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Bulger Witness Found Dead; Governor Talks Detroit Files Bankruptcy; Comic-Con in San Diego.

Aired July 19, 2013 - 11:30   ET

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

DANNY CEVALLOS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: 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. So if there is foul play involved, you can expect a separate federal charge under the Witness Protection Act.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Both of you, I can't imagine this won't have an effect on -- how will it affect the trial going forward?

Beth?

BETH KARAS, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I suspect that any witness who still has to testify is going to be heavily guarded now. They're going to pay very close attention to any -- to the danger zone and make sure that no one else is killed.

(CROSSTALK)

KARAS: Pardon me?

PEREIRA: Wouldn't they have already been guarded? Or no?

KARAS: You know, I'm not sure at this point but if they've been guarded. But this is a homicide of Rakes, they'll kick it into high gear to make sure they don't lose any other witnesses.

PEREIRA: This is an interesting story. We'll be watching it on CNN.

We appreciate you both adding your expertise and voices to the conversation. Wish you both a good weekend, though I'm sure you'll be back on the air with us the rest of the day. Thank you both.

Is it a boy? Or will it be a girl? The world is eagerly watching and waiting for the newest addition to the royal family. We'll try to answer the question, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: About an hour from now, Katherine Jackson is expected to testify at her son Michael Jackson's wrongful death trial. The family is suing AEG, saying the company is liable for his death. That trial likely to go to September. The defense starts its case on Monday.

It was during the president's State of the Union address, you might recall Republican Congressman Steve Cohen said he was tweeting a woman he recently learned was his daughter. DNA test, however, obtained exclusively by CNN, proves that aspiring model, Victoria Brink (ph) is not the bachelor Congressman's daughter. Cohen says he was misled by her mother and he is stunned and dismayed by the news.

Police in New Jersey will soon have to get a search want if they want to track cell phone data. That ruling by the State Supreme Court taking effect in 30 days. Several states and Congress are consideration similar legislation. That issue could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

And we are still on baby watch, but there are a lot of unknowns around the birth of Prince William and Kate's baby. We don't know the sex, there's debate over the due date, and even the hospital is in question. She is expected to deliver at St. Mary's Hospital, the picture there, but now there are reports that there's a contingency plan in place for her to give birth near her parents home.

Still ahead, Detroit declares bankruptcy. We're going to speak to Michigan's governor right after the break. We'll talk to him about what went wrong in the Motor City. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: She lost a union neighbor to violence. After the murder she grew tired of seeing so many young people die. So now she teaches kids how to avoid violence through conflict resolution. We take you to New Orleans to meet this week's "CNN Hero," Lisa Fitzpatrick.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIZA FITZPATRICK, CNN HERO: A typical week you'll see at least one dead body. There was a shooting here. I was noticing they still hadn't cleaned up the bloods.

5-year-olds who have been in two shootings. 16-year-olds with colostomy bags. I didn't want it to be normal anymore. I decided I had to do something.

My name is Lisa Fitzpatrick. My mission is to teach conflict resolution skills to the children of New Orleans so they can avoid violence and stay alive.

I love New Orleans for its sense of community, but there's an undercurrent of hopelessness.

Who can tell me what their sign says?

(SHOUTING)

FITZPATRICK: Everything we do here is to build positive social relationships. Our motto is reconciliation, never retaliation.

UNIDENTIFIED ALE: I was on the verge of getting ready to seriously hurt somebody, but Miss Lisa stopped us. She definitely taught me to be in control myself. FITZPATRICK: What's unique is our peer mentoring, empowering our young men and women to be the messenger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I come back here, I feel like a big brother. The way Miss Lisa influenced me is the same way I think I'm influencing them.

FITZPATRICK: The successes are not necessarily going to Harvard or getting out of the neighborhood.

Full trash bags. Love it.

But when that kid comes back and makes a conscious effort to spread the message of nonviolence, that's the success.

: I love you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: I can get behind work like that, to be sure.

You probably know a hero in your neighborhood. Go to CNNheroes.com, if you know someone who deserving to be recognized.

The city of Detroit files for bankruptcy. Up next, we'll talk to Michigan's governor about it. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: The birthplace of the American auto industry now in bankruptcy. That's the fate of Detroit this morning. Motor City has that distinction of being the largest city to tumble into insolvency, conditions setting it in motion have plagued Detroit for years.

Michigan's governor and the city's emergency manager spoke about what comes next at a news conference.

Poppy Harlow took it all in. She joins us live.

Gives us the information you gleaned.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know you're going to have the governor of Michigan on soon, which is great, so people can hear first hand from him. But you know, he just basically said enough is enough. This is a city that's been in decline for more than six decades. We're seen the decline of the auto makers. They've been building back but not enough to bring this city back. We've see the population fall by more than 60 percent since 1950. That means a lot fewer people paying taxes. So many fewer people tied with political corruption that it put this city $18.5 billion in debt. That's where it got this city.

