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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman Died of Apparent Heroin Overdose; Battling Heroin Addiction; Governor Chris Christie Answers Questions Live on New Jersey Radio Program; Escaped Murderer Captured; California Mother Loses Two Sons In 19 Days; Amanda Knox's Ex- Boyfriend Vows To Fight New Murder Conviction; Dylan Farrow Details Sexual Assault; The Talented Mr. Hoffman
Aired February 03, 2014 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Watch the goldfish than the Denver Broncos' performance, even though I was rooting for them.
Thanks for joining us. As always see you tomorrow. Anderson starts now.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. We have breaking news tonight.
Governor Chris Christie talks publicly about the New Jersey traffic scandal for the first time since new allegations surfaced, suggesting he knew about the lane closures when they happened.
Also breaking tonight, the search is over for convicted murderer who escaped from a Michigan prison and then allegedly abducted a woman. Tonight terrifying story, she told a 911 operator while she was locked in a gas station bathroom with the escaped convict actually banging on the door.
We begin, though, tonight with a tragic accident involving Philip Seymour Hoffman, found dead of an apparent drug overdose in his New York apartment at the age of 46. An autopsy was set for today but law enforcement sources already have painted a pretty clear picture of what happened. They say Hoffman was found with a needle still sticking in his arm and dozens of bags of what believed to be heroin in his apartment.
Hoffman was a very private person but did speak on a few occasions about his battles with substance abuse. He was found just yesterday so of course the news is largely about how he died. But one has to look no further than the many statements from his peers to also realize how he lived. He's a brilliant actor on stage and screen. A celebrated theater director, universally respected.
On Wednesday, the lights on Broadway will be dimmed for one minute in his memory. And later in the program tonight, we'll take a moment to honor his life and his career.
But first Jason Carroll joins us from outside Hoffman's Greenwich Village apartment with the latest in the investigation and what we know about the last 24 hours of his life - Jason. JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's interesting, Anderson. Investigators are trying to focus on exactly what happened after 8:00 p.m. on Saturday -- Saturday evening. Saturday morning seemed to start off just like many others for Hoffman.
We know from just speaking to people in the neighborhood at about early in the morning, he went to his favorite place to get his coffee, so we know that happened. It was later on in the afternoon when he -- when his former partner called and seemed to be concerned about him. That was at about 2:00, that happened at about 2:00, but once again the entire day for him started out much like every other day as he headed out to get his favorite cup of coffee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): Saturday morning, Philip Seymour Hoffman came here to the Chocolate Bar in New York's West Village for his regular order. A four-shot espresso, over ice with a splash of milk.
JONATHAN HANSON, MANAGER, CHOCOLATE BAR: He seemed in good spirits, he's very happy, I mean, typical chatting with the staff.
CARROLL (on camera): Did he come in alone? With his children?
HANSON: He came in alone.
CARROLL: Came in alone.
HANSON: Yes.
CARROLL: Did he say anything? Did he -- I know you say he appeared to be in good spirits, so clearly nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
HANSON: To my knowledge, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He seemed perfectly fine.
CARROLL (voice-over): 1:30 p.m., Hoffman's assistant speaks to him on the phone. According to investigators, she said nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
2:00, about a half hour later, law enforcement sources say Mary Mimi O'Donnell, ex-partner and the mother of their three children told them she saw Hoffman near the West Village apartment. She said he seemed, quote, "high."
(On camera): At some point early Saturday evening, Hoffman and two of his friends came here to Automatic Slims, it's a restaurant bar in the West Village. It's another one of those spots he came to on a regular basis. Apparently he had a very brief dinner. No alcohol, he had a cranberry and soda, and a cheeseburger.
(Voice-over): One bar tender there said it appeared to be a business dinner.
MIKE, PATRON, AUTOMATIC SLIMS: He was having trouble. So it wasn't a total shock, but it's a sad thing. He was a great talent. CARROLL: 8:00 p.m. Saturday, O'Donnell speaks to Hoffman on the phone again. According to a law enforcement official O'Donnell says Hoffman seemed, quote, "high." The next day 9:00 a.m., Hoffman was expected to pick up his three children at O'Donnell's home in the West Village, but no shows. Concerned, O'Donnell calls Hoffman's friend, playwright David Katz.
11:00 a.m., Katz checks on him, finding Hoffman on the bathroom floor of the 4th floor apartment, a needle still in his left arm. He is wearing shorts, a T-shirt, his eyeglasses, still resting on his head.
11:30 a.m. Sunday, police arrive, inside the apartment, they also find 20 empty glassine bags, an additional 50 bags believed to be containing heroin, branded with the names "Ace of Hearts" and "Ace of Spades," 20 used syringes and several bottles of prescription drugs.
