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U.S. Cities Rally for Trayvon Martin; Breaking Down the Breadth of "Stand Your Ground"; Leonard Pitts Tells African-Americans "Wake Up"; Men Claim They Were Locked in Garage; Cell Phone Open Book to Hackers; More Brutal Heat on the Way

Aired July 20, 2013 - 17:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, top of the hour. I'm Don Lemon in New York. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A lot going on this hour and we'll going to start with the big story of the day. And, of course, it's this one, East Coast, West Coast, and nearly every state in between. People gather to show the nation they are frustrated, they are fed up and they're downright angry at the acquittal of George Zimmerman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Trayvon!

(Protesters): Trayvon!

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Trayvon!

(Protesters): Trayvon!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: That you're looking at right there is Atlanta today, just one of the 100-plus cities where people are rallied around the memory of Trayvon Martin and demanded something more be done in his name.

In Orlando, Florida, this crowd gathered outside the federal courthouse. One common call in these nationwide protests today is for federal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman. In Dallas, and Chicago, New York City, Washington, D.C., people put their voices together today, promising no justice, no peace. Trayvon Martin's father attended a rally in his son's honor today in Miami and CNN's Nick Valencia was there.

You were there and you spoke to Tracy Martin. What did he say, Nick?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was very emotional, Don, he teared up at the podium when he was addressing the hundreds and hundreds of demonstrators that were here today. He spoke about the legacy of his slain 17-year-old son and he talked about being an activist for also the sons and the daughters, also of those in attendance. I got the chance to speak to Tracy Martin one on one, and he talked to me about how overwhelmed he was by all the support that was shown here today in Miami. I don't think we have that sound, Don, but essentially Tracy Martin talked about how he was overwhelmed by the supporters here. He talked about how the legacy of Trayvon Martin would not be forgotten. And he did say also that he wanted that stand your ground law to be amended. In fact, that was the message here by the majority of the demonstrators, that the stand your ground law needs to be looked at closer by the governor. At one point one of the organizers said if Governor Rick Scott is not willing to change the law, then we will change him. After -- actually, I believe that sound bite just came in, Don. Take a listen to Tracy Martin. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRACY MARTIN, FATHER OF TRAYVON MARTIN: It was overwhelming, it just goes to show the love and the support that our families and friends have for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: The rally lasted only about two hours from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. afterwards some of those that were in attendance decided to march up and down the streets. Their initial plan was to go to Interstate 95 which is a major thorough fare that runs through Miami. Those plans changed and they did go to a police headquarters and eventually did come back here. Tracy Martin had more to say about today's rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN: 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. 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. I think that the people that have a sense of 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 and make amendments to it.

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 sense of violence. Senseless 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 really recover from.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: And I asked Tracy Martin as well about how are they going to sustain this movement. A lot of times we see communities latch on to an issue, whether it's gun control, race relations or the stand your ground law. He said, yes, we have a rally today and today is justice for Trayvon day. But our work is far from over -- Don. LEMON: Nick Valencia in Miami, Nick, thank you for that.

As the country continues to absorb the verdict in the Zimmerman trial, attention is turning to actions designed to find justice and to promote healing. Earlier today the son of Martin Luther King, Jr. appeared on CNN and spoke with Victor Blackwell and Poppy Harlow about the possible boycotts against stand your ground states and the realistic potential of the Justice Department filing charges against George Zimmerman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I got to ask you, when you say action, you've called for possibly boycotting orange juice in Florida because of the stand your ground law in Florida. You said that at the NAACP convention in Orlando. Should people also boycott Georgia Peaches and Kentucky Bourbon and --

MARTIN LUTHER KING III, HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Yes, we may have to look at -- I think from a strategic standpoint you have to look at everything. Certainly Georgia has stand your ground laws. Overall in all of those two dozen plus states needs to be looked at, and that is the strategy. That is not -- I haven't said let's do this. I said, these are things that have to be considered. These are things that my father considered in his era.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. When you look at the President's remarks yesterday, a lot of the focus is on his personal comments about race and his experience, and the other headline, frankly, is what he said about, you know -- in terms of what further charges there may or may not be. A lot of people read into that and thought that the headline there was that we likely won't perhaps see charges brought by the Justice Department. What did you take away from what you heard from the President when he talked about the verdict and talked about how people should consider that?

