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Kaufman County DA & Wife Found Dead; Pope Francis Delivers First Easter Blessing; Louisville's Kevin Ware Suffers Horrific Injury; CNN Crew Caught in Firefight; Gang of Eight Immigration Bill in the Works; Interview with Walking Dead's Irone Singleton
Aired March 31, 2013 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: A community on edge. A district attorney and his wife murdered just two months after the assistant D.A. was killed. Are the two connected? We are live with the story.
An apparent kidnapping caught on tape with you no one is reported missing. Was there even a crime?
The new Pope delivers his first Easter mass, and he shows once again that he is a Pope of the people.
A CNN crew caught in the middle of a firefight between U.S. forces and the Taliban. You won't want to miss next conclusive story.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
A Texas prosecutor shot and killed in his own almost exactly two months after his colleague was murdered outside the courthouse. Here is what we know now. Police have no suspects and no real motive for three murders in Kaufman County, Texas.
Longtime district attorney Mike McLelland and his wife Cynthia were found dead in their home last night. A source says investigators found shell casings from a semiautomatic rifle. Just two months ago, McLelland vowed to put away the scum who murdered his assistant D.A. Mark Hasse. Right now, the Kaufman County sheriff is not officially linking the three killings. Authorities are beeping up security for other county officials.
And CNN's Ed Lavandera is tracking this story in Kaufman, Texas tonight - Ed.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, in two months two high-profile prosecutors and the wife of one of those prosecutors have now been gunned down here in Kaufman County, Texas, a great deal of uncertainty and fear spreading through this community and a lot of people focusing, investigators focusing on that the Aryan brotherhood white supremacist group might have to do with all of it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE MCLELLAND, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Anything you people can do to accelerate getting our hands on this scum will be appreciated. LAVANDERA (voice-over): Mike McLelland's tough talking Texas swagger was on full display when he vowed to come after the killer of his assistant prosecutor Mark Hasse. He was gunned down in broad daylight as he walked to work at the Kaufman County courthouse back in January.
MCLELLAND: I hope that the people that did this are watching because we are very confident that we are going to find you. We are going to pull you out of whatever hole you're in. We are going to bring you back and let the people of Kaufman County prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.
LAVANDERA: But now two months later, McLelland and his wife Cynthia have become victims themselves, shot dead in their home. A law enforcement source tells CNN that investigators recovered several shell casings inside the house belonging to a 223 caliber high-powered rifle.
And then there's this twist. In December, a month before Mark Hasse was killed, the Texas department of public safety issued a statewide bulletin warning that it had received, quote "credible information that members of the Aryan brotherhood white supremacist group was planning to retaliate, actively planning to retaliate against law enforcement officials they suspected of targeting the gang's leadership.
Law enforcement officials say they are now taking extra precautions to protect other elected officials in Kaufman County. The courthouse will be open for business on Monday, but the prosecutor's office will be closed.
DAVID BYRNES, SHERIFF, KAUFMAN, COUNTY, TEXAS: It's unnerving to the community at large, and that's why we're striving to, you know, assure the community that we are still providing public safety and will be able to do that.
LAVANDERA: The murders of these two high-profile prosecutors has the hallmarks of well-coordinated hits, targeted killings of law enforcement and elected officials are rare but not unheard of.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he came up to the window of my truck with the gun pointed at me.
LAVANDERA: Earlier this year in southern California Christopher Dorner terrorized law enforcement with a manifesto and a detailed hit list of the people he wanted to kill, but in many ways the Kaufman County cases are scarier. No one knows what these killers are thinking.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the town I think has felt more fear than anything else. They are afraid that someone else will be targeted by these people.
LAVANDERA: It's not clear why the prosecutors were killed or who, if anyone, might be next.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LAVANDERA: When the county courthouse here in Texas opens up again on Monday morning we're told there will be a strong law enforcement presence surrounding the courthouse as well. But officials here say that while they are taking care of the elected officials and adding more security to those details, they won't go into specifics as to exactly what they are doing to protect those people - Don.
LEMON: All right, Ed Lavandera. Thank you very much, Ed.
A holy day end in heartbreak after a son shoots and kills his father just as an Easter Sunday service was ending. It happened this afternoon in the Ohio town of Ashtabula.
