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Detroit Declares Bankruptcy; New Photos Released of Tsarnaev Arrest; Heat Wave Rages On; Crews Battle California Wildfires; Protesters Stage Sit-In in Rick Scott's Office; Witness Found Dead

Aired July 19, 2013 - 11:00   ET

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

MICHAELA PEREIRA, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": That's the focus of a House veterans affairs committee hearing right now on Capitol Hill.

It comes in the wake of reports of thousands of men and women in the armed services being victims of sexual attacks. Today's hearing is focusing on safety, care and treatment for victims.

And the city of Detroit has filed for bankruptcy, making it the largest city in U.S. history to do so. Michigan's governor will join us live to talk about that this hour.

The director of the NSA says the government has solid proof that terrorists are utilizing the information leaked by Edward Snowden. Keith Alexander says terrorists are making changes and taking actions that will make our job harder as a result of Snowden's disclosure of secret government documents.

Snowden remains holed up in the Moscow airport and has filed for -- applied, rather, for temporary asylum in Russia.

Massive layoffs in the Chicago public school system being called a bloodbath. The city's teachers union announced last night that more than 2,000 teachers and staff are losing their jobs amid a massive budget deficit. Those affected are being given notice by school principals today.

A typical day at Little League turns tragic. An eight-year-old boy died after being hit in the neck with a baseball.

Dylan Williams was covering first base, apparently didn't realize someone had thrown the ball to him. He collapsed and later died at the hospital.

In his honor, the Dylan Williams Foundation has been set up at Pacesetter Bank in Union City, Indiana.

Actor Wesley Snipes, scheduled to be released from a halfway house today, he served three years in federal prison after being convicted on tax charges in February 2012. Once he is out of the halfway house, he still has to complete a year of supervised probation.

All right, check out this spectacular, but very accidental fireworks show. An Indiana store goes up in flames, forcing firefighters to dodge explosions from all direction as they battled that blaze. No one, thankfully, was in the store when it caught fire. We're told no firefighters reported injured. Authorities are now investigating the cause.

There is no let-up this morning in the outrage over the controversial "Rolling Stone" magazine cover. Have you seen it? Showing what critics denounce as a glamorized version of accused Boston bombing -- Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

But nothing compares to what you see here. These are raw, graphic photos of Tsarnaev at the time of his capture back in April, hands up, bloodied face.

That red dot you see on his forehead? From a sniper's rifle, laser sight glowing brightly there on his forehead. There you can see it.

Jason Carroll tells us who released these stunning photos, why, and the reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These new photos showing a much different picture of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, captured by police, a bloody face, hands up, the laser from a sniper rifle trained on his forehead, a vastly different image from the one depicted in the controversial "Rolling Stone" cover.

Massachusetts state police Sergeant Sean Murphy says he was so angry with "Rolling Stone's" cover he released these new photographs to "Boston Magazine."

The police tactical photographer told the magazine, quote, "What 'Rolling Stone' did was wrong. The guy is evil. This is the real Boston bomber, not someone fluffed and buffed for the cover of 'Rolling Stone.'"

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that's the real face of terror. I agree with him, 100 percent.

CARROLL: "Boston Magazine's" editor told CNN Murphy thought the cover sent the wrong message.

JOHN WOLFSON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "BOSTON MAGAZINE" (via telephone): I think he was genuinely worried about the impact on the family and victims, and I think he was also worried that certain impressionable victims might be lured to replicate that by the kind of glamorous- looking photo that's on the "Rolling Stone" cover.

CARROLL: Tsarnaev's first public appearance since his arrest was in court last week. He pleaded not guilty to 30 federal charges, including four killings.

While images like these are already having an impact, some say the focus is all wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they should focus the attention on the brave people and the people who lost their lives, not the monster who caused it all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: Jason Carroll joins us now. Jason, good to have you with us.

Other than Sergeant Murphy's anger over that cover, the controversial cover on "Rolling Stone," were there any other reasons that he cited for releasing these photos?

CARROLL: Well, again, the sergeant felt as though the original image that was put on the cover of "Rolling Stone" was hurtful to the victims.

And he wanted to try to find some way -- even though apparently he was conflicted about it, he wanted to try to find a way to be helpful to the victims. That's why he wanted to publish the pictures that we now see that have been put out in "Boston Magazine."

PEREIRA: And likely he knew he was going to face some heat from his bosses.

CARROLL: Oh, yeah.

PEREIRA: What has the reaction been? I know he was relieved of duty for a day, and there's some sort of investigation happening, correct?

CARROLL: Right. There's an internal investigation. The results of that should happen sometimes at least maybe next week when they have a hearing that he is going to have to attend.

There are a lot of options that are on the table here. He could face disciplinary action, he could be fired, you know, but I think if you listen to what the people in Boston are saying, as you know, they're very close to their first responders there in Boston.

