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Code Pink versus Obama; Trayvon Martin's Guns, Drug Texts; A Personal Decision; Two Arrested after Flight Diverted; Joplin Tornado: Two Years Later

Aired May 24, 2013 - 10:30   ET

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

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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and thank you so much for being with us. I'm Carol Costello. It's 33 minutes past the hour.

Trayvon Martin's family attorney is pushing against new evidence showing the teenager in a way we have not seen before. The text messages from Martin's cell phone include references to pot, guns and fighting. The pre-trial evidence was presented by attorneys for George Zimmerman who as we know was charged with second degree murder in the teenager's death.

CNN's David Mattingly is covering this case. So you've seen these -- these texts? What do they say?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure well looking at this evidence it's possible when you look at them to think that Trayvon Martin may have given George Zimmerman some of what he needs to convince the jury he's not a murderer.

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MATTINGLY (voice over): Are these the photographs of a troubled and violent teen? Pictures and text messages from Trayvon Martin's phone made public by George Zimmerman's defense attorney suggest the 17- year-old was no stranger to pot, to guns and to fighting.

MARK O'MEARA, ZIMMERMAN DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That might serve as recreation or whatever but he was very used to fighting, that has used some drugs in the past and again may 17-year-old have but he has as well.

MATTINGLY: Three months before he encountered George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin sends text messages about a fight saying his opponent didn't bleed enough, only his nose. Less than a week before the fatal encounter Martin texted, "I hid my weed." "It's wrapped." And "I got weed" and "I get money Friday."

The attorney for Martin's family says the messages, the images and their implications are irrelevant.

BENJAMIN CRUMP, MARTIN FAMILY ATTORNEY: Are they trying to say, George Zimmerman was justified in killing Trayvon Martin because the way he looked? It's that same stereotypical mindset that caused George Zimmerman to get out of the car and chase Trayvon Martin. And that just isn't acceptable in America.

MATTINGLY: Trayvon Martin was unarmed the night he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman. But a week before, he seems to be trying to sell an automatic pistol and apparently turns down an offer of $150.

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MATTINGLY: Now like everything in this case, nothing is really simple. Everything we just saw is possible a jury may never see those pictures or those text messages. Because if they just stick to the facts of what was going on that fight and who was the aggressor, it's possible they may never need to get into those photos.

But if the prosecution goes after George Zimmerman's character, tries to paint him as a racial profiler or something like that, the defense is pretty much saying, look, we've got all this material. We can attack Trayvon Martin just as much.

COSTELLO: So the trial is going to start in June, we think at least -- right; if there is not a delay. Those pictures, though, they're out there on the Internet. They've got to seat a jury.

MATTINGLY: That's right. That's right. And it's not going to be an easy task here because this case has gotten so much attention. But they were able to do it in a number of other high profile cases in Florida. They will be able to do it here as well.

COSTELLO: David Mattingly thanks to you.

Just ahead in the NEWSROOM: choosing to have your breasts removed to avoid dying from cancer. CNN's Zoraida Sambola -- Sambolin takes us inside her very personal decision and introduces us to others who have made that same agonizing choice.

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COSTELLO: We want to head to New York City now to talk to Zoraida Sambolin because as you know she has breast cancer. She's decided to undergo a double mastectomy, a difficult decision for any woman. And today is her last day at work before surgery. So Zoraida, I just want to wish you luck.

ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I really appreciate that Carol. A lot of people have been reaching out and wishing me well and saying a lot of prayers and I really appreciate it. But another question that I've been asked a lot is how I arrived at this decision, why am I having a double mastectomy?

So I decided to go back to Chicago and to sit down with my doctors, and kind of share this story of how I arrived at this decision. And also in the meantime, I met with the youngest girl ever. I call her a girl because she was 23 years at the time. She is 30 now. But she also decided to have a double mastectomy because of the same situation with Angelina Jolie, she tested positive for the BRCA gene.

