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School's Unmarked Graves To Be Dug Up; Killer Keeps Teaching Job; Tempers Flare, Benches Clear; Mannings Make Rap Video; 70,000 Pictures From Mars
Aired August 07, 2013 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Bottom of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin. They are called the lost boys, these little boys into Florida's Dozier School decades ago who were never heard from again. Now the state of Florida, the governor, his cabinet, has just approved the move to find out what happened to some of them. The governor of Florida, Rick Scott and his team, issued an order to dig up unmarked graves at this reform school, which by the way, shut down in 2011. It was a place of brutality according to former students on hand when the cabinet gave its approval just yesterday.
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JIM DENYKE, DOZIER STUDENT IN 1964: Beat me so bad, my butt, my back was black and blue, bleeding.
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BALDWIN: CNN's Ed Lavandera has been following the Dozier saga for us for the last five years, speaking with more of the men who once attended this school.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They accused former school leaders of beatings, sexual abuse and even murder, which brings us to this cemetery on the school grounds. The bodies of 31 boys are buried here. Florida authorities claim they know how all the boys died. Some killed in a fire, others in flu epidemic, nothing criminal. But new research shows other bodies could be buried in this area, too. And dozens of former students and families say that's proof of a more sinister story hidden in these woods.
(on camera): Back in the early 1960s, the leader of the boys reform school had a local boy scout troop come in here and clean up the cemetery. They put up these 31 crosses. But now a team of anthropologists over the last year has been going through all of this area, cleared out all of the woods around here, and they're finding the possibility of many more grave shafts, which is only leading to the mystery of what happened here in Mariana.
(voice-over): The research project led by University of South Florida anthropologist, Erin Kimmerle, turned up additional grave sites during months of searching the school grounds. Kimmerle says as many as 18 more bodies could be buried here and that the research team believes a second cemetery could be hidden on the school grounds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got something right there.
DR. ERIN KIMMERLE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA: We've found burials within the marked -- current marked cemetery and then we've found burials that extend beyond that.
LAVANDERA: Kimmerle has traveled the world investigating war crimes for the United Nations. Searching for mass graves in places like Yugoslavia and Peru.
(on camera): Have you done just this area, or has all of it?
KIMMERLE: All of it.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Her team used high-tech equipment to scan into the ground. All the red you see suggests the location of possible grave sites.
ROBERT STRALEY, FORMER DOZIER STUDENT: It is important to find all of the boys that were buried there. I mean, they're practically crawling out of their graves, crying out, help remember me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Joining me now, you just saw her in the piece. Here she is, forensic anthropologist, Erin Kimmerle. Erin, you have been working on this for quite some time. You've gotten to know these families very well. Why has this become so personal for you?
KIMMERLE: Well, we started this research in 2011. In the course of it have just come to know some of these families and worked with them over the past two years, and so gone with them through this process and giving them the news yesterday was just a nice step to take.
BALDWIN: Once these -- presumably these bodies one by one begin to be exhumed, what do you hope to learn, to find?
KIMMERLE: Well, we've been able to put together a picture of what went on there by looking through the historic records, talking to many former employees and men that were sent there as boys. But what excavation allows us to do is put together that physical evidence that goes with those stories and really understand who these boys were, literally identify them. Know exactly how many are there and hopefully what happened to them. Our ultimate goal is to identify them and return them to families.
BALDWIN: The biggest mystery here, this school, this was the '40s, '50s, '60s. A lot of the school leaders are no longer alive. The biggest mystery has been what happened to them, right?
KIMMERLE: That's right. The first recorded burials are from 1914.
BALDWIN: Wow. KIMMERLE: But we don't have systemic records for the first 19 years and so the story begins in 1900 and the last recorded burial was 1952.
BALDWIN: And on the flip side, you know, you have the state of Florida. The year was 2008. They investigated. Found no evidence that the boys died because of criminal conduct, couldn't find evidence of physical abuse. What evidence other than talking to these survivors, you know, in present day, do you have that really indicates otherwise?
KIMMERLE: Well, in terms of those allegations, I think that when you look back really since the school began in 1903 until it closed. There were many state and also federal investigations. And there were even congressional hearings in which former students and employees and actually in the 1950s and '60s, many employees talked about what went on in terms of corporal punishment and abuse.
So some -- some part of it is just bringing out those records. You know, that also occurred in a time when there wasn't national media. It may be that, you know, they've been sort of lost in archives. So it's about pulling that forward as well to put together that history.