I would be surprised if he was fired. I think disciplinary action is something that is definitely on the table here.

PEREIRA: Yeah, a lot of strong emotions, for sure, in light of that. Jason Carroll, thanks so much. Great report.

Joining us is our expert legal team. We have Beth Karas, a former New York City district attorney and prosecutor, and defense attorney Danny Cevallos. Good to have you both with us.

Beth, let's start with you. Good or bad move to release these photos?

BETH KARAS, FORMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY AND PROSECUTOR: Well, look, he shouldn't have done it because, administratively, they have procedures. There's a discovery process. He shouldn't have done it.

He's going to be disciplined in some way, maybe no more than the one day he's been relieved of duty.

But he didn't compromise the case at all by releasing these photos He didn't do damage to the case.

There's plenty of information out there that's already maybe prejudiced a potential jury pool. This isn't going to have a further effect. It's already out there.

So I think that in weighing the damage done by releasing the photos, the Massachusetts state police will take it into account and probably not give him much of a penalty.

PEREIRA: Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how they do react.

Danny, let's bring you in and talk. You're a defense attorney. If you were defending Tsarnaev, would these photos help or hurt your case as you're building it?

DANNY CEVALLOS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yeah, I don't think they're -- sometimes when discovery is released, it's critical and affects the outcome of a case. This is probably not that situation.

All these photographs show is the condition of Tsarnaev when he gets out of the boat. I don't know that there's much to be parlayed there in terms of defense strategy.

However, it's all discovery that's going to be disclosed ultimately anyway. It'd be the kind of thing that, if the prosecution failed to disclose it, well, that would create a glaring issue to what else they're withholding.

However, in terms of affecting the outcome of the case, other than violating internal procedures, it's doubtful that this is something that's going to have some critical import on this particular defense.

PEREIRA: What remains to be seen is how to get a jury that is not familiar with this case, but certainly a story that's grip all of us in this nation, and I would even warrant, I guess, around the world.

Let's say a big thanks to you, Beth Karas, Danny Cevallos. Always a pleasure to have you both on our program. Thanks so much for joining us today, and happy Friday.

Folks in the Northeast, while they're trying to do anything they can to stay cool, when will the rain bring us a little relief from all this terrible heat? They have the right idea.

And certainly rain would be helpful in California where the wildfires are raging out of the control.

We'll have an update for you on that and so many more headlines, coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: I'll say it again. It's hot out there in the Northeast.

The sultry heat drags on for the sixth day in a row, excessive heat warnings across the Midwest and the Northeast again today, temperatures soaring into the 90s.

It's only getting worse, so what did we do? We sent meteorologist Indra Petersons outside because we wanted her to really feel the heat in Columbus Circle right here in New York.

Please tell us we have a little relief in store, though, this weekend.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, there is relief, but we kind of have to get through the hardest part of the heat wave until we see that.

Here's what we're talking about. This morning, no relief at all, even in the overnight hours. It felt like 84 degrees, the coolest time of day before the sun came up. It felt like 91, but currently it is 92. It feels like 102.

And I want to look at these heat indices that we're expecting by the afternoon today. We're talking about temperatures over 110 degrees. That is what it is going to feel like. You can imagine the danger.

With that, keep in mind we're talking about what were advisories, the last five days, we're now in the sixth day of this heat wave. Now advisories have turned into extreme heat warnings because the temperatures are even higher.

The actual high 99 degrees expected in New York today with currently about 60 percent humidity, so you can imagine how sticky this feels out here.

People can barely handle it. I mean, they're trying to walk by me. They're in the shade. They want to stay out of the direct night. It is that hot. They're going into buildings, trying to seek relief.

Here are the major cities dealing with this because it's not us. We're not alone in this. We're talking about Boston, Philadelphia, New York City, down through D.C., even stretching into Cincinnati today and Detroit.

Chicago under a heat advisory, not extreme heat warning, there's a little bit of difference, but they're still talking about temperatures that are at 107 degrees expected.

Those are the major heat waves, very dangerous. Remember heat is the biggest killer of all weather events combined. Very dangerous, a lot of times people don't think about it that way, and that's the reason. People underestimate the danger, really that's out there today.

Let's talk about the temperatures. The relief, that's the question everyone wants to know. When are we going to get that cooler weather? When are we going to see a cold front?

The rain that you're currently seeing, actually, spreading now into eastern portions of Iowa, going up in through Michigan, that's the cold front that's starting to produce showers.

When that cold front interacts with all this, I mean, ridiculously warm, humid air out there, that brings the threat of the showers. And we're talking about light showers. We're talking about the threat of severe weather, Michaela, so we still have that in store as well here in the Northeast itself. That could be Saturday evening.

PEREIRA: Certainly is an extreme weather summer for sure across the nation.

All right, Indra Petersons, reporting for us, get cool. I know that fountain behind you is tempting. Thanks so much.

