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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Murder of Alfred Wright; Forced to Live; GOP, Women and Their Libido; Snowden Plea Deal?; Justin Bieber Arrested For Drunken Driving, Resisting Arrest In Miami Beach; California Murder Mystery Deepens With Discovery Of Third Body
Aired January 23, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Evening, everyone. Breaking news tonight in a story that 360 first brought to national attention. The strange disappearance and mysterious death of an African-American father in Texas.
Also tonight a judge gets set to hear the case of the reportedly brain-dead Texas woman whose body is being kept alive against her family's wishes because she's pregnant.
And later what's got into Justin Bieber? His arrest today, DUI charges and general odd behavior. Addiction medicine specialist Dr. Drew Pinsky is on the case for us tonight.
We begin, though, with the breaking news in the death of Alfred Wright who vanished last November. His family found his body nearly three weeks later. That was two weeks after local authorities gave up searching in the exact area where ultimately his body was found by his own family.
The local sheriff told them there was no sign of foul play. The family is alleging a murder and cover-up. Now after our Deb Feyerick's reporting put a spotlight on the case there is a late new development tonight and Deb's got the details. She's been working her source. She joins us now.
What are you learning?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we can tell you, Anderson, is that the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric Holder, is being contacted about looking into this case.
Congressman Sheila Jackson Lee from the Houston area of Texas met with the Wright family yesterday for several hours. She had seen our three-part investigation here on AC 360 into the death and disappearance of Alfred Wright. We spoke to her chief of staff today. He says that they are drafting a letter as we speak. That letter's going to go to the Justice Department, Attorney General Eric Holder, as well as the U.S. attorney in Beaumont, Texas.
We have no specifics just yet on the kind of investigation, what assistance they're going to ask from the Justice Department. But it would include things for example like civil rights violations, hate crimes, public corruption, for example corruption within law enforcement, and the Texas Rangers, they have been asking the FBI for assistance.
Right now, though, there's no new information on the status of the investigation either from the Rangers or from the FBI. This investigation by all accounts seems to be moving very, very slowly.
COOPER: We should point out that the investigation was already handed over by the local sheriff to the Texas Rangers who -- who asked for FBI assistance, correct?
FEYERICK: Correct. And it does appear the Texas Rangers, they're the ones who are really taking the lead on all of this. You know, you ask anybody down there in Texas, they say, the Texas Rangers, it's like -- they're like the FBI but of that region. But they are looking for a wider assistance. And that's what the FBI is sort of on standby for right now.
COOPER: All right. Deborah Feyerick, appreciate the update. Thanks.
We'll go next to the Dallas area where an emergency hearing is set for tomorrow in the case of Marlise Munoz. Now her family says she's brain-dead and she -- and say that she never wanted to be kept alive like this. But because she's pregnant, the hospital is keeping her on a ventilator. Tomorrow her husband will ask a judge for permission to disconnect the machine, claiming her body and then lay her to rest.
Today we got new details from inside the ICU where Marlise Munoz's body has been held since November and learned more about the judge who'll hear the case tomorrow.
Ed Lavandera joins us now with the latest from Dallas.
So Marlise Munoz's husband has made new statements about his wife's condition. What's he saying?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this comes from a court filing that was made late this afternoon. It's an affidavit that Eric Munoz, the husband of Marlise Munoz, has given to the judge that will be hearing the case this afternoon in Ft. Worth. And it really details the sadness and the horrific scene inside that intensive care unit where Marlise Munoz's body has been since November 26th, the night she collapsed of an apparent lung clot -- blood clot in her lung.
In it he says -- Eric David says, "When I bend down to kiss her forehead, his wife, her usual scent is gone replaced instead with what I can only describe as the smell of death." He goes on to say that, "One of the most painful parts of watching my wife's deceased body lie trapped in a hospital bed each day is the soulless look in her eyes. Her eyes, once full of the glimmer of life are empty and dead. My wife is nothing more than an empty shell."
And Eric Munoz just also goes on to say that all he wants to do is be able to put his deceased body's -- deceased wife's body to rest. There is no mention in his affidavit -- in this affidavit of the fetus -- Anderson.
COOPER: So the emergency court hearing that is requested and set for tomorrow afternoon, what do we know about the judge in the case?
LAVANDERA: Well, it's interesting. The judge is a lifelong Ft. Worth, Texas resident. He had been in private practice as a civil attorney at one of the most prominent law films there in Ft. Worth. Also worked for a time as an assistant federal prosecutor in Ft. Worth as well. By all accounts a very well-respected person.
He is a Republican. Most judges in Texas are elected officials at this level. However, he was appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry in 2010 to fill a vacant seat. He won re-election in 2012 and he's not up for re-election again until 2016.
COOPER: And Marlise Munoz, I mean, she's been kept on ventilators, her family says against her own wishes for nearly two months. Do we have any idea who will be responsible for those medical payments?