O'Donnell is called immediately. She grabs their son from the local playground and brings him home. Word then begins to spread through the neighborhood as friends bring flowers and cards to remember Hoffman.
RILEY FITZSIMMONS, NEIGHBOR: He was just Phil down the block, just a regular, decent little guy in the neighborhood. When I heard what -- it was him and then what I heard what it was that had happened, I was shocked by that.
JUDY LAWNE, NEIGHBOR: As you see I'm tearing. It's a very sad, sad story. And it's almost like I'm angry, I want to say to him, what were you thinking?
(LAUGHTER)
<20:05:03>
LAWNE: What were you thinking, man?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: A whole lot of people certainly stunned.
Do we know, Jason, when the medical examiner --
CARROLL: Yes.
COOPER: -- is going to announce the actual cause of death?
CARROLL: Well, that could come at any time. We do know that the medical examiner performed an autopsy, also waiting for toxicology reports to come in. Once the toxicology report comes in we'll get a better understanding of exactly what was in his system.
COOPER: All right. Jason, appreciate the update. Thanks.
Drug abuse obviously has always been a problem, of course, but there are some signs that it's getting worse, at least where heroin is concerned. The CDC says deaths from drug overdoses overall increased by 102 percent between 1999 and 2010. And more people than ever apparently using heroin. According to a survey by the Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, they found a 79 percent jump on the number of heroin users 12 and older from 2007 to 2012.
Joining me now is addiction medicine specialist, Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of HLN's "Dr. Drew on Call."
I mean, what do you make of this? Obviously I mean --
DR. DREW PINSKY, HOST, HLN'S "DR. DREW ON CALL": Let's talk about that data, first.
COOPER: Yes.
PINSKY: That old data is a story of pills. Most of those overdoses were pills.
COOPER: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I think more than 60 percent of that were pills.
PINSKY: Pills. And most of the reason that people get to heroin is they start with pills and they graduate to heroin because it's a cheaper, higher high.
COOPER: And it's the same -- is it the same sort of high that --
PINSKY: Same -- same thing. All opiates and opioids, there's really no difference. And the fact that people don't understand that is really what drives me to distraction every day.
COOPER: So is -- I mean, we all know prescription pill abuse is up.
PINSKY: Yes.
COOPER: Is that what's leading people to --
PINSKY: In my opinion, that's what I see all the time, is people -- they can't get access to the pills any more, they're too expensive and they graduate over to heroin.
In Philip Seymour Hoffman's case, I just want to point out, you made a great distinction between the man and the disease. His body of work, he's a father, he's a wonderful human being who had a chronic medical condition that was fatal. And that's what we have to always remind ourselves. It doesn't diminish him or his work at all.
COOPER: And what's so stunning is, I mean, this is a man who sought treatment, I think around when he was 22, 23 years old.
PINSKY: Yes.
COOPER: I mean, before he became famous at 25 for his kind of breakthrough role in "Scent of A Woman." He had already sought treatment. So he was aware of this from an early age.
PINSKY: Not only aware, it means he was -- he described himself as a -- you know, what we call a garbage bag, he'd take anything and everything, and -- if he'd had unlimited money and resources he would have killed himself with using, which he knew that and he probably had some sort of near-death experience at he described it on "60 Minutes" at the age of 22. I mean, that's severe addiction.
And if he had struggled along, we don't -- you know, I don't know if he was fully clean all those years. The probability, if he's seeing the age of 50, if you're a chronic relapser is very, very low. If in fact he had been sober all those years and only relapsed in recent years, that's a very difficult population to treat. Because all that knowledge of their sustained sobriety, it's used -- the disease uses that against them to keep them using.
COOPER: And apparently some 70 bags found in the apartment, some still had what seemed to be heroin in it --
PINSKY: People are impressed by that, I am not.
COOPER: Really?
PINSKY: It depends what they mean by bags. I heard bags and bags and bags, all kind of things. But in terms of on the street, the bags of heroin, people -- my patients use five to 10 bags a day, very common. So it's just a week's supply there.
What's interesting is what they found in his apartment of prescription medication, which were not prescribed to him. They were a sophisticated withdrawal combination that he had evidently sought out, or maybe somebody gave to him to get him off heroin. And that meant he knew how to do that.
So it means that either he detoxed himself multiple times, or perhaps recently detoxed himself and then for whatever reason relapsed and gave himself a standard dose, and now that was too much because he was no longer tolerant of the drugs.
COOPER: You said they weren't prescribed to him, they were under someone else's name?
PINSKY: Right.
COOPER: Although that he could have gotten them under an assumed name. I mean, a lot of --
PINSKY: I --
COOPER: Patients get prescriptions --
PINSKY: I hope that's not too -- yes, I suppose that's true, but the point is, though, somebody -- either he or somebody was trying to detox. And as a combination that was pretty interesting.
