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Mother Loses Two Suns to Gunfire, 19 Days Apart; 8-Year-Old Hero Dies Trying to Save Grandfather From Fire; Seahawks' Sherman Holds Press Conference; "Candy Crush" Trademarks Word "Candy" in Europe

Aired January 22, 2014 - 15:30   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: He made controversial comments that sparked debate about sportsmanship and character. Moments from now, Seattle Seahawk Richard Sherman talks to reporters about his postgame rants. So, we will talk to two people who come from very different opinions on exactly what he said and how he said it.

Plus, just an amazing story of courage today. This little boy, 8 years old, saved six of his family members from a burning home. He went back in to try to save another, and didn't make it out.

Next, you will hear from his mother describing his heroism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRYSTAL VROOMAN, HERO BOY'S MOTHER: He makes me really proud. He really does, but I just want him back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Just past the bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

A California mother lost of both of her sons to gunshots, 19 days apart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DINYAL NEW, TWO SONS KILLED DAYS APART IN OAKLAND: I have no more kids. That's just so messed up.

I know there is a God, but why would he give a mother so much pain to handle within 19 days. This is hard on me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Her 13-year-old son was killed on New Year's Eve while walking home in Oakland, California, and then just less than three weeks later, her 19-year-old son Lamar died when bullets sprayed into the car he and his friend were in.

Police aren't saying whether there is, could be a connection between the shootings of these two brothers blocks apart in east Oakland, California, but it is a rough neighborhood.

A family friend is also a mortician who tended to the younger son's body. He often invites young people from the street to the funeral parlor to show them where they could end up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD WALKER, MCNARY WILLIAMS JACKSON MORTUARY: I tell them straight up. I keep it rough, you know? This is it. You don't want to come in here. You go behind the doors back there, this is it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: So far no arrests have been made.

At eight years of age, Tyler Doohan showed a selflessness way beyond his years. He saw a fire. Instead of running away, he ran toward it, toward his loved ones, rescuing six of them from the flames.

But Tyler himself did not make it out. He died trying to save his grandfather who was also killed.

And reporter Jane Flasch from our Rochester affiliate, WHAM, talked to little Tyler's mother.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VROOMAN: It makes me really proud. It really does, but I just want him back.

JANE FLASCH, REPORTER, WHAM: The last time Crystal hugged her son goodbye, he had this kind of smile on his face.

After all, he talked her into spending the night with his grandfather.

VROOMAN: It was his best friend. He tried to save him.

FLASCH: Crystal has pieced together the story of her son's final minutes with the help of family members who were there.

Tyler's 4-year-old cousin woke with his blanket covered in flames.

Six people made it out, but Tyler went back to get his grandfather who is disabled.

His aunt couldn't stop him, but followed, ending in the grandfather's room, surrounded by smoke.

VROOMAN: (Inaudible). I guess he let go of her and tried to get to my dad and she opened the window and he wasn't there anymore.

She couldn't see. She was going like this through the smoke. And all I can think about is how he couldn't breathe, how scared he must have been.

FLASCH: He was found in the rear of the home. VROOMAN: They were laying in the bed together trying to get to the window.

I was just so grateful he went with people he loved. He didn't go alone. He didn't cross over alone. I'm just so glad that he was with his best friend.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Fire officials say there was not a working smoke detector in that mobile home. They believe the cause of the fire was accidental. They are still investigating.

But here's the thing. This mother can't afford to bury her son, so she's asked for help. In fact, a fund has been set up for Tyler's burial, and the site has already raised more than $20,000.

Coming up. just days after going off on a post-game interview, NFL star Richard Sherman of the Seattle Seahawks is getting ready to speak, live. We will take that for you. What he could say, we don't know yet.

Plus, you are about to hear from two guys who disagree on how Sherman handled himself and the reaction, post-rant.

And you play this? Can the word "candy" be trademarked? The person who invented the popular game, "Candy Crush," looking to keep the word all to himself.

Can he do that? We're "On the Case."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: If you haven't heard of Richard Sherman before Sunday, you certainly have now and what he said after that game.

So here he is, Richard Sherman, talking live, answering some reporters' questions just outside of Seattle.