LAVANDERA: Well -- you know, this is interesting. It's something we've been asking, you know, from the very beginning. We reached out to John Peter Smith Hospital and asked them what will happen with the medical bills that have been incurred in all of this. And we got a one-line statement from the hospital today. This is from a spokeswoman for John Peter Smith Hospital where they said, "The Billing Department at John Peter Smith Hospital will pursue its customary procedures for identifying payers and reimbursements."
So it seems clear that they expect to be paid for the medical bills that have been incurred over the last nearly two months. We do know that in various phone calls we've made we've tried to reach out to Marlise Munoz's employer and the insurance company that we believe where she is sponsored and has her insurance with.
Those two groups said that they could not speak or offer any more details because of privacy issues. But that is clearly something that -- and I spoke with Eric Munoz's lawyers a couple of weeks ago. And they said that that is something that they anticipate and will have to deal with once they get past this initial emergency hearing tomorrow.
COOPER: Wow. A whole other side to that.
Ed Lavandera, appreciate the update.
I want to bring in the legal analysts Sunny Hostin and Mark Geragos, who are completely divided on this. Also OB/GYN Dr. Lisa Masterson, host of "Health in Heels with Dr. Lisa," and also attorney and children's advocate Areva Martin.
So, Areva, let's start with you. This affidavit that the husband has filed with the court tonight. Obviously incredibly emotional stuff. What impact could it actually have legally if any, this affidavit?
AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY AND CHILDREN'S ADVOCATE: I think it's going to just bolster the argument from the husband that his wife has been determined brain-dead and to continue to force her to gestate this fetus is just cruel. Not just to the wife but to the family as well.
And I hope the court takes, you know, note of a 1999 case, Anderson, a very similar situation. A 34-year-old woman in a tragic accident. You know, her common law husband fought to keep her on a ventilator to allow a fetus to gestate. But once they were able to show that that woman was brain-dead, the court ordered that the ventilator be turned off because you should not be maintaining the life, so to speak, of a corpse.
And I hope in this tragic case that something very similar happens tomorrow at that court hearing.
COOPER: Mark, when you hear details about the judge, a Republican, is it possible this could come down to politics or would politics be involved in this? I mean, you've said all along this is an offshoot of the battle over abortion.
MARK GERAGOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: And that's always my fear is that somebody is going to read not the law but the political winds. By all accounts, the way that he was just described sounds like somebody who should be, you know, if you believe what comes out of the right, a strict constructionist. If they read the law, this case will be done tomorrow.
And let me just say one thing. I mean, you look at the -- you hear those words in that declaration, and shame on people who are putting this father through it. I mean, I hate to sound like a scold, but shame on them. This is just unbelievably ghoulish. It's beyond the pale. I realize that we get ratings on cable because of it.
But it really is utterly, utterly ridiculous to keep a cadaver there as some kind of a vessel to -- for fetal tissue that is abnormally -- I mean, that has no chance whatsoever of springing forth life. It's ridiculous. I said it last night. This is nothing more than a proxy or Trojan horse for the abortion battle. And it's disgusting.
COOPER: Sunny, I mean --
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Wow, fetal tissue.
COOPER: Sunny, the fact is, nothing is written down. There were conflicting reports about this, but her wishes -- the husband says it was her wishes all along never to be kept on life support. She's a paramedic. The fact that nothing's written down, does that influence you on this?
HOSTIN: Well, it doesn't in the sense that it doesn't influence the law. It doesn't change the analysis. The law is very clear that even if there was an advance directive that says listen, unplug me, that directive is disregarded in favor of the statute --
COOPER: Because she's pregnant.
HOSTIN: Because she is pregnant. And I think what's so interesting about people like Mark and others that are sort of dancing around the issue, and I think an issue is now that the mother is allegedly brain- dead, according to Mark and others, then her --
COOPER: Well, according to the husband. HOSTIN: According to the husband and Mark Geragos, her autonomy sort of ceased with her death.
GERAGOS: No, I choose to --
HOSTIN: Right? So this is not a question of her right.
GERAGOS: I choose --
HOSTIN: It really is a question of the child's right at this point.
GERAGOS: About whose right is it.
HOSTIN: It's the child's right. And I think --
GERAGOS: Well, Sunny, I have one question for you.
HOSTIN: Mark, I think when you look at the statute --
(CROSSTALK)
GERAGOS: Sunny --
COOPER: Let her finish. Let her finish.
HOSTIN: I think when you look at the statute, they contemplated this.
GERAGOS: What about -- what about the husband's rights? What about the husband's rights?
HOSTIN: The husband's rights over the mother's body.
GERAGOS: Why is it the husband has no rights? And what about -- and you know, we've been talking about this --
HOSTIN: That doesn't make sense, Mark.
COOPER: One at a time. One a time.
GERAGOS: As if the hospital -- we've been talking about this hospital as if they're somehow doing something noble. And you just saw in that package that they're their billing department says we're going to customarily go after whoever we want.
HOSTIN: They're following the law. They're following the law.