The police chief says the shooter reportedly, a 25-year-old man, waited for his father just outside the Hiawatha church of God and Christ, spoke to him and then fired the fatal shot. She says the gunman then walked into the church causing a panic with many fearing he would continue firing.
A massive 95-car pile-up on a fog-choked strip of Virginia interstates leaves at least three people dead. State police say fog rolling in from the mountains triggered a series of accidents on interstates 77, six miles from the North Carolina border. Tractor trailers were ripped apart, some cars now just burned-out frames. Twenty five people were taken to hospital for treatment. Southbound i-77 still closed for investigation.
A man drove a car into a California Walmart today and then attacked customers. Police in San Jose, they say the driver used a blunt object to assault people inside the store. Four people were injured, one seriously. The driver is in custody, his motives unclear. The police say drugs and alcohol may be involved.
A mystery in New York City. Witnesses have come forth and a video shows masked men, but it's still not clear if there has even been a crime. Police say they are looking for and they are taking no chances in investigating a possible kidnapping. This video shows two men in pursuit of something off screen, but at this point no one has been reported missing.
Darla Miles, out at our New York affiliate WABC, has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANA TREJOS, WITNESS: They were walking on the street this way and then a car pulled up on the opposite side, and she screamed. He picked her up.
DARLA MILES, REPORTER WABC NEW YORK AFFILIATE (voice-over): A man wearing a plastic bag over his head another wearing a black mask, are spotted charging around the corner from west 173rd on to haven avenue. A dark-colored minivan is right behind them speeding around the corner with its doors open.
JONETHAN SALAS, WITNESS: It was a Chrysler. It was like a Navy blue Chrysler, and it turned down the one way and I pulled over and stopped, and a couple of guys came out and picked up a girl, pushed her in the car.
MILES: Sources say two 10-year-old girls were playing inside of Jason Wright (ph) park in Washington heights at 7:00 Friday evening called 911 after they saw a woman screaming as she was forced into a minivan at gunpoint. Investigators believe the man may have also been stuffed into the vehicle before it peeled off screeching up a one-way street.
TREJOS: In the beginning when she screamed we were nervous, but the way they just walked in, it didn't seem suspicious. Like they knew whose car they were going into.
MILES: A bold crime caught on tape, but no one was been reported missing. That's why investigators are blanketing the neighborhood with crime stoppers posters. Sources tell eyewitness news the suspected female victim was spotted by another surveillance camera on west 177th and Fort Washington Avenue, an hour before the incident. And that's why there are crime stoppers flyers posted there, too.
SANDRA GUZMAN, WITNESS: We stopped here, like this, and he's doing like this.
MILES: Minutes before the alleged abduction Sandra Guzman spotted three men camped out by the park in a dark minivan and saw another peeking around the corner wearing a black mask over his eyes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not that cold here today for the mask.
MILES: So you thought that was suspicious?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: That was Darla Miles from our New York affiliate WABC reporting.
A hiker missing on an Oregon mountain for nearly a week has been found alive and frostbitten. Mary Owen also suffered and inter-ankle and he is recovering in a hospital in Portland. An Oregon National Guard helicopter retrieved her from Mt. Hood. The 23-year-old college student told our affiliate KGW that she fell 40 feet early in her hike and survived by eating chia (ph) seeds and nutria-grain bars and burning the wrappers to stay warm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARY OWEN, RESCUED HIKER: Every night I had dreams. It's kind of just mind playing tricks with you, and people would come and tell me how to get off the mountain and I'd be like there's no path there. This is not good, and, yes, on -- on Saturday it was so good. I was -- I was so worried they wouldn't see me. I was like screaming come back for me, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Owen says it was a bad idea to hike by her herself. She initially planned to go with a group of people but they all chose not to hike after hearing the weather forecast.
Google under fire today, over its doodle? I will explain.
Plus, not even the Easter bunny on Easter is safe from the law.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The new Pope leading an Easter mass for some 250,000 people who gathered in St. Peter's square today.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
LEMON: Pope Francis showing once again his determination to be a Pope of the people, holding babies and stopping to kiss a disabled child in the crowd, his message, a plea for peace. He wants an end to violence in Syria, harmony between Israelis and Palestinians and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula.
