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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Wild Fires in Colorado; Boston Riveted by Whitey Bulger Trial; U.S. Aid To Syria To Include Small Arms, Ammunition; Newtown Marks Six Months Since Massacre

Aired June 14, 2013 - 20:00   ET

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

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Erin, thanks.

We are live on the power lines in Colorado and you will see up close why are wild fires are like nothing else in nature.

Also tonight, California's dream of hi-speed bullet trains is turning into a slow motion multibillion dollar nightmare. And guess what, your tax dollars paying some of the fright.

And later, why is this man smiling? Well today, this murder trial Boston's Whitey Bulger, my old neighbor, laughed out loud as the witness described a chilling death threat he allegedly made but yet, he still a hero to some. I will to another old neighbor about why.

We begin though in Colorado where crews had a good day, but still very far from containing largest wild fires ever seen in the state. High temps, high wind not helping and there are houses about 400 of them now in ashes, worse each of these sources a kind tender box catching sparks then fueling the flames onward and those flames move fast.

Watch this footage from British Colombia. It is an amazing perspective. One, frankly, you're not supposed to see and still live. Watch how quickly that temperature shoots up from 100 to nearly 900 degrees in less than 15 seconds. If you were standing here, this would be the last thing you see.

In a moment, you will hear from people who get nearly that close time and time again as a job or for some, as a calling.

First, the latest on this fire right now from Martin Savidge who joins us live from Colorado Springs -- Martin.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Evening, John.

Yes, we are standing outside of the incident command center. This is essentially where they have been calling the shots on this historic fire for the last three days and for most of that time, the news has not been good. But today, finally, finally, there is at least a glimmer of hope and a lot of that has to do with the fact, well, of the weather. And the weather had been the problem for so long, now suddenly, the weather has turned out to be actually a pretty good thing today. There was cloud cover overhead. That's how it started off. That's good for a number of reasons. It drops the humidity levels, actually raises those, drops the temperature and the wind.

The wind subsided somewhat. That was best of all and late this afternoon, the skies opened up. Now we should tell you that when you get rain like this, it is a good thing as far as helping to douse some of the hot spots but the problem is, it brought a lot of lightning and that is a huge problem in this area. Because even though the ground has been dampened, much of the brush is tender dry. And so, even once the rain has passed by, it means that fuel is eventually going to dry out pretty quick here, John. And as a result of that, it is possible that we could be back into a high threat fire circumstance in just a matter of hours after the rain.

But we were out there today. There are no walls of fire. Let me just put that to rest, but what they did today was that they were able to get containment at about 30 percent. That's, of course, very good. Yesterday they were practically at zero and there are, also, now news they have been able to at least call off some mandatory evacuations, at least for Colorado Springs. At least for some folks, they can't begin to go home. Not for those who have been in the most devastated areas. They are going to have to wait awhile. But, for those areas on the fringe that were evacuated as precautions, those people can start to go back home.

The other good news is, of course, the fire crews can begin to get some rest. But I'll warn you, John, this fire is not out by any means, 30 percent containment means 70 percent of it is not under control and even though it's down to hot spots that have to be mopped up, any one of those could flair and there are neighborhoods, subdivisions packed that are on the outer edge of this fire that could still threatened.

So good news, turning a corner, significant progress but remember, there had been at least two deaths and there are fears more deaths could be discovered as people and authorities move into these neighborhoods after the claims -- John.

KING: Important prospective, Martin, 30 percent, still 70 percent to go. You were out there, as you said, with the firefighters today. Give us some more details what that's like up close, the perspective.

SAVIDGE: Well, you know, what you find, first of all, is many of these fire departments, the first four especially up in the mountains that took on this fire, these are small rural fire departments. They had two problems, number one, this fire, unlike the Waldo Canyon fire which started in government land, this fire started in a neighborhood. So, they knew right away once it blew up, they were losing houses. It was turning street after street, row after houses, row after houses, and they knew the neighbors. They knew their neighborhoods. They were fighting in the areas they lived.

In one dramatic place, there was a fire crew that when they got to a house they realized they couldn't save it. It was a heart breaking decision, the firefighter said, but the next thing think did was kick down the doors and begin dragging out the personal possessions inside. Whatever that homeowner has left, it's because those firefighters went in and dragged it out. That's the kind of community it is.

The other thing this neighborhood had suffered is the tax base has gone down due to the decline of property values. They have had to cut staff and they had to cut back on purchasing equipment. All of that impacted their ability to fight this blaze.

