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Christie Holds Town Hall; Juror in Florida Murder Case Speaks Out

Aired February 20, 2014 - 15:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And move along top of the next hour here. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Want to begin now with the exclusive interview with juror number eight in the so-called loud music murder trial. This is the very first time this woman is speaking since she and 11 others convicted Michael Dunn of attempted second-degree murder. The backstory on this case, Dunn fired his 9-millimeter into this SUV full of teenagers back in November of 2012 after this whole argument back and forth over their loud music.

The bullets hit and killed this young man, 17-year-old Jordan Davis. But Dunn was not convicted of first-degree murder in Davis's death. The jury was deadlocked on that charge. We heard from juror number four yesterday. She said Dunn got away with murder and now juror number eight has something to say as well.

She just talked to our correspondent Alina Machado.

Alina, tell me what she told you.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, juror number eight is Christana Miles (ph). She is just 21 years old. She was also the youngest juror on this panel. And we spent about an hour talking a little bit about everything. We talked about the case and about the partial verdict and even about the swift community reaction that followed those verdicts, specifically about race and whether race played a role in her opinion in the case or in the jury deliberations.

Take a listen to what she had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never once thought about, oh, this was a black kid, this was a white guy, because that wasn't the case.

MACHADO: People who say here is another white guy with got away with shooting and killing a black kid, what would you tell them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would tell them that they really should acknowledge themselves on the law.

MACHADO: If this was not about race, then what was it about for you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was about justice. MACHADO: Justice?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I walked into it, I just wanted to bring justice to whoever it was. If it was Michael Dunn, I wanted to bring justice to him. If it was Leland, Tommie or Jordan, I wanted to bring justice to them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACHADO: Now Miles told me that she believes that Michael Dunn was guilty of second-degree murder for shooting and killing Jordan Davis, but because this jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on the murder charge, she says she felt they did the right thing by coming back with just a partial verdict.

She also says she hopes the jury, if in fact there is a next jury, if there is a retrial, she hopes that they will be able to reach an agreement on that charge -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Right. We know that is Angela Corey is calling for. Alina Machado, thank you very much, Ponte Vedra Beach there in Florida with that interview.

By the way, I want you to watch that entire exclusive interview with juror number eight tonight at 8:00 on "A.C. 360" 8:00 Eastern time.

I want to continue the conversation into this case and what we just from this 21-year-old woman with CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin and also criminal defense attorney Darren Kavinoky.

Sunny, let me just begin with you, because I think the first thing that struck me, I was writing notes listening to the young woman, that she never thought about race in this case. What do you think about that?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Right.

Race certainly was excluded from the courtroom. The defense filed a motion to exclude any mention of race. That issue in particular was not necessarily before them. So, I think what she is saying makes sense.

What doesn't make sense to me is that race was very much an issue, I think, in Michael Dunn feeling threatened by Jordan Davis. It was sort of the elephant in the room. He was using codewords in my view like thug and like rap crap, saying these kids looked menacing.

To suggest that race is not a part of the judicial system and wasn't a part of the trial, I think, is a bit naive. I remember looking at her throughout the entire case.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: That's right. You were there.

HOSTIN: Yes. There were two African-American jurors on the panel. And she was one of those that seemed to be very engaged through all of the testimony. And so I'm really interested in hearing the rest of what she has to say tonight.

BALDWIN: Right, me too tonight on "A.C. 360."

Darren, she said wanted justice, whoever or however that justice would come about. Your reaction to this young woman?

DARREN KAVINOKY, ATTORNEY: I like what she said about wanting justice. She sounds like her heart is pure in that respect.

My criticism really relates not to the jurors and how they approached their task. My criticism relates directly to Angela Corey and that office. There is an old expression, Brooke, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

And let's remember this is the same office that botched the Zimmerman prosecution and regardless of what you think about the outcome that should have happened in that case, that trial was characterized by a lack of preparation and disorganization.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let me jump in.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Let me play the sound. Angela Corey, she talked to Chris Cuomo, because she's been criticized for this reputation of overcharging. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA COREY, FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY: They're didn't have a problem with the same premeditated instruction on attempted murder on the other three counts. So, Chris, I don't see how the premeditation instruction could have hindered this jury in any way.

