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Don Lemon Tonight

Three Muslim Students Killed; Western Brides Of Islamic Militants; ISIS Claims Boumeddiene In "Caliphate"; Officials: Mueller Possibly Paired With ISIS Fighter; Eddie Ray Routh Accused Of Killing Chris Kyle; Movies Take On Hot Button Issues; Righting Wrongs Shown In "Imitation Game"

Aired February 11, 2015 - 23:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: 11 o'clock on the east coast, this is CNN Tonight, I'm Don Lemon. We're live with the latest on the shocking case of three Muslim university students, shot to death execution style, the suspect, a neighbor who may have posted anti-religious statements on Facebook. Is it a hate crime? Out judges are gonna weigh in on this. Plus, intelligence suggests American hostage Kayla Mueller, may have been given to an ISIS fighter, as a so-called bribe, during her captivity. What really happened?

Plus, the Oscar contender that is putting a real life issue in the spotlight. Imitation game, the movie makers, crusade, to write the wrongs that tragically into the life or war hero Alan Tori, we're going to get into all of that tonight.

But I want to begin with those Muslim students killed execution style near the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, was it a hate crime? CNN's Jason Carroll has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A frantic 911 call, shots fired at an apartment complex near the University of North Carolina's Chapel Hill campus.

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: About three girls. More than one girl screaming, and then there was nothing.

CARROLL: The victims, all Muslims, 23-year-old Deah Shaddy Barakat and his wife of a little more than a month, 21-year-old Yusor Mohammad and her sister, 19-year-old Razan Mohammad Ab-Salha, all shot execution style with a bullet to the head.

Later that night, this man, 46-year-old Craig Hicks turned himself into police, who soon charged him with three counts of first degree murders. What triggered the shooting? The suspect's attorney said it was all over a parking spot.

ROBERT MAITLAND, HICKS FAMILY LAWYER: It has nothing to do with anything but the mundane issue of this man being frustrated day in and day out with not being able to park where he wanted to park.

CARROLL: But the father of the murdered women called it a hate crime. MOHAMMAD ABU-SALHA, VICTIM'S FATHER: I feel that he would not have acted this way if they were not clearly Muslims.

CARROLL: A family spokeswoman called for an investigation.

SUZANNE BARAKAT, DEAH BARAKAT'S SISTER: We ask that the authorities investigate these senseless and heinous murders as a hate crime.

CARROLL: Hicks who claims he is an Atheist allegedly posted anti- religious statements on his Facebook page, quote, "When it comes to religious insults, your religion started this, not me. If your religion kept its big mouth shut so would I."

CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of posts or his Facebook page. Hicks' wife expressed shock and her deepest sympathy at the killings, but said whatever happened it was not a hate crime.

KAREN HICKS, CRAIG HICKS' WIFE: One of the things that I know about him, everyone is equal. It doesn't matter -- it doesn't matter what you look like or who you are or what you believe.

CARROLL: Barakat was a second-year dental student. His wife was about to begin studies at the same UNC School of Dentistry. Her sister was also a student at nearby NC State in Raleigh and Barakat was also raising money to provide dental care to Syrian refugees in Turkey. His web site has raised more than $100,000, most of that donated after supporters learned of his death.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And Don, the victim's father, who you've heard from in the piece, told us that his daughter had actually come to him some time ago complaining about Hicks saying, Daddy, I think this man simply doesn't not like because of who we are -- Don.

LEMON: Jason Carroll reporting for us tonight. Jason, thank you very much.

I want to get our judges to weigh in on this. Joining me now is Belvin Perry, who presided over the Casey Anthony trial, and Judge Mablean Ephriam, and Larry Seidlin, who presided over the Anna Nicole Smith case.

Judges, thank you. Judge Perry, I have to ask you because North Carolina is a death penalty state. Does proving something as a hate crime change the punishment here?

BELVIN PERRY, PRESIDED OVER CASEY ANTHONY TRIAL: It doesn't change the punishment, but what happens in North Carolina, it helps to prove the motivation or the motive of a crime. While motive is not an element to be proved, it is always nice for the prosecutor to be able to show the motive for the murder.

