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Spoiler Alert: USA Versus Russia In Hockey; "Loud Music" Jury Asks About Self Defense; 500 Plus Flights Already Canceled Today; USA Beats Russia 3-2 In Hockey Shootout Win; Barkley Goes One On One With Obama; Experts: Wild Weather Patterns Connected; Report: Bullying On Miami Dolphins Team; "Loud Music" Jury Asks About Self-Defense; Law Firms Fights Only For Men

Aired February 15, 2014 - 12:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Much more straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM which all begins again right now.

Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the top stories we are following in the CNN NEWSROOM. The jury in the loud music murder trial appears to be getting close to a verdict. A question this morning gave some hints about what they might be stuck on in the deliberation room. We'll have the latest from Florida.

Plus, thousands of people are stuck in airports after a brutal round of winter weather. And with more snow on the way, people are wondering if they'll ever get out.

And oversee the historic rivalry on the Olympic ice today. The U.S./Russia game delivered in intensity coming down to a shootout.

So if you do plan to watch the U.S. Olympic team take on Russia in hockey tonight, massive spoiler alert coming up. Turn away if you must, because we have to reveal what has just happened. The USA reviving its Russian rivalry on ice and it was one of the closest games of the Olympics coming down to a shootout. And in the end, Team USA got it. The final score 3-2.

Joining me now from Sochi, CNN's Rachel Nichols, host of "UNGUARDED." So Rachel, we could feel the intensity from home. What was it like being in that stadium?

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It was absolutely amazing. It was a great feeling just walking into the arena. So much history between these two teams, so much pressure on both of these teams especially the Russian home team. Remember, this is a point of pride for Vladimir Putin. He was in the building for this one. He said it was very important for them to beat the U.S. on Russian soil.

And of course, he thinks it's important for them to win the whole tournament. Lots of pressure on the Russians and while they did not come through, it was also a nice display of sportsmanship, so much excitement at the end. Afterwards the teams as they do in hockey shook hands and then the Russians waved their sticks at the crowd and the Russian crowd gave them a big cheer. So a nice fun game all the way around, although, I will tell you it was as breathtaking for the players as it was for any of us. I was speaking with one of the Team USA wingers afterward and he said that sitting on the bench to rove them he said I didn't know whether to watch, not watch, bury my head. He said I thought I was going to have a heart attack.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. Well, I think we, too, felt like we were going to have heart attacks while we are watching it. So you said Putin was in the building, did you ever get a chance to see him or did anyone get an idea of what his reaction was to, you know, Russia's loss to that shootout -- after that shootout?

NICHOLS: Well, it was so interesting because they were showing him on Russian TV throughout the game. And even sitting in the arena you have little televisions showing you the Russian broadcast if you are a member of the media. During the game it was 2-2 during regulation through the overtime.

And then during the shootout, they would show him after the Russians would score goals through the shootout. And he would give a little nod of approval and sort of, you know, nod his head and be happy about it without showing too much, of course because he's Vladimir Putin.

And then, you know, shockingly after the Americans won, there was no cutaway of President Putin. But I will say the Americans did get a tweet from President Obama so, if you can't deal with one world leader, you get another world leader. He did tweet from the White House account a congratulations.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, no surprise that Putin would be so stoic, but this isn't over for the U.S. They will be taking on another team as they all make their way toward or hopefully make their way toward a medal round. Rachel Nichols, thanks so much in Sochi. Appreciate that.

All right, back in this country, the jury in that loud music murder trial could reach a verdict at any moment. This is the case of Michael Dunn who was accused of shooting and killing 17-year-old Jordan Davis after a fight over loud music at a gas station.

It's been a busy morning already in the Florida courtroom with the jury asking a very interesting and telling question. Alina Machado is live for us now in Jacksonville. So Alina, what did the jury ask?

