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Zimmerman May Leave Jail Any Moment; FBI Hunts For Etan Patz Clues
Aired April 21, 2012 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Dealing, stealing, and using heroin, not on the streets but in war zones. U.S. troops are the ones doing it.
Have you seen this child? Probably not because by now he would be 40 years old. Why this unsolved case is suddenly back in the headlines.
Plus a high school athlete so beloved that both teams cheer for him and after you meet Eric Dampier (ph), we promise you will, too. But a century old rule might bench him for good.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Thank you for joining us. Fifty six days ago, George Zimmerman crossed paths with Trayvon Martin. Eleven days ago, he was finally arrested for shooting the unarmed teen. Now only after a week and a half in jail, Zimmerman could be released at any minute now. A judge granted him $150,000 bond during a hearing that took some unusual turns and a surprising move. He took the stand and said this to Trayvon Martin's parents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, TRAYVON MARTIN'S SHOOTER: I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son. I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am, and I did not know if he was armed or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: David Mattingly is outside the jail where Zimmerman is being held in Sanford, Florida. David, hello to you. Any indication about when he'll get out?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the defense attorney walked out of the jail just a little while ago. He didn't give us any solid indication of exactly when George Zimmerman was going to be released. He said there was still a lot of work that needed to be done, particularly regarding security, not just for George Zimmerman but for Zimmerman's his family as well. And Zimmerman himself has to be able get out of here, escape the scrutiny that he's under, and get back into hiding. The hiding that he emerged from to turn himself in. So, right now, his attorney is saying his state of the mind is just looking forward. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK O'MARA, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S ATTORNEY: Again, he's still focused on getting out at this point. You know, it's a long, long process. This is the first step of it, and he's still very worried about the fact he's facing a lifetime sentence on a second degree murder charge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: And at this moment, everyone is still waiting and watching, waiting to see what happens next. How George Zimmerman will begin his days of freedom and his days of working on his defense against this second degree murder charge.
LEMON: And David, if he is released, when he is released, there are some stipulations after he leaves jail.
MATTINGLY: Oh, that's right. We're going to have to find out exactly where his -- authorities are going to know exactly where he is all the time. He's going to have a GPS tracking device on him, he's going to be on a curfew, he's going to on a very tight leash. He's going to have to check in periodically, every day. He's not supposed to have any alcohol, no controlled substances. And he's supposed to be able to work freely with his attorney. One thing the judge did, though, that was very heavily in George Zimmerman's favor, he said he is free to go outside the state of Florida. So there might have to be some technical arrangements made so that they can keep track of him outside of the state as well.
LEMON: His apology that we played at the beginning of this news cast, it didn't sit well with some people.
MATTINGLY: Well, it didn't go over well with Trayvon Martin's parents, I can tell you that for sure. I was sitting in the courtroom, looking right at them when George Zimmerman apologized to them and spoke to them directly. They were completely unmoved. After the hearing, they got up quickly, left the courtroom without answering any questions, without speaking to anyone. They let their attorney speak afterward. He said that they felt that that apology was self- serving, they question the timing of it. They felt that George Zimmerman might have been saying that to help him get his bond. They also felt like he had plenty of opportunities before now to say something about killing Trayvon Martin. So, it did not go over well with the family and obviously with their supporters as well.
LEMON: David Mattingly standing by where George Zimmerman could be released at any moment now. Thank you, David. We'll check back with you.
We want to turn now to the U.S. military and a disturbing problem among some army soldiers. Here's a new record show. That in the last two years, eight American soldiers have died from drug overdoses involving heroin, morphine, or other opiates while serving in Afghanistan. The overdoses were revealed in documents detailing the investigation. A 56 soldiers suspected of possessing, using, or distributing those drugs. The papers also described how they bought drugs from Afghan soldiers, civilians, including children and even a private contractor.