GERAGOS: Do you think there's a --
HOSTIN: Is that not noble?
COOPER: OK. OK.
(CROSSTALK)
GERAGOS: They're following the profit motive. They're following the profit motive -- COOPER: OK. Let Sunny respond to the question about her husband.
GERAGOS: -- to bill out everybody in the insurance.
COOPER: Let Sunny respond to -- what about the husband? Does he have rights?
HOSTIN: Again, people have been framing this issue as the mother's rights. If the mother is brain-dead, then the rights that are really -- at issue are the fetus' rights.
COOPER: OK. Let me bring in Dr. Masterson.
Dr. Masterson, we talked a little bit about this last night when we first learned that the fetus already seemed to have a host of medical problems. You say there's very little in the way of research on fetuses surviving in the womb after the mother is brain dead. That it's very difficult to artificially the replicate the conditions of the female body with the machines.
If that's the case, then the longer this goes on the more difficult it becomes, correct?
DR. LISA MASTERSON, HOST, "HEALTH IN HEELS WITH DR. LISA": Correct. Actually, it's a very tragic situation. Because even if it is prolonged just like I said before, the fetus probably will have -- the baby will probably have some defects. Definitely if it's -- if it actually lives.
The question as we said before is that this is still a woman's choice, a choice. And we don't know if she would still do anything in her power to have this baby live or to sustain this baby. And that's what the court is trying to determine. If she did.
Now there is a time clock. Because actually with "Roe versus Wade," the state comes in at 24 weeks because then the fetus is deemed viable. So that's why this is an emergent sort of court situation because right now they're still taking the mother's right of choice into power right now.
Would she have wanted to have done everything that she possibly could --
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: Anderson --
COOPER: Well, Areva --
MASTERSON: -- because mothers change their mind when they're pregnant.
COOPER: Areva, what about that? I mean, her husband and her father are saying look, she never wanted to be kept in this kind of a state. The counter argument, which Sunny has made is, well, look, she didn't say that when she was pregnant or we don't know if she said that when she was pregnant. Does that convince you, Areva?
MARTIN: This is a very educated, smart woman. She didn't have to go line by line and delineate what she meant when she said she didn't want to be kept on life support. Her wishes are very clear.
HOSTIN: Come on.
MARTIN: This law is really troubling to me.
And, Anderson, you know I'm a children's rights advocate. So some would say, well, Areva, you should be advocating for the child. But no one's talking about the psychological impact. Can you imagine a child being born and has to learn that they were gestated in their dead mother's body for months?
HOSTIN: I think that's such a ridiculous argument.
MARTIN: I just don't --
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Let's her --
GERAGOS: That doesn't -- that certainly --
MASTERSON: No, they might have thought -- they might have thought --
MARTIN: Well, it's not ridiculous.
COOPER: Wait, wait. Guys, guys, guys.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Guys -- guys, seriously stop. No one listens when you're all yammering over each other. So Areva, finish your thought and then we'll get the others to weigh in.
MARTIN: It's not ridiculous at all. It's a reality here. We're gestating a fetus in a dead woman's body.
COOPER: All right.
MARTIN: And Jahi McMath, when that girl was determined brain-dead, the hospital says we don't treat brain-dead corpses and they stopped all medical treatment. So the same should apply in this young woman's case. She's brain-dead. Stop all the treatment. Allow her family to bury her with grace and dignity.
COOPER: Dr. Masterson?
MASTERSON: But not if it's actually keeping a fetus alive. I have seen mothers go to all kinds of extremes, like if the baby had a -- if they ruptured their bag of water 24 weeks and their baby had very little chance of staying alive and they stayed on bed rest for all that time. Is that a corpse? A mother on bed rest?
GERAGOS: Right. And they -- they were alive.
MASTERSON: She is still doing something physiologically to try and --
GERAGOS: They were alive.
COOPER: Dr. Masterson --
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: They were alive --
GERAGOS: They were alive --
COOPER: OK. Again, Mark, Mark, to your point is that there's a difference between being in a vegetative state or being in a coma and being brain-dead.
GERAGOS: Well, look, Anderson, I don't know how many nights in a row we can try to explain the fact that she's not alive. In every jurisdiction she is dead. It is a cadaver. And to force the husband to have to sit there and look into the lifeless eyes as he says and to smell death and to have this done and have the hospital which I'm more appalled than ever by this statement that they're going to continue their usual billing practices, shame on this hospital for misinterpreting a statute that says you don't give -- there's nothing in that statute that informs the hospital to take the actions they're doing. It's a complete abomination.
COOPER: We --
HOSTIN: That's not true, Mark, and you know it. That is not true. The statute is --
GERAGOS: We'll see tomorrow, Sunny.
HOSTIN: We will. Because the statute is silent after that --
GERAGOS: You'll see it tomorrow.
HOSTIN: -- which means it's open to interpretation which means it's unclear.