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, about 30 minutes into today's deliberations, they sent a question out. It was a three- part question to the judge. I want to play for you what that question is. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE RUSSELL HEALEY, DUVAL COUNTY CIRCUIT COUNT: First question, is the defense of self-defense separate for each person in each count? The answer is yes. Second question, are we determining if deadly force is justified against each person in each count? Answer is yes. Third question, or if we determine deadly force is justified against one person, is it justified against the others? No. Self-defense and justifiable use of deadly force applies separately to each count.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACHADO: Now, Michael Dunn was brought in and asked if he had any concerns about any of those answers. And he did say that he had concerns about the third answer, the one regarding justifiable force. And he says basically that he feels that all four people in that SUV are intertwined with his defense of self. And because of that, he wanted something to change in terms of how that third question was addressed. The judge, however, said that because of the law, each count has to be considered separately -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then, Alina, there have been a lot of parallels that have been drawn between this case and the George Zimmerman case. In fact some of the same, you know, recognizable prosecutor faces are involved in this. How is that either complicating or in any way impacting this trial?

MACHADO: Well, it's definitely something that people have given thought and they have drawn parallels between this case and the Trayvon Martin case. They've also pointed out that there are some differences between both cases. Some key differences. But it's worth noting that Trayvon Martin's parents have sent out a statement to Jordan Davis' parents.

And I want to read part of that statement to you. It says no matter the verdict, the fact that Ron and Lucia will never see their son again will not change. We know that pain all too well. We walk with Jordan in defining his legacy to reflect our hopes by advancing love and tolerance in his memory and continuing the fight against unjust gun laws. Again, that was a statement sent by Trayvon Martin's parents to Jordan Davis' parents.

WHITFIELD: All right, Alina Machado, keep us posted on deliberations there in Jacksonville. Thanks so much.

And coming up, our legal guys will also help break down their points of view on this case.

All right, the northeast taking yet another pounding weatherwise. Winter storm warnings and advisories have been issued through the night and there's even a blizzard warning for coastal Massachusetts.

And more bad news for airline passengers, more than 500 flights have been canceled today. And our national correspondent, Susan Candiotti, is at New York's LaGuardia Airport where things are actually starting to look a little bit more normal. Is that true, in what way?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's true. That's right. We're in a bit of a loll right now, but it's a little busy at the lines here. You can see people are getting to their flights. Many of the people, most of the people I would say we spoke with today are here for regularly scheduled flights. But that's not always been the case. And the numbers have been going up in terms of flight delays throughout the day started just before 500 then a little over 500. This is system wide and now it's more than 600 flights delayed. The worth airports right now are Dulles, Newark, and Boston.

Because of that information you just heard about the weather forecast and blizzard warnings there predicted. But we talked to a woman here who was able to get out on her flight on time, but getting here was much rougher. Her name is Gina. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two flight cancellations and delayed, delayed, delayed. I was originally supposed to get in at 10:00 a.m. didn't get in until after 6:00 p.m.

CANDIOTTI: Now did that cost you money the flights that were delayed and canceled?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No money. It didn't cost any additional money, just time and headache.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now, a lot of times because they're giving passengers advanced warning, they are canceling any change fees that you might have. But if you can't make your flight, you're often able to get a refund. That is what is supposed to happen. Fred, back to you.

WHITFIELD: My goodness, and then more snow in the forecast. What kind of contingency plans if any are underway?

CANDIOTTI: Yes. Come on. Let's take a look outside. We have a lot of flurries here a little bit earlier, but it stopped flurrying now. They are predicting in the New York metropolitan area about 2 to 4 inches throughout the day and evening. So nevertheless, the airports are saying that they expect everything will be OK. They're not predicting any delays so far.

WHITFIELD: OK, ever the optimist. OK, Susan Candiotti, thanks so much. Let's check in with meteorologist, Jennifer Gray and see what she believes from her vantage point. More snow on the way for some parts. It's going to continue to inconvenience, I'm sure, a lot of people.

JENNIFER GRAY, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, more snow. But the good news is it's not going to be as bad as this last system was just a couple of days ago. That's a bit of good news. We do have a blizzard warning though for the cape. That's going to go into effect until tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m.