COOPER: So what is -- I mean, I never understand what is -- I understand drugs that make people more social and want to interact, and things like that.
PINSKY: Yes. Yes.
COOPER: I don't understand heroin and drugs like that?
PINSKY: Yes, it's a -- it's a -- you fall in love with it, it's -- people -- my patients describe it like being you're wrapped in a warm blanket, and all, whatever emotional issues they may have had no longer matter. All -- everything is OK. And they literally each day convince themselves, if I just take one more hit then I'll figure this out, I'll be OK. And they just get in the cycle, and the withdrawal is so awful, and they just -- they can't live without it, literally can't live without out in their mind.
COOPER: There have also been a number of deaths recently linked to a specific strain of heroin that has -- a particular brand of heroin, and the insidious thing I've read from police is that when somebody OD's on a particular brand of heroin, that brand becomes popular on the street, because real users think, OK, that's a strong brand, I want to go to find that.
PINSKY: Right. That's (INAUDIBLE).
COOPER: Which is crazy.
PINSKY: Right. Well, it's -- it's called stinky thinking. The thinking is disturbed. The heroin addiction is the enemy and it's heroin addiction.
COOPER: So whatever the brand was that killed Philip Seymour Hoffman, on the streets, that's suddenly going to become --
PINSKY: Well, it could --
(CROSSTALK)
PINSKY: I think it would have to happen multiple times. It's Fentanyl that they're mixing in with the heroin that people are seeking right now. And Fentanyl is tough to dose so they can cause easy overdose.
<20:10:00>
But in his case again, I suspect what happened is he was probably off the drug and got back on without the tolerance that he's accustomed to and as customary dose for him that was enough to make him stop breathing, which is how heroin addicts die. They just slip off as they're injecting.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Dr. Drew Pinsky, appreciate it. Thanks very much.
You can see more of the story coming up at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on "Dr. Drew on Call" on HLN, of course. The director of One Rehab Center in Florida says for the six years that he's been there, he cannot remember ever seeing as many people coming in addicted to heroin. Police in Delray Beach, Florida, said they seized more than -- more heroin the first two weeks of this year than the past 10 years combined.
It is a constant battle against a very powerful drug and recovering addicts know all too well what a formidable opponent it can be.
Gary Tuchman has one person's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): You feel lucky today to be alive?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Twenty-three-year-old Phil Drewiske was a heroin addict for almost six years in what seems to be the most unlikely of places -- tiny Hudson, Wisconsin. The kind of place families move to for a peaceful wholesome lifestyle. But over the last few years, Hudson has seen an inordinate number of not only heroin use, but heroin overdose deaths.
(On camera): How many of your friends have died?
PHIL DREWISKE, RECOVERING HEROIN ADDICT: In this Hudson community alone, I've lost seven friends in about a year.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Seven friends in a year. Drewiske started injecting heroin when he was 16. He was already addicted to meth and cocaine. Sometimes he would shoot up heroin 15 times a day.
(On camera): How scared were you when you put it in your vein for the first time?
DREWISKE: I was petrified.
TUCHMAN: And when you did it, your friend did it for you the first time?
DREWISKE: Yes.
TUCHMAN: What was the feeling you had?
DREWISKE: After you did it, this rush I had, I can't find the right word to explain it. It was out of this world.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Drewiske says he was immediately hopelessly addicted, spending up to $1300 a week. Eventually dealing heroin so he could get his fix for free.
(On camera): And did you realize how crazy and dangerous this was getting?
DREWISKE: Deep inside I knew, I really did know.
TUCHMAN: But it didn't matter.
DREWISKE: I didn't care. It got to a point I don't care.
TUCHMAN: Did you think you were going to die?
DREWISKE: Many times. It got to a point I -- I always told myself I'd rather die high than sober.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Phil Drewiske ended up in 13 different treatment centers. At the Hazelden Center in St. Paul, Minnesota, he met success. Dr. Marvin Seppala, the center's medical director, says heroin is a national crisis.
DR. MARVIN SEPPALA, HAZELDEN CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: This is the first time in my career, which is over 25 years of working in addiction that I've seen this kind of death rate.
TUCHMAN (on camera): The latest government figures are startling. Between 2002 and 2012, the number of heroin users in the United States more than doubled. At the Hazelden Center, the belief is the heroin epidemic is directly related to people using drugs like Oxycontin and Vicodin which are in the same drug family, but cost more than heroin.
SEPPALA: They're seeking a better high at a cheaper price. And it's so easy to get hooked to these painkilling medications if that's what's driving this whole crisis right now.
TUCHMAN: So you think if you're vulnerable to the possibility of being addicted to heroin again sometime.
DREWISKE: Every day. Every day. It's gone through my mind where, you know, it just takes that one moment, that one split decision.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): But Phil Drewiske has been clean for over two years. He is proud of himself so was his family. But it's a daily battle.
