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Juror Says Martin Had Role In Own Death; Obama Limits Comments On Zimmerman; Will Stand Your Ground Be Repealed in Florida?

Aired July 17, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: -- people in the Northeast are asking right now, when will the heat end? We'll try to have an answer.

This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. The only juror to speak publicly about the George Zimmerman trial has just released a new statement to CNN. The woman known as juror B37 spoke earlier and in an exclusive interview with our Anderson Cooper in a new statement, she says this, and let me quote, "Thank you for the opportunity to vent some of the anguish which has been in me since the trial began. For reasons of my own, I needed to speak alone. There will be no other interviews. My prayers are with all of those who have influence and power to modify the laws that left me with no verdict option other than not guilty in order to remain within the instructions. No other family should be forced to endure what the Martin family has endured."

And she goes on to say this, "As for the alleged book deal, there is not one at this time. There was an agreement with a literary agent to explore the concept of a book which discussed the impact of sequestration on my perceptions of the serious case while being compared to perceptions of an attorney who was closely following the trial from outside the bubble. The relationship with the agent ceased the moment I realized what had been occurring in the world during the weeks of my sequestration. My prayers are with Trayvon's parents for their loss as they have always been. I now wish for me and my family to recover from being selected for this jury and return to a normal life. God bless."

In her interview with Anderson Cooper, the juror, B37, says, George Zimmerman was justified in shooting Trayvon Martin. Here is part of the interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER 360": George Zimmerman obviously did not testify. But his testimony essentially was brought into the trial through throws videotapes, a number of videotapes that he walked police through a reenactment of what he said happen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes.

COOPER: How important were those videotapes to you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't really know because, I mean, watching the tapes, you can -- there's always something in the back saying, is it -- is it right? Is it consistent? But with all of the evidence of the phone calls and all of the witnesses that he saw, I think George was pretty consistent in what -- and told the truth, basically. I'm sure there were some fabrications, enhancements but I think pretty much it happened the way George said it happened.

COOPER: Would you like to have heard Zimmerman testify? Would you like to have seen him on the stand so he could be cross-examined?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it would have done any -- been any different. I don't -- I don't think he -- I think he's -- he would have told the story the same exact way.

COOPER: So, you don't think him being on the stand being cross- examined would have made any different?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think it would. I really don't.

COOPER: Do you think the state overcharged by going for second-degree murder? Do you think if they had gone into it, started off opening statements saying, manslaughter, it might have made a difference in terms of the end result?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It wouldn't have made a difference if they gave us the same paperwork they gave us. They gave us the laws and we went by the laws and that's how we found him innocent. If they would have given us manslaughter and everything that was attached to it, it would have come out the exact same way.

COOPER: Do you hope you never serve on a jury again?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I told them that. After the -- after we had polled and gone downstairs, I said -- they said, is there anything that anybody wants to add to this? And I said, can I get out of jury duty for the rest of my life? And the one girl said, well, you can for a year. I think I should get out of jury duty for the rest of my life.

COOPER: Can you tell me just a little bit about that last day in the jury room deliberating? I mean, you went for so long. Did you know you were close?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are knew we were close. We knew we were close five hours before we got to where we were because we were slowly making progress the entire time. We didn't come to a stumbling block. We were just reading and reading and reading and reading and knew we were progressing.

COOPER: And did the jurors, did you all get along well? I mean, was there conflict? Was there -- how did the deliberation process, how was being together this long?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The deliberation was -- it was tough. We all pretty much get along. It's hard sometimes to let other people talk, you know, at one time and then have somebody else talk instead of adding your comments to whatever they were saying trying to help figure out what we were trying to figure out. At times, I thought we might have a hung jury because one of them said they were going to leave. And we convinced them, no, you can't leave. You can't do this. You have been in this too long to walk out now.

COOPER: They were going to leave for personal reasons, family reasons?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes.