The U.S. is speed up with Syria. That was the message today from U.N. Ambassadors Susan Rice after the Security Council approved a plan to beef up the monitoring mission in Syria. The resolution authorizes its U.S., the U.N., I should say, to send up to 300 unarmed observers to Syria. But Rice warned that Washington is tired of the regime's quote, "long record of broken promises."
And this is why. The opposition says, snipers killed five people today in Homs. The government blames the ongoing violence on terrorists.
To New York now and the cold case, three decades in the making. Investigators recently re-launched a case of 6-year-old Etan Patz. He disappeared in New York in 1979, just blocks from his home. Now the FBI is taking a second look at it, and CNN Susan Candiotti has more on the day Etan disappeared.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): May 25th, 1979. It's a Friday, and 6-year-old Etan Patz is upstairs in his family's third apartment getting ready for school.
(on camera) He comes straight out this door out, decked down in a corduroy jacket, pants, and a kid's pilot hat. He can't wait to get to school. For the first time, Etan's mom and dad are allowing him to walk two blocks down the street this way to get to his school bus stop all by himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA COHEN, AUTHOR, "AFTER ETAN": It was Friday before memorial day weekend. And this was going to be one of his last opportunities. And they finally relented and said he could go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): It's just after 8:00 a.m., according to author Lisa Cohen, Etan's mom kisses him good-bye and watches him walk towards the bus stop.
(on camera) Everything seems fine, so his mother runs back upstairs to take care of her 2-year-old son. This was the corner where Etan was heading to meet the bus where just two blocks away from their apartment, I can still see it from here. But Etan never made it. At the end of the school day, when he didn't come home, his mom calls police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: By that time, several hours had passed before anyone had any idea that there was something wrong. Those are crucial hours for an investigation.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Etan's dad, frantic, starts grabbing photos of his son to show the people in the neighborhood. Investigators interview the parents and start canvassing the area for the youngster.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Susan Candiotti joins us now from New York. Susan, what's happening there today?
CANDIOTTI: Well, today, for the third day in a row, the FBI continues its search for the remains of Etan Patz. Now, you can see all of the activity going on behind me. That's the building where the FBI agents, they finished jack-hammering down the walls and breaking apart the cement floor that was there. And now they're in the basement of that building. They are sifting at this point through dirt and soil, going six feet down into the ground. The see whether they can determine or see any signs of his remains, and any difference in the soil, its color, its texture, to see whether there might have been movement going back maybe 33 years. And anything important that they find, they'll bring to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia -- Don.
LEMON: What do we know about this carpenter, Susan?
CANDIOTTI: Well, the carpenter that we're talking about is Othniel Miller, and he used to work in that basement, had a workshop there. He was friends with Etan. He was friends with his family. And it is because the FBI had re-questioned him recently, information they gave him, gave them enough evidence to go to a judge and to get the grounds for a search warrant. They brought in cadaver dogs. And that made a hit, and that is why the FBI is now looking at that basement. Now, the local police did search that basement a long time ago. But they never dug it up. Didn't search it to this degree and they didn't have bloodhounds way back then. Now, this man, Mr. Miller, is not named as a suspect. He has not been charged in this case. And his attorney says he has nothing to do with the disappearance of Etan Patz -- Don.
LEMON: Susan Candiotti in New York. Susan, thank you very much for that. The story of 6-year-old Etan Patz is more common than you think. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reports that more than 779,000 children were reported missing each year. Of those, over 200,000 are taken by a family member. Since the mid-1980, 169,000 children have been safely recovered, many credited to hotlines and programs like the amber alert system.
He was the first of Richard Nixon's aides to be convicted of charges related to Watergate. Chuck Colson known as Nixon "Hatchet Man" has died at the age of 80. He spent a short time in prison and reinvented himself as a religious figure. Colson founded the prison fellowship in Colson Center for Christian Worldview and Outreach Program that has services in 113 countries. He suffered a brain hemorrhage late last month and died from complications just this afternoon.