Now to California where they certainly could use some rain, a massive Mountain Fire burning out of control at this hour still, thousands in the Idyllwild area about 100 miles east of Los Angeles have been ordered to leave their homes. More than 4,000 homes are at risk.

Some new information now as officials try to get to the bottom of what caused it. Casey Wian is live for us in Idyllwild.

They were expecting a bad fire year. Here it is. What are we hearing about injuries and homes lost at this hour?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michaela, it's really amazing. This fire has been burning since Monday afternoon. It has burned about 25,000 acres so far.

You can see over my shoulder the smoke over that ridge which is where firefighters are trying to hold the line and make sure it doesn't jump that ridge and come down into the town of Idyllwild.

Despite all that, they have only lost seven structures, six residential buildings, and one commercial building since Monday. There have been no injuries, no loss of life, so from that perspective, it has been a good outcome so far.

They are concerned, though, about winds picking up over the weekend, although we are seeing higher humidity, and that's really helping the firefighters a lot.

Yesterday the humidity was between five and 10 percent with temperatures approaching 100 degrees. Today the humidity is somewhere around 25 to even 60 percent.

We actually felt some raindrops early this morning. So that's all welcome news for these firefighters, Michaela.

PEREIRA: Casey, I know one of the things that's always a sight of great -- you're relieved to see is when you see the air support come in.

Are they getting fixed-wing or helicopters in there making water drops? I know that's obviously a concern if the winds pick up.

WIAN: Absolutely. All night long last night, they were dropping fire retardant and water onto these flames.

Nineteen helicopters deployed, 10 fixed-wing aircraft, including two C-130s from the national guard, a DC-10, they're really going at it hard with a full air assault.

Yesterday they weren't able to do that in the morning because there was an inversion layer here early in the morning. The smoke was just kind of making the visibility where they couldn't really get those birds up in the air.

Today they haven't had that problem. All night long, they have made what they call substantial progress because of that aircraft that's helping fight this fire.

PERIERA: Let's hope they keep making progress. Folks there, anxious to get back to their homes, I'm sure. All right, Casey, thank you for the update. We appreciate it.

We're going to take a short break. Ahead, a sit-in for days at the Florida state capital, demanding the stand your ground law be repealed after George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do we want?

CROWD: Rick Scott!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When do we want him?

CROWD: Now!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERIERA: Well, they got that meeting with Governor Rick Scott, but he did not give them the answer they were looking for. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERIERA: It's almost been a week since George Zimmerman was acquitted of second degree murder in the death of Trayvon Martin, but as John Zarrella explains, the nationwide protests may not be stopping any time soon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Protesters waiting for three days at Florida Governor Rick Scott's office finally got what they came for -- a meeting.

Late Thursday the governor spoke with them, and releasing a statement after the meeting that says, in part, quote - "tonight the protesters again asked that I call a special session of is the legislature to repeal the stand your ground law. I told them that I agree with the task force on Citizen Safety and Protection, which concurred with the law."

Protester vowing to continue their sit-in now. Dream Defenders' executive director, Philip Agnew, tells CNN that the sit-in at the Florida governor's office will continue, because their demands have not been met.

PHILLIP AGNEW, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DREAM DEFENDERS: We're taking this opportunity to call on all of you around Florida to join us at the capital, as we continue with our demand for a special session.

ZARELLA: Earlier Thursday night Martin's parents spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper. They talked in part about how they felt a jury would view their son.

SYBRINA FULTON, MOTHER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: I just look at people as people. I thought for sure that the jury looked at Trayvon as an average teenager that was minding his own business, that wasn't committing any crime. That was coming home from the store, and were feet away from where he was actually going. I just believe that they realized that.

ZARELLA: A second juror has also come forward now, he was known as juror E-54, an alternative in the Zimmerman trial, released before deliberation began. Appearing on Orlando's on other's WOFL-TV, he offered his view on whether George Zimmerman should have followed Trayvon Martin that rainy night.

JUROR E-54: I was fine with that. I mean You know, he was -- I think at the time he was trying to keep an observation and communicate to the police, and was not being confrontational. He had a right to be where he was.

ZARELLA: Not the opinion of juror B-37, when she spoke exclusively with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

JUROR B-37: I think he's guilty of not using good judgment. When he was in the car, he had called 911, he shouldn't have gotten out of that car.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PERIERA: John Zarrella joins us live from Miami this morning. I know that there's been a call around the nation, actually for rallies and protests. Tell us what you know about some of the things being organized.

ZAREALLA: Yeah, some major rallies tomorrow and vigils. A hundred cities at least from New York to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit, Dallas, you name the city, there is going to be a march or a rally or a vigil. Most of those are going to take place, Michaela at U.S. courthouses or police stations. The reason that is, because the organizers, the emphasis of this -- these protests are to see if they can pressure the Justice Department to look into whether George Zimmerman actually violated Trayvon Martin's civil rights. They know the Justice Department's already looking into it, and they really want to pressure them to get a real investigation going. So that's the impetus behind those rallies this weekend.

