Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Royals Welcome Baby Boy; Officer Who Leaked Photos Learns Fate; Another Victim Identified; Landing Gear Fails Hurting 10; Zimmerman Plays Good Samaritan; Coping with ALS

Aired July 23, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Prince Charles, Duchess Camilla arriving at the hospital. I want to bring in our Max Foster who is there at the hospital to give us a sense of just what that moment was like.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was incredible. And the interesting thing he said was he was asked about the baby, how's the baby? How's the baby? And he replied, you'll see in a minute. So, that's got us all braced. The -- actually, the Duke and Duchess Cambridge could be coming out in a minute. Prince Charles saying that, and we don't know exactly what he meant. But, I mean, it seems quite clear, he talked to many of us, certainly got us thinking that the Duke and Duchess are on their way out. If you also consider that they closed the road at one end and they've got all the hospital staff out. Everyone's in position if they did want to come out right now. We haven't got the palace word, so it's difficult to confirm anything but we're braced.

MALVEAUX: OK. We are excited about that moment. Tell us about the crowd outside there. It was quite electric.

FOSTER: Yes, I mean, a lot of hospital staff. I have to say -- I mean, you can't - we can't turn the camera around it's so jam packed. But there's staff -- hospital staff all around us on these bridges and in the pens. Lots of members of the public as well trying to get here. This is a moment in British history. You only get a new moment every sort of 30 years or so being born or future monarch. And this is going to be the first time we're going to see that baby. And, you know, those pictures of Diana and Charles on the doorstep with Prince William 31 years ago are iconic. These images will be iconic when they do happen. I'm sure it will happen soon. I've got the -- I've got vibe -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: You got the vibe. All right, any hints on what the boy's name would be? I know they're -- people are betting on a couple of options, yes?

FOSTER: Yes, I mean, the most popular one in James which makes no sense to me at all because his brother is called James. I don't think he would choose another name of such a close family member. I mean, Charles, Phillip is a popular one. This is all a betting. And it's entirely based on speculation, Suzanne, because nothing is leaked from the palace. We do think that we might get the name once they departed or as they depart. That was the form with Prince Harry. So, you know, that's what some palace aides have suggested we look towards. It does depend on whether they settled on a name, of course, if they have. We could get it pretty soon.

MALVEAUX: All right. Max, we'll be back to you. Of course, as soon as those doors open again, we're following everything from the hospital. And, of course, we're going to be following it throughout the day.

We're also covering other news. A Massachusetts state police officer who leaked those photos of the alleged Boston bombers capture, well, now, he has learned his fate. This is Sergeant Sean Murphy. He came face to face with the officers who decided his punishment. He had been suspended for day for releasing those photos without authorization. So, here are these pictures that we're talking about. They were published on "Boston Magazine's" Web site.

Jason Carroll is following the story. And the hearing, I understand, ended about an hour ago. What did they think was appropriate for him for leaking those photos after being so upset when he saw the "Rolling Stone" cover?

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Suzanne, before the hearing even got underway, Sergeant Sean Murphy was heading inside and he was being peppered with questions. He would only say one thing. He said, it's a good day. So, that's how he felt going into this meeting. The first meeting of its kind that he was able to have with his superior officers while also having an attorney and a representative from the police union at his side. The meeting lasted about an hour.

At its conclusion, he was told that he was being place on restrictive duty, pending the outcome of the investigation. That's basically like being placed on a desk job for what he did. Right now, everybody knows in the city of Boston and, in fact, many people throughout the country know what he did in releasing those photos showing a bloodied and bruised Dzhokhar Tsarnaev after he was captured. He basically felt as though that was the true face of terrorism. Not the face depicted on the cover of rolling stone which he felt as though insulted the families and the victims by showing what he felt as though was a glamourized shot of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Since doing that, Suzanne, as you know, lots of support for Sergeant Murphy. A Facebook page set up in his honor, 60,000 followers and counting. He was not able to say anything further in terms of commenting. But what he did do was he allowed his attorney and his 19-year-old son to speak on his behalf.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONNOR MURPHY: My dad's kind of always been a huge hero to me and throughout this process, he's shown the characteristics that I hope to someday model myself after. If I could be one-fourth of the man he is now, I'll be more than happy with my life. Couldn't be prouder.

