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15 People Cooperating in Benghazi Investigation Have Been Killed; West Virginia Water Disaster Enters Seventh Day; Which is to Blame: Gun Laws or "Text Rage"?; Season 5 of "Duck Dynasty" to Premiere; Dumping on the Dress

Aired January 15, 2014 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Just a short time ago I told you about some developments in the Benghazi situation. As you know many people have been cooperating with the FBI you know because the FBI is trying to figure out what happened at the consulate there where American officials died. And now we come to find out that many of those people cooperating with the FBI have been killed.

Evan Perez is following this. And he has more for us now. Tell us more, Evan.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well Carol, this -- this report which was issued today by the Senate Intelligence Committee is a bipartisan report, in other words you have members of both sides of both parties who have agreed on this one report which says that there's been -- this whole investigation of the Benghazi attacks has been hampered because some of the people who the FBI interviewed in Benghazi, in Libya have since been killed.

Now we don't know and the report doesn't say whether or not these people were killed because they were cooperating with the FBI or with the investigation. But it is -- it is something that is probably going to make it much more difficult for us to find out once and for all what exactly happened, why it happened, and who was exactly responsible.

COSTELLO: All right. I'm sure you'll keep digging on this story, this report just came out. Evan Perez, we appreciate the new information this morning.

Also in the news: seven days, that's how long thousands in West Virginia have gone without running water. And for those who have water, sometimes it -- it looks a lot like that. One resident who didn't want us to use her name sent us this picture. This picture was taken yesterday morning when they first started flushing the water from their bathtub.

Right now about only half the residents around Charleston, West Virginia, have been told their water is safe. They live in the blue area so that map you're looking at. For those in the red parts, some 180,000 people they still can't use their water.

On the case right now is West Virginia attorney general Patrick Morrisey says he's launching his own investigation into the contamination and the company behind it, Freedom Industries. I talked with him last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MORRISEY, WEST VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: What we need to do is really look closely at the law and then start interviewing a lot of different people. The fact is that this is a complicated issue that involves local, state and federal officials. And everyone has some responsibility.

But even beyond the specific provisions of the law, there's a duty to have common sense. And when I look at the facility that's up river from the water processing plant, that's something that makes me really wonder so I want to take a close look at that and make sure that the people that were engaged in the process were exercising common sense.

I think there are a lot of people that are concerned about what's going on and rightfully so. And that's one of the reasons why our office is involved in this investigation. We're going to get to the bottom of this. We're going to have an independent unbiased review.

And the West Virginia people deserve to know that their Attorney General is looking into every aspect of this. We're going to look under the hood. We're going to uncover all the rocks. And we're going to let the sunlight in. That's what West Virginians expect. That's what's going to come out of this investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. We've been digging into this, ourselves. And this morning we learned that Freedom Industries had a lot of money on escrow set aside to repair the containment area where the leak was coming from.

CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now from Charleston. Jean, you found out this information. Why wasn't the money used?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's the good question. And I think that's going to be part of the investigation. We were able to confirm overnight that a conversation took place at the end of last week between one of the chiefs of West Virginia's Department of Environmental Protection and Gary Southern who is the new president of Freedom Industries. Gary Southern told this head of the DEP that in fact there was an escrow account with the amount of $1 million in that for repairs of the containment issues.

Now we do know that there was a sale/merger of the company in December. We've seen the documents of the merger and it happened at the end -- December 31st is when the documents were filed. This escrow account then was in place, but we don't know that any repairs had been done. Now Carol what's so important here is the issue of knowledge and especially to investigators on the criminal and civil level. Knowledge that they needed to have containment issues repaired and knowledge that it wasn't done.

Now there is outrage in this community, the President of the county commissioners, he expresses that emotion, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENT CARPER, PRESIDENT, KANAWHA COUNTY COMMISSION: Who dropped the ball here was the fact you had a facility that didn't do what it was supposed to do. It leaked a huge amount of chemicals into the river that was a very clean river. It got into one of the largest water plants we have in this state. And results have been absolutely catastrophic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Now we have continued to try to contact Freedom Industries because there are two sides to every story. We want to hear from them. No response yet. But also, Carol, schools are still not in session here. There are four counties, four school districts that are still closed. And that impacts 46,000 students here in Charleston.

COSTELLO: OK. So let me ask you this question. When I saw the picture of that plant, there are a lot of tanks there that stores a lot more chemicals than the one we were just talking about. How can we be sure that those tanks don't have leaks in them?

CASAREZ: Well that's a very good point. I mean, we spoke with Mike Dorsey (ph) overnight and he was talking about the issue now is chemicals from the tank that was leaking. It's still in the ground. And when it's in the ground and it just permeates the ground, it can make its way to the river. So there still is an issue with the containment.

