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Rallies Urge Justice for Trayvon Martin; What to Tell Children; Elderly Men Held Captive in a Home; Aurora Victims Remembered; Cell Phone Open Book to Hackers

Aired July 20, 2013 - 12:59   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A look at our top stories that we're following in the CNN NEWSROOM right now, a rallying cry for more action in the Trayvon Martin case, today thousands of Americans demand more charges against George Zimmerman. In Houston, Texas, a garage become as prison for several elderly people who say they've been held captive. The disturbing allegations coming up next. And comic books come to life in San Diego. Thousands descend on the city for Comic-Con.

All right, first up, those demonstrations that are being held right now across the country in support of Trayvon Martin. Our correspondents are covering the rallies from coast to coast now. Alina Cho is in New York where there are a lot of recognizable faces.

Alina, I understand Trayvon Martin's mother also is there and there have been many celebrities who've also arrived.

ALINA CHO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. That's right, Fredricka. In fact, all morning we have been reporting that the big headliner today at this rally would be Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin. And she was here, she came with the Reverend Al Sharpton. She did take to the podium. She said Trayvon was just a child. He just had candy and that she vowed that she would work not only for Trayvon's memory but that she would work for, and speaking to the crowd, your children as well.

Again, we had been reporting that she would be the headliner today. That's until about an hour ago. We saw Beyonce and Jay-Z arrive. They are here, of course, to lend their support along with the several hundred people who are here behind me.

This rally started at about noon Eastern Time. Still going on, as you can tell behind me. It's one of more than 100 across the country that was organized by the National Action Network, which is the Reverend Al Sharpton's network, and he, again, led this rally here in New York City at 1 Police Plaza.

This rally comes exactly a week after a Florida jury acquitted George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon Martin, and ever since then, Fredricka, as you well know, there has been outrage. There have been protests. Most of them peaceful across the country and commentary from everyone from Trayvon Martin's family to George Zimmerman's family, to the president himself, who said very poignantly yesterday, Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago -- Fredricka. WHITFIELD: Alina Cho, thanks so much. Keep us abreast there out of Manhattan.

Let's go to Miami now and that's where we find Nick Valencia.

Trayvon Martin's father is at that rally. You had an opportunity to talk with him earlier -- Nick.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. Yes, how are you? The rally has wrapped up. It took about two hours for everybody to show up. There was hundreds of people were here. Organizers had anticipated more than 1,000. It's unclear if they got that number, but their message is clear. They wanted to appeal and amend that Stand Your Ground law. A lot of people wanted to completely wipe that away, others just wanted to get it amended or have the governor take a closer look at it.

Nationally these demonstrators are also calling for the Department of Justice to take a closer look and intervene in the George Zimmerman case. They want civil rights charges filed against the former neighborhood watchman, but it was a very emotional time for Tracy Martin, the father of Trayvon, who spoke to the crowd. He spoke about his son's legacy. He's also spoke about supporting those in attendance.

He said, I'm going to fight for my son until I die, and I'm going to fight for your sons as well. So there was a lot of people that showed up here in Miami, and Tracy Martin was, as he told us, very overwhelmed by all the supporters that showed up in Miami here today -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Valencia, thanks for bringing us that.

Now let's move on to the nation's capital. That's where we find Athena Jones.

Athena, organizers are demanding that the federal government prosecute George Zimmerman on civil rights violations. Is there a greater likelihood of that? Is that kind of driving conversation there?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well, that's certainly what organizers are calling for and all the several hundred people who's shown up at this rally on the federal courthouse in Washington. That's what they want to see. Now if you talk to legal experts, they say that there's a high bar for bringing federal civil rights charges in this case. They have to prove that George Zimmerman acted out of a sense of racial hatred or racial animus.

Federal investigators have been down in Florida conducting investigations since last year, interviewing multiple witnesses and people who knew George Zimmerman. They're going to have to come up with evidence that wasn't brought to and presented at the state trial and so there's a high bar there. Nevertheless, you have several hundred folks who have come out here in D.C. in the hot sun.