COOPER: When you lay your head tonight on the pillow, in your heart and in your head, you are 100 percent convinced that George Zimmerman in taking out his gun and pulling the trigger did nothing wrong?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm 101 percent that he was -- that he should have done what he did except for the things that he did before.

COOPER: You mean he shouldn't have got on oust the car, he shouldn't have pursued Trayvon Martin but in the final analysis, in the final struggle --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When the end came to the end --

COOPER: He was justified.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was justified in shooting Trayvon Martin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: The juror's comments certainly have raised lots of eyebrows including those of her fellow jurors. Late last night four of the five other members of the panel sent this statement distancing themselves from her public comments. Let me put it up on the screen. We the undersigned jurors understand there is a great deal of interest in the case but we ask you to remember that we are not public officials and we did not invite this type of attention into our lives. We also wish to point out that the opinions of juror B37 expressed on the Anderson Cooper show were her own and not in any way representative of the jurors listed below. The jurors identified themselves only by their jury pool numbers and not by their names. Let's get some perspective on what's going on on the jury comments and the fallout from the verdict in the Zimmerman trial.

Let's bring in Judge Glenda Hatchett, former chief presiding judge of the Fulton County juvenile court in Atlanta, host of the Judge Hatchet T.V. court show. Also joining us, Mark NeJame, the Criminal Defense Attorney and CNN Legal Analyst. Judge, what do you make of the comments by juror B37 about Zimmerman being justified, 101 percent in her words, in shooting Trayvon Martin?

GLENDA HATCHETT, JUDGE, FORMER FULTON COUNTY JUVENILE COURT, ATLANTA, GEORGIA: I am still struggling with this verdict, Wolf. And it's no secret that I have always said that I thought that the prosecution didn't meet the burden on second-degree murder, but I thought that there should have been a conviction on manslaughter. But to really put more of this now on Trayvon Martin, in her interview, she talks about the fact that he could have avoided this, he could've run away. Also, Zimmerman could have avoided this by this not getting -- following him, getting out of the car that night. And I feel strongly that he would not have gotten out of the car had he not had a gun, which opens up a whole other conversation for us.

BLITZER: Yes, the point, though, being though that even though he disobeyed, if you will, or rejected the advice of the 911 operator, that was not necessarily illegal --

HATCHETT: It was not.

BLITZER: -- what he did.

HATCHETT: It was not.

BLITZER: It was a -- you know, a public area, if you will.

HATCHETT: It was absolutely not illegal for him to disobey instructions. I agree with that. But I think that we really are going to have to have a very different conversation in this nation, Wolf, about what this means. Although they did not assert stand your ground, the jury certainly was instructed on stand your ground and the question for me has always been in this case, could he have retreated? Could he have avoided this? Did it really have to come down to an argument about self-defense in this case?

BLITZER: I'm curious, Mark, what you think about these four other jurors. There were six women on the jury. We heard in the Anderson Cooper interview with one of them, but four others -- not all five, four of them put out their statement apparently wanting to distance themselves from what this one juror, B37, had to say. What do you make of that?

MARK NEJAME, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, there's so much attention that attaches to this case, passions run so high that I think that if they have a voice, they want it to be their own and not to have it come from somebody else who has their own individual perceptions. So, that doesn't really surprise me. I am very impressed, though, with what Judge Hatchett just had to say. She's right on point. The challenge we've got is that this particular jury truly followed the law. They did not make a moral decision. They made a legal decision based upon the jury instructions that were given to them. And that's what we need to address. If -- the public and the legislatures need to understand that the law is the law. And even though we might disagree with something morally, spiritually or otherwise, we are a court of laws.

HATCHETT: Yes.

NEJAME: And I have a hard time with the public going after jurors when they are -- that's our system.

HATCHETT: I agree.

NEJAME: And if -- now, if we start having a system where jurors are intimidated --

HATCHETT: Right.

NEJAME: -- to sit on a jury or they're going to make decisions based upon public opinion, we're going to hell in a hand basket as a country and our democracy quickly.

HATCHETT: Oh, absolutely. I couldn't agree with you more.

NEJAME: Thank you, Glenda.

