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Violence Erupts At Barricaded Mosque; Egypt's Crisis Could Hurt U.S.; Heavy Rains Forecast Across Southeast; After Deaths And Abduction, Asking Why; Hotel's Trash Is Charities' Treasure; Jackson's Ex-Wife Reveals Details; Billionaire Says "Hyperloop" Possible; Adoption Fight Over Little Veronica; Oprah Talks To CNN About Race, The "N" Word

Aired August 17, 2013 - 12:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome back to the NEWSROOM. One of the top stories we're following this hour, bullets fly on the streets of Cairo as security forces and protesters battle it out for a fourth day. We'll tell you what turned a relatively peace stand off into a scene of chaos.

And extreme weather is hitting the U.S. fires in the west, a flood threat in the southeast. Find out which states are suffering the most.

And Oprah Winfrey on the "n" word as she tells Anderson Cooper her feelings on the use of the word.

First up, the crisis in Egypt, this was the scene earlier today outside a mosque in Cairo. Take a look. Violent clashes broke out -- the demonstrators had been holed up there all night. There are reports police have cleared out the last few protesters from the mosque. Both sides are blaming each other for starting the day's violence. The U.S. is condemning the crackdown in Cairo and has canceled joint military exercises with Egypt scheduled for next month. So why is resolving this crisis so important to the U.S.?

CNN's foreign affairs correspondent, Jill Dougherty, has that.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Fred, Americans have a big investment in Egypt's security, whether they know it or not.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGHERTY (voice-over): The Egyptian military's bloody battle against opposition demonstrators is fueling pressure in the U.S. to suspend military assistance. Senator John McCain says the U.S. cannot be complicit in the mass slaughter of civilians. President Obama won't go that far yet or pull the plug in military assistance of U.S. gives Egypt every year, and that includes hardware, like M1-A1 tanks and F- 16 fighter jets servicing and technical support as well as military training. Cutting aid could end up cutting money to American defense contractors, and the U.S. doesn't hand over cash to Egypt, it keeps it in a trust fund administered by the Treasury Department. Egypt decides what equipment it wants to by, and the money gets paid to those contractors who provide jobs for Americans.

Like the tank manufacturer in Ohio, and the F-16 manufacturer in Ft. Worth, Texas, and Israel is nervous, and officials telling CNN that cutting military aid to Egypt could hurt Israel and the region. Egypt is one of two Arab countries along Jordan that made peace with Israel in 1978, and they see the Egyptian military as the only stable force from keeping the country from chaos and extremism.

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY: Egyptian military has certainly helped defend the Sannai against (inaudible) who have been plotting to launch attacks from Egypt into Israel.

DOUGHERTY: Another possible effect of cutting military aid, weakening security for the Suez Canal, a crucial sea route for 8 percent of sea bourn trade. Egypt controls the canal. Its troops guard it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: The way like some see it, this is a battle between U.S. strategic interests and moral values and so far for President Obama, strategic interests are winning -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much. And of course, live pictures right now of -- we understand these images are of in Cairo outside that mosque where earlier, some 1,500 people were holed up with Egyptian military forces on the outside. Don't have any more context to the images, except you are seeing a large gathering, somewhat peaceful as we see it now, but again, this outside that mosque in Cairo where there was some trouble earlier overnight.

All right, residents near the Sun Valley area of Idaho are being told by authorities to grab their essentials and leave right now. Gusty winds Friday sent massive walls of fire closer to homes and resorts in the 100 square mile area of Beaver Creek. At least 1,600 homes have been evacuated near the towns. The fire has burned roughly 64,000 acres.

From hot, dry, dangerous conditions in the northern plains to an area of the country that doesn't need any more moisture, joining me now is CNN meteorologist, Jennifer Delgado, to tell us about the rain that just won't go away particularly in the southeast.

JENNIFER DELGADO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Fredricka, the rain has been coming down. Look at some of these totals over the last 48 hours. We are talking 4 to 6 inches of rainfall across Florida and Georgia. Let's go to Panama City because you've been pounded over the last couple of days. What you're going the see at the beach, basically, cloudy skies and the rain and yes, it is going to be gray day.

This is going to be the forecast as we go through the next couple of days. Over to our graphic, look what's happening on the radar. More of this rain is coming down and some locations, we could see almost 6 inches of rainfall. Let me show you the result of some of this flooding across parts of Alabama. This is just to the west of Montgomery and that was taken yesterday.

You're going to see people driving through flooded streets and we tell people this all the time. You want to make sure you turn around and don't drown whenever you see flooded roadways. A graphic we're showing you some of the totals we're expecting over the next two days, 2 to 4 inches in the orange. In the southern part of Georgia as well as Central Florida and you're probably wondering where is all this moisture coming from.

Well, a lot is coming from the Gulf of Mexico. Before, we were concerned about it becoming a tropical system. Right now, it has a 40 percent chance, but look at all this moisture flow spreading into the southern part of the U.S. and that's why we're seeing the flooding problems there and we have the flood watches in place through tomorrow for many of these areas as we go through the weekend. Also want to point out for the fire threat in Idaho, looks like we're going to see wind gusts there up to 30 miles per hour and red flag warning.

WHITFIELD: They could use a lot of that moisture.

DELGADO: You can't get the rain where you need it and you get the heat where you don't need it.

WHITFIELD: That's always the way it goes. Thanks so much, Jennifer, appreciate it.

A man went from a family's best friend to a monster overnight and now, everyone is asking what made James DiMaggio snap. A look into his past, next.

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WHITFIELD: A family is trying to recover after being betrayed by a man they thought was a friend. Jim DiMaggio is accused of killing Christina Anderson and her brother, Ethan, and then he abducted the 16-year-old, Hannah and now, the family can only ask why. Miguel Marquez has more on what we're learning about DiMaggio.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was sort of the guy in the middle of the group of friends.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Andrew knew James DiMaggio and his sister for half a dozen years. He calls the technician at the Scripts Research Institute quite simply a normal guy.

ANDREW SPANSWICK, FRIEND OF JAMES DIMAGGIO: He wasn't loud or outstanding or shy. He was very much just sort of the friendly guy that just was along for the ride, but didn't really stick out one way or the other. There was nothing odd about him. MARQUEZ: At least that's what everyone thought. DiMaggio grew up like the Andersons, in the San Diego suburbs with his sister and mother, his parents were divorced and his father was not a stable influence.

SPANSWICK: The father was a meth amphetamine addict. It makes people delusional, can make them violent, very abusive, both not just physically, but emotionally.

MARQUEZ: His friend says they were protected from some of it, until their mother died. DiMaggio and his sister Laura, ended up living with their father, a car salesman, where they suffered years of abuse.

SPANSWICK: Jim was sort of abandoned with Laura by their father. The father would just leave them with macaroni and cheese and Jim would go out and fish to feed him and his sister.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Tonight, the full story of this unimaginable crime. CNN brings you the dramatic details of the kidnapping and the heroic effort that led to the rescue of Hannah Anderson.

Nobody knew Michael Jackson quite like she did. His former wife reveals details about his family life, kids and drug use. Revelations from the witness stand and a new kind of travel could be on its way. Are you ready for tube travel? Lurking high in the tree tops of the Ecuadorian rain forest, a new mammal. Is it a cat, a raccoon? We'll find out.

But first, a hotel's trash can be a charity's treasure if a CNN hero gets involved. Thanks to one man's aha moment, tons of stuff that would have ended up in Chicago's landfills is helping thousands of people live better lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Housekeeping.

JUDSON KINNUCAN: Day-to-day base I there are tons of items that are thrown away. It's shocking to understand how much hotels have in excess. I was doing a lot of volunteering and I saw how desperately in need people were for all those types of things and I thought to myself, I could be that connection, that match maker. My name is -- I collect donations around Chicago for charities that don't are the money and the manpower to do it on their own.

We get a multitude of different items donated and what have charities need, we can get them those items. We've got a full barrel of shampoo, conditioner and lotion for you. Hygiene is 365, every day of the year, a lot of great stuff in here. We partner with hotels. We work with dozens of companies. That's a lot of showers. The excess from corporations is great because there's always an overage or damaged product that is still good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're being environmentally reasonable and people in Chicago are really benefitting from this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many of these could you use?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two or three the if you've got them.

KINNUCAN: Men and women struggling with issues of poverty, they have as much personal dignity as anything else, so anything they can do to keep themselves looking good and feeling good is important. It's a simple concept, but very labor intensive. When this is empty, give me a call. I'll come pick it up and get you another one. And if I can improve people's lives, it's a bonus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Michael Jackson was one of the most famous people ever, but remained a bit of an enigma. Jurors are getting to know a really personal side of him in revealing testimony by his ex-wife, Debbie Rowe. Ted Rowlands has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By all account, Debbie Rowe was a fantastic witness. She was emotional, breaking down several times and funny. Tell stories about spending time with Michael Jackson. What is unclear is which side did she help? In a second day of testimony, Jackson's ex-wife mesmerized jurors, talking about her life with the king of pop, including his journey into addiction, which she said started after this accident in 1984 that burned Michael Jackson's scalp, but she also talked about the good times. He wanted to be the best parent he could be.

Rowe said as photos of her, Jackson and her children were shown in court. This photo was taken when she picked Jackson up on her motorcycle from a movie set. He said in costume while she gave him a ride and she broke down in tears while this concert video was played from 1996 in Munich, Germany. Hold you in my arms Munich is where she testified she saw doctors administer doses of Propofol to induce Jackson's sleep.

She said she told her boss, Jackson's dermatologist, that she was worried that Jackson was addicted to Propofol. AEG lawyers say that's why they called her as a witness.

MARVIN PUTNAM, AEG LIVE ATTORNEY: I don't know how she couldn't do anything but help our case. She left everyone know that the people in Michael's life were worried about Michael's Propofol use.

ROWLANDS: The most dramatic moment came when she was asked about how Jackson's death affected the children. She referred to Paris' recent suicide attempt saying quote, she's devastated, she tried to kill herself. Clearly, she did help AEG in that she established Jackson did have an issue with Propofol dating back decades, but for the Jackson family lawyer, she was an asset in that she continued to humanize Michael Jackson. That is something nobody could argue what she did over the past over two day. Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So, Debbie Rowe giving jurors a unique look into Michael Jackson's home life, his children and his addiction. Let's bring in our legal guys, Avery Friedman, a civil right attorney and law professor in Cleveland. Good to see you. And Richard -- hello, New York criminal defense attorney from Las Vegas. Good to see you as well.

So, Richard, you first, AEG Live attorneys are the ones who called Debbie Rowe as a witness. Both sides saying she helped their case. In what way she helped AEG.

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: She helped AEG because this case is brought by the estate of the Jackson's for wrongful death that AEG hired and supervised and retained Dr. Conrad Murray, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for administering Propofol. What she testified to is that at least for 12 years prior to this death he was on Propofol for sleep. Anesthesia -- the inability to sleep.

She testified that for the first time and corroborating the fact he was probably addicted to Propofol as well as other narcotics and the issue becomes whether or not AEG knew this and whether or not they knew what Murray was doing. Michael Jackson just insisted Dr. Murray come, so they just paid them. But Rowe said during the tour, the CEO for AEG knew that Michael Jackson had a major drug problem.

WHITFIELD: So, then, Avery, if that were the case, does it mean it would have been incumbent upon AEG to put a stop to it and is that what the Jackson family would try to establish?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, they're going to have to do that because the fact is that what will be unrebutted in this case is that fact that Michael Jackson was on Propofol for it may have been more than 12 years, actually, back to the late 1980s. What's very intriguing in this is that she testified about what somebody else, a doctor, told her. You know what that sounds like, that sounds like hearsay.

The doctor didn't want to testify because of confidentiality, so the defense need to get that evidence in and indeed what she told the jurors and I don't know how anyone's going to be able to rebut this, is that it was the doctors who said don't worry about it. It is non- addictive, my goodness gracious.

So, the jury is left with that sense. The downside is that we heard dynamic testimony about the suffering of the children and other family members, but on plans, if the jury believes that AEG Live had nothing to do with the death here, that he was already hooked on Propofol, that's going to be a critical part of the defense trying to get out of this mess right now.

WHITFIELD: So, the family is arguing that AEG was negligent, but AEG is not saying they knew nothing about it. That they didn't know he had a problem. That they didn't even know he had a preference about a doctor. And Richard, if that's the case, I mean, doesn't it seem as though the family does not have a necessarily uphill battle to show that AEG was complicit in some way?

HERMAN: The Jackson family is on this crusade to blame everyone else for the death of Michael Jackson without Michael Jackson taking responsibility for it or themselves who knew their own son, child, brother. It's ridiculous. Here, AEG is saying listen, we did not hire, we never heard of Dr. Murray. We didn't know who he was, what he did.

It was Michael Jackson who wanted Conrad Murray. So, as part of the contract, they said OK, Michael, we'll pay for your doctor. That doesn't mean they knew what Conrad Murray was doing to Michael Jackson with drugs he was administer, treatments he was giving and that's the issue of the entire case whether AEG knew this.

WHITFIELD: All right.

