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Rallies Urge Justice for Trayvon Martin; Relief from Extreme Heat in Sight; America's Race Debate; Royal Baby Watch; Royal Baby Due Anytime; Men Say They Were Held Captive; Rallies Urge "Justice" For Trayvon Martin; Kerry: Step Closer To Peace Talks; Five Convicted In Cruise Liner Wreck; Woods Challenging At British Open; Celebrating Comics And Pop Culture

Aired July 20, 2013 - 11:00   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right it's 11:00. That will do it for us today. Thanks so much for watching.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: But there is much more ahead on CNN NEWSROOM. We hand it over to our colleague Fredricka Whitfield.

HARLOW: Hey there Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Does it seem like you guys are suddenly talking faster to like hurry up and end your hour?

HARLOW: Yes.

BLACKWELL: We've got to get out of here. It's your time.

WHITFIELD: All right. You all have a great morning. We've got a lot to cover today.

BLACKWELL: You too.

WHITFIELD: Including this, a tragic accident at a Six Flags Amusement Park in Texas. A woman riding a roller coaster plummets to her death. We'll tell you what happened and how the park is responding now.

And a day of protests across the U.S. -- rallies are about to kick off in more than 100 cities demanding justice for Trayvon Martin.

And she kept presidents on their toes for nearly a half a century. Legendary White House journalist Helen Thomas dies. We'll take a look at her life and legendary career.

Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

It is exactly one week since George Zimmerman's acquittal and reaction to the verdict has not waned. In living rooms and on streets, Americans are voicing their opinions loud and clear.

Even the President of the United States breaking his silence on the case -- he gave a surprise statement at the White House yesterday. President Obama didn't take sides on the verdict, but he called the decision a painful one for many African-Americans who deal with racial profiling all their lives, including him he says and it got personal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And we'll have more on the President's personal and unscripted comments later on this hour, but first the reaction to the Zimmerman case on the streets now. Our correspondents are covering major rallies happening today across the country. You see right on the map there.

Let's turn right now to Nick Valencia he's in Miami. Trayvon Martin's father is at that rally or at least he was scheduled to. Is he scheduled to speak as well?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, he spoke a little while ago and while he was at the podium, he teared-up talking about his son saying that he's going to fight for the legacy of his son and also for the sons of all those here in attendance. We expected -- the organizers expected more than a thousand to show up. And if it's not that already, it's surely eclipsed that.

And joining me now is Tracy Martin, father of Trayvon Martin. When you look at the crowd Tracy and you look around at how many people are showing up to support you and your son, how do you feel about it?

TRACY MARTIN, TRAYVON MARTIN'S FATHER: It's overwhelming. It just -- it just goes to show the love and the support that our families and friends have for us here in Miami as well as across the country and it sends a message to the nation that we're not going to sit back and let our children be killed and don't say anything about it.

VALENCIA: Talking about the nation, we saw a knee-jerk reaction after the shooting at Sandy Hook for gun control. Now we're seeing a reaction here. You know, this has been a hot button issue for race relations, now for the Stand Your Ground Law here. What's going to make this issue different? Why -- why is this going to be a sustained movement?

MARTIN: I think the people are just tired of senseless violence and the people really want the world to know that our children's lives matter just as much as their children's lives. And I think that we can't change the Stand Your Ground Law, but we can definitely do something to make amendments to it.

VALENCIA: It's been a very tough year for your family -- understandably so; a very tough year for your friends and family to watch you go through this. How -- how are you doing?

MARTIN: We're doing fine. We're just standing on the shoulders of God, standing on all of our families, friends, and supporters and this is what keeps us going, all of these people that are out here to support us -- white, black, brown -- they're a mixture of people. Everybody is out here to support not only Trayvon but their children as well.

VALENCIA: And you talked about fighting for their children as well. Yesterday President Barack Obama spoke about your child and he made some very personal remarks about Trayvon saying "this could have been me 35 years ago."

Your family released a statement. I want to hear it from you about your reaction to the President's comments.