The list of Secret Service agents implicated in a prostitution scandal grows and so does the list of those now out of a job. We're asking a former Secret Service agent if behavior like this is really that unusual in two minutes. Also this -- You don't see this every day. CNN goes to the frontlines with U.S. troops in Afghanistan. And that slap is just one of several interesting moments.
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LEMON: Three more U.S. Secret Service employees have stepped down because of the prostitution scandal in Colombia. That makes six to lose their jobs so far. So far, six of them. All together, 23 Secret Service and military personnel have been implicated in the controversy. The service is investigating 12 while the U.S. military looks into 11 of its own troops. The heat is on. The Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan. He promises a complete investigation into what happened in those Cartagena Hotel rooms. Secret Service members are accused of partying with prostitutes ahead of last week's visit by President Barack Obama.
So, we want to get some expert perspective on this now from Dave Wilkinson, he was a Secret Service for 22 years until 2005 working for both President Bush and President Clinton. And some believe including republican Congressman that that wasn't the first time that things like this happened. So, my question is, did you hear about anything like this when you served? First of all, thank you. Pleasure to meet you.
DAVE WILKINSON, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: My pleasure.
LEMON: Did you hear about anything like this when you served.
WILKINSON: Never. As you can imagine, Don, the Secret Service is a mission-driven organization with an absolute zero tolerance for an any type of personal misconduct by their agents. And I never heard of anything like that happening in my 22 years or even six years since I have been retired.
LEMON: You know Mark Sullivan. How do you think he's handled this? So far, he's been very outspoken about it. How do you think he's doing?
WILKINSON: Slept very little, I'm sure. Mark is a good friend. We went up through the ranks of the Secret Service together. He's the ultimate public servant. He's an ultimate leader for the Secret Service, and has done a great job as the leader of the Secret Service, and he and the other leadership of the Secret Service will get to the very bottom of this. I can assure you though, turn over every stone to make sure they know everything about this incident and they weed out the bad apples and they'll move on doing the great job that they do.
LEMON: It's a high pressure job.
WILKINSON: No question about it.
LEMON: A lot of stress, right?
WILKINSON: A lot of stress, a lot of travel. LEMON: Were you in fact there when President Bush got the world about 9/11?
WILKINSON: I was with President Bush in 9/11. Yes.
LEMON: Yes, you are with him. When you think about it, you think about a stressful job. These guys may want to go and have a good time because they have stress. Prostitution is legal. Not an excuse you believe?
WILKINSON: No. Nowhere near an excuse. The mission of the Secret Service always comes first. It's a team-oriented environment where the mission is everything that this agent. When they're on a mission, when they're somewhere in a foreign country to protect the President, then that's the first and foremost, and there's no exceptions. There's no excuses.
LEMON: How do you think this -- what do you think will be the residual effect from this? I mean, obviously, right now, it's a black eye on the Secret Service. Do you think it will be lingering?
WILKINSON: No, I don't think so. It's clearly, the investigation will show in my opinion that this is an isolated incident. You'll find that the Secret Service is the strictest of strict. They expect their agents to demonstrate professionalism at all times, and this certainly is a black eye, he said, that it is not something that will haunt the Secret Service. They will do a great, they are, and again, I think that proof will show that this is an isolated incident.
LEMON: That said, I'm sure you're happy about spending so much time and that you're now -- do you ever find yourself talking through your hand?
WILKINSON: Of course. Your ear used even quiver a little bit from wearing the ear piece but you probably know that as well.
LEMON: Yes. I don't have to do it 24 hours but I do it a lot. Hey, listen. Thank you. It's a pleasure to meet you.
WILKINSON: My pleasure.
LEMON: And I guess President Bush and President Clinton, Presidents Clinton and Bush were -- you're a good man to have by their side.
WILKINSON: Well, thank you.
LEMON: Both Bushes. We're you both Bushes?
WILKINSON: Both bushes. Yes.
LEMON: Oh, good. Thank you, sir.
WILKINSON: My pleasure.
