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Newtown 911 Tapes; Walker Autopsy; Winter Storm; Nigella Lawson Admits Cocaine Use

Aired December 04, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, there. I'm Brooke Baldwin, live in New York today.

And we begin with a story that absolutely broke the nation's heart. I'll never forget it. I was there in Newtown. I saw firsthand the utter devastation, the anguish on the faces of those in the community, the first responders, the children, because of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. I talked to a first responder trembling with grief. I saw the funeral processions with the tiny white caskets for young first-grade victims.

And moments ago, we got the 911 calls, these tapes from that mass shooting in this quaint Connecticut town. The 911 calls from inside the school where a gunman murdered 20 children and six adults.

This is an extraordinarily difficult story to cover today. The release of the tapes, obviously, extremely sensitive. We are fully aware of that here at CNN. So I can tell you that behind closed doors right now, our editorial teams are evaluating whether these 911 calls are news worthy for airing on television, which portions we will choose to air for you today.

We are all mindful, of course, of the victims' families who may be forced to cope with a painful reminder today of this tragedy they endured just about one years go.

Let me first begin with national correspondent Deborah Feyerick, who's covering this story for us today as we are awaiting these tapes.

So let's just begin with -- and I know this is a question on so many viewers' minds -- why are the tapes being released at all?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the tapes are being released because a number of media outlets filed Freedom of Information requests to get the information, to find out exactly what was on the tapes, to find out how police responded on that day, whether the response was quick enough, whether in fact things were done as they should have been done. So there was a news value in terms of the tapes being released.

You know you talk about these poor families. Nobody wanted to re- traumatize these families. This is something they've been living with for the last year. It's not just a reminder, it is simply a recognition that they are still healing and that this tragedy has simply changed their entire life. What we can tell you, Brooke, is that we've got the tapes now, 25 minutes worth of discussions with 911 operators. These 911 operators were handling calls that were being made from inside the school. We know that there were at least nine phones in the school, one of them in the main office that Adam Lanza actually looked into as he went about his rampage, and that's when one of the administrators there actually placed a call alerting police as to what was going on as the school went into a massive lockdown and teachers there simply worked to try to defend their children.

So we have the audiotapes. They are now being vetted by an editorial team here at CNN. And a decision will be made as to what portions to release and what of the -- which tapes say something that will help all of us here in this country and around the world understand the tragedy and the horror, if you can understand what happened in the school that day.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: So as the vetting process continues, as these decisions are being made with this news value, Deb Feyerick, we'll continue this conversation. We'll talk once again once we play some of those tapes, if we decide to do so.

And with the one-year anniversary, keep in mind, 10 days away and the release of these 911 calls, you know what I did, I sat and I read "The Newtown Bee" today -- this is the local paper in this town in Connecticut -- just to get a sense of how this community is feeling because of this. And they write about this "perfect trifecta of emotional baggage that is difficult for the community to bear." That's in reference to the reports, the 911 tapes, and this upcoming anniversary.

So let me just read this for you. This is from the town - basically a city council person. They actually call this personal the first electman (ph) in Newtown. She says this. "So once we have that behind us, I think we can take a collectible breath and confront our next step on that journey to rebuild our Sandy Hook school and to develop our sense of confidence, to regain our feet, and to say, we are ready to continue on."

Joining me now, clinical psychologist Jeff Gardere, and a former police detective, Steve Kardian.

And none of us can pretend to understand what this must be like, let alone for these families, but even people in the communities, because everyone felt this just about one year ago. Jeff, just what is the process of, I don't know, coping, dealing with this, these 911 tapes released today?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think the 911 certainly starts to give answers as to what it is that actually happened, giving us an analysis where we can be more prophylactic and more proactive in the future. All of this goes into the database as to looking at the profiles as to how to avoid these situations. For the people who were involved in this tragedy, this, as you just read, and I think it's very accurate, may be that last piece that they need to confront, to no longer deny that it's out there, to process, talk about, and begin to live in a way that is different, that is healthier. They'll never be the same again, but it is part of that healing process, putting everything out on the table. And the way that CNN is handling it, the way that we will handle it, is to not to exploit it but to analyze it and help in that healing.

BALDWIN: There is some news value. And, Steve Kardian, this is my other question. As far as, obviously police, this has long since been listened to by investigators in this particular school shooting, but what -- is there a nationwide takeaway for law enforcement to listen to these tapes as they're released today to try to figure out, how do we, heaven forbid, how do we better handle a school shooting situation?

STEVE KARDIAN, FORMER POLICE DETECTIVE: Well, we look back to Columbine and things started to change back then. We had a procedure where we would therefore wait for S.W.A.T. to arrive. Now, we do the active shooter drill. We're going in. We're going to step over bodies and we're going to - we're going to - we're going to go towards the shooter and try and neutralize him. So we're going to learn from it. We'll come up with new tactics and new techniques because I don't think this is going away anytime soon.