HATCHETT: Particularly when we have highly visible publicized juries that are being -- that jurors are really out front and out centered. But I also worry, too, the other side of that is that I don't want jurors really trying to get on a jury, maybe not being completely truthful in the -- in the examination process of being a juror, thinking that they're going to have instant fame and are going to be interviewed and are going to have book deals and that troubles me, too. But I (INAUDIBLE) --

NEJAME: Me, too, judge. Thank you, judge. In fact, after the Casey Anthony verdict, I proposed legislation in Florida that died in committee with Scott Randolph who was the state legislator, now he has a state position, so that no juror could make money for six months after they served their jury duty. They could talk, but what happened is somebody would talk before somebody could get money and that would kill future money deals. That would be the best way, in my opinion, to stopping a stealth juror. Doesn't impede on the first amendment rights because people are free to talk. They just can't get pay for it for six months after their service.

HATCHETT: One more reason I adore you. That is absolutely so wonderful.

NEJAME: Thank you. It died after Casey -- it died after Casey Anthony and hopefully with this, we can at least resurrect that have some good come out of this bit of a mess that we find ourselves in. But if we just ignore it and keep doing the same thing, you know, what's the definition of insanity? Continuing the same behavior and expecting the different results.

HATCHETT: Absolutely.

BLITZER: You know, judge, what worries me is these six women on the jury, to a lot of folks out there, and you know this and Mark knows this, their decision, not guilty, unanimous decision, obviously, is -- was not popular,. And they feel, to a certain degree threatened. They don't want to go public, they don't want their names released. They don't want their faces well known. And that sends a pretty awful signal out there that people can do their civic responsibility, sit on a jury, but then for the -- for weeks, if not months or even sometimes the rest of their lives, they have to worry about some nut out there wanting to get even, if you will. How worried are you, judge, about that?

HATCHETT: I am really concerned about that because it's not fair. People are called to jury duty. It is their civic responsibility. They did what they believed they had to do. I disagree with the verdict, but I was not one of the jurors. And our system says that these six women came to a decision, that is the decision, and that is what we have to live with. But for us to target -- not us but for people in this nation to somehow target them, harass them, make their lives miserable is absolutely intolerable. And I would urge us as a nation to understand that they did what they felt they had to do and that we should respect that and support their privacy.

BLITZER: Glenda Hatchett, Judge Hatchett, --

NEJAME: (INAUDIBLE.)

BLITZER: -- well said. But give us a final thought very quickly, Mark.

NEJAME: Well, I just got to add that, you know, this is a microcosm of what the judge and I have seen every day in courtrooms.

HATCHETT: Yes, yes.

NEJAME: Every single case, there's a loser and a winner. 50 percent of the people in every case are unhappy. So, let's do something about it rather than complain endlessly. We've got an opportunity to adjust mandatory minimum sentences, 10, 20, life laws --

HATCHETT: Right.

NEJAME: -- which just completely take the discretion out of the judge when you have mitigating circumstances. We have an opportunity to address the issue of a stealth juror not getting paid. Let's address them and then move forward and leave something positive to the legacy of the death of Trayvon Martin and this case. Rather than just finding ourselves tomorrow having another Trayvon Martin situation --

HATCHETT: Yes.

NEJAME: -- or another situation where the nation's divided. It makes no sense.

HATCHETT: Absolutely.

BLITZER: All right, good discussion. Guys, thanks very much. Judge Hatchett, as usual, Mark NeJame, thanks to you as well.

NEJAME: Thank you.

BLITZER: There's still a lot more fallout for the George Zimmerman trial four days after the verdict. Civil rights groups are planning nationwide vigils and more than a million people have already signed a petition calling for federal charges against Zimmerman. In a speech to the NAACP, the attorney general, Eric Holder, was careful not to promise he'd file federal charges but he stood by his pledge of a full investigation into the Zimmerman case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: As we confirmed last spring, the Justice Department has an open investigation into it. Now, while that inquiry is ongoing, I can promise that the Department of Justice will consider all available information before determining what action to take. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: President Obama hasn't said very much in the wake of the George Zimmerman acquittal. Beyond releasing a press release written statement right after the decision the verdict came out. For Spanish language, affiliates interviewed the president. They didn't ask him one question about the Zimmerman verdict.