We've heard from several speakers already. This has been going on about an hour. We've heard from Dick Gregory, the longtime civil rights activist. We also heard from a pastor who really laid out the case they're making. They believe that the justice system failed Trayvon Martin and his family and they want to see action from the Department of Justice. That got a big response from this crowd here.

Another speaker who got a big response, talked about some -- a column that had been written recently about how people have a right to be afraid of black men because they commit a disproportionate share of the crimes. That speaker said, if that's true, then black people have a right to be afraid of white men because they're the most serial killers and they're the ones who blow up buildings and shoot people in schools.

So some really charged and fired up language here and a fired up crowd -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Athena Jones, thanks so much for that update from the nation's capital.

All right, let's head to Los Angeles now. Dan Simon is there.

Dan, protests earlier in the week in Los Angeles turned violent. How are things different today?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, I can surely echo what all of my CNN colleagues said in all of the various cities in terms of the messages that are coming out. As one speaker just said, Trayvon went down, but we rose up.

I want to introduce you to one person who's out here today, sort of indicative of the sentiments that we're hearing here. This is Phyllis Croom. She's from the East Coast.

You looked online to see where a protest might be occurring in Los Angeles. Explain why you felt so strongly about being out here today.

PHYLLIS CROOM, ACTIVIST: Well, I felt it important to support the Martin family, but also to show solidarity with all those folks who believe in social and racial justice in this country. But as importantly, I really wanted to come out to express my views that, you know, black -- the lives -- not just black young -- I'm sorry, men and women are at risk, but the lives of all young men and women are at risk and it's important that I think that that be highlighted.

SIMON: What stands out in terms of what some of the speakers have said? I mean, what do you really take away from this?

CROOM: The fact that this country needs to engage in a dialogue. We need to start talking about these real, real tangible issues of race. And until that's done, we're going to continue to have these sorts of problems.

SIMON: Phyllis, thanks very much.

CROOM: Thank you. SIMON: We're here in front of the federal courthouse here in Los Angeles. Obviously they chose this location because they're calling for the civil rights charge against George Zimmerman.

Fredricka, I would say a few hundred people are here. They expected a large crowd and they certainly got one. They've been working closely with the Los Angeles Police Department to make sure that everything goes smoothly and so far this seems to be a very peaceful protest and they certainly don't expect to see any problems going forward.

Fredricka, we'll send it back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dan Simon, thanks so much in Los Angeles. Thank you, and thanks to all our correspondents really dotting the map there at all of the rallies.

Tonight there's more. Hear the interview that has a whole lot of people still talking. Juror B37 in her own words. Anderson Cooper's exclusive interview tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time. And then right after that at 9:00 on CNN, Piers Morgan interviews Rachel Jeantel. She was the prosecution's star witness, she's a good friend of Trayvon Martin.

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 and representatives from both sides could meet in Washington in about a week or so.

A man set off homemade explosives at the airport in Beijing today. According to China's state-run news agency, state TV said he used black powder from fireworks. He was hurt. But there are no reports of other injuries. Flights were not affected.

Longtime 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 briefings since JFK was in office up until her retirement in 2010. That came after controversial comments she made about Jewish people.

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

All right. Dangerous temperatures across many parts of the country this weekend. The heat wave is -- closely coming to an end, but temperatures remain dangerously hot. Relief just might be in sight.

CNN's Jennifer Delgado joining us live now from the CNN Weather Center.

So, Jennifer, where are those cool temperatures expected?

You know what, we're going to work out some audio problems. We'll get to Jennifer right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. Let's now try some weather. And it's dangerously hot in some places and they've got deluge in other places.

Our Jennifer Delgado in the weather center, and look, we've got folks who are having fun in the heat.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, they're --

WHITFIELD: Find a fountain.

DELGADO: Right. You know, you have to be positive about that. Right?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

DELGADO: Drink water, drink plenty of water, and wear light-colored clothing. But, Fredricka, well, today is the last day for the extreme heat out there. We still have watches and warnings in place. You can see for areas including Philadelphia, New York City, all the way up towards Boston, and that's because heat index values are going to be near 106 degrees. That's how you feel and right now the readings are showing you in the lower 90s. You can see for some areas like Boston, 94 degrees. Really, they are a hot spot today. 92, New York.