(On camera): Do you ever miss the high from the heroin?
DREWISKE: Yes, if anyone said no, they'd be lying.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Gary Tuchman, CNN, Hudson, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: We're going to have more on the life of Philip Seymour Hoffman, a remarkable life and career of the -- of the actor later on in the program.
You can follow me on Twitter, talk about it there @Andersoncooper. You can tweet using #ac360.
Coming up, some breaking news. A New Jersey radio station has a monthly program called "Ask the Governor," you can be sure there are plenty of questions for Chris Christie tonight. He was on the program, the governor answers questions live for the first time since new claims suggest he knew about the lane closures that snarled traffic and set off a political scandal.
What he is saying tonight, next.
Also ahead, our other breaking story. The hunt is over, finally, for a convicted four-time murderer, who escaped from prison, plus the dramatic 911 call from the woman who says he took her hostage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
<20:17:44>
COOPER: More breaking news tonight, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie fighting back saying again tonight he unequivocally he did not know about the traffic debacle that erupted into a political scandal and didn't authorize it.
Just a short time ago the governor was on a program called "Ask the Governor" on New Jersey radio station 101.5. It's the first time he answered questions since the press conference nearly four weeks ago when he denied any knowledge that lanes were deliberately closed to punish the mayor of Ft. Lee for not endorsing him for reelection.
In a letter released Friday, the official who alleged carried out the closure, David Wildstein, said evidence exists that Christie knew this was happening. And here's some of what Christie said just a short time ago on the radio program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: I'll be dammed if I'm going to let anything get in the way of me doing my job. I took an oath a couple of weeks ago. And so what the people of New Jersey need to know is two things about this. One more time.
First, I had nothing to do with this. No knowledge, no authorization, no planning, nothing to do with this before this decision was made to close these lanes by the Port Authority. Secondly, that while I am disappointed by what happened here, I am determined to fix it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, joining me now live is chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash and chief political analyst Gloria Borger, and on the phone senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.
So, Dana, the governor was pretty firm on not knowing before the fact but he did leave himself a little wiggle room on when exactly he found out. Just putting it on a "Wall Journal Street" report.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. What he said was, as you just played, he gave his unequivocal answer about not knowing beforehand over and over, and insisting that that really is the key question, of course is whether or not he had -- was part of anything that could have been political shenanigans as he put it.
But on the question that David Wildstein, his former aide's attorney suggested in that letter that we all reported on Friday, was whether he knew about these lane closures while they were happening in September. On that he did leave himself a little wiggle room saying, that if I ever read about it, it wouldn't have been meaningful to me because I didn't know that there are problems there.
Meaning there's always discussion, always reports about the traffic at the GW Bridge, it's what we live with every day. It wouldn't have meant much to me.
But I got to tell you, Anderson, what was most interesting to me was what he didn't say.
<20:20:02>
He didn't mention the word David Wildstein, he didn't go after him in a personal way like his staff did in e-mails over the weekend, talking about his character, bringing up issues, when he was 16 years old, with his social studies teacher. None of that. He didn't even acknowledge that the man existed, which to me goes to show that he's trying to save himself from those sound bites, but also trying to stay above it all.
COOPER: Well, Gloria, let's talk about how his -- what his staff is doing over the weekend.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
COOPER: Because -- I mean, was that effective? They made these -- for those, you know, Dana just mentioned it. But, I mean, they were basically kind of gave out a laundry list of allegations against David Wildstein going back to stuff he did in high school social studies class.
BORGER: High school.
COOPER: That one really surprised me, I've got to say.
BORGER: Well, yes, I mean --
COOPER: Was that effective?
BORGER: I was trying to think back to how tumultuous was the word they used, any of us were in high school or whether your social studies teacher liked you or didn't like you. Look, what they were doing last Friday was -- sort of in political terms this kind of a classic oppo drop, we call it. Opposition research, drop it out there, put it in an e-mail to supporters. Attack the "New York Times," attack the credibility of David Wildstein, because it could come down to a he said-he said kind of a situation.
And then tonight on the radio, the governor, as Dana was pointing out, staying above the fray, I'm just doing my job, I'll be darned if this is -- however he said it, if this is going to keep me from doing my job as governor, I want to take your questions, I'm going to do it a couple of times this month.
I'm not going to shy away from it, but in the meantime, all that other stuff about Wildstein is out there in the ether about how he's not a credible witness against the governor.
COOPER: Yes. And, Jeff, let's talk legally, Christie confirmed that his own office, not just the office of his campaign has been served a subpoena by the U.S. attorney, that doesn't -- does that surprise you?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: No. This is how federal investigations work. The subpoenas come and obviously his office is under investigation, and now there will probably be some negotiation about how many documents can be -- can be produced. It's not a simple thing to decide what's relevant. They'll have to go through e-mails, they'll have to go through memos, they'll have to go through text messages.