KING: I think in the realm of possibilities and realities, you have to consider everything. It is very possible that there may not be, but I do think at least the door is open. And the other thing is, not just in relationship to Trayvon. We're all praying for Trayvon's mom, father, and family. We should always be doing that. This family has operated in a dignified manner, but also when you look at the fact that the criminal justice system is 59 percent people of color and we are only 13 percent of the population, there's something clearly going wrong.

We're targeting or profiling is consistently operating. Those are the kind of things, some of the laws that are on the books overall, this is the time for us to begin to look at everything so we that can move America forward. We must become a more unified nation. We are far too divided at this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Later here that coming up next hour, Bernice King, CEO of the King Center and daughter of the late civil rights leader, and Alveda King, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s niece will join me from Atlanta tonight.

To Houston now, where behind the doors of one house was a horrible secret, four men claim they were held captive, lured in and locked up in the garage. Now the homeowner's grandson is facing felony charges. Police are investigating whether the men, one of them 80 years old, had been forced to hand over their government aid including disability, social security, and veterans checks.

In 30 minutes CNN's Ed Lavandera joins me live from Houston with more on this very bizarre story.

A horrible accident in Texas to tell you about. A woman riding a roller coaster at six flags over Texas fell to her death yesterday. Witnesses say she tumbled out of her seat when the coaster dropped during a steep turn. Her son was on the ride and saw his mom fall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The man was sitting next to a woman and they were both saying let me out, let me out. My mom fell off. My mom fell off. I need -- I need to go find her. And the park workers are kind of taken aback by it and didn't really know if he was being serious or not, once they realized that he was being serious, then they rushed to go assist her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: The woman who fell has not yet been identified. Six flags officials say the coaster is closed while the investigation continues.

For some, the trial of George Zimmerman put in sharp focus the need to re-examine laws that govern the ideas of self-defense and stand your ground. We're going to take an in-depth look at these laws, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: We're going to try to educate you a little bit on stand your ground. It is a three-word phrase that has sparked so much debate in the wake of last year's shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin and now a week after the not guilty verdict of his admitted shooter George Zimmerman the stand your ground debate is still far from over. Take, for example, President Obama --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that there's been commentary about the fact that the stand your ground laws in Florida were not used as a defense in the case. On the other hand, if we're sending a message as a society in our communities that someone who is armed potentially has the right to use those firearms even if there's a way for them to exit from a situation, is that really going to be contributing to the kind of peace and security and order that we'd like to see?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, meanwhile, Florida Governor Rick Scott met with protesters and defended his position to not amend the law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: I'm not going to call a special session. I don't believe right now that stand your ground should be changed. But I tell you right now I appreciate you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And here's a quick reminder for you, Zimmerman's legal team did not invoke stand your ground as part of his defense, but Florida stand your ground law did impact the judge's instructions to the jury. Florida is one of 22 states that have laws stating that residents have no duty to retreat from a would-be attacker. Several other stand your ground cases are now in the spotlight showing the sheer breadth of how these laws can be interpreted. Take the case of Marissa Alexander, for example, she's a Florida mother who unsuccessfully claimed a stand your ground defense in 2012.

She received a sentence of 20 years in prison for a confrontation with her boyfriend during which she fired a gun. No one was killed nor injured. Or the pending case of Daniel Atkins who was shot and killed in the parking lot of a South Phoenix Taco Bell while walking his dog last year. His shooter Jude Kordell said he shot in self-defense after a confrontation. Or this one the Broward County middle school student who got into a fistfight on a school bus and an appeals court ruled this week he should be allowed to use the stand your ground law to defend his actions.

So, there is no question that the Zimmerman verdict is being met by strong reactions all across the country. We've shown you examples today. As protesters call for changes to these controversial stand your ground laws.

I want to bring in now criminal defense Attorney Darren Kavinoky, he's joining us again, Darren, thank you for joining us. And former prosecutor Loni Coombs, Loni, thanks for joining us as well. I'm going to start with Darren. One of the trickiest factors here both opponents and proponents of stand your ground can find parts of the Zimmerman case to support their beliefs, right?