Our senior international correspondent Jim Bittermann has more on how Pope Francis is gearing from traditions as her redefines his role.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barely two weeks into his reign Pope Francis, as he celebrated his first Easter mass, is putting distance between himself and his predecessor. For one thing the new Pope probably would not like the term reign. He already has done several things to show he's against the imperial nature of the papacy. He's indicated, for example, that he prefers the title of bishop of Rome, simpler and less majestic than Pope or his holiness.
There are plenty of other signs of a different approach, the broad smile and the wave as if he's identifying with specific people in the crowds and the very conscious effort shown once again on Easter Sunday to reach out and touch the faithful.
Benedict XVI is still alive and watching from afar, but with each move, no matter how symbolic, Francis seems happy to abandon the austere and distant approach of his predecessor. If differences have come up between the two Popes, it's not been before the camera. In addition to their face-to-face meetings they have had several phone conversations including one this week that the Vatican spokesman described as intense.
There are the stylistic differences that set Pope Francis apart from Benedict. The iron cross and the more common dress, and there's already been one substantive change that has annoyed traditionalists, the way he included two women in a holy week ceremony representing the moment when Christ washed the feet of his 12 dies pals, all men. Was the new Pope hinting that he was intending to elevate the role of women in the church? It was something that raised hopes among catholic women at the Easter mass, even if some remain skeptical that he can or will be able to bring about major change. EMILIE DAY, ATTENDED MASS IN ROME: He is going to make changes, but he has to sort of move forward with the times and, yes, embrace today and stop trying to I don't know, intimate old ideas.
(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
BITTERMANN: Still, as much as many Catholics, especially in the developed world works like to see a more modern church, Pope Francis follows a pontiff who did not disagreeing on philosophical issues may be one way the new Pope can prove he's different from his predecessor but a more and immediate visible way will be how he handles the festering problems of managing the Vatican, how he will address the personnel changes many feel are necessary to firmly and finally deal with the sex scandals involving the clergy and charges of financial misdeeds.
Vatican experts say the real test of the new Pope begins now, now that the ceremonies are over, a test of whether he really can change the ancient institution he now runs.
Jim Bittermann, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Jim.
Google, copping some heat for its doodle. Every big holiday and special occasion Google chooses a theme for its home page. Well, this is one Google picked for Easter Sunday, a portrait of the late labor organizer and Latino civil rights organizer Cesar Chavez. It's his birthday today. Folks on Twitter, not happy with the choice, angry with Google for taking a pass on the religious holiday. I want you to check out this tweet is just among many, lot of them.
"Damn Google. Its home page today is dedicated to Cesar Chavez's birthday. No Easter wishes for those Atheists. Searchers and rivals being opted for an image of Easter eggs."
The Final Four is now set, but that's not what everyone is talking about right now. A Louisville player suffers a disturbing and gruesome injury. We will tell you more about it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Get ready for the Final Four. Michigan took down Florida today. They will match up against Syracuse next Saturday here in Atlanta.
Also today, Louisville defeated Duke to advance to the Final Four. The cardinals will play Wichita state. The winners will square off next Monday for the national championship. Louisville had to overcome more than the usual adversity to overcome the Final Four. Guard Kevin Ware went down with a horrific leg injury in the first half of today's game. He suffered a severe fracture of the lower right leg. We are not showing you the injury because it's simply too graphic and really too painful to watch but you can tell by the reaction of the players and the fans that it was a very disturbing thing to see.
CNN.com contributor Terence Moore compared the scene to an injury most football fans will remember.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERENCE MOORE, CNN.COM SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: I was there of November 198when Joe Theismann broke his leg with the famous Lawrence Taylor thing and just like this injury, when I was at RFK stadium back then, you could actually hear the break with all the crowd noise and that sort of thing. I can't watch this stuff anymore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Man, let's get more now on Kevin Ware's injury.
CNN's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is on the phone but we are going to start with Kenny Klein. He is the senior associate athletic director for the University of Louisville.
Thank you for joining us tonight. Mr. Klein. How is Kevin doing?
