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Libyan Rebels Retreat from Brega; Courage in Libya; Southwest Grounds Planes; New Material Released from James Earl Ray's Jail Time After Killing MLK; Barry Bonds Out of Baseball, On Trial; Graphic Photo of Dead Girl on Facebook Sparks Lawsuit
Aired April 03, 2011 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Grounded: After a gaping hole in the roof forced an emergency landing this weekend, Southwest Airlines grounds dozens of jets. What you need to know before you get on another flight.
A similar accident two decades ago killed a flight attendant. A passenger onboard that frightening flight joins me to talk similarities.
Courage in Libya: A brave journalist killed bringing light to the atrocities there. I interviewed him before he died. Tonight, an emotional interview with his widow. It's a CNN exclusive.
Uncovered: new papers and photos related to the Martin Luther King, Jr. assassination. What do they reveal about his convicted killer James Earl Ray? We'll talk to one man who found those documents.
And not winning: Charlie Sheen's disappointing show debut.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(BOOS)
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LEMON: I'm Don Lemon. The CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
LEMON: And we begin with sights and sounds of protests in Yemen as they turn violent today. Witnesses say security forces attacked anti- government demonstrators with tear gas and they opened fire. A hospital spokesperson says one person was killed and at least 830 people were injured. A local governor denies anyone died and blames rioters for the unrest there.
In Libya now -- rebels had been forced to retreat from the key oil town of Brega after a reported ambush. The rebels fled to get more ammunition and regroup about 20 miles to the east of the town. Control of Brega has changed hands several times in this conflict.
Meantime, the U.S. was supposed to end its air combat role in Libya today. But now, that's not going to happen. It's not going to happen until tomorrow. And it's all due to bad weather conditions over the past few days, according to NATO. That is gun fire at an anti-government protest in Syria. It was earlier this weekend. Government officials blame snipers in this incident. But in another Syrian city, witnesses say security forces opened fire on protestors, gunning down at least 15 people. Demonstrators marched in mass today in Damascus to mourn those killed. Syria's president meanwhile appointed a new prime minister and asked him to form a new government.
In Japan now, the death toll from the March 11th earthquake and tsunami now tops 12,000. More than 15,500 are missing.
In Tokyo, about 250 people gathered today outside the headquarters of Tokyo Electric to demand the country stop using nuclear power. TEPCO says it is receiving about 40,000 complaints each day. Many TEPCO workers and executives are fearful for their safety.
And at the crippled Fukushima power plant, two efforts have failed to stop radioactive water from leaking into the ocean.
Time is short in Washington as law makers work to reach a budget deal this weekend to avoid a government shutdown. President Barack Obama called House Speaker John Boehner this weekend and Senators Mark Warner of Virginia, a Democrat, and John Cornyn of Texas, a Republican, appeared on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."
And here's what they told our Candy Crowley when she asked if the government can beat the Friday deadline.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: I hope we can solve the problem because, frankly, people are looking for adult interaction. And they are interested in solutions to our debt and to our deficits and not just games. And that's what we're getting, it looks like.
SEN. MARK WARNER (D), VIRGINIA: I think it will be yes. Again, what kind of message do we send to this world if we're saying we agreed on a top line budget number in terms of what we're going to cut this year, but then we're going to have these extraneous factors come in that have nothing to do with budget, the so-called policy riders, and that causes a shutdown? I don't think the American people will accept that.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
LEMON: All right. Here's what the parties have agreed to: $10 billion in cuts in temporary spending measures that have kept the government running. And now, they are considering more than $20 billion in additional cuts for the remainder of fiscal year 2011.
We're going to turn to Libya now. And as we mentioned, the town of Brega is back in the hands of Gadhafi's forces. The opposition's hasty retreat is revealing key flaws in the rebel front.
Our Ben Wedeman was right in the middle as they made a run for it -- Ben. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, the situation on the front in eastern Libya remains tenuous, at best, with the anti-Gadhafi forces seemingly unable to hold the line.