LEMON: All right. You know, we have all heard of going out for a drink after work, but what if you could have that drink in the comfort of your office in the middle of the day? Some employers say they're fine with that. But first, I want to tell you about this.
More women start new businesses than men do, but if they want to succeed, women cannot be multitaskers. Christine Romans explains in this week's "Smart is the New Rich."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Women are starting business at a rate of what, two to one?
NELL MERLINO, FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, COUNT ME IN: Yes, absolutely.
ROMANS: But growing those businesses is the hard part. A down economy and it's also getting them from employing yourself to employing other people. How do women get over the hump?
MERLINO: I think they have to really set some goals for themselves because you can get started and be happy because you're making a living and you are not living by someone else's schedule, but if you really want to make some money, you have got to go beyond yourself. You have got to start looking at bringing other people into the business and making sure you have something to sell that people want to buy. It can't be a nice to have it, it has got to be a have to have it.
ROMANS: So, don't think status quo, think grow. If you've got the demand, think grow.
MERLINO: Yes.
ROMANS: How do you do that?
MERLINO: How do you do that? First of all, you have got to see yourself as the CEO. You cannot do everything yourself. Women do this at home. We do it because we have to, in our business, we have got to get beyond that. We have to have people that work with us and help us. People who are good at stuff that we are not. So that we make a team of people that have been...
ROMANS: Outsource.
MERLINO: Yes, outsource, hire, whatever you need to do.
ROMANS: Revenue for women owned business is --
MERLINO: It is almost 80 percent of women owned businesses are $50,000 a year in gross revenue or less.
ROMANS: Well, that's making your own job.
MERLINO: Exactly, exactly. And so how do you go from it being your job to being a growing enterprise? It is mentally thinking about yourself as a CEO and I thinking about yourself as running an entity, not being a photographer, not being a baker. It is a different mindset, and an understanding that you really can take control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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LEMON: Drinking on the job. Typically looked down upon, right? Martinis at lunch, a little bourbon with clients. It's more like a scene from the AMC Show "Mad Man." Well, it show chronicles what it is like to work at a U.S. advertising firm in the 1960s, soon to be the '70s I'm sure. And you bet, this includes plenty of drinking on the job also smoking. But in 2012, shaping up to -- we're wondering if it's shaping up to look like 1962.
Our human behavior expert, Dr. Wendy Walsh joins me now live from Los Angeles. Wendy, a report from ABC News says that the list of employers that serve liquor in the office is growing. Is this a dangerous trend or just harmless? My thing is, it's always happened. People just didn't talk about it.
DR. WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR EXPERT: I think it has happened and I think people didn't talk about it. But you know, what is interesting, Don, this week, the study came out showing that it's just have one drink. Just enough to keep your alcohol level below the drunk, intoxicated level, you actually can be more creative and better at problem solving. The problem is that's your prefrontal cortex that you're making numb after that first drink. And then, how do you stop yourself?
LEMON: Oh, really? You know, I guess it's not a secret. They tell people when they're on the air, right, if you're in front of the camera and have to perform, they have like a glass of wine or something to loosen you up so you're not so nervous and stiff. I mean, does that do the same thing?
WALSH: Relaxing your brain just a little bit can help make it more creative and better at problem solving. I know, I'm a writer. And when I sit late at night, if I have one glass of wine, I write great stuff. If I have two, if I have three, oh, Lord, I write junk.
LEMON: You think you're writing good stuff after that...
WALSH: That's right.
LEMON: All right. Let's move on now and talk about more women than men are now in the American work place. Young women make more money and hold more university degrees than young men, but you said this is bad news for women who want to be mothers. Why?
WALSH: Absolutely, it's bad news. Because when women rise in power in a culture, sex becomes in high supply. When sex becomes in high supply, men are less likely to commit. I mean, Don, why commit to one when you can text in a herd, right, any night of the week. And so, as a result, men aren't committing --
LEMON: Hold on. Did you just say that?