KENNY KLEIN, SENIOR ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE (via phone): Kevin's still currently in the Methodist hospital here in Indianapolis and undergoing surgery at this time.
LEMON: Yes.
We are showing video of the players out there. Players from both teams, who were visibly shaken, visibly upset even crying. How does this -- were you at the game?
KLEIN: I was. I was at mid-court, and it certainly was a gruesome injury, and it affected a lot of our players but while Kevin was down, wanted the players, called the players over and said, you know, win the game. Win the game. That was his message to the team, and they certainly took it to heart and got the task accomplished.
LEMON: It's pretty gruesome to ask, but, I mean, people in the crowd and players were saying they could hear the injury. They could hear the break.
KLEIN: It was an awful thing. It's something that one of our football players went through, Michael Bush, very similar injury on the football field, and he's had a very productive NFL career so we're hopeful that Kevin can come out of surgery well and get himself back to good health and be a great player for us in the future.
LEMON: I should have asked. Could you hear? Was it audible?
KLEIN: I did not hear it as such, but it -- it was awful to look at, I will say that much.
LEMON: You have -- you see -- you mentioned the football player, Mr. Bush. You seen the basketball team and I'm sure other athletics. Where does this rank, you think, as far as where injuries go and what you have witnessed?
KLEIN: Well, this is the worst that I've ever seen. Certainly, I know you mentioned the Montana injury which is another one. I was watching when Michael Bush went down on television. I was not on the game itself, but our trainer at the time leaned over to me and knew what it was immediately, and this one was equally as bad. This one occurred right on a stage where everybody could see it and I'm certainly our players reacted as such, as did our coaches, and it was very difficult to get themselves refocused but Kevin did that himself by wanting the guys to come over there and telling them, you know, win the game.
LEMON: Yes. We could see him talking to -- to the players as he's laying down there on the court. I have to ask you how the team is doing, and, you know, on top of that follow-up. Is this motivation for them to win, as Kevin wants them to?
KLEIN: I'm sure they will -- certainly for this game it was a motivation because Kevin went to high school and right outside of Atlanta in Rockdale county high school in Georgia. And we wanted to get him there. And our players, I know our players wanted to get him there, and the team went back on the bus this evening, but coach Pitino stayed over to see Kevin as soon as he gets out of surgery and then will see him again in the morning when he's awake, and will be glad to get him back on campus with us.
LEMON: Do you know how long he's been in surgery and how long he has?
KLEIN: I'm sorry. I don't have any timetable at this point, no.
LEMON: Kenny Klein is senior athletic director of the University of Louisville, thank you. And please give our best to Kevin and the family and his team. Thank you, sir.
I want to move on now and talk to our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
Elizabeth, thank you for being so patient. We got him on the phone, we thought it was important to talk to him and we talk to you as well. Tell us about this injury, Elizabeth. How do doctors handle an injury like this?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Yes, (INAUDIBLE), the doctors that I spoke with, it sounds like he broke his shin bone, and it's actually relatively simple to hand. You do surgery, and as we have seen you do it quite quickly. You take a rod, usually either steel or titanium, and you put it down the length of the bone. The bone is hollow so you put it down the length of the bone. And then, believe it or not, they have these patients up on crutches the next day which I think is pretty remarkable, and then they start physical therapy quite quickly.
LEMON: Well Elizabeth, they said they could see the bone jutting out if you were down. I mean, that makes it seem much worse, much more severe injury than one might think. COHEN: Yes. I mean, one of the doctors I spoke to mentioned that. They said they had seen it on television, and I said, that is going to do it. Wow, you can do surgery that quickly and put the rod in, and they said yes, even in these situations. They have seen injuries like this before. It's unusual in basketball, but they have seen injuries like this before in other situations.
LEMON: Yes. You said usually pretty quickly you get them up on crutches. But what about the actual recovery time, Elizabeth? And is there a chance that it could end Kevin Ware's career or could he go on and have a career even with an injury like this?
COHEN: Right. The orthopedic surgeon we spoke to said in someone his age and healthy young man, in six months he could be back playing basketball. I know, again, it sounds, you know, too amazing to be true. But both of them said it around six months. And that they susceptible, I mean, there's no reason to think that this would end his career, that they each knew a professional and college basketball players who had resumed careers and been quite successful with some of the injury.
