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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Monster Nor'easter Pounds East Coast; Snowplow Tragedy; Travel Nightmare Due to Snow; Ice Mess on Roads; Package Bomb Murder in Tennessee; Investigators Won't Disclose Motive For Package Bombing; Loud Music Murder Trial Hung Jury?; Insight On Baby Brains

Aired February 13, 2014 - 20:00   ET

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to round three. Ice and snow yesterday, rain and sleet late today, and now back to snow. Another big swath of it.

The first flakes coming down now on the Washington, D.C. area. Look at that. Coming down hard. In parts of that area have already seen a foot of snow or more in the last 24 hours. And just like last night, the misery marching north, meaning that tens of millions of people who slogged their way through scenes like these will probably wake up today with even -- sorry, will probably wake up tomorrow with even more of the same.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (voice-over): Yesterday it was ice, today it's snow, snow, and more snow. Coming down faster and harder than plows could handle all along the East Coast. Drivers stuck spinning their wheels are relying on the kindness of strangers to get free. And homeowners are making what feels like their weekly trip out into the cold to clean up.

The system so large it barely fit in this satellite photo. The nation's capitol buried under nearly a foot of snow, paralyzing roadways, shutting down the federal government, and blanketing the National Mall.

Near record snowfall is crippling Baltimore as well where the city has already overspent its snow removal budget. And just to the north the storm is making this year Philadelphia's fifth snowiest on record. New York City where up to 14 inches are expected, we saw rates of two to four inches per hour fall this morning, making what's usually a trying commute even worse.

But the city schools stayed open. New York's new mayor, Bill de Blasio, coming under fire for that decision.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What's it been like trying to get to school today?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hard. Because I almost fell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cold. A lot of snow.

BERMAN: In the southeast, North Carolina is still reeling, looking more like the aftermath of an apocalypse than a snowstorm yesterday. People returned today to dig out their cars left on the sides of roads after huge traffic jams forced hundreds, possibly thousands, to abandon their vehicles in desperation. Some took the inconvenience in stride.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm missing today trying to get home. It's very -- it's a little cold outside but the roads is real bad. So we're just trying to stay focused and get past where we need to get to.

BERMAN: Others didn't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terrible. Just back-to-back traffic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to be home right now. Hopefully I can get there before dawn.

BERMAN: Hundreds of thousands are still without power there as heavy snow and inch thick ice brought down trees and vulnerable power lines. More than 600,000 customers are in the dark from Louisiana to Massachusetts and could remain that way through next week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: The worst of it seems to be in the Washington, D.C. area right now. Snowing there, snowing hard.

Our Joe Johns is out in the middle of it.

Give us a sense, Joe, of what it's like right now.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this has been a really hard day here in the Washington area. People aren't used to this kind of snow.

Let me give you one illustration. The Metro Bus Transit System has decided to shut down service in Washington, D.C., until 5:00 a.m. Why is that? It's because the buses simply can't move around through the streets. One illustration, we have a live picture, I think, to show you just what's going on here. Just as authorities were beginning to clear the streets of all the snow, we start getting more.

There are problems, of course, at the schools. The robo calls have just begun going out to parents informing them that their kids won't be going to school for a second straight day. I just got one of those calls a little while ago.

There is a snow emergency in effect in Washington, D.C., which means you can't park on the streets. And if you do and your car gets towed you get a $250 fine. Some of the biggest problems, of course, occurred at the airports, including Washington Reagan National Airport where it was so bad they worked throughout the day to clear the thick, heavy snow off of the runways until 5:00 before a runway was open.

Now we have more snow, a long day and apparently a long night here in the nation's capitol -- John.

BERMAN: Indeed a long night ahead. Those plows are going to be working throughout the night.

Joe Johns, thank you so much.

This storm as we've been saying has been deadly. At least 16 people have now lost their lives. Each of course a tragedy all on its own. But the death of one woman not far from here in Brooklyn is being widely felt tonight.

More now from 306's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happened here at this Brooklyn market at 10:40 this morning. The 36-year-old pregnant woman and her husband were loading groceries into their car in the back parking lot when this Bobcat tractor with a plow attached to it suddenly struck her.

The victim, Min Lin, was eight months pregnant. She had just finished shopping at the Fei Long Market.

(On camera): In the rush to save her and her baby she was taken here to Maimonides Medical Center just about a mile away from the accident scene. She was pronounced dead on arrival. Doctors performed an emergency C-section and incredibly were able to save her nearly full- term baby boy.

(Voice-over): The baby weighs about 6 1/2 pounds and is in critical condition. The Bobcat was not a city vehicle, it was privately owned. The driver, a 42-year-old man who was in the process of plowing snow and traveling in reverse when he struck the woman.

This woman says when he's out driving, she keeps her distance because she says he drives on the sidewalk.

LINDA PEREZ, WITNESS: I was watching him this morning. He can't even drive the thing back and forth, turns around, goes in circles. Crazy. Then he goes on the sidewalk, into the street. And there's a school down there and he just comes flying down the street to push the snow off. Every year he does that. So like we live around here so we know to watch him when he comes out.

KAYE: Marvin Lopez, who lives across the street from the lot, told the "New York Post" he saw the same guy operating the plow the day before. That he was driving so erratically and speeding up and down the sidewalks. He also told the paper he almost hit me and my wife yesterday as we were going across the street. He was thinking to himself that the man was going to kill somebody someday.

Others at the scene questioned why he was plowing at such a busy time.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Do you think they should be doing it while people are shopping and using the parking lot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely not. It's not safe.

KAYE: The plow driver was questioned by police. The investigation is ongoing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: And Randi Kaye joins us now.

Randi, this is heartbreaking. It's horrible. And it all seems to have happened so fast.

KAYE: It certainly did, John. I mean, the paramedics got that woman to the hospital within 10 minutes of her being struck by that man. And within one minute, John, of them arriving, just one minute, they were able to perform that Cesarean section and save that baby's life. It really was their quick thinking that saved that baby's life.

You can see the rain is really starting to come down here. But in terms of the plow driver, I also -- we spoke to the police tonight. We tried to get some answers to see if they were still questioning him, if there might be some charges forthcoming, what they were able to learn about how this happened. They wouldn't give us any more information.

We also tried going inside the market where it happened just behind me here. We tried to talk to the manager several times today and this evening, and nobody wants to talk about this awful tragedy.

BERMAN: So sad for that family. A miracle that baby is alive.

Randi Kaye, our thanks to you.

You know, you can hear the rain falling in and around and on Randi right now which shows you what kind of night it is up and down the East Coast.

So let's go to Chad Myers who is tracking this storm that is getting ugly again -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. Still raining where you are, but sleeting now near Philadelphia, and especially west of that city. But snowing heavily in D.C. And you think, wait a minute, D.C.'s farther south than New York. Why would it be snowing in D.C. and raining in New York City? Shouldn't it be colder?

Well, we're kind of caught in this low pressure right now. And the cold part of this low is coming down here, bringing down cold air from the north and changing over all of that snow in Baltimore and D.C. and it's coming done quite good.

A couple of inches already in Baltimore since it restarted. Now the back side is here. So D.C., you're going to be stopping your snow in an hour and a half it will be over. Philadelphia, you're just going to get in this. Because this whole batch of snow is going to come your way. And New York City, this whole batch is going to come your way. Probably 3 to 4 inches is the real concern for the rest of the night.

This is not a major event. This is the tail of the some, the back side of the storm. We call it the wraparound because it wraps around the back side and it brings in the cold air. So there you go, Baltimore. Seeing some snow now. Seeing the rain come up into New York, but later on today, later on tonight, this cold air that's here will cut that off, change it back over to sleet and eventually over to snow.

Boston, you stay rain all night long, washing away some of that muck that you have on the road right now. And there has been plenty for Boston.

At least you're all here, Berman, back out here to the West, this is where the heavy snow is going to be tonight. The Catskills agreed, the whites are up to Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and on and on and on and on. And the winter of 2014 doesn't stop.

BERMAN: We have seen so much and heard so much over the last two days about this, Chad. I did hear a word I had never heard before. And that word --

MYERS: What's that?

BERMAN: Thundersleet, out of the mouth of Wolf Blitzer. And when he said it, it sounded very, very menacing. What is thundersleet?

MYERS: Yes. It is thunder and sleet happening at the same time. It happened at the University of Richmond, it happened through a lot of southeastern Virginia today. Sleet was coming down so hard that it actually -- think about this. Like you're wearing just some leather shoes. You rub your feet on the polyester carpet and you touch the doorknob. That's a shock.

That's what was happening there. The shock of the sheer of the sleet up there freezing, bouncing off each other, made static electricity, made a lightning bolt, although it didn't go to the ground, it went cloud to cloud, not cloud to ground. You hear the thunder. The sleet comes down. Thundersleet. Sounds like a bad movie.