(voice-over): Opposition fighters are on the move, quickly, and to the rear. Somewhere near Brega, they say, they were ambushed by forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.
(on camera): All of a sudden, we heard firing in the distance. It set off a panic. Dozens of cars leaving.
This is one of the problems here. There's no communications, nobody knows why they are running back. But back they're going.
(voice-over): As we are. Though crossing the road in the midst of the panic is no easy task.
Even in retreat, they flash the "V" for victory which seems to be slipping steadily from their hands. When the fighters finally stop running away, they complain they're no match for their enemy.
"We call on the Security Council to supply us with weapons," says this fighter. You see what we have? Grenades. They have rockets and more.
Says another, "We have no planes, nothing. Just small arms."
Their threats increasingly empty.
They watch the horizon for advancing Libyan army forces, hoping NATO aircraft will do something. But on this day, the skies were, for the most part, quiet.
Soldiers of the opposition national Libyan army seem just as unable as the revolutionary regulars to hold their ground.
Between pullbacks, there's little to do but clean their weapons, ready their ammunition and prepare for a fight they just don't seem prepared for. And when word goes out that rockets are about to land, another panic. The rockets, wherever they were, never materialized.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, outside al Brega, eastern Libya.
(on camera): They want air cover. They want more weapons. What's clear is they simply can't do the job by themselves -- Don.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Ben, thank you very much.
Coming up next: my conversation with the widow of this man, 27-year- old Mohammed Nabbous, who sacrificed his life in Libya reporting on the uprising in Benghazi. Plus, you may recall 23 years ago, a huge section of an Aloha Airlines ripped off in the sky over Hawaii and a flight attendant was killed. We'll talk with a passenger who was aboard that flight and ask about the similarities with the Southwest Airlines incident on Friday.
And many of you have been sending an asking for information on social media. You can reach out to us on Twitter, on Facebook, at CNN.com/Don, and on Foursquare.com as well.
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LEMON: When we first met Mohammed Nabbous on this program, he feared for his life.
Nabbous broadcast reports from Libya in the earliest days of the revolution. I spoke with him on February 19th, a day that he saw friends die in the streets.
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LEMON: Be in touch and be safe, OK?
MOHAMMED NABBOUS, JOURNALIST: I'm not sure I will be there tomorrow. I'm not sure if I'm going to survive tonight. But there's going to be another interview tomorrow with you, hopefully.
LEMON: Hang on. Do you think the situation is that bad that you believe that people won't survive overnight? Is it that bad?
NABBOUS: Many of my friends have died already and 200 people died. I don't know what's going to be worse to you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: A month later, his fears were realized when a sniper's bullet claimed his life.
And we are joined on the phone right now by Nabbous' wife. She's calling herself Perdita to protect her identity.
Perdita, thank you very much. We know that you're pregnant. First of all, I'm going to ask you, is everything OK with the pregnancy?
PERDITA NABBOUS, WIDOW OF SLAIN LIBYAN JOURNALIST (via telephone): Yes. Everything is going fine (ph).
LEMON: Everything is OK.
Many people are calling your husband a hero, saying he died a hero. Do you believe that?
NABBOUS: I do believe that he made things possible that weren't, things that no one saw it was (ph). So, if people call him a hero, (INAUDIBLE), he had been working day and night for this cause. And he never gave up. He never gave up. He was just pushing himself to the limit, actually. LEMON: What did you tell him during the time when he decided to broadcast that? Were you OK with it? Did you support it? What did you say to him?
NABBOUS: I was OK with it. I was supportive of him. At the same time, I was worried for his life.
If the revolution would have stopped in any way, that meant that he would be, I mean, either a refugee or they would take him in because you can't speak out in Libya. Before, you never were able to speak out. So, I was fearing for his safety. At the same time, I knew that it was the only way to make the world see what was going on. So, it was like two different feelings going inside of me.
LEMON: You're conflicted. There's a conflict there.
NABBOUS: Yes.