MARTIN: Well, our reaction was what the statement was, and, you know, it touched our heart that the President did say that, and we admire the President for stepping up and doing that because, you know, it just sends a message to the world that, you know, this could have been anybody's child. And there are no exceptions to whose child it could have been, and we just have to try to -- we have to do something to corral the senseless violence.

VALENCIA: Mr. Martin, you've become a symbol of so much more since -- since the verdict, since the shooting. How do you feel about that?

MARTIN: Since the shooting, you know, that's something that you can never recover from obviously. Time heals all wounds but this is something that I don't feel that I can ever recover from. Since the verdict we're just -- we're moving forward now. We're trying to work with the Trayvon Martin Foundation and if people want to know more about the foundation they can go on TrayvonMartinFoundation.org. They can find out what the foundation is all about.

Our message is simple: to educate, mentorship, advocate against senseless violence and scholarships to the kids.

VALENCIA: And so much can be said about this and about the shooting but at the end of the day a 17-year-old is dead no matter where your opinion lands on the issue or the case. Tracy Martin, thank you for joining us.

MARTIN: Thank you.

VALENCIA: Fred, you heard it from -- from Tracy Martin himself, you know a very personal words. This crowd is very supportive of him. They all showed up here to see him and also to make sure that there is attention brought to the Stand Your Ground Law in Florida. Fred, we'll throw it back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right Nick Valencia thanks so much for bringing what was an unexpected private conversation there with Tracy Martin. I appreciate that. In Miami.

All right Alina Cho now is in New York where Trayvon Martin's mother will be appearing at the rally with the Reverend Al Sharpton among others. So Alina I understand Sybrina Fulton did speak today ahead of the rally. What did she say?

ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Well she said that she has been called to act. That she is sad but not so sad that she is not going to try to move the ball forward in this case. Fredricka, she is expected to speak at this rally which is due to start in less than an hour. The crowd is already starting to gather behind me, and you can certainly feel it in the air.

About two dozen New York City police officers are also on hand. The one officer told me he did not expect to have any problems today.

Now, remember, this one here at One Police Plaza in New York City is just one of more than 100 across the country organized by the National Action Network which is led by the Reverend Al Sharpton. As you mentioned, Sharpton is expected to lead this rally today with the headliner being Trayvon Martin's mother.

Moveon.org is also partnered with the National Action Network and one site manager here at the rally told me that 10,000 people have RSVP'd for this protest alone.

Earlier today as you mentioned Sybrina Fulton spoke on the Reverend Al Sharpton's radio show. And here's some of what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S MOTHER: Trayvon was no burglar. He had a drink and some candy. He had every right to be in that area. He had every right to walk through that community, to go back to the house where he came from. Those are the things, those are the facts that we need to stand firm on because today it was my son, tomorrow it might be yours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: One goal of the protesters here at today's rally will be to put pressure on the Justice Department to file a civil rights case against George Zimmerman exactly one week after an all-woman Florida jury, Fredricka, acquitted George Zimmerman of murder exactly one week ago -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right Alina Cho in Manhattan. Thanks so much.

All right now to the nation's capital and that's where we find Athena Jones. Athena organizers there are demanding the federal government prosecute George Zimmerman on the civil rights violations that Alina just spelled out, but what is the likelihood of that happening?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Fredricka

Well this is far from an open and shut case, as you know. Some of the legal experts we talked to raised questions about whether the federal government is going to be able to bring civil rights charges. This investigation has been ongoing by the federal government since last year. They've been talking to witnesses down in Florida. They've been talking to folks who know George Zimmerman. They're going to have to find evidence that wasn't brought to and presented at the trial, the state trial in Florida.

So there is a high bar for bringing these kinds of charges and proving that George Zimmerman acted out of racial hatred or racial animus. But I can tell you that the folks gathering here today, this protest is set to get under way in just under an hour. People are starting to gather. Members of Congress, faith leaders have been invited to attend.

Organizers have stressed to us, this is not going to be an angry protest. People are upset by the George Zimmerman verdict, but this is going to be about solidarity, showing solidarity to the Trayvon Martin's family and calling on the Justice Department to continue this investigation and bring charges if they can.