RICHARD SHERMAN, CORNERBACK, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS: I was going to. I was going to.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Richard, (inaudible) maybe add fuel to your fire, just to see how things (inaudible).

SHERMAN: It's -- you know, it is what it is, and things like that happen and you deal with the consequences of it. You deal with people's opinions.

I've come from a place where it's all adversity, so what's a little bit more? What's a little bit more of people telling you what you can't do, what you're not going to do, what you've done?

It's always a little bit more of that, but it's fine to me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible). SHERMAN: Yeah, I'm really surprised by that. If I would have really known it was going to blow up like that, I probably would have approached it differently, just in terms of the way it took away from my teammates great games.

Kam Chancellor played a fantastic football game, had an interception, huge plays in the game and played almost a perfect ball game. Marshawn ran for -- freaking Beast Mode ran for a hundred-yards-plus, had a great touchdown run. And Bobby had 15 tackles.

So many people played so many great games that you would think the stories would be about them. So, that's the only thing I feel kind of regretful about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)

SHERMAN: I think the backlash, because I think the support came after the backlash.

Because everybody was surprised by it. I think I was a little surprised by it. Because we are talking about football here. And a lot of people took it a little further than football.

I guess some people showed how far we've really come in this day and age. It was kind of profound kind of what happened and people's opinions and things of that nature.

Because I was between -- I was on the football field showing passion. Maybe it was misdirected. Maybe things may have been immature. Things could have been worded better.

But this is on the football field. I wasn't committing any crimes, doing anything illegal. I was showing passion after a football team.

I didn't have time to sit there and contemplate, what am I going to say? But the people behind computer screens that are typing had all the time in the world to contemplate everything they were going to say and articulate it exactly like they wanted to.

And some of it is -- I'm sure they were embarrassed about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)

SHERMAN: I hope so. I really hope it resonates a little more with them, because it's -- there's no limits to what you can do.

I think regardless of how bizarre sometimes my story gets, especially in times like this, it's still remarkable how a kid from Compton, a kid from humble beginnings, the story can resonate for any kid coming from humble beginnings.

Even whatever beginnings you come from, just understand that your circumstances don't dictate your future. Your circumstances don't control your limits.

You're limitless. You're a limitless person. You're limited by your faith, your abilities, your trust in yourself, your hard work.

You can do as much as you want to do. If you go to school and you get good grades, you work as hard as you can, if you don't have the materials, the schoolbooks, and things like that, people can help you with.

There will be always people out there that want to help kid like that. And I'm trying to help as many as I can.

But to not go out there and work as hard as you can and give yourself the best possible chance to be successful, you're doing yourself a disservice. And that's really what I want the kids to know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) during the Super Bowl week (inaudible) in the last 72 hours, can you imagine what that will be?

SHERMAN: I really can't. I really can't, but I imagine it's going to be fun and I'll embrace it and I'll have my teammates there. And we'll enjoy the moment, man.

It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us. And we've worked hard to get here. Nothing was given to us. You have to earn your way here, so it will be well-deserved for the whole team.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

SHERMAN: Sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

SHERMAN: Oh, man, there countless individuals. Hank Aaron was one of them. There are countless players that reached out, obviously family members.

Friends who I hadn't talked to in a while reached out with support and I appreciate all of it.

You appreciate having great people in your corner and great coaches like David Shaw in corner, and people just -- that really appreciate you as a human and really know who you are and what you stand for and don't -- aren't as quick to judge, because they really have an in- depth view of who I am and what I'm about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Richard (inaudible).

SHERMAN: Well, he really -- it's -- he's an offensive coordinator out there. At any time given time, he can change any given play, any protection, any scheme.

You know, schematically, you --

BALDWIN: Sorry, Seattle fans. We're going to pull away. We got what we wanted to hear, and we're going to have a big discussion about this player, number two in his high school graduating class, by the way.

This guy took grad-school level courses in college at Stanford, hard worker, says he doesn't party very much because he wants to be the best, gives lots and lots of money back to his community.

