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Who is this Little Girl?; Officials Up Reward for Killers to $10,000p; Voters Showing Signs of Backlash; Incumbents Face Tough Re- elections; Snowden: NSA Files Never in Russia; Cardinals Heading to the World Series; Cardinals Heading To The World Series; FSU And Clemson Thinking National Title; Oregon Makes A Statement; Buying Shares Of A Sports Star; Escaped Inmates' Victims Are Furious; Congress Kicks The Can Down The Road; Assange Calls Wikileaks Movie "Toxic"

Aired October 19, 2013 - 11:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right Anna and Victor. Thank you so much it's good to see you guys. Have a great day. We'll see you again tomorrow morning.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: You too.

WHITFIELD: All right we're covering a lot today. We'll have many top stories for you in the next hour.

Florida prison officials call it a system failure. That's putting it mildly. Two murderers duped that system, walking out of the door and then triggering an intensive manhunt.

And then in New York, a very different kind of search, but no less frantic -- in a city of eight million, the hunt is on for one 14-year- old boy. He has autism and hasn't been seen in two weeks.

And the President's bruising budget battle with Republicans in Congress may have set us up for a rematch perhaps in a couple of months. The crisis is averted -- at least for now.

We'll have all of those stories for you in a minute.

But first, we want to begin this hour in Greece where authorities are trying to figure out the identity of a four-year-old girl -- this one right here. She was found Thursday in a Roma or gypsy community in the custody of a couple who claimed to be her parents.

But DNA testing revealed she is not related to either of the people she was with, and police have no idea where she might have come from. The couple who said they were the girl's parents, they have now been charged with abduction of a minor. And now, a Greek charity is taking care of that child, but they want to know more about her and hopefully find her real family.

Panagiotis Pardalis is the communications officer for the charity called "The Smile of the Child", and he joins us now by phone from Athens with more details. What can you tell us about this little girl or what has been learned of her since her being taken into custody? PANAGIOTIS PARDALIS, COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, THE SMILE OF THE CHILD (via telephone): Good morning from Athens Fredricka, thank you very much. Yes, as you said it was a routine investigation by the police authorities on Wednesday morning when they enter the Roma settlement on mainland Greece. And so one of the prosecutors found out that there was a blond little girl in this Roma family and that's how the story was unfolded. Right now, "The Smile of the Child" takes care and protects the child. The child is in the hospital.

At the beginning, of course, she was very confused and shocked, but right now, she starts feeling much better again and she is feeling safe in her new environment. And of course with the support of psychologists and social workers, who are taking care of her.

WHITFIELD: Now you mentioned at first she was in the hospital when taken from the people who claimed to be her parents. What kind of condition was she in?

PARDALIS: She was in bad condition. I mean living in Roma settlement was really bad hygiene conditions, bad living conditions. She was physically and psychologically in bad shape. So -- but until the -- until now, there's not something that really concern -- concerns us in terms of her health situation. She seems to be healthy.

But we'll still wait for all -- the results and the exams to be completed in order to have a full picture of her health.

WHITFIELD: So your group, "The Smile of the Child" will have her until perhaps her real family is located. To what extent do you know efforts are being made in which to find her biological family?

PARDALIS: We don't have any clue right now. And we still -- we only making assumptions. Police -- police authorities only make assumptions right now. And there's an investigation going on. So even -- I mean, we make assumptions about her age -- we think about six -- four -- we don't have any clue about her origins. So we don't really know anything, so everything needs to be clarified and it's being investigated right now by police authorities so.

WHITFIELD: And can you confirm with me the reason why she is now in your custody, someone saw this little girl, who just didn't seem to match the identity of the parents or the family members she was with, that raised suspicion, and somehow, then, authorities were brought into the picture?

PARDALIS: No, no, there was no -- there was no -- I mean, there was some information, but someone called the police, but according to some other information, it was just coincidental, it was just a routine investigation and one of the prosecutors has observed that it was a blond, green-eyed girl in a Roma family. So this is how it all started.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Panagiotis Pardalis thank you so much, of course, and the image that we see of the little girl, you see she is blond and you can see kind of the tips of her hair, it appears as though maybe her hair had been darkened or dyed to look darker, you can see it right there in the ponytails. All right thank you so much.

