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New Video Emerges of Jared Loughner; Tunisia's President Flees Country; Gabrielle Giffords Recovering In Hospital; Lawyers Discuss Likely Defense Strategy For Loughner; Financial Experts Gives Advice on Reducing Expenses

Aired January 15, 2011 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: This hour, a revealing YouTube video shot by Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner is just released. We have it here.

And beginning at 2:30 Eastern, a special edition of "SANJAY GUPTA MD." He has exclusive access with the husband of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

And then at 3:00 Eastern, finding birth parents, the Internet makes it easier than ever. And at 4:00 eastern, step back and hands off that cell phone and computer -- the movement to detox yourself of all things digital. Or maybe just take a break from a potential addiction.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM where the news unfolds live this Saturday, January 15th. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Today marks one week since gunfire erupted while Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was meeting with constituents as a Tucson, Arizona supermarket. That store reopened today, several employees said it was important for them to return to work to get a sense that life is returning to normal after last week's shootings.

There was a moment of silence earlier today to remember the six people who died and the 13 others who were wounded.

New video now has been released of Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner. It is one of reasons former college campus released him following a series of outbursts on campus.

Our national correspondent Susan Candiotti joins me now from Tucson to help me break down that new video -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. You've seen the suspect, you've heard about him, certainly taken a look at the mug shot of him smiling. He even briefly appeared in court. But now for the first time we are actually hearing his own voice. This is a videotape that he shot as he was walking through Pima Community College at night. We don't know exactly when it was shot, but we do know that it was taken down from an online posting last September.

And you remember about a month later is when he quit school after he was told he could not come back unless he had a note from a doctor saying that he would not be a danger to others.

Now, we're going to get a few portions of this. First you're going to see a glancing reflection of Loughner as he's walking through a glass door. That's pretty interesting in and of itself, but then we move into hearing from him. and at one point he comes across a teacher and is complaining about a grade that he was given.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOUGHNER: How's it going? Thanks for the B. I'm pissed off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that?

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: You hear the breathing, you hear a bit of laughter. It is a partial window into his mind and here's yet another example of more rambling thoughts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LOUGHNER: All the teachers that you have are being paid illegally, and -- illegal authority over the constitution of the United States under the first amendment. This is genocide in America. Thank you. This is Jared from Pima College.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: And in yet another strange twist to this case, we are learning more about the suspect, even more. CNN has learned from a law enforcement source about a photograph that he took of himself. Loughner photographed himself wearing a red g-string and is holding a nine-millimeter gun, the same kind he is alleged to have used in this shooting one week ago. He is holding the weapon over his private area.

Now, police have said that he took a roll of 35 millimeter film the very night before a shooting, took it to a Walgreens to have it developed, picked it up and posted a photograph online. We don't know exactly which one. But this Walgreens employee spotted all the pictures and then contacted police. The FBI now has this roll of film, this disc, in its possession as evidence in this case -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Susan Candiotti in Tucson.

Meanwhile, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords remains in the hospital in critical condition. But a recovery is moving forward. Giffords was shot through the head. Doctors say she is responding to commands, able to move her arms and legs, although movement of her right arm is limited. Part of her skull was removed to allow for swelling. That portion will remain off about a moo or two. Giffords is breathing with the aid of a ventilator. Three other shooting victims from the Tucson tragedy are still hospitalized, but they are improving as well. Doctors say all three are in good condition.

Friends and family members are expected to pay respects to shooting victim Phyllis Schneck today. A memorial service is scheduled at her home and church in Tucson. We expect the gathering to begin in about two hours for the 79-year-old woman.

And the youngest victim, of course, was nine-year-old Christina green. Her funeral mass held Thursday, and her father said that's when her family learned some of her organs were donated to a little girl in Boston. He told our Susan Candiotti that he and his wife would like to meet her some day to, quote, "give her a big hug."

Tucson police are putting together Loughner's whereabouts in the hours before the shooting. Next hour, Randi Kaye retraces those steps and what it all means in this investigation.

And turning to Iraq now, the military says three American troops were killed today. Two were killed while conducting operations in the northern Iraq area, and they may have been shot by Iraqi soldiers who opened fire in the city of Mosul. A third soldier was killed during military operations in the central region of that country.

Back to this country now. In politics, Michael Steele is out as chairman of the Republican national committee. He dropped out of the balloting yesterday after seeing his support dwindle. Steele was plagued by controversy and criticism and eventually lost favor with party insiders.

He will be replaced by this man, Wisconsin GOP chairman Reince Priebus. He says his top priority is building an organization to defeat President Obama in 2012.

The Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner is behind bars possibly for the rest of his life. Our legal guys are already weighing in on the case against him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A week after police say he opened fire on a crowd in Tucson, Arizona, Jared Lee Loughner is behind bars, perhaps for life. Our legal guys, civil rights attorney Avery Friedman and criminal defense attorney Richard Herman join me to talk about the case.