Now we factor in the humidity and this is what it feels like. It feels like almost 100 degrees in New York City, 102 in Boston, but today, as I said, is the last day of the extreme heat wave, because we do have a cold front. And that frontal system is going to be bringing much cooler air on the way.

As we show you on the radar right now these are your showers and thunderstorms. And some of those are going to be providing some heavy rainfall, but we're also talking about the potential for severe storms as we go through today.

Now you look for areas including Ohio, as well as all the way up towards regions including New England, that where we're going to see the threat for severe weather. Again this is a slight category. That means some of these storms could be losing some hail as well as damaging winds.

Now for the cool down. Here it comes. For Saturday and Sunday, notice a big difference in Washington, D.C. It'll drop down to 88 degrees. And then for New York, Monday, 84. It's going to be beautiful out there temperature wise. Unfortunately looks like a chance of rain for Boston. You're going to be almost 25 degrees cooler.

WHITFIELD: My gosh.

DELGADO: My gosh.

WHITFIELD: That's what they -- that's what they're used to. Right?

DELGADO: Exactly. That's what they're used to and that's why, you know, so many people don't have air conditioning systems there.

WHITFIELD: I know.

DELGADO: So they really need the relief there. It feels like 102 in Boston.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. Because of the heat index.

DELGADO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Boy. OK. Well, relief in sight.

DELGADO: Humidity is not your friend some days.

WHITFIELD: That is -- humidity is never my friend.

DELGADO: I know. It's neither my friend.

WHITFIELD: I mean, my hair gets really huge and so no.

DELGADO: We know.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Trying to keep this humidity at bay please. All right, thanks, Jennifer.

OK. As people demonstrate across the country, they are demanding justice for Trayvon Martin. What should parents be telling their kids about race relations in America. We'll talk to a mother and a father next.

And we'll go live to Houston where four men including three senior citizens saying they were held captive. Police have now nabbed a suspect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The president of the United States is sharing some personal observations on the subject of the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case. He delivered some unscripted historic remarks yesterday about how he could have been Trayvon Martin when he was a teenager over 30 years ago. The president said being profiled is just part of being a black man in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are very few African-American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me.

There are very few African-American men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks flick on the doors of cars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So what do we tell our children?

Joining me now is CNN analyst and ESPN senior writer L.Z. Granderson, coming to us from Chicago, and Mo Ivory, a lawyer and radio talk show host in Atlanta joining us today from Miami.

Good to see both of you.

MO IVORY, HOST, THE MO IVORY SHOW, NEWS/TALK 1380 WAOK: Hi, Fredricka.

L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN ANALYST: Hey, it's great to see you as well.

WHITFIELD: So, L.Z., let me talk to you, first, because it was a year ago last spring when we talked about the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case, and then we talked about, what do you tell your son who at the time was 15, and this is what I asked you then. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We all are very familiar with that talk that takes place when you have a black son. Mom and dad sit down and talk about, you know, behavior. The relationship with police. Running versus walking, et cetera. You've probably had that conversation with him well before he was 15, but how is the conversation unfolding now with your son?

GRANDERSON: You know, it's really funny. He actually called me three minutes before I came to set here, and he wanted to know if he could go walking around with his friends in a particular neighborhood. And I said, no, because it just wasn't safe.

I am constantly fearful for my son in certain situations. Not because of what he may do, but because of the suspicions of others.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And so now, L.Z., a verdict is in. You have the president of the United States in a very candid fashion telling the nation, telling the world, for that matter, that he, too, has been racial profiled, particularly before he was a senator.

So how is your dialogue, how has it changed now? Your son is now 16 now. Right?

GRANDERSON: Yes, yes, he is, and I actually just put him on a plane yesterday. He's on his way to Vancouver with some of his classmates to participate in the International Baccalaureate World Conference, and talking about sustainability in finding alternate energy. He's a very brainy kid and with that being said, we had a very long discussion after the verdict about his safety and the things that we should do. WHITFIELD: What did you say?