And of course bring us up to date if you have any more information about how she might be matched up with her biological family.

PARDALIS: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much.

All right now, back here in the U.S. and those two convicted killers who may have just simply walked away from a Florida prison using forged documents. They're still on the loose, and today, officials are offering a $10,000 reward for their arrest. Charles Walker and Joseph Jenkins have been free for a while now, but authorities only learned of their escape this week.

Our Nick Valencia is live for us right now outside Franklin Correctional Institution. So Nick, what more do authorities know about how they managed to pull this off, and where the search is ongoing.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well the answers right now are in short supply here Fred. We've been asking all the right question, we just haven't been able to get clear answers. There's a lot of finger- pointing going on. They do know, though -- or think that they know -- where two of these guys are. They said yesterday at the Orange County sheriff's department presser, that there's reason to believe that those two convicted killers on the loose right now may be in the state of Florida, perhaps even in Orange County, in the Orlando area.

Also one of the victim's mothers of Charles Walker, he's one of those men on the loose, she said she received a tip from the family friend that they saw Walker walking around in an area Orlando -- an Orlando area mall just over a week ago -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: So the victims' families, many have spoken out. They're obviously very upset. Tell us about the letter that Florida officials apparently sent to them, informing them.

VALENCIA: Yes, Evangelina Kiers is the mother of one of Charles Walker's victims and she said she received a letter from the Florida Department of Corrections telling her that Charles Walker had been released early. This was very bizarre for her, because she knew that Charles Walker was in prison for life, that he was not eligible for early release. But she got this letter anyway. That sent a red flag for her.

She says that she doesn't think that the state officials were involved at all, or that this is some sort of cover-up or inside job by the State Attorney, or even the judge who had his -- had his signature forged.

But she did say that she does believe that Charles Walker did not do these documents himself, and she thinks that both suspects that are on the run right now had some help from someone, somewhere -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: And so, of course, part of the investigation is focusing on that. Who could have helped them from the inside?

VALENCIA: Yes. Yes, part of the investigation is focused on that. But Fred, as I mentioned earlier, there is a lot of finger-pointing. We spent a lot of time yesterday at the Florida Department of Corrections asking how this blunder -- how this very embarrassing blunder for all agencies involved -- could have happened.

The Florida Department of Corrections they punted it back to the courting saying that they don't have legal stature to challenge the court's decision. The court said that they were just processing paperwork and it isn't some sort of high-tech legal analysis that they do when these orders come from sentencing judges, as this forged document came to that courthouse.

Nobody wants to take ownership for this mistake, and as they mentioned yesterday at the Orange County Sheriff's Department Presser, there sure is a lot of finger pointing going around and not much ownership for what happened -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much. Nick Valencia, I appreciate that.

So the search for those two escapees in Florida is just one of the stories that Don Lemon will be looking at in a CNN special tonight called "MAKING THE CASE", that's at 8:00 Eastern time. Don and a group of legal analysts will break down the top crime stories of the week.

All right coming up a little bit later on in this hour, Edward Snowden says he never took leaked NSA documents to Russia. So, if that's the case, where are they?

And next, new polls show the latest round of gridlock in Washington could cost some incumbents their jobs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: After this week's deal to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling, members of Congress may have to start worrying about their jobs, at least some of them. CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser says it's about more than just low approval ratings. There could be a fundamental shift happening.

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey Fred first things first. Here is the obvious. Americans were mad as well you know what at folks here in Washington over the government shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R), MAINE: There's a lot of justifiable anger at Congress and at the President for failing to solve these problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEINHAUSER: Need more proof? Look at the approval ratings for Congress. They're hovering at or near all-time lows. But here is the thing. While most people often say it's time to throw the bums out of Congress, they're usually ok with their own representative, and that's why incumbents overwhelmingly get re-elected.

