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Inmates Attack As Cell Doors Open; High Cost Of Raising Kids; Gun Permits Surge In Newtown; Paralyzed Bride Walks The Aisle; Prince William At Country Fair

Aired August 14, 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: It is a shocking video that has launched an internal investigation. The footage from this Florida jail shows the moment the cell doors slide open, you could see every one of them and there they go. The inmates armed with makeshift weapons begin to creep out into the hallway. You won't believe what then happened. CNN's Sara Ganim picks up the story.

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SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On June 14th, a maximum security prison in Miami, this dramatic footage captured on surveillance tape and obtained by "The Miami Herald." A shirtless inmate being chased, jumps over a railing on to the floor below, and that inmate is Kenneth Williams. The jump broke his ankle and vertebrae. Another inmate seems to come to his rescue after he falls, standing over him like a shield.

Just moments before he takes the leap, you can see all the cell doors of the Turner Golfer Knight Correctional Center open at the same time. Inmates walk out of their cells. It is not the first time that there's been a security breach like this at the jail. There is a central system that corrections officers have to activate to release all cell doors, and it was also mysteriously pushed back in May.

That time, there wasn't an incident, but this time, "The Miami Herald" reports that the corrections officers used pepper spray. They also found at least two homemade knives. The incident and the question of who pushed that group release button is under review.

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BALDWIN: Sara Ganim, reporting. We should tell you we reached out to Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department. This is their statement. This is part of the statement. Quote, "The incident is part of an ongoing criminal and internal investigation. The incident may not be commented on until the investigation cease to be active and may not accurately relay the totality of events. OK, so that is from the Corrections Department.

Let me bring in David Ovalle. He is a reporter for "The Miami Herald." He broke the story and he joins me on the phone. David, in reading you piece, I know there was a similar incident back in May. What you describe is this group release button that's when all of the doors open, sort of mysteriously activated. It seems suspect. Tell me who has access to the button.

DAVID OVALLE, REPORTER, "MIAMI HERALD" (via telephone): Well, obviously, the correction officers have access to the button, and now they had just mentioned from the beginning, that there was a malfunction with the panel, and that the lights went off on the panel. What they did after that is that they, the company that actually installed the security system sort of had like a second prompt, sort of like you had to say, you know, you hit group release, and then another prompt comes up to say are you sure you want to do this group release.

So that is why it is so mysterious, and the corrections told me when I first wrote about this that the company went through and ran a check, and there was no malfunction according to the company. Then it was operator error is how they described it, but of course, the correction officers say, no, nobody pressed it. So it is all mysterious, but of course, it only happened in this one particular wing.

And so that is why it is all very mysterious, and they are certainly examining the possibility that, you know, corrections and somebody in that department played a role, because if you look at the video, it appears that the inmates all seem to know what they are doing.

BALDWIN: Right. They all seem to sort of come out at the same time. Here is my next question, because as you roll the video back, everyone sort of coming out of the hallway, you see this one guy in the orange shorts. He is the one who hops the railing, hops the balcony because they are clearly after him. Who is he?

OVALLE: Well, you know, Kenneth Williams is a reputed gang member, and he is a pretty apparently, you know, notorious person within law enforcement, and runs a gang out of a housing project up there, and so he is no saint, if you talk to the cops, but it is certainly is, certainly is, made some enemies and apparently from some earlier altercations within the jail.

BALDWIN: What is happening to both him and to others who had these, you know, the makeshift knives? Are they all being, how do you further discipline people who are already in jail, but what is happening to them?

OVALLE: Well, they are all in jail for serious allegations of very serious crimes. Actually curiously, Kenneth Williams is the only one charged with possessing contraband, but they are investigating it. There is an internal affairs investigation. The prosecutors have the video, and they are definitely reviewing it to see what happens. Meanwhile, they are waiting to see what happens with the charges, but it is a curious case. One of the most bizarre jail stories I have ever covered.

BALDWIN: It is bizarre. It is curious. David Ovalle, we are going to stay in touch with you and see what comes to this. Thank you so much to you and the "Miami Herald" for sharing this video. It's pretty stunning for people to see this whole thing unfold right before your very eyes. David, thank you.

From tennis shoes to school supplies, kindergarten to high school, how much does it take to raise a child these days? A new study released just minutes ago has the answer. We will talk about that next.

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BALDWIN: Let's talk about little babies. Yes, they are cute. They are also expensive. Did you hear this? Raising a child may cost you almost $125,000. Folks, that does not include college. I know. I mean, I don't have a baby. A lot of my friends have babies. I know you have stuff like diapers and car seats and cribs, but this new study says it will cost middle-income family almost $250,000 to raise that baby until he or she reaches the ripe age of 17.