Here's a little bit more of Richard Sherman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERMAN: I'm the best one in the game. When you try me with a sorry receiver like Crabtree, that's the result you going to get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Yeah, that is Richard Sherman, as well, known far and wide now for that superb defensive play that saved the game, Sunday, for the Seahawks.

But nobody is really talking about that. They're talking about his words, and for the equally stunning post-game rant here with Erin Andrews.

It turns out Sherman is a pretty thoughtful guy. He explained this moment to CNN's Rachel Nichols who just sat down with him in this exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERMAN: You catch me in the moment on the field when I'm still in that zone, when I'm still as competitive as I can be, and I'm trying to be in the place where I have to be to do everything I can to be successful on the football field and help my team win, then it's not going to come out as articulate, as smart, as charismatic, because on the field, I'm not all those things. I'm everything I need to be to be a winner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: With me now from Philadelphia, Isaac Saul, he's written a story about this guy in the Huffington Post.

Here with me in studio, syndicated sports columnist Terence Moore.

And, Terence Moore, since you are sitting next to me and I was watching you watch Richard Sherman in that newser just quickly in Seattle, and the point where I saw a lot of head shake was where he said, specifically, people took it further than football. I was just showing passion.

What were you thinking as you were shaking your head?

TERENCE MOORE, SPORTS COLUMNIST: I was thinking I wish I was on one of these airplanes. You know those bags? I'll clean it up. Regurgitation bags?

This -- when you say crazy things on television, you should expect crazy results.

And I don't want to hear all this talk about, well, he is actually very intelligence. He's got this degree from Stanford. He's -- BALDWIN: That are doesn't matter to you?

MOORE: It matters in this sense. It matters that he should know better than to do all of this stuff, because you are affecting a lot of people besides Richard Sherman, besides the Seattle Seahawks, besides the National Football League.

That's what he doesn't get and, unfortunately, that's what a lot of people who are supporting this silliness don't get, also.

BALDWIN: I was asking while we were watching what the one question would be you would ask Richard Sherman.

You said, why don't you get it? We're going to come back to that.

But, Isaac, let me get to you, because a lot of people saw this rant after this game, called it bush league.

Even a high-profile senator got into the act yesterday, saying because of this whole thing he's now saying, go, Broncos. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I think Denver, you know, everybody is such a Manning fan, and that loud mouth from Seattle sort of epitomizes the Seattle team to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: That was John McCain weighing in on this whole thing. You said in your Huffington Post piece, it's not just misguided, but ludicrous. You disagree with my friend.

ISAAC SAUL, HUFFINGTON POST: I feel like we should stop judging the athletes from their words on the field and start by the actions off the field.

If you take a closer look at Sherman, and Terrence alluded to it, a lot of the things he does are great, both for the community and the family he supports.

When I look at a guy like that, I see a young kid who was hyped up and lot of in the moment. He made a mistake, no doubt about it. He shouldn't have said what he said and come off the way he did.

He is clearly ambassador for the community and the kind of person if you take into account what he said off the field and I feel like you can absolutely look up to.

BALDWIN: I read your piece, word for word. And forgive me, you basically are saying, hell, yes, he should be judged 24-7. This man is a role model, any and everywhere.

MOORE: (Inaudible).

BALDWIN: Right. MOORE: And I will tell you something. Two people that I know very well, Hank Aaron who was the greatest player who ever lived and my dad. And they both agree with Richard Sherman. They both disagree with me.

And with apologies to Hank Aaron and my dad, I think a lot of people are missing the big picture here. And the big picture where I'm coming from, a person who deals a lot with youth, particularly black youth, this guy is affecting these kids.

And this goes back to 1993 when Charles Barkley made that ludicrous statement that "I am not a role model."

BALDWIN: He is not a role model.

MOORE: Because we're all role models.

And the other thing is, with these kids, particularly black youngster, you've got the latest statistics that show that about 70 percent of black youth born today are to unwed members, OK?

They don't have a positive role model in the household, so they are turning to these rappers and to these athletes as their role models.

And when they see some cartoon character out there -

BALDWIN: Even though he was saying to our own Rachel Nichols, listen, I'm this guy on the field, I'm this guy off. On the field, I want to win.