GERAGOS: Sunny --
(CROSSTALK)
HOSTIN: If you look at the history of this judge --
COOPER: OK, let --
HOSTIN: This judge made it very clear. Judges shouldn't be legislators.
COOPER: OK. Just for a fact what the statute actually says is about life support that if taken away then ends the life of the patient. But in this case the argument is the patient is already dead. You say the patient is also the fetus.
HOSTIN: That's right.
COOPER: So that's where your argument is.
All right, Sunny, Mark, Dr. Masterson, Areva Martin, appreciate it.
Again, well, hopefully this will be resolved tomorrow. We'll find out what the answer is. Follow me on Twitter @andersoncooper. Tweet using #ac360. Let's talk about it on Twitter.
Next, did what former Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee say today about women and birth control complicate his party's efforts to try to win back women voters? Got the true politics. You can decide for yourself.
And later this is really stunning. A microphone picks up what Richard Sherman said to that guy, Michael Crabtree, right before Crabtree took a poke at him. Was it more trash talk like Sherman's post-game rants just seconds later or something else entirely? We finally have the answer. And it may put to rest what a lot of the people who attacked that guy on Twitter were saying about him. We'll play the tape for you ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Tonight in true politics, Republican efforts to win back women voters in comments made today the Democrats are now pointing to as an example of why they have a hard time doing just that. Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee talking today about birth control coverage in the Affordable Care Act at the Republican Party's Annual Winter Meeting in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE, FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Democrats want to insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido or their reproductive system without the help of the government, then so be it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Now supporters of Governor Huckabee say he was mocking what he sees as the Democrats' attitude toward women. That is certainly not how the Democratic Party is portraying Governor Huckabee's remarks today.
DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz saying, quote, "Mike Huckabee has no idea what he's talking about. If this is the GOP rebrand a year later then all they've gotten is a year older."
Now whatever you think of the substance of what the governor said there, Huckabee made his remarks at the same conference where less than an hour later the Republican Party chairman, Reince Priebus, held a meeting on GOP rebranding.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: Alison, how can the party better connect with independent women on our conservative principles?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think right now there's an opportunity to reach out to women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: The GOP chairman surrounded by Republican women talking about the outreach program he launched a year ago after Mitt Romney lost heavily to President Obama among women and the party lost a number of what were expected to be fairly easy Senate races, in part because of Republican candidates and GOP supporters saying some things like these.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TODD AKIN (R), MISSOURI: If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.
RICHARD MOURDOCK (R), INDIANA U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, HOST, "THE RUSH LIMBAUGH SHOW": What does it say about the college co-ed Sandra Fluke who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? What does that make her? It makes her a slut, right?
FOSTER FRIESS, REPUBLICAN DONOR: Back in my day they used Bayer Aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put them between their knees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Now again whatever you think statements like those political professionals including inside the Republican Party itself agree that it hurt the party among women at the polls. The party commissioned a study, formed that rising star group you just saw, held boot camps and talking to women, spent millions on the effort.
Consultants have gotten in on the act, including one outfit called Burning Glass Consultants that was formed solely to help Republicans reach women. Take a look at their Web site. You'll see this in big letters, "For our clients to connect with women they must learn to communicate."
And with midterm elections coming up that could be key.
Some perspective now from chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash.
You were in the room when Governor Huckabee gave the keynote speech. What was the reaction? DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, keep in mind that he was speaking to Republicans and so it was a red meat crowd. So for the most part, they kind of got what he was saying. But then afterwards talking to people who were kind of in the business of communicating and trying to turn the party around with regard to women and people who they've been doing poorly with, they definitely were admitting privately in the hallways that this was not exactly what they bargained for.
Look, they asked Mike Huckabee to give this luncheon speak because they know that he has historically been a conservative who knows how to deliver a message in a folksy way, in a way that will connect. But this isn't exactly what they were thinking.
COOPER: Well, I mean, as you mentioned, Republicans obviously made it clear they're trying to look for ways to broaden their appeal to women. Is that -- that's what this speech was supposed to be about, right?
BASH: That's exactly right. What Mike Huckabee said and sort of the wind up was that Republicans don't have a war on women, that Republicans have a war for women. And his -- what he was trying to get at by talking about women's libido and about birth control was that women are not victims of their gender and that Democrats believe that that is the case.
He was trying to make the case that women should be empowered and Republicans can help them do that. But again by talking about birth control and by talking about women's libidos, even some people who are very close to him, some of his most ardent supporters again in the hallway said to me, you know what, using the word libido not a good idea.
One even said to me, Anderson, can you text him and say that he shouldn't use that? I said no, that's your job, not mine.
COOPER: But as you said, I mean -- a lot of Republicans in the room got what he was trying to say.
BASH: Yes.
COOPER: Obviously the flip side is the Democrats, they wasted no time before pouncing on this. I mean, they're trying to make as much hay of this as possible.