But two new polls suggest that the time, they may be a-changing. Nearly four in ten questions in a new Pew Research Survey say they don't want their own member of Congress re-elected, that's the highest level in decades of Pew polling. And 60 percent in a recent NBC News/"Wall Street Journal" survey said given the chance to vote out every member of Congress, including their own, they would. If those kind of numbers hold up as we get closer to next year's midterms elections, watch out -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Paul Steinhauser.

All right so if polls are saying incumbents could find their seats in danger, then who heads that list? I'm joined by CNN commentator and Democratic strategy Donna Brazile and Alex Castellanos a Republican consultant and CNN commentator. It's good to see both of you.

ALEX CASTELLANOS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's good to see you.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN COMMENTATOR: Hello good morning.

WHITFIELD: Ok so how in danger are some of the more senior Republican leaders on the Hill? Like Lamar Alexander for example, Mitch McConnell, maybe even Lindsey Graham. Alex, you first.

CASTELLANOS: Oh, I think they're probably going to be all right. Paul has a point. Everybody's mad at Washington. But that is the point. They're mad at both the Democrats and the Republicans.

It's not going to be so much a wave, I think, against incumbents, as it is -- it's going to be a wave where people who say they're outsiders and want to change Washington are going to be running against people they label as insiders, who want more of the status quo.

So even if you've been in Washington for 100 years, you know, longer than Methuselah if you can go out there and say look I have an agenda for change incumbents will survive.

WHITFIELD: So Donna it's not just Republicans whose jobs might be in danger. There are many Democrats too, people are angry at just member of Congress as a whole. You saw that polling that Paul was showing us. So if that's the case, you know, what can Democrats do, or maybe Republicans that matter, too, even though you're mostly a Democratic strategist, Donna, you know what can folks do, what do they say to their constituents to try to hold onto their jobs? What are we likely to see from some these members of Congress?

BRAZILE: Well first of all, I think every member of Congress, House and Senate, should go out there and try to earn the people's trust, earn their respect. Earn their votes --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Well how do they do that after what just happened?

BRAZILE: Well -- well I agree with Alex, they need to talk about what Washington can do. Like all governors across the country, will have -- like other politicians, they have to go before the voters. I think members of Congress will need to tell their constituents what they're doing in Washington, D.C., to help improve the economy.

We know over the last two years that they have enacted over $2.6 trillion in austerity cuts, but what are they doing to grow the economy? What are they doing to look at long-term issues regarding the deficit? What are we doing about infrastructure spending, education? There are so many issues that they need to go back and talk to voters about, not just the dysfunction and the gridlock in Washington, D.C. But what are they doing to change the lives of ordinary Americans all throughout this country?

WHITFIELD: And most have seen the dysfunction, the gridlock. You know, Alex, some Republicans, you know, are digging in their heels and saying, uh-uh, there's no division. The President, however, says you know, he's going to tackle immigration, and that's one of the first things that he's going to try to reach for.

Do Republicans have a unified voice on that issue? Is it in concert with the President's ideas?

CASTELLANOS: No. And the President knows Republicans are divided on immigration, which is one big reason he's bringing immigration to the table. This is a political play, not a governing play. The President wants to keep Republicans divided, fighting, in effect trying to bring out the worst in the Republican Party, because he's got one shot left to take the House this coming election.

If he can do that, he'll have the Senate, he'll have the House, and, of course, the White House again, and he could run the table his last two years. This is all about politics.

If the only thing Republicans can agree on, I think right now on immigration is, you know, Ted Cruz was born in Canada. If there was a plan to keep Canadians from coming across the border, maybe Republicans would agree on that. But right now, you're not going to see immigration legislation move, I think, in the House.

WHITFIELD: Donna?

BRAZILE: Well, don't blame Canada for Ted Cruz. I think there's something else in his coffee that we need to perhaps investigate. Look, the truth is that immigration reform will help our economy. And it's something that Republicans and Democrats have been working on, the Senate passed it with bipartisan support.

