Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Colorado Officials Give Flooding Update; Soaked Colorado to Get More Rain; U.S., Russia Reach Deal on Syria; Newlywed Facing Second Degree Murder Charges; Newlywed Accused of Murder Released; Man Plotted to Eat Children; Bill Cosby Talks 1963; Imbedded Weigh-Loss Device

Aired September 14, 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. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. A lot of big news to get to today. Russia and the U.S. reach an agreement on how to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons. But still, there are big challenges ahead.

And this, there's more of my conversation, a lot more, with comedian Bill Cosby. He takes us back to the year 1963 and how he changed television when he stepped out on the national stage for the very first time and when he saw the faces in the audience, how he completely changed his act. In the time it took for him to walk from the curtain to the mic, he gets into all of that just ahead.

But, first, this. We're going to get to Colorado, I want to tell you there is a press conference about to get under way at any moment and we will bring that to you live. As a matter of fact, it's happening now. Let's listen in.

NICK CHRISTENSEN, LARIMER SHERIFF'S SPOKESMAN: -- Investigators to review all the information we have, follow-up with witnesses, and determine for those that are missing, their status and find out specifically what's happening with each and every one of those and then eventually get data on how many we may be looking at there. So, certainly a concerning situation as far as that goes and one that will be developing over the next several days as we get into these remote, hard-to-access areas. We are making some progress as far as accessing some of these areas.

We still as I mentioned this morning have a total of seven helicopters active today. Two Blackhawks, three Chinooks which are the dual rotor, very large helicopters that can haul quite a few people and two Lakota helicopters that are going into the various areas, and I'll go kind of through those. But they are going in and pulling out people that need or want to get out. Prioritizing medical issues. West of Fort Collins and they are going to various shelters after that, primarily working very closely through the Red Cross with Timberline Church, they've been a wonderful resource and partner in this rescue effort and assisting with the survivors that we are taking out.

Big Elk Meadows as I reported this morning, we had information on about 120 people stranded in that area. 60 have been taken out. The remaining approximately 60 have elected not to leave is my understanding and are still staying in that area and sheltering in place. Pinewood Springs, we reported about 1,200 people stranded in that location, and just a few of those has been taken out there. The priority there has actually been dropping in food. We have over 7,000 meals ready to eat, MREs, that have been delivered there and other locations along with water and other critical resources.

And the Pinewood Springs area will actually be evacuated over the next five days, so that will be a lengthy process, but certainly those people on the ground are getting resources and responders are able to access them now and make sure that their critical needs are met. So, they should be safe and taken care of in their current location. Big Thompson Canyon area, we're still continuing to assess that area and get up into there. Access is tricky because the road is out in multiple locations and it's a tough area for air to work obviously given the tight nature of the canyon.

An area south of the canyon somewhat, a little bit more towards Carter Lake, Bear Track and AT&E, there's about 80 people there that are stranded in Loveland fire and air national guard should be there or in the process of getting there as we speak to contact them and arrange to get them out. That's largely being done on the ground with ATVs and off-road motorcycles and that sort of thing to get up into there. Apparently larger vehicles aren't able to make it at this point. Estes area, we're actually working with boulder county in accessing area that's outside of Estes, the Blue Mountain area to the south, and the X-Bar Seven Subdivision, since they're a little closer, have the resources, they're going in there and assessing that area.

The sheriff I believe is still up in the Estes Park area and we've got responders that are up there. We actually have a satellite office in Estes in working to get their needs met. And that will be a continuing effort. Quite a few folks up there. There is some access through trail ridge road and for a while Highway 7 was open. Is Highway 7 still available at all? OK, that's closed off at this point. Trail Ridge road from the -- coming in from the west to the east is only open for critical traffic. People who are assisting the evacuees and responders, that sort of thing.

So, that's the primary access other than air to Estes Park right now. I did anecdotally receive just a report through a weather forecast but that there is some rain as we speak in Estes Park. That's consistent with looking west right now. We do have flash flood warnings for Pingree Park area, Rustic and Red Feather, so Poudre Canyon and Red Feather is a little bit north, the rain could come through to the south here as well too. So that's --

LEMON: You can hear what's happening there in Larimer County, Colorado, that's where the sheriff's department holding a news conference, a briefing there, updating the extreme flooding conditions across the state and you can hear him talking about people needing to be rescued. People who are trapped.

Just getting word in a couple minutes and we'll going to carry all of this for you, because this is as the weather service has been saying, floods of biblical, that's a quote from the weather service, biblical proportions. 5:30 news conference with the governor of Colorado. Look at that video folks, look at that. The people of Colorado right now, I mean, they can't even buy a break, because earlier this summer devastating wildfires. Now just a month later, hook at this.

Well, the downpour in Boulder and Denver's northern suburbs started Wednesday, didn't let up until today, and the forecast for the coming days not good as well. These are aerial photos that were taken by CNN cameras today over Boulder and Larimer counties, entire neighborhoods, business parks, shopping centers and parking lots. The water rose so quickly that people didn't even have time to move their cars to higher ground. They just evacuated. That's if they could even do it. That's what it looks like from the air.

Now let's go to the ground now, CNN's George Howell. George is in Longmont, Colorado, about 30 miles north of Denver. It's not raining right now as you can see, George. It's in the forecast. You heard --

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Don.

LEMON: We just heard from representatives there, so what's going on?

HOWELL: Well, what we're seeing right now, you know, we felt a few raindrops earlier and, you know, that was some indication that more rain is on the way. You can see back behind me now, the gray over there, right over the mountains, that's the rain that's coming this way. We've been watching and waiting, Don, it hasn't reached us yet. Like I said, we felt a few raindrops, it's coming this way and if you look on the radar there are a couple of flash flood warnings that have been set in place here in the state of Colorado so, you know, it's definitely unnerving news, you know, for people who have gone through what they've gone through over, you know, the last 48 hours.

But let's walk around and show you what we see here. You know, when you look out at this river, this is the St. Vrain River, it's typically a lot slower and a lot lower than what you see right now. A neighbor here told me that what you see here is ten times as high as it would typically be. And, Dave, if you can pan down here just to show what happens when, you know, this much water comes through so quickly. Don, it just washes out roads. We saw a few engineers here just about an hour ago assessing the damage.

One resident said they're going to have to probably tear this bridge down just given the amount of structural damage that it took on from this storm system. So, you know, we're watching and waiting to see what happens, you know, the hope is that we don't get as much rain in this area as we saw the last day or so, but, you know, we'll just have to see what happens.

LEMON: Talking about getting people out who were trapped, some -- about the missing. Talk to us about how many people are missing? How many people are dead? You're there in the field, what updates are you getting on that information?

HOWELL: Right. Well, we confirmed that four were dead over the last, you know, day or so, but now we're hearing from the Larimer County sheriff's office that a 60-year-old woman, her home washed away. She was reported missing and is now presumed dead, so that number now had five dead here from this storm system. And as far as the missing, the number is over 100, I believe, right around 170, that's the latest number that I've heard. It comes down to this, and it's not even missing, rather, it's unaccounted for so, you know, people come out here to vacation sometimes.

There are people who live in these mountain communities. It's a matter of family members not able to -- not being able to reach their other family members or friends not knowing whether their friends, you know, are here. It's just a matter of getting in touch with them. So, there is a process under way that's been under way for, you know, the last day or so really to make sure that people are accounted for. We continue to watch and stay in touch with officials to hopefully see that number go down -- Don.

LEMON: George Howell. We hope it does go down. Appreciate it. We'll be getting back to George Howell, so stand by.

I want to move on now and go to the east coast. Less than 11 months, that's how long in advance since New Jersey rebuilt its iconic boardwalk after the devastation caused by super storm Sandy. Now this. Four blocks wiped out Thursday by a massive fire that took nine hours to contain. And now the New Jersey shore begins to clean up from yet another disaster. Governor Chris Christie was at the Boardwalk again today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: That's what this job is all about, when crises happen you have to be here to help organize things, to lend encouragement, and to deliver help. And so, most people were saying thank you for being here. And what I was saying to them was, a few of them told me I looked tired, and I just looked at them and said, you know, we don't have time to be tired now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: No one has labeled Thursday's fire suspicious but investigators were sifting through ashes today to try to determine a cause. They say they'll have no comment until the investigation is complete.

OK, my great panel is back with this weekend to talk about -- back this weekend to talk about Syria. Next, I'm going to talk with CNN military analyst Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona and Stanford's Fouad Ajami, I've been saying that name for like five weeks now, Fouad Ajami. It looks like we may be closer to a non-military resolution on the Syria crisis. Are we? We'll talk about that.

And is this what we want to be? Is this where we want to be in this particular situation? He always made us think every time he speaks. He makes us think. And this day Bill Cosby seems to make a lot of folks a little bit angry as well. Still, he is never shy with his words, but you never heard stuff like me -- like my conversation with him. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: After days of negotiations, the Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's top diplomat have reached an agreement that could end Syria's chemical weapons program. They sealed a deal in Geneva, one that could leave Syria with no chemical weapons by the middle of next year, President Barack Obama called it, quote, "a concrete step toward the goal of moving Syria's chemical weapons under international control." But not everyone in Washington was quite so happy.

I want to go now to CNN's Joe Johns. He is in Washington. Joe, is there support for the deal from Capitol Hill?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Don, certainly there is. A lot of the critical reaction you're talking about in Washington has been why there isn't any use of force arrangement involving the United Nations in the event the Assad regime doesn't comply with the framework to get rid of his chemical weapons. But the White House has said, use of American armed forces to encourage how to do the right thing remains a possibility. Senator Carl Levin, the democrat, his reaction was sort of typical. He's chairman of the Armed Services Committee, he said the United States remains prepared to act if Syria doesn't implement the agreement.

He also said today's framework represents significant progress. That's the kind of word they're using toward protecting our national security and global stability. Russia and Syria sought two things in any agreement a promise on our part not to use military force and an end to international support for the Syrian opposition, this agreement includes neither -- Don.

LEMON: But no doubt in Washington not everyone is thrilled with it, I'm just guessing.

JOHNS: Right. Absolutely. Very predictably there's a tough statement out from a couple of high profile senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham. They said without a U.N. Security Council resolution under chapter seven, that's at the U.N. charter which threatens the use of force for noncompliance by the Assad regime, this framework agreement is meaningless. Assad will use the months and months afforded to him to delay and deceive the world using every trick in Saddam Hussein's playbook.

So, that's going to be a common theme, because a lot of people are skeptical whether Assad is going to do anything unless he's threatened. McCain and Graham also complain that that agreement doesn't do anything to stop the civil war in Syria and they call for support of the moderate opposition forces there. So, a lot of stuff going into this.

LEMON: Let's bring it back here to America, because this was one of the first questions I had, if the folks were -- the lawmakers were relieved that they don't have to vote on military strikes.

JOHNS: Yes, I think that's true. There are a lot of people who are relieved that they don't have to vote on this because it was a very contentious issue. However, there's still the question of down the road what happens if Saddam -- Saddam. What happens if Assad doesn't do what this agreement calls for him to do, and then they may be right back in the very same position at some later date -- Don. LEMON: Yes. Yes. Both dictators, Joe, we know what you're talking about. No worries. Thank you, sir.

JOHNS: You bet.

LEMON: We'll get back to our Joe Johns. Great reporting there.

We want to talk about the new Syria weapons deal, in Washington retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona is a CNN military analyst and with me here in New York is Fouad Ajami, he's a senior fellow at Stanford Hoover Institution.

What a difference a week makes? Seven days ago, Washington was in a fierce debate, a fierce debate over political military, potential military action should we take it and today, we're talking about an agreement for Syria to hand over all of its chemical weapons. They haven't even admitted that they had chemical weapons.

So, first of all, Fouad Ajami, I can't believe that I messed up your name. I said I've been saying your name for like five weeks, for seven years I've been saying your name here on CNN. So, pardon me again.

FOUAD AJAMI, SENIOR FELLOW, STANFORD UNIVERSITY HOOVER INSTITUTION: Thank you.

LEMON: Are you confident about this agreement?