Joining us now is our Chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin. Jessica, even though the president's attorney general has blasted what's called the stand your ground laws, the president has not yet made any verbal, any comments about it, about the George Zimmerman case, other than that written statement Trayvon Martin. What's go on behind the scenes over at the White House?

JESSICA YELLIN, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESOPNDENT: Wolf, look, they -- they think of the courts -- we all know that the courts are a separate branch of government and area the president doesn't on first blush want to wade in and any way look like he's questioning the decision of a jury. In fact, in the immediate aftermath of the verdict, the president, as you point out, did issue a statement and in part that statement said this,

"the death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy, not just for his family or for any one community but America. I know this case has elicited strong passions and in the wake of the verdict the passions may be running higher, but we are a nation of laws and a jury has spoken. I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection for two parents have lost their young son. We should ask ourselves if we are doing all we can to stem the tide of gun violence that claims too many lives across the country on a daily basis. We should ask ourselves, as individuals and as a society, how we can prevent future tragedies like this."

Wolf, he's not commented on camera since that statement has gone out. He has not made any comments about Trayvon Martin or George Zimmerman on camera since the verdict. This is a bit of a no-win situation for the president politically. On the one hand, you know, his supporters in many -- most core passionate supporters would like for him to speak out about racial -- their views this was an instance of racial profiling, that there is still deep racism in the country. And on the other hand there are many people who feel that that would be politicizing a case that doesn't deserve it. And so, for the leader of the nation, especially as the first black president it's a bit of a tricky spot. And I think that they're trying to choose their time and moment carefully.

BLITZER: I know the president did sit down for four television interviews yesterday, Jessica, with Spanish-speaking TV stations, Hispanic anchors who questioned the president and based on what I heard the president was fully ready to discuss the verdict but no one asked him about that which was pretty surprising to White House officials, certainly surprising to me.

YELLIN: Yes. And my sources tell me he was fully ready to answer the questions, and expected to get them. And you know, there were no ground rules, meaning the reporters were not told you may not ask this question. So, the questions apparently just didn't come up.

The Hispanic language stations were focused on immigration reform and the president made news on immigration instead of Trayvon Martin. He said he would veto a House bill that doesn't include a path to citizenship. He made news there. But not on Trayvon Martin.

Wolf I will say this. I expect the president to come before cameras and speak on this issue at some point. I've not been told that by sources, I just have covered this building long enough. I've covered this president. This is an issue he's spoken on before. He's addressed race. He's addressed these issues. I believe at some point he will have to wade into the issue and speak on it. So, it's just a question of when.

BLITZER: I'm sure he will. Let's not forget a year or so ago, more than a year ago, he made that public comment saying that, I'm paraphrasing, to the effect that if he had a son that son would look like Trayvon Martin. So, I'm sure the president has strong views on what's go on in this case, on the stand your ground law and other stuff. We'll see when he makes those comments before television cameras. I agree with you, probably sooner rather than later. Jessica, over at the White House, thanks.

Here's what else we're working on this hour, you know it's hot out there especially here in the northeast. Not just you. One major city today, it's going to feel like 110 degrees. The heat wave is crashing. We're going to tell you where.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: A heat wave hitting northeast is going to get even stronger today if you can believe that. It will actually feel like 110 degrees in Philadelphia. So many New Yorkers have cranked up the air- conditioning, they're close to setting a new record for electricity usage. The ozone levels are expected to go to code orange here in Washington, D.C.

Emily Schmidt is ioining us now, she in Washington, Chad Myers is standing by at the CNN weather center in Atlanta. Emily, even though it's a scorcher, lots of people still have to work outside and it's by no means easy.