And as far as trust, we've spoken to people in this community. We heard it on local news this morning that some people that were given those go ahead to use their tap water that they are now going back and saying no. You still have a stop use order. Do not use your tap water.

So that also impacts the trust of the people in this community with their officials.

COSTELLO: Well here's the other thing. And I've covered a lot of this kinds of spill. Usually there's a containment wall around the plant that prevents the leak from leaving the property. As far as you know did Freedom Industries have a containment wall?

CASAREZ: As far as we know, there was a containment issue. That that wall surrounding it did not contain the chemical as it was coming out of the tank. It came out of the tank, made its way to the containment wall and then went into the river. And that is what caused the issue.

COSTELLO: And just keep in mind because this may not only affect West Virginia, but this stuff is making its way to the Ohio River, right? Which has caused Kentucky and -- go ahead. CASAREZ: The rivers merge into one another. So once the chemical is in the water, it flows with the river and it can go into Ohio and Kentucky. We know yesterday that they actually turned off for a while their intake valves so they wouldn't get the chemical in their water supply.

COSTELLO: Well Jean Casarez, thanks for staying on the case there in Charleston, West Virginia, because the people deserve answers there. They deserve those answers.

Thank you very much, Jean. We appreciate it.

CASAREZ: Thanks.

COSTELLO: We've asked the governor of West Virginia Earl Ray Tomblin and the two U.S. Senators Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller to come on the show for the past three days to explain what's being done there. The invitation remains open. I just think it's important for the people of West Virginia to know their public officials are on their side. And of course we will continue to dig for answers.

In other news this morning, a bizarre conversation now taking place in America. Instead of talking about whether loaded guns ought to be allowed in movie theaters, many people are talking about text rage. A 71-year-old former cop Curtis Reeves is now charged with murder after he pulled a gun in a movie theater and killed Chad Oulson a 43-year- old father who was texting in the darkened theater.

In a strange twist, Florida prosecutors say the alleged killer has a history of retribution for others texting at the movies. A witness told them Reeves came after her at the very same theater just a few weeks ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANUEL GARCIA, FLORIDA ASSISTANT STATE ATTORNEY: He indicated that he was glaring at her the entire time throughout the movie. And he also followed her to the bathroom when she had gotten up to go to the restroom and made her feel very uncomfortable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So let's talk about this. Mark O'Mara is a CNN legal analyst and defense attorney, and Dr. Jeff Gardere is a psychologist. Welcome to both of you.

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Thank you.

MARK O'MARA, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Thanks so much for being here. First off, I'm not blaming the victim. It is not his fault. I just find it bizarre that someone can become so enraged over texting. Dr. Jeff, some psychologists have suggested that being trapped in a movie theater with a texting person is a volatile mix. I mean, seriously? GARDERE: Well, I guess it could be, because it is very much a distraction. I know when I'm sitting with my own son watching television and he's on the computer and the light coming from the computer and I tell him to turn it off and he won't, that I become agitated with it too.

But I think we're dealing with a person in Reeves here who I believe may be a very unstable person to begin with anyway. So if it's not the texting, it might be somebody else talking in the theater or doing something that involves bad manners that distract from the movie.

COSTELLO: You know he's a former police officer, right. So he's used to people listening to what he says. Might that have played into it because apparently Mr. Oulson continued to text.

GARDERE: Well, and allegedly Mr. Oulson threw popcorn at him. So perhaps that might have enraged him. I don't think he was in fear of his life as Mr. Reeves claims that he is. But I think you also have to look at being 71 years old, dealing with a person who's talking back to him.

And as you pointed out, Carol he is a police officer and may not -- former police officer -- and may not be used to that. But I think it's also he may have felt threatened emotionally in that this younger person was disrespecting him in this way.

But I think there's going to be a mental health issue brought up here. I think they're going to even go with an insanity plea. Trust me on this one.

COSTELLO: OK. So Mark, I'll ask you about that part of the equation. Do you think that will happen?

O'MARA: Well, unfortunately I have to disagree. There's not going to be an insanity plea or defense. The reason why is because in Florida insanity has very, very a high burden. You don't get there until you truly get to the point where you do not right from wrong. That's not what happened here.

However, certainly being 71 years old, not knowing what texting is as much you know a 17 year old and I do think that he probably felt disrespected. But the problem with this type text rage similar to road rage is people get so caught up in their own person and their own disrespect to them that causes the type of outrage that this guy did. The problem with it is that when that happened and he left, he came back in. He put himself at great risk. So he may have been frustrated by being disrespected of being used to the authority.