Here is her story.

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SAMBOLIN (voice over): It often starts with a lump or shadowy figure on a black and white screen. Then suddenly, your life unwinds.

DR. PETER JOKICH, RADIOLOGIST, RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: This we know was cancer.

SAMBOLIN: That's how it happened to me.

JOKICH: Any of these other spots in either breasts can be the same thing. They can be benign, they can be malignant. We really don't know.

SAMBOLIN: All the doctors know for sure is that this one duct at my left breast has encapsulated cancerous cells. It's called Ductal Carcinoma in Situ the most common form of non-invasive breast cancer. All those white blood and blue blips captured in screenings of my dense breast tissue could very well signal more cancer or be nothing at all.

JOKICH: You have a four to five times greater risk to develop breast cancer than the average woman.

SAMBOLIN: It's that uncertainty that led me to choose a procedure increasingly done by women fearful of getting invasive breast cancer. I will soon undergo a double mastectomy choosing to remove not only the cancerous tissue in my left breast but the tissue my doctors say looks suspicious in my right breasts.

JOKICH: Your whole thing is you don't want to die of breast cancer.

SAMBOLIN: No.

JOKICH: And so that's like that's the bottom line of all this.

SAMBOLIN: Yes.

LINDSAY AVNER, BRIGHT PINK: So this is my great grandmother Lillian and my grandmother Sandra.

SAMBOLIN: And they both died.

AVNER: Both died a week apart from breast cancer.

SAMBOLIN: Lindsay Avner had no signs of breast cancer when she underwent a preventive double mastectomy at 23. But she did have fear.

AVNER: When I was 12, my mom was diagnosed first with breast cancer, 10 months later it was ovarian cancer. So these diseases have stalked my family for years.

SAMBOLIN: Those fears were confirmed by genetic testing that showed she carried the same mutation that predisposes women to breast cancer, the one discovered in Angelina Jolie.

AVNER: The anxiety of just waiting to get cancer versus doing something to actually reduce my risk of developing it is what prompted me to make the decision to have the double mastectomy.

SAMBOLIN: Lindsay's organization, Bright Pink, advocates aggressive risk reduction. That makes sense in women with a gene mutation say many doctors. But deciding to remove healthy breast tissue in a woman without the gene is more complicated.

DR. SEEMA KHAN, BREAST SURGEON, NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: We really don't have any good evidence that removing a healthy breast will help a woman prolong her life or live a better life. So a lot of what drives those decisions is related to anxiety about a new tumor on the other side.

SAMBOLIN: A lumpectomy followed by radiation is the most common way to treat my type of breast cancer. The survival rates are similar to those who choose mastectomies. But I was not comfortable with so many suspicious areas on my scans.

(on camera): I want to show everybody the MRIs.

(voice over): I didn't want more biopsies, potentially missed cancers and years of anxiety and screenings. Would you recommended for me to have a double mastectomy?

DR. THOMAS WHITT, BREAST SURGEON, RUSH MEDICAL CENTER: Zoraida, I would recommend it to you only because that was your choice upon you're looking at all of the information that you looked at.

SAMBOLIN: Dr. Thomas Whitt counsels patients to make decisions based on facts, not fear. But that doesn't mean personal considerations won't play a role.

So the fear factor.

WHITT: One is the fear of having a cancer. Then there is the fear of the intervention, itself. There is the fear of losing your breast. What will my husband or boyfriend think about me? What will I think about myself? How will my sexuality be affected? And women that have a strong fear in that direction are more inclined to want to save their breasts unless they actually have a diagnosed cancer in it.

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SAMBOLIN: I have to say that one of the most empowering things through this entire process, Carol, is that I have been able to make these decisions based on all the information that's around me. As Dr. Whitt said at the end of the day, that's really what you want to do. You want to be able to gather all of the information that you have and then make the best decision that is right for you.