LEMON: I've got to ask you this. You know, his words, sadly, were prophetic. He knew something was going to happen or at least a possibility. He said that to me on this program. "I don't know if I will make it through the night." He did die knowing the possibilities, right?
NABBOUS: Yes. He was telling me that every day. And before he even left on the 16th, he looked at me and he was like, as long as the baby is inside of you, I'm not scared. He was, like, I'm doing this for you and the baby. And I want the baby to be proud of his dad.
LEMON: What are you going to tell your child about your husband? About your child's dad?
NABBOUS: What am I not going to say? I mean, he was -- he was amazing even before all this. He was special to me and to everyone that knew him. He just had this -- he loved -- I mean, he loved life. And he was so full of it.
And he had so many plans. He had so many ambitions. I'm just -- I'm keeping every single memory I have of him and I'm going to give everything to my child, to our child.
LEMON: Perdita Nabbous, thank you so much. Best of luck to you, OK? We appreciate you coming on.
NABBOUS: Thank you.
LEMON: Mohammed Nabbous dead from a sniper's bullet at the age of 27. And we wish his widow safety as she gets closer to delivering the couple's only child.
A 20-foot section of an Aloha Airline 737 jet rips off at 24,000 feet. That happened 23 years ago. And a flight attendant was blown out and killed. Next, we'll talk with a passenger who was aboard that flight and ask about the similarities with the similar Southwest Airlines incident on Friday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Many microscopic cracks have been found in the body of a Southwest 737 that made an emergency landing Friday in Yuma, Arizona. That's according to federal investigators who are now poring over that plane.
The flight was at 36,000 feet when a four-foot hole popped open in the top of the fuselage. Luckily, no one was hurt.
But the incident is eerily reminiscent of a 1988 accident over Hawaii. In that case, a large section of plane came off in mid-flight, killing one person and injuring many others.
Eric Becklin was a passenger on that Aloha Airlines flight and he's also a retired professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA, with expert knowledge about fuselage stress. And he joins us now from Palmdale, California.
Professor, when you heard about this incident, I'm sure you thought of your incident immediately. And you know exactly what those passengers went through.
ERIC BECKLIN, UCLA PROF. EMERITUS (via telephone): Yes, I do. It's very frightening.
LEMON: Yes.
BECKLIN: You think you are going to die.
LEMON: And you thought you were going to die?
BECKLIN: I did.
LEMON: Yes. As the incident was going on, tell us what happened on the plane. I'm sure they made you get into the crash position. You had your head down --
BECKLIN: No, they didn't do any of that.
LEMON: What did they do? What happened?
BECKLIN: I heard the decompression, looked up, saw about a five-foot hole on the left side. Knew what happened.
The pilot immediately dove down. And, luckily, he was very experienced. Unlike the one on Friday, this one, the opening kept growing until it was, as you say, 20 feet wide.
LEMON: So, there was really no warning for someone to even warn you about getting to this position, it just happened suddenly?
BECKLIN: No. There was no warning, nothing.
LEMON: OK.
BECKLIN: No warning. The masks never came down. LEMON: Flight attendant was sucked out.
BECKLIN: Right at the time of the decompression.
LEMON: You didn't see it?
BECKLIN: No.
LEMON: No.
Another one had to be held in order to keep her from being sucked out.
BECKLIN: Yes. There was one up front that was held down. And, luckily, every passenger had their seat belt on. So, nobody else went out.
LEMON: Professor, why does this happen?
BECKLIN: The reason it happens is when the aircraft goes, takes off and lands, it does go under stress because of the differential pressure from the inside to the outside. It blows up like a balloon. And every time it does that, there is stress. Similar to what happens when you bend a paperclip. If it happens enough and you don't, you know, correct the cracks or change the skins, there will be a structural failure at some point.
LEMON: So, it's metal fatigue.
BECKLIN: Metal fatigue, and microcracks are formed.
LEMON: Yes. What's the solution? Is there one?
BECKLIN: Just inspection and I think the inspections just have to be done. And I'm working on an aircraft now with NASA, 747, and we inspect that on a periodic basis. The FAA calls for periodic inspections. And the key is for the airlines to also do these periodic inspections.