They've been distributing this flyer online showing -- asking the people bring hoodies, signs, iced tea, and Skittles in solidarity with Trayvon Martin. One of the organizers I spoke to here said it's going to be a very hot day but they want to show that they can come out in hoodies and be peaceful -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right Athena Jones, thank you so much there in D.C.

All right let's go to the West Coast now. Dan Simon is there in Los Angeles. Dan, one of the 100 cities that are likely to have protests or scheduled protests this weekend -- what is the mood there? It's very early there right now, but is there already a turnout?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just a handful of people at this point, Fredricka and organizers to be honest, they don't really know how many people are going to show up. They are hopeful that they'll get up you know maybe a few hundred protesters, but the key here in Los Angeles and this holds true for all the other cities is officials believe this will be a very peaceful demonstration. They've been working very closely with the Los Angeles Police Department in terms of closing some of the nearby roads and they say this is going to be very peaceful.

This is in front of the federal courthouse here in Los Angeles. I'm told that there is going to be a vigil and there's going to be a handful of selected speakers and there could be a couple of celebrities on hand as well. But we're going to be monitoring things here in Los Angeles and we'll bring you live updates as things progress -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right Dan Simon, thank you so much. Keep us posted throughout the afternoon.

Tonight on CNN, I hear that explosive interview that has everyone talking -- Juror B-37 in her own words. Anderson Cooper's exclusive interview is tonight. We'll run that again at 8:00 Eastern Time. Right after that you will see, again, a version at 9:00 p.m. of the Piers Morgan interview of Rachel Jeantel, she's the prosecution star witness and a good friend of Trayvon Martin.

All right. On to Texas now -- a woman has died at Six Flags over Texas after witnesses say she fell off a roller coaster. The theme park confirmed that she died while riding the Texas Giant last night. But they didn't give any other details. Witnesses say they saw the woman fly out of that roller coaster as it went around a turn. People standing in line say they heard a man on the ride screaming, my mom fell off. The woman has not been identified. Six Flags says the roller coaster is closed while the investigation is under way.

All right now to Sin City where powerful storm hit Las Vegas last night -- a severe thunderstorm moved into the area causing flooding, downed trees and damage to multiple houses and apartment buildings there. The storm was so powerful that the roof of the crowded -- this crowded bar as you see right there just kind of gave in. Taking place right there on the Las Vegas strip.

And then this cell phone video was, by the way, shot by a local deejay and showing the water actually coming right in as people seemed to be remaining relatively calm.

All right meantime, you've got that big deluge, but it remains a very hot weekend once more, particularly in the northeast. Let's check in with Jennifer Delgado with more on this very strange weather. You've got extremes on both ends.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right but it all can be explained Fredricka and I'll do that for you right now. But yes it's still very hot out there across parts of the northeast as well as New England. Some of these locations it feels like 106 degrees. And that's why we have all these heat watches and warnings in place and these are going to last through today because when you add in humidity, it just gets so dangerous out there when the temperatures are in the mid 90s.

Let's go to a live shot right now coming out of New York City. And Fredricka it is a hot and hazy day there and they are praying for cooler conditions and the good news is it's coming. But it's not coming until tomorrow.

As I take you over to our graphic and we talked about some of the watches and the warnings and the heat index right near 105 for the high in some of these locations right now keep in mind, it's not even noon, it feels like 90 degrees in New York City and for Atlantic City, 95 and then Boston, 99.

Now keep in mind some of these places up there, they don't even have air conditioning. Of course, this is such a dangerous situation when you get temperatures so hot like that, but here is the relief in the form of a cold front. You can see the showers and thunderstorms developing right along that. Well that means for today we do have the threat for severe weather out there. That extends from anywhere from Ohio all the way up to areas including Maine and that means some of these storms could be producing some damaging winds as well as hail, but the temperatures are going to cool off.

Finally here is the good news. You can see for yourself for Saturday and Sunday and Monday, those temperatures really drop down for parts of Washington, D.C., and then for New York City, the temperature drops down to 84 on Monday and that's just below average.

Now, you mentioned the Las Vegas flooding there. That's all tied in to monsoon season and that happens and really starts to kick in towards the end of July and lasts all the way through September. And it was record rainfall, but get this, only 0.22 inches. It doesn't sound like much but when it's dry like that, all the water rolls off and then that was a pipe break as well.

WHITFIELD: Oh, wow. And it really has nowhere to go. Is there like a decent gutter system where, you know, some cities just don't really have --

DELGADO: Yes, you know what; in Vegas their system --

WHITFIELD: -- that capacity to hold a lot of water.

DELGADO: -- absolutely. In some cities they don't drain as well. And some of those cases do happen in Vegas as well.

WHITFIELD: All right. Very good. Take care.

DELGADO: Learn something new every day.

WHITFIELD: That's what I like about you and everybody else here. Thanks so much -- Jennifer.

All right. Some sad news out of Washington -- long-time White House reporter Helen Thomas died today after a long illness, according to sources. She was 92 years old. Thomas had been front and center at the White House press conferences since JFK was in office up until her retirement just a couple of years ago in 2010. That came after controversial comments she made about Jewish people.

We'll have more on her life, including the barriers that she broke as a woman, in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. So what's the country to do now after the Zimmerman -- the George Zimmerman verdict? President Obama has some ideas, and he also gets personal about race in America. We'll hear what George W. Bush's attorney general thinks about this case as well.

And if London is going crazy now about that royal baby that's expected, what is it going to be like once that baby actually arrives? We'll go across the pond to London next for an update.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A big part of the George Zimmerman verdict discussion has been about Stand Your Ground laws and how race may have played a factor. President Obama took it a step further when he broke his silence in a rare unscripted speech at the White House. He says he, too, has been a victim of racial profiling and that what happened to Trayvon Martin raises some questions that need to be answered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just ask people to consider if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman who had followed him in a car because he felt threatened?

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: And just days earlier, Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the nation's oldest civil rights group telling the NAACP that Stand Your Ground laws need to be changed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Separate and apart from the case that has drawn the nation's attention, it's time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflicts in our neighborhood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining me now is the man who once had Holder's job. Alberto Gonzales led the Justice Department under President George W. Bush. He's now a lawyer with the national base Waller Firm. Mr. Gonzales -- Judge Gonzales, good to see you.

ALBERTO GONZALES, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's good to be in Atlanta.

WHITFIELD: How closely had you been watching the George Zimmerman trial?

GONZALES: I think like most Americans, I had a great deal of interest in it. Being a lawyer, being a former attorney general obviously, it's a case that's captivated the nation and has received a lot of media coverage and since I pay attention to what's going on in the media, obviously I have followed the case.

WHITFIELD: And how did the verdict sit with you?

GONZALES: I think based on the evidence as applied to the law, it made sense to me. And I think if you talk to many legal experts around the country, they will concur in that judgment. I understand that there's a great deal of dissatisfaction and angst about the decision, emotional response to it, but if you ask me, I believe justice under the law was achieved here.

There are many people that don't believe that, and I understand that, and that's why we're having protests today, but I think President Obama got it right when he spoke about this the first time, which is we are a nation of laws, and the jury has spoken, and that is exactly what happened here.

WHITFIELD: But the second time then when he spoke and he says, it is time for perhaps the Justice Department or for Americans to re- evaluate the Stand Your Ground law. He asked the question, you know, if Trayvon Martin had been of age and was armed, would he be able to stand his ground and then you have Eric Holder who says the law needs to be changed. Do you concur with what the President and the attorney general have said?

GONZALES: I'd like to see the statistics about whether or not Stand Your Ground laws in these various states actually encourage violence. I would like to see that. If the numbers bear that out, I think they should be shared with state legislatures around the country. And there should be a debate within these states as to whether or not this represents good policy.

I don't blame the attorney general for coming out and speaking about this issue. He is, in fact, the chief law enforcement officer of this country, and I think he has an obligation to speak about law enforcement policy. So I have no problem with that. And in the end I understand President Obama coming out and speaking. He is the first African-American president in this country, and within the African- American community there's a great deal of dissatisfaction with this outcome.

And I think it was appropriate for him to come out and speak about this, but as I look at the case, I don't view the case as one based on race. It was a case of one based upon the evidence being applied to the law. If people are unhappy with the outcome, perhaps what we ought to do here is be looking at the law and changing the law of self- defense.

Let me just remind your viewers this was not a case about the Stand Your Ground law. This was a case about the application of self-defense laws in the state of Florida.

WHITFIELD: But the President even underscored the message that there -- in this case there became a link between racial profiling and the Stand Your Ground law that inspired George Zimmerman to get out of his car in the first place.

GONZALES: Well, what I would say this is with all due respect to the President, I don't think the President knows this case better than the prosecution, knows this case better than Juror number 37, and they've all said this was not a case about race.

WHITFIELD: Do you agree with the strategy or were there elements of the strategy conveyed by the prosecution or even the defense that you were on board with? Do you think both sides argued their cases as best they could?

GONZALES: It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback. I'm not going to second guess the decisions by the prosecution team. I mean, they had access to all the evidence, some of the evidence may not have been able to get in. Sitting here today, I'm not going to second guess it. I think they had to deal with a difficult set of facts, and they did the very best job they could.

WHITFIELD: Now without Monday morning quarterbacking perhaps, you are engaged with the idea of whether this merits, this outcome, this verdict merits now a civil rights violation case that the Justice Department should be looking into. Should it?

GONZALES: I think it's appropriate to look into it. There are civil rights laws. The job of the Department of Justice is to enforce those laws and obviously this is a case, as I said earlier, has garnered a great deal of national attention. And of course, it is to be expected that the Department of Justice will look into this.

But as many experts have said, I think there's a pretty high hurdle here, and --

WHITFIELD: What's missing in your view?

GONZALES: Well, the evidence that, in fact, these actions were based upon race, racial animus toward Trayvon Martin. We can all speculate about that, but is there evidence? Because at the end of the day, this is something that the Department of Justice will have to prove in a court of law -- standards of evidence that will have to be met. And so I don't know whether or not that standard can be met here.

WHITFIELD: And before I let you go, was there a message or a moment from the President's address that really did resonate with you or one you -- think Americans as a whole can learn from?

GONZALES: Well, about being profiled. I'm a Hispanic. George Zimmerman is a Hispanic, and so we understand that there is still discrimination and profiling that occurs in this country, and I think it is appropriate to have a discussion about race. I think that is perfectly appropriate.

But, again, I don't know whether or not this case should be connected to the racial profiling because, again, you've got the prosecution saying it wasn't about racial profiling, Juror number 37 saying it wasn't about racial profiling. Again, I think it is appropriate for the President to talk about race as a national dialogue. And a problem that exists today that we've made significant progress but there's more that can be done.

WHITFIELD: All right. Judge Alberto Gonzales, thanks so much.

GONZALES: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Pleasure meeting you, appreciate it. Thanks for being here in Atlanta today.

GONZALES: Ok.

WHITFIELD: All right. The conversation, of course, does continue right here in the "NEWSROOM". Next hour, the legal guys will be weighing in here on all of this and their thoughts on the Stand Your Ground law.

And overseas and I don't know, this is kind of -- has the ripple effect, the royal baby. There's such a buzz about it. We've been hearing about it for quite a while now. We'll go live to London to find out just how close we think the baby is to its arrival.

And did you wave at Saturn yesterday? Up next, we'll explain NASA's long distance photo shoot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, we've been hearing it for a while now. The royal baby is due at any minute now. Buckingham Palace has never by the way really officially released a due date. By the way, you're looking at live pictures outside the hospital where folks are coming from all over because they're hoping to hear the news perhaps when the Duchess of Cambridge actually delivers.

So the media, a few fans, they've been camped out for days now. Not just today. Royal correspondent Max Foster is explaining for us just how it will all unfold potentially.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate is likely to go into labor in one of two places, Bucklebury where her family lives or at her home in Kensington Palace in London. If in Bucklebury, she could go by helicopter or by road by police escort straight to the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Redding or she could carry on to her hospital of choice St. Mary's in London.

Shortly after she arrives, the media will be informed by e-mail that she's gone in. But once the baby is actually born and who knows how long that will take, the queen, the royal family, the Middleton's, and the prime minister will all be told. Then a birth notice will be taken from the hospital and driven to Buckingham Palace. The notice will be placed here for the public to view on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace.

This is where we'll discover the sex and weight of the child and possibly its name. But first glimpse of the royal heir will be here on the steps of the hospital. But as the world continues to wait for the new arrival, even Britain's current monarch is growing impatient.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want Kate's baby to be a boy or girl?

QUEEN ELIZABETH: I don't think I mind. I would very much like it to arrive. I am going on holiday.

FOSTER: The great Kate wait continues.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And Max Foster with us now at St. Mary's Hospital. So Max, Katherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, is she still just outside of London with her family about now?

FOSTER: We're not clear on that. There is all sort of speculation about where she is. All the indications are she's come to London actually so she'll only be 5 minutes away from here ready for the birth. I mean, the bit of news we've had today is Christine Hill, who advises women in pregnancy, has revealed she has been giving them sort of tutorials in the lead up to this. She's met Kate a couple times, met William once. She says William is going to be pretty much hands on effectively.

She told "The Telegraph" that he will do the right thing on the day. She was asked what advice she's given William. I tell the fathers that the girl she hitched up with has gone for now, she's fragile and vulnerable and will be through pregnancy labor and the first few weeks. It's all going to be pretty tough, but obviously so many other couples have been through this before. It's the first time for them. WHITFIELD: My goodness, well, you know, hopefully she's able, they as a couple, are able to kind of enjoy the moment, all this excitement. That could make them a little nervous and hopefully they're just nice and relaxed because, you know, we don't want her nerves to be frayed.

FOSTER: Absolutely. That's one of the reasons why they think that she's been staying at her mom's away from us basically stressing her out.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, good. We're all hoping and praying for a nice calm, safe delivery, all the best. I know you're going to keep us posted because you will know before anybody else does when that baby arrives. Thanks so much, Max. Thanks so much.

A horrific story is unfolding in a Houston neighborhood we wanted to share with you. After four men were found there locked up and starving. The investigation takes a very big step forward today and we have a live report next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A very bizarre story to share with you. Behind the doors of a house in Houston was a terrible secret, four men claimed they were held captive, lured in, then locked up. They told police they were forced to hand over their disability and veterans checks. Now the homeowner's grandson faces felony charges.

Ed Lavandera is joining us from Houston. So Ed, what more do we know about this going on?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Fredricka. We've learned this morning that Walter Jones has been charged with two felony criminal counts, one of injury to the elderly by act and another injury to the elderly by omission. Two felony criminal charges for what was going on in the house that you see here behind me. Police say that when they arrived here Friday morning, that there were four men inside their house being held against their will.

Now, what investigators are trying to unravel is what was behind all of this. According to police, these men say that the suspect had taken their government checks, whether it be Social Security checks or veterans benefits checks, it's not exactly clear at this point what kind of checks these were, but they were being taken from them, and authorities are trying to figure out what was done with that money. They're also trying to piece together just how long the men had been kept in this house.

Authorities say a converted garage is where they had been kept, and that the living conditions in there were very poor. In fact, neighbors also told us that when they saw the four men taken away from the house, three of them had to be taken to hospitals to be checked out, that they looked in terrible condition. Police officers describe the conditions they found inside the home where these four men had been kept.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JODI SILVA, HOUSTON POLICE SPOKESWOMAN: There were locks. They were apparently given scraps to eat, very little food was provided to them. They didn't have access to a restroom. So it was less than ideal living situations for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So right now, Fredricka, they're trying to figure out the time line of what was going on in here and police do tell us that they have investigators that are looking into group home living situations and boarding home situations to kind of figure out what was behind all of this. Was this some sort of unregulated group home that shouldn't have been operating the way it was? Clearly, it was on some level because the suspect, Walter Jones, the grandson of the woman who lives here in this house, has been charged with two felony criminal counts -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ed Lavandera, thank you for keeping us posted from Houston, Texas.