AJAMI: No, I actually had a long piece in "The Wall Street Journal" a couple of days ago and I hit scorn on this agreement.

LEMON: Why?

AJAMI: Because I think, you know, you can do three things. You can say, well, we're not going to do it now. It will be done later. Everything that Bashar al Assad has agreed to is completely bogus in my opinion and the idea that we're going to by mid-November we'll have --

LEMON: Wait, stand back. What do you mean everything he's agreed to is completely bogus? What is bogus about it?

AJAMI: The whole thing is not about chemical weapons. There's a town on the outskirts of Damascus that Bashar is killing by starving it, by denying it -- by denying it food supplies, by denying it access to the world outside. This idea that it's all about chemical weapons, this is really about saving our own president's reputation. So, now we say, all right, we're going to have an accounting of Bashar al Assad's chemical weapons by mid-November and then we're going to disarm him of these weapons by mid-2014. The war goes on. The killing goes on. The things that people, like, Senator McCain and Senator Graham are concerned about, the idea that there's a war and that in many ways we have given Bashar a reprieve.

LEMON: So, you think this is more about the U.S., more about the administration and our president than the people of Syria think that this agreement just overlooks people of Syria?

AJAMI: Listen, if you now listen to the Syrian rebellion and its leaders, General Idris who is the most credible of the military commanders of the rebellion, this is a disaster for them. We led them to believe that we're coming. We led them to believe that we're going to --

LEMON: But how is removing chemical weapons a disaster? You don't believe it's going to happen?

AJAMI: It doesn't matter. Because at the end of the day I think if we know something and Joe Johns was right when he talked about Saddam. If you go back to Iraq and you see what exactly can a regime secretive in the case of both Saddam and Bashar al Assad. We're not going to have access to these chemical weapons. We're not going to get find them all or track them down and disarm the regime. And as I said, to me it's not really about chemical weapons. It's about the Syrian rebellion and it's about the war that Bashar Assad is waging against his people.

LEMON: Are you saying it's smoke and mirrors somewhat?

AJAMI: It's smoke and mirrors. It's just, I think let's remember one thing, on Monday our Secretary of State threw away this line, you know? We could spare -- Saddam could spare, Bashar could spare himself a strike if he were to rid himself of his chemical weapons. This was Monday. Here we are, Saturday, and we are hailing this as being the great breakthrough. It's a great breakthrough if you don't want to hold Bashar al Assad responsible for the bloodshed.

LEMON: Colonel, I want to go to you because I have plenty of questions for you and I had other questions for you, but I want you to respond to what he said, do you agree with Fouad Ajami here that this is really about the reputation of the president and not about the people of Syria, saving them from their own government?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, I do agree. And if you -- I am sure Fouad is reading the Syrian press and I've read a lot of it the last couple days. They are pillaring this agreement. They believe they've been just, you know, let loose, they said it's OK if you kill us as long as you don't do it with chemical weapons. And that's a shame. So, what Bashar has done is buy himself some time. We've yet to hear from the Syrians. We've said, he would like these Israelis to sign the same agreement. He'd like us to commit that we're not going to continue to support the rebels which is not going to happen.

I think this is just another way to push this down the road so he survives yet a few more days. And as far as getting the chemicals, I don't think we're going to be able to do it because they're not where they were ten days ago. And we've seen a lot of flight activity all over Syria and between Syria and Iran. We don't know what's on those airplanes. We don't know where the chemicals are and who are we going to believe? Are we going to believe a Syrian declaration? We're going to believe a Russian declaration, and our intelligence in this area is not that great. LEMON: I want to stick of this a little bit with this agreement and then we'll talk about the flights that we've been seeing. Because we have a whole lot this hour to talk about. But Colonel Francona, I mean, what do you say, I mean, is this agreement going to make a difference or are we going to find ourselves in a new standoff not long from now if we go with this agreement?

FRANCONA: It's already made a difference. We've seen a tremendous uptick in the amount of violence that's going on inside the country because the Syrians believe they've dodged a bullet and they are going after the rebels with ferocity I haven't seen in months. We had an increase in air strikes. There's all kind of movement on the ground. And the rebels are trying to fight back, but they're reeling. They feel they've been abandoned. So, things have changed on the ground.