So, Jared Loughner is facing five counts including first-degree murder, attempted assassination of a Congress member, and now he has a well-known kind of roving public defender.

So I wonder, first order of business for this public defender, Avery, might it be to push forward an insanity plea or instead try to avoid a death penalty as a potential sentence if her client is convicted?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Yes. It's actually the latter. A lot of people think it's the former. That she's preparing an insanity defense. But the best thing she can do, and she's done it before, what Judy Clark does, Fredricka, she'll work with U.S. attorney's office, with the department of justice in trying to convince them not to pursue a death sentence counts.

WHITFIELD: What would be the reason? Is would need to be supported with the reason. You don't want this client to be facing a death penalty because -- what would that because be... ?

FRIEDMAN: Yes. The because is, there's sufficient evidence about this defendant that would essentially tell the Department of Justice, you're never going to get the conviction in the first place. Don't waste your time.

WHITFIELD: Really?

That effort is going to be made. It's not going to be successful, Fredricka. There are going to be five counts, and they will include two of the five will be death penalty counts.

FRIEDMAN: Interesting. Richard, why make that kind of argument? Seems there are, at least what we've learned publicly, there is evidence, including the writings of Mr. Loughner saying, you know, that I planned this, using the word assassination, using the word "Giffords." Darn, that seems like the nail in the coffin for him on conviction?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes. It's tough in an insanity plea.

WHITFIELD: In addition to your eyewitness accounts.

HERMAN: Yes. You claim you didn't know what you were doing or could not appreciate the nature of your acts, when they find in his house the representative's name with assassination attempt, OK'd, or in action now, or approved. You know, that's no good.

But what has to happen here is this -- both federally and on the state level, they should announce that they are moving for the death penalty. They should do that as quick as possible. That will then force this defendant and his attorney to have serious negotiations to try to resolve it and prevent the death penalty, yet plead guilty to the crimes here.

Now, understand something. In Arizona -- by the way, there's a state death penalty case and a federal death penalty case. Two cases can be brought against this guy.

However, if he gets convicted -- if, say, the insanity plea worked in the state of Arizona, what would happen is he would be sentenced to life. He would first go to a mental facility to the try to treat him, and if he ever recovered from his mental illness, he would then be put in prison for the rest of his life. So either way, he's gone.

The question is, as Avery said, and as we'll talk about in the future is whether or not this attorney can save his life. That's the issue here.

WHITFIELD: I wonder if judges already, and not if, but that judges in Arizona have already recused themselves from this case. Clearly, this mean as change of venue, you know, for this trial to play out, Avery, but what state -- what American, what judicial system hasn't already formed an opinion or at least been able to watch in graphic detail all that has played out in Arizona, in Tucson?

FRIEDMAN: Yes. That's a wonderful observation, because the sense would be a venue change would be absolutely necessary because of the sense of the citizens in Tucson, but the reality is exactly what you just said. Everyone in America, unless you're living under a rock, is very much aware of every detail. The behavior was so overt, it was so flagrant that whatever venue is selected, if it's out of Tucson, and that's a question, clearly the defense will face this same kind of problem, because of the pervasive nature of the visibility of the case.

So, you know, it remains to be seen. There's a good shot will be outside of Tucson, but where it goes, you've nailed the issue. No one really will be able to tell.

WHITFIELD: Last weekend I spoke with Representative Brady talking about proposing legislation to ban targets, the symbol of targets, cross hairs on websites, et cetera. How can you enforce this? Is this an issue of constitutionality, Avery? According to you, constitution expert, will this be an argument of constitutionality? Can you do that? Taking a ban, an image on websites anywhere else?

FRIEDMAN: No. No, you can't. I mean, it's understood, the best intentions reaching into the heart. The reality is, as general rule and vigorous massive debate, political debate, that sort of behavior is clearly constitutional.

Now, the question becomes, where does it go over the line? And that's a fact question. But on its face, banning targets and political discourse is overtly and clearly unconstitutional. It's going nowhere.

WHITFIELD: We love those legal guys. You can always catch them every Saturday beginning at noon eastern hour. Avery and Richard always join us then.

All right, meantime, getting your finances in fashion for the new year. A money expert explains why budget is the new black. She'll give awe simple equation that will help you manage your money all year long.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The great recession has led to a new trend in saving and spending. A personal finance expert joins us after this check of the top stories.

A dramatic leadership change for a U.S. ally. Tunisia's longtime president is out. He fled the North African country yesterday after weeks of street protests. The head of parliament is now acting president and the streets are fairly quiet right now with the dusk to dawn curfew in effect.

And in Brisbane, Australia, high waters starting to recede, they face a massive cleanup effort. The flooding has killed at least 16 people.