LEMON: Elizabeth, thank you. Appreciate you calling in. Thank you.
Coming up here on CNN, a CNN crew caught in a fire fight between U.S. forces and the Taliban.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: While many of you nibbled on Easter dinner leftovers tonight, don't forget about some Americans who don't have that luxury.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
LEMON: As the war in Afghanistan rages on, a CNN crew got a rare up- close and personal look at a situation that turned very dangerous. Very dangerous look at what it's like inside a U.S. Special Forces unit, and in this exclusive report our Anna Coren gives us a glimpse into their deadly world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As rounds of gunfire ring out in the distance, U.S. Special Forces run straight into the thick of it. They are the military's elite, and this is what they are trained to do. They don't just fight back. They hunt down the enemy. We come under heavy machine gunfire less than 400 meters away. And an incoming round flies close overhead. We take cover behind a mud brick wall. We take cover behind a maverick wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep going.
COREN: The attack coming to three different directions, Special Forces spread out across open farmlands.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Around the back side. Right on the back side.
COREN: Their only cover in this fertile valley, low-lying ditches and sparse undergrowth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Here's what we're going to do. Keep up this (bleep) riverbed until we get to the left side. We want to ruin this like a witness, OK?
COREN: For a brief moment, they pause as Special Forces operator targets the enemy firing position with a 40 millimeter grenade launcher. But the fire fight rages on.
We got intelligence that there was an IED in this area with a number of associates. We have come into the open field and taking fire and we don't know where the enemy is but we do know that there's a Taliban stronghold (INAUDIBLE) at the base of it now.
With enemy fire getting closer, Special Forces are exposed as they move along the banks of the river. A soldier reloads, preparing for another assault.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move it.
COREN: We run towards the compound where insurgents staged one of their attacks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pushing down this way, let's go.
COREN: They quickly secure the area, not knowing what's behind these walls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody looking back that way?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
COREN: Movement inside has everyone on high alert.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somebody just ran across the door, yes, and back again.
COREN: Soldiers locate the enemy firing point with spent cartridge cases littering the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are Taliban. We are getting reports that they probably are, then they may not necessarily live in these areas, which means that when they go into other people's compounds, that they may just have Intel relayed back to us so that's what we're hoping on.
COREN: Apache helicopter gunships circle the valley searching for the enemy who has made their escape. But they have already vanished blending back into the community and the landscape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, I admire their resiliency and conviction, for sure. There is a degree of mutual respect, but you know, it doesn't mean we want to kill them any less.
COREN: While America's war may be finishing up soon, these brave soldiers know it's yet to be won.
Anna Coren, CNN. Eastern Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Thank you, Anna.
Just half past the hour now, let's get a look at your headlines.
After a week of threats against South Korea and the U.S., North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un issued just one bizarre statement today telling the world that nuclear weapons are a national treasure and won't be traded, not even for billions of dollars. One U.S. congressman says an attack on South Korea may be the only way for the young leader to save face.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: It's not an empty threat. I wouldn't be that concerned about them hitting the mainland U.S. right now, even any U.S. territory. I think the real threat is for what North Korea might be boxing itself into. Kim Jong-Un is trying to establish himself. He's trying to be the tough guy. He's 28, 29 years old, and he keeps going further and further out, and I don't know if he can get himself back in. So, my concern would be that he may feel to save safe to launch some sort of attack on South Korea or some base in the Pacific.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Activists who want immigration reform had something to smile about today. A bipartisan group of senators called the Gang of Eight has reached a deal, at least according to one of its members. Senator Lindsey Graham told CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" today that he expects to have a draft bill by the end of the week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I believe it will pass the house because it secures our borders. It controls who gets a job. As to the 11 million, they will have a pathway to be citizenship. It will be earned, and it will be long, and it will be hard, and I think it is fair, And the main thing, the combination of events in this bill will prevent a third wave of illegal immigration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Florida Republican senator Marco Rubio said no deal has been reached but others called the differences just semantics.