And this will undoubtedly take some time. But it's what a competent prosecutor does, and this is what Paul Fishman, the U.S. attorney, is doing in this case.
COOPER: And Jeff, we just learned also that Bridget Kelly is also going to be pleading the Fifth and not offering up any documents. Does -- I mean, that doesn't surprise you just as Wildstein pled the Fifth, correct?
TOOBIN: Right, they are the two key figures. They are the ones who sent the two key e-mails that set off this whole scandal, time for some traffic at -- in Fort Lee, got it, those were the two e-mails, they're the two principal figures, they have both taken the Fifth.
The real key question, and we don't know the answer to it, is will the U.S. attorney Paul Fishman give those to and anyone else taking the Fifth immunity because he's the only one who can do it. The legislative committee can't. And unless and until he gives them immunity, we're not going to hear their story, and they do seem like the key figures at least so far --
COOPER: All right.
TOOBIN: -- in how this all happened.
COOPER: All right, Jeff, thanks. Dana, Gloria, thank you very much.
As always you can find more on the story at CNN.com.
Just ahead, breaking news, a dangerous fugitive back in custody after his alleged hostage kept her cool and called 911 from a gas station bathroom. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, occupied. Yes, in a little bit, sorry. It's taking me longer than I had thought.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Is that him? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, he's knocking on the bathroom door saying, let's go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Tonight Amanda Knox's former boyfriend speaking out about his new conviction for the murder of Meredith Kercher. My interview with him ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
<20:27:35>
COOPER: We're back with breaking news. A multistate manhunt is over. A convicted murderer back in custody. Authorities captured 40-year- old Michael David Elliott in Indiana. He escaped last night from a Michigan prison where he was serving a life sentence for killing four people and burning down a house.
After breaking out authorities say he carjacked a woman's jeep, took her hostage. A surveillance shot shows him in a gas station last night where they stopped to refuel. That's when his hostage made her move, calling 911 from a bathroom inside the gas station.
George Howell joins me now with the latest -- George.
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, this was one of Elliott's stop today, Shipshewana, Indiana. But authorities here within the last hour tell us that they arrested him in La Port County, Indiana, not far from here after a heck of a 24 hours, after escaping prison, stealing two cars and even kidnapping a woman who managed to break free.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL (voice-over): This is an image of Michael David Elliott on the run since his escape from prison. Surveillance cameras caught the convicted killer inside a convenient score, prepaying for gas in Elkhart, Indiana. At the same time outside, the woman Elliott carjacked and kidnapped was secretly making a 911 call from her Jeep. A call that may have saved her life.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: When and where did he pick you up?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He forced his way into my vehicle in Ionia, Michigan.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: He pushed his way into your vehicle in Ionia, Michigan?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
HOWELL: The dispatcher then instructed the woman to ask her captor for a restroom break, to go into the restroom, lock the door and not to come out. The store clerk says both were inside the store at one point, but the woman kept asking him for information. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This lady ask me, what is your address, I give like address. Then he just walk in, walk together. Then she come back again. She say, I need water. I just gave a cup of water. Then she like -- then asked a second time. I need your address. I gave the address. Then that guy and she talk to each other, they behave like normal. They are no scared.
HOWELL: Once inside the restroom, the woman locks herself inside and refuses to come out. Listen.
UNIDENTIFIED 911 OPERATOR: Is that him?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. He's knocking on the bathroom door saying, let's go.
HOWELL: Elliott decides to take her Jeep and leave her there. Eventually ditching the Jeep at a residential neighborhood about 20 miles away in Shipshewana, Indiana. His escape from prison started late Sunday in Ionia County, Michigan.
<20:30:03>
But late Monday night, Elliott's efforts to outrun the law came to an end.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWELL: Again, the breaking news tonight, that authorities arrested Elliott in Laport County, Indiana, not far from here in Shipshewana, Indiana. It was at a traffic stop, Anderson. Apparently, they stopped him, but he did take off. They had to pursue him, and eventually caught up with him. Now authorities here between Michigan and Indiana will decide where he will stay in the days ahead. But for now, he's here in Indiana -- Anderson.
COOPER: That is certainly some good news tonight. George, thanks.
Now to two unsolved murders in East Oakland, California. Deadly shootings aren't a new story in the community and the victims are often young. But two recent murders have put the epidemic in a stark new light. It's more than any one mom should have to bear. Our Kyung Lah reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DINYAL NEW, GRIEVING MOTHER: I've had to bury both my kids.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dinyal New doesn't have the strength to finish the sentence, no mother could.