BERMAN: It sounds menacing even when you say it. You and Wolf Blitzer make it sounds very scary. And I wish I understood the chemistry there but I know enough to know it's scary.

All right. Chad Myers, thanks very much.

As we mentioned at the top, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has been getting a lot of heat from parents for not giving city school students the day off. One dad, though, has a bigger voice than many even by Twitter from Sochi.

"The Today Show's" Al Roker tweeting this morning, he wrote this, he wrote, "Snow policy is ridiculous. Tell people to stay off roads, stay home. But send your kids/teachers/staff in?" Then Al tweeted, "Why are schools all around NYC closed? It's going to take some kid or kids getting hurt before this goofball policy gets changed." Not done yet, he wrote, "And how about all the parents and caregivers who have to scramble to get their kids home? Is there no one there with any commonsense?" So by lunch time the mayor had clearly had enough. When asked about Al Roker he hit back hard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK: I respect Al Roker a lot. Watched him on TV for many, many years. It's a different thing to run a city than to give the weather on TV. So I am comfortable with our decision making, and we just got off the phone with the National Weather Service.

Again I respect all the meteorologists out there. But the one I respect the most is called the National Weather Service. And this did -- and they just affirmed to us on the call before we came out to you that this went faster and heavier than their projections last night. And that happens. It is -- it's weather. None of us controls it. Our job is to adjust and respond to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: You don't pick a fight with Al Roker. You don't pick a fight with the National Weather Service. Al Roker tweeted finally, "Mr. Mayor, I could never run NYC but I know when it's time to keep kids home from school."

Hopefully they can make up some points.

Let us know what you think about this Al Roker-Bill de Blasio. Tweet us at #ac360.

Coming up, planes, trains, automobiles. The winter mess edition. If you're hoping to fly into or out of the northeast anytime soon you may be out of luck. The latest on that next.

And you hear it all the time during these storms. Don't drive if you don't have to. Stay off the roads. We will show you why that is really, really great advice.

And later, more breaking news tonight. A shock arrest in the death of a retired lawyer and his wife in Tennessee, killed when a package bomb exploded outside their home. We'll tell you how the victims knew the suspect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Updating the breaking news, the rain that fell on much of the northeast and mid-Atlantic this afternoon is turning back to snow. Look at that. That is the capitol you're looking at. It looks like one of those souvenir snow globes. Nice but not pretty at all if you're hoping to travel pretty much anywhere.

Amtrak has canceled a number of long distance trains and cut back on service from Boston all the way down to Virginia. As for airlines, well, as bad as cancellations were last night, they are literally twice as bad tonight.

Aviation correspondent Rene Marsh is running the numbers. They're ugly. Rene joins us now.

Not good, Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, John. They are ugly. And that's putting it mildly. Nearly 6500 cancellations today, total delays more than 3500. And the hardest-hit airports, Charlotte, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. So if you were at an airport or trying to get into an airport in the northeast, here's a snapshot of what was happening behind the scenes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH (voice-over): Mountains of thick, heavy snow was enough to completely stop air travel at some northeast airports like Reagan National outside D.C.

HEIDI SIM, AIRPORT DUTY MANAGER: Here's my problem right now. These are my two parallel taxiways. And you can see that's snow going right down the middle. My problem is, I can get you to land but I can't get you from the runways to the gate.

MARSH (on camera): Well, the runways here at Reagan National, they have been shut down for several hours as they try to clear the snow from the runways. They have nearly two dozen pieces of equipment like this on the runways, trying to make it safe enough for planes to land.

This black box right here is filled with cement. Because that is necessary to stabilize this plow as it lifts lots and lots of heavy snow. Once they clear the runways what they're going to need to do is get rid of those mounds. Because that could be a problem if a plane's wings or engine clips it.

PAUL MALANDRINO, AIRPORT MANAGER: You have to shut down the runway in order to get it safe. And I say safe. If you have slush on the runway you got to get rid of that slush. If you have ice. Because you don't want an airplane sliding off the runway.

MARSH: So this is what these airports like Washington and Reagan look like at this point while this major storm is moving through. The planes are just parked. They're not going anywhere. And they will not be going anywhere until they clear out all of the snow. That's what you're seeing happening right there. They're trying to get all of that snow from around the terminal, from around these planes, so that when the runways are back open they can actually move.