A shock case of alleged abuse caught on camera.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to teach you a lesson, buddy.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: A school bus aide in port St. Lucie, Florida, has been arrested and charged with stalking after this surveillance footage showed her allegedly bullying a 5-year-old boy. He can be seen towering over the crying child, berating him and stomping her foot. CNN has attempted to contact the woman, and the school district for comment, but we have not yet received a response on this holiday weekend.
Patients of an oral surgeon in Oklahoma ling up for hours for free HIV and hepatitis tests. Their nightmare began after state health inspectors discovered filthy conditions at the office of Dr. Scott Harrington. Rusty equipment, unsterilized needles and expired drugs. Seven thousand of Harrington's patients have now been told they are at risk and should get tested.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TINA MYER, PATIENT: My initial reaction was I know that name. Oh, no, that's why I know that name.
The chances are so remote of contracting anything. It's more precaution, and I think they are smart to take the precaution.
LINDA HARRIS, PATIENT: I got real scared. I just couldn't believe it. I said why me? There's going to be some issues with some of us. All of us, cannot, you know, be OK, and I just hope I'm one of the OK people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And their anxious wait continues as the result of those tests could take up to two weeks, maybe three.
A former Ku Klux Klan member cried as he apologized as he beat up John Lewis. He and the Georgia congressman won an award for reconciliation. Next, that moment remembered after his death.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A form Ku Klux Klan member who later apologized for his racist was and violent beatings has died. Back in 1961, Elwin Wilson beat up freedom rider John Lewis in a South Carolina bus station. Forty eight years later, he wept as he apologized to Congressman John Lewis.
And I spoke with Wilson and Lewis after the 2009 apology.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELWIN WILSON, FORMER KKK MEMBER: I didn't think I'd ever see the day when I find out who I beat up at the bus station. My daddy always told me that a fool never changes his mind and a smart man changes his mind, and that's what I've done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Lewis and Wilson accepted the common ground award for reconciliation in 2009. He died Thursday in South Carolina of heart failure. Owen Wilson was 76 years old.
President Barack Obama tries to drum up support for tougher gun control this week, but it seems as though his efforts are losing a little support. Ahead, will look at whether he can regain the momentum he got to get new legislation passed after the Newtown shooting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: President Obama heads to Colorado this week to promote the state's new gun control laws. He's also looking to push his own push for tougher federal gun legislation. Astronaut Mark Kelley, husband of former come won and gunshot victim Gabby Giffords says it's time for Congress to reflect the will of the American people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK KELLY, RETIRED ASTRONAUT: In this country, we have a very powerful gun lobby, and the leadership of the NRA has done a very good job over many, many years of controlling the debate on this issue.
But one thing that is different now is the fact that we had 20 first graders murdered in a classroom along with six educators. I mean, that's unacceptable and the American people, you know, want something done -- it's, you know 92 percent of Americans support a universe background check. It's 74 percent of NRA members. I would hope at some point that the leadership of the NRA would just listen to their membership on this issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Republican senator Lindsey Graham says it's not so simple. He tells our Candy Crowley that the U.S. doesn't need additional background checks because the checks in place now are rarely enforced.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM: Before you would expand the background check there are 76,000 people last year failed a background check and less than one percent got prosecuted. There are 9,000 people in 2010 failed a background check who are felons on the run and none were prosecuted so before you expand background checks on private individuals let's put some resources into the system we already have that's broken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: President Obama is heads west this week to Colorado to highlight the state's new gun control laws. Butback in Washington is own pushed retire of restriction isn't political limbo. I talked about it with Maria Cardona and Amy Holmes. Maria is a democratic strategist. Amy is a news anchor for theblaze.com, and I asked Maria if the president's gun control agenda has stalled.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: At the end of the day, what we have to look at is where are the majority of the American people on this, Don. And this is I think where Republicans really have to be careful. When you have 92 percent of the American people that support the background checks, universal background checks and 74 percent of NRA members supporting universal background checks, I think that's a big deal. And while I agree with senator graham that you have to prosecute, you also have to make sure that everybody --
LEMON: On this particular issue, polling has never really mattered on this particular issue and whether or not people want gun control or not, or universal background checks or not. Gun control is a very tough issue.
Let's look at this poll right now. Let's put it up, and then I'll ask. So, this said favor major restrictions on guns or making all guns illegal. Yes, 43 percent now. In December it was 52 percent, no, 55 now and then 46.