LEMON: All right. Colonel and Fouad, thank you. Stand by. We'll get back to both of you.

We'll going to move on now and talk about a story that had everyone talking this week, everyone. A newlywed accused of killing her husband by pushing him off a cliff. Why police in Montana were forced to let her go home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So this is a story that had everyone talking this week, a newlywed in Montana accused of killing her husband by pushing him off a cliff. Details now from CNN's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It began with such promise, young love of Cody Johnson and Jordan Graham. They danced to a song composed specifically for them with the bride's recorded vocals in the background, a song written by Elizabeth Shea.

ELIZABETH SHEA, OURSTORYOURSONG.COM: She was excited to surprise Cody with a song for their first dance.

LAH: Graham seemed like a normal bride says Shea who wrote the lyrics and a music guided by the young bride.

SHEA: I used words like you helped me to climb higher for a better view. You are my safe place to fall. You never let me go and so now when I hear those words, it's a little creepy.

LAH: Creepy because eight days later, Johnson fell to his death pushed, say prosecutors by the very woman who danced with him.

(on camera): Jordan is there anything you want to say?

(voice-over): Saying nothing to us now a defendant leaving court with her parents. Ordered to remain on home confinement before her trail. The court called her here for a last-minute hearing as prosecutors fought to send her back to jail. And the hearing, we learned for the first time one of the defense would be. Graham's lawyer says she and Johnson fought at home where they say Cody pinned her down. They added that he wasn't abusive but controlling her movement.

It was Cody says Graham's lawyer who wanted to go to Glaciers National Park that night. At this sheer cliff they say there was a grabbing incident which was all in one motion the grabbing and pushing. Twenty-five-year-old Johnson fell face-first to his death.

This was an accident says Graham's lawyer. On the second degree murder charges, this is a gross case of overcharging by prosecutors adding this is just not fair.

(on camera): You believe this was an accident?

MICHAEL DONAHOE, FEDERAL DEFENDER: You know, I'll just stand on what we discussed in court today. As far as the merits are concern, yes.

LAH (voice-over): Graham's release into home confinement and her apparent defense plans are a kick in the gut to Johnson's friends.

MAXIMO ROHAS, VICTIM'S FRIEND: He didn't deserve whatever end she gave him. He never earned anything that Jordan did to him, and I disagree with all of my heart at what the justice system is saying is fair.

LAH: Prosecutors paint a very different picture of this young bride, a woman who told multiple lies to investigators, to friends, to family. Prosecutors say she created a fake e-mail account and wrote e-mails to herself to fabricate a bogus story about her husband's death. The defense characterized them as post event mistakes.

She finally confessed to pushing her husband in the back, face-first off the cliff. Her motive, prosecutors say she regretted getting married. A self-defense or calculated crime, a still unwinding tale that began with a wedding and will end in a court of law.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Missoula, Montana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: That's a story. Human behavior expert Wendy Walsh, she is in Los Angeles, criminal Defense Attorney Holly Hughes in Atlanta. So, she regretted getting married. Whatever happened to annulments, Holly? I mean, how do you even defend a client like this?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, her lawyer is going for the accident defense, Don, but we heard Kyung talked about it, she has confessed and in that confession she said I was angry and as a result of being angry, I put my hands on him and I pushed him off that cliff. They have a long uphill battle, no pun intended.

LEMON: Yes. Wendy, what do you think, you know, was this premeditated or was it is impulsive?

WENDY WALSH, HUMAN BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Don, as you know -- I think it might have been impulsive. As you know Don, I host a show on Investigation Discovery called "Happily Never After" about this, brides and grooms who kill each other and there's so much anxiety that can happen post-wedding and I think it may have been impulsive. But the thing that disturbs me is that she went away and left him to die at the bottom for four days. He may have died instantly, we don't know all the details yet. And she didn't even report him missing. He was just discovered by someone else.

LEMON: I -- I don't understand this. You know, I guess it's -- Holly, I mean, I'm sorry, Wendy that we talk about that thin line between love and hate.

WALSH: Oh, yes.