This is our system. This jury got a lot of time to deliberate and we believe they did the best they could considering Florida's affirmative defense of justifiable use of deadly force. We will not find fault with what this jury did, no matter how many people encourage us to and no matter how many people shift the fault to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Sunny, I want to hear from you, because you disagree with Darren.

HOSTIN: Yes. I really do.

We know now after speaking with these two jurors that six of them voted in favor of first-degree murder. And so to suggest that there wasn't enough evidence for the government to charge on first-degree murder just really is ridiculous. It's ludicrous. I think the other thing we need to remember is that this prosecution team I thought was very prepared and very thorough. But there is self-defense and there is stand your ground there.

(CROSSTALK)

HOSTIN: The blame is on the law, Darren. The blame is on the law, not on the jury and the prosecution. There was no overcharge here.

(CROSSTALK)

KAVINOKY: So, check this out. I don't think anything was overcharged.

My problem is that we had in the Dunn case -- the prosecution case about 445 days' notice that Michael Dunn was going to be on the witness stand. And even though He didn't have to take the stand legally because of the Fifth Amendment in this case everybody knew he had to take the stand.

That cross-examination of Michael Dunn was meandering.

(CROSSTALK)

HOSTIN: I completely disagree. Are you serious?

(CROSSTALK)

KAVINOKY: How many times did we hear waking nightmare? The phrase waking nightmare became a drinking game on college campuses because Michael Dunn got to control the narrative.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Go ahead, Sunny.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Sunny, go.

HOSTIN: Anyone that has prosecuted cases know that when you have the defendant on the witness stand, you are never going to get that moment that Tom Cruise got with Jack Nicholson. You're damn right I ordered the code red. That is not going to happen.

And so when you are doing these types of cross-examinations, what you do is, you do allow the defendant to talk and you allow the defendant to contradict his testimony. That's exactly what John Guy did. That was smart and that was effective, and we know it was effective because right after he got off the witness stand, his fiancee got on the stand and contradicted every single thing that he said.

(CROSSTALK)

HOSTIN: And the one juror said that that was a changing point for her and for the rest of the jury. To suggest that the prosecution did a bad job in cross-examining the defendant is completely misguided and incorrect.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Go ahead, Darren.

KAVINOKY: Yes. Listen, my mentors always told me, you want to characterize and critique your own performance before the jury comes back to cloud your judgment.

You don't want to confuse winning with doing a good job. The prosecution got four-fifths of a win, but that doesn't mean they did a good job.

(CROSSTALK)

HOSTIN: We can agree to disagree then.

BALDWIN: Darren Kavinoky and Sunny Hostin, thank you, both of you. Love both perspectives. Thank you both very much.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: An Olympic athlete is withdrawing now from the Sochi Winter Games in response to the violent clashes back in her home country of Ukraine.

And 24-year-old alpine skier Bogdana Matsotska is refusing to ski tomorrow in the women's slalom, her best events at the Olympics. She explained her decision to Reuters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOGDANA MATSOTSKA, UKRAINIAN OLYMPIC ATHLETE (through translator): My friends are at Maidan, people I know, close friends of mine. To go on the start line when people are dying and when the authorities broke the main rule of the Olympic competition, which is peace, I simply cannot do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Her father who serves as her coach withdrew from the Games with her. The Ukrainian athletes held a moment of silence today for fellow citizens killed in those violent clashes under way in Kiev.

More than 40 athletes are representing Ukraine at the Sochi Winter Games. Some have already competed and have left Sochi to return home.

But what they were returning to is confusion and bloodshed.

Let me explain these pictures to you. You see these men here. They are believed to be armed forces firing on civilian protesters, although CNN cannot confirm that for you.

