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Santorum Wins Kansas Caucuses; Mississippi, Alabama Primaries Tuesday; Flight Attendant Causes Panic on Airplane; Kony 2012

Aired March 10, 2012 - 22:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to crash! We're going to crash!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, HOST: Wow! Out of control. A flight attendant of all people screaming, "We're going to crash!" Tonight, we're hearing from a passenger who jumped into action and held her until police could take her off the plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not easy to be a survivor, but I'm glad I was able to escape.

LEMON: She was a soldier of Joseph Kony, the man who has kidnapped tens of thousands of young African children and forced them to kill. Tonight, we're asking her what she thinks of the new documentary that's exploded on the internet.

It looks to make the warlord so famous that he gets captured.

And, like music? Movies? How about the newest technology? It all comes together as south by southwest. This hour right here on CNN.

Hello, everyone, I'm Don Lemon. Those stories in a moment. We're going to start with this in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A Washington state man in custody tonight. And a community is breathing a sigh of relief after a courthouse shooting and stabbing. 34-year-old Steven Kravitz surrendered this afternoon without incident. An unlikely source led deputies to the suspect. Kravitz's mother called police after seeing media reports. He was arrested at her house which was surrounded by S.W.A.T. teams including a rooftop sniper. Neighbors are relieved tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was terrified just because it's like all these guys have big guns. I don't know what's going on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never really know who's next door especially when they're kind of a recluse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: It happened after police say a deputy approached Kravitz inside the Grays Harbor County courthouse. He then allegedly stabbed the deputy, shot her with her own gun and then stabbed a judge who rushed to the deputy's aid before escaping through the front of the courthouse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE DAVE EDWARDS, GRAYS HARBOR SUPREME COURT: When I went to assist the deputy, he had a weapon in his hand, and a knife or something. And he was stabbing at her.

He got away from the deputy and went pop, pop. And turned and looked at me, and then he went out of the courthouse with the gun in his hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: We should tell you tonight that both of the deputy and the judge are OK.

In another news. Angry protesters gathered outside the Stanford, Florida, police headquarters today demanding answers in the death of a teenage boy. They're calling on the police chief to make an arrest in connection with his death. It's been two weeks since 17-year-old Trevon Martin was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch captain. Earlier I asked Attorney Holly Hughes about what charges the shooter could face if he's arrested.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don't understand why he's not facing them already.

LEMON: Really?

HUGHES: Because what we're talking about -- he's an unarmed young man. So how in the world did you shoot him? That is not equal force. That is not self-defense because you can't -- you know, if somebody punches you, you can't take out an Uzi and cut him in half, OK? It has to be equal force in order to be self-defense.

So, when we're talking about an unarmed young man, I'm surprised we haven't seen charges yet. But now that we are bringing light to the story, you know, you and I are talking about it here on CNN, the world is going to be talking about it, hopefully we will see something done because he was advised, don't interfere with this young man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That was Holly Hughes. The central police chief insists his department is conducting a full investigation and will release information to the state attorney's office soon. Flight attendants are supposed to be a source of calm. But yesterday one of them triggered chaos on board an American airlines plane that was about to take off from Dallas, Texas. I want you to listen to what passengers heard from her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to crash! We're going to crash!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, passengers say the flight attendant went on a rant over the P.A., mentioning crashing several times and talked about problems with her labor union. This happened Friday on flight 2332 to Chicago.

And notice the man in blue, in the blue cap. Conner Ford was one of the handful of people, fellow passengers and crew, who restrained the flight attendant before officers took her away. And I spoke with him earlier tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CONNER FORD, PASSENGER: You heard her escalate the conversation until eventually she started saying, "the plane is going to crash," "the pilot's not listening." I had two boys sitting across the aisle from me who started screaming and were saying they wanted off the plane. The plane was going to crash.

So, the second time when she said "crash" is when, you know, I noticed the pushing in the galley with the flight attendant and a pilot and a passenger in first class. And I saw them shove her back from the cockpit. And so, that's when I got out of my seat and went to go help.

LEMON: What made you go up front? What triggered you to act?