LEMON: Are we doing enough? Are the airlines doing them properly? Because as I understand --
(CROSSTALK)
BECKLIN: I don't want to get into -- you know, the FAA is pretty diligent now. And I was reading they've got a pretty good program. And they need -- they just need -- and the airlines need to make safety and these inspections an important part of their routine.
LEMON: Bottom line it for us -- people who are considering flying, they may be in the airport now: how concerned should passengers be?
BECKLIN: They shouldn't be concerned at all. This is the safest way to travel. Has been for a long time and will continue to be.
LEMON: Professor Eric Becklin, thank you so much. We're glad that you're around to join us today. Thank you. BECKLIN: Thank you.
LEMON: All right.
Let's move on to talk about Charlie Sheen. He may wish he hadn't been fired from his day job. His live stage show last night in Detroit was a disastrous flop. And that's being generous. CNN was there and you will see it for yourself.
Plus, tomorrow is the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. New material related to the killing has been released and we'll talk with the man who discovered it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Charlie Sheen has a strange definition of winning. His "Violent Torpedo of Truth" tour which plays tonight in Chicago is supposed to be a triumphant thumbing of the nose at Hollywood. A huge crowd turned out for last night's premiere in Detroit, but torpedo quickly torpedoed. It turned out to be a dud.
CNN's entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: They let him have it.
(BOOS)
WYNTER: They booed. They chanted "refund." They called him loser. Sheen basically spoke in warlock and troll language all night long, saying he was here to save the fans. He also rolled out a presidential like podium and gave a nonsensical speech.
There were clips, believe it or not, of Charlie's recent news interviews that was one big mess of montages. He also had his goddesses -- that's right -- his goddesses on stage and they burned his iconic "Two and a Half Men" shirt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The worst show ever.
WYNTER: This show, you know, it's show where Sheen never ever managed to connect with the audience. He even chalked it up as an experiment.
The question is: with all those tour dates remaining over the next month, will fans really want to pay to see a less than stellar performance?
Kareen Wynter, CNN, Detroit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Kareen, thank you very much.
New documents and photos released in Memphis shed new light on James Earl Ray, the man convicted of killing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We'll hear from the man who has been going through all of that material.
And making their voices heard. Women across the Arab world speak out for change. But, will they be silenced?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Checking our top stories right now:
You see sights and sounds of protests in Yemen as they turn violent today. Witnesses say security forces attacked demonstrators with tear gas and open fire. A hospital spokesperson is saying one person was killed and at least 830 people were injured. A local governor denies anyone died and blames rioters for the unrest.
Now, to Libya, where rebels had been forced to retreat from the key oil town of Brega. After reported ambush, the rebels fled to get more ammunition and regrouped about 20 miles to the east of the town. Control of Brega has changed hands several times in this conflict.
Meantime, the U.S. was supposed to end its air combat role in Libya today, but now, that's not happening until tomorrow due to bad weather over the past few days, that's according to NATO.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNFIRE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: That's gunfire at an anti-government protest in Syria. It happened earlier this weekend. Government officials blame snipers in this incident. In another Syrian city, witnesses say security forces opened fire on protestors, gunning down at least 15 people. Demonstrators marched in mass today in Damascus to mourn those killed. Syria's president, meantime, appointed a new prime minister and asked him to form a new government.
Now to Japan, where the death toll from the March 11th earthquake and tsunami now tops 12,000. More than 15,500 are missing. In Tokyo, about 250 people gathered today outside the headquarters of Tokyo Electric to demand the country stop using nuclear power. TEPCO said it is receiving about 40,000 complaints each day. Many TEPCO workers and executives are fearful for their safety. At the crippled Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, two efforts failed to stop radioactive water from leaking into the ocean.
New photos and letters were released this week ahead of tomorrow's 43rd anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The material was discovered about four years ago among boxes in a warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee, the city where King was killed.