BALDWIN: And just finally, quickly, when does the exhumation begin?
KIMMERLE: We plan to start later this month. We're pulling everything together now and getting our team ready.
BALDWIN: OK, Dr. Erin Kimmerle, thank you. We will follow along. So much of this may not even be able to identify these boys, but it's about dignity and putting them in marked graves. Thank you very much.
Coming up next, a popular professor with a hidden past.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pretty intelligent. He's almost a genius. He could lecture for hours without notes. He just knows everything off the top of his head.
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BALDWIN: We will take you to this college campus where a trusted, respected professor kept a deadly secret.
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BALDWIN: This next story absolutely gave me the chills. The same goes for a lot of you as well. It's caught fire online. Reaction from the folks directly involved. Remember this college professor, murdered his family 46 years ago, kept the whole thing a secret from his boss? In just a couple of weeks he goes back to the classroom to teach his students.
James Wolcott was 15 years old when he sniffed glue, grabbed a rifle, and killed his parents and sister. Years later he changed his name, got a job teaching psychology. You know what? His employer is standing behind him. Even after learning about his murderous past. CNN's Ted Rowlands has more on the story.
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TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): August 4th, 1967, inside this home in Georgetown, Texas, police found the bodies of a college professor, his wife and their 17-year-old daughter. Within hours, 15-year-old James Wolcott admitted he'd killed his family using this .22-caliber rifle. Wolcott told police he hated his parents and sister and claimed he'd been sniffing glue in the weeks before he murdered them.
The story sent shock waves through the small town and made headlines around the country. The next year James Wolcott was tried as an adult, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Seven years after that, in 1974, he was deemed sane and set free.
(on camera): After that, Wolcott seemed to just disappear until a Texas newspaper reporter tracked him down here in the Central Illinois town of Decatur where he's been teaching psychology at Millikin University for the past 27 years.
(voice-over): Here he is now. His name is Dr. James St. James. He's the head of the psych department at Millikin and a student favorite.
JORDAN STOUT, STUDENT, MILLIKIN UNIVERSITY: He's very intelligent. He's almost a genius. He could lecture for hours without notes and he just knows everything off the top of his head.
ROWLANDS: Some people are upset St. James didn't tell the university about his past when he was hired. Decatur City Councilman Jerry Dawson told the local newspaper, quote, "If I were a parent and my kids were going to Millikin, that's something I would want to know."
The university, though, is standing by St. James, saying given the traumatic experiences of his childhood, Dr. St. James's effort to rebuild his life and obtain a successful professional career have been remarkable.
(on camera): There are some people who want him to step down. What are your thoughts?
STOUT: I think he should stay. He's been a great professor. He has no reason to leave unless he does something here. You know, he has no reason to step down.
ROWLANDS: We tried to contact St. James, who's now 61, at his home and by e-mail but got no response. Even with his secret now out, the university is expecting he'll be back in the classroom when school resumes at the end of the month. Ted Rowlands, CNN, Decatur, Illinois.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: Coming up, a lot of you talking about a couple of moments in the sports world from this bench clearing brawl where the only punches thrown were on Twitter.
Plus, the Manning brothers, Peyton and Eli like you have never seen them before, rapping. You be the judge of their skills, next.
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BALDWIN: Baseball brawls, nothing new. Twitter. They have never been combined until now. Take a look, Nationals, Braves, Bryce Harper, one of the best young players in baseball. Monster shot, center field, admires it a bit. This is what happens when a pitcher thinks you showed him up. Ouch. Harper beamed in his next at-bat. Look out, a few harsh words. No punches thrown. Order is restored.
You think things are over, right? Wrong. Take a look at this. Social media trash talk from the official Atlanta Braves account saying, quote, "Clown move bro." The response from the official Washington Nationals account, quote, "which part? Giving up the home run or drilling the 20-year-old on the first pitch his next time up?"
With us now, "Bleacher Report's" sports pop culture lead writer, Gabe Zaldivar. Gabe, listen, baseball brawl as we've seen, but really, Twitter, official accounts? What?
GABE ZALDIVAR, SPORTS POP CULTURE LEAD WRITER, "BLEACHER REPORT": I absolutely love it. Who said it's the dog days of summer. You have a great near brawl going on. Then you have the teams getting after it on twitter. You have clown move, bro. A reference to the home run let up by the nationals. The Nationals are out of the race completely. They have a little fight left.