FORD: I saw that they needed help and that nobody was really in control. There was no pilot that came over. So, you know, somebody had to take control. There were scared people around me. I saw that going to the front of the plane that it was completely open.

So, you know, I knew I could help. So I just got out of my seat and ran to the front and, you know, helped the other passengers and flight attendants, you know, help the lady who was having a very bad day.

LEMON: What did you do to help restrain her?

FORD: I came around, they shoved her, I caught her in my arms. I placed my arm around her upper chest and subdued one of her arms and then put her in an open seat that was right on the right of me.

LEMON: OK.

FORD: And then just held her down.

LEMON: OK. Rob, hold on. Can we re-rack that tape that's running now and listen to it, because she's screaming the entire time, and I -- because I want our viewers to hear it. We're going to be quiet Conner, and then I just want to hear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to crash! It's going to crash!

LEMON: So, it seems like she stopped, she screams, and then she stops and then she's screaming more. Did she say anything as you guys were trying to hold her down?

FORD: She did. We tried to talk with her to calm her down. It really wasn't working. She was talking about terrorists and how she hopes the plane blows up. You know, the screams sound really bad, but at that point we did have her controlled. You know, I was really just hoping that we could get back and give her some medical attention, you know. She did say she was with the airlines for over 20 years. So, you know, obviously, she did something well for 20 years to keep her job. You know. But definitely the screams did scare a lot of people.

LEMON: What do you make of it? What's the takeaway for viewers and for passengers, especially after 9/11, people are very afraid to fly, including I am one of them. I have to admit that.

FORD: You know, I mean, the takeaway is that, you know, thank the people for taking the footage so we can learn from what happened. You know, having that footage is valuable to us where we could learn from, you know, what happened that Friday morning. You know, all the individuals that called 9/11, you know, the response time on the tarmac. You know, and then just not just myself, but all the passengers did help, and we did rally around one another and, you know, we were able to take a bad situation and keep it, you know, pretty minimal, you know, once we pulled the plane over.

LEMON: Conner Ford, appreciate it. We want to say the flight attendant went to the hospital for evaluation, not facing any criminal charges.

But Conner, thank you. We're glad that you and everyone, is OK from that plane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: I think it bears repeating, officers took the flight attendant to the hospital for evaluation and, again, no criminal charges will be filed against her.

Politics now.

Rick Santorum picked up a win in the Kansas caucuses today, adding to his three victories on Super Tuesday. He got 51 percent of the votes in a state largely abandoned by the Romney and Gingrich campaigns. Still, Kansas played to Santorum's strengths.

Political reporter Shannon Travis is in Overland Park, Kansas, tonight.

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Don, a win is a win. But let's talk about how Senator Santorum pulled it out here in Kansas. I was at a caucus site earlier today speaking with some different voters. Obviously, they want to oust President Obama. This was a Republican-only caucus, and they also talked about their concerns about the economy.

But another thing keen in their minds were social issues, issues that Senator Santorum really pushes on the campaign trail.

Another thing, some of the voters were undecided on who to caucus for, but they felt like Santorum has the passion that they want out of a presidential candidate.

One other thing of note, Ron Paul attended the caucus site that I was at earlier, and I caught up with him. Even though he didn't pull it out, he talked about his strategy amassing delegates. Take a listen at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON PAUL (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it's everybody's race to win. I'm sure even though Romney's not here, he's always hoping for the best, and I think we all do that. I never think it is do or die for anything. Everybody's still in the race. There's no declared winner. So I think we're all going to keep doing what we're doing, as maximizing our chances to get more delegates. And we feel good about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRAVIS: Obviously, next up for all of the candidates, Tuesday with two important primaries in Alabama and Mississippi - Don.

LEMON: Shannon, thank you very much. Appreciate that.

After wrapping up his win in Kansas, Santorum moved on to campaign in Missouri, a happy man.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That was a great win. Awesome win. Feeling great!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So Santorum wins Kansas, but it wasn't a shutout today. Mitt Romney won caucuses in Guam, a U.S. territory, and the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. commonwealth like Puerto Rico. He picks up 18 more delegates. Still no official winner in the Virgin Islands, nevertheless, the GOP says Romney will get four of the six delegates there. Three delegates are already supporting him.