MOORE: Brooke, those kids are not seeing that. They're seeing him acting like a fool on the field and they think this is the way you're supposed to act, not only in athletics, but in life.

BALDWIN: Isaac, you get the last word. You respond.

SAUL: I think it's a valid point that he's definitely in the spotlight and there are a lot of kids looking up to him.

But at the same time, it just speaks to a larger issue that America is having a problem with, which is that we can't judge these people based on what they do in between the lines.

It's a game, and that persona that Richard Sherman puts on is an important part of the way he succeeds as an athlete.

And instead of looking at that, we should really take a step back, look at the things he does when he's not on the field, when he's outside the lines.

He said that himself. The message here is that we shouldn't be quick to judge people like that based off a 30-second sound bite. We should take the time to get to know them.

These athletes are accessible. You can open your computer and Google them if you can watch them on TV. So, my suggestion would be to take that moment and, instead of jumping to conclusions about the man as a person and attack his character, look at the things he does off the field, and they speak for themselves.

BALDWIN: Well, you two get to agree to disagree for now.

But I really think this is a microcosm of this conversation now, national conversation, because of this quick little sound bite from this --

MOORE: I referred to him as a cartoon character. I don't think Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck is as dangerous as this guy, persona-wise.

BALDWIN: Terence Moore, come back, will you? Isaac Saul, same to you. Thanks, gentlemen, very, very much.

And now to this, it's a wildly popular app that has hundreds of millions of downloads. "Candy Crush," have you played it? Are you addicted?

Now, the creator of this game wants to trademark the word "candy." Can he do that? We're "On the Case," next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: "Candy Crush," someone was telling me about this the other day. I don't play it, but a lot of people do. It's this wildly popular app. If you have played it, you're probably hooked.

And now the makers of "Candy Crush" have successfully trademarked the word "candy."

This isn't the first of these, shall we say questionable trademark applications, Cadbury Chocolate, losing the fight to trademark the actual color purple. Paris Hilton successfully trademarked the phrase "that's hot," while Donald Trump failed at trade-marking the phrase "you're fired" from his reality show, "The Apprentice."

But unlike all of those examples, "Candy Crush" was successful, at least in Europe. Now they have their sights set on the U.S.

Joining me now, Sunny Hostin, our CNN legal analyst. And are you telling me any Joe Schmo can come by and say, hey, let's trademark this word, no problem?

SUNNY HOSTIN: Usually not. You usually can't trademark something as broad like this.

I hadn't heard about "Candy Crush" until I looked at my phone and realized my little girl had downloaded it onto my phone. I do have it.

It seems to me this is a very important thing for this particular company because, get this, they make approximately $1 million a day in revenue. So this --

BALDWIN: What?

HOSTIN: -- is something that they need to protect.

The way to protect it from sort of these copycats that you get when you get on the app store and you see something that kind of looks like "Candy Crush" with the name "candy" in the title, you download it and that does in a sense infringe upon the success of this particular company.

They have this provisional trademark they've received. I just don't know they're going to get it trademarked because it seems so broad to me.

I mean, are you going to be able to trademark, you know, fruit? Are you going to be able to trademark jewel? It just doesn't make sense.

But they certainly have a lot to protect, right, a million dollars a day.

BALDWIN: A lot for this thing. I'm not so hip with it. Thank you very much.

HOSTIN: You're welcome.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, for the very first time we're hearing from the family of the trainer killed by a whale at SeaWorld.

Hear their thoughts in the wake of the "Blackfish" film.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Now, before we go, the family of the SeaWorld trainer at the center of the film "Blackfish" is showing some support for SeaWorld, although not quite saying it outright.

"Blackfish" tells the story of how an orca killed SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau, shows the abuses whales in captivity endure.

Brancheau's family just released a statement on their foundation Web site. Let me read part of it for you.

They say, "'Blackfish' is not Dawn's story. Dawn Brancheau believed in the ethical treatment of animals. Dawn would not have remained a trainer at SeaWorld for 15 years if she felt that the whales were not well cared for."

Again, directly from Dawn Brancheau's family.

That's it for me. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me.

Next up, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper.