Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Obama Urged To Act On Racial Tension; Boston Victim's Road Ahead; Prosecutors Explain Their Case; Mexican Officials Arrest "Z- 40"; Scientist: Fossil Proves T-Rex Hunted; Hot, Hazy And Humid Across Country

Aired July 16, 2013 - 14:30   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- a conversation about race. Aren't we supposed to be having a conversation about race and not fighting about what happened in the past?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, Brooke --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The conversation is supposed to be about race then we need to have it in a civil way, Emily. We can't be yelling at people. That's what gets us in trouble in the first place.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brooke, my point is that there shouldn't -- I don't know why the media, why the NAACP is making this case about race.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: It's not the media. It's not the media. You are -- forgive me. It's my show. Hang tight there. There are people across the country who are clearly angry on both sides of the issue. I think there clearly is a need for some kind of reconciliation. We need to move forward.

My question, I wish I had the answer, is the how. One idea would be the president, but to your point, Emily, you know, it wasn't as successful from a lot of perspectives, that beer summit. Donna Brazile tweeted me, political strategist, CNN, she says should the president focus on a discussion on race? No, focus on jobs and opportunities for all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I agree.

BALDWIN: So if it's not the president, then who does?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love Donna, but I disagree. I think the president restores the conversation.

LAURA ASHBURN, DAILY DOWNLOAD FOUNDER, "DAILY BEAST" CONTRIBUTOR: He has already done this. He has done it by being the first African- American president. He has other things he needs to do. And I think what needs to happen is that people like me, like Emily, like others in the media and others who are grassroots politicians need to start it from the bottom. These are conversations. In this book Barack Obama says one conversation can change a life and it's people who are out there who are preaching for people to be sympathetic and for people to be understanding of other people. BALDWIN: Emily Miller, I'm going to give you the last word.

EMILY MILLER, SENIOR OPINION EDITOR, "THE WASHINGTON TIMES": I just want to go back to the point that the prosecution, the jury, and the FBI have all said that race played no role in the facts of this case, so anything that comes out of this that is race related is not coming from the jury, the prosecution, the FBI or the police.

BALDWIN: OK. We've got some work to do. Robert Franklin, Emily Miller, Lauren Ashburn, thank you all for the candid conversation. I love it, I invite it. Let's do it again.

Coming up next, a story you cannot miss. A woman who lost her leg in the Boston bombings tells CNN about her challenges at home dealing with her husband, her daughter all the while recovering. Her emotional story after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Three months after the attacks on the Boston marathon finish line, we're now taking you inside one woman's emotional recovery. Her name is Mary Daniel. She had just arrived at the finish line to cheer on the fellow runners when those bombs exploded. Daniel was critically injured. She lost her leg in that blast and now she's learning to walk again, learning to live again.

Poppy Harlow is following Daniel's progress for us and to keep us updated throughout the year. But first, here is her report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you feeling?

MERY DANIEL, BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING SURVIVOR: Excited.

HARLOW (voice-over): Excited because Mery Daniel is getting something she's waited and waited for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to bring this back a little bit.

HARLOW: At just 31 she's been to hell and back.

DANIEL: The moment I got there, that's when I heard the blast.

HARLOW: Her heart stopped twice while doctors were amputating her left leg.

DANIEL: I just woke up and my leg wasn't there anymore.

HARLOW: The blast nearly took the life of someone who embodies the American dream. Mery came here from Haiti at 17 and went to medical school abroad, got married, and gave birth to a beautiful little girl. Now she's learning to live again.

DANIEL: How are you?

HARLOW: Comforting her daughter who has a hard time understanding.

DANIEL: At first she was afraid of the leg.

HARLOW (on camera): Really?

DANIEL: Yes. She didn't want to come near it. She didn't want to touch it. She didn't want to have anything to do with it.

HARLOW: How has it changed your relationship with your husband?

DANIEL: I think it brought us closer. He is more understanding now and I think I'm more understanding, too. We fight less.

HARLOW (voice-over): Support has poured in. Online a fund started to raise money for Mery's mounting medical bills. At the school where her father drives a bus, children walk in Mery's honor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm almost there.

HARLOW: She takes each step with determination after losing her left leg and part of her right calf.

DANIEL: I don't mind people staring. That's the new me now and I have to be comfortable.

HARLOW: She's found an inner strength that even surprises her.

DANIEL: Sometimes you don't know the limits with how far you can go until you're tested.

HARLOW: It's that mental strength that's critical in recovery. As she puts her new leg on it hurts, feels heavy and awkward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is something hurting you?

DANIEL: My knee.

HARLOW: She has trouble bending the knee and is scared of falling, but she doesn't.

DANIEL: It's hopeful like I'm going to be able to walk and do things that I want to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I describe myself as the last responder.

HARLOW: Dr. Crandell is leading Mery's rehabilitation.

DR. DAVID CRANDELL, SPAULDING REHABILITATION HOSPITAL: There's also the realization that there's actually a lot of hard work and that they really need continued rehabilitation.

HARLOW: That rehabilitation lasts a lifetime.

CRANDELL: This is the most stable.

HARLOW: And that's how long Dr. Crandell plans to be by Mery's side, as does fellow amputee and paralympian, Bonnie St. John.

BONNIE ST. JOHN, PARALYMPIAN: She's like a hero to me. She's an American hero.

HARLOW: Who's helped Mery see that losing a leg doesn't mean losing your life.

DANIEL: I look at things for how they are and the positive in things. When you get to do that, you get to see the beauty in life.

HARLOW: Around her neck, a reminder from a fellow survivor, never, never, never give up.

DANIEL: It's like that survival mechanism that we have as humans, like we have to go forward. I think that's what's awakening in me right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Poppy Harlow, I'm so glad you're following her story. What an amazing woman. What is next for her?

HARLOW: She is an amazing woman. She puts everything in perspective. So she just sent me a message today, Brooke. She's still working on walking. It's tough. The leg is really heavy. She has a long way to go there, but then she says it's time to study. Remember, she just graduated medical school. She's determined to pass the boards and become a family practice doctor. She wants to do something different now.

She said wants to help motivate people, be a motivational speaker just like Bonnie St. John is because she was so helped through this by her. She also told me a story that really stuck with me. She said I love to wear dresses. I wear them. Then people stare at my leg and they stare at my injuries, but I don't care and I'm not going to stop wearing them. I'm going to stand up and be who I am. She said you never know how strong you are until you have no choice but to be. And that is something to remember. We're going to keep going to Boston, keep visiting her all year.

BALDWIN: Please do. I was just on my day off walking down Boylston Street Sunday morning. We will never, ever forget. Poppy Harlow, thank you very much.

Coming up next, HLN's Vinnie Politan got an exclusive interview with Angela Corey and Bernie De La Rionda, the prosecutors in the George Zimmerman trial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINNIE POLITAN, HOST, HLN'S "AFTER DARK": I've had a little bit of time to reflect. Was that your A Game? Was that your best? How did you feel about your own performance?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: How did they answer? That's coming up next with Vinnie.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: There is no arguing with some of the most emotional moments for the past couple of weeks. The parents of 17-year-old TRAYVON MARTIN listening to witnesses, sitting there in the courtroom, seeing the evidence presented. So why weren't his parents inside that courtroom in Sanford, Florida, when that verdict was read? Host of HLN "After Dark," Vinnie Politan asked Florida State Attorney Angela Corey that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINNIE POLITAN, HLN HOST, "AFTER DARK": Trayvon Martin's parents weren't there. Did you know they weren't going to be there?

ANGELA COREY, FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY: Yes. I had talked to is Sybrina earlier that day. She had gone home. I think they had been so strong throughout the entire thing. They sat in the courtroom and showed very little emotion, and I don't know how they did that, but I could feel her breaking point when the defense attorney got up and showed a picture of her young, very thin son trying to make him look like a muscle bound monster. And I could felt her behind me get up and leave the courtroom and basically after that I don't think she could take much more of them assailing her son, trying the victim in a case where he was an unarmed teenager just walking home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Vinnie Politan joins us now. You sat down just yesterday morning in Jacksonville, Angela Corey, Bernie De La Rionda, and let's just be clear to all of you watching. This was before CNN got the interviews with Juror B37, with Rachel Jeantel. So they didn't have that in their minds when you were asking them about what they thought of the witnesses, what they thought of the jurors.

POLITAN: Right.

BALDWIN: What did they tell you?

POLITAN: Well, you know, one thing that kept coming up from Bernie De La Rionda was we don't get to pick our witnesses. And, you know, I asked him about, you know, Investigator Serino, the lead investigator whose testimony clearly helped the defense.

BALDWIN: Yes.

POLITAN: And they were very tactful in the way they answered the questions, but the bottom line kept coming back to we don't pick our witnesses. They are who they are.

BALDWIN: It's what he didn't say that sort of answered the question.

POLITAN: I think so. I think so. Whatever's happening internally there, we know that Bernie De La Rionda, Angela Corey's office comes over, takes over the investigation. So Serino and local people were pushed out although Serino had already given it to the state attorney in his jurisdiction. But the bottom line was people that usually help you weren't necessarily helping you.

BALDWIN: Right especially the lead investigator.

POLITAN: Yes. I believe him. That's the end of the case.

BALDWIN: Right.

POLITAN: If you believe George Zimmerman, end of the case.