It is a viral video with a message. You may have seen the Kony 2012 short film. It is a campaign to expose and help track down a notorious Ugandan warlord. If you haven't heard about it, we've got you covered here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A push for peace in Syria looks like it's going nowhere. Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan met with Syria's president today. But Bashar Al Assad flat out refuses to consider talks with the opposition until the violence is over. He insists his forces are fighting armed terrorists. The two sides are expected to meet again tomorrow. While Annan pushes the president to give aid groups access to hard-hit towns, the bloodshed goes on with at least 63 people killed today.

Tanks prowled the streets of Idlib in the north, and activists report that heavy shelling is happening in that city. He tells CNN that security forces are searching house to house for members of the opposition. Anyone caught faces an ugly fate like this man in Dara. Clearly wounded, bleeding heavily and dragged by soldiers who load him into a military truck. CNN can't confirm the authenticity of this video or the fate of the man. The person who posted this online said it was evidence of the government conducting mass arrests.

Each town hopes to avoid the fate of Homs. In that city, Syrians take part in suicide runs, driving supplies across open spaces, dodging sniper fire. Sometimes they make it. Other times the drivers aren't so lucky. Security forces crushed the resistance in that town, but the violence isn't over.

CNN's Arwa Damon and her team were inside the besieged Syrian city of Homs, one of the most dangerous places in Syria right now. Join us Sunday night as she gives us an eye-opening firsthand account. A CNN special, "72 hours under fire" tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Only here on CNN.

Kony 2012. It's been hard to turn on the TV or logon to facebook or twitter or your e-mail and not hear about Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony. Most had never heard of him. Now millions of people do know the name thanks to the video posted on you tube this week.

And as Miguel Marquez reports, that was the plan.

BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a 30- minute video. It's hope, to change the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In order for it to work, you have to pay attention.

MARQUEZ: With the narrator and filmmaker want you to pay attention to is this man, Joseph Kony. He leads A Ugandan rebel group called the Lord's resistance army, and his goal is to overthrow the Ugandan government.

In his 26-year campaign, Kony has kidnapped more than 65,000 boys and girls, kids, forcing them to maim their fellow villagers and sometimes to prove their loyalty to Kony, kill their own families. Kony says he's doing it all in the name of God, but the children's stories paint a picture of hell on earth.

CNN has covered it since the beginning.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We were forced to bite him with our bare teeth as he screamed in pain. We continued biting until he was dead.

MARQUEZ: Russell and his charity, invisible children, are on a mission because of a promise he made to a 12-year-old boy in 2003. Jacob was kidnapped by the lord's resistance army. His brother killed by it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After spending a few weeks with Jacob, he told me something I would never forget.

JACOB, SURVIVOR: So, he did get better when you kill us. You kill as you kill as. For us, we don't want now to stay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't want to stay on earth?

JACOB: We are only two. No one is taking care of us. We are not going to school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You would rather die than stay on earth?

JACOB: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, even now?

JACOB: Even now. How are we going to stay in our future?

MARQUEZ: He told me more about his brother. And what he would say to him if he were still alive.

JACOB: I love you, but now I miss you. So it is better when we meet. We are not going to meet, but we may meet in heaven. You see? So it is better. I will not talk. It will start something. Because if I saw my brother once again, I don't --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: A mission to stop this brutal warlord has gone viral. After the break, we'll meet a woman who survived Joseph Kony's terror, and we'll hear what she thinks is missing from this campaign. An emotional interview coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Apoko was abducted by Joseph Kony's lord's resistance army when she was just 9-years-old. Four years later, she escaped. But not before an explosion blew off part of her face while in captivity. She is now 22, and she's seen Kony 2012, that film.

Earlier she said to me, maybe the idea of making Kony famous is not the best way to get this story out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVELYN APOKO, L.R.A. SURVIVOR: I would be glad to see the faces of the children who are being abducted to make those kids become well known to the people around the world. Not the face of Joseph Kony because Joseph Kony, he is the one who abducted those young kids. And I feel like it would be better to show the faces of the children. It's better than Joseph Kony himself.

