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JonBenet Ramsey Murder Documents Released; Earthquake Hits Japan

Aired October 25, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Pretty powerful here. Part of that happiness involved one of the paramedics who helped save Dohme. We can tell you that the two are now dating.

Top of the hour, I'm Brooke Baldwin. Some grand jury documents in a highly publicized child murder mystery now a matter of public record. Nearly 17 years after six-year-old Jonbenet Ramsey was found strangled in the basement of her Boulder, Colorado, home on the day after Christmas, the grand jury papers in the case have just now been released and what they show is that this panel voted to indict JonBenet Ramsey's parents, John and Patsy, but that indictment never happened. Some of these documents released today are about Patsy Ramsey, the mother here, who died of cancer back in 2006, the others about her husband, John, who did not at all want these documents to come out.

So let's go to Boulder, Colorado, to CNN's Ana Cabrera.

Ana, really, the biggest question I have is, do these documents reveal anything new?

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think they just lead to more questions, Brooke.

We only got a look at four pages from that 1999 grand jury indictment, again, those pages just unsealed by a Colorado judge today. And, essentially, it tells us that the grand jury at the time in 1999 believed John and Patsy Ramsey did indeed have something to do with their 6-year-old daughter's death.

It does not exactly say that they believed that they killed JonBenet Ramsey. Essentially, they wanted to indict the parents on child abuse resulting in death, as well as being an accessory to the murder. So in short, they believe that they may have helped her killer and then impeded the investigation.

Now, important to note that there was some DNA evidence that came out years after this grand jury, thanks to DNA testing technology advancements, that ultimately exonerated the family and pointed to an unidentified, unrelated male as the little girl's killer.

I want to read a statement from the family's attorney following the release of these documents. This is from Lin Wood. It says -- quote -- "The documents validate John Ramsey's position that the Boulder DA should release the entire grand jury record and not just four pages from an 18-month investigation. They reveal nothing about the evidence reviewed by the grand jury and are clearly the result of a confused and compromised process" -- end quote.

And, again, that attorney points out that the grand jury at that time again in 1999 did not have access to that crucial DNA evidence that ultimately is the biggest clue into who may have committed this crime. Now, the question still remains, though, who did it? At this point, the Boulder Police Department remains the lead on this investigation. And I'm told that they consider it an open investigation, but it's a cold case, so that does not mean it's an active investigation. They continue to get tips, but I'm also told they have not received a credible tip for a very long time. And so, at this point, Brooke, they have no solid leads.

BALDWIN: I think you said it perfectly off the top. Just it really leads to so many other questions, but I know -- Ana Cabrera, thank you.

So many of you followed every twist and turn of this story. If you would like to read the documents yourself, you can. Just go to CNN.com.

Coming up, Nancy Grace, she wants to weigh in on this document release here. We're going to talk to Nancy Grace about this. She will join me in just about half-an-hour from now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BALDWIN: More breaking news here. The 7.1-magnitude earthquake has hit off the eastern coast of Japan, and with the earthquake there, now you have the tsunami advisories in effect for the coast, including that area near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant where that horrendous accident happened in 2011.

Chad Myers, I'm bringing you in because first we were talking 7.3, so at least it's been downgraded just a tad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And that happens.

When you get a big shake, the USGS, the Geological Survey, has to kind of look at it from a number of angles, now down to a 7.1, but they did feel it 300 miles away in Tokyo, and they I know they certainly felt it 200 miles away at the Daiichi power plant. The problem is not so much that we had a tsunami, because we did, one foot. It was a 30- centimeter tsunami, very small. That's great.

The problem is it shook the ground, it shook the ground that this power plant is still standing on. Let me show you what this looks like because Google has done a great job kind of building a 3-D model of what Fukushima still looks like right now. It's broken, it's fragile. It's not going to get better any real time soon.

Inside these buildings here that sustained so much damage, there are pools, there are pools of water. In those pools of water are these spent fuel rods just sitting there in water. If this breaks, if this pool breaks up here, not even on the ground, it's about 60 feet above the ground, and that water comes out, then these rods get a chance to melt. We need to not shake this anymore.