Shelby County Register Tom Leatherwood has been working since then to get the material released to the public. He joins us now.
Tom, this material was accumulated during the eight months James Earl Ray was held in the Shelby County jail before pleading guilty to the shooting. What did you find?
TOM LEATHERWOOD, REGISTER OF DEEDS, SHELBY COUNTY: That is correct. That's the material we have. It's a variety of documents, correspondence between Ray, his family, detractors, supporters, his attorneys, as well as correspondence of the then-Sheriff Bill Morris. We found some never-before-released photographs, as well.
LEMON: Tom, is there anything in there that changes what we know about this case or change the way history books will be written? Or is it just revealing information about James Earl Ray?
LEATHERWOOD: Well, unfortunately, there really wasn't the game changer in the material. Of course, it was very exciting when we found it. It was like a kid finding treasure. And couldn't help but thinking maybe we'll find some startling facts or evidence that would be a game changer. But as we went through the material, that wasn't there. But there are a lot of interesting tidbits of information that we did find that gives insight into Ray's thinking at the time, as well as what was going on at that time in our country's history.
LEMON: And one interesting tidbit -- there was nothing new about motivation here, I understand, about why James Earl Ray assassinated Dr. King. But it did talk about conversations between he and his attorney.
LEATHERWOOD: That's correct. We have one letter where Ray authorized his attorney to enter a guilty plea. And in there, he mentions the fact he and his attorney have gone over the evidence, fingerprint evidence, and other evidence would be hard to rebut. He was concerned about getting the death penalty. He offered to enter a guilty plea if the state would waive the death penalty, and he did so. Beyond that, he didn't speak about whether or not he did it, if he did it, why he would have done it. It was more surface issues. He corresponded a lot with his brother. And generally, ended the letter signing off with, "Take it easy."
LEMON: I understand that the sheriff had these photos taken because he was afraid that Ray would be mistreated. I know he was talking to his attorney. You find out about that in there. Who all did he communicate with in these letters?
LEATHERWOOD: Most of the correspondence are to family members, especially his brother, Jerry Ray, but also his attorneys. He went through several private attorneys before having a public attorney.
It was also interesting to me to find the paperwork where he was actually working on a book deal before he had been extradited back to the United States. Just several letters over the time related to book deals, movie rights, right on up to his last will and testament, where he bequeathed to his brother, Jerry, any money that might come from book or movie deals in the future.
LEMON: Yes, and working on movie deals, I think that's important, as well, right up until the time it ended. Was a copy of Ray's will among the documents? You know everything he is doling out here. Explain to us again who exactly he, and what did he give to? LEATHERWOOD: In his last will?
LEMON: Yes.
LEATHERWOOD: Of course, he didn't have very much property. But he left $5,000 to some friends. Then everything else, he divided between his siblings with Jerry Ray, his brother, getting any royalties there might be to any future books, movies, magazines, that might arise from the case.
LEMON: It's certainly interesting.
We want to thank Tom Leatherwood, of Shelby County Register. Very interesting information.
You can find this information online, where?
LEATHERWOOD: Register.shelby.tn.us.
LEMON: All right, there it is right there on your screen. And we'll try to put a link on our blog here, as well. And you can link to it. It's CNN.com/don. We'll put a link to these papers as well.
Thanks again, Tom.
And it will be 43 years tomorrow since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. Tonight, CNN talks to the people who were there that fateful day and others who were personally involved in the civil rights movement. They share their first-hand stories of a tragedy that still resonates even today. "Eyewitness to Murder, the King Assassination," tonight, 7:00 p.m. eastern, only here on CNN.
Defined traditional cultural stereotypes and taboos. Women across the Arab world are speaking out and saying they won't be silent any longer. We'll explore what this means for the Middle East and for the West as well, coming up.