WALSH: Didn't we used to say, why do we buy the cow when you get the milk for free. Now, we can text in a herd any night of the week. So, because they're less commitment oriented, they're also become less ambitious. Because one of the reasons why young men compete for assets and resources is so they can obtain status or access to higher status women or more women. So, there are few marigable mates, so young women are having problems settling down and finding a good parent.
LEMON: Text in a herd. So, all right. How do we reach to some resolution with this, some solution?
WALSH: OK. Well, you might believe that the solution is actually, oh, why can't we be single mothers because we're making all this money? But I'm a single mother myself and I'll tell you, the statistics are not good. Still, there are worse outcomes for kids of single parents, and the answer isn't telling women to quit their jobs, derailed their education. It's about finding better family friendly policies in work places because women are hedging their bets now, Don. They're saying, well, if I can't get a guy to sign up, if I'm just part of this herd, then I'm going to have to keep getting more education, then I'm going to have to keep working, and before they know it, their fertility window slams shut. One in five American women will not have babies, women who wants to have babies will not have them. And that's gone up 80 percent in the last ten years.
LEMON: Wow, I got to tell, you ladies have a whole lot -- it's a whole another show when it comes to you, guys. It's so much to worry about, the biological clock --
WALSH: We do.
LEMON: You do? Seriously, I mean, let's talk about this for a minute, you think about the biological clock, you think about dressing, doing your hair, getting your nails done. It's expensive to be a woman and it's also very hard. And then at some point, there's an end game where you have to have a baby by a certain age and all of those things. And then women have two jobs. They go to work, a lot of them, and then they go home and they do another job. Tough being a lady.
WALSH: Don, I'm so glad you understand it. It's so, so hard. Then you have to pay for child care, too, to go to those jobs. But the truth is, women cannot have the same kind of sexual behavior as men simply because we do not have -- they do not have -- you guys don't have a fertility window.
LEMON: Yes.
WALSH: And so, bottom line is, you know, there are strategies that women use to select mates. And it sounds old fashioned, but I think it's very modern to sort of slow love down a little bit until you can figure out a guy's intentions.
LEMON: Guys, you should know that. Have more respect for ladies. A lot of you do. But if you don't, now you know. Thank you, Dr. Wendy. I appreciate it.
WALSH: Good to see you, Don. LEMON: All right. Coming up, a look at the top stories right ahead, including a collision in Amsterdam. Two commuter trains collide head on. The death toll unknown, the number of injured climbing and in five minutes, this --
We do not see this every day. CNN goes to the front lines with U.S. troops in Afghanistan. And that slap is just one, one of several unexpected moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Coming up on half past the hour. Now, we need to look at your headlines.
We're watching and waiting for the moment that George Zimmerman walks out of jail. We'll bring it to you here on CNN. Now, his attorney says it could take until the middle of the week to come up with $150,000 or $15,000. Ten percent of the bond the judge set on Friday. Surprising move, Zimmerman took the stand during his bond hearing and apologized to the parents of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed teen he claims he shot in self defense.
New documents revealed that eight American soldiers died from drug overdosed that's involving heroin, morphine, or other opiates while serving in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011. The army investigation looked at 56 soldiers suspected of possessing, using, or distributing those drugs. Papers also detailed how the drugs were bought, largely from Afghan soldiers and civilians.
In the Netherlands, two passenger trains collide head on in Amsterdam today, injuring at least, at least 125 people. Could be more. More than a dozen of them critically. No word on possible deaths yet. The collision happened between two stations. It's not clear yet how both trains ended up on the same track and rescue operations are still ongoing right now. We'll keep you updated on that.
Little chance everyone survived a plane crash in Pakistan, but the search continues. The Boeing 737 carried 127 people when it crashed yesterday in bad weather near Islamabad. Investigators have found the flight data recorder which may help explain what caused the crash.
The post-Joe Paterno era kicked off today at Penn State's annual blue- white game. Fans left flowers and other remembrances at the base of Paterno's statue on campus. Phil O'Brien is head coach, now the job held for 60 years. He died in January, just a month after losing his job in the wake of the sex abuse scandal that engulfed his former assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky. The university has paid Paterno's estate nearly $6 million under the terms of his last contract.