LEONARD KESTEN, ATTORNEY: This tragedy -- not tragedy. This horrible event has touched all of us. I think everybody here knows somebody or has been personally touched. And it goes to show you that the depth of feeling and the depth of pain and the reaction of the people to that photograph and on the cover of the "Rolling Stone."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: The family of slain MIT officer, Sean Collier, also coming out in support of what Sergeant Murphy did. Basically, at this point, Suzanne, Sergeant Murphy is going to have to wait for the outcome of that investigation to see what further punitive damages he might have to suffer as a result of what he did.

MALVEAUX: All right. Jason, thank you. We appreciate that.

Authorities have now identified a second woman found dead over the weekend. This is in East Cleveland, Ohio. Now, police say that the woman's name is Shatisha Shealy (ph). She was just 28 years old. She's from Cleveland. She was one of three women found dead over the weekend wrapped in plastic bags. Thirty-five-year-old Michael Madison, he has been charged with three counts of aggravated murder and three counts of kidnapping. Now, police think he might be a serial killer and they fear that they're going to find more victims.

Well, this was a close call. This 150 folks that were flying on a Southwest Airlines flight to New York's LaGuardia Airport. Well, Flight 345 was arriving from Nashville. Look at this. The plane, it runs into trouble when it's touching down. The nose gear failing, leaving 10 people injured from that accident. Now, it's under investigation but passengers, they're not waiting to tell us what happened here.

Poppy Harlow has more from the airport.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Emergency vehicles, proceed onto runway four.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You can see sparks flying as Southwest Airlines Flight 345 out of Nashville lands hard sliding on its nose.

THOMAS BOSCO, GENERAL MANAGER, LAGUARDIA AIRPORT: The nose wheel specifically collapsed. The aircraft skidded down the runway on its nose and then veered off and came to rest in a grass area.

HARLOW: One hundred and fifty people aboard evacuated on emergency slides.

ROLANDO OCHO: I thought it was just a terrible job with the pilot. But I didn't realize what happened until I actually left the plane.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it was like getting smashed in car wreck.

ANASTASIA ELLIOT: Very chaotic. No one knew what was going on. Flight attendants crying.

HARLOW: According to the FAA, the plane came safely to a stop at the edge of the runway. No injuries were immediately reported to air traffic control. The FAA is investigating. ALLISON ARLING-GIORGI: We were sitting on the runway ready for takeoff. Everyone pulled out their phones and there was this loud gasp because they saw the plane land.

HARLOW: Ten non-life threatening injuries were later reported but the scare comes on the heels of the crash landing of Asiana Flight 214 at San Francisco International Airport earlier this month. Three people died. The incident at LaGuardia closed the airport to incoming flights for just over an hour but caused a ripple effect of flight delays. These photos obtained exclusively by CNN show the scene inside the airport lounge where passengers waited hours for luggage from the stranded plane. And this morning, many passengers from other cancelled flights were still waiting.

ARLING-GIORGI: They rebooked me this morning on a flight out which now I'm finding out which I confirmed on the way over was supposed to be out of LaGuardia but now is out of JFK. So, I'll be --

HARLOW (on camera): So, now, you have to go to JFK?

ARLING-GIORGI Right.

HARLOW: And somehow, you have to get to Chicago and L.A. today.

ARLING-GIORGI Yes.

RON FLYNN: We had to find a hotel. Then they threw your luggage off on the concourse. You had to dig your luggage out.

HARLOW (voice-over): At 6:59 this morning, runway four reopened. The disabled Southwest Airline's plane was taken to a hangar for investigation. In a statement, Southwest said it is working with both the NTSB and Boeing in a preliminary investigation of this event. We express our utmost gratitude to emergency responders and Southwest employees who assisted us last night.

(live): And thank goodness the injuries weren't worse and there weren't more injuries. It was quite a scare. And in terms of the investigation, the NTSB, Suzanne, is continuing to gather information to decide if it will open a formal investigation into this incident. Also, we know that the plane's data recorder from the cockpit, those are now in Washington at the NTSB labs. They're looking at those. I do want to bring you an update. Southwest, in its most recent statement, gave us some information about this plane, this Boeing 737, saying it was last inspected on July 18, 2013 and it began operating back in October 1999 -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Poppy, we appreciate it, reporting from LaGuardia. Thanks, again, we appreciate it.

Coming up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just witnessed an accident on the off ramp coming off of 417 to get onto I-4 over in Sanford.

MALVEAUX: And guess who came to the rescue? George Zimmerman. How he helped a family escape an overturned truck. And Bishop T.D. Jakes, he is preaching a new message, how to move on after Zimmerman's not guilty verdict. He weighs in on the Trayvon Martin protest straight ahead.