NEW: Emotionally it hasn't hit me yet. It hasn't hit me yet, but I know it will because I keep thinking about them.
LAH (on camera): Your life changed in 19 days.
NEW: On January 1st, my life has changed. LAH (voice-over): That was the day her son, Lee, just 13 years old was walking home from the Boys and Girls Club, the eighth grader was a few minutes from home, when he was shot 28 times, Oakland's first murder of 2014. Dinyal buried her youngest. Days after the funeral, the flowers of Lee's memorial were just beginning to brown when two blocks from home, gunfire, she ran towards it.
NEW: The suspect still on top of the car and shot into the car multiple times. I see my son shot up, and I just broke down crying.
LAH: The 19-year-old Lamar in his first year of college killed instantly, his body riddled with bullets. In three weeks, Dinyal New went from a mother of two to a mother of none. Simueal McDonald was their cousin. He's only 11 years old. His mom wanted us to talk to him.
(on camera): Do you know why this happened?
SIMUEAL MCDONALD, COUSIN: Because the people who did this, they just want to be killing just to be killing people.
LAH (voice-over): In East Oakland, says Simueal's mom there is no childhood.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everyone that's out here today, God --
LAH: The family gathered where automatic gunfire killed Lamar, broken glass still in the street, as the sun set, they walked down the street to the second memorial where Lee died. The children watch, the story so familiar to the mothers gathered here.
ALICIA WATERS, MOTHER: I had to bury my first born six years ago.
LAH: Her son was shot to death.
WATERS: No parent ever, ever, ever should have to bury their kids before them, never and especially like this. This is crazy.
NAOMI HARRY, MOTHER: I have a 19-year-old who was a victim of gun violence.
LAH (on camera): How many mothers in this neighborhood do you think are like you two?
WATERS: Not even just the neighborhood, the city is full of mourning mothers.
LAH (voice-over): Todd Walker is a mortician in East Oakland.
TODD WALKER, MWJ MORTUARY: We just buried her 13-year-old son Thursday and Wednesday she's right back in here making arrangements for her 19-year-old son.
LAH (on camera): How sick are you of having to put children into these caskets? WALKER: I'm tired of it. I'm the one that goes to pick them up. I see them firsthand at the coroner's office. I have to identify them right off the top. It's horrible, in this community, gun violence is a regular every day thing. They are shooting every day, all these kids do not have an education, but they have a gun. And there's something wrong with that picture.
NEW: This is Lamar and Lee's room.
LAH (voice-over): Her sons had separate rooms, but they slept together, they were that close. Their shoes in the same spots they left them.
NEW: I just want the little things back. It makes me mad that these people took that from me. I just want to come home and get Lee ready for school.
LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Oakland, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: One mother, two sons, it's hard to imagine.
Up next, Raffaele Sollecito, the ex-boyfriend of Amanda Knox joins us from Italy to talk about their new murder convictions. He responds to accusations that he was trying to flee Italy after the verdict and why he says he is shocked by what a judge in the case did this weekend.
Also ahead tonight, Woody Allen responds to renewed accusations he molested an adopted daughter two decades ago.
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COOPER: Crime and Punishment tonight: Raffaele Sollecito speaks out on the nightmare he thought he'd escaped. Last week, an appeals court found him and his ex-girlfriend, Amanda Knox, guilty of murder. The court upholding their convictions in the alleged drug-and-sex-fueled stabbing death of Meredith Kercher more than six years ago in the Italian town of Perugia. The appeals court sentenced Raffaele Sollecito to 25 years behind bars.
On Friday, he surrendered his passport after police stopped him near Italy's border with Austria and Slovenia. He tells us he was not attempting to flee. He's appealing this latest verdict. So, of course, is Amanda Knox, who is here in the United States vowing to fight until what she says - until the very end. Knox says she will never go willingly back to Italy, where she faces 28-and-a-half years in prison.
And the judge who announced verdict is now facing criticism tonight for speaking out about the case this weekend. Here to talk about it all is Raffaele Sollecito and his attorney, John Kelley.
Raffaele, first of all, how are you holding up? How are you doing? RAFFAELE SOLLECITO, ACCUSED OF MURDER: Actually, I'm very close to my family and my friends, and I'm trying to be as positive as possible in a situation like this. So, it's very dramatic, the situation here now. But on the other side, I still have to fight. I have chosen to be here and to fight against this ordeal.
COOPER: When you first heard about this new verdict, what did you think?
SOLLECITO: Well, it's really unbelievable to me.
<20:40:12>
I thought it was quite -- kind of unreal. But what is really shocking to me is also the statements from the men - the presidents after the verdict.
COOPER: You mean the statements by the judge?
SOLLECITO: Yes, I mean -- the president is the judge, of course, sorry. We call him the president.
COOPER: To you, what do those statements mean, what do they say to you about the judge?