Look at this snow. We have some rain in D.C., it did change over. There we go, changed over to snow just a little while ago. New York City we are seeing the snow already. Then in Boston, just the beginning for you. We do have some pictures in New York. It is great, it is gloomy and you are going to get the snow about 1 to 2 inches.

So nothing like we saw a couple of days ago, but still enough to cause a bit of an inconvenience. Here's a closer look at New York on the radar. The snow coming down and Boston getting into the very beginning stages of this and this is just going to intensify especially around the cape. We could see 60 mile-an-hour winds as we go through the overnight hours.

This is going to push out by tomorrow morning. This is a fast mover. That's why you're getting the lower snow totals compared to the last storm. One of the reasons why, but we are going to see anywhere from 2 to 4 inches say in New York City outside of Boston, 6 to 10 inches of snow and then in Northern Maine, a foot of snow.

Fred, we could see -- and temperatures are going to stay awfully chilly. We'll stay below freezing in New York City until Tuesday with a high temperature of only 29 on Monday. But on the flip side, look at the south. It is warming up, 64 degrees in Atlanta on Monday. A lot of people will be happy about that.

WHITFIELD: People will be busting out the shorts.

GRAY: Yes -- on patios.

WHITFIELD: That's right. Well, while we're in the south. Let's talk about South Carolina because what is this about a tremor earthquake or something that people felt?

GRAY: Yes. It's 4.1 earthquake in South Carolina. Some folks in the Atlanta metro felt it, but this is not totally unusual. They normally get a small quake once every couple of years and so, yes. About 10:30 last night, some folks felt the tremors. Did you feel it?

WHITFIELD: No. I felt nothing.

GRAY: Yes, I was asleep. I did feel a thing either.

WHITFIELD: And I was awake and I didn't feel it. Pinch me. Something's wrong. All right, thanks so much, Jennifer. Appreciate it.

All right, well, he was known as Sir Charles for scoring ability on the court. Now Charles Barkley goes one on one with President Obama.

And more spoiler alert coverage from Sochi coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk winter games in Sochi. Warning, right now spoiler alert, so if you want to watch the U.S. Olympic team take on Russia in hockey tonight, you might want to turn away for a hot second because we're going to talk about it but then come. Maybe just turn down the volume.

OK, so the match came down to the wire. But in the end, USA beat their Russian rivals on the ice, the score, 3-2. But there's more. I'm not telling you everything. Andy Scholes has the rest. It was pretty exciting.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: Wake up on Saturday morning and get a great game like this, back and forth, very physical the entire game. USA is pretty lucky. Russia should have won this game with 4:40 left in it. They scored a goal, but it was waved off because the goal was off the position. They ended up going into a shootout. That's when T.J. Oshi became the hero.

In Olympic hockey, if it goes through a shootout, you have three different players, take the first three shots. If it's still tied at that point, then you have the same player take the rest of the shots, which is exactly what USA did.

He was one of the last players put on this team for this exact reason. He's a shootout extraordinary. He made four out of six of his shots, just amazing stuff. Jonathan Quick, he did a great job for the U.S. in goal too. He should be commended. USA get the win 3-2.

They are now 2-0 in the preliminary round, pretty much securing themselves a spot all the way to the quarter finals. They're going to play Slovenia again tomorrow morning at 7:30 again, but USA should be favored in that one. So it looks like they're going to have a clean sweep here in the preliminary rounds.

WHITFIELD: And I'm not generally a hockey fan, but --

SCHOLES: Me neither but I was on the edge of my seat.

WHITFIELD: Me too. And it was just that whole shootout. It was so in your face. You know, it could woman right up to the goalie and just almost like looking him in the eye and then scooting behind you. That was killer.

SCHOLES: It was great stuff.