They did the very best they could. They take it to heart that they lost 370 homes. They know it could have been far worse, and they will tell their neighbors they did everything they possibly could to save their house -- John.

KING: Martin Savidge, for us on the front lines in Colorado Springs.

Martin, thanks and stays safe.

Now, someone who spent a good chunk of his career getting close to these fires as nearly as possible. So, we can get a better sense of their awesome power.

Almost every summer since 1996, when most of us heading off to the beach, National Geographic's Mark has heading into harm's way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

We hid around here behind this tree. This is getting a little too hot for me. Tried to go around on that street but it's too hot over there and I'm hot right here believe it or not. It's too hard to hold the camera in my hand. I'm videotaping here oversee. But you know, I hold my camera up and I can't do it for so long because my fingers just start to burn. I have gloves but I like to have it to get a sense how hot things are. I want to know if my camera will melt on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The very brave, Mark Thiessen, photographing a wild fire last year in Southern California. He joins us tonight from a somewhat cooler location.

So Mark, these fires, helps us understand it's the wind and the embers fueling them, right.

MARK THIESSEN, PHOTOGRAPHER, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: That's right. When you get these strong wind conditions, often times associated with a thunderstorm, it can cause dry lightning, and it can push these flames and embers that you can't see in the daytime. These pictures I shot at night and you can see these embers. They get pushed into homes into the attic through the eves and these fires-- these houses can often burn from the inside out.

KING: These pictures are incredibly powerful and among them, before and after pictures you took of a house during a fire. Tell us, why does the house burn but not the trees around it?

THIESSEN: Because the house is the most flammable thing in the forest fire. It's standing firewood like a fly paper for embers. So, when embers from another house come blowing across that house, they stick into the siding and into the metal trim around a window. They go into the vents of an attic and with these hot, dry, winds, they keep blowing and blowing and blowing and next thing you know, you've got fire and -- and the house is fully engulfed. Every house fire starts out small and turns into a much bigger one.

KING: And when the fires get so intense they can create their own weather system, right?

THIESSEN: That's right. When you got a fire moving across the prairie or forest, it's creating so much convection, the heat from the burning vegetation goes up really, really fast up into the sky just like in a thunderstorm and that air needs to be replaced. It's replaced by other oxygenated air coming from the sides and that helps push the fire even further.

KING: One challenge fighting them is how quickly they can move. How fast?

THIESSEN: Well, I've seen fires in the deserts of Idaho move 50 miles an hour and that's all based on the dry thunderstorm pushing those winds, pushing those flames and you can't catch up to it. You can't drive on a dirt road at 50 miles an hour to catch it. You have to call the district to -- that ahead of it to try and put a stop to those fires.

KING: Reading something today that suggested the fighting this fire in Colorado, fighting it has been hampered by high temperatures so may seem like an obvious question to why exactly the warm temperature is encourage that combustion?

THIESSEN: Well, that is actually a very good question.

When you have higher temperatures, the humidity lowers. The relative humidity gets less. The air gets drier and therefore it carries fire and also dries out the vegetation ahead of the fire. So it just means that the fuels, the vegetation if you will, is just more flammable.

KING: You've seen so many of these. Put this one in Colorado into context.

THIESSEN: This is just a tragedy, you know. Any time you have this many homes burning, you know, and loss of life, it's just horrible. It's something that is going to continue happening, as terrible as it is more and more in the future as our climate changes.

KING: Mark Thiessen, Thanks so much.

THIESSEN: Thank you.

KING: And now the men and women who come not to capture wildfires but to kill them. Fighting flames the way the 82 wins wars by dropping it from above deep into some of the most dangerous hotspots on earth.

Gary Tuchman tells their remarkable story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the entire USA, there are only 430 of them. They are among the firefighting elite, they are the smokejumpers.

And many of them are in Colorado right now, marking on to aircraft which is their transportation to the action. Their job, to fly into the fires just as new ones are starting up and stop them from getting bigger, nowhere near any roads and sometimes quite a distance from any civilization. But if they don't get to the blaze quickly, the flames will often spread rapidly. Smokejumpers court disaster every day, they are on the job.

When you talk to people you know, not close family, and you tell them what you do, what do they say to you?

JERRAN FLINDERS, SMOKEJUMPER: They think I should get my head examined.