BASH: Absolutely. Because again, that is the whole reason why Mike Huckabee went down this road. Because they understand inside the Republican Party that Democrats have been very successful about branding Republicans as waging a war on women. That's why it's during this three-day meeting that the Republicans have been having here in Washington they have been trying to urge Republican candidates to not just, as the RNC chair said to me, take a punch. Not just to be sitting ducks.
They want to be more aggressive in fighting back in order to try to appeal to women. The problem is that the road to appealing to women has pitfalls when you don't articulate it the way that you should. And Democrats, as you said, wasted no time in pouncing. They put up a video online in about a half an hour and they're trying to frame this in a way that Republicans would rather not.
COOPER: Yes. Saw on a lot of liberal Web sites as well obviously throughout the day.
BASH: Yes.
COOPER: Dana Bash, appreciate it. Thanks.
BASH: Thank you.
COOPER: All right. Well, today the nation's best-known fugitive from justice held an online Q&A session and the nation's top law enforcement officials signaled a willingness to talk with home -- to talk with him back home.
NSA leaker Edward Snowden answering detailed questions about how he got hold of some of the intelligent community's biggest secrets.
And earlier, Attorney General Eric Holder telling MSNBC he would engage with Snowden's lawyers. Now he ruled out amnesty for Snowden. Then a short time later at another venue he added another condition.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: If Mr. Snowden wanted to come back to the United States, enter a plea, we would engage with his -- with his lawyers. We'd be -- we'd do that with any defendant who wanted to enter a plea of guilty. And so that's what -- that gives a little context to what I said.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, Snowden you'll recall obviously is in Russia says he's in no position to return to the United States. He says -- said so during an online chat session.
Joe Johns joins us now with more.
So he responded to Holder's comments during this live chat today. What exactly did he say?
JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, CNN's Jake Tapper asked Snowden in this chat under what conditions he'd agree to return to the United States, Anderson. And Snowden said, "Returning to the U.S. I think is the best resolution for the government, the public, myself. But unfortunately it's not possible in the face of current whistle blower protection laws which threw a failure in law did not cover national security contractors like myself."
So he wants to claim whistle blower protection which isn't available in a situation like this with no mention here of pleading guilty as the attorney general suggested. In talking to lawyers familiar with the case, any plea agreement between the government and Snowden would have to be airtight in writing because once he steps on a plane back to the States it's over and he's done. That's what one attorney familiar with the case said to me tonight -- Anderson.
COOPER: And clemency is out. Has the federal government indicated what kind of a deal they might be willing to make if any at all?
JOHNS: No indication at all. There's really no benefit we can see here except for ending Snowden's fugitive status, getting resolution and coming home. You start with these charges in the criminal complaint that's been filed, charged with theft of government property, violating the Espionage Act.
A former Justice Department official said you can be creative in fashioning a plea, but there is absolutely no way of telling what DOJ or Snowden would go for and what type of penalty he'd serve. There have to be a negotiation which isn't out of the question, frankly, especially because you get a Snowden trial and it could expose more sensitive information that the government doesn't want made public.
COOPER: Right.
JOHNS: So don't rule it out but don't bet on it.
COOPER: All right, Joe, appreciate the update. Thanks.
So a quick programming note. I want to give a half an hour notice. You can get ready for this because you've really got to watch this thing. It's awesome.
Tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, CNN Film presents the documentary "THE IMPOSTER." I've seen it. I loved this. I've actually seen it multiple times. I don't want to say too much about it. There's a lot of twists in it. It's actually narrated by the imposter and it's all about a young American boy who disappeared back in 1994. It is -- it's really a thrilling movie. I hope you watch it. See it for yourself coming up in about 30 minutes from now at 9:00 Eastern Time on CNN.
Just ahead, though, tonight, Justin Bieber's growing troubles now include an arrest. Is this young pop star on the verge of some sort of a meltdown or rehab?
Also a California murder mystery takes another tragic turn. A third body is identified, bringing new pain to a family already in mourning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Welcome back. Unless you've been asleep all day, you know there's more trouble for Justin Bieber. The 19-year-old star has a rap sheet and grinning mug shot to go with it. Police say they caught him drag racing down a residential street in Miami Beach before dawn this morning.
He's charged with drunken driving, resisting arrest and driving without a valid license. The drama was caught on this video posted on Instagram apparently shot at the drag race. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My God. Justin just got pulled over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justin got pulled over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Could have done without the audio, couldn't you? Me, too! My God. It's Bieber's first arrest, apparently, but anyone who's been following his exploits lately may have seen it coming.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JUSTIN BIEBER: What did you say?
COOPER (voice-over): Justin Bieber's squeaky clean image began to erode last March. He clashed with photographers after a brief stay at the hospital due to feeling woozy during a concert the night before. It was a strange March for Bieber. He had to leave his pet monkey Mali behind in Germany when he tried to enter the country without proper documentation for the pet.
Mali was reportedly a gift for Bieber's 19th birthday. In April, before a concert in the Netherlands, he visited the Anne Frank House and was widely criticized for his message in the guest book, "Ann was a great girl." He wrote, hopefully she would have been a believer," that according to the site's Facebook page.