SIM: Yes, we got a lot of snow for this airport. And you know, trying to scoop it up and get it out of here.

MARSH (voice-over): Inside the airport's operation center, Heidi Sim monitors all the activity on the runways to determine when it's safe to reopen them. At 5:00 Eastern Time, the ops center gave the all- clear for takeoff.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BERMAN: Rene, I got to say it's really interesting to see you out there on the tarmac. I've never seen that perspective anywhere before. Great report. We know today was a very bad day for cancellations. We've had a lot of bad days this winter. Where does today's rank?

MARSH: Yes. You know what, I just want to tell you here, John, this that you're looking at here, this is a map just of the northeast area. And these are all of the planes that are actually in the air right now as we're speaking. But you ask, how does today stack up? It was a really bad day. But when you look at the numbers as far as what it has looked like in the past, it isn't the absolute worst.

For example, February 2nd in 2011, they had more than 7,000 cancellations. Hurricane Sandy on one day, October 29th, they also had more than 7,000 cancellations. Same thing with Hurricane Irene. We didn't reach the 7,000 mark as yet. We haven't reached it today. We're just over 6,000. So it definitely is the worst that we've seen all winter so far. And it definitely makes the top five when you talk about just worst days for travel.

And if we want to just look ahead to tomorrow, already more than 850 flights already canceled -- John?

BERMAN: Yes, I think the answer, Rene, is bad enough.

MARSH: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: All right. Rene Marsh.

MARSH: Exactly.

BERMAN: Great work out there. Appreciate it.

And again, flights aside, the warnings continue. Stay off the roads. For good reason. As Brian Todd discovered when he got behind the wheel today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An overturned trailer on the Washington, D.C. beltway. The wheels are in the air, the guardrail is demolished, and police close the highway while they move a tow truck into position.

(On camera): They're putting a (INAUDIBLE) right now to try to pull it out. The driver is OK. Suffered minor injuries to his hands. He didn't want to go on camera with us. But he told me that the snow and ice here slush underneath the truck just lost his steering. The steering just got away from him and he slid down a ditch.

(Voice-over): Most lanes are closed on a highway usually packed with commuters in the nation's capitol. And just a few minutes down the highway we see another one. The truck is sprawled across the highway on its side, the front of it split open. The driver we're told had minor injuries.

(On camera): Someone who just slid off the road here on I-95 heading south, just south of D.C., probably 15 miles south of D.C. Sir?

EDWIN MARTINEZ, STRANDED MOTORIST: Yes.

TODD: What just happened?

MARTINEZ: Yes. (INAUDIBLE) right. I can't control the car coming over here. It scared me when you can't control the car. You know, you can't do nothing. There is snow, too much snow. It's danger.

TODD (voice-over): We hooked up a tow line from his car to our SUV and pulled him around and out of the snow. Three drivers, three examples of how treacherous the conditions are with thick snow falling all morning and hard pack on the roads. And these aren't the only ones. If the passing emergency vehicles are any guide, we see plows and spreaders at work. But it's a lot to keep up with.

One thing we didn't see, monster traffic jams like the ones in Atlanta two weeks ago and in North Carolina on Wednesday. One reason, not a lot of people reporting for work in the nation's capitol. And not a lot of people out on the highways. Another reason, warmer temperatures. And spreaders and snowplows like this convoy near Baltimore.

By nightfall, conditions worsened quickly again along I-95. We came across this motorist just minutes after she spun out in her car.

PAULA TROTTA, STRANDED MOTORIST: The car started fishtailing. And once it started fishtailing, I spun around and next thing you know I'm in this big old ditch.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Brian Todd committing journalism and roadside service all at the same time.

Brian joins us now from Laurel, Maryland, on the side of the I-95 corridor.

Brian, what are the conditions tonight?

TODD: John, conditions have really deteriorated very fast tonight. I'm going to give you -- just a look at the conditions here starting inside our vehicle pulled over in Laurel, Maryland, just beside I-95. We have three camera capability inside this vehicle. We've got this camera, we got dashcamera that I'm going to talk into while we get set over here.

And you can see the snowfall here along the I-95 corridor. This came down pretty fast and just really over about the last hour and a half. It has really gotten worse here. Now we pick up this camera. My photojournalist Oliver Janney and I just kind of giving you a look. This is the main body of I-95 heading south. Cars moving at a fairly good rate of speed. And there are snow plows out here, John. But the problem is that they cannot keep up with this rate of snowfall. So you've got some accumulation on the main part of the road. And it is very treacherous -- John.