GRANDERSON: My partner and I -- well, we talked about, you know, for instance, the hoodies, and I said that I did not mind that he was wearing hoodies, and I don't care if he continues to wear hoodies, but we have to understand how some people are interpreting the way that he looks. The way that he dresses, the way that he carries himself.

I said -- and I told him, I said straight up, I'm heartbroken by this because I see you. I see all the things that you want to do and the last thing I want to do as a parent is to show you a world with restrictions, but if I don't warn you of some of the dangers that are out there, I'm fearful what may happen to you.

And he looked at me and said, dad, I understand. I get it. And it's a heartbreaking conversation because my son, he loves all kinds of people. He's creative. He speaks Mandarin, Chinese. I mean, he is a great, great kid, and he has talked to me constantly about knowing when he's been followed in stores, because, you know, of the way that he looks.

He's talked to me -- he was the only white kid or black kid, sorry, in his school on his soccer team. And do you know the nickname they have for him? Kunta Kinte. That was the nickname the white kids have for my black son. Kunta Kinte. So it's a heartbreaking conversation but it's a necessary conversation.

WHITFIELD: So, Mo, you know, every parent, whether it be -- even a year ago when L.Z. and I talked about that, every parent has, particularly in the black white community has had or is having that conversation with their child about exactly what L.Z. was spelling out. But now when you have the president who comes out and, you know, enlightens, really does enlighten a number of people who just didn't believe, didn't understand, couldn't comprehend this notion of being racially profiled.

Do you feel that it -- it is changing a dialogue that you would have with your child or has it already changed that dialogue? Does it need to? Does the conversation need to evolve, just as L.Z. was saying? You want your kid to be worldly, you want them to feel free and expressive but also realize that not everybody interprets you, you know, reads you accurately.

You know, Fredricka, I think what President Obama did yesterday was so brave and such a move of leadership and a manual for parents. And what it did for me, I've been having the conversation with my 15-year- old daughter since -- you know, since, when he was charged, when I was on the radio and he wasn't arrested and I was fighting for him to be arrested.

IVORY: I've been having this ongoing conversation with her. But what President Obama did yesterday was just really give a manual for saying this is really happening. It even happened to the president of the United States. So for me, I -- you know, I called my daughter and I said, isn't that wonderful, what the president did? And it really begins to open up the dialogue to more people who think that, oh, this is just a problem black people keep complaining about. This is just more talk, talk, talk. No.

This is a national problem that our president addressed and I was so happy he did. But let me say this about having a 15-year-old daughter. She is Rachel Jeantel and in the way she could have been on the phone with Trayvon Martin that night. She will be on the phone with a young black man or in the car with him or stopped by the police walking down the street one day.

It could happen to her. So my conversation is listen, we have to understand the laws, and I try to explain them to her. You have to be alert of your surroundings and your environment, and then you have to be supportive of the man that you're with. If you are with a black man and something is going on, you may be the one that diffuses the situation. You may be the one that brings the calm so that he can handle the situation better. Maybe the police will handle the situation better.

I was just in Washington, D.C. on Saturday and I had to do that. I was walking down the street and a couple of friends of mine were agitated because a bus hit their car. And I saw it escalating. And then I saw the police coming over, and I thought to myself, they're going to get arrested just because of how angry they are.

So I went over and I just diffused the situation a little bit and I told them how proud I was of them to handle themselves so well. And not allow them to go home that afternoon without, you know, being arrested or having any altercation.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

IVORY: So that's the message that I'm trying to teach my daughter, that you have to live by a certain standard right now that is present in our society and how to handle it the best way.

WHITFIELD: So except for that example that you just gave, Mo, you know, in D.C., most of these conversations are happening within the confines of your family. Right? I mean, you're both talking about the -- individual conversations you're having as a parent with your child, but the conversation, if it's even a conversation, maybe needs to be much greater than a conversation.

Something that has to be on a much bigger platform that resonates in a bigger way. The president did that in large part, but then it has to go somewhere else. So I guess the question is, what's next? On a grander scale so that the conversation isn't just between a parent and their child, and like you just said, you know, L.Z., it doesn't mean that you're imposing on your child that there is a world of restrictions because there are going to be people -- there is going to be a system, there are going to be forces out there who are just not going to understand you, or who are going to profile or label you for all the wrong reasons?