LEMON: Evelyn, the Kony 2012 filmmakers, the filmmakers say that we should support the army to get Kony and military strategy, right? You were there. Do you believe that this is the best way to apprehend or kill him? I understand that you say we should be showing the children, but do you think this is the best strategy to apprehend him?

APOKO: I think there's no other way we can find a solution to figure that one out, just trying to catch Joseph Kony. I have a very strong opinion about this. And I do not agree with this one because Joseph Kony is not in there in the bush right now by himself. He has 1,000 young kids who are surrounding him. He used them as a chill.

And in order to do that, we need to look at a way to put a plan, a structure, which we -- to protect those kids if they want to catch Joseph Kony.

LEMON: As a survivor of Joseph Kony, and I'm not sure if you've spoken to any other survivors since this film has been out, what sort of memories and what sort of feelings does all of this stir for you when you see it, you know, on social media and when you see the Kony 2012 film and so much attention being paid to what happened?

APOKO: I feel, in my point of view, I feel really hurt because -- I don't know. It's not easy to be a survivor, but I'm glad I was able to escape. Maybe the purpose is why I am sitting here. And it's very painful for me to hear that Joseph Kony is right now in the United States is a celebrity. And I ask myself what is celebrity?

The kids are the ones who are supposed to be the celebrity because they've been through a lot with all kinds of tragedies he has put in these kids' life, and you traumatized them, and they don't know what to do for their life. And these kids are the ones who are supposed to be spread around the world. They're the ones who have supposed to be the celebrity because they lived their life every single day. And I am not happy that just showing the face of Joseph Kony, the guy committing all of these atrocities on young people like me life. I do not agree with any of this in 2012.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: You can see my entire interview with that amazing woman, Evelyn Apoko, on our blog, CNN.com/don. Go to CNN.com/don.

Tomorrow night, Sunday night, 7:00 p.m. eastern, Jason Russell, the co-founder of invisible children and the filmmaker behind the "Kony 2012" documentary will join us live here on CNN to talk about the film, the motivation behind it, the social media phenomenon it has created and the controversy surrounding it tomorrow night, Sunday night, 7:00 eastern. Again right here on CNN.

You know, it is unthinkable, tens of thousands of people forced to be sterilized right here in the United States, and it was legal. One victim is speaking out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLIE FOLLETT, PATIENT STERILIZED BY FORCE: What really T'ed me off was my last name now.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There will be no more Follett?

FOLLETT: I should die tomorrow. Everything has died.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Now he's demanding more than an apology. His story straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It is a chilling part of American history that most of us have never heard about. Tens of thousands of American citizens forcibly sterilized and even more shocking, it happened in more than half the states in America.

It was part of eugenics, the belief that it's possible to improve humans by weeding out imbeciles and degenerates. Now one man is looking for more than an apology.

CNN's senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, reports.

COHEN (voice-over): 1945, California's Sonoma state home. Charlie Follett, a 14-year-old ward, is singing in a field when he's ordered inside.

FOLLETT: First he shot me with some kind of medicine, supposed to deaden the nerve. Then the next thing I heard was snip, snip. And that was it.

COHEN: Did they tell you what they were doing to you?

FOLLETT: No.

COHEN: They didn't have to tell him. He knew sterilization by forced.

How did you know what it was?

FOLLETT: Well, because there have been others in there that had it before me.

COHEN: The other boys at the home had warned him how much it would hurt.

FOLLETT: Well, when they done this side here, it seemed like they were pulling the whole insides out.

COHEN: The 1930s through the 1950s were the heyday of the eugenics movement in the United States. The goal, to rid the country of the feeble-minded, defectives. And it wasn't some fringe or secretive program. It was well known and paid for by the states where it was practiced.

Entire families labeled shiftless, degenerates, 60,000 men and women, boys and girls sterilized. Some living at home, others, like Follett, in state institutions. His parents were alcoholics and couldn't care for him and his sisters. Thirty two states had eugenics programs, but California was in a league of its own.

The golden state sterilized 20,000 people, more than twice as many as the next state, Virginia, and a full third of the nation's total. It was led by California's elite including at the time the president of Stanford University and the publisher of "The Los Angeles Times." The efficiency of California's program didn't go unnoticed. In the 1930, the Nazi party in Germany was so impressed, it asked for advice, and Californians leading the program were only too happy to help.