In this particular case, we have a tragic execution-style murder that you asked why did a parking infraction fight cause such rage, or was there something more? And that question needs to be answered. LEMON: And I think it is important for the community obviously whether it is a hate crime or not. It means something to the community because many believe there is an anti-Muslim sentiment going on in the country right now.

But rage is a real thing, Judge Mablean, and you heard the judge before you talk about it. Rage is a real thing. Could this really all just be about a parking space?

JUDGE MABLEAN EPHRIAM, AUTHOR, TV JUDGE, "JUSTICE WITH JUDGE MABLEAN": You know, unfortunately, Don, it could possibly be that because some people just get so outraged and enraged over the slightest little thing that's going on in their communities.

And we have often seen cases of road rage where people are pulling alongside each other when someone cuts you off in the middle of the road and the shoot each other, and neighborhood disputes are something that people cannot ignore.

When there is a dispute about you parking in my parking space, and you are ignoring my right of privacy or disrespecting me, and sometimes it can get to that point, and unfortunately, people are just so uptight about things these days, and when you add the fact that I don't like people sparking in my space, and then adding in, it is a child and 21- year-old, and 19-year-old children, and then add you're a Muslim.

So it's probably a combination of all of those things that enraged him, but something was going on or is going on inside of that man, Mr. Hicks, that he needs to look at himself, and they may say that he is not racist.

And it is not a hate crime, but he has a lot of hatred for human beings. He has a hatred for life. He does have a total disrespect for lives because you can't walk up to somebody's front door, knock on the door and just shoot them in the head.

That is total disregard for the lives of others, and call it hate or whatever, but it is a form of hatred whether it is for Muslims, but it is a hatred for human life.

LEMON: And clearly rage there. Judge Seidlin, when a crime like this happens where it involves a person wearing religious attire, how does that come into play in a courtroom, will it at all?

LARRY SEIDLIN, JUDGE WHO PRESIDED OVER ANNA NICOLE SMITH CASE: It is going to be playing into the courtroom. You have to prove two elements in this type of crime. You need to show that there is an act, and there is an act that he killed the three young Muslims.

And then you need the mens rea, his state of mind, and if you look at his Facebook, you'll see that he hates all religions. He says praying is pointless. I'd like the police department to examine this --

LEMON: Judge, if you say praying is pointless, is that necessarily or hatred or is that just an opinion? How do you distinguish -- SEIDLIN: It is an opinion so therefore, it has to be a lot more

investigation involved in this case. Some of these police departments, if you look at this police department, it's connected to the University of North Carolina.

It's like Bermuda looking at a killing. It's like Aruba case. They don't want to put bad publicity on the university. So I'd like to see this police department step to the plate and bring the FBI in where we can get a better investigation --

LEMON: Let me put the Facebook -- go ahead, Judge Mablean.

SEIDLIN: Yes, but FBI haven't stepped in yet, so we're right now with the local police and it's not sophisticated enough for them to prove whether or not it's a hate crime at this point.

EPHRAIM: It is not even the local police, but it is the college police. So there needs to be a lot of investigation. The statement in and of itself that why pray is pointless, and your religion started this, those statements in and of themselves are insufficient to prove hate crime.

But I think if you dig into this man's past and go real deep into his background, you will be probably able to find some hatred and maybe just toward religious people in general and not necessarily Muslims in particular.

LEMON: OK, Judge Perry?

PERRY: Don, they have a long way to go with the investigation. They will have to dig deep, and as Judge Mablean said, it begs the question, it gives them an idea where to start, but they have a long way to go.

LEMON: Judge Perry, you worked on the Casey Anthony trial, one of the most famous death penalty cases in years, do you think that this will be one?

PERRY: With three murders execution-style in North Carolina, it will be a death penalty case.

SEIDLIN: And when and it is a high-profile, when there is a lot of media attention, that puts the prosecutor in the hot box. He knows that everybody is watching him. Therefore, he is going to enhance the crime as high as he can get, as long as he knows he can prove it in a courtroom.