TUCHMAN: Part of the reason for that is because of how they get to the fires.

(on-camera): Firefighting is not an occupation for the timid particularly in this specialty. Take a look. These guys don't just fight fires. They sky dive into potentially deadly combustion wilderness.

(Voice-over): We were watched the smokejumper's training in this canyon near Grand Junction, Colorado. After the smokejumpers land, their equipment is attached to their own parachute.

STEVE STROUD, SMOKEJUMPER: You find the hand pulls we use for fighting fires. Generally shovels.

TUCHMAN: The smoke jumpers who work for the U.S. department of agriculture in the interior are water, also have (INAUDIBLE), water, and sleeping bags in the cargo boxes because they may be in the wilderness for up to 48 hours while hauling gear on their backs.

PHILIP LIND, SMOKEJUMPER: Usually, weighs between 120 and 140 pounds and we'll hike out of the situation.

TUCHMAN: The fires in Colorado have been unpredictable and relentless. But there are so many other ways to get hurt including lightning and bad parachute landings.

Philip Lind is once seriously hurt when he missed the target.

LIND: I had a branch of a tree puncture me and come through the pelvis and avis rate me. And fortunately, the person I was with was a trained paramedic.

TUCHMAN: The smokejumpers put out the fires by clearing fuels with the equipment and digging fire lines. Also, building backfires to stop the wildfires in their tracks. They have to get along with each other because their lives depend on relying with each other.

Are there times you're fearful?

LIND: Almost certainly. I think all firefighters have moments we're fearful. We like to say courage is not the absence of fear, but the action making of action in spite of it.

TUCHMAN: And there is no shortage of action this season.

Gary Tuchman, CNN. Grand Junction, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Remarkable guys there.

Just ahead tonight, now, departing on track nine, your money. Billions of your tax dollars on a train that was supposed to bring real high-speed rail to this country, but critics say it is going nowhere fast. So, how much are you on the hook for? We're "Keeping Them Honest."

And later, we will go behind the Whitey Bulger murder trial and look at the Whitey Bulger mystic. How a man who once share the most wanted list with Osama bin Laden is still a kind of hero to some. They see him, more as Robin Hood than murder inc.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Sounds like a great idea, high-speed rail across the country and supporters say it would simultaneously reduce congestion and pollution and at a true alternative to air travel. As said, it sounds great. The reality though, is much more complicated and the crown jewel of high-speed hopes, California's bullet train is in real trouble.

But this isn't only a California story, there are billions of federal tax dollars, that's your money, tied up in developing a system that is far struggle to deliver on the big promise that made by politicians.

Drew Griffin is "Keeping Them Honest."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the past decade, California has been the best hope for high-speed rail in America. A vision of the future the rest of the U.S. would certainly follow. Backed by a nearly $10 billion California bond measure passed four years ago and another $3.5 billion of your federal tax dollars. The idea was to link the golden states' two biggest cities with a 200-mile an hour bullet. (On-camera): Which is why Californians overwhelmingly approved it, a bullet train connecting Los Angeles with San Francisco in a little more than two hours, but like many high-speed rail projects across the country, it hasn't happened yet and even once staunch supporters of this rain are asking where is it?

QUENTIN KOPP, RETIRED JUDGE: Stroll, I introduced as state senator for the first bill to create high-speed rail in California.

GRIFFIN: When was that?

KOPP: In 1992.

GRIFFIN: He Retired judge Quentin Kopp pushed the state's first high speed rail bill back in 1992. He tried again in 1996 and then, as chairman of the high-rail authority.

KOPP: We're on our way.

GRIFFIN: Kopp, ever the cheerleader. In 2008 rallied California voters to back the bond measure to pay for high-speed rail.

So a lofty goal, a goal that everybody thought was a great idea, the bond measure passed with tremendous support. What happened?

KOPP: Over the next three years, what happened was the collapse of the plan to run genuine high-speed rail. I call it the great train robbery.

GRIFFIN: The great train robbery with millions already spent, billions pledged, the result in California has so far amounted to, well, nothing. Kopp's vision of boarding a train here in San Francisco and stepping off that same train two hours and 40 minutes later in downtown Los Angeles has, he says, turned into a blended system. It means sharing tracks, going some parts slow, some parts fast, but according to Kopp, not true high-speed rail.

And certainly not what Californians voted for. And remember, that's your money. You, the taxpayer, are also along for this ride.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What we're talking about is a vision for high-speed rail in America.

GRIFFIN: The Obama administration in the push to build high- speed rail has given California 3.5 billion federal dollars.

So, are we getting -- I mean, as U.S. taxpayers and California taxpayers, are we getting ripped off? How are they getting away with this?

KOPP: Under this plan, we're getting ripped off, no question about it.

GRIFFIN: Earlier this year we asked out going transportation secretary Ray LaHood, where is the high speed rail the Obama administration spent $12 billion supporting? He told us, its coming. And I'm wondering after four years and $12 billion spent if you're disappointed at where the high-speed rail is. Where is the high-speed rail?

RAY LAHOOD, OUTGOING SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: The high-speed rail, in four years, we've invested $12 billion. That's just the federal money. That doesn't count any of the other money that's been invested in California. The assembly there just passed to sell bonds worth $10 billion. And soon in California, they will be turning a spade of dirt and starting to build their high-speed rail. In some parts of the country we'll have trains going 200 miles an hour.

GRIFFIN: When?

LAHOOD: As soon as we can get the kind of work that needs to be done started and it's starting.

GRIFFIN: The general accounting office did give a lukewarm endorsement to the project but raised red flags that cost estimates could be improved, warning the project faces funding uncertainty.

We wanted to ask the chairman of California's high speed rail authority how soon and more importantly how realistic is it that California will actually finish what it hasn't even begun?

But the chairman, Dan Richard, has stopped giving interviews to CNN. His staff told us they don't like the tone of our reports. They did send a statement saying California's high-speed rail program is moving forward with a cost effective and efficient plan that was approved by the legislature. The statement goes on to say we look forward to breaking ground this summer and begin creating thousands of jobs.

But in February, the chairman of the high-speed rail authority, Dan Richard, did have to answer in person to the state legislature, which is growing more concerned about the plan and the apparent lack of money to finish what's now estimated to be a $68 billion job. Dan Richard basically told California lawmakers, trust me.

DAN RICHARD, CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED RAIL AUTHORITY CHAIRMAN: We don't have answers for you, but we do have a mind set of looking at all of these things. It will be a series of 10 percent solutions. There is not going to be a silver bullet.

GRIFFIN: No silver bullet and if former supporters like judge Kopp are right, no bullet train.

Drew Griffin, CNN. San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: Now, California's high speed rail, at least the first part of it, was supposed to break ground as you saw in that statement in Drew's report, this summer. Well, summer is almost here, a week away, the ground breaking day pushed back until late next month. As Drew pointed out, there is a lot of uncertainty still and this is after years of planning. A lawsuit underway in California says the high-speed rail plan is so far removed from what the voters actually OKed, they should go back to the original plan or scrap the project.

We promise, we'll keep you posted.

Just ahead, the testimony that made the notorious gangster Whitey Bulger laughed today at his murder trial.

Plus, a Boston reporter who Bulger has tried to keep out of the courtroom joins me. Kevin Cullen knows the Bulger story inside and out.

Plus, a "360" exclusive, the in-depth look at the life a former Navy SEAL is making for herself. Kristen Beck recently came out as transgender and she is an extraordinary woman.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Crime and punishment now on day three of Whitey Bulger's racketeering and murder trial. The reputed Boston gangster, who so far show a little emotion threw back his head and laughed.

So, what did he find so funny, a former book maker was testifying about a meeting decades ago between Bulger and a man he owed him money. He said Bulger told the man he had another business besides book making and when the man asked what it was, Bulger allegedly replied quote "killing a-holes like you." That's what tickled the former king-pen funny bone. He is now 83. The man that gave the testimony, 84.

Kevin Cullen, co-author, "Whitey Bulger, America's most wanted gangster and the man hunted prior to justice." Kevin Cullen now a columnist at the "Boston Globe." He joins us now.

Now Kevin, as I mentioned, these former bookies testified today saying what a lot of people, including me (INAUDIBLE), believe to be true that if you crossed Whitey Bulger or his gang you would end up hurt or worse, right?

KEVIN CULLEN, CO-AUTHOR, WHITEY BULGER: Absolutely. I mean, Jimmy Carr who actually, Jimmy Carr grew up about three blocks from where you did, John. I know the streets and Jimmy talked about that that he ended up in the hospital. I thought he was generous saying that because usually, if you have really crossed Whitey, you ended up in a shallow grave.