Alison Kosik is on this one for us today, and you have several babies.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I wouldn't say several, I got two.

BALDWIN: Two and no longer babies, but still that isn't cheap, Alison?

KOSIK: Yes, you know, and if you are a parent, you already know the answer to this, this increase in child care and education that really is adding to what is driving this huge cost of raising kids these days. These numbers actually coming from the USDA, the cost of child care and education have gone up 4 percent over the past year.

Interestingly enough though child care wasn't such a big factor a few decades ago, but now more women are working and also health care and clothing, those costs jumped last year. Health care nationwide, of course, has been rising in costs over the past few decades. So, you know, no surprise that affects children, too.

So, yes, drum roll, please, the total amount of money you need to raise a kid born in 2012, $241,000, and that is up $6,000 from 2011, and guess what? The older the child gets, the more he costs because he eats more. He starts driving. He may need a car. He is involved in extracurricular activities. You got to buy uniforms and tutoring and lessons and on and on, but you hope that you get paid back in hugs and kisses.

BALDWIN: You sound like you are speaking from experience perhaps. I'm hearing all of this and you know, people don't have to buy the super fancy smancy diapers or whatever. I mean, there have to be tips on how you can at least save some money when you have kids.

KOSIK: How about this tip, get a house in the country. The USDA says it costs more to raise a kid in the city and if you're in the northeast or the west coast. It turns out that the rural areas are cheaper because the housing is the biggest expense, the 30 percent of the overall cost. So you can move to the country and have a whole litter of kids or not.

BALDWIN: Or not, we will see. Alison, thank you very much. Maybe I'll have one, who knows. Alison, thank you.

Coming up here, we all, of course, remember the tragedy that struck Newtown, Connecticut, back in December and that Sandy Hook shooting massacre put the gun debate and possible restrictions back into the national spotlight. But now the demand for guns, did you know it's soaring in this small Connecticut community and also other towns have experienced gun violence? We will tell you why.

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BALDWIN: There's a run on gun permits in Newtown, Connecticut. Eight months ago today, a shooter burst into Sandy Hook Elementary School and murdered 20 children and six adults. Now those killings sparked a huge debate on gun control and just last night, Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy was honored for getting some of the toughest gun laws in nation passed in his state, but in Newtown, some are responding by arming themselves. Poppy Harlow has the story.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. I'm Nancy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. Pleased to meet you.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's a grandmother who is about to become a first-time gun owner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This way is easier.

HARLOW: Nancy Elis says the new gun laws passed in Connecticut among the toughest in the country are a big reason why she's buying her first firearm.

NANCY ELIS, NEW GUN BUYER: Our rights are being slowly infringed upon and that this whole idea of controlling guns has not -- has come to my backdoor. In other words, there could be a time when I may never be able to get a firearm.

HARLOW: Elis lived in Newtown for 28 years. Her desire to own a gun is part of a spike in the state. Newtown vividly remembered for one of the worst gun massacres in U.S. history is on track this year to double the amount of pistol permits it issued last year.

DAVID ACKERT, FOUNDER, NEWTOWN ACTION ALLIANCES: I'm concerned that it can get out of hand. Nancy Lanza had quite an arsenal in her home. You only have two hands, how many guns can you fire at once?

HARLOW: Dave Ackert and Monte Frank are members of Newtown Action Alliance pushing to curb gun violence.

MONTE FRANK, NEWTOWN ACTION ALLIANCE: There's a perception that the government is going to come and grab all their guns or it's going to not allow them to purchase certain guns.

HARLOW: Newtown resident Ryan Delp owns multiple guns, but did not want to show them on camera out of respect for the Newtown victims. (on camera): You went out and you bought another gun after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, why?

RYAN DELP, NEWTOWN RESIDENT, GUN OWNER: That was a 100 percent driven by the legislation that I was anticipating being passed. It is my responsibility to take care of and protect my family.

HARLOW (voice-over): It is hard for Gilles Rousseau to understand as he grieves the loss of his daughter, Lauren, killed at Sandy Hook.

GILLES ROUSSEAU, DAUGHTER KILLED IN NEWTOWN SHOOTING: It hurts in a different way. I had my first dream that my daughter was in the dream about a week ago, and I said, Lauren is dead, and how can she be there? She is dead.

HARLOW (on camera): What do you think when you see the numbers?

ROUSSEAU: It is sad. It is really sad. There is no other word to say it. It makes me sad to think that people will -- well, they feel that they are protecting themselves, but they are just adding to the problem.