IVORY: Fredricka, the next step is, you know, building up of what we've already started by having these conversations. You start the conversation at home. You then move it to the town hall meetings, to the rallies that have been going on and then finally the president speaking. But now the real work needs to be done to change the laws. So what I've been saying to people is that, don't lose your enthusiasm for changing the laws.

We have all of these midterm elections that are going to come up in our states and we need to register to vote and we need to have these laws changed, these Stand Your Ground laws, the -- the laws that send black men to jail for the smallest things, for long periods of time.

It's a whole change of the justice system that needs to happen, but it starts by voting and by changing the people who are making the decisions.

WHITFIELD: L.Z.?

GRANDERSON: You know, we used to have a very popular phrase back in the '90s when I was coming of age in college. And that was, it's a black thing, you wouldn't understand. And we used to wear those T- shirts kind of proudly, and you know, strut around --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: I think I remember those.

IVORY: I have one.

WHITFIELD: From my college days.

(LAUGHTER)

IVORY: Right.

GRANDERSON: You know, and at that particular point where we were with this discussion, there was like a certain need to have that attitude. Now the attitude needs to change. We need to become more engaging.

WHITFIELD: OK.

GRANDERSON: You know, a lot of the conversations we've been having has been within the black community. And there is a fear within the white community of getting involved with these conversations because they don't want to be perceived as being racist, they don't want to be perceived --

WHITFIELD: OK.

GRANDERSON: If they say the wrong thing, that we may think that they're racist. And so we have to find a way in which we can engage the white community in this dialogue and in a way in which they don't feel fearful to say what's on their hearts, because it's a two-way street. We cannot heal racism by coming just from the black perspective or from a minority perspective.

There are things that -- I know a lot of white people want to say and I know this in part because my partner is white. And he tells me straight up in real conversations and he has seen me be profiled, and he has seen me jump to conclusions. And the only way to come to some sort of understanding is by allowing ourselves to have that conversation without assuming there's any malice or without assuming the other is being racist.

WHITFIELD: All right, L.Z. --

GRANDERSON: So in my opinion --

WHITFIELD: Yes.

GRANDERSON: -- the next step needs to be that dialogue.

WHITFIELD: Dynamic thoughts, L.Z., Mo, we could carry on for the rest of the hour but we're about to lose our satellite window. So I hate to rush you but I do appreciate your candor on this topic and certainly it's getting a lot of people thinking even further.

Thanks so much to both of you. Appreciate it.

GRANDERSON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Remember of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off the Italian coast, well, a trial is underway if you didn't know. And guess what, today convictions handed down. We'll tell you a judge's ruling in that deadly accident.

And a horrific story out of Houston after four men were discovered locked up in a garage turned prison. Up next we'll bring you the latest details from Texas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, now to Houston. We're behind the doors of one house with a terrible secret. Several men claimed they were held captive, lured in then locked up. And they told police that they were forced to hand over their disability and veterans check. Well, now the homeowner's grandson faces felony charges.

Ed Lavandera joining us live now from Houston.

So, Ed, what more do we know about what allegedly took place in that house?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we do know that investigators here in Houston are still trying to unravel the timeline of exactly what was going on in the house that you see behind me, but the room in question is just behind this purple wall. This is a converted garage where authorities say four men have been held against their will for some time and they're trying to figure out just exactly how they got there.

So far these four men have told investigators according to police that they were lured here with the promise of cigarettes and beer. They might have been homeless. They're still trying to piece all of that together. And those four men tell police that in a -- their government benefit checks, whether it's Social Security checks or veterans payments, were taken away from them. Authorities this morning charged a man by the name of Walter Jones with two federal -- I mean, I'm sorry. Two felony criminal charges. He is the grandson of the woman who owns this home. And those charges include charges of injury to the elderly by act and injury to the elderly by omission.