BERMAN: The people you saw on the sides of the road having spun out, are these people largely just trying to go about their daily business commuting? Did they not hear the warnings to stay off the roads?

TODD: You know, they're out here for all sorts of reasons. Some of them are just going about their daily commuting, some of them are just trying to get from one place to another, maybe a trip that they had planned that they have to be in a certain place by a certain time. The volume on the road has -- was reduced. So I think a lot of people are heeding the warnings, John.

But again, it's just -- you know, these conditions deteriorate just so rapidly. And it looks like now you've got a backup starting to form right behind me. People starting to slow down. So, you know, again, conditions just change incredibly rapidly here. And we -- you know, just maybe an hour and a half ago we were looking at blacktop on this road. And now look at it.

BERMAN: Could be a long, long night ahead.

Brian, we'll let you check that out just ahead of you. Really appreciate the report. Thanks so much.

Coming up for us next, breaking news in the tragic death of a couple in their 70s in Tennessee. Killed by a package bomb that exploded outside their house. This man has been arrested in the case. His relationship to the couple will shock you. That's next.

Also ahead, a white man accused of killing a black teenager after an argument about loud music. A Florida jury has the case, but no decision yet. They've been talking for awhile now. The question is, will there be a hung jury?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: We have some breaking news right now in the death of a retired lawyer and his wife after a package bomb exploded at their home in rural Tennessee. Just a short time ago officials announced an arrest in this case. And it's really pretty shocking.

360's Gary Tuchman joins us now with the latest -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, when this happened on Monday police described it as a targeted bombing which raised the question, who would target this unassuming retired couple?

Well, tonight authorities say they have their answer. They say the answer is a close relative.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TUCHMAN (voice-over): It took authorities just three days to zero in on the man they believe killed husband and wife John and Marion Setzer with a package bomb. And now a grand jury has taken action.

MARK GWYN, DIRECTOR, TENNESSEE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIONS: After hearing that evidence, they returned a two-count indictment of felony first-degree murder, a two-count indictment of premeditated first- degree murder on Richard Parker, age 49, son-in-law of John and Marion Setzer.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Richard Parker, a man who was apparently married to the couple's daughter. Parker is accused of delivering a package bomb on Monday to his father-in-law, Retired Civil Attorney John Setzer in Lebanon, Tennessee. The bomb went off inside the house, killing Setzer and critically injuring his wife who died two days later.

GYWN: It is an on-going investigation. But we do feel like we have the single person responsible for committing this crime in custody.

TUCHMAN: Many people move here to rural Tennessee to live quiet, peaceful lives. So news of the bombing was particularly stunning. Friends and neighbors were horrified and puzzled, especially when it was described by authorities as a targeted killing.

KEN CALDWELL, SETZER FAMILY FRIEND: As a couple they were one of the best and the sweetest couples you'd ever meet.

CHARLES THOMPSON, NEIGHBOR OF SETZER FAMILY: The last people in the world that you would imagine to be a target of a package bomb like that.

TUCHMAN: Investigators said they recovered a note they believe may have been attached to the package the bomb was in, but have not released details. However, they say the case is now resolved with the arrest of Richard Parker who lived very close to the victims.

SHERIFF ROBERT BRYAN, WILSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE: He actually resided at the property we were at. There's two different properties there, using the same driveways.

TUCHMAN: Police have not yet revealed a possible motive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: All right, no motive yet, Gary. Do we have any idea about how the package was delivered?

TUCHMAN: Law enforcement sources telling us it wasn't put in the mailbox, the package was put in front of the house. Mr. Setzer went out and got the package and brought it inside. We're told a few minutes ago that the suspect, Richard Parker, lived with the couple's daughter inside another house on the property. So he lived right there. And we're also told he was convicted of one crime in the past in 1993. He was convicted of an arson. But John, right now, he's in jail in lieu of $1 million bond for a tragic sad story. BERMAN: In a crime that all appears to be inside that family. Gary Tuchman, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

Joining us now is the Reverend Kevin Ulmet of the National First Church of the Nazarene. He knows the family involved. Pastor, I understand you were just with the children of John and Marion Setzer. I can't imagine what they're going through right now. How are they doing?