HARLOW (voice-over): There was also a surge in gun sales in Colorado following the Aurora movie theatre massacre and after the 2011 mass shooting in Tucson, background checks for gun purchases in Arizona spiked. While Nancy Elis grieves for the victims of the tragedy in her own backyard --

ELIS: My heart grieves for them, it truly does.

HARLOW: For her, this is about protecting her rights.

ELIS: Did the guns cause the tragedy? No. It is the person behind the gun that caused the tragedy.

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HARLOW: You know, Brooke, this is a really tough, but very important conversation that they are having in Newtown. I can tell you this. It is not just happening in Newtown, it's happening across Connecticut. It's happening nationwide. If you look at the past few years, FBI data on the background checks for people who want the buy guns shows the numbers are going up, up, up.

And what is interesting is that although the number of Americans who own guns is actually going down, we are seeing more guns sold, and what that tells us experts say is that more people have multiple guns, and that is what concerns some of the folks that I talked to in Newtown is having more than one gun in a home -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Poppy Harlow, thank you.

Coming up, a tragic car accident left a teenager paralyzed, but this one has a happy ending, because look at this. It was not enough to stop her from keeping a promise to herself that one day when she got married she would be walking down the aisle. You see what happened. We will talk to the happy couple on their honeymoon next.

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BALDWIN: For one bride, nothing was going to stop her from walking down the aisle. Not even her paralysis. When she was in 17 she was in a car accident. She lost her best friend and she lost all feeling from her waist down. Her back broken, her spinal cord severed. The former softball player and gymnast spent years in rehab all the while with one promise to herself. She vowed that one day she would walk down the aisle on her wedding.

And on Saturday, she did just that. You are looking at her. Stevie and her groom, Jared Vanausdale live from their honeymoon in beautiful Hawaii. Congratulations to both of you. Can I get a quick honeymoon highlight so far, please?

STEVIE VANAUSDALE, PARALYZED BUT WALKED DOWN WEDDING AISLE: Yes. We spent the day just driving around the island in a convertible. We forgot to put sunscreen on. So we're both toasted pretty good. Me more than her.

BALDWIN: SPF, you two. I'm so happy. I truly am happy for you. Stevie, do me a favor. Take me back to this weekend. What was that moment like when you walked down the aisle?

STEVIE VANAUSDALE: It was -- it was pretty incredible. I mostly tried not to really let myself think about it or get too emotional because I would have never made it to the end of the aisle. But it was -- it was almost like the whole accident was coming full circle. And I was defeating everything that, you know, doctors and people told me would never happen, just keeping a promise to myself more than anything was amazing.

BALDWIN: You looked absolutely gorgeous, by the way. And I understand that this guy sitting next to you played a pretty big role in helping you, you know, sort of regain just this confidence, this ability to do this. Jared, how did you two meet?

JARED VANAUSDALE, GROOM: Well, a mutual friend, became a mutual friend eventually, a good friend of mine, Terry Mullenger. Her daughter was injured in a pretty serious train accident about 3-1/2 years ago. I just kind of did everything I could to make sure that I was there for her to make sure that, you know, she had what she need. And through her and through that accident, Stevie and I sort of crossed paths because of Terry. She kind of made it a point to make sure that we met and exchanged phone numbers because she kind of thought from day one that her and I would be good together. Apparently, we were.

BALDWIN: So because of someone's tragedy, you two met and fell in love. Congratulations, really, again to both of you. Stevie, I understand you're helping talk to a lot of people who have gone through similar accidents as you have. What's next for you? Masters program, I hear?

STEVIE VANAUSDALE: Yes. I will be attending the University of Toledo in the fall to get my masters in counseling. And I hope to become a counselor of teenagers who've been through tragic events in their life, just to kind of let them know that, you know, I've been there and you can get through this. It may not be tomorrow. It may take years. But it does get better.

BALDWIN: Stevie and Jared, thank you two both, very much. Enjoy Hawaii. Congratulations, such an inspiration. Mahalo. We'll be right back.

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BALDWIN: Prince William appeared at a Wales County Fair today. This is one of his first public appearances since becoming a dad, since the birth of his son. He gave a speech thanking the island for welcoming his family. Prince William has been living and working at the nearby Royal Air Force base for a couple of years. He and his family are expected to leave Wales for London by the end of September.

Coming up, the violence in Egypt escalated today. Military raids on these two peaceful protest camps. Clashes between the new government and supporters of the former president turned deadly.

And moments ago, we heard from Secretary of State John Kerry at the State Department responding to what we're witnessing in Egypt. That is coming up at the top of the hour.

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