The Congress, the House needs to stop cherry picking through it and go ahead and put up comprehensive immigration reform on the table and let a vote take place. And I agree that John Boehner should just allow the Republicans to vote their conscience, and if they're not on board, we'll know that. But one other thing that I think it's important to understand, look, we've just gone through a really painful period in this country with all of the dysfunction in Washington, D.C. I think at the end of the day, if Congress can come back next week and look at this long-term deal that they're trying to put back together, focus back on the economy, and stop playing these political points as if 2014 is coming up next month.

No, it's next year. Next November 2014. We've got a lot of time, and we should try to get something done on behalf of the American people.

WHITFIELD: All right. I'm hearing a whole lot of hope in your voices.

BRAZILE: I'm always hopeful.

WHITFIELD: I think there's a whole lot of hope everywhere else too.

All right. Very good. Donna Brazile, Alex Castellanos, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

BRAZILE: Thank you.

CASTELLANOS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Later on, we have the "Bleacher Report", and in it, the St. Louis Cardinals. Will they do it again, earning their spot to this year's World Series after pounding the Dodgers? Highlights from that emotional win.

And next, Edward Snowden says he never took leaked documents to Moscow. We'll tell you where he says he left them and why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, is speaking out about what happened to the secret government files he leaked to the media. He told "The New York Times" that he gave the files of the NSA documents to journalists in Hong Kong, and that he never took any of them to Russia where he fled in June. We get more on Snowden's claims now from Phil Black in Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Edward Snowden has responded to one of the more persistent criticisms of his decision to come to Russia. That by coming here he has betrayed his country because inevitably he has become an intelligence asset for the Russian government, that whatever information he had when he arrived must now be in the possession of the Russia's security and intelligence services.

Edward Snowden in his interview with "The New York Times," which was carried out over an encrypted online service, said that's not possible because he didn't bring any of those classified documents to Russia. He left them in Hong Kong with the journalists that he was working with there. He said there are no copies. It wouldn't have served the public interest to travel with them.

He's also pretty confident that China hasn't been able to access any of that information because he said he had enough technical knowledge of their capabilities to secure it and protect it from Chinese intelligence.

His father, Lonnie Snowden, made a similar case when he was in Moscow earlier this week visiting his son. I asked him what contact his son is having with Russian intelligence agencies. And he said none. He said Edward had assured him that he has not been debriefed by any spy agency from any other country since he fled the United States.

Phil Black, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Last night, Edward Snowden's father spoke to our Anderson Cooper. He met with his son, as you heard Phil say, in Russia this week. And in this interview, he describes how it went.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: You were able finally to see your son. What was that like?

LON SNOWDEN, EDWARD SNOWDEN'S FATHER: It was an emotional moment. It was something I had wanted desperately to do since June 9th when the story first broke. And to see him walk into the room, I was already present where we were going to meet initially, it was really uplifting.

COOPER: Was this the first time you've actually been able to talk to him directly?

SNOWDEN: Yes, yes.

COOPER: I'm not going to obviously ask you details about where he's staying or even if you knew that because I don't want to, obviously, you don't want to do anything that's going to endanger his safety or locate him, but what can you say about his life there?

SNOWDEN: I think it's very good. I was persistent in saying Ed, I don't want you to tell me what I think I want to hear, you know, are you ok? You know, I wondered, you know, where he lays his head at night, you know, every night when I go to bed is he laying his head on a dirt floor? But he is living comfortably and he has quite a support system.

All right. Coming up in a few minutes, we'll look at a new movie that chronicles Julian Assange and Wikileaks and tell you why he wanted nothing to do with a movie that told his story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, bottom of the hour now. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are four things crossing the CNN news desk right now.

Number one, more problems for the health care Web site. A health and human services official says the enrollment Web site is down this weekend for maintenance. It's been plagued with glitches since going online. The administration is downplaying the significance of this weekend's outage saying the agency has brought it down week nights and weekends between the predawn hours, since enrollment began October 1st.