Then there was this. Bieber is videotaped urinating in a mop bucket while he and his entourage are on their way out of a New York City night club. After Bieber's deposit, he makes one more stop, a spring, what appears to Windex and a photo of Bill Clinton and exclaimed -- later apologized to the former president.
Just last week, police swarmed Bieber's California mansion with a felony search warrant after a neighbour claimed the singer and his entourage pelted his house with eggs and caused $20,000 worth of damage. The investigation continues, and charges are still possible. Police say ecstasy was found at the singer's home and one of his friends was arrested. Which brings us today?
Just after 4:00 a.m. this morning, Bieber behind the wheel in this yellow Lamborghini is arrested by Miami police after they believe he was drag racing. He's charged with dui, driving without a valid license and resisting arrest.
Bieber's arrest report details a litany of profane language directed at police. What did I do? Why did you stop me? He reportedly said. While the officer performs a routine Pat down, I ain't got any firing weapons. What is this about? After his arrest he allegedly had a lot more to say to police.
CHIEF RAYMOND MARTINEZ, MIAMI BEACH POLICE: Mr. Bieber made statements that he had consumed some alcohol and that he had been smoking marijuana and consumed some prescription medication. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Bieber, you are charged with the following.
COOPER: After a brief court appearance he's released on $2500 bond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A $1,000 resisting without violence, $1,000 for the dui and $500 for the expired driver's license.
COOPER: And as he exits court he waves to screaming fans, suggesting true believers are still on his side.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It will certainly seem like we've seen this story many times before especially with young celebrities who have spun out of control. Joining me tonight, Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of HLN's "Dr. Drew On Call" and back with us legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Mark Geragos.
Dr. Drew, I mean, this a rich teenager acting like a rich teenager? Is it somebody who is, you know, hasn't had a childhood and just acting out or is there something more serious going on?
DR. DREW PINSKY, HOST, HLN'S "DR. DREW ON CALL": That has been the question all along and I'm concerned however as you mentioned something more serious might be going on. I don't know yet, but the fact we have a dui, driving under the influence, which is not really a normal relationship with alcohol. He had substances in his car and perhaps abusive prescription medicines.
We don't know what the prescription meds are, but he was using syrup with codeine which is an opiate. I am gravely concerned these may be opiates in the car. If that's the case this is beginning to come into focus as a substance use disorder.
COOPER: Mark, you've certainly had high profile clients with very public legal issues. How do you deal with something like this from a legal stand point? I mean, it's not just an issue of guilty or innocent when it's in the public eye like this.
MARK GERAGOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No, it isn't. Because everybody's on high alert and the way a case would normally get dealt wilt you don't get death with. I always say God save me from celebrity justice. The thing about it though as I try to explain to either prosecutors or judges, look, you've got somebody, you've got a kid who is in his early 20s, I believe. Same age as Drew and I have boys.
And if you give them that kind of money, it's a recipe for these kinds of actions. I mean, it's just a tough situation. This is something you have to deal with as the lawyer. You've also got to deal with the client.
And getting the client to understand that you just can't buy your way out of these things, you're going to have to there's a heightened level of scrutiny when it comes to somebody who's in the public eye. I mean, I don't care who you are. COOPER: At this point he's actually 19 so he's not even yet in his early 20s. Dr. Drew, though, these guys are surrounded by an entourage of sycophants basically. It seems like in Justin Bieber's case. Also he's been working and earning money I guess for his family and no doubt for himself and all these people around him for a long time.
PINSKY: Right.
COOPER: There is a permissive attitude of all the people around these people usually, isn't there?
PINSKY: Yes. There are several layers to the comment you make here, Anderson. First of all, yes, of course they make lots of money for lots of people including themselves and they love their work. If indeed this is a substance use disorder, the number one reason my celebrity patients don't do well is they don't take the time off work and or they go back to work prematurely.
It happens all the time. There's also the issue of the sycophants out in the world. Justin Smith would be brought in by a family physician and say you need months of work of structured treatment we're going to focus before we send you back to work. I'm relieved to hear the attorneys are out for the client and not the legal mess because the legal mess may be the only thing that gets this kid's attention!
GERAGOS: It's interesting, Anderson, when you ask that question. I always kind of jokingly refer to what you're saying of sycophants the nickel and dime crowd, the 5 percent who are making money and their interest is in keeping these people working as opposed to getting the people the help they've need.
I've been in situations where I've dropped clients off at rehab and I put them in a situation, I'm not going to say who it is, but I've told various clients you can stay with the crowd you're with. I'm not going to remain your lawyer. You can go get somebody else. Even though sometimes certain clients might be annuities you just take a stand.
COOPER: It certainly can't be easy for these police departments to deal with celebrities like this or I guess their lawyers, no offense.