LEMON: I guess it's true.

WALSH: It's absolutely true because what we're talking about is attachment. When people attach and they're deep psychological levels, imagine it's a lifeline to them and when there are ruptures in that attachment, to them it's like their life is ending, so it can be very angry and fear based when conflict comes up.

LEMON: Yes. Holly, you've see this a lot happening in your time as a prosecutor?

HUGHES: Absolutely. Wendy is right, it is an impulsive act, but under the law, she admitted she did think about it. You know, premeditation can be formed in an instant and instantly regretted is how the law reads. So they can still get her on the second-degree murder charges. It's not first-degree because she didn't necessarily go there with a plan, "I'm going to shove him off a cliff," but in her confession, she stated, "I was angry. He grabbed my arm. I got mad about that. I put my hands on him and I shoved him off. I put him on his back."

He didn't even see this coming, Don.

LEMON: You got to think about getting married.

(LAUGHTER)

You know, we put so much pressure on people to get married and everyone thinks, oh, I want to get married, I can't wait!

(CROSSTALK)

HUGHES: I've seen Wendy's show, Don. I'm not that anxious to get married.

(LAUGHTER)

I've seen Wendy's show, yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Amen, sister! I love you.

OK, both of you stand by. Don't go anywhere. We've got a lot to talk about.

Next, we'll talk about a man that police say plotted to eat children, and the scariest part, he wasn't acting alone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Gruesome details are coming out of court documents filed in Boston this week. It's the case of a man who authorities say was planning to kidnap children, lock them in a basement dungeon, rape and eat them.

I must warn viewers, this material, the material you're about to hear and see, very graphic and it may make some viewers uncomfortable.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick reports now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From outdoors, the small, dingy house gave no idea of the horrors within. Downstairs, a homemade dungeon with soundproof walls, a cage with a small mattress, a metal table with restraint loops, and a homemade coffin painted blue inside with a set of speakers.

(on camera): How big is this coffin?

JOHN MCKINNAN (ph), SUPERVISOR, HOMELAND SECURITY: An adult could not fit inside it.

FEYERICK: So child size?

MCKINNAN (ph): Child sized.

FEYERICK: As a supervisor with Homeland Security investigations, John McKinnan (ph) thought he'd seen it all, until that dungeon and a locker filled with meat.

MCKINNAN (ph): We tested the meat. It was livestock. It was not human meat.

FEYERICK: Were you worried?

MCKINNAN (ph): We were very concerned.

FEYERICK: Concerned because as court documents now show the man who lived there, Geoffrey Portway, had nearly 20,000 images of child pornography and was online talking about sexually torturing, killing, and cannibalizing a child.

Portway allegedly told one of his online chat conspirators, quote, "I have no minimum age. I would eat a newborn."

Officials say child cannibalism is a subset of child exploitation plaguing the Internet.

Portway, who pleaded guilty to various child pornography charges, his lawyer said child cannibalism was just a fantasy and there's no evidence he harmed a child. But between the chats and the dungeon, prosecutors believe he was close to acting on his fantasy.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: I want to bring back in now human behavior expert, Wendy Walsh; and criminal defense attorney, Holly Hughes.

Right? Really?

WALSH: Horrible.

LEMON: You know, this case has huge amounts of evidence, though, Holly, tens of thousands of photos, videos of child pornography, a locked soundproof basement, a metal cage, bondage equipment --

HUGHES: Right.

LEMON: -- child-sized coffin. I mean, is this an open-and-shut case for the prosecution?

HUGHES: Well, it is. Remember, he's already pled guilty, Don, so what we're talking about is the sentencing, and whatever sentence he receives, because this is in federal court, there's no parole in the federal system. He's going down for all the time the judge gives him. The prosecution is asking the judge at this hearing coming up, they want 27 years. And quite frankly, I think they're going to get it.

His attorney is trying to say this was all fantasy, but, Don, we've seen the evidence photos. This wasn't fantasy. He purchased these items. He made this coffin. He made that cage and then cut a hole in it to put food in so that he could, in fact, keep the child locked up.