In Belvin Perry's case, the prosecutor overcharged the defendant, I kept saying it as the trial was unfolding, it should have been a manslaughter charge and not murder in the first degree, and that is what happened in this case -- this case --

EPHRAIM: Yes, in this case, I don't see how it could be anything other than the death penalty case when you knock on someone's front door and the people have no weapon and you're not attacking. It's not a self-defense issue. It has to be premeditated. You went over there with the gun. It was planned. If you knocked on the person's door. You have a gun in your hand and you just shoot point blank, bang, bang, bang. It can be nothing but a death penalty case.

Because that was total disregard for human life, I don't see, based upon the facts that have been presented to us so far, I don't see any semblance of anything other than a first-degree premeditated murder and a death penalty case with or without the hate crime element. The hate crime just adds to it, but with or without it, that is a death penalty case.

LEMON: Judge Mablean, Judge Seidlin, and Judge Perry, thank you very much. Standby, we're going to follow this case very close in the days ahead.

I want the judged to standby because we are going to weigh on something else. We are going to bring you a little bit later on the breakdown of the dramatic first day in the "American Sniper" trial.

And coming up, intel suggest American hostage, Kayla Mueller, may have been given to an ISIS fighter as a so-called bride. What really happened?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Kayla Mueller, the American aid worker, who was held hostage by ISIS may have been paired to a male ISIS fighter as a so-called "bride" during her captivity. U.S. officials say she maybe have been coerced, forced, or sold into that pairing.

Her death has now been confirmed and while Mueller's situation remains a mystery, there are instances of western women becoming romantically involved with terrorists. CNN's Alina Machado reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You wouldn't know it, but this youthful face is at the center of an international manhunt. Hayat Boummeddiene is hiding behind a veil in these pictures published in "Le Monde" aiming a crossbow.

But these private images of Boumeddiene and her romantic partner, Amedy Coulibaly, show a different side. The photos obtained by CNN from a source close to the investigation show Boumeddiene scantily clad, wearing a bikini on the beach, while vacationing with Coulibaly.

She told police in 2010 she was not religious when she first met him, and that things changed after they wed in a religious ceremony. The transition from bikinis to burqas seems to show a radical transformation into extremism.

MUBIN SHAIKH, FORMER JIHADIST: If you look at it, it is erasing previous identity.

MACHADO: Boumeddiene is wanted for her mysterious role in the Paris terror attacks. The connection to her romantic partner, Amedy Coulibaly, has made her front page news.

SHAIKH: She will most definitely be seen as a rock star. It's almost she's a trophy militant wife.

MACHADO: And she is far from the only woman to take a radical turn as western women join who have a romantic link to many women who is seen as seen in this video traveling with a man who reportedly maybe connected to another Jihadi cell.

SHAIKH: Women are generally not looked at as a potential terrorist. When a woman and a man are paired up, they won't be seen as an operational unit, an operational entity.

MACHADO: Samantha grew up as a normal kid outside of London and then turned radical. Her husband, one on the suicide bombers responsible for the deadly London subway attacks in 2005. She is known as the white widow and linked to the Somali terror group, Al Shabaab.

And then there is Oxem Mahmoud, who grew up in an affluent neighborhood in Scotland listening to Cold Play and reading Harry Potter books. In 2013, Mahmoud left her family for Syria.

Her goal was to join the movement and become an ISIS bride. Tonight, her whereabouts are unknown and much like Boumeddiene, two ordinary western women transforming themselves into the first women of terror. Alina Machado, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Interesting. I'm joined now by Bob Baer, CNN intelligence and security analyst, who is a former CIA operative and Zainab Salbi is the founder of Women for Women International and the author of "Between Two Worlds Escape from Tyranny, Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam."

We have some breaking news tonight, a French magazine claims that French terror suspect, Hayat Boumeddiene, which you heard so much about in the story is not a part of ISIS. And they also published a purported question and answer with Hayat Boumeddiene.

