.
BALDWIN: Yeah, we made it up to the top, and it was the sun rise that gave me the final thing to keep ongoing. WEIR: Congratulations.
BALDWIN: I am still pinching myself and I am still in the clouds.
(LAUGHTER)
But I highly recommend it.
BALDWIN: What a magical experience.
BALDWIN: Yeah, thank you so much for asking. We have to roll.
I poured my soul on to the page, so we will roll out a piece.
Thank for asking, and for you for asking on CNN.com.
WEIR: I loved to see the picture on Twitter. You go girl. Fantastic.
(LAUGHTER)
BALDWIN: Bill Weir, thank you very much.
WEIR: You bet.
BALDWIN: And we will continue on. Top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
A heads up, we're watching and waiting for the attorney for the now defunct Sig Alpha fraternity chapter, the S.A. chapter at Oklahoma University. They're expected, this man is expected to address members of the media. The suspended members are said to be considering a lawsuit against O.U. and possibly against the president of the university, David Boren
Here is the issue. Let me just refresh. At issue is whether the young men's rights were violated when the university kicked the fraternity off campus just in the last week or so because of this horrendous video, this racist chant by S.A. chapter members that was all caught on video.
CNN's Nick Valencia is in Atlanta.
And, Nick, I know as we watch and wait to hear from the attorney, this is a pretty high-profile guy that this chapter is retaining, correct?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Stephen Jones is a familiar name in Oklahoma. He's an alum of Oklahoma University and familiar as well with the current university president, David Boren. In 1990, they ran against each other in the U.S. Senate and Boren went on to win the Senate seat by a sizable margin. But Stephen Jones is more famous for the defense attorney of Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, a man who ended up losing that trial.
But that really elevated Stephen Jones, the man who we're waiting to hear from in about 30 minutes. It really elevated his profile, national profile. Now he's signed on to be the attorney for Sigma Alpha Epsilon, SAE, the former chapter, former fraternity at the University of Oklahoma.
Our local affiliates are reporting, Brooke, that they plan to file some sort of litigation against the university as well, perhaps against the university president. We, as an organization at CNN, have not been able to independently confirm that, and but we do know SAE, that former chapter, has retained counsel, Stephen Jones -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: We will watch for him and see what news he could make here, that news conference happening in just about a half-hour from now.
Nick Valencia, thank you very much.
