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Robert Durst Murder Investigation; Jurors Visit Tsarnaev's Hideout; Boston Trial Field Trip; Syria Negotiations. Aired 14:00- 14:30p ET

Aired March 16, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN: "Newsroom" with Brooke Baldwin starts right now.

<14:00:11> BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf Blitzer, thank you so much.

Great to be with all of you on this Monday. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

We are beginning with this real estate heir, Robert Durst, and what appears to be his confession to not one but multiple murders. Here's the back story. This man was born into one of the richest families here in New York City. The crime watchers will tell you his luck runs far beyond his birthright. He has been linked to the deaths of three people, his wife, his confidant and his neighbor. Robert Durst has escaped any murder convictions thus far but now may be the beginning of the end of his freedom.

This is his latest mugshot after his arrest just this past Saturday. He just waived extradition. But we also just learned that Durst may face more charges in New Orleans on top of a murder charge in California. LAPD says the victim here is Susan Berman. Durst's close friend appeared to be poised to talk with the police when someone shot her to death back in 2000. Investigators say new evidence has come to light in this specific case.

Could it be the letter just revealed in an HBO documentary entitled "The Jinx." The letter was written by Durst and the handwriting on it seems to match a letter send anonymously many years ago directing police to Berman's body.

But there is so much more police could actually use from this film. In "The Jinx," Durst is confronted with the letter. He then goes to the bathroom, apparently totally forgetting that his microphone is still on. And I want you to listen here. This is key. Listen to what the documentary caught Durst saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT DURST (voice-over): What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: You hear that? "Killed them all, of course." HBO is opened by Time Warner, which is the parent company of CNN. Durst's attorney had this to say after his hearing today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK DEGUERIN, ROBERT DURST'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Came here to waive jurisdiction and to go back to California and to get it on. Bob Durst didn't kill Susan Berman. He's ready to end all the rumor and speculation and have a trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Talk about all kinds of twists and turns, Miguel Marquez, I mean we've got a lot to talk about here. But, I mean, for people who are not incredibly familiar with this man's story, he has been a suspect ever since his wife disappeared. That was back in 1982. Can you walk me through this from there?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I don't think William Shakespeare could write a more interesting and dramatic tale. I mean this is Lady Macbeth with sort of seemingly blood on her hands. When he is confronted with that letter that you mentioned and then goes to the bathroom and makes these confessions, after being so shaken by the documentary filmmaker that he basically admits to killing not just Berman but others.

So in 1982, his wife goes missing in Westchester County, Connecticut -- Westchester, Connecticut, and her bold is never found and he is suspected in her killing. In 2000, when police reopen that investigation, they want to talk to Susan Berman, who's his longtime friend and a crime writer. She ends up dead, shot, killed, murdered. He never gets charged with that crime.

In 2001, he moves to Galveston, Texas. Here's a millionaire paying $300 a month rent for this place in Galveston, Texas. He's dressing in a wig and pretending to be a mute woman so that he can avoid detection because he's so worried about security and people. He's now infamous, of course.

He gets into an argument with his next door neighbor, Morris Brown. They fight. They argue. They go for a gun. Brown is killed. Durst then dismembers his body. Tells police all of this but gets off because he says that it was in self-defense. An absolutely incredible tale that may be coming to an end but certainly more wrinkles here because L.A. seems to be ready to charge him in the death of Susan Berman given the admission in last night's final of "Jinx." But New Orleans may not be - may not be done with him yet because apparently they found a .38 revolver in his hotel room and he will be charged with that. So even though he's agreed to extradition, that's why his lawyer is so frustrated, can't get to L.A. because he may have to stay in New Orleans to face gun charges there. Unbelievable.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: I'm going to keep you around, Miguel. Can you just stay in that hot seat because I may have more questions for you as I bring in Joey Jackson here because some would say Robert Durst has really been lucky until, you know, now avoiding any kind of jail time despite this whole, you know, twist and turn sort of story that Miguel was walking through.