FRIEDMAN: There are two e-mails, there two e-mails, Fredricka, from the co-president of AEG Live about Conrad Murray and so, the question is what inferences can be drawn from that information. Will the jury believe that AEG Live knew about the serious nature of his treatment? I think that is going to be very important. The other question is did AEG Live have any responsibility and payment and I don't think they're going to be able to establish that.

WHITFIELD: We'll pick it up again later on in the week if not next weekend. Thanks so much. We'll see you again in 15 minutes to talk about a heartbreaking case. A little girl caught in the middle of a very ugly custody fight. We will look into American law, U.S. law versus Native American law, all that straight ahead.

And super cute. It's a mammal that has never been identified before. We'll tell you where it was found right after this. Do you guys agree? Very cute?

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WHITFIELD: Welcome back. There are five things crossing the CNN news desk right now. One, the Egyptian Interior Ministry says police forces have cleared the last few protestors from inside a mosque in Cairo and have them in custody. The supporters of Morsy had been there since yesterday. The standoff turned violent this morning. State TV says a gunman on top of the mosque opened fire, but protesters say security forces started shooting first.

And number two, the beaver creek wildfire in Idaho is spreading. Gusty winds Friday sent massive fire walls closer to homes and resorts in the Sun Valley area. Authorities are telling residents to get out now. More than 1600 homes have been evacuated and the fire is only 66 percent. Forecasts for the area today calls for more hot, dry conditions.

And number three, Denver police have detained a man they say shot two women, killing one of them and booby trapping a neighborhood street with at least two propane tanks. The "Denver Post" reports that police shot and wounded the man after he shot one of the tanks and made it explode. Officers dismantled the other tanks. No one else was hurt. It's unclear if the suspect knew either of the two women.

And four, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says he will sign a bill to extend medical marijuana options, including what's available to children, but wants to put a few changes in place first. He said the bill should say only minors can get edible forms of marijuana and he wants to keep a provision that requires a pediatrician and a psychiatrist to sign off on the prescription.

And number five, a rare find in the rain forest of Ecuador and Colombia. The creature looks like a cross between maybe a cat and raccoon. We're open for any kind of descriptions. The two pound animal lives in tree tops and survives on fruit nectar and there, it's kind of looking a little bat like to me.

There's also a Pitter Patter of little feet in Britain and tomorrow morning, Prince William opens up about fatherhood and the British throne. It's his first official interview with us since his birth, since the birth, rather, of his son, George. He sat down with Max Foster to talk about baby George, his wife Katherine and what it's like to be a new father.

The interview is part one of a hour long special premiering in September and the interview will air Monday at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. You're going to have to wait an extra day.

Ready for a new kind of transport that will get you from San Francisco to L.A. in half an hour? It's called the hyper loop and it's like nothing you've ever seen before and Oprah Winfrey talking to Cnn about race, the "n" word and new movie that explores both through the eyes of a White House butler.

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WHITFIELD: For generation, we've heard about Area 51, popular culture of government UFOs. The CIA has acknowledged that the huge area about 125 miles northwest of Las Vegas was used as a testing ground for area surveillance programs during the cold war.

Billionaire inventor, Elon Musk, is best known for developing Paypal, the Tesla electric car and even the Space X program. Now, he says he can revolutionize transportation here on earth and it's all about tube travel. Maggie Lake explains it for us.

MAGGIE LAKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, entrepreneur, Elon Musk, knows how to stir up controversy and his latest project the hyperloop is no exception. He says it's a new form of transportation that's a mix between the concord and an air hockey table. Confused? We were, too, so we went out to gut some answers.

BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAKE (voice-over): It sounds like something out of the Jetsons. A space age method of transport that could one day get you from San Francisco to L.A. in 30 minutes. I met up with science writer Brian inside the old school New York City subway system to get the real hyper loop scoop.

(on camera): What do we think it might be like? It's supposed to be nothing like the infrastructure we're used to, right?

BRIAN MERCHANT, MOTHERBOARD: Right, so he says it's going to be the fifth mode of transportation like nothing we've seen before. He says it looks like a tube, sort of like an enclosed tube and we just blast air through that. Kind of like you know those old school mail systems where they stuff the package up and it gets sucked up. We're going to be launched out of this rail gun. Boom, you're off, 600 miles per hour.

LAKE: So, I'm imagining my face. Is this something I want to ride on?

MERCHANT: I think so because in a controlled environment, speed doesn't impact human health.