So, eugenicists in California sent this book to the Nazis.

CHRISTINA COGDELL, CULTURAL HISTORIAN, UC-DAVIS: Yes, they did.

COHEN: So the Nazis used this book as a model for their program?

COGDELL: Absolutely. Germany used California's program as its chief example that this was a working successful policy.

COHEN: California, the leader in forced sterilizations, but decades later, not a leader in making amends to victims. A few hundred survivors are still alive by one scholar's estimate, but the state has offered no reparations.

Follett's tried for years but says he can't even bet get a politician to talk to him, not even his own state representative who also refused a request for interview. His friend, Rudy Banlasan, a nursing student, shows me letters he's written to no avail on Follett's behalf.

Do you think the state of California wants to forget about this, forget it ever happened?

RUDY BANLASAN, FOLLETT'S FRIEND: Honestly, I think they are just waiting - I mean, I hate to sound so cynical. I think they're just waiting for the victims to die and forget this whole thing ever happened.

COHEN: Compare that chilly response to the state of North Carolina.

GOV. BEV PERDUE, NORTH CAROLINA: The state of North Carolina is a partner with you in trying to bring awareness.

COHEN: Governor Bev Perdue has invited sterilization victims to the capitol, heard her stories, apologized personally, set up a task force to help them, and recommended that each victim receive $50,000 in reparations.

In California, just a statement of apology by Governor Gray Davis in 2003 saying, in part, "it was a sad and regrettable chapter in the state's history, and it is one that must never be repeated again." An apology from the governor. Is that enough?

AREVA MARTIN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: No. No. It's a start. But it's only a start. These people deserve to be compensated just like any other victim that has had their rights violated.

COHEN: Keeping them honest, I went to California to get some answers from the state's leaders.

We've been calling and e-mailing your office for a long time now. Governor Edmond Brown wouldn't talk to us but said he regretted what happened. We asked him again his policy on reparations. His office told us, "We have nothing more to add."

We sought out another politician we have been trying to contact, assembly speaker John Perez. So can we come on in and speak to him?

JOHN VIGNA, SPOKESMAN, ASSEMBLY SPEAKER JOHN PEREZ, CALIFORNIA: You know he's actually tied up with meetings right now.

COHEN: His spokesman, John Vigna.

VIGNA: This is a subject where just - I personally, I'm just learning about, I'm looking into it.

COHEN: Senate majority leader, Ellen Corbett, wouldn't talk to us either. Her spokesman, Andrew Lamar.

ANDREW LAMAR, SPOKESMAN, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER, ELLEN CORBETT, CALIFORNIA: (INAUDIBLE)

COHEN: 2003. Why hasn't anything happened since then?

LAMAR: That's a good question.

COHEN: Follett now has lung cancer and just celebrated his birthday in the hospital. He says he'd use any money he got to buy a place of his own and live out his last few years independently. Tragically aware that California's Eugenics policy worked exactly as intended. He has no children.

CHARLIE FOLLETT, PATIENT STERILIZED BY FORCE: What really T'ed me of was that they killed my last -- my last day now.

COHEN: There will be no Follett?

FOLLETT: If I should die tomorrow, everything's died. COHEN: Whether he and other victims will get justice or just die away, is up to politicians in California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Elizabeth Cohen is here now. Elizabeth, tell me more about the people behind this forced sterilization movement.

COHEN: Don, to me this is one of the most distressing parts to the story is the people who led this movement were the best and the brightest, the elite of the elite. I talked about the president of Stanford University, also the attorney general for the state of California, professors, I mean, people who are really should have known better were the ones who were saying, let's sterilize these undesirables.

LEMON: Yes. And it was called the - art of those called the better baby movement. What is that?

COHEN: Right. Eugenics had two parts. One was to sterilize people you thought were undesirable. And the other was to encourage people who you thought were great examples of what every family should look like, to encourage them to have more children.

So they would have better baby contests where people would bring in their children, and they would say you win this contest. And then we think you should be having more children to populate the world.

LEMON: My goodness. It's just odd to think that this even goes on.