Number two, authorities in Greece are trying to figure out the identity of this 4-year-old little girl. She was found Thursday in a Roma, or gypsy community, in the custody of a couple who claimed to be her parents, but DNA testing revealed she is not related either of them, and police have no idea where she might have come from. The couple has been charged with abduction of a minor.

And number three, nearly 100 wildfires are scorching parts of Australia. Many of them are burning out of control. At least one person has died and hundreds of homes have been damaged or destroyed. Investigators say some of the fires were caused by sparking power lines.

And number four, NBA hall of famer Bill Russell getting arrested at Sea-Tac International Airport in Seattle. Why? Well, police say the 79-year-old was cited for carrying a gun into a prohibited are of the airport Wednesday. The former Boston Celtics star has been released but he still could face a fine of $7,500.

Ok, baseball, anyone? The St. Louis Cardinals are heading to the World Series again, and it's the team's second trip in the last three years. Or seasons, I should say. Joe Carter is here with more in the "Bleacher Report".

JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS: Yes, the Cardinals are making this a habit.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I guess so. They're really good at this.

CARTER: The really cool story that comes out of game six is a rookie pitcher by the name of Michael Wacha and he had a great game again last night and he was named series MVP and what the real hook is that this guy just joined the Cardinals' rotation a couple of weeks ago full time.

WHITFIELD: A couple of weeks ago?

CARTER: Yes. I said he was named the season MVP. Pitched up last night, didn't give up any runs. He was brilliant once again. The other headline is he outpitched the Dodgers' Ace, which is Clayton Kershaw. Some thought he might win the Cy Young Award this year. But the Cardinals absolutely pounded Kershaw and the Dodger relievers for nine runs yesterday.

The other good story, because there are a lot of them, Carlos Beltran is finally headed to his first World Series. He's played in 45 playoff games and this will be the first time he'll be playing in the big game, as they say.

WHITFIELD: A big one.

CARTER: In the big one for the fourth time since 2004. Later tonight, we could find out their competition. The American League Championship continues in Boston. You got the Red Sox and the Tigers. The Red Sox can close out the series tonight with a win. The first pitch is at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. And we've got a really good one if you like college football, and that's happening later on tonight, number five Florida State at number three Clemson.

Yes, both teams that are undefeated trying to possibly stay in the -- on the road to the national championship game. Obviously, the winner of this game falls off. The winner stays on track with the Alabamas, Oregons, Ohio, states of the college football world. The implications are saying it's so big. It's the biggest game in acc conference history.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that's big.

CARTER: And Florida State, the road team is a three-point favorite, but Clemson being at home, having the fan, 81,000 in death valley, gives them a little bit of an edge. And quickly tonight, a really great story trending on bleacher.com this morning, Oregon football pushing it fashion forward once again.

WHITFIELD: Yes, how fashionable they look.

CARTER: The pink helmets, pink cleats, and it's all support of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We're used to seeing the NFL do this. They have the accessories with the gloves and the hand towels, and they started this a couple of years ago, and now org organization is taking it to a whole new level with the bold, bright helmets, and they'll have the famous alum sign about 25, and then auctioned off, and the money donated. The whole point is to make sure women get checked, mammograms.

WHITFIELD: And not even a powder puff.

CARTER: Yes, go Ducks. I like it.

WHITFIELD: All right, that's good. Thanks so much, Joe. Appreciate it.

All right, we've got some more stuff straight ahead for you, something you don't hear every day. You can soon buy stock in your favorite pro athlete, and the first sports star offering shares of himself, Houston, Texas -- Houston, Texas, running back Arian Foster. Zain Asher explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the field he is explosive. Off of it, charming.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: What's your favorite food? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mom's enchiladas --

ASHER: And if one company has its way, he'll soon be a publicly traded asset.

BUCK FRENCH, FANTEX CEO: We are interested in working with Arian because he has attributes that are beyond just being a pro-ball running back. His approach to life and things off of the field make him an attractive candidate for us.