BALDWIN: Right. What about how Bernie De La Rionda talked to you about how he feels like his team did in this trial? Let's watch that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLITAN: You've had a little bit of time to reflect. Was that your A game? Was that your best? How did you feel about your own performance?

BERNIE DE LA RIONDA, ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY: I thought I did a good job. I'm not, quite frankly, used to losing, and so I'm going to -- over my mind I'm going to critique this over and over. I'm still doing that probably, but I thought we did the best we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Not used to losing, critiquing.

POLITAN: Here's the thing. This is before, right, Anderson spoke with the --

BALDWIN: Juror.

POLITAN: -- with the juror. He is -- what is going on? He says, you know, he wanted to know, have you heard from the jury. He wanted to know. He wanted to understand why they didn't understand his case. He usually wins. Didn't win this one, you know.

BALDWIN: So he's still sitting there perplexed running it over through his head. I know there's going to be more from that interview tonight, "After Dark," 10:00 p.m. Eastern, HLN. Vinnie Politan, we'll be there. Thank you very much.

POLITAN: Thanks so much.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, we will go to Mexico. Military helicopter corners a small pickup truck. Inside this truck, eight weapons, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, $2 million in cash. One of Mexico's most wanted men, the ruthless leader of a drug cartel trapped. What happened next? We'll tell you in 2 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Big news in New Mexico, they captured one of its meanest, drug thugs, the purported head of the drug cartel, the Zetas. Take a look. This is in Mexico City early Monday morning, the end of a frenzied operation to get this guy under wraps. He's known as Z-40. He's wanted for all kinds of crimes in Mexico including hundreds of murders. Z-40 also is known in the United States. His given name is Miguel Angel Trevino Morales.

Coming up, more of the exclusive CNN interview from Juror B37 in the George Zimmerman trial including how the jurors interacted with one another.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the girls said -- asked if you can put all the leading things into that one moment where he feels it's a matter of life or death to shoot this boy or if it was just at the heat of passion at that moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The hottest stories in a flash. Rapid fire, roll it.

At this hour, the U.S. Senate is preparing for debate on one of the president's cabinet nominees after a deal was reached this morning to preserve the filibuster declaring the senate, I'm quoting, "broken" because of Republicans repeated use of the filibuster 60 vote threshold. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had threatened a procedural end run to prove nominees by simple majority vote.

Scientists now have evidence that the Tyrannosauros Rex really was the scary hunting predator like we all saw in the movie "Jurassic Park." Kind of obvious to you and me, perhaps, but scientists thought T-Rex was too big, too slow to hunt. Nice little T-Rex, maybe not. Researchers at the University of Kansas discovered a T-Rex tooth in the fossilized tail of a smaller dinosaur. It conclusively puts the T-Rex at the top of the Dino food chain.

A space walk on the International Space Station cut short today after one astronaut discovered a problem with the space suit. The Italian astronaut found water floating inside his head inside his helmet. They made it safely back inside the space station. NASA will reschedule the space walk.

Coming up next, a heat wave rocking the northeast that includes New York's Times Square and our correspondent Anna Coren who apparently drew the short straw today covering the heat. We're coming to you, Anna Coren, in 2 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you are one of the unlucky ones at the moment and you're outside or heading outside, you're going to be feeling the heat. Anna Coren is in the heat of things in Times Square. How are people coping? How are you, my friend? How are you dealing with this heat?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Brooke. Yes, no, we are only just coping. It is exceptionally warm out here. I'll tell you, the heat is stifling. I can literally feel it coming off the pavement for the several hours that we have now been out here reporting on the heat wave. The people behind me I feel very sorry for them. They are cuing up for a Broadway play they desperately want to see.

We appreciate when the clouds come away. As you say, a heat wave advisory has been issued to the northeast of the country as well as the Midwest. Right now in Times Square, it's about 93 degrees although with the humidity it probably feels like triple digits. We spoke with a couple of people and this is what they said with how they're coping with the heat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is sweat on just about every inch of my body. So it's pretty gross, pretty disgusting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're from Minnesota so we're used to extremes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some like it hot. I like it hot, maybe not all of us, but some of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: Now, Brooke, we've done the right thing. We've moved into the shade, which is very logical, as these people have. As you can see, behind me in Times Square, it's a lot cooler here. We have to use common sense. Drink lots of water. Keep out of the sun. Wear sun screen. Look out for the elderly. They are obviously the most vulnerable. But power companies, Brooke, say that we should try and conserve on electricity, very difficult to do today considering air conditioning units will be working well and truly overtime as they try to escape the heat including me.

BALDWIN: Good luck with that. I must say you look lovely. You are glistening. I on the other hand would not be cute sweating. Anna Coren is for us in Times Square.

COREN: I think that's called something else.

BALDWIN: Thank you very much. And now this --

COREN: Thank you.