The people here are very concerned. This is what it looks like right now. I have a lot shot for you. Can't see very much. I guess it's still standing, at least part of it is. There you go. TEPCO saying no immediate threats of new damage from the 7.1, but obviously still in the middle of the night there.

BALDWIN: Yes, 3:00 in the morning there, but we talked a lot about the spent fuel rods a couple years ago and the damage endured. We will be watching them very closely. I'm sure everyone will be in Japan. Chad, thank you very much.

Coming up, the former head of the CIA talk, talk, talking on the train, that conversation he was having off the record, but the guy sitting in front of him on the train, yes, he was listening. He live tweeted that conversation. Wait until you hear this story.

Plus, the mistress of the doctor accused of drugging and drowning his wife is about to take the stand. We will talk about that, take you to Utah.

And President Obama will be speaking this hour on education, and of all things here, technology, this as we get word when the Obamacare Web site will be fixed. We will be right back. You're watching CNN.

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BALDWIN: Fractured relations with some of our closest allies. The White House doing a little damage control, promising to review surveillance procedures at the NSA as the number of countries looking into allegations of U.S. spying grows each and every day.

Here's the list. You have Mexico, Brazil, France, Germany -- 35 world leaders demanding answers over U.S. intelligence activities on their turf. And now here is Spain summoning the U.S. ambassador to do some explaining. All of this here as reports surface that German's Chancellor Angela Merkel had her private cell phone tapped.

Today, European leaders met in Brussels, unanimous in their condemnation.

Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, joins me now.

Ray, welcome to you.

RAY MCGOVERN, FORMER CIA ANALYST: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Listen, we heard from senator Marco Rubio on CNN earlier today. He was saying everyone knows that everyone spies. You were in the CIA. From what you can tell me, I mean, is this a big deal?

MCGOVERN: Actually, it is.

BALDWIN: Yes.

MCGOVERN: Not everyone knew that the technology would drive all this, that because the technology allows us to monitor everything about everybody without adult supervision, and without any extra thinking, all manner of things have happened with respect to West European leaders, our closest allies, and they're in high dudgeon, and one can understand.

Angela Merkel, her cell phone? So what I observed here -- and I have spent some years, five years altogether in Germany, is, for example, today, I checked the "Sueddeutsche Zeitung." It's really the best newspaper in Europe, much less Germany.

A million people read it in Germany. They had 12, 12, count them, 12 articles on this issue.

BALDWIN: Wow.

MCGOVERN: And they refer to the president, who -- just the American president used to be just short of a saint, and they used the word (SPEAKING GERMAN).

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: I don't speak German. What does that mean?

MCGOVERN: Well, you can be put in jail for calling someone (SPEAKING GERMAN). If you go like this on the highway, there's a law against it. That means (SPEAKING GERMAN). It means crazy. It means worse than crazy. To see that adjective applies to the United States president and (SPEAKING GERMAN)...

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BALDWIN: That's not a good thing.

MCGOVERN: And that's troublesome.

BALDWIN: That's not a good thing. That is troublesome. So, you know there are the people who are saying, though, ah, this is Chancellor Merkel perhaps feigning anger, feigning outrage. She knows what's going on. She's putting up a front. Would you disagree with those people?

MCGOVERN: Well, if you watch her interview, she's always very careful to say, we have joint interests. We're in Afghanistan together. We have so many things to cooperate on.

So it's a reasonable inference that she's sort of putting up a front here. But the others, and especially the French prime minister, and now the Spanish, the Brazilians, the Mexicans, you know, it is all so unnecessary.

What some of the commentators in Germany are saying, they're using another adjective, dumb. Dumb. Why? Just because they had the technology that allows them to do this? So what needs to happen is that people in Congress who are supposed to be exercising oversight but are actually overlooking all this business, they need to ride herd on the intelligence agencies which really, as one German commentator commented this morning, they're really out of control.