REV. KEVIN ULMET, NATIONAL FIRST CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE: Thank you, John. I appreciate the opportunity to speak for them tonight. Not only was I with the four adult children of John and Marion, I was also with the wife and four children of Richard Parker. And as pastor to many of those, I want to say that they are holding strong in their faith in Christ, they are holding strong being embraced in the love and care of fellow believers from their churches and their surrounding communities.

And they want the message clear that they loved John and Marion, as we all want that clear, and not to lose that in the midst of the frenzy over this arrest. To not lose sight of the fact that two very godly and wonderful people have lost their lives. And now a triple part of this tragedy, another family being blown apart. But their faith is strong. And their trust in god is strong. And I want to communicate that for them tonight.

BERMAN: It's got to be such a loss for that family. Again, the wife of Richard Parker is the daughter of this couple that was killed --

ULMET: Yes.

BERMAN: The children of Richard Parker, they lost their grandparents. Talk to me about them right now. How are they doing?

ULMET: Well, this is a shock situation. I mean, we've only had 72 hours, basically, for this entire story to play out. From the first explosion, the realization of one death, 48 hours later the realization of a second death, and then 24 hours more than that, now this confession and arrest, and it's indeed -- it's overwhelming. Nobody prepares for this.

You don't even prepare for a tragic death. But then when it's somebody in your own family who apparently has done this, it's -- so of course, there's a shock factor. But again I was just with them just moments before coming here. And their faith is holding strong. Their trust in God is holding strong. Their love for each other is holding strong.

BERMAN: Talk to me about the Setzers. What kind of people were they?

ULMET: John and Marion, you know, he taught Sunday school in both our church and the First Methodist Church in Lebanon. Marion was involved in women's bible studies. They were compassion at, loving, godly people. They served other people. They're they were in their 70s. Everybody you've talked to including on this program moments ago, this is the most shocking thing that could be imagined is that anyone inside or outside of the family could have had any vendetta against them.

These are sweet-spirited people, tender-hearted people, caring, loving people, and their faith in God was the primary light of their lives. And it shined out to everyone who knew them. There are literally hundreds and probably thousands of people in the metropolitan Nashville area who their lives touched in some way that are stunned by this development.

BERMAN: Now Pastor, I understand you can't say much, but you were also pastor to the suspect, Richard Parker.

ULMET: Yes.

BERMAN: You know him. Tell us what kind of person he is. Did you see any signs like something like this might be possible? Any sign of a possible motive?

ULMET: No. His own wife of more than 20 years did not, nor did his children. And I think that's one of the realities we're all trying to cope with tonight, is you ask all the questions in your own mind. How? Why? All of those things, and there's no answers at this point for those questions. And I think that's one of the hard realities of the situation like this. There are no answers.

But reality also is that a family moves on. And a wife and mother moves on. And kids move forward. And they have a future. And God has not abandoned them. And I think this is the critical factor is that God has not abandoned them.

BERMAN: Our hearts do go out to that family. Again, Richard Parker, the suspect is in custody. The police there say this case is now resolved. Pastor Kevin Ulmet, thank you so much for being with us tonight. We really appreciate it.

ULMET: Thank you. Thank you so much for the chance to speak for the family.

BERMAN: For more on this story, you can go to CNN.com. We have a lot more up there right now.

Up next, is there a chance the loud music murder trial in Florida will end in a hung jury? The jury has wrapped up after a day and a half deliberations, no verdict yet.

And part two of Anderson's series on babies and their brains. The question tonight, if they do have an innate sense of right and wrong, what does it take for them to interact with someone they feel is bad? We have some answers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: In Crime and Punishment, no verdict yet in the loud music murder trial in Florida. Everyone asking now, is there a chance of a hung jury? Jurors retired for the night after a day and a half of deliberations. They will resume tomorrow morning. They're weighing the fate of Michael Dunn who was charged with murder in the shooting death of Jordan Davis at a gas station.

Dunn claims he acted in self-defense after a confrontation that began when he asked a group of teens to lower the music in their SUV. He testified that he saw a shotgun inside the teen's vehicle. Dunn grabbed his own weapon, fired off ten rounds, killing a 17-year-old Jordan Davis. No shotgun was ever found in the other car. Today jurors asked to review a few items.

Joining us now from the courthouse in Jacksonville, Martin Savidge and CNN legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, a former federal prosecutor. I want to talk about those items the jury wanted to see in just a moment.