COHEN: Well, it went on, but it went on pretty recently. You know, this isn't hundreds of years ago.

LEMON: Right.

COHEN: This isn't another country. This is our country relatively recently.

LEMON: Charlie. What's next for Charlie?

COHEN: I think Charlie feels a bit like he has reached the end of the road because he has sent letters to the governor, to the attorney general, to his own, you know, state assemblyman and senator. And he is not getting anywhere. I mean, not only are they not giving him money, they're not even talking to him. So -- you know he's 82 years old. He has lung cancer. I think he's sort of wondering if there's any other place for him to turn.

LEMON: I have to ask you when you are watching this because I know you're a mom. We were just talking about your kids, right. As a mom, when you think about -- do you think your kids, you know they're going to grow up to be different, and no one is perfect. Did this story have an effect on you as a parent? COHEN: You know it definitely had an effect on me as I think what used to be acceptable for people to do to other people's children. You know, it used to be acceptable to look at other people's children and say I don't want them to reproduce. We're going to make sure they get sterilized. It definitely had an effect on me in that way.

LEMON: Elizabeth Cohen, thank you. Appreciate it. Good story.

COHEN: Thank you.

LEMON: I want you to check out this video for you now. It is unbelievable. This is one of those deadly tornadoes rip ago cross the U.S. last week. We'll show you more in just two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I want you to check out this video. It's from Kentucky. Surveillance images from last week's violent ef-3 tornado that ripped through Morgan County. You can see the storm approaching. The winds pick up. Then as it hits, you can see debris and roofs ripped from houses. A pharmacist from inside the store that captures the video described it as sounding not like a freight train but 100 trains all at once.

Pro-labor groups in Madison, Wisconsin, rallied at the state capitol today in what they call a reclaim Wisconsin march. Thousands gathered to listen to speakers urging them to support efforts to recall Governor Scott Walker.

The rally came one year after the state government passed a controversial measure restricting collective bargaining rights. A spokesman for Wisconsin's Republican Party described the rally as a misinformation tour by liberal union activists.

Mississippi's attorney general says he is looking into his options after losing his legal battle over the state's recent controversial pardons. On Thursday the state Supreme Court upheld the pardons of more than 200 convicts including four convicted killers granted by former governor Haley Barbour as he was leaving office.

Jim Hood who had challenged the pardons expressed sympathy for the prisoners' victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM HOOD, MISSISSIPPI ATTORNEY GENERAL: I feel for them. Having had a first cousin murdered in 1976 and gone through a trial and understanding how victims feel, you know, I think they've been victimized twice. And the criminal justice system has let them down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Barbour says his decisions were based on what he called repentance, rehabilitation and redemption. Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan. It triggered a massive tsunami then engulfs entire communities and killed nearly 16,000 people. A year later, more than 3,100 people are still missing.

With so many victims burying the dead became an overwhelming challenge for survivors. Funerals were rushed. The time for grieving was postponed.

CNN's Kyung Lah met one family trying to honor their son one year after his death.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid the terror of the tsunami, the cries of children mourning as a desperate family drove their dead son to an evacuation center for an impromptu funeral at this car.

The 16-year-old, (INAUDIBLE) was under this blanket. His body pulled from the wreckage of his grandparents' home, killed as the tsunami swept (INAUDIBLE) last year.

"Don't give up hope," Hiroki's father pleaded with the boy's friends. "Keep living for my son." This was the best a grieving father could do to honor his son as the thousands of victims overwhelm the region.

It has taken an entire year. Hiroki's father is now finally giving the son the funeral ceremony the boy never got. Hiroki's surviving younger brothers and his mother gathered with relatives at this Buddhist temple. Time has passed. The pain has not.

"He was just 16," Hiroki's father tells me. "He'd be 17 today." It was a chaotic time. "It was. I wasn't sure we could hold a ceremony at the time. It was the last time he would ever see his friends. I wanted to give him that farewell."

Hiroki's father says his son was a sweet boy, always smiling and laughing. He loved soccer and his friends. Most of all, he loved the coastal city that now lies in ruin. The total number of people killed or missing stands at just under 20,000, only about five percent of those are children.