GERAGOS: Well, I try to I've, got I think a pretty good relationship with both LASD and LAPD, and I try to maintain that. But they've got a very difficult job. Everything that surrounds these guys, the celebrity generates this buzz. Drew and I have shared clients slash patients countless times and there is kind of a tug-of-war.
COOPER: Drew, there is part of me that thinks, though, look, this is a 19-year-old young man who has as I said been working nonstop for a long time earning an awful lot of money, been allowed to do basically whatever he wants to do. And at a certain point, you could argue he's making the mistakes that a lot of people that age make, just that they're not in the public eye.
PINSKY: Absolutely. COOPER: The dui I think is maybe a different thing.
PINSKY: Right, that's right. It may be a different thing. That's what we're starting to wonder tonight. It's kind of coming into focus as a more serious medical problem. The other thing what Mark was saying, could you don't want special care for celebrities. I hope the cops don't treat them specially. If you treat them session specially as a physician or a medical team you end up with a Conrad Murray situation. That's where special care goes for people like this. He needs good standard care.
COOPER: Mark, good to have you on. Dr. Drew as well, thanks.
PINSKY: You bet.
COOPER: Dr. Drew will have much more on Justin Bieber, his behaviour, escalating problems tonight on HLN's "Dr. Drew On Call" at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN.
Just ahead, a California mystery deepens, a double murder becomes a triple murder weeks after the first bodies were found.
Also tonight, a terror at an apartment complex for seniors after fire breaks out. The latest in the casualties in a live report from the scene coming up.
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COOPER: Crime and punishment, tonight a murder mystery in Southern California has deepened. It began as a double homicide and a missing persons case. The three people involved a young woman, her fiance and his younger brother. That led to Rumours of a possible love triangle, crime of passion. Now a new development complicates the story. Casey Wian has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 22-year-old Ilona Flint was getting off work at a San Diego mall on Christmas Eve. Her fiance's brother, Salvatore Belvedere, also 22, was there to pick her up. Ilona didn't have a car, so the arrangement that night was routine. But whatever happened next was far from it. At 1:15 both Ilona and Salvatore are victims of a shooting.
ANDRE BRIONES, VICTIM'S FRIEND: Even though she was shot twice, she was still able to call 911 for herself and Sal.
WIAN: Ilona, died at the scene. Sal died in the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In looking through the evidence at the scene, it does not appear that any sort of robbery took place during this incident.
WIAN: The shooting confounded investigators. They and other family members then looked for Ilona's fiance and Sal's big brother, Johnny Belvedere, to tell him the two people he loved most were gone, but they couldn't find him. He disappeared.
INGA FLINT JONES, ILONA'S MOTHER: If you hear me, please, call me, call your family. We do need you right now.
WIAN: Johnny and Sal both reportedly worked at the family's Italian restaurant in nearby lake side. Ilona worked in a mall, which was open late for holiday shopping. Andre Briones is one of her closest friends has her image tattooed on his arm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was with Johnny for a very long time. They loved each other deeply. She really cared about Sal.
WIAN: Police released a vague description of a possible suspect, male 5'9" to 5'11", tan pants, unknown race. But they weren't discussing a possible motive in the killings. With Johnny missing, media reports speculated about a deadly love triangle.
BRIONES: There was a lot of idiotic speculation that Johnny had something to do with the shooting or that he had possibly harmed himself, that he might have fled, that he was in a jealous rage and did this. Anyone that knows Johnny and Ilona's relationships completely understands that there is no possible way that could have ever happened.
WIAN: Then more than three weeks after the killings, a break. Johnny's car is discovered 100 miles away in a Riverside, California fast food parking lot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I noticed that car there for like a week and a half. And I never smelled an odor coming from it.
WIAN: But one passerby did and called police. Inside the trunk they found the decomposed body of a young man. An autopsy revealed through fingerprints the body belonged to Johnny Belvedere. Police will only say he was the victim of a homicide. Now the search continues for the killer of three young people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You'll forever be missed but never forgotten.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: It's a bizarre story. Casey Wian joins us now from L.A. How close is law enforcement to solving the case? Do we know?
WIAN: They're not saying a lot, Anderson. Both law enforcements in San Diego and in Riverside are in the forensic stages of their investigation going over the evidence that they have collected. They are meeting tonight. We do know that. And San Diego police have announced they're going to have a news conference tomorrow to discuss this case. So perhaps we might get more information at that time -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Casey, thanks.
A fire tears through an apartment complex for seniors. It's feared a number of residents could not get out. Dozens are missing right now. We're going to have a live report.
Plus what really happened before Seattle Seahawks Cornerback Richard Sherman's so-called rant. What exactly did he say to Michael Crabtree that turned off such a firestorm? The answer may surprise you. We now know answer and it's probably not what you'd think at all. Hear it for yourself.
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COOPER: There is a horrifying story unfolding right now in the Canadian province of Quebec. The aftermath to a fire at a senior apartment complex, when we went on air, the official death toll stood at three with about 30 others missing.
Paula Newton has just arrived on the scene. She joins us now by phone. I read that most of the people who lived there were over the age of 85 and that most of those missing needed wheelchairs or walkers. Any update now on the number of missing, what happened?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): No update so far. It's still three confirmed dead and 30 missing. Anderson, a grim scene there obviously they're working right through the night in temperatures now touching minus 30 to try and get to these people. In trying to douse the fire, Anderson, they poured so much water on the site, now the site has collapsed plus it is completely encased in ice. It is painstaking work as so many relatives wait on the sidelines. Unfortunately police telling them it is going to be several more hours before they know exactly how many people may have died on that scene.
COOPER: It sounds horrific. Do they know what caused the blaze?
NEWTON: Not at all. They say they're investigating. They say they're not ruling anything out, and that includes criminal activity. But yes, everyone's just completely puzzled. The building wasn't that old. And they don't know what happened. And I think to so many people in this town this was supposed to be you could hear the screams, Anderson, from older people.
So many people went over to the building to try and help but then were overcome by smoke and trying other people tried to help taken to hospital. I mean, the town is completely in shock. And now they've got this work ahead of them just to try and figure out how many people actually perished.
COOPER: Just awful. I understand that they had smoke detectors in the rooms, but only water sprinklers in parts.
NEWTON: Yes. The building was in two separate areas. Thank goodness there was a fine wall between the buildings. One building had the sprinklers, which are going to give more time for people in walkers and wheelchairs to get out. Unfortunately, there were people on that side where perhaps the sprinklers there weren't as many as there should there be.
The authorities aren't clear. But definitely that side of the building was where most of the people have died and where they just couldn't get out no matter how loud, Anderson, they screamed for help the flames were just too much. You could see from the pictures. People in the town said it went up like tissue paper.
COOPER: Just terrible. Paula newton, appreciate you being on the scene.
Other stories we're following tonight in 360 bulletins, at least three people are dead after a massive pileup on snow covered interstate 94 near Michigan City in Indiana. Several vehicles including tractor- trailers were involved in the incident. Here in New York, five reputed mobsters are in custody tonight indicted on charges straight out of the hit movie "Goodfellas."
They are accused in a string of crimes including the 1978 Lufthansa heist at JFK International Airport. Five million in cash and nearly $1 million in jewels were never recovered.
Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman has taken heat for his rant about San Francisco receiver, Michael Crabtree, after the Seahawks victory on Sunday. A new video shows exactly what happened just before he made those comments. Crabtree shoved him in his face mask after refusing to shake his hand. Here's what happened starting with the last play of the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Takes the snap! Fires near side! Going for the end zone, it's picked off!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So threat was. He tried to shake his hand and said hell of a game. That's what he said. Coming up, I can now honestly say that I am a dummy. I'm sure you'll agree. "The Ridiculist" is next.
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COOPER: Time now for "The Ridiculist." Tonight, I want to show you something that caught the attention of the 360 staff. This is on e bay advertised as the mini cooper. It's pretty darn accurate. The hoody, the genes, head is heavy oak with a triggered control to open and close the mouth. I know what you're thinking. Ventriloquist Dummies in general are kind of terrifying. When you really think about it, why do they have such a bad reputation? They're not creepy at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you say we get down to business?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Thank you, Rod Serling. Now I'm paranoid mini cooper will come to life and haunt my dreams. Times have certainly changed. I'm psyched there is a dummy of me. Makes me want to learn more about the art of ventriloquism! That's why I want to learn more about ventriloquism. Ventriloquism! Ventriloquism. The only lesson I've ever had was from best in show, of course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand that you went to the circus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did. I saw the hat lady. Hat lady!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fat!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hat lady!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fat, How do you say?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Yes, before I try to learn how to throw my voice, I think I have to master the art of regular talking. How about that? In all transparency, we tried to do this week. Are we really going to play this? This is actually the second time we have tried to do this segment. We tried to do it earlier this week the let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Why do ventriloquist dummies, ventriloquism. Times have changed. Ventriloquism kind of makes me want to learn more about ventriloquism. No. I'm not going to keep going. It kind of makes me want to learn more about the art of -- ventriloquism! Listen. It's not the easiest word to say. Have you seen Ricky Gervais's Derek? I'm doing my proper act. Ventriloquism! Ventriloquism!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Ventriloquism! So getting back to the mini cooper, our crafty investigative journalists got on the case and found out an artist named Chris in New York, Pennsylvania spent about three months sculpting and creating and finding the perfect little new balance sneakers. This is actually basically what I ware every single day. The staff was also intrigued by the buy it now price of this eBay listing, $3 $360,000. Chris said he doesn't want to sell it. The price it's homage to the name of our program. The artist said nice things about mini cooper being a contribute tribute to me. I'm genuinely touched and honoured to be a dummy on "The Ridiculist."
That does it for us. Thanks very much for watching. Up next, a really fascinating documentary, I think you're really going to like it. I've seen it. I urge you to watch it. CNN Films Presents "The Impostor."