And again, those are felony criminal charges that Walter Jones now faces. Now authorities say the conditions inside that room were deplorable and witnesses and neighbors around here yesterday when they saw the four men being taken out, many of them on stretchers, were brought out of the house, they said they looked in bad shape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in my yard when I seen them coming out in the ambulance and they didn't look good at all. Man, they looked they're malnutritioned. You know? Real poor. I mean, oh, lord.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god, it just touched my heart. I mean, I feel for them. I don't know. It just really got me hurt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Again we're told that three of the four men were taken to a local hospital to be checked on and that this morning we were told that those three men are in stable condition so they appear to be improving. But many people around here told us that they looked malnourished.

And again investigators here in Houston trying to piece together the timeline. They're not exactly sure how long the men have been kept here against their will. They're still trying to figure all of that out -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Extraordinary. All right, thanks so much, Ed Lavandera. Keep us posted on that.

All right. Today is a somber day in Aurora, Colorado, where one year ago a gunman took 12 lives in a movie theater. One victim's family tells us how they're coping.

And not everything you do these days on your cell phone is private. As you probably have figured out by now. A hacker actually showed us how easy it is to see your texts, pictures and more. So we'll give you an idea how to protect yourself. Our tech expert will, that is, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A woman who allegedly scammed nearly $500,000 from the fund benefiting victims of the Boston marathon bombings is now under arrest. Twenty-six-year-old Andrea Gause who lived in New York is being charged with larceny. She received $480,000 from One Fund Boston after claiming that she had a brain injury. Authorities got a tip that she was not in Boston at the time of the explosion. One year ago today a gunman opened fire in a Colorado movie theater killing 12 people. Their families and the town of Aurora remember them today.

Poppy Harlow spoke to one family who lost a daughter at that deadly midnight movie.

And how are they coping?

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're doing as best they can. You know, I was there covering that tragedy. And the thing is that it's one of so many mass shootings that we've seen this year, it's unreal. You know, Jessica Ghawi, beautiful red head, vivacious girl, only 24 years old, an aspiring sportscaster, lost her life far too soon. So we went back to see how her parents are coping and really how this has changed their world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW (voice-over): A personality as magnetic as her smile.

JESSICA GHAWI, ASPIRING SPORTSCASTER: It looks like you got hit with a puck.

HARLOW: Jessica Ghawi lit up not only the room she entered but the lives of those who loved her.

SANDY PHILLIPS, MOTHER OF AURORA VICTIM JESSICA GHAWI: It was this effervescence about her. This bigger-than-life personality. This go for gusto. She had reached for that gold ring and in one horrible evening -- her dreams, our dreams, and so many other people's dreams, were taken.

HARLOW: Taken at just 24 by a gunman in one of several horrific mass shootings over the past year. She was shot six times.

PHILLIPS: Jesse was my world.

HARLOW: Jessica Ghawi was Sandy's daughter. His was her favorite picture with her stepfather Lonnie. Her love of sports came from her dear friend John Patrick who says Jesse reminded him to live every day.

JOHN PATRICK, FRIEND OF AURORA VICTIM JESSICA GHAWI: Jesse would say, like get up. Get up off the couch. Get out there and, you know, like live and have fun. And, you know, just enjoy the time that you have.

HARLOW: For the Phillips, this past year has been about fighting for gun education.

PHILLIPS: If we don't do something in this country about the gun issue, we're doomed to see the same thing that happened in Aurora and the same thing that happened in Newtown happen again and again and again and again.

HARLOW: They've been gun owners for decades and still are, believers in their Second Amendment right. After Jessica died, they began working for the Brady Campaign to prevent gun violence.

PHILLIPS: The bullet from an AR-15 went flying through the seat that should have protected her and hit her in her head.

LONNIE PHILLIPS, STEPFATHER OF AURORA VICTIMS JESSICA GHAWI: We are going to send a bus. It's going to arrive in Aurora. We're not trying to control guns. We're trying to promote gun safety. It gives us something that she didn't die in vain.

HARLOW (on camera): What do you want to see happen?

PHILLIPS: I don't want to see another mother have to walk in my shoes.

HARLOW (voice-over): They're biggest push is for universal background checks.