Afghan security forces stop plans for a major attack or a series of attacks in the capital. In Kabul they found 10 tons of explosives hidden under bags of potatoes in a truck with Pakistani plates. Five suspected militants confessed and are under arrest. That's just one incident in one day in Afghanistan.
The cat-and-mouse game against the Taliban also plays out at night. Nick Paton Walsh went along on one mission.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(GUNFIRE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A last stand in the Taliban heartland. Americans and Afghans launch an assault before dawn into remote hostile district of Ghazni they have not set foot in in months. A flat, exposed space about a mile away from the village where there are two high-value targets the Americans want to arrest.
America's withdrawal is meant to awaken Afghan forces to take over the manhunts. As they push into the village in search of the Americans' most wanting local militant, the Afghans seem pretty casual.
Some doors stay locked. Their prey likely vanishing when they heard helicopters.
SGT. RICHARD SNEDER, U.S. ARMY, 172nd INFANTRY BRIGADE: They hear the birds coming and they usually flee immediately.
WALSH: As the Americans search for weapons cache, they become the targets.
(GUNFIRE)
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: Where's it at? Where's it at? Where's it at?
(GUNFIRE)
(SHOUTING)
WALSH: Clearly, insurgents are keen to defend this building or at least attack the Americans as they get near it.
(GUNSHOT)
WALSH: The shots come in close, fired from a distant tree line. The Afghans spring into life, firing a rocket, and then move to flank the insurgents who keep taking pot shots.
(GUNFIRE)
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: Oh, they don't like me running.
(GUNFIRE)
WALSH: Warning flares from attack aircraft from above stop the gunfire.
(CROSSTALK)
WALSH: And distant figures, probably women and children, appear, meaning a counterattack is too risky and the fight is over.
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: I think the one in the white is a child.
(CROSSTALK)
WALSH: The keen warriors make for poor police, riding motorcycles is illegal, and they have to decide on a punishment. Should they shoot the fuel tank? Perhaps not. They let the tires down. And then deliver what is here a rare encounter with Afghanistan's government.
(CROSSTALK)
WALSH: That night, they leave and the Taliban surely return, knowing that without American support, the Afghan state's relevance here slips further into the distance.
Nick Peyton Walsh, CNN, Ghazni Province, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Good reporting there, Nick.
With the world watching, neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman, spoke out at his bond hearing. He could be free in days, even hours, at any moment, as a matter of fact. Holly Hughes is here. She's going to join me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: At any time, the neighborhood watch volunteer who admittedly shot a Florida teen could be released on bond. In a Florida courtroom yesterday, we finally got to hear from the man at the center of the story. George Zimmerman's first words were aimed at Trayvon Martin's parents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, ARRESTED FOR SHOOTING: I wanted to say I am sorry for the loss of your son. I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit younger than I am. And I did not know if he was armed or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Every time I see that video, I want to tell the attorney, could you please move --
(LAUGHTER)
-- so you can see his face. I mean, honestly, that's what everyone says, get out of the way.
There's Holly Hughes. She's here. She's a criminal defense attorney.
Did you think the same thing, get out of the way so we can see him?
HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY & FORMER PROSECUTOR: I am a defense attorney, so I know exactly what he's doing. He's blocking your view so you're not seeing him.
LEMON: Yes.
HUGHES: Mark O'Mara is sharp, Don Lemon.
LEMON: Yes.
HUGHES: Let me tell you something. If there's a man who can come in and not just represent George Zimmerman but also, I think, heal the country with what's going on.
LEMON: Humanizing.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: What he did with that yesterday, that was a question. Do we usually hear from the defendant in a bond hearing?