As we discussed, after his wife vanished, Durst disguised himself, as Miguel mentioned, this deaf mute woman and that is when he fought with his neighbor, Morris Black, ultimately dismembering him. Durst jumped bond. He then caught himself. He got - he got caught shoplifting. He was shoplifting a sandwich, all while he had hundreds of dollars in his pocket. Durst was acquitted of that killing but his attorneys from the case did not want him to speak with the makers of this documentary of "The Jinx." And when Durst explains why in the documentary, it's like he was looking into this crystal ball of sorts. Here he is.

<14:05:27> (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT DURST, MILLIONAIRE ARRESTED FOR MURDER: And they said about a zillion times, you can't help yourself. Right now you're a free man 100 percent. You say something inadvertently and you'll find yourself charged in New York or charged in Los Angeles. And our interview was a big risk for you. Why do you want to do an interview?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: OK. Let's talk about this with HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson. And Miguel Marquez is still with us as well.

Gosh, where to - where to begin. Let's begin with the open mike comment, of course, "killed them all." Is that - is that admissible in court?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Depends who you ask. And, of course, I thought I'd be debating my good friend and criminal defense attorney Eric Duster (ph) -

BANFIELD: Eric Duster.

JACKSON: Who could not be here. So I'll be more balanced in my views.

BANFIELD: Appreciate it.

JACKSON: The prosecution, of course, is going to say it's an admission. It's an admission. You said something under your breath. You mumbled it. It was overheard. And to the extent it was overheard and you admitted it, it's coming into the court of law.

But here's what his attorneys are going to say. They are going to say, Brooke, that he had an expectation of privacy. And as a result of that, putting this in context, he excused himself and went into a private bathroom. Ah-ha, but there's no governmental and police action, you say, so how are you saying it's not admissible? Because the attorneys are going to further argue that there was governmental action inasmuch as HBO was working very closely with the authorities. And they're going to say, isn't it coincidental how his arrest comes on the heels of the final episode of this HBO documentary.

BALDWIN: Exactly what I wanted to ask. Miguel, I wanted to ask you this because a lot of people, listen, there are all kinds of conspiracy theorists out there but you just give me - what's the straight facts? I mean was this a total incidence or not -

JACKSON: Yes.

BALDWIN: That all of this happened right around the same time.

MARQUEZ: No, it doesn't sound like it. The filmmakers, speaking to GMA this morning, talked about how they had been in touch with authorities all along. They didn't realize this - that interview was recorded two years ago. They didn't realize until recent months that he had actually made the admission in the bathroom. They were so busy, they didn't have time to listen to the entire tape.

BALDWIN: Wow.

MARQUEZ: Somebody realized it. They called investigators then. So this is several months ago now and said, you guys want to hear this. And they were able to tell them, sort of hear this confession basically. That's when the wheels started turning. The lawyers - the Durst lawyer in L.A. says, look, this is clearly tied to the end of this documentary and it was something that was out there in the water and that's why Durst left, investigators seem to think, last week, went to New Orleans, seemingly on the lam, checked into a hotel, not under his own name -

BALDWIN: Right.

MARQUEZ: Paying everything in cash. Screwed up one little thing and they were on to him and got him.

JACKSON: Brooke, the defense is going to say the following. He wasn't on the lam. He didn't run anywhere. There was a lot of public pressure and exposure on him as a result of this documentary, so he wanted to cool his heels a little bit, so he checked into a hotel using a fictitious name so that he can have his privacy.

Miguel raises a couple of issues. Now, number one, in the event they're working closely with law enforcement, they being HBO, clearly then you could say they are agents of the state and acting in that capacity. The second thing, to Miguel's point, two years ago I'm arguing as a lawyer, chain of custody issues. Where was this tape? Why is it surfacing now? Is it authentic? And if it's not, it should not be admitted into the court of law.

BALDWIN: My question - my question is, just in reading so much about this, how is it that it took these documentary producers to find this letter?

JACKSON: Right.