EMILY SCHMIDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, not at all. It's 123 degrees right standing on this sidewalk here. You know that saying if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen? Not advice you can follow when your livelihood is working out of one of these food trucks. They are doing what they can to stay cool here, but it's almost a losing battle.

Here at this cupcake truck they've got a fan set up. It's more difficult, about two trucks down. It's a Korean barbecue truck. We were down there at 10:00 when they were starting to cook. They were trying to work over a grill. We used a heat gun to measure it, 174 degrees above it. Tough job for them today but they say it's what they have to do. It's not better 13 stories up, that's where we went to a rooftop and found a construction crew trying to get a break when they were on 118-degree temperatures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAM BERRY CONSTRUCTION WORKER: : At least we do have a little bit of shade right here that we can be under right now right in the in the direct sunlight. In the building where there's no air movement, it's terrible. It's hot. You sweating all day constantly.

SCHMIDT: If you came here in January would you be complaining about the weather, too?

BERRY: No, I can always put on clothes.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHMIDT: It's also so hot that that construction crew decided not to put down tar today. Too hot for that. I was going to catch up with a roofing crew but they called me this morning and said, no, you can't do so. They decided to give the crew the day off because it was simply too hot to be up on a roof doing a job of working with shingles. Of course you know in Washington, D.C., it's not all about work this time of year. Tourism is a major industry. People on top of those double-decker buses you see going around town, 124 degrees in the blazing sun.

BLITZER: It's hot out there, indeed. Chad, what's causing this heat wave?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A big bubble of high pressure that won't leave. Finally a cold front comes through on Saturday, Wolf, but it's going to be until then before we get any relief. It feels like 100 degrees in Atlantic City now, 98 in New York. 99 in Fredericksburg.

Now, you have to understand, this is a 1:00 temperature. We have three more hours of heat to go before this finally cools down whatsoever. The much-above normal temperatures across the east coast. Way below normal, a lot of rain across west Texas. They'll take it because it's been a drought out there. And that's where the change is taking place. Big changes. You have to wait this out. The problem, one of the problems this morning was that it didn't even get down below 80 in New York City. That was the low temperature of the day. So, tomorrow we go to 98. Friday, 96. And then boom, cold front. Back into the 80s. Boston, look at this, into the 70s by next week. Take some patience, it's coming but it's a long 72 hours before that cold front gets there.

BLITZER: 80s and 70s sounding good now to us who are suffering in the 90s and beyond. All right, Chad. Thanks very much.

Some 30 states have stand your ground laws and now a lot of folks out there want that changed. We're going to take a closer look to see if that possibly could happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVIE WONDER, SINGER: Until the stand your ground law is abolished in Florida, I will never perform there again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: You heard right, the legendary singer Stevie Wonder telling an audience in Quebec, he's refusing to give concerts in Florida until that state repeals its stand your ground law. That's the self-defense law the jury in the Zimmerman case was asked to consider in its decision. Stevie Wonder didn't mention the George Zimmerman case directly by name.

He certainly isn't the only person calling for the repeal of stand your ground. The U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder, says the law causes dangerous conflict in neighborhoods and Florida's Senate leader has called for the reexamination of the law.

Some 30 states actually have stand your ground laws. They allow people fearing for their lives to use deadly force without having to retreat from confrontation even if it's possible. Florida was the first state to enact the self-defense law back in 2005. Since then, it's been copied in some form by so many of these other states.

Joining us now is the "Miami Herald" political reporter Mark Caputo. Mark has written an article about stand your ground. He says despite calls for it to be repealed, that's very unlikely. Why do you think it's unlikely, Mark?

MARK CAPUTO, "THE MIAMI HERALD": Well, you have to think about politics. Politics it's never having to say your sorry. Republican legislature says the law works well. The violent crime rate has decreased. The homicide rate has not only decreased since 2005 and this coincides with loosening gun laws and increasing number of concealed weapons permits. On its face they don't see the data the justifies it. Certainly there's other data out there that gun control proponents would cite, but it's a Republican legislature.