DARREN KAVINOKY, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, certainly. And to further the conversation that you teed up beautifully, Don, that stand your ground really eliminates a need for somebody to retreat, but to give it a little bit more context, typically in order to use deadly force, you only had no duty to retreat if you were your home, what's called the castle doctrine. And now what stand your ground has done is expanded that to allow you to use deadly force, no duty to retreat if you're involved in some kind of an altercation outside of your home.

I don't know that the expansion is quite as enormous as people now are clinging to. It's an important difference. And the other way this plays out, of course, in the courtroom is that there are two opportunities to raise stand your ground, one is to have the immunity hearing where the judge decides whether it applies. If the judge rules in your favor, the case goes away. The other is simply to argue it to the jury as was done in the Zimmerman case, where you're basically asserting the stand your ground, no duty to retreat, but bootstrapping that to your self-defense claim and that's exactly what happened there.

LEMON: OK. Loni, real quickly, because I have another question for you. But so, the attorneys did not invoke stand your ground in the George Zimmerman's attorneys, the defense attorneys. So, was the judge compelled to state that your stand your ground rule in the jury instructions?

LONI COOMBS, FORMER LOS ANGELES COUNTY PROSECUTOR: No. And it was an interesting ruling, how it kind of came up, it was a self-defense instruction but she used the language stand your ground. But I have to say I really disagree with Darren. I think that expansion of the castle doctrine from a home where I think everyone feels like you have the right to protect your home, your family, your castle, up to the use of deadly force, extending that out to the public where you're running into strangers, people you don't know, and now a rule that tells you, look, if you have a confrontation, you don't need to consider any other option.

Shooting that person, killing that person, is just as viable an option as any other option, yelling at the person, walking away, some other type of option. Just go ahead and shoot. And then when you get into court, all you have to do is say, I am going to stand my ground and just saying those words throws the burden now on the prosecution and the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the highest level of proof that we have in our laws that you didn't have a legitimate right to self-defense. That on its face does not seem fair and it's really encouraging people to be more loose with their guns.

LEMON: Darren, I'm going to get back to you. I want to continue on with Loni.

KAVINOKY: Please.

LEMON: We have a lot to talk about. The interpretations as you are saying now, of this law are quite far-reaching now, we heard about several other cases just a moment ago. But why were they initially created?

KAVINOKY: Well, initially it's created --

LEMON: I'm talking to Loni. I wanted Loni to answer this since she's a former prosecutor and then we'll get to Darren.

KAVINOKY: Oh, I'm sorry. Sure.

COOMBS: Well, they wanted people to be able to defend themselves, in situations where they thought they were about to be killed, if you have a gun, you can defend yourself from deadly force. I mean, and that is in the law. You have to believe that you're either about to sustain great bodily injury or death. The problem is when you get into court and you have to prove that's what actually happened, the best evidence of that is usually the witness, the victim, who's dead, and so it's so much easier for the person who shot to go into court and say, yes, I believed it, and where's your evidence that's going to prove otherwise.

LEMON: Darren, to Loni's point, I mean, it seems quite odd, let's just say I go start a fight with someone and the person is fighting back and they start to kick my butt, and then I go, wow, this person is now kicking my butt, so I'm going to shoot them. And so in order to protect myself from great bodily harm, I shot them, stand your ground, I can invoke stand your ground and I can win?

KAVINOKY: Well, look, all of this hinges on notions of reasonableness. This is no license for people just to be out claiming stand your ground so they can shoot people willy-nilly. And by the way, if we have time to get into that Arizona case --

LEMON: That's what's happening. That's what's happening.

KAVINOKY: Well, I think I'm not sure I agree with that entirely, ultimately you only have a right to use deadly force if you are reasonably in fear of either death or serious or grievous bodily injury and ultimately that's a question of fact either for the judge to decide in an immunity hearing or for jurors to decide in deliberations in the case in chief.

LEMON: OK. All right. Let's move on. Because the President turned the tables on the case yesterday, the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I just asked 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? And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, then it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: I'm up against a break here. I want both of you to respond, first Darren and then Loni. What do you make of that?