WHITFIELD: Very good, exciting stuff. Lots of exciting stuff Olympic wise, but then even stateside there's some exciting stuff, kind of off court. You want to stick around for this. Charles Barkley, a little one on one with the president of the United States. He decided to sit down with the president of the United States in a one on one interview, Charles Barkley for TNT. Take a look at what they talked about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES BARKLEY, TNT: Watching Lebron James play at the peak of his superpowers is an amazing debate. I never thought I would say somebody like this guy might be as good as a Michael Jordan.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: You know Lebron, I know Lebron, when you're standing next to him and then you watch him close up, I've never seen somebody that size that fast who can just that high who's that strong who has that much basketball savvy all in one package. So we don't yet know where he's going to be. Now, I'm a Chicago guy. Mike will always be the guy for me just because, you know, that was a magical moment for the city. You know, he was a champion. But now that he's retired, Lebron when you look at him you think he might be able to play at a high level for another seven, eight, ten years, he's 29 years old in terms of every aspect of the game. Lebron has a chance to be as good as anybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: This was presidential, you know, basketball analysis, wasn't it? That was quite the loquacious comment coming from the president there. I like he gave up basketball speak.

SCHOLES: Obama knows his NBA basketball.

WHITFIELD: He does. He knows it.

SCHOLES: Of course, he's never going to say anyone is better than Michael Jordan. Of course, he's a huge Chicago Bulls fan.

WHITFIELD: Right, he is, Chicago forever.

SCHOLES: As you can see, he's very high on Lebron James.

WHITFIELD: Right. That was very fun.

SCHOLES: People love comparing Lebron and Michael Jordan as he said, you know, Lebron has a long career ahead of him.

WHITFIELD: Right. And that entire interview will be on TNT tomorrow night at 7:00 Eastern Time. It's part of the network's pre-game coverage of the 63rd Annual NBA All-Star game.

If you're going to work with the president, you better like basketball. And that was the case for the U.S. Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan. He was in New Orleans and he made an incredible pass. Look. Who knew? Did you know Arnie Duncan could play?

SCHOLES: I didn't know he had those kinds of moves.

WHITFIELD: There you go. Duncan scored 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Smackdown. He took home the MVP award. He was a former co-captain. That explains it.

SCHOLES: You knew he had to have a basketball background in him to make that pass.

WHITFIELD: There you go. There's the connection, the basketball court. I never knew that until now. All right, Andy, thank you so much. Good to see you. Can't wait to hear more about that Olympic coverage later on.

All right, now let's talk about these very dry weather conditions for California, bone dry, in fact. But guess what? It could get the snow that the east doesn't want? What's behind these severe weather patterns. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Drought out west, pounding snow in the east and Midwest, and then ice in the south. What's driving this year's wild weather patterns? Here's CNN's Brian Todd.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the snow here wasn't really this high, but it sure felt like it. This series of storms pounded us here in the Mid-Atlantic, slammed the south, the northeast. But other regions got their own severe weather and now we're told it's all connected.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice-over): The refrain is so similar from Atlanta, which got one city-stopping winter storm followed by another.

DIANE BOYLES, DECATUR, GEORGIA RESIDENT: It's been like nothing I've seen. I've lived here almost 30 years.

TODD: To the Great Lakes where 80 plus percent of the lakes were iced over for the first time in about 20 years. The buildup forming ice caves.

TOM AUCH, ICE CAVE VISITOR: These were something special. I've never seen anything like it. They were as big as a garage.

TODD: People in so many different regions say they've never seen weather like this winter's. Over the past week, we've reached a point where 49 out of 50 states have had snow on the ground. We've seen so- called thunder sleet, captured in this video from a back yard deck in Grand Meadows, New Jersey. But also a punishing drought in California, people in more than a dozen towns in danger of running out of water again, that refrain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the worst year I've ever seen.

TODD: These weather patterns are severe, crazy, and connected. This winter a high pressure ridge of stable air blocked precipitation from coming in from the Pacific Ocean causing California's drought. Then it pushes the jet stream further into Canada than usual, which then led to a deeper trough in the east pushing further south. That's why they got hit by cold weather from Canada.

BILL LAPENTA, NOAA CENTERS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PREDICTION: They are associated with that long wait pattern so they are connected in that sense.