KING: Well, next week, he supposed to get to a much more high profile witness, an infamous Boston figure in his own right. That's reputed Bulger hitman, John Martirano (ph). He confessed to 20 murders, that is two times murders, two times ten, yet only served 12 years in prison because of a deal he would covered the government to testify against Bulger and also against Steve Fleming, a Bulger's co- work. Testimony to say nothing of him and Whitey Bulger, they will be in the same courtroom after all these years. Hype up that drama. CULLEN: I can only imagine what it is going to be. I will tell you what, I'm sure Whitey will stair him down but Johnny will stair him down just as well. The difference between Whitey and Johnny and that Whitey is eating crappy jail food. And the last time I saw Johnny, I walked by two weeks ago, he is eating at a steak house on boils the street. I can't even afford to eat there and Johnny is in there, eating there.

So, things have changed. But, yes, I mean, it's bad -- and that will be a big part of Whitey's defense. You can see what Jay Carney, the lead lawyer is going. He wants to make this about the bad guys that are testifying against Whitey. He wants to make it about the FBI, the FBI enabled him, they protected him, they made honest law enforcement people go away when they were trying to take them down. At the end of the say, John, Whitey pulled the triggers. Whitey put the guns in the people's heads and he pulled the triggers. He put knives in people's throat and extorted money from them. So, they can talk about this, but it is going to be a really hard slog for Whitey's lawyers to get over the hump of what they will say to him.

KING: You make those statements because of your fabulous reporting along with your "Globe" colleague, Shelley Murphy. And you are both from Boston. Whitey doesn't like either of you. He is trying to keep you out of the courtroom by putting you on the witness list.

Then there is Howie Carr from the "Herald," who according to another former Bulger associate, Whitey came close to having him killed. That's tough to explain this to people who are not from Boston but give it a try. How deep into the Whitey Bulger mystic, the saga, who even sought to the city's culture, history, politics, media, everything?

CULLEN: Well, I mean, it's -- you begin with the premise this is really a story of angels with dirty faces. If they film it today, they have to dig up Jimmy Cagney and Pat O'Brien to play, shy do miss politician brother, Bill Bulger.

By the way, we were told that we could not refer to him in court as Bill or Billy Bulger. We have to refer to him as William. Bill Bulger was the most powerful politician in the state. At the same time, his brother was the most powerful gangster in Boston. So, I think that alone, is what fuels the story in terms of why it is so significant. But I would say that the difference between Whitey Bulger and the guy, even the guy like Al Capone. Al Capone has certain people on the payroll office in Chicago cops, things like this. Whitey Bulger have the entire FBI protecting him. It wasn't a rogue agent named John Conley who was his handler and who is now doing 40 years or helping the guy get killed that protected Whitey Bulger, it went all the way to the Hoover Building, John.

He was protected at the highest levels in Washington because they believed he was a useful informant. He was a useless informant. That's one part of the defense I agree with. The defense is going to say he wasn't an informant. Well, he was an informant. The point is he wasn't much of an informant. It was John Conley protecting him because he wanted to protect the family because he grew up in the same housing project in South Boston. I don't have to tell you, John, you're from this time. In a place like Southey, everything is about loyalty, loyalty to your neighborhood, loyalty to your neighbors and more than anything loyalty to your family.

KING: That's dead on. Kevin, before I let you go, one other thing I want you to tell people about, because again, if you're not from Boston you might not remember this day. In 1991 you heard the news Whitey Bulger won the lottery. Let's use the word win loosely. You can't make this up. Just explain how this worked in Whitey world.

CULLEN: Well, I mean, a guy -- Pat Lenski who was a friend of Whitey's and he actually won the lottery. But Whitey never had a legitimate source of income so Whitey was able to buy into that group and you know, he took part of the ticket to say he had 80 grand in tax-free money every year. The first thing Whitey did after he won the lottery was go to Florida and buy a condo because the feds couldn't seize it because he had a legitimate source of income. That's all that was about, just another scram, just another day in Whitey's world. It's Whitey's world, John, we're just living in it.

KING: I wish I could be in that trial along with you. Kevin Cullen, thanks so much, fabulous reporting.

There's a lot more happening tonight. Isha Sesay now join us with the 360 Bulletin -- Isha.

ISHA SESAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, the increase aid the White House said it will send to Syria's rebels includes small arms, ammunition and possibly anti-tank weapons. That's according to two officials familiar with the plan. Yesterday the White House said Syria had crossed a quote, "red line" by using chemical weapons against its own people.

The victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting were remembered with 26 seconds of silence, one for each person killed, 20 first graders and six educators were slaughtered when a gunman burst into the school six months ago today.

A higher judge today ruled that a former high school football player convicted in juvenile court of raping a 16-year-old girl must register as a sex offender every six months for the next 20 years. Trenton May was sentenced to a minimum of two years in a juvenile correctional facility.

The Massachusetts Transit Officer Richard Donohue went home from the hospital today. He was wounded in the shootout between the police and Boston bombing suspects. Police fired nearly 300 rounds including the bullet that nearly killed Officer Donohue and we wish him well in his recovery.

KING: Amen, we do. Great to see him heading home from the hospital. Isha, thanks so much. Coming up here, the incredible story of Christian Beck who came out as transgender after spending years as an elite Navy SEAL then she was known as Chris Beck. Now she says she's finally the person she always felt she was but had to hide. A look at Kristine's new life as a woman next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Now an ac 360 exclusive, an extraordinary look at an extraordinary woman, Kristin beck used to be Chris Beck, a member of the elite Navy SEALs. She recently came out as transgender after 20 years courageously fighting for her country as a Navy SEAL. For all those years, she kept hidden the person she considered to be her real self. Now we're getting an amazing look at her new life and courage. She's the subject of an Anderson Cooper special tonight at 10:00 Eastern. Here is just a preview of her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): It would be an understatement to say that life is a lot different since Chris began living full-time as Kristin.

KRISTIN BECK, FORMER NAVY SEAL: All of the stuff that women go through every day. We wake up. You have to do all your make up and try to look pretty and presentable and it's a lot more work than anybody would ever imagine. So now I'm ready for the day.

I got a lot of dresses and skirts and different things in the last few months or last six months. When I first started shopping, I would go to Victoria Secret to make believe I was buying for my girlfriend and now because I'm a full-time woman and I'm buying things for myself, it's liberating.

And just like any girl in the entire world, I have a pretty good shoe collection. If I have to compare if I like my guns or my shoes better, I would have to say I like my shoes better now. When you have a really pretty dress on, item powers you and gives you that confidence, so my body armor I wear now is a very pretty dress and some of my heels. So it's kind of -- kind of funny how that changes.

COOPER: The changes she's embraced have her focus more on wardrobe than warfare these days.

BECK: That's the beauty about this weapon, it's so simple. Not a whole lot of moving parts. We got it all back together now, ready to go.

COOPER: For work, she supports herself with the skills she mastered as a Navy SEAL.

BECK: We're driving up to go to a shooting range.

COOPER: She's a paid firearm instructor through a security firm and trains a local police SWAT team free of charge. BECK: I just feel that weapons should be treated with respect and used properly then it would actually make a lot more peace in our world because the bad people are criminals now, they can't get away with taking advantage of people. This type of training, I see it as a service definitely to use what I did in the Navy SEALs and what I've done my whole life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK soft you got all --

BECK: Let's lock and load, going hot. Still shooting real high, I don't know why you're so high. Let me take a shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just wondering if it's off, probably not. They are going right in the same freaking hole.

BECK: I put three in one hole so the weapon is shooting pretty good. I think we're good OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me try --

BECK: Now you got to get more accurate because I showed you it's not the weapon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I know that.

BECK: Perfect. That was good. How does that feel? It feels pretty awesome.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great.

BECK: Good shooting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That feels great.

BECK: Do it again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

BECK: Right in the bulls eye. So there is the end of our training. Mike, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Been a pleasure. Remember, ladies night Monday night after 4:00 shoot for free, if you would like to come more than welcome.

BECK: Great. That's good. We'll go to the motorcycle shop and we're going to check in with one of the mechanics that I do a lot of work with and see how the project is going.

COOPER: A long time motorcycle enthusiast Kristin build a bike from the ground up including parts made of old weapons. That exhaust pipe, part of a rocket grenade launcher. She ends the day taking us to her favorite bar.

BECK: Girls night out.

COOPER: Most of the friends she has today knew her as Chris, but have stood by her in her new life as Kristin.

BECK: Not cool to judge people because of anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. That's why I love you.

BECK: You're going to make me blush.

COOPER: Just stepping out of the house these days dressed as Kristin is an act of courage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you nervous?