ASHER: Star NFL runningback Arian Foster is the first athlete to sign up with Fantex, a San Francisco based start up that will allow fans to buy and sell shares of their favorite athletes. Fantex will pay Foster $10 million upfront in exchange investors get the opportunity to earn 20 percent of Foster's future income including money from playing contracts, endorsements and appearance fees. Fans can buy a stake at $10 a share and they have to invest a minimum of $50. But veteran sports consultant Robert Tuchman is looking into the stock.

ROBERTH TUCHMAN, PRESIDENT, GOVIVA: It's very difficult to monetize athletes brands post-playing days. It's very difficult to monetize athletes' brands while they are playing.

ASHER: Fantex says it's looking for talented athletes with significant growth potential.

FRENCH: How you play or the performance of your play gives you a platform to have a voice in the marketplace which impacts your brand.

ASHER: But what's in it for the athletes.

FRENCH: For players, this is a complete home run for Arian Foster. I mean, he is basically buys himself insurance for his playing days.

ASHER (on camera): So why Arian Foster? Well, he is one of the NFL's biggest stars. His brand has surged with the popularity of football. He is an all-star running back for team owners, and Fantex want to make him a must buy for investors.

(voice-over): Investors though should check carefully. Fantex list 84 risk factors on their website including the risk of athletes getting injured and unforeseen issues with its trading platform and if Fantex doesn't make enough money in the initial offering, it says it's scrapping the deal. Still, the company is bullish about bringing sports investing to the average Joe.

FRENCH: We really embrace the concept of him being a trail blazer and it fits his brand, and how we see him. And we think there is a desire for that out in the marketplace.

ASHER: Zain Asher, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thanks for that, Zain. We had to have Joe stick around for your insight on this one. So many find this to be very bullish, but there's a lot of risk.

CARTER: Well, Fantex has something there. I think they've started out with a good idea. Fantasy football is huge. We know how many people are invested in it, $8 billion business. People want to invest in a single player, but they'd like to see with my money going towards a player with longevity. It's about betting on futures, and I'd rather invest in a tennis player, golf player, where I see a return on my money.

WHITFIELD: Maybe that's next.

CARTER: We'll see.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Joe. Appreciate that. Maybe you need to be advising them. You might be getting a call. All right, thanks so much.

You know what, maybe you have a favorite athlete, somebody you have in mind, somebody you would bank on, share your thoughts on my Facebook page, fredrickawhitfieldcnn or tweet me @fwhitfield. I'll share some of your comments throughout the day on this.

Also, they're two convicted murders now on the loose. These two men now, they're out of prison because of forged documents, and naturally the victims' families are furious about it. We'll have their reaction coming up next.

In this week's "PARTS UNKNOWN," Anthony Bourdain heads to South Africa where his preconceived ideas about the country were simply blown away, he says, and now, he says he's more confused than ever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY BOURDAIN, HOST, CNN'S "PARTS UNKNOWN"": So a good friend of my, a really great travel rider, who I admire a lot, says something I often refer to, he said, "The more I travel, the less I know." I feel that particularly strongly here in South Africa, a place I came in a state of near total ignorance, loaded with preconceptions.

And I can't say that I'm leaving any smarter. I guess, what I do think is it's a held off a lot more complicated here than I thought it was going to be, and I do feel very much that if things work out here, it's -- the human race is capable of getting it right, or even remotely close to right here, maybe there's hope for us all. But I just don't know. Do you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Watch more of Anthony's "JOURNEY IN SOUTH AFRICA," tomorrow, 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: We were telling you earlier about the hunt for two murderers who escaped from what Florida prison and it has the victims feeling victimized all over again. CNN's John Zarrella sat down with the family of one of the victims.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nine years old, he was just 9 when Roscoe Pugh III saw his father gunned down during a home invasion robbery.

ROSCOE PUGH III, VICTIM'S SON: All eyes would be totally different. I said that since I was 9 years old, I said my life would have been different if I wouldn't have saw it, I saw it.

ZARRELLA: Now 15 years later, Roscoe is reliving the nightmare. On September 27th, this man, Joseph Jenkins serving life for the murder of Roscoe's dad was mistakenly released from a prison in Franklin County in the Florida panhandle. For Roscoe's mom it is impossible to comprehend.