LAKE (voice-over): Elon Musk has released plans for the solar powered hyperloop including pictures of what passenger capsules might look like. He imagines them as aluminum pods. He says he might be willing to build a prototype to get the ball roll, but whether the project can truly get off the ground is another story. But all of us stuck in traffic jam, air delays and stinky subways can dream, can't we?

MERCHANT: I love it. It is what is needed to move us forward. Somebody who says these old ways aren't working. Old transit is boring, I inefficient.

LAKE: Well see if Elon Musk can take radical and turn it into reality.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAKE: A lot of people love the idea, but many are also skeptical about the price tag. Musk says it can be built for just $6 billion, but many say that estimate is way too low -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Maggie, thanks so much. He says he got the idea for the hyperloop when he heard the high speed rail link project between L.A. and San Francisco was delayed and already over budget.

It's a legal tug of war with a little girl stuck right in the middle. It's an adoption fight with Native American law as the backdrop. Our league guys are next.

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WHITFIELD: It's a heartbreaking tug of war with a little girl caught in the middle. Veronica is in the middle. She was adopted at birth by a South Carolina couple. She lived with them for two years then her biological father, Dustin Brown, got custody under the Indian child welfare act. Brown is a member of the Cherokee Nation. So this case went all the way to the Supreme Court which ruled in the Capobianco's favor.

Dustin Brown was supposed to hand the child over to them. He refused and was arrested this week. Fast forward to yesterday. Just about everyone involved showing up for two different court hearings, one at an Oklahoma county courthouse. Veronica was supposed to be in attendance, but wasn't there.

Her records show -- the agreement was reached, so that's where we are. It is still not entirely clear what will happen next in the case or what the agreement was. Our legal guys are back. Avery and Richard, so, Avery, this case has had so many twists and turns and now, this mediation agreement. What more do we know about what could be in that agreement?

FRIEDMAN: Well, all the parties have apparently come to their senses. The couple earlier this week has talked about the best interest of the child, hello, and that's what they should be talking about. The problem it seemed was coming from Dustin Brown who did not appear to want to mediate or revolve the case.

So we will hear this coming week a resolution of a case that rips your heart out of your chest because for two years, if you recall, the baby was with the couple. Then for a year and a half, the baby was with Dustin Brown. There had to be a resolution. Even the governor of Oklahoma was prepared to extradite brown to South Carolina, so this case was dripping with legal issue, but once we get to mediation, ultimately, the baby benefits by this and we'll find out the details coming up.

WHITFIELD: There are a lot of twists and turns to keep up with. There was a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on this, but it seems the Native American law may supersede that Supreme Court decision and that's how we are at this juncture. The two sides have to somehow come to terms in that way.

HERMAN: Well, Justice Alito said the Indian Child Welfare act is not applicable. The Supreme Court referred back down to the South Carolina courts and referred the best interests of the child and custody, but this case is a loaded moot court drama, Fred. You can't get any more sophisticated with tribal sovereignty, federal jurisdiction. It is loaded here. Apparently, the father impregnated a woman, wanted nothing to do with the baby. The woman gave birth then decided to put the baby up for adoption, but when she did that --

WHITFIELD: And didn't he waive his right, as a biological parent?

HERMAN: He waived his rights, but when they did the adoption, they failed to notify the Cherokee Nation, this was an absolute requirement under Oklahoma law because the father is a Cherokee, so by failing to do that, the Cherokee Nation could have stepped in, blocked the adoption because they have an overriding right to maintain the tribe and not to allow all these adoptions of Cherokee babies.

So, if it applied, right. So the adoption went through. The baby went to South Carolina. The Cherokee nation went nuts. They told Dustin, you've got to get involved here. They had tribal court rulings that he has custody. It's all over the place right now. Mediation will settle in hopefully.

WHITFIELD: And we are out of time, gentlemen, on this, but before we go, in all of this, is there any evaluation of Veronica? While we the public haven't seen her, is there some evaluation to see whether she has been doing well with her biological dad versus with the parents?

FRIEDMAN: We don't have the slightest idea and that's going to be one of the issues hopefully resolved this week.

WHITFIELD: Thanks so much. I see that Howard University pin, Richard. Thank you very much. You have been working with the Howard law school there, my alma mater there, the university. Go, Bisons forever. Thanks so much. Richard, Avery, thanks to both of you, appreciate it.