BECK: Yes. There is a lot of prejudice out there. When I walk out my front door, it's a challenge, a mission because I want to make sure I represent, you know, all of us women in a good way. This is my life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: A reminder, that's just a preview. You can tune in tonight for the full Anderson Cooper special report "From Chris to Kristin: A Navy SEAL's Secret." That's at 10:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Just ahead, a 360 exclusive, an incredibly rare discovery, three sets of dinosaur bones found in the same spot, we'll take you to the secret location and show you the dig.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: Tonight another 360 exclusive, an extraordinary discovery on a Wyoming ranch, the remains of not just one but three dinosaurs. It's an incredibly rare find. The dig is underway, piece by piece bones believed to be 67 million years old being excavated.

We're going to take you up close. Our CNN crew is the only television crew that's been allowed on this site. We've agreed not to reveal the exact location. Here's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Miles down an unpaved path in Wyoming to a top secret and remote location Pete Larson escorts us to, a first of a kind find.

PETE LARSON, FOSSIL HUNTER: Here's the dig.

LAH: An archaeological dream for America's most prolific fossil hunter.

LARSON: There is a bone over here.

LAH: Bones, skulls, jaws, jutting out of millions years old earth.

(on camera): I'm worried I'll step on something. LARSON: If you step -- the white is OK. That's obviously a rib bone.

LAH: This is a rib bone?

LARSON: Yes.

LAH: Is that a tooth?

LARSON: No, that's a horn.

LAH: That's a horn.

LARSON: These are -- it's the triceratops means.

LAH (voice-over): The triceratops, the lumbering vegetarian that graces history museums. A creature of wonder recreated in "Jurassic Park." Larson believes these enormous bones were cracked and crushed by the meat loving T-Rex that fed and discarded them at these feed sites. For the first time in modern paleontology, three of them unearth at the same site at the pain staking weeks-long excavation. These scientists believed one of the dinosaurs may rival the most complete skeleton of a triceratops ever found.

(on camera): How old is this that I'm touching?

LARSON: It's 67 million years old.

LAH: That's amazing.

LARSON: A living animal that's like nothing that's live today, which is just one of the coolest things in the world.

LAH: Is it an addiction?

LARSON: It's an addiction, that's right. Once you start doing this, you can't stop.

LAH (voice-over): The only time this independent fossil collector stopped digging, when we went to federal prison. In 1990, he paid a rancher to unearth the world's largest complete fossil of a T-Rex on the land. Larson named it Sue. Later the rancher, the U.S. government and Su Indians claimed possession.

The government seized the T-Rex and Larson was sent to prison for two years for illegal transport of money. Those in support of Larson called the sentence an example of government over reach using murky, anthropological laws. Sue was sold at auction to Chicago Field Museum for over $8 million. Larson never saw a cent.

(on camera): How do you come back and keep digging?

LARSON: That was not fun, but still part of my life and I learned many things, things I have a curiosity about like what is life in prison like. LAH (voice-over): But it won't stop these fiercely independent scientists. New federal laws put in place after Larson's T-Rex battle now say the land owner, not the government owns fossils. Larson has already struck a modest deal with this rancher and a museum of the Netherlands for the triceratops trio. For far less than he would have made at a public auction. Larson says he's not in it for the money but the hunt.

LARSON: They are monsters, true monsters that were alive and to be able to hunt for those monsters is pretty cool.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING: That is pretty cool. Kyung Lah joins me now. Kyung, what is next? How long until the bones there are removed?

LAH: Well, it's going to take a couple more weeks, John, if not longer to get all the bones out. They are still in the process of discovering exactly how many bones are in there. So they still have a lot of work ahead. In the lab it becomes more even difficult. They are looking up to 20,000 hours trying to piece it together before it's in a form that you can take your kid to see in museum.

KING: Wow, you called the man prolific. Define that. How many dinosaur skeletons has he found?

LAH: Believe it or not, nearly 100 dinosaurs. That's his argument. He's an independent guy and if it were not for Larson and his discoveries, we simply wouldn't have them.

KING: That's cool, indeed. Kyung Lah, thanks so much. Isha is back now with a 360 Bulletin. Hi, there.

SESAY: Hi, John. Police say Zawahri, the gunman who opened fire one week ago in Santa Monica, California left a farewell note apologizing for killing his father and brother. A total of five people were killed in the shooting rampage. Authorities say no motive was given in the letter.