CRYSTAL PUGH, VICTIM'S WIFE: It seems like my whole world came down on me. I thought I would not have to see them ever again in life because they had life sentence plus 100 years.

ZARRELLA: If one convicted murderer set free by accident isn't enough, there is more. A week and a half after Jenkins went free so did Charles Walker, convicted of second degree murder in a different case. And get this, Walker walked out of the same Florida prison.

How is it possible? Forged documents ordered the releases and on them, the forged signature of Orange County Judge Belvin Perry. Because he is a high profile judge, Perry says he sees how it is possible no one would question it and he is not entirely surprised.

JUDGE BELVIN PERRY, ORANGE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: People, particularly people with criminal minds come up with ingenious ways to beat the system. They have nothing but time on their hands to think of things.

ZARRELLA: The Florida Department of Law Enforcement was only notified of the mistake a couple of days ago. Corrections officials say they followed department policy and procedures.

MISTY ASH, SPOKESWOMAN, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS: Those inmates were released based on those court orders that we received. The orders were later determined to be fraudulent.

ZARRELLA: It's a snafu that has the Pugh family living in fear.

PUGH: To have to know that he's free on the streets is frightening. It's terrifying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: So how did authorities find out? Well, the family of one of the victims called the state attorney's office and said, how come this guy is out of prison? The state attorney's office then called the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Department of Corrections to notify them. How the family found out, we don't know. John Zarrella, CNN, Orlando. WHITFIELD: All right, coming up on the next hour, our own legal guys are breaking down some of the most intriguing cases of the week. Avery Friedman and Richard Herman join me now for a quick peek now on what's on the docket.

Good to see you, gentlemen. Let's begin with the case in Utah, a former doctor named Martin Macneill, accused of drugging and drowning his wife. Prosecutors say Dr. Macneill wanted to kill his wife so that he could be with his mistress. Avery, what's your take, tough one to prove?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, it may be. It's a murder trial, Fredricka, with a twist. You see, after they found Martin Macneill's wife dead in the bathtub, fully clothed, coroner said cardiovascular disease, but the children protested, and came up with a second coroner's report, cardiovascular disease and maybe a multidrug cocktail. The question is, is that sufficient, reasonable doubt, for Macneill to beat the murder conviction? We have the answers for you and more coming up.

WHITFIELD: And Richard, how do you see it?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Fred, shades of Drew Peterson once again, here the state doesn't like someone, they prosecute when their own medical examiner does not say cause of death homicide, unbelievable. You can bet we're -- there will be fireworks when we discuss this one.

WHITFIELD: OK, we look forward to hearing more from you, Richard and Avery next hour. Thanks so much. This programming note tonight at 9:00 Eastern Time, Don Lemon hosts "Making The Case," Don and his own group of legal analysts breaking down the top crime stories of the week, such as the case in Florida, the manhunt of the two convicted prisoners who were released.

All right, this week will mark the 6th-month anniversary of the Boston bombing. Adrianne Haslet-Davis is one of the people who survived the deadly attack. The professional dance instructor lost her left leg below the knee, but has vowed from the start she would dance again. Adrienne agreed to film her recovery for "Anderson Cooper 360." Here, she shows us some of what she's been going through.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADRIANNE HASLET-DAVIS, BOSTON BOMBING SURVIVOR: I am on my way to a prosthesisian appointment, still working on that word. And they're going to fit me for my leg. Yes! So excited! Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's your foot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at the other size.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is like seeing my child walk for the first time again. It's pretty emotional, and it's pretty exciting, but she's a star. She's amazing. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So stand up for me. Did it hurt?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, she's standing on her own.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what do you feel? What I need you to differentiate -- are you OK? You're doing good, at your own speed.

DAVIS: It feels really good just to stand up right now. I haven't stood up in a really long time. I almost forgot what it felt like. It reminds me of dancing, and I just so desperately want that again, and I'm so close. It feels really good.