BALDWIN: What about the nation, Jeff Gardere? I mean I said it at the top of the show, I feel like this broke the nation's hearts. It broke a lot of our hearts just seeing that someone could do this to first graders nonetheless.

GARDERE: Yes. Yes.

BALDWIN: PTSD is a very real thing and not just for people in that community but for people nationwide.

GARDERE: Uh-huh. Well, I think listening to these tapes, of course, will open up --

BALDWIN: Old wounds.

GARDERE: Yes, some of the old wounds. But sometimes you do have to open them in order to clean them out.

BALDWIN: Why?

GARDERE: Well, because you can't repress this stuff any longer. You have to be able to deal with what the reality was at the time and how it affects us now and in the future. So if nothing else, I think this is the way that we need to frame it. It has to be part of the healing process. It has to give us information so that we can spare people in the future from being part of these horrific sorts of scenes.

BALDWIN: And I'm also wondering -- I'm wondering, Steve, if not just it's the 911 tapes that are coming out, but in two Saturdays it will be the one-year anniversary. I know people in Newtown have said to the media, please don't come. Let us just - let us just cope and we want to move, not on, but forward. But are other law enforcement agencies across the country, do you think that they're at all bracing for these idiots, forgive me, who might try to do something on the one year?

KARDIAN: We always have to be vigilant. We look at all the targets that have occurred in the past. They're all soft targets. They're all institutions or establishments that are soft targets that are readily accessible and easy to attack, if you will. So law enforcement's on alert. And we will learn, God forbid, with each passing incident, we learned a tremendous amount. As a matter of fact, in Newtown, Newtown police officers are lecturing on the law enforcement circuit, educating police officers on what not only they saw but what they think could be a better process.

BALDWIN: Wow.

GARDERE: That's right, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Good for them.

GARDERE: And i you go back to the psychological autopsy that we just did on Adam Lanza -

BALDWIN: Right.

GARDERE: That gave us a plethora of information as to what may be in the minds of these young people, of these mass shooters, so that we can try to avoid this, identify, and work with it to prevent this sort of tragedy, if we can, in the future.

BALDWIN: Dr. Jeff Gardere, Steve Kardian, thank you both very, very much.

And I just want to read this finally just from "The Newtown Bee," just as a takeaway. They said, "the best way to honor what happened to the youngsters and loved ones who lost lives is to take care of someone in the community." Just keep that in mind today here.

And in 30 minutes, we will see how the nation's thinking on gun control has changed since the mass shooting. We will go in depth about some national polls, the national conscience, how everyone's feeling here after all of this. That is at the bottom of the hour. So stay with me for that.

BALDWIN: I want to move along though and talk about the new details today on how actor Paul Walker and his friend Roger Rodas died in that car crash Saturday. Rodas, as you know, driving in that limited edition Porsche Carrera GT. Walker, a star of the movie series the "Fast and Furious," was a passenger in that car. And that Porsche slammed into a light pole in Valencia, California, before bursting into flames. And now the autopsy report is in. Casey Wian has those details for us. He joins us now.

And, Casey, what have you learned?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, the limited information that the L.A. County Coroner's Office is provided us is very, very revealing and very, very chilling. It concludes that Paul Walker died of the combined effects of traumatic and thermal injuries. Now, thermal injuries, of course, related to the explosion that happened after that crash. And as you may remember from that video that CNN obtained of the crash site, it showed that there was about a minute that elapsed between the time the car actually crashed into a tree and pole and the actual big explosion occurred.

So this indicates the fact that it was traumatic injuries and the thermal effects. That for some brief period of time, Paul Walker lived after that crash. Roger Rodas, the driver of the car, his death was attributed to multiple traumatic injuries. How the injury occurred, auto versus a fixed object, fairly obvious. Both deaths at this point ruled accidental. Coroner also saying he conducted toxicology tests on the two bodies, but those results will not be available for six to eight weeks.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Paul Walker, the star of this incredibly successful franchise "Fast and Furious," it almost -- it was almost wrapping, the seventh sequel to this movie. Will that continue? Will it come out? Will they re-shoot the whole thing?

WIAN: Well, Universal Pictures releasing a statement today answering that very question. And what they said is, at this time, we feel it is our responsibility to shut down production on "Fast and Furious 7" for a period of time so we can assess all options available to move forward with the franchise. We are committed to keeping "Fast and Furious" fans informed and we will provide further information to them when we have it. Until then, we know they join us in mourning the passing of our dear friend, Paul Walker."

Universal Pictures also saying yesterday that they would donate a portion of the proceeds from the upcoming home version of "Fast and Furious 6" to Paul Walker's charity, which is called Reach Out Worldwide.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: That's lovely. Casey Wian, thank you very much.