On the same vein, he is a police officer who is trained to accept with respect who is trained in that spectrum of force where you begin with lowest level of force -- a strong voice, for example. And you don't get that far out of the spectrum, the use of deadly force with a weapon, unless your life is immediately in present danger. And there is no indication that any of that existed here.

I think there are going to be some mental health issues. It'll never go to the level of insanity.

COSTELLO: Right but let me ask you this question. Like this guy becomes enraged over texting and according to prosecutors he's done this before. Yet he chooses to bring his loaded gun into a movie theater. Is that really responsible?

O'MARA: I think what happens is most people have (AUDIO GAP) carry a gun as a matter of course so they carry everywhere except those places (AUDIO GAP) by law. Should most guns be left at home, a lot of people would say yes. I'm sure particularly as a police officer he was used to carrying it with him. But the same sense, if you're going to carry a gun, you have a heightened level of responsibility of how to use it and most importantly how to not use it unless the ultimate faces you which is your own life or someone else's life in immediate peril.

And he overreacted to virtually nothing of an attack, if it was like popcorn or some other event. It was just an overreaction.

COSTELLO: Well Dr. Jeff, along those same lines, the sheriff investigating this case says it's not about the gun but the guy who pulled the trigger. This guy was a former cop, he was well respected. In your opinion is it about the gun or the man who pulled the trigger or what is it?

GARDERE: Well, I think it's a combination of both. Certainly if you have someone who is an unstable personality as I believe this individual is, a gun simply enables the person to do something much worse. If he didn't have the gun, then it might have stopped at a verbal argument and maybe it would have gotten physical where they wrestled or fought with one another but certainly not pulling out a gun shooting someone.

I also want to point out to Mark that this individual, it's reported three weeks earlier from a Ms. Dixon (ph) that she was texting. He not only objected to it but followed her around the theater for hours. And to me this speaks of an unstable personality -- 71 years old, possibility of dementia.

I'm not an attorney, but if I were one I would say we have to have this man evaluated psychologically and look at insanity defense because what happened was insane. It was unjustified.

COSTELLO: All right. We'll have to leave it there. Dr. Jeff Gardere, Mark O'Mara. Thanks so much.

NEWSROOM will be right back.

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COSTELLO: Tonight "Duck Dynasty" returns for its fifth season on A&E. And yes, it will feature patriarch, Phil Robertson who was briefly suspended from the show last month for controversial comments about gays and African-Americans. Whether the scandal ultimately helps or hurts the show, well fans will be tuning in tonight. But many may look at Phil Robertson in a different way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have the best beard in the world.

PHIL ROBERTSON, "DUCK DYNASTY": The best beard in the world. Who's the best hunter you ever met?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You.

ROBERTSON: Who's a great fisherman?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You.

ROBERTSON: Who's a great cook?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mama Kay.

ROBERTSON: Two out of three isn't bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. He's a charming guy. No doubt about it. But he does say some controversial stuff. With me to talk about this -- CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter. Welcome.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Thank you.

COSTELLO: So do you think people -- many more people will be tuning into the show in light of the controversy?

STELTER: I do at least this week. It's hard to say what's going to happen a month from now, but people all across the country have been reminded for almost a month now that "Duck Dynasty" is this big franchise with this larger than life character, very controversial, very polarizing and I think as a result will have a big spike in viewership tonight for the season premiere.

But I don't know if that will last. I mean, this show started in Season Four about six months ago with 12 million viewers for the season premiere. But by the end of the fourth season, it was down to about 8 million viewers. There was a significant slide. And I suspect the same thing will happen this season.

It'll feel like a firework in the beginning. It'll launch really high and bright in the air, but then it may subside.

COSTELLO: It'll be interesting because I think that for some watching, watching "Duck Dynasty" has become like a political badge of honor.

STELTER: It has. It'll become a statement. And this is like other brands we've seen as well. You know, Chick-Fil-A has become a sort of badge ever since the president of the company spoke out against the same-sex marriage. Hobby Lobby, another company where the owners are very honest about their conservative point of view has become the kind of place that people to support or choose not to go to in order to condemn. I think "Duck Dynasty" has now become like that. It's become politicized and that's something that's never really going to go away for the show now.

COSTELLO: You know what's interesting and this just struck me. Why is Phil Robertson being forgiven and he's back on television but Paula Deen is still absent from television?

STELTER: I think there are a wide range of answers to that. I think Food Network has as you point out made different choices about Paula Deen. But I do expect Paula Deen to be back on television at some point. I wouldn't be surprised if she does come back on some other channel in the future. After all, he sons are still on the Food Network.