But for the parents, it is the cruelest part of this disaster. For burying your child defies the natural order.

It's already been one year, says Hiroki's father. I still don't know what to say or how to describe how I feel. Hiroki's family move add way from this city five years ago, but the boy wanted to spend the rest of his childhood here, so he moved in with his grandparents. He loved Rikuzentakata, says his father, which is why they're planning on burying his ashes here.

Although the house and town are gone, says Hiroki's father, we feel like we can see him here. You still feel his spirit here?

"I feel his spirit is always here." For me, says Hiroki's father, that day one year ago never stopped. I feel it always.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Rikuzentakata Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Tonight at midnight eastern, be sure to tune in to CNN for live coverage of the national ceremony that is taking place in Japan to mark this tragedy. That's midnight eastern right here on CNN.

A woman is found dead in her car. Police make an arrest, but now key evidence in the case is missing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A murder mystery is playing out in the high-end community of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. A woman is dead and the man accused of her murder says her husband asked him to kill her. But now key evidence from the case is missing.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is following the story for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE VIRGONA, KNOWS MURDER SUSPECT: I think if I would have had more information, maybe, things would have changed.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Standing in his front yard, Steve Virgona broke down talking about the murder of Jane Bashara.

VIRGONA: Sorry. But I want justice served.

ROWLANDS: Bashara was found strangled to death in her abandoned Mercedes on January 25th. Virgona said his friend, Joseph Gentz, a handyman that worked with the Bashara's, came to him after the murder.

VIRGONA: I see a nervous and anxious and crying about it and everything. But sometimes it's a situation you just can't get out of. You've got to make the right choice.

ROWLANDS: Virgona says the choice was to tell police what happened, that Gentz killed Jane Bashara in her garage. That her husband, Bob Bashara, convinced him to do it.

VIRGONA: He was manipulated.

ROWLANDS: He was manipulated.

Virgona says he went with Gentz to turn himself in February 3rd, but after hearing his story, police let Gentz go. Gentz who Virgona and others say has a low I.Q. was arrested a month later for Bashara's murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He's currently undergoing a mental competency evaluation. Bob Bashara remains free and maintains his innocence.

BOB BASHARA, VICTIM'S HUSBAND: We have cooperated with law enforcement agencies and will continue to do so.

ROWLANDS: Investigators won't comment on the case except to say that the investigation continues meaning Bashara could still be arrested. News that Bob Bashara, not only has a girlfriend, but also owns an S&M dungeon below this storefront shocked the ritzy community of Grosse Pointe Park, the Detroit suburb where the couple lived. Bashara's attorney, David Griem, thinks Bashara's private life has unfairly clouded the investigation.

DAVID GRIEM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It appears that things such as that, the S&M and the rest of it, things that around admissible in a courtroom are what caused them to zero in on Bob Bashara.

ROWLANDS: The investigation may have hit a big of a snag. The clothes that Jane Bashara was wearing when she was found appear to be missing. According to the Detroit police department, they sent the clothes to the state crime lab. According to the state crime lab, they never received them.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Grosse Pointe, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. Ted, thank you.

It's one of the largest technology festivals in the world, coming up. We head to Texas for a south by southwest for a little couch surfing.

But first, we've all seen the destruction left by last week's rash of deadly tornadoes, but amid the devastation, a CNN hero is hard at work, offering free recovery assistance to strangers in need.

CNN's Rob Marciano caught up with 2008 hero Tad Agoglia in the hills of Kentucky.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take it away from us, Lord. Take it, Lord.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: As the fierce storms tore through the Midwest and south last weekend, taking 40 lives, emergency recovery teams scrambled to respond to devastated communities across ten states.

TAD AGOGLIA, FOUNDER, FIRST RESPONSE TEAM OF AMERICA: Keep pushing it forward.

MARCIANO: Among the relief workers headed into the destruction zone, was CNN Hero Tad Agoglia and his First Response Team of America.

AGOGLIA: Let's go ahead and get this debris cleared enough to get the claw in here. We got here just a few hours after the tornado struck this community.

We've cleared the road. We've provided the light towers. We powered up the grocery store. We powered up the gas station to provide the essentials that this community needs.