I think I'm further than I thought I'd be in six months. I remember just getting my prosthetic and thinking it would take forever, and then, also, in the same time, thinking, you know, I've got to do this. I had made a very strong point to not dwell on the people that did this.

I'm a survivor, not a victim. Victim gives them ownership on me. I'm not having that. That means somehow I belong to somebody or I'm suffering because of him, and I'm not suffering. I'm thriving.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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WHITFIELD: Wall Street is happy that Washington has reached a deal on the shutdown and the debt ceiling. The S&P 500 actually hit an all- time high this week, but the agreement just kicks the can down the road a few months. It is part of a process that actually started a couple years ago as Richard Quest shows us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, HOST, CNN'S "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": This latest series of can kicking, began in the summer of 2011, when Congress raised the debt ceiling, the U.S. lost its AAA and a super committee was formed to sort out the budget problems. The can was kicked.

In November of that year, the super committee failed to reach an agreement, threw the decision back to Congress who not surprisingly kicked the can. Fast forward and the fiscal cliff crisis is upon us, Congress still couldn't agree, sequestration came in, and as for the deficit and debt ceiling, down the road.

And so we come to the budget crisis of the past few days where the U.S. came as close to default as it ever wants to. The debt ceiling was finally raised, the U.S. government was reopened, but of course it was only done by kicking the can into next year.

So now there's another four months to try and reach a long lasting budget agreement. All involved would do well to remember an important economic fact. There comes a time when there's no longer any road to kick the can down. Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: All right, coming up next, why Julian Assange is giving a thumbs down to a movie about his life and the founding of Wikileaks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The movie "The Fifth Estate" hits theatres this weekend. It tells Julian Assange's story, but the Wikileaks founder says he wants nothing to do with the movie. He even called it toxic. CNN's JD Cargill has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. But if you give him a mask, he will tell you the truth.

JD CARGILL, CNN ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCER (voice-over): Hero or villain, the question many have asked about Julian Assange. Now Hollywood is entering the debate with "The Fifth Estate."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Twelve million people have seen the video. Still want to say it is a little website?

CARGILL: The film stars Laura Leny, Stanley Toochi and British actor, Benedict Cumberbatch as Assange.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH, ACTOR: We got along incredibly well. It was an abusive collaboration. He is so smart but so sensitive.

CARGILL: The beautiful collaboration Cumberbatch speaks of is with the film's director, Bill Condent, not the man he is playing.

CUMBERBATCH: I also tried to get in contact with Julian and meet him, but I got a firm rejection.

CARGILL: Firm, direct in writing, Assange e-mailed Cumberbatch back in January calling the film negative, harmful and toxic. Quote, "By meeting with you I would validate this ratcheted film and endorse the talented but debauched performance that the script will force you to give.

CUMBERBATCH: He felt that the film was based on too poisonous accounts of events that would he didn't want to condone it by meeting with me. He was nervous that it was damaging to him and his organization.

CARGILL: In the e-mail with the film script is posted on Wikileaks, Assange implores Cumberbatch to give up the role saying you will be used as a hired gun to assume the appearance of the truth in order to assassinate it. I believe you should reconsider your involvement in this enterprise.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is information the world needs to know.

CARGILL: Cumberbatch says he tried to reason back.

CUMBERBATCH: I want to represent your complexity, I don't want to color you nice or bad, I want to play something that's true to the full spectrum of how you're perceived.

CARGILL: Despite the star's efforts, Assange, hold up at Ecuador's embassy in London to avoid international arrest warrant remains unmoved, speaking to ABC this week.

JULIAN ASSANGE: I know he tried to emulate some of the worst elements of the script, but unfortunately we limited success.

CARGILL: As for the film's success, it hits theatres this weekend, but like Assange, critics have been unkind. JD Cargill, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM and it all starts right now. Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the top stories we're following in the CNN NEWSROOM this hour.

Who is this little girl? Police in Greece want to know, she doesn't look anything like the couple claiming to be her parents and they're now under arrest.

Florida prison officials call it a system failure --