And remember the "Costa Concordia" cruise ship that sank off the Italian coast? People died. Well, the trial has been underway and now convictions to share with you right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: At the top of the hour, just about 18 minutes from now, rallies will kick off across the country marking what organizers call "National Justice For Trayvon Day." Reverend Al Sharpton's National Action Network says demonstrators will urge the federal government to prosecute George Zimmerman for civil rights violations. We'll take you live to various rallies at the top of the hour.

And U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says Israel and the Palestinians are a step closer to resuming peace talks. Today Israel said it would free a limited number of Palestinian prisoners as a show of goodwill, but a senior Palestinian official says there is much uncertainty about the talks. Secretary Kerry said representatives from both sides could meet in Washington the next week or so.

In Rome five people have been convicted of manslaughter in the deadly wreck of the "Costa Concordia" cruise liner, 32 people died, if you recall, when the ship ran aground and turned on its side off the Italian coast last year. It is likely that only two of the defendants will serve any prison time.

And the British Open is underway and after shooting a strong second round at the Open, Tiger Woods is in tie for second place. Woods is after his 15th major championship, but he hasn't scored a major since the 2008 U.S. Open.

All right, next up, we're heading to outer space. Our meteorologist Jennifer Delgado has something really cool from Saturn.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. A lot of people were waving at space yesterday and we're going to talk more about that coming up shortly.

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WHITFIELD: Forty four years ago, can't believe it's been that long, astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history. Today marks the anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Earlier this year, I actually had the chance to talk with Buzz Aldrin about what those historic first steps were like.

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BUZZ ALDRIN, SECOND MAN ON THE MOON: The most important moment was to land and shut the engine off on the surface of the moon. Without being able to do that we couldn't land again and again and again and we couldn't open the hatch and go outside. That was clearly the most important. When I got down to the bottom of the ladder after a moment or two, I used the words magnificent desolation referring to the magnificence of the human species to go through all the technical advances of transportation and here we are walking on the moon that people have been gazing up to see for hundreds of years, thousands of years.

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WHITFIELD: I love talking to that Buzz. You couldn't see it, but he had a nice little pin, which is like a footprint on the moon he wears on his lapel, very special.

By the way, did you smile at Saturn yesterday? That's exactly what NASA asked people to do as the spacecraft snapped pictures of earth from outer space. Look at all those folks waving. A group of people gathered in New York City to participate in the long distance photo shoot.

CNN meteorologist, Jennifer Delgado, joining me live right now to tell us more about what this was really all about.

DELGADO: When you see photos like that, you think of people waving at something coming in from outer space. They were actually waving at Saturn. This is all part of NASA's Cassini spacecraft launched back in 1997. It's on a mission to photograph, to break it down for you, actually Saturn. This is the Cassini spacecraft and this is Saturn. You can see the rings around this. With this mission now, what we're seeing are more details, more of the particles, and that apparently is something that's fascinating to a lot of people because, of course, when we dig deep into this and we see what's happening with the rings and they're so dusty with Saturn, this provides a lot of information.

Of course, to give you a better idea, here is earth, and here is Saturn. As we break it down for you, actually the Cassini Space Station is actually roughly about another 10 million miles away from Saturn. Keep in mind right now we're already 890 million miles away. So this project set off by NASA really is really exciting because it's the first time we're really being able to see closer to what Saturn is all about and the particles and what the dusty rings mean.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So that is NASA's main goal then to kind of further educate us.

DELGADO: It's their main goal with the Cassini project right now. It's pretty exciting.

WHITFIELD: Wow, how often does NASA I guess take pictures like this of earth from outer space?

DELGADO: I think this happens periodically, this happens all the time we hear about these things. We see Chad Myers talking about this. This is just another spacecraft and this is another project that they're focusing on.

WHITFIELD: Neat stuff. All right, Jennifer Delgado, thanks for bringing that to us. Appreciate it, out of this world.