Amy, if you look at those numbers, it's not going in the president's -- in the president's way or at least in the president. He doesn't have momentum on this. Isn't s his gun control agenda in trouble?
Right. I mean, you showed the polling that actually support for stricter gun control has been sinking. And we always knew that trying to pass stricter gun control was going to be an uphill battle among Democrats. Wayne Lapierre, the head of the NRA or the spokesperson, he campaigned personally on behalf of Harry Reid back in 2010. Harry Reid, from the very beginning opposed a ban on assault weapons.
AMY HOLMES, ANCHOR, THEBLAZE.COM: But what I think is the more interesting question is why the president is ratcheting up his campaign on gun control as public support for it is falling. And I think that has a lot more to do with mid-term elections than it has to do with legislation on the Senate or house floor. I think we have mayor Mike Bloomberg that's spent a lot of money.
LEMON: You don't think he'll take the case to the people as a president often does and went to people. You don't think you can take this case to the people and say listen. Don't forget about the kids who died in Newtown, don't forget about the emotion you felt when that happened to one point?
HOLMES: Well, you know, I think the president is just as capable of reading polls as we are. But, I do think that he overestimates his power at bully pulpit. We saw him give endless speeches about Obama care. Meanwhile, public support for it tanked. So I think in this case, again, it's more about the mid-terms than it is about specific legislation.
LEMON: OK. Maria, quickly and then I want to move on.
CARDONA: But again, sure. But again, the poll that you just put up, Don, no one is trying to make every single gun illegal. We are talking about background checks. Let's try to do what is doable, and, again, I agree with Lindsey Graham, let's prosecute the current laws that we have now, but let's also make sure that 100 percent of people who are buying guns have background checks. (END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Thanks to Amy and to Maria.
Prepare for a political showdown. The Senate is expected to take up the gun control bill after the Easter break.
OK. Everyone knows, you guys know this if you watch, if you follow me on social media. I am a huge fan of "The Walking Dead." T-dog from the show was just in studio giving me expert training on how to be a Walker. Maybe they will have me on the show for season four.
My chat with T-dog; that is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Let's look now at the weekend box office totals.
"G.I. Joe, Retaliation" took in just over $41 million. Not bad. Its hope week to lead the wave. Last week's number one falls to number two, the animated move "The Croods" make 26.5 million and Tyler Perry's "Temptation" raked in $23.2 million, better than expected, but disappointing open for the rider of the Twilight series. "The Host" based on another Stephanie Myer book came in sixth, just $11 million.
AMC's "The Walking Dead" wrapping up season three tonight. During season two, I got a chance to meet some of the cast when they were shooting near Atlanta. The show is about a group of strangers that becomes like an extended family. They fight off zombies. That's what the title walking dead means. Not really zombies. They call them Walkers. They fight off roaming bad guys and most importantly they fight within themselves and within the group.
Robert Singleton plays t-dog in the show. He has written a book about his experience on "The Walking Dead."
Earlier, I asked him how he found out it was time for his character was going to die.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IRONE SINGLETON, FORMER CAST MEMBER, THE WALKING DEAD: I knew a month in advance.
LEMON: You did.
SINGLETON: I found it in a month in advance. Yes, the show owner, (INAUDIBLE), he called me. He was so nice and gracious to give me a call saying it's about time for T-dog's run to come to an end.
LEMON: Did you cry? Yes.
Yes, you did. So here's the thing. Everyone was like just joking around, like your brother is going to die in the first episode.
SINGLETON: Right, right, right. LEMON: But you lasted a long time.
SINGLETON: Lasted a while. I lasted for three seasons. When I first came on to the job they said that I would do two, maybe three episodes.
LEMON: Right.
SINGLETON: I went into season three.
LEMON: Besides the outrage on Twitter, you know, people were upset. Can you come back?
SINGLETON: Possibly.
LEMON: Why didn't you character -- some say your character did not talk. They didn't write him any lines, what happened?
SINGLETON: You know, he was fixing the tenses, stuff like that. You know, boiling an egg or something like that, just trying to do whatever it needed to be done to keep the move going.
LEMON: You know, I love the show, right? I came on to the set. I beg to get on the set and they let me. Thank you. Let me back on.