PHILLIPS: It's difficult to think of any day without Jesse in it, and now we've had a year without Jesse in it.

HARLOW: Just six weeks before she was killed, Jessica narrowly escaped a shooting at a mall in Canada. She blogged about it, writing, "I was reminded that we don't know when or where our time on earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. Every moment we have to live our life is a blessing."

(On camera): Is there one message that you want to send?

PHILLIPS: Don't think that this can't happen to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Yes. You know, our thoughts are with Lonnie and Sandy, Jessica's parents, and also all the families today. Has to be so hard for them, you know, Fred, Jessica's mother told me, you lose the future and you lose their hopes and their dreams, and so many of these victims were so young.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And it clearly looks like this will -- they'll be forever wounded.

HARLOW: Yes.

WHITFIELD: It's interesting the father, Lonnie, he didn't use the word gun control.

HARLOW: Right.

WHITFIELD: He used the word gun safety. Proudly still gun owners.

HARLOW: Gun owners.

WHITFIELD: But there's a difference in --

HARLOW: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- what they're pushing for over there.

HARLOW: Because -- and they're working for the Brady Campaign to prevent gun violence. They want to see changes like universal background checks and limits on some types of guns and ammunitions, but they said, we don't want to take people's guns away. We want to educate people about what makes sense in their minds on guns. It's -- he corrected me and said, not about gun control. Gun safety.

And he kept saying that to me. Gun education. And this gives him a purpose and -- with their full-time jobs.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

HARLOW: To work for the Brady Campaign because they were so devastated and at least this gives them something to pour their energy into as every day they remember the loss of their daughter.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And hard to believe, it's been a year now.

HARLOW: A year.

WHITFIELD: Poppy, thanks so much for bringing us to us. Appreciate it.

HARLOW: Of course.

WHITFIELD: All right, snapshots from Saturn. And I'm not talking about that car Saturn. The planetary one. Up next, we'll head to outer space and explain one of the latest projects for NASA. They're calling it the first interplanetary photobomb.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. These days a lot of us do just about everything with our cell phones. E-mail, texts, photo taking, phone calls, banking. Well, now what if someone unintentional could hear your calls? Read your texts? Get your banking information?

Here now is our Laurie Segall.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We spent the afternoon with a couple of hackers. Here's what we learned. Not everything you do on your cell phone is private.

(On camera): I've got a phone right. I can text your phone, and you're going to be able to use this to intercept and see exactly what I'm texting?

TOM RITTER, SECURITY CONSULTANT, ISEC PARTNERS: We see the text message after it leaves your phone, before it reaches the carrier, before it reaches the recipient's phone.

SEGALL: I'm texting him now. So I'm sending it.

(Voice-over): But before my friend even gets the text, these guys are reading it on their computer.

RITTER: And you can see right here. Looks like an outgoing SMS from this identifier, sent a text message to this phone number with the message, "Hey, what is up?"

SEGALL: What else do you got?

RITTER: Well, how about a voice call?

SEGALL: Let's call. Hi, Andrew. How are you? I'm good. I'm good.

RITTER: Now I'll play it back for you.

SEGALL: Hi, Andrew. How are you?

RITTER: I'm good. How about you, Laurie?

SEGALL: I'm good, I'm good.

(On camera): You can also see pictures if I text picture, right?

RITTER: Yes. Let's do a picture message.

SEGALL: All right.

RITTER: So your phone used your data connection to send a picture message. We intercepted the data connection, logged it, and grabbed the picture out of it, showed on the screen.

SEGALL (voice-over): How do they do it?

RITTER: So this a small cell phone tower that's sold or provided by carriers to extend coverage into places where you have weak signals.

SEGALL: They're called Femtocells and these security consultants say they're easy to hack.

RITTER: You do need some level of technical skills but people are learning those skills in college. This is -- breaking into one of these devices or a device like this is within the realm of smart people working at home.

SEGALL: We asked Verizon who service these guys tested what they had to say. "Verizon Wireless takes device security seriously. The demonstration CNN saw was for an identified issue that was fixed earlier this year on all network extender devices. The fix prevents the network extender from being compromised in the same manner. There were no reports of any customer impact. The Verizon Wireless Network Extending remains a very secure and effective solution for our customers."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SEGALL: Obviously very eye-opening as you can imagine.