And, remember, in addition to the almost 20,000 items of child porn, there were over 4,500 chats where he was going back and forth with other people who have this same predilections and discussing what he would do. This wasn't fantasy to him. He was working his way up to something or he wouldn't have purchased those items.

LEMON: Is there any way, Wendy, to even categorize this? Is it just a nut, or -- I mean, what inspires someone to commit this kind of act?

WALSH: The truth is child molesters and child predators can't really be sort of boxed into one narrow profile because they cross all racial and social strata. They tend to be male. About 96 percent of people who molest children are male. They tend to be under the age of 35. But aside from that, they cross through our culture.

I do want to put one thing out there, though, thinking about his attorney saying this was all fantasy. Now, we do know he broke some laws certainly with possessing the child pornography. But are we getting to a place where this is the thought police now, and if we have fantasies and crazy ideas, we can be arrested for them? But on the other hand, Don, when some horrific crime happens, don't we always say, "But wait a sec, why didn't you catch him before? He was sending e-mails."

LEMON: Right.

WALSH: So all I can hope at this point is they track down all the 4,500 other people he talked to online and start going after each of them.

LEMON: It's unbelievable. We say that all the time but this one really is unbelievable.

HUGHES: Don, can I jump in here real quickly?

LEMON: Yeah, quickly. We have to run. There's a live press conference going on.

HUGHES: Right. You don't create a torture chamber and purchase things and make a coffin if it's all fantasy.

LEMON: Yeah.

HUGHES: You just don't.

LEMON: Thank you, ladies. We appreciate it.

I hate to cut it short but we were waiting to hear from the Colorado government and the latest about the deadly flooding in Colorado. You see the press conference about to happen. We'll update you on that.

Plus, as promised -- as promised -- just ahead, more of my intriguing conversation with Bill Cosby.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, where four little girls were killed, 22 people injured by the bomb set off by the Ku Klux Klan.

Well, today, Bill Cosby was part of a remembrance in Birmingham and he remembers 1963 very well.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: I want to get back -- can I get back to 1963? Because, as I'm told, my research is right, on August 6, 1963, you were giving your first appearance, national television appearance on "The Tonight Show" with guest host, Allen Sherman, who ended up producing your first comedy album. So you have the march on Washington going on, you have the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, and then you were breaking barriers in the world as well.

What was -- and people think you didn't live through that. Some would assume that you didn't live through that, but you did. What was -- what was happening in your mind, then?

BILL COSBY, ACTOR: Well, the assumption -- at that time, there was no comedian except maybe George Kirby who was on TV. I had decided that I, as a writer and a monologist, was going to go on and I am going to show people that I am the antithesis of what Hollywood is putting out for people to see about us. Very clear. In those days, that was the information that was set -- "Amos and Andy," et cetera, et cetera, the maids, the butlers. Didn't say that these people were hard working. They never really said that. But that's who we were. We didn't know much. And when we talked, we made a lot of sense but we don't speak well, so to speak.

OK. Here I come, Brooks Brothers tie, and I come out, and I don't look like what they're used to seeing. And I put -- set foot on the stage. Now, the comedians that they had seen, whether -- and this is not a putdown. This is Dick Gregory is doing racial material. He wears a tie and a suit, smoked cigarettes at the time. But Dick knows more about anybody's state in the audience, any human being he knows more about, because he's a studied person, intellectual.

In 1963, I step out as the junior member of a two-man club. And I walk out on that stage, and I decide not to do the piece I was going to do but just look at the audience, give them a chance to think. Because they know that this black face is going to talk about race. And I said to this audience, I want to talk to you about karate. My subjects open up into my family, my guys, my gang, which later explodes into "Fat Albert," which later explodes into "Checking Cave (ph)." Every time I'm writing, I'm writing from my black experience without jumping at you saying, I'm black. Really? No. This is the way I am. This is the way we grew up. This is the way we talk. This is the way we move.