HUGHES: Almost never. And what was very clever, you'll notice something about the law, when the state's attorney got the opportunity to cross-examine George Zimmerman, you heard Mark O'Mara objecting and saying, that's outside the scope of direct examination. Typically, the judge is only going to let the opposing lawyer cross examine on what was asked on direct. He said very little on direct. I'm sorry that your son is dead. Little backhanded apology there. I'm sorry for the loss of your son but not I'm sorry I killed him. That's why we see the Martin family attorney saying, not enough.
LEMON: Yes. That was surprising, seeing that.
HUGHES: It's legally technically right because you're not going to push a client to say, I murdered him. You do want him to express an apology. When it comes out half-hearted like that, you have to wonder how effective it was.
LEMON: He's speaking to the mom who said, in another interview, did you know how old my son was and did you know whether he was armed or not, and he said that -- he answered the questions --
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHES: Yes, he's answering here -- yes.
LEMON: We heard from Zimmerman's mother, father, wife, by phone. Was this for safety reasons? He's in shackles and a bullet-proof vest under his suit?
HUGHES: It is, for safety reasons. And it's not -- it's also, so they don't disrupt the proceeding. We typically don't have that. If someone wants to testify, you want their family member in court for the defendant. You want them. I'm standing behind my son, my husband, my mother, whoever that is. Highly unlikely, but, yes, number one, huge safety concern. You would have had to had protection for the individual witnesses coming in. And you don't want to distract or disrupt the court proceedings. I think it was wise for the judge to allow it to go forward this way. LEMON: They talked about this bit on the stand where he said -- he apologized and he wanted to express regret to the families, and he thought the officers --- he wasn't sure if they had done it, but he said it.
HUGHES: Right.
LEMON: Earlier, he asked to meet with the Martins. And it was denied.
HUGHES: Right.
LEMON: Why?
HUGHES: He wants to be able to meet with them privately and say things that aren't going to be subject to cross-examination, that the entire nation is not hearing. He wants them to understand where he's coming from because -- you and I were talking about this on the break. This is a horrible tragedy for everybody involved because, up until the night that this happened, February 26th, George Zimmerman was just the neighborhood watch guy who had a wife, was out there living his life and trying to do the right thing.
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHES: In a split second, he makes a decision that not only ends the life of a young man with a lot of promise, but changes his life irreversibly. He's never going to be who he was February 25th.
LEMON: If you take this -- take away all the emotion of the case and think about someone you know in a bullet-proof vest and shackles, who has lost quite a bit of weight in the courtroom. If you looked at him yesterday in that courtroom, like, my goodness, he looks like his life is over, regardless of what happens.
HUGHES: Correct.
LEMON: A split-second decision. As we were talking here, as sad as that is, isn't that something you should think about when you are in possession of a gun?
HUGHES: That's the thing. When you -- not only that, there were so many choices he made that night. He made the choice to get out of his vehicle. He made the choice to follow Trayvon Martin. He made the choice to carry that gun, to pull that gun. This is not just that one split-second decision. It is everything you decided to do leading up to that altercation.
LEMON: That's what I'm saying. If you have something as powerful as that, you get in a fight --
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHES: Yes, fisticuffs.
LEMON: If you have a gun or knife, you realize when you have that you can take someone's life.
HUGHES: That's right. It's life-altering not just for the poor victim but for you as well.
LEMON: For you and everyone you know. Everyone you know.
HUGHES: That's exactly right.
LEMON: Thank you. He's going be monitored, can't work, can't drink, all of that, we got it.
HUGHES: Correct.
LEMON: Thank you. Thank you very much.
HUGHES: Absolutely.
LEMON: Appreciate it.
Let's move on now. Rocker Ted Nugent is in trouble again but, this time, it's not for what he said on the radio. It's what he did to a bear.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Rocker Ted Nugent has agreed to a plea deal for killing and transporting a black bear in Alaska. Nugent agreed to pay a $10,000 fine, serve two years probation, and take part in a public service announcement. On Thursday, he was questioned and cleared by the Secret Service over those comments he made about President Obama.