TODD (on camera): Experts say that flow of the jet stream that's driving those severe weather patterns in the south and dumping piles of snow in the mid-Atlantic is also slower moving this year than in years past, holding those severe weather patterns longer over this area and in places like Great Britain.

(voice-over): Which caused severe flooding there, the wettest January in two and a half centuries. And yes that same wave pattern is what made it almost summertime in Sochi. Why is it all so slow moving this year holding those severe weather patterns over us longer?

LAPENTA: That's an area of research that we're currently investigating. We don't have a clear cut answer to that question. And if we did, we would have a much more skillful prediction in the longer time scale, say, out to 1 to 2 months.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Another mystery, whether this is all connected to climate change or not. Bill Lapenta of the Centers For Environmental Prediction says they're still trying to crack that code trying to find out if climate change impacts those jet stream patterns and our crazy weather -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much, Brian Todd. That is one mound of snow.

All right, a trial that has touched a big nerve could come to an end today. We have the latest on what's happening at the murder trial of a Florida man accused of killing a teen over loud music.

And bullying, harassment, and homophobia, we'll have the details from an explosive NFL report into the atmosphere inside the Miami Dolphins locker room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, there will be no union at the Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee plant. Employees there rejected an invitation to join the United Auto Workers. The UAW had spent two years trying to organize workers. The companies stayed neutral on that vote. But state Republicans fought it, arguing it would hurt the prospect for more jobs in that state.

Actress Ellen Page says she's, quote, "Tired of hiding and tired of lying by omission." The star of the movie "Juno" is now acknowledging in a very public way that she is gay. Page got a standing ovation at a Las Vegas conference aimed at promoting issues affecting the gay community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLEN PAGE, ACTRESS: I am here today because I am gay and because maybe I can make a difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Page called football -- college football star, Michael Sam, a hero for publicly revealing that he is gay. Sam could become the first openly gay player in the NFL.

Racial slurs, homophobic name calling, and improper touching, even an attempt to destroy evidence, those are just a few of the findings from an explosive new report commissioned by the NFL on the atmosphere inside the Miami Dolphins locker room. The team was thrust into the spotlight last October offensive lineman, Richie Incognito was accused of bullying teammate, Jonathan Martin.

As CNN's Nick Valencia reports this 144-page report shows the culture of harassment goes far beyond one player.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The 148-page document details continuing verbal abuse, racial slurs, and vulgar sexual comments made about Martin's sister and mother by some of his Dolphins teammates. The situation first exploded last October when Miami Dolphins player Martin walked off of the team's facility allegedly because of relentless bullying. He gave this interview in the fall.

JONATHAN MARTIN, FORMER MIAMI DOLPHINS PLAYER: I've spoken to my teammates -- former teammates in other locker rooms across the NFL asking does this go on, is this normal rookie hazing. The consensus was this is not normal.

VALENCIA: The investigative report says Martin was tormented by three of the team's offensive linemen starting in his rookie season in 2012. On Friday, Martin's agent reacted.

KENNY ZUCKERMAN, JONATHAN MARTIN'S AGENT: I'm just happy that we're able to move forward. I think Jonathan really wanted to get this behind him and start to focus on playing football in 2014.

VALENCIA: The report says Richie Incognito along with veteran, John Jerry and all-pro Mike Pouncey engaged in a pattern of harassment. But Martin was not the only target of the abuse according to the report. The investigation uncovered another unnamed Dolphins offensive lineman who was allegedly subjected to homo phobic name calling and inappropriate physical touching. The report also says an assistant trainer was the subject of racial slurs. In the fall, Richie Incognito defended himself.

RICHIE INCOGNITO, FORMER MIAMI DOLPHINS PLAYER: I'm embarrassed by my actions. But what I want people to know is the way Jonathan and the rest of the offensive line and how our teammates, how we communicate is vulgar. It's not right. When the words are put in the context, I understand why a lot of eyebrows get raised. But people don't know how Jon and I communicate to one another.

VALENCIA: According to the report, Martin says he was driven into depression and believed his failure to stand to his teammates was a personal shortcoming as he tried to fit in. He considered suicide twice in 2013 and sought treatment for emotional distress after leaving the team in mid-season. The report also says Martin struggled with emotional issues since high school.