MARCIANO: Since 2007, Agoglia's team has crisscrossed the country providing recovery assistance to thousands of people at 40 disaster sites for free.

This week, they've worked tirelessly for days, restoring services and clearing tons of debris.

AGOGLIA: Steve, you can grab the claw, actually cut roof right in half.

It's very hard for traditional equipment without the claws to actually grab this debris. That's why you need specialty equipment like this.

MARCIANO: What do you do with it?

AGOGLIA: We remove it from the community, but time is of the essence. There are a lot of people that want to get back in here. They're looking for anything they can salvage.

MARCIANO: Why do you do this? Why did you choose this road?

AGOGLIA: When I'm watching those super cells go right over these small communities, I want to be there to help.

MARCIANO: We'll let you get to work. You do good stuff.

AGOGLIA: Thank you.

MARCIANO: Thanks, Tad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Tad Agoglia, great guy, great guy.

Remember, nominations for CNN heroes are open. And all of our heroes are chosen from people you tell us about. Nominate someone who is making a difference in their community. Go to CNNheroes.com. Your nomination could help them help others.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Well, the city of Austin, Texas, overrun right now by music lovers, film lovers, tech nerds. It's the kind of scene where a flash mob paying tribute to the video game "angry birds" would break out.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

LEMON: Love the angry birds. Yes, that is the magic of South by Southwest. And very lucky Brooke Baldwin is at the annual festival getting her nerd on.

Brooke, I want you to fill me in on the sensation from South by Southwest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we met this guy earlier. He has this really cool app. And so the whole idea is, you ever hear of couch surfing? Let's say you don't quite have enough money. You want to just hang out somebody's couch in Austin. You don't want to buy a hotel room. Or you're kind of skived out of the idea of staying in a stranger's home.

There's a company and here they are trying to basically call for you facebook for awhile, see if you're anemic, or if you have A.D.D., and if you really annoy somebody has an odd tick. I don't know what it may be. And then basically approve you profile so; they will set you up with a couch surfer spot. Let's see.

If you wanted to come, you don't have the money for a hotel, you want to crash on someone's sofa, but you're a little skived out of the idea doing that, how can you help me find a couch?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I wanted to get on your sofa for south by southwest, you would be able to connect to your facebook on the right site, and it would say jack is a slob like you're a slob. So you guys are going to get along fine. But if you are very anal retentive and I'm a slob, you don't want me on that sofa.

BALDWIN: So, for people who have never been here to South by Southwest, I mean, just a couple words, how do you sum it up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A circus.

BALDWIN: Totally.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Total a circus.

BALDWIN: Totally. All right. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: South by Southwest runs through Tuesday. Check out CNN.com/sxsw. SXSW, for all the rage in Austin.

We have a quick reminder for you, NCAA, March madness almost here. Selection Sunday is tomorrow. Don't forget. You can test your bracket skills in the official NCAA March madness bracket challenge game.

Just go to CNN.com/brackets and join the CNN group, see if you can pick the NCAA brackets better than I can. I'm sure you can.

Straight ahead, the manhunt is over for a man who allegedly shot and stabbed a deputy, then attacked a judge. We'll tell you how police caught him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: In Washington state, man is custody tonight. Charged in the courthouse shooting, 34-year-old, Steven Kravitz surrendered this afternoon without into it. His mother called police after seeing media reports. Police say Kravitz stabbed a deputy yesterday, shot her with her own gun and then stabbed a judge before escaping through the front of the courthouse. The judge and deputy are recovering.

In politics, Republican Rick Santorum won the caucuses in Kansas today. Mitt Romney won Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands and also picked up delegates in the Virgin Islands.

So, here's the latest delegate count. A candidate needs 1144 to earn the Republican presidential no nation. Next up, Tuesday primaries in Alabama and Mississippi.

Tomorrow is the beginning of daylight saving time. Daylight saving. No "s," remember that when you're repeating that. That means we set our clocks forward by one hour and lose that extra 60 minutes of sleep. It will stay this way until we fall back again, and that is in November.

The history of daylight saving time goes back to the first, World War. But today the main reason is to help save energy.

There you go. Daylight saving time. We lose an hour. I hate that. I want it back. Good night.