(CHANTING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: It is Sunday night. It's time to get you ready for the week ahead. We begin at the White House with President Obama's agenda.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kate Bolduan at the White House. Next week, the president's focus remains clearly on the conflict in Libya and the now NATO-led operation there to protect the Libyan people and stop the Gadhafi regime. At the same time, President Obama will be hosting Israeli President Shimon Perez at the White House for a working lunch. Wednesday, President Obama will head to the Philadelphia area to continue pushing his energy plan that includes a goal of cutting America's imports of foreign oil by one-third by 2025.
ELISE LABOTT, CNN SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: I'm Elise Labott in Washington. The Mideast unrest is providing no break for the State Department which starts the week faced with violence in four countries in the region, Libya, Syria, Jordan and Yemen. Officials will also be keeping a close eye on increased violence in Ivory Coast and helping Japanese officials contain the nuclear fallout from last month's earthquake and tsunami. Later this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will roll out a State Department report detailing the human rights records of countries around the world.
POPPY HARLOW, HOST, CNN MONEY: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Coming up this week, we'll hear from the Federal Reserve when it releases the minutes of its last meeting. Analysts will be looking very closely for any talk of inflation. Food and energy prices have been soaring and many say that is weighing on the economic recovery. Meantime, Google is getting a new CEO. Co-founder, Larry Page, reclaims that title on Monday. On Thursday, we'll get the latest retail sales numbers as well as weekly unemployment numbers. Wall Street will be watching it all, and we'll track it all for you on "CNN Money."
BROOKE ANDERSON, HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: I'm "Showbiz Tonight's" Brooke Anderson. Here's what we are watching this week. Two very outspoken celebrities will be right here with us. Get ready for "The View's," Sherri Shepherd. I know she will be fired up. And Lady Gaga's choreographer, in a "Showbiz" newsmaker interview. After all the claims that Lady Gaga is copycatting Madonna's acts, what's next? "Showbiz Tonight" is live at 5:00 p.m. Eastern on HLN, and still TV's most provocative entertainment news show at 11:00 p.m.
LEMON: More on one of our top stories tonight. The protests and uprising surging across the Arab world, and the role that women are playing. It's an increasingly dramatic and unforgettable one.
Just witness this Libyan woman who burst into a Tripoli hotel to reveal she had been gang raped. That is what she said. She has not been seen publically since.
I'm joined now by our international desk editor, Azadeh Ansari.
Azadeh, this Libyan woman who told reporters in that hotel she had been gang raped, it is unusual for women, isn't it, in the Arab world to talk about such things?
AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL DESK EDITOR: Absolutely. Talking about a topic like sexuality assault or rape is difficult enough, but then on top of it, when you have certain social taboos, it compounds that and makes it more difficult. It is a crime that's very dishonorable to women. Naturally, in these patriarchal societies, again, it adds that level of complication.
LEMON: And I asked you during the break, some of the people we saw were women, putting the bag over her head to subdue her, and you said, that's because?
ANSARI: It's another effort to silent these women. Women are coming out, like Iman, saying, look, we're not going to let --
LEMON: But not necessarily because of Moammar Gadhafi, but you said because it's embarrassing. And that's why they want to silence her. ANSARI: Exactly. It's embarrassing. It's not something they want the public to know about. Again, they are saying, enough is enough. We are going to come out, we are going to voice our opinion, despite traditional norms and the societal norms that are in place, so -- go ahead.
LEMON: Is this in defiance over religion now and culture to do these things? Do you think we will probably, I would imagine, see more of this?
ANSARI: It's not so much of a religious thing as it is more of a social thing. It's because it's so difficult to talk about. The thing is, when they do talk about it, they tend to be isolated from their families, or even within society they tend to be isolated. Again, it's not something that is openly discussed.
LEMON: Who is doing the shaming here? Is it throughout the culture on both sides here, on the pro and anti-Gadhafi sides? Is it throughout?
ANSARI: Again, it's men, women, everyone. It goes back to this is an issue that stems back years and years, hundreds of years, thousands of years. It's part of the culture. It's embedded. Again, it's a topic that is not just isolated to the Arab world, rape, sexual assault, very difficult to talk about in general.