PERIERA: Any update on the status of that ongoing investigation? It's early days, obviously. ZARELLA: Well, what we know is at least yesterday, the Justice Department did ask the Sanford police department to hang on to all the evidence from the trial, every bit of evidence. That's standard procedure if justice is looking into something, investigating it, they're going to want the police department where the trial was held, the jurisdiction where the trial was held, to hang on to the evidence while the federal investigation is moving forward.

PERIERA: You can count on CNN following that investigation, to be sure. John Zarella, thanks so much. Joining us in Miami. We appreciate it.

A short break here. A mob boss is on trial, a body found by a jogger, the Whitey Bulger trial sounds more like a scene out of "The Sopranos" from HBO every day. We'll have the details after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERIERA: A dramatic twist in the Whitey Bulger trial, a man who claimed he was forced to give up his south Boston liquor store so Bulger could turn it into a front for his mob gang, was found dead Wednesday. Stephen Rakes' body was discovered on a roadside in Lincoln about 20 miles northwest of Boston. He was 59 years old. According to police, there were no obvious signs of trauma, but they're not ruling anything out. Susan Candiotti has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Organized crime, gruesome mob hits, all kinds of compelling testimony during the trial of Whitey Bulger. But it's what happened outside the courtroom that also now has everyone buzzing.

A day after learning he was dropped from the prosecution witness list Stephen Rakes is found dead. A jogger discovering his body by the side of the road, about 30 miles from his home. Rakes' mysterious death, a shock at the height of the trial of Boston's notorious crime boss, James, "Whitey" Bulger. 59-year-old Rakes, nicknamed "Stippo" was a regular at Bulger's trial. For years he contended Bulger and his gang stole his south Boston liquor store and took it over as a mob headquarters, and said it again last week.

STEPHEN RAKES, WITNESS: My liquor store was never for sale. Never, never, never.

CANDIOTTI: During a nearly 20-year reign of terror, from the '70s to the '90s, Bulger ruled the streets of south Boston. Testimony shows he was also an FBI informant during those years, working with a corrupt FBI agent. A 32-count indictment against him includes 19 murders. One of those murders was Stephen Davis' sister. He last saw Rakes Tuesday after Rakes was dropped from the government's witness list.

STEVE DAVIS, FRIEND OF DECEASED: This here seems reflecting back to the late '70s early '80s, when people were getting killed, a rat, someone going to testify, or do this, bang! And they wind up getting killed or disappear or something.

CANDIOTTI: Investigators say there are no signs of obvious trauma in Rakes' death. Some media reports have suggested suicide. Davis isn't buying it.

Is there any way this could be suicide?

DAVIS: 110 percent no.

CANDIOTTI: With no obvious trauma, investigators are now waiting for toxicoligy results to help explain what happened to a man who's 30- year dream of testifying against Whitey Bulger was cut short by prosecutors just before he died.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PERIERA: That I was Susan Candiotti reporting. Thank you so much for that.

Back with me now are legal experts Beth Karas and Danny Cevallos.

Okay, let's talk about this. This is a guy who, by some accounts waited decades to tell his story. A regular at the trial. Found dead before he could testify. You don't have to be Oliver Stone or a conspiracy theorist to think there's more to this, Beth.

BETH KARAS, FORMER PROSECUTOR: That's right. I suspect the prosecution dropped him a couple days ago, because the case is going well for them. Lawyers are constantly making strategic decisions throughout a trial, and they may have thought he could actually hurt us more than help us. He was going to testify about an alleged extortion.

There was a witness who's already testified who was far more important, so to speak, in terms of the big picture -- Kevin Weekes, who considered Whitey Bulger his mentor. He's already testified about murders and how the enterprise worked, how this mob gang worked. And he says that Rakes' version of the extortion of his liquor store isn't how it was. So the jury would have had two conflicting stories. What if the jury believed rakes? It would have called into question Weekes' credibility not just on the extortion of the liquor store, but perhaps some of the testimony, so why go there and mess it up? Let go, the extortion. They got 19 murders they're introducing evidence of plenty other crimes.

PERIERA: Thanks. Danny, rather, you think Rakes would have been a liability for them?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, potentially there's always a chance of overkill when the prosecution is building this case, and federal prosecutors build a very meticulous case. So, this probably was a decision just as Beth said, to avoid any potential liability. By liability I just mean cross-examination bringing out something harmful to the case. They feel confident enough about it at this point. It's important to also note that tampering with or murdering a federal witness is a separate federal crime, it does not -- the government must additionally show that the communication would have been about a federal crime. But that seems to be a pretty easy make here.