Cleveland police have released video of Ariel Castro and his brothers in custody. He's visibly upset and throws his body up against the glass window. He and Pedro were later freed and not charged with kidnapping three women found in Ariel Castro's home.

In honor of the 150th anniversary, Lego put together these maps of the system of the years and one predicts what it could look like in 2020. Each map took at least four days to build.

John, the party may be over for the music group that claims to be the copyright holder of "Happy Birthday To You." A production company working on a documentary about the song has filed a class-action lawsuit to put the song in the public domain and make it free. Warner Chapel Music charged them $1500 to use the song. The suit argues the music group collects more than $2 million a year in copyright fees for the song and wants them to return all the cash it's collected over the years. Who would have thought it? KING: Wait, so if I say -- if it were you birthday and I sang happy birthday to Isha, would I have to pay royalties? Is that what you're saying?

SESAY: Yes and don't look for me for cash because I won't help you pay the bill. You can mime it. You can mime it.

KING: I'll write a note. Isha, thanks.

Coming up, Michaela Pereira, she is the new anchor of CNN's new morning show, "NEW DAY," which premieres on Monday. I'm going to speak with Michaela about what is on deck next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KING: This coming Monday morning is the start of a whole day here at CNN. "NEW DAY" is CNN's new morning show airing from 6 to 9 a.m. Eastern with co-host Chris Cuomo and Kate Baldwin and news anchor Michaela Pereira.

Michaela joins me now. Welcome to CNN. I'm down here in Washington. My first question for you "NEW DAY" based in New York, you spent a decade on the west coast. What is it like from going left coast to east coast?

MICHAELA PEREIRA, NEWS ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY": This really is a new day. It's such an adjustment, a lot of wide open space in the west.

KING: Your former colleagues, I watched the old clips when you said farewell on KTLA. You got a car for your birthday once. Do your new colleagues understand that, what they have to do?

PEREIRA: I don't think they fully understand what I left in Los Angeles. I think they are starting to get a sense from the tweets and e-mails that I've been getting and I've been sharing with them. You spend a decade -- John, you know this you spend a decade in a market, fall in love with a place, you make connections, part of community. It was difficult to leave and made it difficult with the series of send offs.

KING: You get started Monday morning, your new team, do you get an extra tax deduction for that? How are you guys getting along?

PEREIRA: It's so funny. These are three different people. Kate being from Indiana covering D.C., you've been working with her for quite awhile. You have Chris, the Cuomo last name is famous, traveling the globe doing the great stories, breaking news and you have me in the mix. It will be bright and early. Are you a morning guy, John?

KING: You'll find out because I will be there Monday morning to be with you to help with the launch. I'm looking forward. Tell the viewers what we can expect about "NEW DAY," the format, how you look forward to the show? PEREIRA: Energy, enthusiasm and advocacy. We care profoundly about the world around us and what is going on. We're not trying to reinvent morning news. We recognize people want that information in a manner that they can manage at that time in the morning. We want quick news to get you around the circumference of the globe, if we can, what is going on domestically. Financial, we'll have D.C. news, sports, weather a great gallery, Indra Petersons will make sure we know all the weather coming our way. This year has been a big weather year already and some surprises along the way, too. I can't give those away.

KING: Don't give away secrets.

PEREIRA: I won't.

KING: News is and always will be our top priority here at CNN. You know this better than I do, you have to juggle. You have to talk about a range of issues. Let's play word association. Here is your morning TV test.

PEREIRA: Here we go.

KING: Justin Bieber.

PEREIRA: Canadian, ha, ha.

KING: Politics.

PEREIRA: D.C.

KING: Wolf Blitzer's beard.

PEREIRA: Foxy.

KING: The Kardashians.

PEREIRA: A lot.

KING: A lot. That's good. And finally let's be clear and honest, I'm just a fill in. Anderson Cooper?

PEREIRA: Dreamy.

KING: I won't ask.

PEREIRA: I have background on you, my friend.

KING: We have mutual friends.

PEREIRA: We do. We'll keep that hidden for now.

KING: We will indeed. Michaela, great to have you on CNN and we'll see you, Chris and Kate, bright and early "NEW DAY" 6 a.m., Monday morning.

PEREIRA: John, thank you. KING: Thank you. That does it for us at 360. Join us one hour for now for the Anderson Cooper Special Report "From Chris to Kristin: A Navy SEAL's Secret." Thanks for watching. Have a great weekend. "PIERS MORGAN" starts now.