The legal guys are here every Saturday at this time to give us their take on the most intriguing legal cases of the day. Still ahead, Oprah Winfrey opens up to CNN about race and the "n" word.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OPRAH WINFREY, MEDIA MOGUL: It's impossible for me to do it because I know the history. And I know that for so many of my relatives whom I don't know, who I don't know by name, people I'm connected to, my ancestor, that was the last word they heard as they were being strung up a tree.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, CNN'S "AC 360": Tonight, Oprah Winfrey. It's been 15 years since she appeared on the big screen, but starting tomorrow, she's back in the theatres in "the butler." she told me she wanted to do the film because of its backdrop of the civil rights movement and because of where we are on the evolution of our nation. First, a clip, Forest Whittaker stars as a butler who served American presidents and the film show how changes affected his own family.

WINFREY: What was the name of that movie, honey?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the heat of the night.

WINFREY: In the heat of the night with Sydney Portier.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a white man's fantasy of what he wants us to be.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you talking about? He just won the academy award. He's wrecking down barriers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About being white, about acting white.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sydney Portier's nothing but a rich Uncle Tom. Look at you. All puffed up. Your hat on your head. Covering your hair. Saying whatever you want. You need to go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get the hell out of my house! Get on out!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry, Mr. Butler, I didn't mean to make fun of your hero.

WINFREY: Everything you are and everything you have because of that butler.

COOPER: I spoke at length to Forest Whittaker and Oprah about the film. Here's part of that interview.

You talked about this coming up on time and certainly, there has been in the wake of the Trayvon Martin case, a discussion about race in this country that it's interesting. I saw a Gallup poll that a majority of African-Americans, this is a decision which needs to be had. Majority of whites say too much is being made of this discussion.

WINFREY: I know, I know. That's why I love the film. In light of this is because it brings context to the discussion. When you look at the film beginning with that lynching scene and ending with walking into Obama's office, look at what has happened in the span of one man's lifetime in our country.

FOREST WHITAKER, ACTOR, "LEE DANIELS "THE BUTLER": This movie reminds us that the circular motion of things still trying to work themselves out is going out and that now, it's moving and we're looking at Trayvon, Oscar grant and recognizing that we have to move ourselves forward in this chain. What we said we were going to do.

WINFREY: And the truth of the matter, it became a symbol of those times as Trayvon Martin has become a symbol for this time. There are multiple Trayvon Martins whose names never make the newspapers or the headlines. The circumstances surrounding that allowed it to be, but there were multiple Emmett Tills, multiple Lynchings, young black boys whose names are not remembered and often not even reported.

COOPER: It's interesting to me though how people from different backgrounds see this. I talked to a juror on the Trayvon Martin case who clearly did not understand or did not feel linked to Trayvon Martin. Felt connected to George Zimmerman in a way, but not to Trayvon Martin and I wonder if she felt you know race was not a part of this case at all. I'm just wondering --

WINFREY: They don't call it race. That's not what they call it. They don't say, because you know what I found, too, a lot f people, if they think they're not using the "n" word themselves, and do not have harbor ill will towards black people that it's not racist, but to me, it's ridiculous to look at that case and not think race was involved.

COOPER: In the film, it's used early on. Not just by the guys on the plantation. It's used by LBJ. In those recordings, you hear him and in the film, there's a scene where people in the kitchen see him on TV say him saying Negro. When did he start to use that word? He always uses the "n" word. Was that hard for you? I know you've spoken publicly about the importance of not using that word.

WINFREY: I think it depends on the context of the time in which you were raised. I was raised in the '60s and I am a -- not only that, a student of my history and I have said this many times. It's not a part of who I am to use that word. I understand why other people do. It's impossible for me to do it because I know the history. And I know that for so many of my relatives whom I don't know, who I don't know by name, people who I am connected to, my ancestors, that was the last word they heard as they were being strung up by a tree.

The last sense of degradation they experienced as you know, some harm was caused to them. I just, it's just not a part of the fabric of who I am, so out of respect to those who have come before and the price they paid to rid themselves of being relegated to that word, I just don't use it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Lee Daniels "The Butler" is now in theatres nationwide and it's based on the late story of Eugene Allen who served eight presidents and was a VIP at Obama's inaugural ball.

This afternoon within a couple of days of her rescue, Hannah Anderson was on social media, sharing her experience, too much, too son soon? We'll explore the compulsion of young people to go public.

And sinkholes in Florida are making news. You'll get a closer look at the sinkhole through this rather unique experience. Something you never thought you'd be able to see from this point of view.

And this "Duck Dynasty" star says he was a victim of facial profiling in the Big Apple. We'll tell you about his story, straight ahead.

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