He says everything has to be on the table, everything from selling assets of the city, there's a lot of controversy over what should be sold and what shouldn't, but also the real people impact. This is what's so important. The city workers, they will feel this the most. The uniformed officials, non-uniformed officials, they're going to take a hit in one way or another, about 30,000 people, retires and current workers.

I talked today to a lot of them. Some of them are suing, actually trying to block it. Janet Whiston and Michael Wells, two people that worked for the library system here for more than 30 years now face their pensioning being cut, basically the retirement they relied on. Here's what they told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANET WHITSON, RETIRED CITY OF DETROIT EMPLOYEE: All along, when I was hired and I was promised, I mean, we were -- I was recruited, and one of the attractions to being hired at the Detroit Public Library rather than someplace else was the benefits package.

I did everything I could. I did my part of the bargain. Now this is their part of the bargain, the library as the employer backed by the city of Detroit. I need to have them fulfill their part of the bargain to me.

MICHAEL WELLS, RETIRED OF DETROIT EMPLOYEE: You know, come back and interview me in five years. All right? If I've given up something, OK, and I now have the police department that responds on a 911 call, OK? If I have EMS when I'm having an emergency. If the lights are turned on in the city. I can continue the list, OK, then my life has been made better. OK? But if it's simply to pay off the bondholders, all right, and the insurers, and all of these other issues are still there, then not only has my city not improved, but I've gone down further as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: We heard Michael and Janet, employees of the city, obviously not happy with the situation in Detroit. What's the general mood? I'm curious about what folks on the street, people in the coffee shops, what the newspaper saying? What's the average Joe thinking about this filing of bankruptcy?

HARLOW: I asked a woman working at the counter, what do you think? Did you expect it? So many people say it was not a question of if, but a question of when. I don't think that's really true. I think a lot of people were holding out hope. The president a few years ago said we won't let Detroit go bankrupt. A woman at the diner said, I'm shocked and I'm scared, I don't know what it will mean for me.

We know it will mean something for city workers, but we don't know what it will mean for the broader city. For instance, private investors, private money, coming in, building homes, revitalizing the city, are they going to come? Is life going to get better? Or are they going to continue to live with the poor city services they've been living with and be in bankruptcy? It's just a lot of unknowns right now.

PEREIRA: We can put those questions to the man.

Poppy Harlow, thank you.

A guy who really had to take into consideration the fate of this city, the financial condition of this city, is the governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, who joins us now.

So very glad you would join us.

We just heard from Poppy Harlow, and a pair of city retires, who will likely be seriously hurt by this move. Can you answer to them? What's the state going to do for them if.

RICK SNYDER, (R), GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN: Well, the bankruptcy is a good thing. It was a very different, hard decision, but it gets into a couple aspects. This is our opportunity to improve citizen services. They deserve a better answer. With respect to retires, clearly I empathize with the situation. This needs to be done in a thoughtful way. But let's stop and look at the situation. $18 billion in debt. The city is broke. If we weren't to take this action to stop and say, let's get things done in a thoughtful, well organized fashion, the city will continue to go downhill. Enough is enough about Detroit going downhill. This has been going on for 60 years. It's time to say, stop, let's stabilize the city and grow the city of Detroit. Let's fairly address the creditors in terms of looking at their issues, how to let them know there's something that can be paid and what that is rather than them going to a system where they might not get anything by ignoring this issue then saying, let's get better services to the citizens. That's who hired me. That's who I worked for plus the other nine million people of Michigan. Let's grow.

PEREIRA: There's an interesting message you have, and there's a lot of people, there are going to be voices that say enough is enough. They're going to agree with you on that. The public employee unions likely are going to put up a fight. What is your message to them?

SNYDER: Well, two or three things. First of all, with respect to retirees, it's been hard to figure out how to work with them to have them have a voice at the table. The unions don't represent all the retirees. Proactively ask for in the bankruptcy filing is for the judge to appoint a representative for retirees. Because I think it's critically important, they have a seat at the table, they have a voice at the table, that they can be heard. Bankruptcy is a process that really allows that to happen much better.

(CROSSTALK)

SNYDER: The second thing is, this is about the unfunded liability piece, not the funded liability of their pensions.

PEREIRA: When some people hear that word, bankruptcy, it can be a little terrifying to them. Talk to the citizens of your state, your great state there that are listening right now. What can they expect in terms of city services? How are things going to change, even come Monday morning? What are they going to see different in the city of Detroit?

SNYDER: You know, I really appreciate that question. That is my greatest concern. Bankruptcy is something, none of us want to be here. Given there's no other viable option and the can has been kicked down the road for 60 years, it's time to stop and let's use this as a tool. So to the citizens, normal operations are going to continue. Employees will be paid. Services will be provided.