You know, with Phil Robertson, there's something that people seem to -- because he'd already commented before in different ways although not to the extent he did to GQ, A&E seemed to accept him for who he is while distancing themselves from what he said. A&E needs this show to succeed in a way they didn't need Paula Deen to succeed at the Food Network because it's the biggest show on A&E. And honestly it sometimes comes down to that.

COSTELLO: Yes. You're right. Money talks. Thank you so much.

STELTER: It's coming up against "American Idol" tonight. It's a big night for A&E to see if this show can still be as big as it was.

COSTELLO: It will be interesting. We'll be watching. CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter, thanks so much.

STELTER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: I'm back in a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Checking our top stories at 52 minutes past the hour.

Air Force One went wheels up just a few minutes ago from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, the president heading to North Carolina where he'll announce another attempt to jump start American manufacturing, part of his economic boost that he calls year of action.

Anti-abortion activists are fighting a law they say stops them from talking to women going into the clinics they're protesting. The U.S. Supreme Court will take up their case today. They say they're unfairly targeted by a law in Massachusetts. Protesters can't get within 35 feet of the clinic even on public sidewalks. The law supporters say it protects patients and employees.

A judge has refused to give a ingredient to the $765 million concussion settlement between the NFL and former players. Federal judge, Anita Brody, wants to be sure there's enough money in the deal to help all the retired players who need it. And the NFL has launched a new website on concussions. Nflevolution.com has information on protocol for its players and a section for youth athletes.

Good news this morning for GM. For the first time in six years General Motors will pay shareholders of its common stock dividends. The company has already paid dividends on preferred stocks. Investors will see the 30-cent quarterly dividend on March 28th.

Still to come in the newsroom, a Hollywood star is pulled over by the fashion police. And then gets sentenced on Twitter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Michelle Obama turns 50 on Friday and she's looking to change up her workout routine. The first lady tells "People" magazine she'll shift focus from weight bearing exercises and heavy cardio to yoga. She says she wants to stay flexible to quote, "So that I'm not falling and breaking a hip one day," end quote. She looks great.

OK. You saw the dress, the white Dior gown Hollywood's "it" girl Jennifer Lawrence wore at the Golden Globes. It raised many, many eyebrows and launched an avalanche of imitations online. It's now called Lawrencing. And even animals are getting in on the act.

Who else would have this story but Jeanne Moos?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No matter how great they say you look --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jennifer, you're great.

MOOS: -- no matter how amazing --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look amazing.

MOOS: Jennifer Lawrence learned the hard way that the fashion police are out to get you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a catastrophe.

MOOS: They had the nerve to compare her Dior gown to the sail cloth and rope that made up the Little Mermaid's outfit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look sensational.

MOOS: There was some sensational imitations tweeted out by actor Colton Haynes, for instance. They dressed up in comforters. They dressed up in sheets. It became known as Lawrencing. This Denver TV anchor tweeted out who wore it better Jennifer Lawrence or my floor director Aaron?

Lawrencing was an instant hit because it's so easy any idiot can do it using materials that everyone has at home. We topped off our cabbage patch Lawrence lookalike with (inaudible) to simulate the fashion gaffe. And then there was Elvie the puggle -- combination pug and beagle. ELLIE ROUNDTREE: Magic happens and that is Elvie's magical dress.

MOOS: Magic made out of a pillow case and two neckties. When Ellie Roundtree and friends saw Jennifer Lawrence on the red carpet, they immediately decided to transform Elvie. The outfit stayed on about five minutes.

ROUNDTREE: Not even. I would say it was about 30 seconds. I think we really nailed it there with Elvie's coy look at the camera.

MOOS: But most who mocked Jennifer's outfit said they love her.

LAWRENCE: How do I hold it?

MOOS: As one fan put it, "She could wear a burlap sack and it changes nothing. The haters are just jealous."

The much maligned gown was still front and center on Dior's Web site.

A spokesperson for Dior says the dress is available by special order but since it's custom made, she couldn't specify a price. Attention is priceless. A tequila company dressed up a bottle.

LAWRENCE: I need to catch up on my drinking.

MOOS: The fine betting company encouraged customers to don a duvet. Even Godzilla addressed the dress issue -- a dress that started out on the catwalk and ended up being mocked by a copy cat.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: I'm with the person who said she would look good in a burlap sack. And she does and would. I don't think she'd worn one though.

Finally today, the pope is selling his hog. Harley-Davidson presented the pope with a motorcycle last year. Well, he's going to auction off the motorcycle in Paris next month. All the proceeds will go to a charity that feeds the hungry in Rome. The bike is worth up to $20,000. But with the Pope's autograph on the bike, well who knows how high the bidding will go. We'll keep you posted.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts now.