LEMON: It's certainly interesting to see all of this unfolding and not knowing exactly where it's going to go. That video, Azadeh, that came in last week of that woman in the hotel. Horrifying to watch.
Thank you.
ANSARI: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: Azadeh Ansari, we appreciate your input.
All right. We want to talk about sports now. Homerun-slugger Barry Bonds out of baseball and on trial. He is accused of lying under oath about using steroids. A witness testified this week she saw him being injected. We'll update the case and also talk college hoops. My brackets are not doing well.
First, our "Building Up America" report. Here is Tom Foreman.
(BUILDING UP AMERICA)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: College basketball's field of 68 is down to just two. All that's left is tomorrow night's showdown between Butler and Connecticut. Plus, potentially damaging testimony this week in the perjury trial of retired homerun-slugger Barry Bonds.
Joining me is Jon Wertheim of "Sports Illustrated."
Jon, good to see you. I want to start with college basketball. Connecticut versus Butler, not the matchup anybody predicted, for sure. And my bracket is a total mess. I don't know where it is right now. What can we expect tomorrow night?
JON WERTHEIM, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: I know, I think this nice narrative offsets everybody's busted brackets. But a year ago, Butler made the final game. It was going to be a nice story. We had this Hoosiers redux. No one gave them much of a chance. It's a different story this year. They are back in the final. Here is a small program, small conference. I think they've got a real shot. If people watched the games yesterday, Butler did not look like a Cinderella. They looked like a team that is one game away from winning an NCAA championship.
LEMON: I had -- let's see what I had -- Ohio state winning. And then we have a little competition among the anchors here. So I'm number four. I'm in fourth place. Then I had Connecticut to -- one of my teams is Connecticut, is in the Final Four.
WERTHEIM: That's good.
LEMON: Yes, but I didn't do it. My producer did it.
Thanks, Tom Fost (ph).
(LAUGHTER)
So, anyway, you just wrote a book called "Scorecasting," which uses statistics to debunk a lot of popular myths, why teams win or lose. Can you explain this crazy NCAA tournament?
WERTHEIM: Nobody can explain the NCAA tournament. No, I think what we're seeing you have this variance like you see in the stock market. Sometimes we invest in the future. We take all the number one cedes. Here's a case with Butler where this stock, as it were, had been performing pretty well, still under the radar, and here it comes, ready to be a big time blue chip stock.
LEMON: Some said Virginia Commonwealth shouldn't be in the tournament at all, instead, they made it to the Final Four.
Can we talk about Barry Bonds, the perjury trial? His personal shopper testified that she saw Bonds' trainer give him an injection back in 2002. But another witness contradicted earlier testimony. What do you make of this trial so far?
WERTHEIM: I think this trial is shocking a lot of people by making Barry Bonds sympathetic. It's something of a circus. We had former mistresses, personal shoppers, doctors that were called for the prosecution that gave testimony that really bolstered Bonds. It's been a little bit silly. I think, viewing this from afar, people are seeing Japan and Libya on the news and saying, why -- not to diminish perjury -- but why are we spending time and resources on a guy about allegations from a decade ago. We don't have a disposition yet, but this has been a bit of a circus so far.
LEMON: Yes. A lot of people are wondering why. But there are also, Jon, people who say, you know what, he deserved it. He misled us to make us think he was a big tough strong guy, and all the while, he was breaking the rules. The prosecution will rest its case tomorrow. How would you assess their case against Bonds? Is it a strong case?
WERTHEIM: Well, I mean, it was going fine. You had some very strange testimony from this Dr. King, who everybody thought would corroborate Bonds' personal assistant, and didn't bite on that. Just to be clear, this is a perjury case, it's not about really the performance- enhancing drugs.
LEMON: Right.
WERTHEIM: So this is going to go a jury. Who knows? When it comes down to it, people will say, has this been worth all the expense and public money.
LEMON: Does anybody support him in baseball? Does he have any supporters?