KAVINOKY: Well, I think it's a great question, although, you know, it reminds me a little bit of that notion how many -- how many legs would a dog have if you call a tail a leg. The answer's still four, it doesn't matter what you call it. So speculating about whether stand your ground would work for Trayvon Martin in different circumstances isn't exactly it. I think, though, the conversation needs to be in an entirely --

LEMON: No, I think he meant in the same circumstances had. I think he said in the same fight, had Trayvon Martin pulled out a gun and shot George Zimmerman instead, could Trayvon Martin in that case invoke stand your ground and he said and if you're ambiguous, if the answer's ambiguous, then maybe we should be thinking about these laws. Am I wrong with that, Loni? COOMBS: No. I think that's exactly his point. And, you know, anytime we're talking about having more people invoke stand your ground, that's my issue with it. It's, like, more people have the right to shoot and kill someone else. I don't think it's good for anyone to have that right or to be encouraged to do that.

LEMON: Yes. And perhaps there should be more debates as well not only about stand your ground but about the gun laws, gun legislation as well. Thanks to both of you. I always appreciate both your perspectives.

COOMBS: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: See you soon. OK.

It is been a year since the Aurora, Colorado theater shooting, but for at least one family, the pain is just as intense as those first hours. Their story next.

But first this, a woman who runs a youth center in New Orleans is teaching at-risk kids you can solve problems without firing a gun. She's this week's CNN hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LIZA FITZPATRICK, CNN HERO: A typical week for a child in central city is that you'll see at least one dead body.

There was a shooting here. I was just noticing they still hadn't cleaned up the bloods.

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

My name is Lisa Fitzpatrick. And 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?

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

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: 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.

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

FITZPATRICK: The successes are not necessarily going to Harvard but when that kid makes a conscious effort to spread the message of nonviolence, that's the success.

I love you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: It's hard to believe it's been a year that I've been -- I was reporting to you in Aurora, Colorado, remember that? One year ago today a gunman burst into an Aurora, Colorado, Movie Theater killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. People in Aurora are honoring the victims today, people like Jessica Ghawi, just 24 years old when she was murdered at that deadly midnight movie.

CNN's Poppy Harlow spoke personally with Jessica Ghawi's family and friends to find out how they are coping one year later.

HARLOW: Hey there, Don, well, Jessica Ghawi was just 24 years old when she was gunned down. She was an aspiring sportscaster full of life and the past year since she was killed has been beyond difficult for her family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

JESSICA GHAWI, AURORA SHOOTING VICTIM: It looks like you got hit with a plug.

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

RANDY 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, 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: Jessie was my world.

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

JOHN PATRICK, FRIEND OF AURORA VICTIM JESSICA GHAWI: Jessie would say get up, get 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 VICTIM JESSICA GHAWI: They 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): Their biggest push is for universal background checks.

PHILLIPS: It's difficult to think of any day without Jessie in it and now we've had a year without Jessie 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: And, you know, Don, Jessica's mother told me you lose the future, you lose their hopes and their dreams. Our thoughts are with her entire family today and also the families of all the victims of the horrific shooting, one year ago in Aurora, Colorado -- Don.

LEMON: Thank you very much for that, Poppy. Great family and her brother Jordan and I have become great friends and he is an amazing guy and a pretty good firefighter, I hear. Hi, Jordan.

After the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, a Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist said to his African-American readers, very bluntly, "Wake the hell up." I'll talk with him next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: I really like smart, introspective people, and Pulitzer-Prize winner, Leonard Pitts, is one of them. He says the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial sounds like it could be a call for African- Americans to, in his words, "Wake the hell up."

Leonard Pitts is a nationally syndicated columnist with the "Miami Herald." "He join us me from Washington.

I want to start with -- first of all, you doing OK?

LEONARD PITTS, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST, MIAMI HERALD: I'm hanging in there.

LEMON: Let's start with a portion of your column that got our attention. It says, quote, "While we were celebrating, others were calculating. While we were writing nasty rap lyrics, they were writing senators. While we were organizing Obama victory parties, they were organizing tea parties. While we were buying DVDS, they were buying candidates. While we were sending texts, they were building propaganda machinery. While we were resting on the past, they were seizing the future."