And what I would tell you, though, when I say services are being provided, the services they're getting are not good enough. 58-minute response times to a police call is absolutely unacceptable. So part of this is to say, let's get the stability, but then part of the bankruptcy process is the city gets a percent, a plan for investment to grow the city, to provide better services, and that's what I hope all of us focus in on, how do we do strategic investments to get the street lights back on, to get better police protection, EMS, fire. Make these good things happen because I deeply respect the citizens of Detroit. That's what I work for.

PEREIRA: And injecting money back into your city and the economy of that city, that's important as well. We know, we see "Reinventing Detroit" behind you on the wall. What is this going to mean for private enterprise, for companies who at one time may have considered doing business with Detroit?

SNYDER: I appreciate that we because that's already happening. The good part is there's large-scale investment going on from the private sector in the city of Detroit. People are buying buildings. Dan Dilbert is doing fabulous work. The Olick (ph) family is looking at a new hockey arena. The private-sector business is doing well in Detroit, coming to Detroit. Young people are moving to Detroit. Occupancies is over 90 percent in downtown and midtown Detroit primarily because of young people. The last obstacle for allowing Detroit to take off and grow is the city government issue. That's why it's important to revolve it by having better services. There's a real opportunity to see an exciting Detroit, a great Detroit again.

PEREIRA: Give us an estimation how long you think it's going to take for the city to climb out of this state.

SNYDER: Well, in terms of the bankruptcy process, my hope is we can get that resolved by fall of next year. It is going to be a longer- term process to get through all these issues. You're going to see things improve in Detroit in the next 30, 60 days, how can we stop taking down structures, how can we do better with police protection? There's a new police chief. Many good things are on the path to being put in place to help citizens.

PEREIRA: Quickly, sir, before we lose you, what about the new red wings stadium? Hockey fans want to know, will it go forward.

SNYDER: Yeah, that's one of the exciting things. Detroit is a big sports town. Tigers are going to win the World Series. Lion, Super Bowl.

PEREIRA: His job is to be cheerleader for the state, for sure. Governor Snyder, we appreciate you joining us today. We appreciate it.

This is a tough time for that city. I think all folks are cheering for Detroit and hoping that maybe there can be a different 60-year incline and increase in productivity and families getting their lives back in order and jobs, et cetera. It's money infused into that economy.

Thanks so much.

PEREIRA: All right. From Detroit, we turn to San Diego. Tons of comic lovers are in that beautiful city on the Pacific Ocean there at the annual Comic Con. That's quite a mohawk. If you couldn't make it this year, we have the hits, runs and errors, what's going on at Comic Con, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Well, it's the place to be if you're a fan of American comics and pop culture. We're talking San Diego, the pace to be for Comic Con. More than 150,000 people flocked to the convention to snap up collectibles, rocked some amazing outfits, costumes, all sorts of stuff, and play, of course. They have fun.

CNN's Tory Dunnan, it's attracting A-listers like Kit Harrington, like Emmy Award-nominated "Game of Thrones."

TORY DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here at Comic Con you never know what you'll see. More than 100,000 or otherwise -- converge on this San Diego convention center for four days filled with self-expression, with potential of meeting their heroes and maybe even a tv star.

KIT HARRINGTON, ACTOR: Come to places like Comic-Con to make you realize the show's impact.

DUNNAN: Kit Harrington, aka, "Game of Thrones" John Snow, is an icon here and we want the inside scoop.

(on camera): When is winter coming?

HARRINGTON (voice-over): It's always coming and never arrives.

DUNNAN: The sights and sounds -- even he can't resist.

HARRINGTON: This is hilarious. There's a whole load of throne-shaped caps going around which I'm excited to go on.

DUNNAN (on camera): Here in the city's historical gas-lamp district, every street and every corner turns into a place where being a nerd or geek is cool, so no wonder it's so much fun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feels like the synergy is good this year and everybody looks happy.

DUNNAN: Dresses up at your favorite character. Let's see yours. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're basically walkers, so we don't talk.

DUNNAN: From the purest --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Current value worth about $100,000.

DUNNAN: Comic-Con can't be beat.

Tory Dunnan, CNN, San Diego.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEREIRA: The estimated impact of Comic-Con on the city of San Diego, $180 million. Imagine that. Comic-Con, where you should be if you're on the west coast this weekend.

Tory Dunnan, thanks so much.

That's it for us. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Michaela Pereira.

AROUND THE WORLD is next.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: New clues about what caused that horrifying poisoning case at a school in India. And now another investigation under way after dozens of other children get sick from their school lunches. We've got the details for you.

This is Egypt. The army making a huge show of force today expecting the worst street violence since the downfall of Mohamed Morsy. We're live in Cairo in just a few minutes.