BALDWIN: I know law enforcement were working on this for years and years and years that, a, it was "The Jinx" producers who found this letter and, b, there are so many unanswered questions, i.e. the first wife's body was never found.

JACKSON: Right.

BALDWIN: So when you're interrogating him, right, that has to be part of the questioning.

JACKSON: It's a great point. Now, of course, the argument is, look, HBO did their homework and as a result of that they delved deeper. And when they delved deeper, Brooke, they found the letter. But that's going to also be argued because, of course, the letter you're referring to, he sends to the police talking about the cadaver, relating to Susan, right? This was his friend, his publicist back in 2000, who was shot and killed but - in the back of the head. But the reality is this, they have, the authorities, access to another letter and they had access to a letter that he wrote and it was analyzed back then. And the analysis of that letter showed it was inconclusive and it could not be or maybe it is his writing. Now all of a sudden they get a letter and it's his writing? You're going to have a battle of the experts to the highest degree when you talk about, was it his writing sent to the police or was it not his writing sent to the police?

BALDWIN: It's incredible.

JACKSON: The documentary says it was. His attorneys are going to say, no way.

BALDWIN: Right. We're going to be talking about this for a while. Gentlemen, Joey and Miguel, thank you so much to both of you. We'll have more on this, of course, next hour.

JACKSON: Thanks, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let's move on. Coming up next, jurors in the Boston bombing trial taking a field trip to see the now infamous boat where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev hid during that bloody standoff. Hear what Tsarnaev was wearing. He went with these jurors to that location in Watertown, Massachusetts.

<14:10:09> Also ahead, Elton John calling on the world to boycott Dolce & Gabbana after the fashion giants called IVF babies synthetic, among other choice words. We'll speak live with my colleague Kyra Phillips and Oprah's former chef about their experiences, their reaction to this.

And just in to CNN, the entire video of the heart pounding rescue of that miracle baby trapped for hours inside this overturned car. We will play it all for you ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

<14:14:59> In this ongoing Boston Marathon bombing trial, today the jurors took a fieldtrip. They actually went out to the secret warehouse housing that boat that suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev used as a hideaway in Watertown until his arrest. This is also the very same bullet-riddled boat that had strips of blood streaking through penciled writings from Tsarnaev, what prosecutors ultimately labeled his manifesto. So these jurors spent 30 minutes inspecting the Slipaway II (ph). It sat lifted before them on this flatbed. The men and women stood on a raised platform so they could peer inside. Security was incredibly tight, as you can imagine, because with them was the 21-year-old suspect, without handcuffs, no shackles, watching it with them as everything's unfolding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENISE LAVOIE, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Mr. Tsarnaev looked at the boat flanked by three of his attorneys. He sat at a table with his attorneys say about 50 feet away from the boat and the jurors. He looked impassive as he has in court. He looked at the jurors looking at the boat occasionally.

DAVID BOEN, WBUR RADIO: The jurors, two at a time, accompanied by an FBI agent, were lifted up in this cage so they could look into the boat on the port side, on the starboard side, was that high - excuse me, was that high observing - observation point so they could look into the boat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: When the field trip was over, testimony back at the courthouse returned to the massive manhunt that led authorities to Watertown. I was in Boston a year ago speaking, meeting with people who live in the area who were there, who heard it, who will never forget it. This is what they remembered with me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: You would never, in a million years, picture what happened here.

SGT. SEAN MURPHY, MASSACHUSETTS STATE POLICE (RET.): Could be anyone's neighborhood. Could be any neighborhood anywhere.

BALDWIN (voice-over): Retired Sergeant Sean Murphy, a photographer with the Massachusetts State Police, saw the entire siege and witnessed the capture of one of the bombers. Walking around this quiet neighborhood just a year later, the tension still lingers.

MURPHY: In a sense it seems like it was a year ago. In another sense it seems like it was just yesterday.