BALDWIN: I mean, I'm wondering who's manning the Twitter pages for both these teams and if they're in trouble. I guess we'll wait and see. Let me move on. I just really have to get to the rapping. They have won MVP Super Bowls. They are considered football royalty. No one would ever mistake the Manning brothers for rappers or would they? Roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eli, who are you talking to?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not talking. I'm watching football.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watching football?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. With DirecTV NFL Sunday ticket max, you can watch every game, every Sunday afternoon on any device like your computer, tablet or phone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Football on your phone?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Football on your phone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: I see this and immediately what comes to mind is some "SNL" digital short. Alas, this is an actual commercial for DirecTV. Maybe the only time you see them, you know, dropping some beats and throwing down some rhymes. I know you wrote about this on a "Bleacher Report" column. What do you think, Gabe?
ZALDIVAR: I actually love it. I'll be in Vegas in a couple weeks. I'll be disappointed if I don't hear this one in the club. Forget Biggie. Forget Tupac. I want more Peyton and Eli. It was fabulous.
BALDWIN: I do like they're brave. We'll put it that way. I think they should stick to the field and leave the rapping to some other folks. Gabe Zaldivar, thank you very much, "Bleacher Report." We appreciate it. I just kind of wanted to hear more of the rapping.
Coming up next, space geeks, this is our time. We're talking Mars rover celebrates one year on the red planet. And from the red planet to this pretty cool bright pink one, scientists have made this new discovery in outer space. We will boldly go there with my friend Chad Myers, next.
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BALDWIN: Want to show you a picture. Kind of a wish you were here sort of deal. What do you think? Look at this with me here. Somewhere near the Grand Canyon, maybe the badlands, North Dakota, Siberia, perhaps? Nope, nope and nope, you said it right, though, if you guessed this is Mars.
NASA's "Curiosity" rover has been up there now for an entire year collecting soil samples, cruising the Martian surface, sending these awesome pictures back to us. Chad Myers, we've been talking about this thing for quite a while and following its progress. What in the last, you know, 365 days as it's rolled around, what more do we now know about Mars?
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I think we lose perspective on how much this thing has actually found. The importance of what they have found, the stream bed with pebbles that are round because there was water --
BALDWIN: That was a biggie.
MYERS: Pushing those pebbles down the stream and probably a foot and a half of liquid water going down the stream making the pebbles. Maybe a billion years ago. But at some point in time, the Martian planet, the red planet, was habitable. There was some possibility of something living there. And then they went and they drilled a hole. Remember this hole? Took 7 minutes, but really took seven months to get it all to work out.
When they found out and they drilled through it, it's not red at all. It's actually a gray planet. It's only red because that's rust. That's the iron on top that's turned red. That's why it's rusty. The rest of the planet isn't just a bunch of red stuff. You see layers upon layers of those layers from volcanoes, from water rushing down and depositing it. If you go down like the American west, do you get older and older in the Martian past every time you go down another layer? There's a lot more to go.
BALDWIN: Incredible to see. The pictures then I can't believe it was a year ago the GPL out in California. But quickly I love this picture. We see it over my shoulder. Some 57 light years away this bright pink planet.
MYERS: Yes, it is.
BALDWIN: Look at that. I've never seen anything like that.
MYERS: It is the first time they found something so small, such small mass that is with the visual imager. The Subaru telescope in Hawaii, not just some radio telescope finding light waves or beams coming back, but literally colors coming back with it as well and they believe it's pink and you can go out and take a look at it if you have a great, great telescope, somewhere in Virgo. It's 57 light years away. They say because it's a planet not making its own light it's, in fact, looking like a bug when you have a bright light in your eye. It's so hard to see it because there's such a big sun in the way of seeing it.
BALDWIN: Super cool. Love the color. Chad, thank you very much for space geeking out with me today.
Coming up, you have heard the racial slur made by this NFL player, Riley Cooper. Well, after a short leave to get some counseling, he is back with the team, made a surprise appearance at training camp. So our question is how are his teammates? What's the locker room like now that he's come back because of this controversy? We're going to talk to a former player, next.
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BALDWIN: Inside the rift with Russia. Why President Obama is pulling the plug on his one on one with Vladimir Putin. I'm BROOKE BALDWIN. The news is now.
The white NFL player who used the "n" word returns to the field. I'll talk to a former player about how the locker room might receive him.
A widow of a Hotshot firefighter killed in the Yarnell Hill fire fights for full benefits.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is unfathomable. It's disappointing. I've been shocked at how the city officials have treated my family.
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BALDWIN: Plus, did a dad make the right move in addressing his daughter's suspected kidnapper?