Incognito's lawyers said investigator Ted Well's report is replete with errors adding, quote, "It is disappointing that Mr. Wells would have gotten it so wrong but not surprising. The truth is that Jonathan Martin was never bullied by Richie Incognito or any member of the Dolphins offensive line.

Representatives for John Jerry and Mike Poncey could be reached for comment, but in a series of tweets just two days ago before the Wells report was released, Incognito lashed out at Martin claiming, quote, "The truth is going to bury you." And on Friday after this report was released came this, "Please stop the hate. Happy Valentine's Day."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, Nick Valencia, joining us now. So two of Miami Dolphins coaches were cleared of any wrong doing.

VALENCIA: That's right.

WHITFIELD: But there is some culpability here.

VALENCIA: Sure. This culture of harassment crossing the line going above and beyond the sort of typical kind of teasing and bullying that you'd see in a normal NFL locker room. I spent a lot of time in college football locker rooms and what you'd expect sort of happens. There is taunting, there is bullying. And that's evidently what happened in the Miami Dolphins locker room as well, but they just took it a step too far.

Also it came out in that report, I thumbed through those pages, Fred, and Jonathan Martin said that he went along with the teasing. He was actually sort of using it as a coping mechanism for him. He went along with it hoping it would stop. But what really is striking is that an offensive lineman coach, he's complicit in this bullying. He knew somewhat about this culture and he played along with it and perpetuated this teasing.

WHITFIELD: OK. Nick Valencia, thanks so much. We're going to talk about this later on with former players as well. And you'll bring us any latest updates. Thank you so much.

Meantime, a Florida jury wrestles with a verdict in a heated murder case. Will they be able to agree on whether or not a man killed a teenager for playing loud music? Our legal guys tell us what the questions to the judge might mean.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The jury in the loud music murder trial could be getting very close to a verdict. They've been deliberating for more than 20 hours already. They're trying to decide if Michael Dunn is guilty of first degree murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Jordan Davis. Dunn testified it was self-defense. The jury started deliberating on Wednesday. And this morning they asked three key questions.

One, is the defense of self-defense separate for each person in each count? The judge said yes. Number two question, are we determining if deadly force is justified against each person in each count? The judge said yes. Three, or if we determine deadly force is justified against one person, is it justified against the others? The judge saying no. Self-defense and justifiable use of deadly force applies separately for each count.

So let's bring in our legal guys to talk more about this. Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor, and Richard Herman, a criminal defense attorney and law professor. Good to see both of you, Gentlemen.

Avery, you first, what do you make of these questions this morning? And this after a day of questions to the judge yesterday.

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, I think what we have here is a jury that's taking the case as seriously as it possibly could. You know what, as trial lawyers, that is what we want jurors to do. The fact they're that careful and they're getting clarification from the judge, tells us two things.

Number one, they are treating this seriously and secondly they're zeroing in on the question of self-defense, deadly force, and trying to understand how to apply that law. So I think that we're going to see a result today.

WHITFIELD: And so Richard, are you hopeful that these kind of questions are bringing some clarity to the jurors or that these jurors are, you know, sending a signal that they may be hung, they may be undecided on certain things because of the confusion?

RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: You know, Fred, everyone is opining on what's going on here. It's pure speculation. It's like reading the tea leaves. This question could come from one juror. Not from a group of jurors. So that's -- let's get that set up front. We don't know what this jury's doing. But I will tell you one thing. The question today and the responses by the judge is very detrimental to the defense case of self-defense.

WHITFIELD: What do you mean?

HERMAN: It really is because here I don't believe there's any testimony that he felt threatened by other individual members in the car. His testimony is one got out of the car brandishing what he thought was a shotgun. That's the focus of the jury, was that reasonable for him to believe there was a shotgun?

WHITFIELD: And there was no evidence of a shotgun, stick, nothing.