That's pretty strong stuff there, Mr. Pitts. Do you believe African- Americans are literally watching their freedoms slip away?

PITTS: I think we are in a period of great pushback in which the freedoms that we've taken for granted, people of my generation, my age, have been able to take for granted, are being eroded. I never thought that I would live to see the Voting Rights Act gutted. I never thought that I would live to see a time when I'd feel it necessary to have to defend the Civil Rights Act and yet both of these things have happened within the last few years. We've also seen -- seen it being a period where people feel a lot more free and feel like they have a lot more moral and intellectual cover to say things that they would not have dared to say in the 1980s or even the 1990s, really vile and racially inflammatory or downright racist things.

LEMON: Mean what? Talk to me a little bit more about that.

PITTS: Meaning that, not to name names, but meaning, you know, the people who have said in essence that Trayvon Martin, you know, pretty much brought on what happened to him himself by the act of wearing a hooded sweat sweatshirt, in other words, how dare you give life to our fears. You know, we have these fears and you should have known that we have these fears and dressed accordingly, which is fascinating to me that -- you know, everybody else I guess is empowered to in the rain walk in a hooded sweatshirt but if you're black we have these fears and you're not allowed to. This is something I don't think someone would have felt free to say in 1992 or 1985.

LEMON: It appears to me that you're saying in your, probably my sister's generation, a little bit older, my mother's generation, who went through the civil rights movement, that people have gotten too comfortable, that we have some money now, we have a nice house, you know, we have a nice job, therefore, we can kind of rest on our laurels a little bit and we don't have to fight the good fight. Is that what you're saying?

PITTS: That's more or less what I'm saying. But let me correct one thing. I'm of the intermediate generation. I came of age immediately after the civil rights movement. I was of the generation that I thought this was all over and was really grateful for the '60s generation for what they did. But it's not --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Can you stop there? I don't want to cut you off, but it's interesting because I just interviewed young people, and I'm doing a thing on the Generation Gap later on CNN in this broadcast. And there are many young people who think it's over, that fight has been fought. And I speak to their parents and they say, you know, it is different for them, but I'm just a little bit leery because of my time on the planet and my wisdom, and they don't know everything yet, and I just want them to slow down and be a little bit more introspective about this.

PITTS: Yeah, what I've learned is I guess what those young people are learning is that there's a great danger in presuming that we have overcome too soon, and sort of taking your eye off the prize or walking away from the battlefield. You could have not have told me when I was 18 years old that these things were still problems or would still be problems, you know, at my age now, and I'm 55. You could not have made me believe that because, you know, these things were of the past and everybody knew it and everybody agreed upon it, but guess what, as I wrote, while we were celebrating, others were strategizing.

LEMON: I want to go real quickly and get this, because we're going a little bit long here, but I want you to listen to the president yesterday and I want to get your response.

PITTS: Sure.

LEMON: Play that sound bite, please.

(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 certainly very few African-American men who haven't had the experience of walking the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So that's happened to the president. It's happened to me. It's happened to a lot of African-American men. My thing is -- and I had Ben Ferguson on, the radio host -- is why immediately do people want to say, that's not happening, why is it so important for someone who is not African-American to come out and go, he's wrong! You're wrong! It's, like, I find that a bit odd and a bit insulting.

PITTS: Because if you are invested in a -- in a vision which says otherwise, there's a tendency -- and they've had psychological studies which sort of quantify this -- there's a strong tendency to discount any evidence that gives lie to what you want to believe and to manufacture or embrace any evidence, however scant it is, that supports what you want to believe. People want to believe, particularly white Americans, many white Americans, I should say, want to believe this is over and this is done and anything else you're talking about is a product of their imagination. And since they hold so strongly to this and they are so deeply invested in this, any evidence you bring up to the contrary -- and we've got anecdotal evidence and statistic evidence, all kinds of evidence, illustrative evidence, anything you want, that any evidence you bring up to the contrary, has to be something you're making up because we, quote- unquote, "know better."

LEMON: It's interesting to me when people -- and people will probably take issue with the comments that you made. But you are also a person who says --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PITTS: I'm kind of used to that.

LEMON: But you're telling the African-American community to take responsibility for many of their own issues and many of their own problems and then also now you're saying, hey, listen, white America, understand that there's a different reality in some quarters for African-Americans and for white Americans. And so I think there's great balance in what you're saying, but many people still take issue to it. Do you understand what I'm saying?

PITTS: No. I understand exactly what you are saying. When we are talking about race, we embrace the either/or dichotomy. It's either black people need to get their act together and take more accountability for things they need to do in their communities, or white people need to take more responsibility for the racism that still exists in this country, but it's not an either/or. It's a false choice. It's both "and."

LEMON: Yes.

PITTS: And what I like to tell people, if your problem with African- American people that we need to restore a father to the home and rebuild the communities and all of that, that's fine. But the thing is if you restore a father to the dinner table, father still needs a job, OK?

(LAUGHTER)

Father still needs to be able to get to that job without being stopped by the police, you know, for driving while black, and that's the part of it nobody really wants to ever deal with.

LEMON: Yeah. And it's not just the black community's problem to deal with violence in communities. It's all of our problems. Just as we deal --

(CROSSTALK)

PITTS: It's an American problem.

LEMON: Yes.

Thank you. Leonard Pitts, always a pleasure. Thank you.

PITTS: Thank you.

LEMON: Appreciate it.

We're going live to Houston next where four men say they were held captive and nearly starved. They were locked up in a garage-turned prison, straight ahead.

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LEMON: We want to get you to Houston now where, behind the doors of one house, was a horrible secret. Four men claim they were held captive, lured in and locked up in the garage. And now the homeowner's grandson is facing felony charges. What is this all about?

Let's go to CNN's Ed Lavandera, live in Houston now.

Ed, what do we know about what's happening in that house?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the owner of the house has been inside all day and has refused to come out. But what authorities have spent a lot of time over the last 24 hours focusing on is just behind that purple wall, what was going on inside there. That is a converted garage where authorities here in Houston say four men were being held against their will.

Now, there's some question as to whether or not there might have been some sort of home care situation gone wrong, an unregulated situation, but authorities here in Houston have charged a man by the name of Walter Jones with two criminal felony counts of injury to elderly. These victims range in age from 50 to 80. And what those victims told police, according to Houston police, that their disabilities checks, welfare checks had been taken away from them and they were being forced to turn them over for staying here.

Authorities say they were lured to the house originally with the promise of getting cigarettes and beer, but what officials now are really focusing on is trying to get a timeline of events, just how long these men were here. It is not clear at this point.

But neighbors say that when they emerged from the house, the men did not look like they were in good condition, that they were malnourished.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was in my yard when I seen them come outing of the ambulance. They didn't look good at all. They looked malnutritioned (sic), real poor. I mean, oh, Lord.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my god. It just touched my heart. I fear for them. I don't know. It just really got me hurting. (END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Don, three of the four men had to be taken to a local hospital to get checked out. We're told that those men are now in stable condition. And as we mentioned, Walter Jones is the man who has been charged with two felony criminal counts in this case. But officials, as I mentioned, still working on the timeline, trying to figure out why is it that they were being held in that converted garage against their will. That's what authorities say. And so they're still trying to piece together that timeline, just trying to figure out how long they were in here and what led to all of this -- Don?

LEMON: Talk to me more about the men. What do we know? We understand one of them was 80 years old?

LAVANDERA: Yeah, they might have been -- we're told that they might have been homeless and that's what -- why they were lured here. There is some question as to whether or not they might have been running some sort of out-of-the house, an unregulated home-care situation. And, of course, there were, I'm told by police here in Houston, that those investigators that focus on those specific types of cases are looking in to this situation as well, are helping out in this investigation, and that that will take some time. But, yeah, we're looking at what we're told four men ranging in ages from 50 to 80 years old who need a lot of medical attention after they were taken out of the house on stretchers.

LEMON: All right, Ed Lavandera. Ed, thank you for that.

Much of the country has been sweltering under brutal heat. It looks like it's about to let up, we hope. But more trouble may be on the way.

And can hackers listen to your phone calls, read your texts, get your mobile banking information? We'll see, next.

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LEMON: You need to watch this story. Can hackers snoop on your cell phone and read your text or listen to your phone calls?