We are also hearing that many of the police, look at this, being driven through the streets -- many of the police who were once violently fighting against those protesters are now being taken hostage. These picture here showing them being escorted while others are believed to be defecting by choice to the troops side, a very, very short truce broken overnight, bringing the deadliest day Ukraine has seen in the months of anti-government protests, at least 100 killed.

And back in Washington, D.C., sources telling CNN that U.S. officials are fast-tracking attentions and asset freeze on parts of the Ukrainian government about to cross President Obama's desk. We will have a live report from Kiev here in just a moment.

Coming up next, the New Jersey governor just questions today from folks in his state, Chris Christie holding his first town hall meeting since that whole traffic jam scandal erupted. What did people ask? How did the governor respond and who is he blaming for a slow response to the Sandy disaster?

Plus, you have heard about the $425 million Powerball jackpot. That winner still has yet to come forward. The owner of the store, by the way, gets a million bucks. But here's the thing. He's on a plane right now. This guy has no clue. We talked to his son. How he is planning on breaking the news to his father is coming up. Don't miss this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Ohio has voted for the winning president ever since 1964 in each election.

And it's early, I know, but there is a new poll that shows the Buckeye State has an early favorite for 2016. Who could it be? This woman. Hillary Clinton sweeps the field of potential Republican contenders.

Now, keep in mind you always have to preface all of these conversations with she has not even announced she is running. But the Quinnipiac poll shows she would beat Republican challengers like Rand Paul and Marco Rubio and Chris Christie by at least 10 percentage points.

But today here,no question, not a single one about Bridgegate, not a single mention of the word bridge at Governor Chris Christie's first town hall meeting since the scandal broke back in the fall. Voters there at this meeting, they were far more concerned with getting their homes rebuilt after Hurricane Sandy.

In fact, even less concern about Bridgegate today than the governor's favorite rocker who recently spoofed him over that whole scandal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you go home tonight, and I just want to look around and make sure he is not in the room. But when you go home tonight, would you please destroy all your Bruce Springsteen C.D.s? He's not a friend of yours, Governor.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Christie said, no, not going to give up on the Boss.

But, anyway, the only real statement on Bridgegate a sign right here held up by a woman in the crowd calling for -- you see it -- Christie's resignation.

With me now from Washington, Zeke Miller, political reporter for "TIME" magazine.

Zeke, everyone was listening, right, for some kind of question, some kind of mention. Nothing. Are you surprised by that?

ZEKE MILLER, "TIME": It's very surprising. Yes and no. It's surprising on the national level because this has been dominating the headlines now for a month-and-a-half.

At the same time, it's a reminder that all politics is local.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: Yes.

MILLER: That you have these -- governor is the leader of a state. This is a state that is still recovering for Sandy.

And it's something, an issue that is very important to them. And it's a sign of both the blessing and the curse of being a governor. You are responsible when the agencies mess up. But also there are times to shine. And certainly Governor Christie has excelled at that in times of crises.

BALDWIN: Yes, even that little girl asking Chris Christie a question, saying her home is still broken.

You had the issue of Hurricane Sandy. But then you have this whole scandal. It's been a while since we have actually talked about so- called Bridgegate. But there is this report this week that a cop, this guy right here we're showing this picture, is supposedly an old friend of Chris Christie actually drove the former Christie aide who ordered all those lane closures through the traffic jams they caused, reconnaissance, as it were.

Could you just bring up, Zeke -- bring us up to speed on where we stand with the scandal and all these different investigations.

MILLER: There are multiple investigations right now. The U.S. attorney's office is still conducting their investigation. That is taking place in secret.

You also have the legislative investigation being run out of the joint committee in the assembly in the state Senate. That is also preceding. You have all these subpoenas that are still out and the information is being processed in e-mails and phone records and text messages, just like we saw released last month that sort of started this again in the public -- in the media all over again and sort of put the pressure and the spotlight on Governor Christie.

All that could very happen shortly again when the next round of the subpoenas and those subpoenaed documents are released to the public.

BALDWIN: Yes.

Zeke Miller, "TIME" magazine in Washington for us, thank you again for joining. Appreciate it.