The U.S. government is scrapping its $1 billion virtual security fence along two areas of the Arizona-Mexican border. The Homeland Security Department says the high-tech surveillance system is too expensive and has too many problems. Instead it will use a more varied system with drone, thermal imaging devices, and tower-based remote video surveillance.

You may have heard people say that a certain color is, quote, "the new black," referring to the classic style of black and fashion. Well in 2011, budget, apparently, is the new black. Yes, saving money and spending less are en vogue.

Joining me from Detroit, Susan Tompor, a personal finance and business columnist for the "Detroit Free Press."

Good to see you, Susan.

SUSAN TOMPOR, BUSINESS COLUMNIST, "DETROIT FREE PRESS": Good to see you. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So you say it's very fashionable to, you know, try and stay with your budget constraints, and you say let's begin this new year with a new kind of 70/20/10 rule. The formula you adhere to. Explain.

TOMPOR: Absolutely. Getting back to basics is the new vogue. And say we take our take-home pay and look at it as working income. So that 70 percent would go to your expenses, but 20 percent should be saved for bigger purchases later on down the road, other necessities, 10 percent for long-term goal.

So what does that mean? It means we're not spending 110 percent and 30 percent of our budget isn't going to designer handbags or golf. And 70 percent would go to your expenses, rent, mortgage, utilities, all that.

WHITFIELD: Food.

TOMPOR: Food is an essential, absolutely.

WHITFIELD: That's right.

TOMPOR: Insurance, taxes.

WHITFIELD: Got it. And so many of us have been adhering to some financial experts who say, ask the question, can I afford it? You say, forget that. It's not a matter of, can I afford it. You need to ask yourself some other question, like do I really need this? What am I going to do with this? Where am I going to put it? And that should help you control your spending.

TOMPOR: Absolutely. Suzy Orman has a lot of fun with this can I afford it thing. We all want somebody to be go on a trip to the Amazon but have a $80,000 student loan debt. They can't afford that. When you're shopping at the mall and there's an 80 percent of sign and you see shoes for $20, of course you're going to say, I've got have it. That's a great deal. That's how I ended up with more than 80 pairs of shoes. That's a little insight into my life.

So it's not can I afford it, it's where am I going to put it? When am I going to use it, and why do I want to buy it?

WHITFIELD: You say everyone has this problem. There will be mystery charges, that you're doling out, $5 here, $4 here, $9, upwards of. And you say you've got to get to the root where these little charges are coming from. Ask questions and eliminate them.

TOMPOR: Absolutely. There's two ways you need to look at this. One, there could be mystery charges for things that you don't even want to buy. The Minnesota attorney general took on Discover on this one. People were signing up with so-called courtesy calls to sign up for some service that was optional. They didn't need it, didn't know they it, but if they'd look at their statement they'd see this charge is recurring month. You're paying for something you didn't want, you can dispute that charge.

The other way to plug the leaks, as I like to say, is am I going star bucks every day and spending $30 a month? That's a leak. Maybe you only need to buy the coffee once a day, or once a week, whatever your budget can afford.

WHITFIELD: Or put it in a little thermos or something like that.

TOMPOR: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Have your creature comforts but in a more conservative way.

TOMPOR: Everybody has a latte factor they need deal with.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Susan, thanks so much. We are all committed to 2011 to making sure that budgeting is the new black.

TOMPOR: Absolutely. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Susan. Appreciate that.

All right, we've all been waiting for it, right? "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT." His first guest, you know by now, Oprah Winfrey. She opens up to Piers in what she calls one of her toughest interviews in 20 years. That's what she said. A revealing look after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, the countdown is on to the premiere of "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT." His highly anticipated first ever guest is Oprah Winfrey. The queen of talk told CNN it was one of her toughest interviews in 20 years. Here's a sneak preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, OWN NETWORK: I had been betrayed by somebody in my family, who had gone to the tabloids for, you know, $20,000, had sold me out. And Stedman came into the room with tears in his eyes, we knew that it was coming out. Stedman came into the room with tears in his eyes and he said, "The story's out. I have a copy of it if you want to see it. I'm really sorry. You don't deserve this." It was that moment.

PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST, " PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT": And you looked at him and you thought, I love this man?

WINFREY: No. I looked at him and I thought, here's somebody who is willing to stand in and stand up for you. And that's what love is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: After Oprah, Pier's premier week, say that, it's hard -- Howard Stern, Condoleezza Rice, Ricky Gervais, and George Clooney. It all kicks off Monday night at 9:00 eastern on "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT."

Next, a special edition of "SANJAY GUPTA MD." He talks exclusively to the husband of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, astronaut Mark Kelly and several other people who survived the deadly shooting rampage, talking with Sanjay Gupta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)