All right, President Obama is adding his voice to all the conversations people are having in the aftermath of the George Zimmerman verdict. Our legal guys, Avery Friedman and Richard Herman, they'll be joining me next hour about this case. Their predictions, they had some pretty keen predictions on the outcome. So, all right, guys, Avery, you first. What was the most surprising thing about this verdict or perhaps the aftermath?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, you know what? After all our discussion, Fredricka, about admissibility and relevance and trial tactics, the big surprise is a heart warming one. That is the leadership that came from the White House to bring America's majority in to thinking more clearly and thoughtfully about the suffering the Americans' minority. It's a positive surprise and I think they'll be a lasting effect.

WHITFIELD: And Richard, you called this one. Didn't you?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I called it about a year ago, I think, Fred also last Saturday. In any event, the most surprising thing to me was, Victor Blackwell, our own Victor Blackwell's interview with Martin Luther King Jr. III on CNN this morning. When he asked him, you're putting your name to these marches today, demanding civil rights charges be brought, what is the foundation for the charges? He didn't know and that's because there are no claims for civil rights, hate crimes act or civil rights charges, again George Zimmerman, none, absolutely none.

WHITFIELD: And earlier in this hour I spoke with the former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and he said, he didn't entirely see that the elements were there nor a civil rights charge for the just it department to explore either. While he thinks the exploration should take place he doesn't necessarily believe that it is there, that the case there, but much more from you all late other than in the next hour.

Thanks so much. Including we're going to talk about the Whitey Bulger case and all that's taking place in that surprising case. Also involving the witnesses and whether some might be too afraid to testify now. Explain why. And Katherine Jackson's testimony, again, her son, Michael's concert promoter, AEG, all that straight ahead, after this.

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WHITFIELD: If you're a comic book fan, you know that this is the weekend of all weekends. And the place to be is San Diego, California, where thousands are gathering for the Comic-Con International Convention, and that's refined a very brave Tory Dunnan right now. You've got to be brave, bold and kind of in to it to become one with comic-con -- Tory.

TORY DUNNAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, you have to be so brave. Basically look at what's around me. Comic-con has changed so much from basically nerds in a basement to now 150,000 people making the trek here. I have to tell you, over the past few days from walking around, you never know what you're going to see from Hello Kitty, to the Joker, to whatever else is out there.

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DUNNAN (voice-over): More than 100,000 humans or otherwise -- converge on this San Diego Convention Center for four days filled with self-expression, with the potential of meeting their heroes and maybe even a TV star.

KIT HARRINGTON "GAME OF THRONES": It's coming to places like comic- con that make you realize the show's impact.

DUNNAN: Kit Harrington a.k.a "Game of Thrones" John Snow is somewhat of an icon here and we all want the inside scoop.

(on camera): When is winter coming?

HARRINGTON: It's always coming, isn't it and it never arrives.

DUNNAN (voice-over): The sights and sounds, heating up.

HARRINGTON: There's a whole load of throne-shaped going around, which I'm desperate to go on.

DUNNAN: During the city's historic ghastly of districts, 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.

FELICIA DAY, YOUTUBE'S "GEEK AND SUNDRY": It feels like the synergy is really good this year and everybody looks happy.

DUNNAN (on camera): Dressing up as your favorite character, let's see yours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're basically walkers so we don't talk.

DUNNAN (voice-over): From the purists.

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

DUNNAN (on camera): Comic-con. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go.

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DUNNAN: And Fredricka, one thing to point out, just the commitment from some of the fan it's here. The lines behind me, they've been ling up since about 7:00 yesterday evening. What they want to do basically be the first to walk in to some of the panels. They're fun panels, one of them being Wolverine. Another one is "Hunger Games." So there's really a lot from nerds to Hollywood, people who want to come and see their latest movies. It's changed a lot.

WHITFIELD: Whew, my gosh, it really has evolved. It's huge now, too. Tory, keep us posted throughout the day. I know the crowd continues to grow and grow and grow, and we're going to make another visit to San Diego later on this afternoon.

At the top of the hour, we're following the rallies across the U.S. thousands of people demanding justice for Trayvon Martin. Demonstrations expected in more than 100 cities.

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