I also want to mention, we are going to have a CNN crew that's going to be following the surgery. And I'm going to share as much as I can what it's like to get through this procedure and to get on the other side of it and you know, whatever the results are once it's all complete.

COSTELLO: Wow, you are an incredibly brave woman. That's really, I mean, that's great of you. Because I'm sure there are so many other women out there struggling with the same decision that you struggled with.

So -- so tell me, how long will the surgery take and then when might you be back?

SAMBOLIN: Well, the surgery, itself, I'll probably be in surgery somewhere between four-and-a-half to five-and-a-half hours. And then I go into recovery for a couple of hours and then I finally get to see my family afterwards.

As far as returning, you know, that's a conversation that I've had with the doctor, but he's really skeptical to give me a date because he feels I'm going to hold him to it. He says anywhere between six and nine weeks. So I'm hoping sooner than later. I happen to think --

COSTELLO: No, you take it easy.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: No, no, no, you take it easy. We'll all be waiting for you. Do not worry.

SAMBOLIN: Thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate all the support, Carol. I appreciate you allowing me the opportunity to tell the story on your show as well.

COSTELLO: Any time. We will be following your story. Thank you so much, Zoraida Sambolin.

SAMBOLIN: Thank you.

COSTELLO: We'll be back in a minute.

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COSTELLO: Two men are in custody after their flight from Pakistan was diverted over England. A U.K. security source tells CNN, the incident involving a Pakistani international airlines flight was not terror- related. The men though are accused of endangering an aircraft.

Joining my phone from Stansted, England is CNN's Matthew Chance. Matthew, tell us more.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, (via telephone): Carol actually I'm going to have to correct that location because I'm actually in Manchester, which is the place where the plane from Lahore in Pakistan was originally meant to land. And it was actually diverted to Stansted which is about 200 miles away in the south of England with 297 passengers on board.

Quite dramatic it seems because British fighter jets were scrambled to escort the plane into Stansted Airport, which does indicate that obviously there were concerns about the security of the aircraft.

Now, I have been told by police on the ground here in Manchester that at least two people, two passengers on board that Pakistan Airlines flight from Lahore have now been taken into custody. We don't know what the situation was on board the flight, what they're accused of doing. But the rest of the passengers are safe. The plane is safely on the ground.

I'm here in the arrival hall of Manchester Airport. There's a lot of people, you know, friends and family and such like that were waiting for that plane to arrive. It was supposed to have arrived two hours ago, of course, it didn't. And so they have all been sort of confused and concerned about what was happening.

Some of them have spoken to their family members now that they're on the ground in Stansted. And one of them told me, look, you know, on the plane, we weren't aware that anything was happening. We weren't aware that there was any kind of security alert. We weren't even aware that we were being escorted by fighter jets. It all seemed perfectly normal except they landed in a different airport. So that was sort of what many of the passengers were telling me.

Now, within the past five minutes or so, the police, the British police have come to this arrivals hall and sort of escorted all of the friends and family waiting for the passengers to arrive here in Manchester, away to a secure location somewhere else in the airport to question them about their family members, about what they've heard and about what they know.

Obviously this is just the start of what could be a much wider investigation as to what happened on that flight from Lahore.

COSTELLO: Yes. Very curious, very curious. So you will remain on the story and we will get back to you throughout the day -- Matthew Chance reporting live from Manchester this morning.

Coming up next, we will go and take you back to Oklahoma, where this week's deadly tornado was again raising questions about storm shelters and whether the expense is worth it.

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COSTELLO: All right. I want to take you out to Annapolis, Maryland now to the U.S. Naval Academy where commencements ceremonies are just wrapping up. Just a short time ago, President Obama delivered the commencement address at the Naval Academy and he addressed the problems of sexual harassment and sexual abuse within the military.

Let's listen to what he said.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In our digital age, a single image from the battlefield of troops falling short of their standards can go viral and endanger our forces and undermine our efforts to achieve security and peace. Likewise, those who commit sexual assault are not committing a crime. They threaten the trust and discipline that makes our military strong. That's why we have to be determined to stop these crimes because they've got no place in the greatest military honor.