Here's the thing though. I liked it when it was closed to a few people, like you against the world. Sometimes I don't know where you're going now. It's like too many, too much going on. It is almost like the real world now. Before it was, wait, we don't know who is in this great big world with us. And now there's a colony here and this there. I don't know, it's kind of --
SINGLETON: I understand. I'm totally with you.
LEMON: Do you?
SINGLETON: Yes. That's one of the big differences between season threes and seasons one and two, OK. It just added to the mystic of the show. But now, like you said, you just never know where you're going to end up, to all over the place and people coming from all directions, I don't know. It possibly takes away from mystique but a lot of people love that.
LEMON: Yes. Obviously, the ratings are showing, is that record ratings, I mean, even better than any and it keeps going. Were you surprised by the popularity of this show? Did you know that you were going to be a star almost instantly? No?
SINGLETON: No, no idea. No idea. It just happened overnight.
LEMON: Yes.
SINGLETON: I just knew I had another job.
LEMON: All these questions in here because I don't need this.
SINGLETON: Throw that away.
LEMON: I don't need that. A lot of this is shot here in Atlanta. When it was first started coming to work downtown. I cannot get to work, and I was like, what? Why are all these people walking around Atlanta?
SINGLETON: But, what you have done, they should have helicopter you in.
LEMON: All right. OK, show me the walk.
SINGLETON: I've not gone to the school but it probably goes a little bit like this. You don't want the gerut (ph). I'm giving you the grunt.
LEMON: You grew up here in Atlanta in a rough neighborhood.
SINGLETON: I grew up here in Atlanta about five minutes away from here. It is called Perry homes. And, it was a pretty tough neighbor, you know, inundated with violence and drugs and so on and so forth, what the whole lifestyle entailed.
LEMON: Well, congratulations on your success.
SINGLETON: Thank you so much.
LEMON: Thank you so much. And I hope -- it's called "blindside by the walking dead" and it's by Iron E. Singleton.
Let's do the walk.
SINGLETON: Stood walker. Repetition. Got to do the same thing over.
LEMON: We'll be right back.
SINGLETON: I'm hungry. I'll eat other Walkers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Now to the big stories of the week ahead from the White House to Wall Street. Our correspondents tell you what you need to know. We begin tonight with the president's plans for the week.
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Athena Jones at the White House.
The president and first family host the White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday, and Tuesday he meets with the prime minister of Singapore. On Wednesday, the president heads to Denver to push new gun control measures, and then on to California for fund-raisers. He will speak at an Easter prayer breakfast at the White House on Friday.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: I'm Paul Steinhauser at the CNN political desk.
Another test this week for Mark Sanford. The former South Carolina governor whose cleared was sidetracked thanks to a well publicized affair faces a Republican primary election runoff for his old congressional seat. If he wins Tuesday's contest Sanford may face off and face a special election against the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.
Well, coming this up week on Wall Street, investors will consider a number of economic reports, including key manufacturing and construction data that is set to be released. We will also get the February factory orders and a look at car and truck sales in March and see how many of the big-ticket items are being sold. It's a pretty good indicator of where we stand in this economic recovery, how much consumers are willing to spend. Keep an eye on that and all the big business news.
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: I'm "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's A.J. Hammer.
Here's what we are watching this week. I'm one-on-one with the always provocative Donald trump. You've got to hear about his latest mission. Plus, the Barbara Walters retirement claims. Is she really leaving "the View" for good?
"SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," Monday through Thursday at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on HLN.
LEMON: All right. And if you did not get your Easter bunny or Easter basket or bucket, here's, why because the Easter Bunny got pulled over near San Diego today. A man wearing an Easter Bunny costume was wearing a shiny red motorcycle when he got stopped by a California highway patrol officer.
The problem -- no helmet. The officer gave bunny man a break and let him off with a verbal warning about the importance of wearing a helmet. Do they make helmets that fit over bunny ears? Maybe his helmet was under the bunny costume.
Thanks, Easter Bunny. If you remember that, you're about my age.
I'm Don Lemon at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. Have a great weekend, rest of your weekend and great night.
Happy Easter. I will see you back here next week. Good night.