Plus, it is mysterious, frustrating and frightening. ALS or better known as Lou Garrett's disease, it all ravages the body but not the mind. It challenges the very notion of what it means to be alive. My mother was diagnosed a year and a half ago and I'm going to share my family's story. Fighting ALS debuts this hour on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: George Zimmerman has been keeping a low profile since a jury acquitted him in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. But four days after the verdict, authorities say that Zimmerman took on the role of Good Samaritan. They say he helped a family out of their overturned SUV following an accident. Some local civil rights leaders are skeptical about that report.

Our Victor Blackwell explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just witnessed an accident on the off ramp coming off of 417 to get onto I-4 over in Sanford.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): 5:45 Wednesday evening, a blue SUV is driving onto the highway but the driver loses control and rolls into this field.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like an explorer. There's some people at the car right now. The vehicle still there. It's on its side.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's glass, a mirror, a floor mat still here on the scene. By the time first responders arrived, the parents and their two children were outside of the SUV safely because two people stopped to help them. One of them was George Zimmerman and all this happened less than a mile from where he shot Trayvon Martin.

(voice-over): Monday night, the story was met with skepticism at an NAACP town hall meeting.

LOWMAN OLIVER, PASTOR: That's one of the most ludicrous, silly stuff I've ever seen before in my life. To do anything to validate a murderer, I think is wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been working the DOJ.

BLACKWELL: Organizers announced plans to put a repeal of stand your ground on the ballot in 2014.

LAWANNA GELZER, NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: If we lose what Trayvon Martin has brought us together to do, we will lose out. We cannot wait until February and wait just for our legislators, for our governor to possibly veto this. We need to do this ourselves. BLACKWELL: After days of protests and rallies across the country calling for federal civil rights charges again Zimmerman, the Sanford Police Department had now handed its evidence and files over to the Department of Justice. As for Zimmerman, this was a brief moment in the public spotlight. Presumably, he's now back in hiding.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Our Victor Blackwell joins us from Sanford, Florida. And so, Victor, we did hear the skepticism from the minister. Are authorities, can they actually confirm that it was George Zimmerman at that accident?

BLACKWELL: Yes, they were able to confirm that. There's no guarantee that the family, these two parents and their kids knew it was George Zimmerman. By the way, they are doing okay. We're told that before he left the scene he made contact with the deputy and you would be hard pressed to find a law enforcement officer here in Sanford who does not know George Zimmerman on sight.

MALVEAUX: All right. Victor Blackwell. Thank you. We appreciate it.

There's been a lot of anger and outrage over the verdict in the Zimmerman case. What is next now? How do people move on? What do they need to do? I'm going to ask bishop T.D. -- Jakes, rather. He's going to join us live. Up next, our very special guest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right. We're keeping our eyes on that door. This is going to be very important because CNN has learned that Will and Catherine and the new baby will be leaving that hospital within the half hour. We are going to get a chance to see the first glimpse, the first look at the royal baby boy. That's according to a royal source. So, obviously we are not going to keep our eyes off of that door. We're going to be watching very closely. As soon as that happens we're going to bring that to you. We're also going to be following some other things. We're watching that door.

There's a new poll that highlights the racial divide now over the jury's decision to Acquit George Zimmerman for killing Trayvon Martin. The new Pew Research poll -- 49 percent of whites say that they are satisfied with the verdict compared to only 5 percent of the African- Americans; 86 percent of blacks say they are dissatisfied with this decision. It has been now ten days since the verdict and emotions still running very high. One prominent leader weighing in on the case. T.D. Jakes is founder of Potter's House Church. He's among the outraged. He joins us from New York. Very good to see you as always. Good to talk to you.

T.D. JAKES, FOUNDER, POTTER'S HOUSE CHURCH: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: There was an article for the "Huffington Post" and you eluded to the grief of the parents -- Trayvon Martin's parents and how they are coping today. I want you to listen, if you would, to his mother who told Anderson Cooper about how their faith is helping them cope.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You have strong faith. From day one you talked about that. Has there been any moment in all of this, where you doubted your faith -- that's made you question it?

SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN'S MOTHER: Never. Never. The only thing I question is why we were selected as opposed to another family. I've gotten over those questions. I've gotten over that. I feel that he selected the right family. God wanted us to be the spokesperson. We just are being obedient to what we need to do and what god is telling us to do and what he's leading us to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: T.D. Jakes, tell us how important is their faith in dealing not only with the tragedy of their son, the death of their son, but the disappointment over the verdict. What would you say to them? What would you advise them today?