Here's our Laurie Segall.

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LAURIE SEGALL, CNN MONEY TECH CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not everything you do on your cell phone is private.

(on camera): I've got a phone right here. 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 going to text him now. I'm sending it. But before my friend even gets the text, these guys are reading it on their computer.

RITTER: You can see right here. Looks like an outgoing SMS (ph) from this identifier sent a text message to this phone number with the message, hey, what is up?

SEGALL: What else do you got?

(LAUGHTER)

RITTER: 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.

(BEGIN AUDIO FEED)

SEGALL: Hi, Andrew, how are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm good. How are you, Laurie?

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

(END AUDIO FEED)

SEGALL: You can also see pictures if I text someone a picture, right?

RITTER: Yeah. 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 it on the screen.

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

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

SEGALL: They're called sento (ph) cells. These security consultants and they say these are easy to have.

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

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LEMON: All right. Here is our CNN Money tech guru, Laurie Segall. She's here with me.

This is scary stuff. So you spoke with Verizon about this. What did they say?

SEGALL: I did. Well, if this doesn't make you paranoid I don't know what will. They gave us a statement. Let me read it to you, Don. They said, "The demonstration CNN saw was for an identified issue that was fixed earlier this year on all of the network extender devices." And they also say, "The fix prevents the network extender from being compromised in the same manner and there were no reports of any customer impact."

That being said, you have to keep in mind that these hackers found a flaw in the Verizon system. They didn't even look in AT&T. So it is projected, by 2014, there are going to be about 50 million of these devices in homes. This is something to keep in mind.

LEMON: Interesting. If the hacker really wants to get your information, they can get it, right? Pretty much?

SEGALL: You know, we operate under the -- I asked these hackers, what can we do to protect ourselves, what do we want to do? He said you should first of all operate under the assumption that nothing you do is private. Well great. But there are definite apps you can use if you're paranoid about it. There is one called Wicker, Cell Crypt, Red Phone, so you can go play around with these. But it's eye opening and important to understand that we are in this age where privacy is in question quite a bit.

LEMON: The person who comes up with a way to where you don't have to worry about identity theft or someone hacking into your computer is going to be a gazillionair.

SEGALL: Absolutely.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Thank you, Laurie. Great report.

SEGALL: Thanks.

LEMON: We appreciate it.

You know, we've had some really crazy weather going on, like this in Vegas. Some of the bizarre weather is about to end but more trouble may be on the way.

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LEMON: This is really crazy weather. It is so hot here in New York, I cannot explain to you. It's a crazy heat wave. And it is finally ending, is what I hear. It's not all good news. Here is CNN's Jennifer Delgado with the weekend weather.

Hi, Jennifer.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Don, I know you're tired of the heat in New York and just about everybody else across the northeast as well as New England. The good news is that we're actually going to see the extreme heat coming to an end today. And that means all the advisories and watches that you're seeing here are going to expire at 8:00 tonight. That means, tomorrow, weather conditions are going to be better because, in some of these locations today, it felt like 105 degrees. Now the relief is coming and it's all due to this cold front. That frontal system is going to be producing some showers and thunderstorms out there. Some of those could become strong at times, but the important thing is, it's going to bring some cooler air in place.

Now, here is a look at some of the temperatures for tomorrow. You can see some of the 80s across parts of the northeast. Even the Midwest, they're getting a break from the extreme heat. It gets even better for areas like New York as well as D.C. Look at these temperatures as we go through the next couple days. New York on Tuesday, high of 85 degrees. You'll be seasonable. Keep in mind, in Boston, your temperatures were in the mid 90s. As we move into Monday and Tuesday, your temperature is 78, 77 degrees. I think they'll take that in Boston.

Don, maybe that's where you need to go on your day off.

Back to you.

LEMON: Thank you. Good advice. I'll figure it out.

Listen, we have a very powerful hour coming up, so call your friends, call your loved ones, call your relatives. Tell them they need to watch this. We are really going to talk race here. You asked for it. You got it. There he is, Tim Wise. I cannot wait for the next hour.

We're also going to talk about how the Generation Gap may play into some of these recent issues. Sit and watch.

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