BALDWIN: If the question is why, one would have to wonder that the information should be pretty valuable, from whatever one could get from an Angela Merkel private cell phone.

MCGOVERN: Yes, but it's already admitted by the U.S. government that nothing substantial came from that. There are other ways to collect this information. You know, my major concern, since as an Army officer, I took a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, is that our Fourth Amendment has been shredded, the one that bans unreasonable searches and seizures.

If you look at that amendment, probable cause is necessary. A warrant is necessary. It's necessary to define the particulars of the person or place to be searched or seized. All of that is trashed.

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BALDWIN: I hear many people -- I hear you bringing up the Fourth Amendment, part of a rallying cry. We see the celebrities here rallying cry against the NSA.

Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, I appreciate your perspective today. Thank you so much.

And now have you ever been on a train, you know the guy is talking a little too loudly there, the one who barks into his phone so the whole compartment can hear? Well, that guy turns out to be this guy, General Michael Hayden. You recognize him? As a former head of the CIA, you would think perhaps this man would be a bit more discreet about being overheard.

Maybe not on the train. I don't know how loudly he was speaking, but someone heard.

Jake Tapper, host of "THE LEAD," this is quite the strange story today, because we should mention Michael Hayden contributor to CNN.com.

So the story is, Jake, he was riding this Amtrak, and he was talking about, what, the president and terrorists and someone else overhears this and tweets it.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, not just someone else.

Tom Matzzie used to be with MoveOn.org, a very liberal grassroots group, and he was sitting near General Hayden. I'm not sure how loudly he was speaking, but loudly enough to be heard apparently by Tom Matzzie, and Tom Matzzie started to live tweet the conversation, which was apparently a background conversation with a reporter in which General Hayden wanted to be identified as a former administration official, not by his own name.

According to Matzzie, he was being critical of the administration. Matzzie spoke to our own Brian Todd earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM MATZZIE, FORMER WASHINGTON DIRECTOR, MOVEON.ORG: He was making political commentary about U.S. intelligence and U.S. foreign policy, and not -- and using all of his credibility to play a political game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, that's what Matzzie had to say. General Hayden seemed to have a sense of humor about it. He was contacted by his office in the middle of this Acela ride, this train ride from Washington to Newark, is where he got off, General Hayden, and then approached Matzzie.

He took a picture with him, which Matzzie posted, and then when asked for comment, General Hayden told us: "I had a nice chat with my fellow Pittsburgher. Not sure what he thinks bashing the administration means. I didn't criticize the president. I actually said, these are very difficult issues. I said, I had political guidance too that limited the things that I did when I was director of the NSA. Now that political guidance is going to be more robust. It wasn't a criticism."

And I should say, we have had General Hayden on my show, "THE LEAD," and he has been on the record somewhat critical of President Obama, while also arguing that he was happy that President Obama embraced a lot of the NSA operations after he became president. So there you have it.

BALDWIN: You can't go anywhere these days. You can't go anywhere, right?

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TAPPER: You certainly have to be careful if you're talking off the record or on background or on cell phone an Acela from Washington, D.C., to New York City.

BALDWIN: Of all places, yes, yes, you do.

TAPPER: Yes.

BALDWIN: Jake Tapper, thank you. Congratulations, my friend, paperback of "The Outpost" being released this week. Congratulations. We will be watching you at the top of the hour on "THE LEAD" from Washington.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Coming up next here, candid comments from Brett Favre.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) BRETT FAVRE, FORMER NFL PLAYER: Years of football probably has taken its toll.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Has taken some big hits, and for the first time, we're hearing about his fears about how his memory has been affected by that.

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BALDWIN: Some frightening moments at this state fair in North Carolina, five people hurt on a carnival ride. They were getting off of what's called the Vortex when, all of a sudden, it started to back up again, and an emergency worker said the five victims were all initially knocked unconscious. We have now learned at least two of them are out of the hospital as of today.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just sounded like a bunch of stuff hitting metal. And that was it. And then there was no screaming. I didn't hear any screaming and nothing out of the normal on that end, but then all of a sudden, we had all of the ambulance and state trooper activity after that.