And, Fredricka, I will say, if you've got one of these, make sure to update your software. There are encryption apps you can also get if you're a little bit paranoid about this which obviously this made me very paranoid. One called Wicker, one called Cell Crypt.

And I will say this, you know, they -- these hackers only focused on Verizon. They didn't look at AT&T carriers. So this kind of thing could very much be out there and it's the kind of thing where you almost have to operate under the assumption. One of the hackers said to me, that nothing you do is really private any more.

WHITFIELD: Gosh. All right, that we're all an open book. Laurie Segall, thanks so much.

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

DELGADO: To tell you honestly, I'm from outer space. No, I'm not.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: No. Well, you're out of this world.

DELGADO: Yes, yes, yes. Right. We do have something pretty exciting. In fact, only NASA could get people to wave at Saturn yesterday. We're going to talk more about what's happening with a mission out of NASA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCY LIU, UNICEF AMBASSADOR: Hi, I'm Lucy Liu and we can make an impact for Syrian children. Syria is in a terrible situation right now. There is civil war going on that is creating absolute pandemonium and people are fleeing into Lebanon, into Jordan, into Iraq. Six million people have been displaced, and half of them are children.

These children are suffering. They have lice, they have scabies and they've lost family. They can't go to schooling. They're not getting the medical attention they need. They're not getting the nutrition they need. There's going to be a lost generation of children if this continues. Children deserve to have a childhood.

What happens on the other side of the world isn't just their business, it's our business, because we share the same water, we share the same environment. If we understand that we are actually one community, then it makes the world so much smaller and much more tangible for people to understand.

UNICEF is currently desperate for donations for Syria. It's our duty as human beings to give back. Join the movement. "Impact Your World." CNN.com/impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hey, did you smile at Saturn yesterday? Exactly what NASA asked people to do as the Cassini spacecraft snap pictures of Earth from outer space on Friday. A group of people actually did gather in New York City yesterday to participate in a long distance photo shoot as you see there.

CNN meteorologist Jennifer Delgado joining me now with more on this.

Very cute.

DELGADO: Very cute and gives new meaning to long distance for sure. What you're looking at is part of NASA's Cassini project. Now what we're talking about here is a mission that launched back in 1997. Now get this, it didn't reach Saturn until 2004, it was moving really pretty slow, but as we talk more about this, this is the Cassini spacecraft and of course this is Saturn. You can see the rings there, of course, that's so famous about it.

Now what we're seeing now is a different angle here. Like yesterday they asked everybody to wave and smile to the camera. Well, that's because this is the first time they're actually able to see earth out of this because the sun is causing basically Saturn to be backlit, and now for the first time we are able to see Earth, and hopefully we'll be able to see those images. Those are expected to arrive in the next couple of weeks, and I'm sure we'll have them on here.

WHITFIELD: They're fun.

DELGADO: We'll have more coming up in just a short while. We'll get it back over to you.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. We'll look forward to that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We're hearing from Trayvon Martin's parents today, both at rallies organized to urge the Justice Department to pursue -- pursue, rather, civil rights charges against George Zimmerman.

Here's CNN's Nick Valencia talking to Martin's dad, Tracy, earlier today in Miami.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRACY MARTIN, TRAYVON MARTIN'S FATHER: It's overwhelming. It just goes to show the love and the support that our family 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 not say anything about it.

I think that people are just tired of senseless violence. And 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 state of our laws but we can definitely do something, make amendments.

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 that can (INAUDIBLE) the senseless violence.

As for shooting, you know, that's something that you can't never recover from, obviously. Time heals all wounds, but this is something that I don't feel that I can ever recover from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Trayvon Martin's mother also spoke as she was at a rally in New York and called for justice for her son.

(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)

WHITFIELD: Demonstrations in support of Trayvon Martin are being held in more than 100 cities across the country. And we'll have more on those rallies coming up at the top of the hour.

Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Christine Romans up next with "YOUR MONEY."