Sunny, first let me ask you this. A day and a half, no verdict yet. I've heard you say, heard a lot of people say this should have been a very quick verdict. And a lot of people thought it would be a guilty verdict. As a prosecutor, what does this tell you now? If this were your case, would you be nervous?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGALY ANALYST: Well, I wouldn't be quite nervous yet because remember, this is a first degree murder case. There are five counts, 41 pages of jury instructions. This jury certainly has a lot to do, but this is a very strong case by the prosecution. If you go back to the Zimmerman case, the jury deliberated for over 16 hours for two days this. Jury is not there yet. This jury has been out for about ten hours.

But I agree, John, the question on everyone's mind, what is taking them so long. But you've got to remember, Michael Dunn did take the witness stand. And I sort of think that what they're doing is taking apart his testimony. If there are a few jurors that find him credible then the other jurors are going to walk through all the evidence to find the discrepancies.

I think that's why they asked for the gray mannequin that shows the bullet hole trajectories. I think that's why they're asking for an easel so that they can sort of take their notes, take their votes, I think that's why they're asking for the letter that Michael Dunn wrote to his family, which would show some inconsistencies. I think they're just doing some hard work.

I would be surprised, however, if they didn't come down with a verdict tomorrow. It is Friday. Most juries do not go into the weekend, especially when they're sequestered. Friday is generally verdict day.

BERMAN: Martin, sunny brought up these pieces of evidence that the jury asked to see specifically the last thing was that letter that Martin Dunn wrote himself. Explain to us the significance of that letter.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This letter they had what they wanted to know is what was the date when this letter was written? And it was told to them it was written last June. This letter is according to Michael Dunn by his own words an accurate account, one he dictated to a family member of what actually happened on November 23rd, that is on the night that he killed Jordan Davis. And yet when he got on the witness stand, he appeared to tell a different version of the same event, which is why that letter was actually introduced by the prosecution and why they wanted to point out, wait a minute, in the letter you say that Jordan Davis was diving back into the SUV. And yet on the stand you're saying that he was coming at you from the SUV when you fired. Which is it? It was clear they were trying to impeach his testimony on the stand.

BERMAN: Surveillance video they asked to see. It's longer than the one that was actually played in court. What does that tell you, Martin?

SAVIDGE: Well, a couple of things. I mean, it's 10 minutes before that they didn't show. And it's supposedly about 10 minutes after that they didn't show. And there are six different camera angles. Regardless of how much you look at it, there is no camera that captured the actual event outside in the gas station outdoors.

However, what the defense is trying to say is that what is key for the jurors to hear is what did witnesses say immediately after? They say the prosecution stopped the tape before they could hear that. The defense is trying to imply that maybe witnesses said something in the, my gosh moment of did you see that young man had a shotgun, or did you see this, or that something that would verify the account that Michael Dunn gave.

BERMAN: All right, Martin Savidge, Sunny Hostin for us in Jacksonville. The jury comes back at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow. Keeps on deliberating, as Sunny said most juries like to get their stuff finished before the weekend. We will see.

Let's get caught up on other stories. Susan Hendricks has a 360 Bulletin.

SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John against strong objections by the United States, Afghanistan today released 65 prisoners from custody claiming there is not enough evidence to hold them. But U.S. officials maintain that some of the men are linked to attacks that killed or wounded Americans and coalition members.

Days after the Copenhagen Zoo killed a healthy giraffe sparking worldwide outrage there is word that a second zoo in Denmark may do the same. An official says a male giraffe may have to be euthanized if he is not needed for breeding and a suitable new home cannot be found.

And you got to see this. It's incredible. Check this out from high up in the sky in a skydiving plane. According to a posting on YouTube, a go pro camera false out of the plane, you're watching it fall here. It will make you dizzy. It lands in a pig pen of all places, John, and a resident as you see of the pen wanders over to check it out.

BERMAN: I'm going with not real on this one.

HENDRICKS: I'm going with real. BERMAN: I think it's awesome because anything involving a hog and a skydiving and a go pro.

HENDRICKS: You had to think it out, exactly. It's pretty cool.

BERMAN: All right, Susan Hendricks, appreciate it.

Up next, part two of our special series on the incredible power of baby's brains. Anderson takes us back to Yale University's baby lab. The question, are babies born knowing the difference between right and wrong. See what happens an experiment that's nicknamed deal with the devil. Remember we're talking about babies here. Deal with the devil when 360 continues.