Coming up next, a celebrity chef in court makes a shocking statement on the stand. Here she is, Nigella Lawson, admitting to using cocaine, not once but twice. And she says there was a specific reason she turned to drugs each time. She reveals exactly what that was.

Also, a man charged for stealing five cents worth of electricity. Even spending time in jail. He said, hey, he was just powering up his electric car. Police have a different story.

And this video we've been watching today. Have you seen this. These 45 whales stranding off the coast of Florida in shallow water. Rescue effort underway to try and save the whales before it's too late.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: And here, just as we're talking about a school shooting, these are live pictures, Winter Garden, Florida. As we can now report to you, we are hearing that a student has been shot at West Orange High School in Winter Garden. We can tell you that the shooter apparently ran away from the school property, so there is an active search for the shooter. The victim, though, we can tell you, is alert. And the good news at least, the silver lining, no students were around as this school had an early dismissal. So we are making phone calls and watching reports on that student shooting, West Orange High School in Winter Garden, Florida. Details as we get them here on CNN.

Switching gears. We talked to our weather folks just a short time ago and they passed along this startling piece of news, minus 28 degrees, minus 28, you heard me right, at noon in West Yellowstone, Montana. Skip two states down, you have 80 degrees in Texas, minus 28 in Montana. That is a gap of 108 degrees. Have you ever heard of such a thing? CNN's Ana Cabrera is in Boulder, Colorado. She is on the more frigid side of the Freon flannel line.

Ana Cabrera, it looks nice. How cold is it?

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's beautiful, but it's cold. But now after hearing negative 28 somewhere else, I'm feeling kind of lucky being in the single digit territory here in Bolder. But, of course, you may be able to see, the snow is still falling here, several inches already piling up. Here in Boulder, a community, of course, that was really hard-hit by the flooding just a few months ago, now one of the hardest hit metro areas with this latest storm. In fact, if you look behind me, we're on Pearl Street. Normally you see a beautiful view of the foothills just on the horizon, but that's been totally socked (ph) in all day. This is as much as we've been able to see of the mountains from our location. And we've been here since about 4:00 local time this morning.

Speaking of the mountains, some areas getting more than a foot of snow. Good news for a lot of the skiers, but creating really dangerous avalanche conditions up there, also creating some travel headaches. I- 70 closed because of accidents. Other parts of Colorado on the southwest corner, Wolf Creek Pass, also closed because of just too hazardous driving conditions.

The cold weather is really going to be the biggest issue as we look forward into the next few days with temperatures expected to remain in the high temps of single to teen degrees and dipping into negative degree territory over the next several nights. It's those dangerous cold temperatures that have residents here a little bit concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody that can't find a place to be indoors, that's obviously a real problem. So that's the first issue. But then on a more (INAUDIBLE) level, my pipes and my plumbing in my house.

CABRERA: What were road conditions like for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they were snow covered and slippery. I spun out going around a corner. I didn't like spin out, but I kind of lost -- lost a little bit. There's ice, and it's - it's slippery because this is real fine snow and it -- it doesn't want to -- it's -

CABRERA: There's not a lot of traction.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it's very persistent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: It's persistent. And the folks here at Colorado say, yes, this is a big storm. It snows in Colorado, but not like this typically and not this cold for as long as it's expected to be cold, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Bundle up.

CABRERA: So that's why we're out here in the thick of it.

BALDWIN: Bundle up. Stay warm. I suppose it's downright balmy there compared to that minus 28 in Montana.

Ana, thank you.

And, Chad Myers, just explain to me how this is even possible, this difference in temperature. And if we're talking 80 degrees in Dallas, isn't there a marathon there this weekend?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

BALDWIN: That's a little too warm.

MYERS: And it's not going to be anywhere near 80. In fact, the temperatures will drop 60 degrees in Dallas over the next 48 hours.

BALDWIN: Oooh.

MYERS: Yes. If you go west of where Ana is, this is what I-70 looks like. A little bit farther to the west, it was a mess yesterday with a lot of that roadway closed because of accidents.

The worst weather right now, though, is actually Minnesota, up into Duluth, up into Green Bay, Rilander (ph) picking up a little bit of rain-snow mix.

Here's the deal. Here's the rub. Denver, 9. Dallas, 78. All of a sudden, this air wants to go south. We get to 29 in Oklahoma City. Tomorrow, Dallas, 41. So, bam, all -- and then these are the high temperatures for the day. So now we move you ahead to Friday and there's this line, west of D.C., all the way down to Texas. That's the freezing line. And that's where the storm wants to develop.