SOLLECITO: He recently did an interview to a newspaper saying that I was silenced, and that the reason why, he convicted me. I was silent just because nobody asked to question me.
COOPER: The judge said to the newspaper that your decision not to testify worked against you, that you made a statement but didn't get cross examined. You're saying you were willing to be cross examined, is that what you're saying?
SOLLECITO: I'm saying that I was incurred (sic) to answer any question, and they never asked any question. So basically if they don't ask, I cannot respond, I cannot reply because they never asked anything.
COOPER: Let me bring in your attorney here. John, does it make sense what the judge said to that newspaper?
JOHN O. KELLY, ATTORNEY FOR RAFFAELE SOLLECITO: Not at all. I mean, the court had the right to ask Raffaele to appear and answer questions, they never gave him that notice. They did indicate he had a right to make a statement, he made the statement. He was a continued presence in court there and was willing at any time to answer any and all questions for as long as they wanted regarding the incident.
SOLLECITO: You all know that the focus was only through Amanda to her behavior, to her peculiar behavior. But whatever it is, I'm not guilty for it. Why do they convict me? Why do put me on the corner and say that I'm guilty just because in their mind I have to be guilty because I was her boyfriend? It's -- it doesn't make any sense to me.
COOPER: Do you hold Amanda Knox responsible for the situation you're in now?
SOLLECITO: Actually, they focused all their attention on her, and I don't -- I don't -- I cannot understand really why. But on the other side, I'm not responsible for that. So I'm not saying that Amanda is responsible for all this situation. But they focus on her and they accuse her all the time. But I have nothing to do with these circumstances and all these accusations.
COOPER: Are you still in touch with Amanda at all?
SOLLECITO: Yes, sure, not so often, but sometimes I get in touch with her.
COOPER: The day of the verdict, you'd crossed the border into Austria, and then you returned to Italy where the police found you in a hotel. Why did you drive all the way to the border on the day of the verdict?
SOLLECITO: Basically, I was expecting an exoneration, and I'd planned a kind of happy ending celebrating the exoneration with my girlfriend. And I crossed the border because there are places which are very familiar to my girlfriend, and I wanted to go there. But as soon as I understood the verdict, I came back in Italy.
COOPER: At this point, do you believe you can get a fair trial in Italy?
SOLLECITO: Actually, I don't know what to think because objectively, there's nothing against me and nothing very strong against Amanda. And in my case, I really did nothing wrong, and I don't want to pay for someone else's peculiar behavior.
COOPER: Raffaele, I appreciate you talking to us, and I'm sorry it's under these circumstances. And John Kelly, as well. Thank you very much.
Just ahead tonight, the adopted daughter of Woody Allen and Mia Farrow makes her first allegations of the sexual abuse she says she suffered when she was 7 years old.
Plus the latest on the storm that's creating post-Super Bowl travel delays.
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<20:48:45>
COOPER: Well, with the Academy Awards just a month away, Director Woody Allen is facing an unexpected media storm. Over the weekend, his long estrange adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, publicly described allegations of sexual abuse she first made almost 12 years ago when she was a young child.
It's the first time she has publicly told her side of the story directly. Not only did she describe her allegations in graphic details. She also called out several actors by name, condemning them for continuing to work with Woody Allen and bashing Hollywood for bestowing awards on him. Randi Kaye reports.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six months, are you kidding?
RANDI KAYE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Woody Allen was honored with a lifetime achievement award at this year's Golden Globes, his estranged son, Ronnan Farrow, tweeted this, "Missed the Woody Allen tribute, did they put the part where a woman publicly confirmed he molested her at age 7 before or after Annie Hall."
The woman Farrow is referring to is his sister, Dylan Farrow. The "New York Times" this weekend published a letter written by Dylan where she describes in detail the sexual abuse she says she suffered at the hands of Woody Allen back in 1992. Only weeks before he adopted her. She was just 7.
Dylan Farrow wrote, Woody Allen took me by the hand and led me into a dim closet like attic on the second floor of our house. He told me to lay on my stomach and play with my brother's electric train set then he sexually assaulted me whispering that I was a good girl, that this was our secret.
<20:50:13>
Promising that we'd go to Paris and I'd be a star in his movies. And there's more. She wrote that the abuse was skillfully hidden from a mother that would have protected me, and she thought it was normal that this was how fathers doted on daughters. She also thanks her mother who says she saved them from the chaos of a predator brought into our home.
When Mia Farrow first made the allegations public decades ago, it came on the heels of Allan's affair with Mia's other daughter, Sunye Previn. The Connecticut State Attorney found probable cause to prosecuting Dylan's case, but choose not to.
FRANK MACO, FORMER CONNECTICUT STATE ATTORNEY: That is a child who is in the process of healing, but that is a child that has to continue to heal. And I'm not going to be responsible for setting that child back any further.