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COSTELLO: Important words delivered to the future leaders of our navy. We'll have much more on President Obama's speech at the U.S. Naval Academy in the hours to come on CNN.

But right now, we'd like to take you back to Oklahoma and Brooke Baldwin. Good morning again -- Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Carol, good morning. We are here, blue skies juxtaposed with the absolute destruction here on the ground. We've started to see some movement -- some insurance agents now out and about touring with some of the homeowners. But, you know, if there is anyone who understands what the survivors here in Moore are going through it is the folks who live in Joplin, Missouri. They are still struggling two years after the costliest tornado in U.S. history, absolutely devastated their community. And that is where we have Miguel Marquez live this morning in Joplin, Missouri. Miguel, good morning.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning there, Brooke. These two cities now share a very special bond. They're separated just by 224 miles as well. This where I'm standing was once a jam-packed FEMA trailer park or facility for people who were left homeless from the storm. It is shutting down next month. A handful of people left.

Two years on, most people have struggled to their feet here. There are some that are still trying to get on it.

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MARQUEZ: So it's Ashley Greer, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

MARQUEZ: And who do we have here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Cali and Reilly and Peyton and Addie and that is Chris.

MARQUEZ: The Greers jumping with joy, two years after the tornado, two years of living with relatives then in a FEMA trailer. The family has found home.

ASHLEY GREER, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I'm just so excited. I'm so excited. It's just -- it's been a long time coming. You know, we deserve it. And I couldn't be happier.

MARQUEZ: The new home, a short drive, in Galina, Kansas, Chris a plumber scrimped and saved, finally accepting donations and a lot of volunteer help transforming the fixer-upper. This place was completely --

ASHLEY GREER: Gutted. We have gutted it from top to bottom.

MARQUEZ: Oh wow. Their house in Joplin, one of thousands destroyed. After the storm, rentals were scarce and rents rose, the $600 rent they had been paying no longer existed. They decided to buy. Despite the wait, today, it seems a pretty good decision.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our room. Our room. Our walls.

MARQUEZ: This is where they had been living, a FEMA trailer park in Joplin. With the park closing in June, everyone must go. It has the feeling of a ghost town. But there are a few left.

ANGIE EDWARDS, TORNADO SURVIVOR: This is my couch that rolls out into a bed.

MARQUEZ: Angie Edwards a single mom to seven kids. Her home destroyed two years ago; last month, she lost her job -- finding a suitable rental with seven kids, not easy.

EDWARDS: When you tell them three and even four bedrooms, how many kids that you have, they will hang up on you.

MARQUEZ: Edwards will soon move to another location in emergency housing. Do you feel like people are looking down on you?

EDWARDS: Yes. They do. They do look down on you. You hear a lot of how are you still in a FEMA trailer?

MARQUEZ: For some here, picking up if pieces, incredibly difficult to do. But they are surviving. The Greer family hopes their days of just surviving are over. They move in this weekend.

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MARQUEZ: And now for Angie Edwards, the woman with seven children there, FEMA is going to donate that trailer she is in right now to a local agency and then she will be able to stay there up to another year before she will need to find something more permanent. So people figuring it out one little step at a time.

One other thing I hear from a lot of people across the landscape here is that, you know, Midwesterners are tough. They don't want to accept help. One thing they've had to learn through all of this is to accept help, not just give it -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: That's a great point. It's so true here in Oklahoma as well. Miguel Marquez thank you.

And Carol just a little reminder as we go back to you. Again, just the wind power of this Tornado here in Moore, Oklahoma, it's truly stunning the reality that these folks are facing. Back to you.

COSTELLO: All right. Thank you Brooke. Thanks Miguel. That will do it for me. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining us. "NEWSROOM" continues in one minute.

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