It's going to come out of Colorado and run up the Ohio Valley with snow on one side, where it's 30, rain where it's 31 and 32, and then rain obviously where it's going to be 50. But it's the pink area, it's that freezing area right through Little Rock, eventually, Jonesboro, into Evansville and then Cincinnati, that's where it's going to start to get deep with ice, sleet, and freezing rain. Now, if sleet falls on the way down, it makes a sound when it hits. Freezing rain freezes when it gets on the surface. Freezes on the power lines, the trees, your house, your car. So that's what we're seeing there on that rain-snow mix line. It's going to be a pretty bad mix for a lot of people, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Chad Myers, thank you very much for that.

And let's talk about what's happening in Florida right now. Have you seen these pictures? This is near Everglades National Park. Look at this. Dozens of - these are pilot whales stranded on this remote beach. As these are, some are trapped in nearby shallow water. Florida wildlife officials and park rangers are desperately trying to rescue these whales. At least six of the beached whales have died. Park rangers first spotted them Tuesday afternoon. Look at all them in the water there. Wow. Some of the surviving whales may have to be euthanized. But the big question today is this, why did this happen in the first place? Here's John Zarrella with some background on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, biologists, to this day, don't know exactly what the cause is of these mass strandings. It could be viral. It could be environmental. There just is no real answer to it, whether it's whales or dolphins, whatever it is.

But right now, an effort's going on to try and save the whales that are in the water. It is very, very shallow water over there. That's on the west coast of Florida in Everglades National Park. And it's really flat. So that water at low tide can be a foot deep, if not less than that. And that's the kind of water that those whales got stranded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We'll get an update from John Zarrella, who has been working that for us today as far as, you know, more on why this happened and the rescue efforts to try to save some of these whales. Forty-five of them there on the sand and in the water. That's coming up next hour.

Coming up next here, retired NBA star Dennis Rodman, oh, yes, headed back to see his pal in North Korea. It will be Rodman's third trip to the country. Find out what Rodman will have while visiting there.

Plus, a stunning admission today from celebrity chef Nigella Lawson. Hear what she confessed to doing while in court today. We're on the case. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Apparently Dennis Rodman just can't get enough of North Korea. The retired NBA star is heading back to the reclusive nation for the third time this year. And this time we may get a peek into his stardom there because he is bringing an entire documentary crew along with him. He will help train the North Korean basketball team before an exhibition game against former NBA players. That is slated for January. It is still not quite clear if he will meet with leader Kim Jong-un, his quote "friend for life."

Celebrity chefs fascinate us with a pinch of this, a dash of that, and the cult of these cooking personalities has only grown in the years since the galloping gourmet jumped over a chair while holding a glass of wine in front of a live studio audience. And that brings us to celebrity chef Nigella Lawson and her potboiler of a personal life. Amid a torrent of camera flashes, Lawson left a British courts just a couple of hours ago after dropping a bombshell. Here she was when she was leaving. So she admitted on the witness stand that she has used cocaine. But she clarified, no, no, no, she is not an addict. CNN's Erin McLaughlin is in London for us.

Erin.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, British chef Nigella Lawson appeared in court today and responded to drug allegations. She said that she is not a drug addict, that she does not have a drug problem, but says that she thinks that she has, quote, "a life problem." She did, however, acknowledge to using the drug cocaine on two separate occasions in her life, the first when she was married to her late husband, John Diamond, when they had found out that he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. They used the drug, she said, to escape from treatment.

She says she didn't use the drug again until July 2010. She was married to her now former husband, Charles Saatchi. She said that, quote, "she was subject in that marriage to intimate terrorism" from Saatchi, saying that she felt totally chained (ph), isolated and unhappy and a friend gave her the cocaine. She also acknowledged to using the drug marijuana but says that she is currently drug free.

She also testified how Charles Saatchi threatened to, quote, "destroy her," if she did not appear in court and clear his name. And she says that she never expected to be at the center of this trial. After all, the defendants in this case are her two former assistants, Elisabetta and Francesca Grillo. The prosecution alleges that they used fraudulently Saatchi company credit cards to rack up over a million dollars in luxury goods, items to fund this luxurious lifestyle, charges that the two sisters deny, pointing to Nigella Lawson's habitual drug use and saying that she knew about their expenses. It wasn't until today that Nigella Lawson finally had an opportunity to address those allegations in court. Her testimony continues tomorrow.

Brooke.

BALDWIN: Erin McLaughlin for us in London. Thank you.

The alleged Los Angeles Airport gunman appeared before a judge this afternoon. He is Paul Anthony Ciancia. He is charged with the murder of a TSA officer. Authorities say he pulled an assault rifle out of a bag and opened fire in what looked like a planned attack on airport security. One TSA officer was killed, three other people were wounded before police ultimately took down this gunman. This was Ciancia's first court date. He said "yes" when asked if he understands the charges, but he did not enter a plea. That is expected to happen at a hearing in two weeks from now. Coming up here, we have more on this deadly train derailment here in New York. That operator of the train may have been suffering from "highway hypnosis." Have you heard of this? We'll explain, next.

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