HERMAN: Right, but there was evidence for three or four minutes when they fled the scene, they could have got rid of the gun. That's the defense position. Whether it's viable or not, jury has to vie with that. But there's no evidence that any of the other inhabitants of the car threatened him. And if the jury understands what the judge said, that's devastating to the defense case.

WHITFIELD: And then Avery, it doesn't seem reasonable that the jurors would be able to consider a hypothetical what if there was a gun, what if it was thrown out the window. It's what evidence is presented to support the prosecutions claim or to support the defense claim.

FRIEDMAN: Right. Right, and actually, you know what, what was really interesting is while we had a good idea what the evidence for the prosecution was going to be, by the time the prosecutors got done, this was rock solid. So the defendant frankly didn't have an alternative, had to take the stand. And that jury is considering credibility. What was he really thinking? What was he objectively --

WHITFIELD: Are you surprised he took the stand? In so many cases similar to this, the defendant would not take the stand. His attorneys, he or her attorneys would certainly not encourage it. What was this defendant up against or what do you suppose precipitated the decision to take the stand?

FRIEDMAN: The overwhelming evidence, I think. The only reason that Michael Dunn took the stand was that this case was so strong, frankly, without his taking the stand, and taking the risk, Fredricka. He really had nothing. So there was no alternative. He had to take the stand.

WHITFIELD: All right, Richard, you were about to say something?

HERMAN: It's a dangerous prospect to put the defendant up on the stand when the burden of proof is on the prosecution. But here you make a strategic decision. Do you have to put him on? And here they felt they had to, to let the jury see his state of mind and try to get sympathy for him. But it's very dangerous.

And if they catch your witness, your defendant in one lie, that would basically destroy the case. I don't think they caught him in a lie, but whether his credibility is to be believed by this jury is a big issue here. Again, this jury instruction today and the response by the judge I think is devastating to the defense case.

WHITFIELD: OK, quite remarkable. Again gentlemen, the jury has been deliberating more than 20 hours now. When we get more word about questions or a verdict, we'll bring that to our audience live.

And Richard and Avery, stick around. We've got another case to talk about. I cannot wait to hear your points of view on this one. Some say it's sexist, a Florida law firm that only represents men in divorce and custody cases? Hear their explanation straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, going through a divorce is never easy, but do men have a tougher time in court than women? One South Florida law firm says yes saying judges are biased in favor of moms and wives when it comes to deciding things like custody, alimony, and other family law issues. That's why these lawyers only represent dads and husbands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of courts have always leaned towards the mother and it's not supposed to be that way. And fathers just want a fair shake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So this South Florida firm isn't the only one of its kind, apparently. But some say the practice of only representing men is discriminatory. Let's talk about it with our legal guys, Avery Friedman in Cleveland and Richard Herman in Las Vegas. OK, Richard, you first so it's not the first time, but what's the problem with this?

HERMAN: Well, first of all, let me just say up front I cannot be objective on this. So I'm subjective. Let me just get that out there.

WHITFIELD: OK.

HERMAN: Now, this marketing -- I think this is great marketing. Is it discrimination? It's not discrimination. It's a private law firm. So it's not a public -- it's not discrimination per se. But it's great marketing whether they're any better than any other law firm in representing men is probably the answer to that is no. So does it give you an advantage to go to them? Probably not.

But, you know, if they just specialize in father's rights and men's rights, they may be more up on the law there. At the end of the day, Fred, what a great marketing ploy, here we are talking about them on national television. You know, it's a beautiful thing. It's not discrimination.

WHITFIELD: So Avery, how was it any different from a law firm saying we specialize in family law or we specialize in divorce and they're taking it to soot level where they're specifying they're specialty in divorce law.

FRIEDMAN: Well, look. I don't think this is beautiful. I think this is horrifying. They're not saying that they specialize in family law. They're saying that they specialize in taking care of men in. And the argument in my opinion is an angry condemnation in a public advertisement of essentially eroding public confidence in our courts.

HERMAN: Rightfully so.