JAKES: It's hard to quantify the level of faith you need to get through the loss of a loved one of any kind, particularly when it is your child in such a horrendous act of violence. I think their faith has sustained them to go through this process that was very difficult, with dignity and class and grace. We've not seen that kind of dignity on a bereaved mother and father in a number of years.

I would encourage them to continue to hold on to the Lord and allow them to see the purpose of God in this painful moment. I think they see that as it relates to the greater good of defending other people's children and all senseless acts of violence, and the way that we're living in our society today.

MALVEAUX: There's still a lot of anger. There's a lot of bitterness. And clearly you can see there's a racial divide in terms of how people saw this verdict. What needs to happen now in terms of a healing process between people who really do not understand each other about how they saw the outcome of this tragedy?

JAKES: One thing I would look at, not so much the 49 percent of the whites who think one way but the 51 percent who agree with the 86 percent of African-Americans. I don't think it's as much about skin as it is about right. More and more people are on different sides of this perspective because we don't think with our skin, we think with our hearts.

The greater thing here is an opportunity to bring to the open and forefront some of the disparities that exist amongst minorities and we have to fight for that because it is very, very important that all people have equal access to the law, fair representation on the jury and that we engage in the judicial process that's critical for all Americans.

MALVEAUX: Tell us about what's happening in Dallas. This is next month. This is a megafest gathering and Oprah Winfrey also invited to this. Give us a little taste, a little flavor, what you're hoping to anticipate during that huge, huge celebration.

JAKES: It's going to be absolutely amazing. We're focusing on the family. Families are coming in from all over the country, from around the world to this event. We're going to have great preaching, we're going to have great music. Oprah has agreed to bring her life class there. And people are getting tickets every day for her life class. It's going to be absolutely amazing.

As we talk about fatherhood and fatherlessness, and some of the ills that exist in our community and others, and how we can resolve those issues and ills.

Comedy shows. There's going to be a faith and family film festival. There's going to be entertainment of all types Cedric the Entertainer is joining us. And a host of others. And oeople are logging onto our website at tdjakes.org and getting all kinds of helpful information. They're coming as far away as India to be part of megafest in Dallas.

MALVEAUX: Thank you so much Bishop T.D. Jakes for your perspective, and a reminder, megafest beginning August 29th in Dallas. Thank you very much.

JAKES: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Coming up, I'm focusing on the deadly disease, ALS. We're talking about it because very little is known about the origins or the possibility of finding a cure. It ravages the body but not the mind. It hits home for me because my mom was diagnosed with ALS a year and a half ago. I'm going to show you first hand how families and patients are coping. We're going to talk about ALS, the impact, how it can impact not just one person but anyone. That is next on CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It's mysterious, frustrating and frightening. Little is known about it. We are shedding light and going in depth on a killer disease called ALS. It stands for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and kills more than 100,000 people every year. It moves very fast, taking away people's abilities to control their muscles and causing patients to quickly lose the ability to speak, swallow, breathe, or move. For me it's personal. My mother, Myrna Malveaux, was diagnosed with the disease a year and a half ago. This is our family story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These alarms are going off and mom is choking. She can't cough or swallow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was struggling for the next breath.

MALVEAUX: Just five months prior she was leading the Mardi Gras parade at her birthday party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's the life of the party. There's no doubt about that. MALVEAUX: Always vibrant, glamorous, and energetic. Young looking beyond her years. But then my father started to notice subtle changes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The loss of a smile. She had the most radiant smile. She was unable to really control her facial muscles and her lips and so on. She says I can't kiss anymore.

MALVEAUX: Soon other add difficulties developed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She tripped and fell a couple of times. And then, it came in the voice.

MALVEAUX: After several trips to various doctors, our family got the shocking news: mom was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease.

DR. JEFF ROTHSTEIN, ALS SPECIALIST: It's a disease where the cells in your brain and spinal cord, the cells that control our muscles slowly degenerate. They die.

MALVEAUX: A fatal condition that would paralyze her limb by limb. First taking away her ability to swallow, then speak, then breathe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Really devastating.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You become angry. Cry a lot.

MALVEAUX: I just felt like being on the floor was the most comfortable place. It was the only place I wanted to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been angry as hell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A whole host of emotions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was just very afraid.

MALVEAUX: Mom responded differently. Embracing her New Orleans roots, laissez les bon temps rouler -- let the good times roll.