And so 1963 as well as 1863, when Republicans led the charge to free us as abolitionists -- 1963, bam. Here's the march. And later on, as time goes, we see the people evolve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And we have got a lot more of Bill Cosby next hour. Huge chunk of that interview just ahead. And if you missed any of our conversation, we have our interview with Bill Cosby in its entirety tomorrow starting in our first hour. That's 5:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

I want to get back to our top story now because we're awaiting a news conference in Colorado. The governor of Colorado about to give us an update on the deadly flooding there. It's going to happen at any moment. We'll bring it to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Do you find it tough to lose weight? Well, if I told you a tidbit that can help you do that? Here is the catch. It would be embedded in your body. That's straight ahead here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBIN EMMONS, CNN HERO: There's magic in gardening that you can drop a seed into the earth and, from that, there's an amazing fruit that is delicious and so good for your body. That's a miracle to me.

Here in Charlotte, 73,000 people live in low-income neighborhoods that don't have access to this fresh fruit.

You could call this the Miracle Mile. Pretty desolate in the way of healthy food options. There are barely any supermarkets. Once they get there by bus or a neighbor's car or on foot, they are paying a very high price for the food.

I'm Robin Emmons. I believe everyone should have access to fresh fruit so I grow it and bring it to communities in need.

We want our market to be abundant tomorrow. Let's hit it.

We have about 200 volunteers that help us harvesting the food.

These are heirloom tomatoes over here.

Bringing the food to the community and cutting the cost in half compared to a grocery store.

Six months ago, I was diagnosed with diabetes. I'm unemployed right now. Sometimes you have to buy the cheaper things.

These are beautiful.

I couldn't believe all this, fresh vegetables. And the price was phenomenal. It's making me and my family healthier.

I started growing food in my backyard. Today, I grow on nine acres. Since 2008, we have grown 26,000 pounds of food.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a good day.

EMMONS: I feel like I'm giving them a gift, a healthier longer, more delicious life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: As I told you at the top of the hour, it is a very busy news day. The people in Colorado are getting inundated with water. Flooding of biblical proportions as the National Weather Service said. You can see the microphones there. We are awaiting a press conference from the governor about the epic flooding that they are dealing with there. We are going bring it to you live, as soon as it happens.

Also of interest to you, you want to lose weight? What if I told you there could be an app for that, soon? I'm interested. A device that makes your stomach think it's full without weird side effects as well. You're interested in that? There's a catch. Part of it would be embedded in your body.

CNN's Lori Segall has more.

Lori, what are we talking about? Somebody is not used to seeing Don Lemon with a full face. Maybe it's his hair.

(LAUGHTER)

No, it's because I've been eating a lot. I want the app. What does this entail?

LORI SEGALL, CNNMONEY.COM: It's called the PImpulsive (ph). It's in development. It's coming out in a couple years. Being developed by engineers in Latin America. It's funded by the Brazilian government. It's very legitimate.

Essentially, they are describing it as a gastric pacemaker. It will cause the stomach to produce hormones that make you feel full. It is complicated. I had them explain it to me. They wrote it out. Let me read it to you. They say, "The device will be inverted through a simple, in a minimally invasive surgery, connected to electrodes fixed on the stomach wall." This way, the electrical pulses will cause the stomach to send signals to the brain causing the desired affect, which, Don, would be the anticipation of fullness. Unbelievable. In simple speak, it's a weight-loss embeddable tech device.

LEMON: We have to run because the press conference came into our mind. I'm sorry. Do you think people will get over the ick factor with this, it's in your body?

SEGALL: Can do frontier technology. If the benefits outweigh the costs, absolutely.

LEMON: I'm down.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm game. I'm down with it.

Thank you. We appreciate it, Lori Segall.

SEGALL: Yes.

LEMON: We are still waiting to hear from Colorado's governor about the flooding that they have been dealing with. We are going to hear about that. And we hear its plane is on sight. He's been delayed because he stopped to help with a rescue. You don't want to miss that. Very interesting. What happens next? How did the governor help out with a rescue? More NEWSROOM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone. It's the top of the hour. I'm Don Lemon.

Look, a deal to avoid an air strike in Syria. The U.S. and Russia announce a plan to inspect Syria's chemical weapons within weeks. While it may hold off U.S. military intervention, a new battle has already started in Washington.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. It's top of the hour. I'm Don Lemon. We have a lot of big stories happening right now.