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BALDWIN: Loved going to that fair when I was in college.

We know that the ride operator was one of the people hurt. The Vortex will remain closed as investigators try to figure out what went wrong.

Another former player from the NFL has gone public with an account of apparent memory lost. And, believe me, this is a player you know, Brett Favre, this guy, no doubt one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, also considered one of the toughest. He once said he couldn't even guess how many concussions he may have suffered.

I want you to listen to Brett Favre. This is a radio interview from just yesterday.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

FAVRE: I don't remember my daughter playing soccer, youth soccer one summer. I don't remember that. Now, I got a pretty good memory, and I have a tendency, like probably we all do, to forget, where's my glasses, and they're on your head. I have that. But this was a little shocking to me.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We need to talk about this a little more with my colleague Rachel Nichols host of the new show "UNGUARDED" which premieres tonight on CNN. So, we're going to get to that big day for you, my friend. But, Brett Favre, a pretty strange storyline because you had this surge of speculation early on maybe he would be making another comeback, and now all of a sudden, here he is talking memory loss.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every day, you get a speculation about Brett Favre making a comeback. Come on.

That's old hat, but this is certainly new. And it's something that took a lot of people by surprise, but it really shouldn't. You mentioned Brett Favre, known as one of the toughest guys in the game. He was the iron man of football, played more than 300 consecutive games. And that work ethic, that idea of, eh, whatever is wrong, slap a Band-Aid on it, get back out on the field, it's the reason people want him to make a comeback.

It's a reason that led to all of those great records, the way he played the game. But the way he played the game may end up costing him now. That bill may be coming due as we're finding out with so many other elite former players, and it's leading to this real crisis of conscience. You have these guys that thrilled us for so long. But now they be suffering for those thrills.

BALDWIN: Now he's like, I don't even know where my glasses are. I don't remember this and that. It's scary. It's scary a little bit for him.

But let's talk about you, my friend, because, honestly, congratulations. Rachel Nichols, the big show, "UNGUARDED," debuts tonight, 10:30. Give me a little tease. Give a preview.

NICHOLS: Yes. You know, we have got some great stuff on the show. One of the main themes here is how sports relates to, hey, the rest of your life.

And you were in Boston yesterday at the World Series, great example. Right? You have a sporting event championship, some amazing moments, and also a way for a community that was ripped apart by the marathon bombings earlier this year, a way to come back together, and the way that team has been interwoven with the rest of the town really speaks to the power of sports. We will be talking about all kinds of things like that.

We're also going to be bringing you some of the biggest names in sports, because let's face it, athletes now are some of our biggest celebrities, period.

BALDWIN: They are.

NICHOLS: We are going to sit down with them, talk to them. We have got LeBron James on the show tonight. I actually traveled with him to China. It was an amazing trip to get that human side of LeBron James.

Some of it was spectacular and crazy and thousands of people everywhere, and some of it, you will see. There are some really great moments where he's just a dad away on a business trip halfway around the world, and, you know, doesn't remember the time difference and gets his wife annoyed by calling at 2:00 in the morning and all the things that we would do, isn't sure about the food and everything else.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: How does he fit in the airplane seats? That's what I want to know.

NICHOLS: Yes, right.

(LAUGHTER)

NICHOLS: A big, big, big airline. But we get these athletes in these unguarded moments, which is, you know, shameless plug, back to our title, 10:30 tonight.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: "UNGUARDED." Set your DVRs, 10:30 p.m. on CNN to watch Rachel Nichols, the big debut.

Again, congratulations. Thank you so much.

NICHOLS: Thank you. Thanks.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, documents that JonBenet Ramsey's parents did not want you to see today are revealed. And Nancy Grace joins me live. And she has a lot to say about that indictment against the little girl's parents that never was.

Plus, a guy takes a camera, actors and a crew to shoot a movie inside Disney World without permission. Now Disney knows. Hear how he got away with it and what happened next.

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