BALDWIN: It started with the killing of MIT Police Officer Sean Collier, leading to a car chase into Watertown and a shootout, killing one suspect. Then a citywide search for his younger brother. The focus? The very heart of Watertown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) is advising all Watertown eastern (ph) residents to remain in their homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just filled up. There was like, I'd say, 50 - 50 cop cars out here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the way they - they rolled in behind us, they were coming from both sides.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were scared of every civilian that was walking down the street.

BALDWIN: Abby Murphy (ph), pregnant at the time, heard gunshots erupt outside her window.

ABBY MURPHY, WATERTOWN RESIDENT: You know, it's loud. Is it super close? Is it blocks away? Do I need to duck? I mean, yes, it's a scary thing. I think we were just trying to be really calm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was one of the tactical vehicles -

BALDWIN: As Watertown hunkered down, Sean Murphy snapped photo after photo. What he captured through a lens would become one of the biggest takedowns of a wanted man in American history. It all led to this home after a tip about blood on a boat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as I took that image, I knew that this boat is very close and I knew that really I needed to find cover.

BALDWIN: SWAT teams risked their lives closing in on one of the men they believed was responsible. Not knowing if the 19-year-old was armed or perhaps worse, strapped with explosives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And all of a sudden, this guy came up.

BALDWIN (on camera): What was that moment like, seeing him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was a - a very dangerous, an active scene. It was good to know that this guy wasn't going to leave.

BALDWIN (voice-over): He didn't leave. Police ultimately pulled the suspect off the boat, pinning him to the ground, ending a massive manhunt. And for the first time in days, Boston could breathe.

BALDWIN (on camera): This was over at that point?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was a dangerous guy. He had done a lot of dangerous things. And I think really, at that point, his eyes are wide open. I think he knows that his reign of terror was over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Let's take you live to Boston now outside that federal courthouse. My colleague, producer Aaron Cooper.

Aaron, I mean, going back to this field trip here of the boat, seeing the - more than 100 bullet holes and still these streaks of blood, how did the jurors react to that, and Tsarnaev standing right there?

AARON COOPER, CNN PRODUCER: I mean we know that the jurors really were intently studying this boat. As you mentioned, they got up on lifts on either side of the boat so they could peer in and look at where the writing was, look at the debris in the bottom of the boat. The windshield of the boat had been shot out. So there was glass on the bottom of the boat. The blood stains that you see in those photos of his writings, those have faded actually some, but they were squinting and trying to look into the boat and see what they could see. See this area that Tsarnaev had been laying, hiding out when he was captured. And all this time, Tsarnaev, down on the ground, sitting under a tent with his attorneys, or at a few points by himself, was watching it all as it went down.

<14:20:10> BALDWIN: Can I ask why they brought him along? Why was he a part of this?

COOPER: I mean, he's the defendant, so it's his right, obviously, to see any kind of court proceeding. And this was obviously a court proceeding that could be very relevant to the case.

BALDWIN: Aaron Cooper, thank you so much, in Boston covering the trial.

Coming up next here on CNN, Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. will have to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar al Assad, the dictator accused of murdering his own people. Hear what Assad has just said now about Secretary Kerry's remark.

And new video from the scene of just that gut-wrenching rescue of that miracle baby who managed to survive for hours and hours inside this overturned car. We will play the entire video for you. It will send chills up your spine. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

<14:25:14> BALDWIN: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says there has to be a diplomatic end to the fighting in Syria. But what's not as clear is this, if President Bashar Assad could actually take part in those negotiations. Secretary Kerry seemed to break with U.S. policy Sunday when he implied that Assad could play a role.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: To get the Assad regime to negotiate, we're going to have to make it clear to him that there is a determination by everybody to seek that political outcome and change his calculation about negotiating. That's under way right now. And I am convinced that with the efforts of our allies and others, there will be increased pressure on Assad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you'd be willing to negotiate with him?

KERRY: Well, we have to negotiate (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So he says we have to negotiate. Let me say this, the State Department quickly issued a clarification insisting that Assad would not be part of any talks but that members of his regime could. Bashar Assad himself appears to be taking a wait and see attitude, telling Syrian state TV today, let me quote this, said this, whether or not - excuse me, "whether they say I remain or not, the Syrian people have the final say on this. We are still hearing the declarations and we should wait for actions and then decide."