And in North Carolina, a convicted killer is now off death row after a judge ruled race played a role in the case. He said prosecutors across the state excluded potential black jurors. It's a landmark decision that could affect a number of death row cases in the state. 38-year-old Marcus Robinson now faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Next, a student wants to play ball and the school wants him on the team but a 100-year-old rule might keep this teenager with Down's syndrome on the bench.
(CNN HEROES)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Multiple sclerosis often hits middle-aged women but Noah Shebib, known as Forty, in a young man who has produced music with Drake, Lil Wayne and Alicia Keys. Now he's on a mission to teach his generation about the disease.
CNN's Dr. Gupta has Forty's story in today's "Human Factor."
(HUMAN FACTOR)
LEMON: Up next, we'll introduce you to a Down's-syndrome athlete accomplishing amazing things in sports. But how much longer will he get to play? It is a battle over a rule that is more than a hundred years old.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: We report a lot of bad news on the news. We have to, it is our job. But sometimes there are inspirational stories we want to get in our newscasts and we want you to watch them. I want you to look at this next story. He's a high school kid with Down's syndrome. Both teams cheer for him. He's an athlete, but his time may be running out.
Take a look at Ted Roland's story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Spend a few minutes with Eric Dompierre and you will see why his teammates love him.
(on camera): You practice a lot?
ERIC DOMPIERRE, HAS DOWN'S SYNDROME: I practice a lot. (INAUDIBLE) -- when I am on the field.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Eric is on the high school basketball and football team. Eric's coaches put him in near the end if a game has been decided. Last year, he brought the house down when he made this three-point shot against their rival.
(CHEERING)
DOMPIERRE: I remember that I shot it and I made it and then I heard fans and my mom crying.
DEAN DOMPIERRE, ERIC'S FATHER: I videotaped the crowd on the other side. It was made up mostly of the other side's fans, including their student section. They were all on their feet cheering for Eric.
ROWLANDS: The same thing happened when Eric made his first extra point kicking for the football team.
(SHOUTING)
LINDA DOMPIERRE, ERIC'S MOTHER: Watching the kids react, they carried him off the field. It was one of the best moments.
ROWLANDS: Eric will be a senior in the fall but, unless something changes, he won't be able to play sports because, with Down's syndrome, he was held back in elementary school so he turned 19 in January. He's too old.
(on camera): Eric's high school is trying to get the rules changed so that he can keep playing, but a committee with the Michigan High School Athletic Association has denied two of the school's petitions.
JAMES DEROCHER, MHSAA PRESIDENT: Members have to change the constitution. At this point in time, they have told us not to.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Eric's cause is getting a lot of attention and support. A change.org online petition has more than 80,000 signatures. A local T-shirt shop is selling this shirt that says, "Let Him Play."
NICK JOSEPH, MICHIGAN RESIDENT: It's one of those things we just don't see too much in our society anymore, you know?
ROWLANDS: As a last attempt, Eric's school has submitted a third petition to the athletic association.
LINDA DOMPIERRE: What is the harm in letting him play? What is your fear about allowing this to happen because I don't understand it?
DEAN DOMPIERRE: The rule is -- it's 100 years old. We've come a long way in those hundred years here in this country as a country as to how we evolve and include people with disabilities. I think it's time that the rule catches up with that.
ROWLANDS: Eric says he will continue to practice to get ready for next season even though he knows he may not be able to play.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Michigan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Checking the headlines right now.
One of the best-known conservative Senators will have to survive a primary runoff to keep his seat. Republican Orrin Hatch, of Utah, is trying for his seventh term but he fell just short of enough delegates to -- today's state convention to avoid a runoff. His opponent is a former member of the state Senate who is getting a lot of Tea Party support.
Chuck Colson, one of the infamous Watergate conspirators, has died. He suffered a brain hemorrhage late month. Colson was 80. He once said he would have done almost anything for President Richard Nixon. He went to prison for his role in that scandal. He died in prison.
I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. I'll see you back here at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Bye.