FRIEDMAN: Under our ethics rules, that is a primary responsibility of lawyers. It's like saying we'll represent white people, but we won't represent black people. And I am horrified by that. I'm assuming that this law firm got an ethics opinion that it's perfectly fine to do, but I'm heartsick at this kind of approach and conveying to the public that don't trust the courts, don't trust the judges. Come to us. We'll take care of you solely because you're a man. I think that's awful.

WHITFIELD: So Richard, is this just an issue of opinion or can there be a legal challenge against this law firm?

HERMAN: I don't believe there's any legal challenge. I agree with Avery. I'm sure they got clearance to advertise like this.

FRIEDMAN: I hope they did.

HERMAN: But at the end of the day substantively speaking, I happen to agree with them. But in any event, I haven't --

WHITFIELD: You happen to agree that men and women fair differently when it comes to family court or divorce issues?

HERMAN: Yes. Yes. I believe it's skewed towards women and I believe that they're not the highest, brightest stars sitting on the benches in family courts.

FRIEDMAN: My gosh, Richard --

WHITFIELD: You are going to get a lot of ugly e-mails today.

HERMAN: Just from personal experience. What can I tell you?

WHITFIELD: What is it @richardherman? OK, you're in for it now, buddy. All right, Richard, Avery, thanks so much. I appreciate it. We always love your candor. The legal guys are here every Saturday at about this time to give us their takes on the most intriguing cases of the day, week, month whether you like it or not so there.

Straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, in the next hour, I'll speak with a jury consultant about what factors go into deciding a case like this loud music murder trial underway in Jacksonville, Florida.

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WHITFIELD: Tomorrow starts here, soaring to new heights on the job, really taking it to a whole other level. These men are in charge of washing windows on the world's tallest building. The building in Dubai is 2,700 feet tall, my gosh. I'm getting queasy just looking at the video, 24,000 separate panes of glass to keep clean and this is the only way to do it.

The crew gets $600 a month for this kind of dangerous work. It takes them three months to finish washing the entire building and then when they get finished, it's time to start all over again, my gosh. No. I couldn't do that one. And once it's completed, China's Shanghai tower will be the second tallest tower behind the Dubai building.

Recently a couple of climbers went looking for thrills on that massive skyscraper. They found it. They made it to the top of the construction cranes. The climb, of course, was illegal as was to videotape it. But they did it anyway. The two are also known for scaling one of the ancient pyramids in Egypt last year and then posting that video as well. Wow. That's some crazy stuff. Wow, but extraordinary too.

WHITFIELD: All right, can you imagine leaping off a mountain or a building with a parachute, of course, BASE jumping as it's known. It's extremely dangerous and it's often deadly. What inspires people and why are police so alarmed? It's sort of obvious. CNN's Stephanie Elam tells us more.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, BASE jumping may be the most extreme sport out there is out there right now and because cameras are taking with them on these jumps, we're seeing a lot more of it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ELAM (voice-over): What you are about to witness not only seems crazy, it's also a crime. Base jumping, it's the extreme of the extreme. BASE is an acronym for buildings, antennas, spans, and earth. Basically find something tall and hurl your body off of it. The BASE jumper in this video took flight from a gondola in Columbia, 1,500 feet aboveground.

Police are using the video to track down this jumper. They say they know his identity and have already arrested a woman for allegedly helping him jump.

LOU PALUMBO, DIRECTOR, ELITE INTELLIGENCE AND PROTECTION: YouTube will become a vehicle for law enforcement to identify and prosecute individuals. The gondola is good at stating that. It's as a means of transportation.

ELAM: But the rush of BASE jumping glamorized by Hollywood pulls many thrill seekers back for more. And beyond getting caught, there's a much greater concern.

PALUMBO: It's dangerous. If something should happen where the parachute fails to deploy, you could have somebody killed.

ELAM: That was the case recently when the chute didn't open for a 28- year-old newlywed who died BASE jumping in Utah. She and her husband of two weeks seen here BASE jumping at a different time known as experienced BASE jumpers. Her husband was charged with a misdemeanor BASE jumping offense after her death. Charges that were later dropped.