So Zainab, I want to read some of it and I want to get your answer. She says, "My sisters, be for your husbands, brothers, fathers, sons, safe rear bases, be good counselors for them, may they find in you rest and tranquilities.

Do not make their tasks difficult, make things easy, and be strong and courageous. Do not waste your time and your energies in futilities and what does not concern you." Zainab, what is your reaction to what Hayat said?

ZAINAB SALBI, AUTHOR, "BETWEEN TWO WORLDS": I mean, this is just -- it's an extremist part of what you frankly find in the mainstream media in the Middle East for the longest times. You know, women are searching for a goal, a purpose for themselves, and a lot of the Islamic clerics in the Middle East have been preaching for them to be good wives and all of these things. ISIS is just taking it to the extreme. It is an unfortunate circumstance really, but we are all part leading it to the extreme that it is. ISIS has a clear vision towards women. They are giving them a goal or a role in these Jihad issues.

And we really need to counteract it with another vision and alternative. Right now, this alternative is simply not available at least in the Middle East.

LEMON: Bob, I want to know what you think because she really did not give any details about her role in the Paris attacks.

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think it is pretty clear now that she had sworn allegiance to the Islamic State. Now whether they actually were involved directly in those attacks and ordered them, we don't know.

But for a woman to go to and join the Islamic State is not unusual. You have the same going on with Hamas in the Islamic Jihad in Palestine where women enjoy equality in those movements and in fact they are suicide bombers and are fighting Jihad along with the men. So her showing up to becoming a revered member of this group does not come as a surprise to me.

LEMON: I want to talk now about Kayla Mueller, Zainab, because U.S. intelligence sources told CNN today that Kayla may have been paired with a male ISIS fighter during her captivity, what do you think of that?

SALBI: I think it is very consistent of the news that is coming out from ISIS. I just came from the Middle East and Iraqi women in ISIS- controlled territories are reporting of forced marriages of anyone who is under the age of 45.

They are reporting mass rape of anyone who does not follow precisely ISIS rules of how they look and how they should be covered. They are reporting of sex slaves of women being sold from $90 to $400.

The fact that Kayla may have been forced into to a marriage is very consistent to ISIS practices in ISIS controlled territories. It is most unfortunate to what happened to her.

LEMON: What are the sources telling you, Bob? Do you think that it is an accurate account?

BAER: Well, let me tell you what I know for certain, and what I believed to be certain is that until May, Kayla was being held with Doctors Without Borders personnel. Three other women who got to know her very well, they said that she -- while she was in Turkey she had converted to Islam and met a young Syrian man.

And she traveled with him to work, to try to work with Doctors Without Borders. She was grabbed that same day. The doctors said that she was treated actually respectfully, and let me put that it way. I think that at the end of the day, the Islamic State killed her for some propaganda reason or in revenge. But they did treat her well and they also treated the European women well, too, and they did not try to sell them. They looked at them as more of a burden for them to hold, and they were happy to get rid of the three Doctors Without Borders personnel.

While they were in negotiations to get her out, they had asked for money for Kayla several million dollars, but those negotiations fell through. Now what happened after May, I can't say, but if in fact, she was sold off that would not have been the pattern.

And she certainly was not sympathetic to the Islamic State even while in captivity, and if it happened, it did not happen willingly, and by the way, they just thought she was a great girl.

LEMON: That's why I want to ask you, should we read anything into that she -- that Kayla's family obtained pictures of her in Muslim garb wrapped in a burial shroud, very different than the beheading videos that we have seen from ISIS in the past.

BAER: Well, I think they recognized that she had converted to Islam, and even though they executed her like they did the pilot, they still wanted to show respect for a Muslim. I mean, this may sound twisted and bizarre to us, but that is the way they looked at it.

But they didn't treat her like the Yazadi women who were immediately sold into the slavery or anybody that the Islamic State looks at postdates think they are subhuman and this perverted ideology they have adopted. They'll do anything like killing the pilot is beyond Islam too.

LEMON: I want to get both of your reactions to this because President Obama asked Congress for new ISIS war powers today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: With vile groups like this, there is only one option, with our allies and partners, we are going to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And just quickly, what do you think of this first Zainab and then Bob?

SALBI: The way to defeat ISIS and we can spend as much military campaigns on ISIS as we want and we should, but really, this is an ideological war amongst Muslims and Muslims have to create an alternative vision for ISIS and this is ultimately the way.

We have to have amongst Islam about what is the religion. This is hijacking of the religion. This is an identity crisis within the religion. We have to have openness and a freedom of discussion, and right now, the alternative voices, the liberal voices, they are being persecuted and they are being put in prisons by other governments. And they are being lashed before talking about the liberal Islam so the way -- this is an ideological war ultimately. We do need military war, but this is ultimately can be defeated with an ideology.

LEMON: I'm up against the break, Bob, what do you think?

BAER: I think she's absolutely right. Muslims, when they turn against this will be crushed it. It's happened in the past, and it's successfully defeated this perverted ideology, and they will one day.

LEMON: All right, thanks to both of you. Appreciate you coming on.

SALBI: A pleasure.

LEMON: Some breaking news to report to you. CBS news correspondent, Bob Simon, has died. The 73-year-old was killed tonight in a car accident here in New York City. Simon was known for reporting on some of the biggest stories from around the world.

His career in news spanned half a century and earned him countless awards in the respect of his colleagues. Bob Simon leaves behind a wife and daughter, who is a producer at "60 Minutes." He will be missed.

Up next, dramatic testimony in the American sniper murder trial and our judges are back to answer questions about the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The American sniper trial is under way in Texas and we had a dramatic first day of testimony today, and CNN's Martin Savidge has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like the blockbuster movie about his life, the trial over how American Sniper, Chris Kyle died is also packing them in. The line to get into the small town courtroom in Stevensville, Texas began forming before the sun came up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you plead?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not guilty, your honor.

SAVIDGE: There is no debate over this, 27-year-old former Marine and Iraq veteran, Eddy Routh, killed Kyle and his best friend, Chad Littlefield. It happened at a gun range in February, 2013. The legal debate is over why.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This time I will allow the state to present opening statements.

SAVIDGE: In opening statements, District Attorney Allan Dash said Ralph knew what he was doing when he shot both men multiples times in the back and head. He used two different guns even taking the time to reload before fleeing in Kyle's pickup truck. The same truck Routh was driving when he was arrested after a police chase.

ALAN NASH, ERATH COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: He intentionally cause the death of these two men, and when he did so, did he know what he was doing was wrong? Those are the two ultimate issues that we are going to ask you to decide.

SAVIDGE: The defense argues Routh is innocent by reason of insanity. They blame it on post-traumatic stress as a result of his service for his country overseas.

TIM MOORE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: In this tragedy, Eddie Routh not only was suffering from a severe mental disease or defect, and not only did he not know that the conduct was wrong, he thought he had to take their lives because he was in danger.

SAVIDGE: Then the defense delivered a bombshell, Chris Kyle's own words in the form of a text Kyle sent Littlefield. At the time they were in the front seat of the truck with Routh seated behind them on the hour and a half drive to the gun range that deadly day.

MOORE: He texted this, "This dude is straight up nuts." This dude is straight up nuts.

SAVIDGE: Moments later.

MOORE: Chad Littlefield texted Chris Kyle back, "Right behind me, watch my six."

SAVIDGE: "Watch my six" is military speak for watch my back. A short time later, they would both Kyle and Littlefield would be dead and the messages they shared could be a key assist to the defense of the man who killed them.

The first witness was Chris Kyle's widow. Under trial rules we can broadcast the video of her testimony but no sound. Even without words, it was emotional as the mother of two choked up and wiped her eye, and the courtroom was shown pictures of her husband.

Chris Kyle is known as a hero, who is a sniper watched over his troops in Iraq, and as a civilian reached out to those who like himself struggled with the aftermath of war.

A life so remarkable it would become a Hollywood hit. "American Sniper" has broken Box Office records -- and continues to play at the cinema just 3 miles from the courtroom where a jury must decide if Kyle's killer is a villain or a victim.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Martin Savidge, thank you very much for that. Back now with my judges, Belvin Perry, who presided over the Casey Anthony trial, Judge Mablean Ephriam of TV's "Justice With Judge Mablean," and Larr Seidlin, who presided over the Anna Nicole Smith case.

OK, let's talk about this, Judge Seidlin, the defense is citing Eddie Ray Routh was insane at the time of the killing. The prosecution is pointing to a long history of drug and alcohol abuse. How difficult is it to mount an insanity defense?

SEIDLIN: Only 1 percent of all defendants raised the defense of insanity, and of that 1 percent, only 25 percent are successful in it. But remember when you raise the defense of insanity, they can find him guilty or not guilty or the third choice is not guilty by reason of insanity.

And if they find him not guilty by reason of insanity, he is not walking out of that courthouse. The judge has the power in the Texas statute like in most states that the judge will put him in a mental institution.

And the judge is allowed to put him in a mental institution for as much time as he could have put the defendant in jail. So this defendant, Routh, is going to be in jail for the rest of his life. Either guilty or he'll be in a jail or guilt or not guilty in the mental institution, and so it is a lousy defense.

If someone was in the right mind, they would tell the attorney not to plead not guilty by insanity because you are not walking out of that building you are either going to jail or a mental hospital.

LEMON: Do you agree with that, Judge Perry?

PERRY: I totally agree with Judge Seidlin. It is a defense that rarely wins. Even if you have all of the experts conclude that he is insane at the time, I recently had a case about a year ago where all of the experts said the guy was insane at the time. But the prosecution argued fact versus opinion, and they found him guilty of murder in the first degree, and he has been sentenced to life.

LEMON: I wanted to talk about the text message with Chris Kyle that he sent to a friend, Chad Littlefield, while driving to the range, and they were both sitting in the front seat, and Routh was ride manage the back, and he said, this dude is straight up nuts, is the defense using Kyle's own words to help Routh's insanity defense, Judge Mablean?

EPHRIAM: I think that he is using his own words, and not only that, but it was his conduct not just typing the words, but he said, I took him under my wings, because his mother told me that he was having problems adjusting to the real world since he had come back from war.

And saying that a man is totally nuts and then you take him to the range with a gun, woo! That seems that you are also had some idea that you were treading on some deep water, and you were likely in trouble.

So I think that it will help the defense, but I'm just concerned about the way we treat our soldiers when they return home. And something has to be done about that, because when they return home from war.

War is not real and reality, and when you are constantly hearing the gun fire and shooting, and all of that around you, there needs to be some type of debriefing quote/unquote, for those who return from war. They should not be put into society immediately. They should not go back to their families immediately. I think they should debrief them in some place like three or four or six months just like they do when they have been held captive because they need to learn how to be reintroduced into normalcy.

That is the sad part about it is that all of these men had given their lives and had served our country, and to end up dead on your country's soil behind someone who is your fellow brother that you are trying to help that is the sad part of this case.

LEMON: Just sad and they all had issues, you know, even Chris Kyle had issues when he returned back to civilian life. You know, Judge Perry, "American Sniper" running for best picture at the Oscars, and now Chris Kyle's killer in court in Texas, how does all of this influence a jury?

PERRY: Well, the jury is going to be moved about it. But the bottom line when you look at the whole thing under Texas law is whether or not the evidence will establish whether he knew that his conduct was wrong. If the evidence establishes that he knew that his conduct was wrong, they are going to find him guilty.

And that is going to be the bottom line that I agree with the Judge Mablean, that we need to do more for our veterans, but this trial is going to center regardless of whether he was acting bizarre, crazy, nutty, and whether or not he knew his conduct was wrong at the time that he murdered those two individuals.

LEMON: I have 10 seconds here, quickly, Judge.

SEIDLIN: Don, also -- Don, also, the jury thinks that if they find him not guilty by reason of insanity. He is walking out of the building. He is walking out of the courthouse. They don't know that the judge is then going to put him in the mental hospital. The jury does not know this. The public does not know this so that is a big issue.

EPHRIAM: The jury is not supposed to know the results. I think that if they talked about post-traumatic stress disorder, and the fact that sometimes the veterans believed that they are still in war and that they are being -- OK.

LEMON: That is it. All right, thank you. We will continue this. We will have you back. Thank you very much. "American Sniper" is not the only movie putting a spotlight on real life events. Up next, Hollywood gets real.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: From "American Sniper" to "Selma" to the "Imitation Game," Hollywood is getting real this award season, turning a spotlight on some of the biggest issues of the day. CNN's Paul Vercammen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Oscar can be a deep thinker. Several of this year's nominees push current political and social hot buttons. There is "American Sniper" called both the pro war and anti-war film, no matter, debate ignited.

"Selma" delves into racial injustice on the ills of heated protest in Ferguson, Missouri. The struggle for gay rights plays out in the "Imitation Game."

MATT BELLONI, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER": If you can start a dialogue with the film that dialogue can spread across the country and across the world so I think what these films are trying to do is they are trying to create some buzz for themselves, and they are also trying to make themselves into something bigger than just a movie.

VERCAMMEN: Perhaps no one in Hollywood excels more at blending fact, fiction, marketing and a drive for social change than Harvey Weinstein. His studio "Silver Linings Playbook" took mental health reform to Capitol Hill.

DAVID O. RUSSELL, DIRECTOR, "SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK": It doesn't matter which side of the aisle you are from, it will bring tears to your eyes and will open up your heart.

VERCAMMEN: The film's director calling for Americans to remove the stigma of mental health issues. Weinstein is back in focus with the "Imitation Game" about an English World War II code breaker later prosecuted for being homosexual.

The movie mogul says the British government should pardon thousands of its citizens convicted under laws forbidding homosexuality. Weinstein, a commander of the order of the British Empire vows he will give up that lofty title to make that happen.

(on camera): In talking off cameras from Academy voters, they tell me they are proud to nominate films that take on important issues both current and past. Now, true, some lighter fare does when the artist three years ago, that dog sure was cute?

(voice-over): But that's the exception, "Twelve Years Of Slave" won last year and "Argo" before that. Almost a half century ago, "Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner" didn't capture "Best Picture," but received ten nominations when inter-racial dating was a monumental taboo in America.

The winner "In The Heat Of The Night" also taking on race relations. Fast forward to "American Sniper" current "Best Picture" nominee and Director Clint Eastwood no doubt thrilled "Sniper" touched off public discourse about the impact of war on soldiers overseas and at home while becoming the biggest war movie ever at the domestic Box Office. Paul Vercammen, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right, Paul, thank you very much. When we come right back, more on the "Imitation Game." The movie maker's crusade to right the wrongs that tragically ended the life of war hero, Allan Turing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Up for eight Oscars and next week's Academy awards, the "Imitation Game" is based on the real life story of code breaker, Allan Turing, the World War II hero whose life ended in tragedy.

Joining me now is Morten Tyldum, the director of the "Imitation Game" and Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign. Morton, I'm going to start with you.

This movie is so touching and it's so powerful, it's about Allan Turing. He is a brilliant mathematician who basically breaks the Nazis wartime code or encrypted code for wartime communication, the so-called enigma machine. Let's watch.

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LEMON: Well, it starts out he is not a very lovable guy, not really a humble guy, in the beginning of the movie, but it is fascinating, why did you want to make this movie about Turing

MORTEN TYLDUM, DIRECTOR, "THE IMITATION GAME": Well, it is impossible not to be fascinate and enraged when you hear the story of Allan Turing. It is almost like if Allan -- Albert Einstein was not a known mathematician because he was a gay man.

Allan, you know, invented the computer science when he was 23-years- old in 1936. I mean, he saved millions of lives during the Second World War and he sort of like pushed into sort of like the shadows of history.

LEMON: He was pretty confident about his abilities, wasn't he?

TYLDUM: I mean, this movie about celebrating those who are in many ways different. He was sort like an outsider and never fit in.

LEMON: I think that was at least initially a bigger part of the movie than his sexuality as it turns out. He is a gay man and falls in love with a boy from school, and that is a crime in the 1940s in Britain. And then it progresses from there, it is punishable by imprisonment, but he had to make a really tough choice, didn't he? What happened?

TYLDUM: I mean, here is the thing, he had to -- this came from a break-in at his house that, somebody decided to break in and steal something from him, and during that police investigation, the police find out that he was gay. He was having to choose between two years in prison or chemical castration, which is horrible.

LEMON: And there is a clip where he chose castration, and here is the clip.

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LEMON: So he was basically reduced from a marathon runner, I mean, he was pretty close to holding the record for marathons to a wreck. He dies in 1952. What did you learn about him after he was arrested, what can you tell us about giving away the movie?

TYLDUM: Well, he lost so much. First of all, he lost his security clearance. He could not work on the project. He was being ridiculed. I mean, he wrote something in the letter he says that to Alan Turing lies with machine and therefore he cannot think. So he was ridiculed because he was publicly a gay man.

LEMON: Do you think that, Chad, you are now at least trying to get the people, who were initially indicted or found guilty of this act thousands of them, you are trying to get them pardoned as what happened with Alan, is this movie a call to action to you?

CHAD GRIFFIN, PRESIDENT, HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN: There is no question that it is. Look, this movie does a lot of things.

It tells the heroic story of a man who as Morten was describing, he not only brought about the end of the war when it did and saved millions of lives.

He is also the father of computer science as we know it today, and yet he was persecuted and ultimately died because of who he was, because that he is a gay man.

Alan Turing should be a household name, and thanks to this movie, I hope that millions more will know the hero that is Alan Turing, but in addition, you know, ultimately, the U.K. government pardoned him as they should have in 2013, but the 49,000 --

LEMON: Sixty years after he died by the way.

GRIFFIN: That's exactly right. And 49,000 other U.K. citizens went through exactly what Alan went through. They deserve that same pardon and there is a change.org petition that thousands upon thousands of people have signed and I hope that ultimately the U.K. government will acknowledge that incredible harm that was caused to these citizens all across that country, and do good by them, their legacies and their families by pardoning all 49,000 of them.

TYLDUM: And thousands of them are still alive. Remember, this law existed up until the 1960s.

LEMON: This is an actor who has been passionate about playing this character, let's take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alan Turing was a war hero. He was a gay icon and he was and is the father of modern computing science. He is a man who died tragically (inaudible) to a government that he helped free from (inaudible) by his work in the Second World War in cracking the Enigma code.

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LEMON: The movie is nominated for eight Academy Awards including best picture, best director, best actor, your hope for this movie and the message behind it.

TYLDUM: I mean, I hope that it is a movie that celebrates differences in people. This is also the movie that shows the ugly face of prejudice, and the dire consequences it can have. I hope that it makes people think. I also hope and know that people are getting aware of Alan Turing, and he is getting his rightful place in history hopefully.

LEMON: Good luck. I hope that you have a speech written in some way.

TYLDUM: I will.

LEMON: I don't want to jinx you, but let's, you know, we will just say best of luck.

TYLDUM: Thank you so much.

LEMON: Thank you very much. Thank you, Morten Tyldum and Chad Griffin. We appreciate it.

The countdown has begun for the Hollywood's biggest night, and we'll bring you all the red carpet action live. Join me along with "NEW DAY's" Michaela Pereira Sunday, February 22nd, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

And after the awards, we have got your all access pass to the a-list parties plus all the memorable moments. Our special "And The Winner Is" starts right after the ceremony. We'll be right back.

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LEMON: That's it for us tonight. I'll see you back here tomorrow night.

Our coverage continues with John Vause and Zain Asher in the CNN Center in Atlanta.