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BERMAN: All right, we all know that babies are great, they're cute. They have squishy little cheeks and smiles that can light up a room. But let's be honest here. They're not so great at the written or spoken word. So it's kind of tough to know what they're actually really thinking. Tonight we're continuing our series about researchers at Yale who are coming pretty close to answering that question.

Anderson went to the so-called baby lab at Yale where he spoke to the researchers who were using really creative ways to find out if babies are born with an innate moral compass. It's a really important question. Bottom line, Anderson also got to hang out with a lot of really cute babies. Take a look.

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): It's hard to believe, but these little babies are helping to answer one of life's biggest questions. Are we born knowing right from wrong? Researchers here at the Infant Cognition Center at Yale University, known as the baby lab, have been studying the minds and behaviors of babies for years. They believe that humans are born with an innate sense of moral beliefs, which means babies don't need to be taught the difference between right and wrong. They're born already knowing it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up goes the curtain.

COOPER: We watched babies as young as three months old as they were presented with a puppet show. Here a puppet struggles to open a box. First we see a green bunny who comes along and helps to open the box. Good behavior, good bunny. Then we see an orange bunny slam the box shut and run away, bad behavior, bad bunny.

When given a choice between the two, over 80 percent of babies chose the good bunny. And with babies that are only three months old, it goes to about 90 percent. Researchers at the baby lab are taking these studies even further. If babies recognize good characters and bad characters, what does it take for them to interact with a bad character? It's an experiment they nicknamed the deal with the devil. Karen Wynn runs the Yale baby lab and says research shows that babies are predisposed to want to interact with good people and avoid bad people. Here's an example.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up goes the curtain.

COOPER: Twelve-month-old Lucy watches the puppet show repeatedly and seems to recognize the good behavior and bad behavior right away. After the show, the good green bunny and the bad orange bunny each offer Lucy some graham crackers. The good bunny has just one cracker to offer, but the bad bunny has two. Which one will Lucy choose?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lucy, whose do you want? That one?

COOPER: She takes the one cracker from the good puppet. It's a baby version of a sacrifice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most of them choose the one cracker from the nice guy rather than choosing two crackers from the mean guy. So it shows that babies are really willing to take a cost to avoid interacting with the mean guy.

COOPER: Over 80 percent of babies will avoid the mean guy, but only it seems when they have just a little bit more to offer than the nice guy.

(on camera): How old is Jeff?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirteen months.

COOPER: Thirteen months. So cute.

(voice-over): So what happens when the mean guy has a lot more to offer than the nice guy? Jack is presented with the same puppet show, but a different choice. This time the bad bunny has eight graham crackers to offer, the good bunny still just one cracker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whose do you want?

COOPER: Jack goes for the eight crackers from the bad bunny.

(voice-over): So if someone may be unpleasant to deal with, but if there's a reason to deal with them, if they have more stuff or more things that we want or need we'll do it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's interesting. I've tended to think of it the flip version of it, which is the positive that it exhibits not only that we have an aversion to interacting with the negative people but also that there really is a cost to being a negative person. And that is you have to have more -- there's a cost and you have to work to overcome it in some way or another.

COOPER (on camera): I tend to see the negative.

(voice-over): Although most babies end up taking crackers from the bad guy, one-third will still choose to take the cracker from the nice guy. This is a good sign to Karen Wynn who says babies as young as 12 months old can override their selfish instincts, full-grown adults should be able to also.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're creatures that are conducting cost benefit analyses on all aspects of our actions.

COOPER (on camera): You mean babies are weighing these considerations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even very, very young ages are weighing these competing considerations and deciding where their own threshold is.

COOPER (voice-over): For baby jack, his threshold was just hunger, and the choice perhaps too tempting.

(on camera): You got to do what you got to do, Jack.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got to do what you got to do.

COOPER (voice-over): Anderson Cooper, CNN, New Haven, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: I never trusted the bad bunny. This is incredible research. We'll wrap up our special series tomorrow night. Don't miss Anderson's interview with Paul Blum of Yale University's baby lab and author of "Just Babies The Origins Of Good And Evil." He'll dig deeper into these issues of morality and what babies are really thinking.

We'll also learn what else might be going on inside those cute little heads. Tune into 360 tomorrow night for that. There's also more online at ac360.com and CNN's mobile app in the feature section. It's all fantastic stuff. We'll be right back.

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BERMAN: That does it for us. Tune in one hour from now at 10:00 p.m. Eastern for another edition of "360." Thanks so much for watching. "PIERS MORGAN LIVE" starts right now.