KAYE: But investigators from Yale New Haven Hospital hired by state police concluded Dylan had not been abused. Woody Allen spoke out after police dropped the investigation.
WOODY ALLEN, FILMMAKER: The reason the authorities are dropping this case is purely and simply because they know there's no chance they could possibly win it.
KAYE: The 28-year-old Dylan Farrow is now married and living in Florida under a different name. She told the "New York Times" she had been traumatized for two decades. That she developed an eating disorder and started cutting herself. Last year she says she was diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorders. On Sunday, the day after Dylan Farrow's letter was published, Woody Allen's representative responded to the allegations on his behalf saying Allen found the article untrue and disgraceful. The statement went on to say, the experts concluded there was no credible evidence of molestation, that Dylan Farrow had an inability to distinguish between fantasy and reality.
And that Dylan Farrow had likely been coached by her mother, Mia Farrow. Still, in Dylan Farrow's eyes, Woody Allen got away with something so horrific, so twisted that she's still haunted by it today. Randi Kaye, CNN, Palm Beach, Florida.
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COOPER: We'll have more on the case on AC 360 LATER at 10:00 tonight. Let's get a quick check on some headlines with Kyung Lah on the 360 Bulletin -- Kyung.
LAH: Well, Anderson, we'd begin with a 360 follow, the U.S. Justice Department will investigate the death of Alfred Wright. Last November, the body of the 28-year-old African-American father was found in Jasper, Texas nearly three weeks after he disappeared. He was missing and his ear and throat appear to have been cut off. The medical examiner ruled the death accidental due to cocaine and methamphetamines. The family doesn't buy it though. They say they never saw him do drugs.
As you know, as a New Yorker, a winter storm is slamming the northeast. It could dump more than ten inches of snow in some areas. More than 2,000 flights have already been cancelled, many out of New York, where people are still trying to get home from the Super Bowl.
And a little further south in Atlanta after nearly 3 inches of snow paralyzed the city last week. Georgia's governor has set up a task force to figure out how they can better deal with winter storms. Governor Deal you may remember apologized and said the buck stops with me.
A man is back on land after claiming to have been lost at sea for 13 months in the Pacific Ocean. He said he lived off turtles, fish, rainwater and even his own urine. He turned up in a heavily battered boat in the Marshall Islands. Authorities are trying to verify his story. On determined guy, Anderson.
COOPER: Yes, Kyung, thanks very much. Up next, a look at the life and incredible career of Philip Seymour Hoffman.
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<20:57:36>
COOPER: We started the program looking into the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman. We wanted to close the program with a look at his life and work. He was just 46 years old. Many assumed he had decades of movie roles ahead of him. The work he leaves behind is a lasting reminder of an extraordinary talent that left this world far too soon. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER (voice-over): Philip Seymour Hoffman's big break came in 1992 playing the spoiled prep schooler in "Scent of a Woman." He was 25 years old. At a time just a few years before that big break, he won his battle against drugs and alcohol. Hoffman spoke about it to "60 Minutes."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In fact, you went into rehab at a fairly early age?
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN: I did. I went -- I got sober when I was 22 years old. I was 22 and got panicked for my life.
COOPER: He got sober and for two decades, moviegoers were better for it. Nearly all his roles were memorable.
HOFFMAN: Are you going to be working or --
COOPER: In 1997, his performance in "Boogie Nights" heralded him as an Indy film hero.
HOFFMAN: This is our concern, dude.
COOPER: In 1998, Hoffman landed a supporting role in Cone Brother's classic "The Big Lebowski." In 1999, he acted in star studded ensembles in both Magnolia and the talented Mr. Ripley. By 2000, Hoffman was well on his way to earning a reputation as one of the finest character actors of his generation.
HOFFMAN: These people are not you friends.
COOPER: As the bombastic rock critic in 2002's "25th hour." In 2005, Hoffman got his biggest role yet as author, Truman Capote.
HOFFMAN: When can we arrange an interview?
COOPER: His acceptance speech, he thanked his mom for taking him to his first play. A famously private man, he was known as a doting father to the three children he had with his long-time girlfriend, costume designer, Mimi O'Donnell. Just last year there were warning signs in his fight to stay sober, he revealed to several news outlets he had checked into a rehab facility for prescription drug and heroin use.
And today, as we mourn his death, reflect on his impressive body of work, more than 50 movies and Tony nominated roles on Broadway, it still feels like Philip Seymour Hoffman was just getting started. We did not lose just a very good actor, one film critic wrote, we may have lost the best one we had.
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COOPER: That's it for us, thanks for watching. See you again one hour from now for AC360 LATER at 10:00, check out our live webcast. In 15 minutes, just go to ac360 --