WERTHEIM: You know, obviously, not the most popular guy, and sort, the record, some people think, were tainted. I think there's some institutional support in the fact that people think the government has just gone too far. This trial has been embarrassing, it's been very personal, it's been sort of unseemly at time. And I think there's a sense of, you know, we're talking about drugs that weren't even on the ban list 10 years ago, and why is this guy being subjected to this, his reputation shredded, these very, very personal stories, why is this coming out? Within baseball, there is a sense of he's being persecuted a little bit.
LEMON: Real quickly, in the short time we have left, new Major League Baseball season got started this week. What do you see as a big headline for the new season?
WERTHEIM: People are happy baseball is here. We've been hearing since the Super Bowl of NFL work stoppage. Here's a sport that's going. I think, you know, you look at the Philly's pitching staff. It was a big story. I think you always have this push-pull, can some of these smaller market teams that don't have the payroll compete with the big boys, the Yankees and Red Sox? But, no, spring training and the opening of baseball has a unique feel to it. Right now, there's a lot of promise for every team, even though, a few weeks from now, the Kansas City Royals and other teams will dropout. Right now, everyone has a shot.
LEMON: I have to run, but how are you brackets doing? You OK?
WERTHEIM: Miserable.
(LAUGHTER)
The top seeds go out, I go out.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: No, no well. Thank you. Jon Wertheim, "Sported Illustrated." I learned a lot.
I want to talk about a horrific crime in New Orleans now. It came in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but it wasn't committed by street thugs or gangsters. It was done by police officers sworn to uphold the law. We discuss their sentencing with HLN's Jane Velez-Mitchell right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: One of my favorite parts of the show because every week at this time we talk to Jane Velez-Mitchell, host of "Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell," on our sister network, HLN.
This week, among other things, we discuss a graphic photo of a dead girl on Facebook that sparked a lawsuit by her family. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: A girl is killed, and then the EMT that shows up takes a picture of her and puts it on a social networking site. He should be sudden. That's what the parents say. What do you think?
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST, ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. I talked to the parents and the sister of this murdered girl, and they are so devastated, first of all, that this EMT, who was supposed to go there to help, not to exploit, never did any jail time. And I actually interviewed the sister, who was so distraught, because she said that her sister's murder was so vicious and violent, and she's tormented and tortured by the (INAUDIBLE) of the crime scene photo of her murdered sister existing somewhere on the Internet. Check this out, Don.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINA CRISCITELLO, SISTER OF MURDER VICTIM: Here murderer kicked her in the face repeatedly, leaving gashes all over her face. She was beaten, with black and blues all over her body. The hair dryer cord was, from the end to end, wrapped around her neck and -- sorry. And this is what he took a picture of and put on Facebook. And people could see this, and view my sister as this beaten, mutilated woman. And it kills me. It absolutely destroys me. My sister was beautiful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Oh, my gosh, Jane. Wow.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It's so awful. Their contention, it was illegally taken, therefore it's something that's illegal, it's in effect a stolen image, and should be taken off the Internet. I can understand their position. but good luck trying to get something off the Internet once it's on.
LEMON: And you know what? They are not suing for money. They are more interested in getting the picture back. This EMT, no jail time, 200 hours of community service for this. VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable.
LEMON: Unbelievable.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But at least he can never be an EMT again.
LEMON: Yes.
Let's go New Orleans. This has been going on since Katrina. This man is trying to get supplies, baby clothes for his baby during Katrina, unarmed. These two police officers kill him and then they get rid of the evidence by burning the body in a car. 25 years, one gets, and the other gets 17 years. Justice served?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, I think this is so important because it is so important in our country that the rule of law always applies, even and especially in times of crisis. Because otherwise, how are we different from some other country, where security thugs, who call themselves police, run around terrorizing people. This was a situation where the social order broke down. There was anarchy. There was chaos. Yet, we, as Americans, rely on our law enforcement officers to protect us and not to use that kind of a situation to just wreak mayhem and violence. So I think it's fantastic that they finally had to face justice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: "Issues" airs every night at 7:00 p.m. eastern on HLN.
I'm Don Lemon. I'll see you at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