Andrew Tabler joins me, the senior fellow in Arab politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Andrew, welcome to the show.

ANDREW TABLER, ARAB POLITICS PROGRAM, WASHINGTON INST. FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: My pleasure.

BALDWIN: So you hear what Secretary Kerry is saying and then, you know, a little bit of a clarification from the State Department. Why do you think Secretary Kerry would say that in the first place?

TABLER: I think it was just a mistake. I think it was a slip of the tongue. Everybody knows that the United States backs a transition in Syria where Assad is not there in the end. I think the question is, and what he's talking about the negotiations are, a, negotiations to deescalate the conflict between the regime and the opposition, and, b, to have the settlement and thus far I don't think U.S. policy has substantially changed.

BALDWIN: You know it's so rare to actually hear from Assad himself and I was reading all this, I was reminded, he sat down with the BBC just a couple of months ago. Just - I wanted to play this clip just for our viewers, just to get a flavor of how Assad thinks. Let's roll the clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASHAR AL-ASSAD, SYRIAN PRESIDENT: I know about the army. They use bullets, missiles and bombs. I haven't heard of army using (INAUDIBLE) or maybe cooking -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Or these large, large barrels full of explosives and projectiles which are dropped from helicopters and explode with devastating effect.

AL-ASSAD: They're called bombs (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's been a lot of testimony about these things.

AL-ASSAD: They are called bombs. We have bombs, missiles and bullets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So this is Assad essentially pleading ignorance about these barrel bombs, right, which the U.S. says absolutely he used to kill all these innocent civilians in his country. My question is, really it's a statement, this is a man who seems to me can't be trusted. So, Andrew, why would the west want to sit across a negotiating table with him, period?

TABLER: Yes, it's a good question. Assad is in a state of denial. He's completely rigid. There is no political position. He says there's no opposition in Syria, only rebels. Why would the international community want to negotiate with him because Syria is essentially a divided country. It no longer really exists as one nation and we have multiple factions, including ISIS and al Qaeda affiliate in the opposition controlled area. So a very messy situation and I think they're -

BALDWIN: What do - what do -

TABLER: Hoping for negotiations to bring this - you know, to de- escalate the crisis there a bit.

BALDWIN: Would it not, if there were to be negotiations, would that not almost ratchet up his legitimacy if he's sitting across the table from the U.S.?

TABLER: Absolutely. And the fact that John Kerry mentioned that on the fourth anniversary of the Syrian uprising was taken nothing but a - but a huge insult by the Syrian opposition. And I think that made that even harder to say that the U.S. policy in Syria is one that will lead to a transition that includes the opposition. And, unfortunately, I think on this one, the U.S. lost a lot.

BALDWIN: You mentioned four years. I mean this -- this war has been raging on for four years. When you think about what the world's been preoccupied with, it's been preoccupied with Iran and the nuke talks. You think about what's been happening with Ukraine and Russia and also, of course, ISIS. Why do you think Kerry, right now, pivots to mention Assad?

TABLER: Yes, I think - I think that, you know, when pushed by Margaret Brennan, I think he was trying to say that we need to go back to the negotiating track. And there has been some rumors and some talk about progress with the Russians again and that's something that -- it's not new. The last time talks occurred was in early 2014. They didn't lead anywhere. It begs the question, are the Russians seeing some sort of common interest with the United States in Syria? There's a rumor that they're concerned about Iranian influence there, which is the expanding rapidly or as rapidly as ISIS influence in opposition controlled areas.

BALDWIN: OK. Andrew Tabler, thank you. Nice to have you on.

TABLER: My pleasure.

<14:29:58> BALDWIN: Just ahead here, Elton John is calling for boycott of fashion designers, mega multibillion dollar designers, Dolce & Gabbana, over their comments condemning IVF and same-sex couples who raise children.