Coming up here, an NFL star is facing charges for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. And now a video showing him dragging her out of an elevator now has surfaced. We have the video. We will play it for you next and explain how it could impact his case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Still no word exactly who will be pocketing the Powerball jackpot; $425 million go to the winning ticket holder. This is the sixth largest jackpot in lottery history.

But this is the fun part about this story, because it's not just the ticket holder who wins big. The ticket seller also cashes in. The store owner gets a million bucks.

But the thing is, this guy still doesn't know that.

CNN's Stephanie Elam talks with the seller's son, who is expected to break the news within the hour to his dad.

Stephanie Elam, exciting.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brooke, we are right here at the precipice of Silicon Valley, where there a lot of millionaires.

And today there is a new one, because just one ticket had all of the numbers for Powerball. And that was sold right here at this gas station in Milpitas, California. And this gentleman here is Parmeet Singh. And he is the son of the owner of the gas station.

How has this been for you?

PARMEET SINGH, SON OF BUSINESS OWNER: It has been surreal. I have no words to how I feel right now. I couldn't sleep last night. It's just a phenomenal feeling.

ELAM: And so tell me about -- your dad doesn't even know.

SINGH: He doesn't know yet. He's actually on his way to India right now as we speak. He's still in flight. He will be for another few hours. I still have to break the news to him.

ELAM: And so how long do you think it is going to be before you are actually able to tell your dad? Is it going to be like later this evening?

SINGH: Yes, probably around 4:00 or 5:00, because he still has a long drive ahead of him as soon as he gets there. And then he will probably get his hands on a phone and give me a call.

ELAM: And then when he calls, what are you going to tell? How are you going to tell him? What do you think?

SINGH: I will probably say, hey, what are you going to do with a million bucks? If you had a million dollars, what would you do with it?

And then we will go from there. I don't know. That's probably the way I'm going to break it to him.

ELAM: And it's pretty amazing, because what is really cool here is that the gas station gets $1 million because this is where the ticket was sold. That's what worked here.

Now you have got this big investment. What about the winner? Do you think it's someone that you may know? What do you think?

ELAM: I hope so. I hope it's somebody we know, because we get a lot of regulars over here. And they come and play lotto almost every day.

And they try their luck. And we always joke around by like saying, hey, man, you win, you give me a Ferrari or something. And I hope it's really one of our regulars. That would be amazing. That would make my day.

(CROSSTALK)

ELAM: That would be amazing.

So, obviously, Brooke, there's some very happy person, people, we don't know yet, who will come forward and cash in on this money, but a happy day here in Milpitas, California, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Sounds like it.

Stephanie Elam, thank you very much.

You have the $1 million for the store owner there. That's not bad, $425 for the winner, pretty good. But how about $19 billion? That's the selling price for WhatsApp? Coming up, we're answering the questions a lot of people are asking today, like, what is this app and how did it because just so profitable?

Plus, an NFL star arrested and facing charges for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. And now a video has leaked reportedly showing him dragging her out of the elevator after this attack. We will show it to you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: When NFL player Ray Rice and his fiancee got into an argument this weekend in Atlantic City, both were both arrested. Now newly surfaced video is triggering more questions about exactly what happened between Rice and his fiancee. TMZ got their hands on the video. Here it is for you. Rice's attorney confirms it is in fact his client that we are looking at here in the video. Rice, a Baltimore Ravens running back, gets out of this elevator here. And then the woman on the ground, this is his fiancee, Janay Palmer.

And by the looks of it, she appears unconscious. He pulls her nearly all the way out of the elevator and then you see this man approaching. Rice talks to that man and then tries here, you see trying to pick her up. She looks pretty limp. The video ends showing Palmer apparently coming to, lifting her head on her own.

Let's go now to CNN's Alexandra Field, because you just talked to Rice's attorney. What did he tell you about the video?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, essentially, he is saying that in that video we are not quite seeing the full picture yet.

Michael Diamondstein has entered a plea of not guilty on Ray Rice's behalf. And he went on to tell me -- quote -- "I can't try the case in the media. There's a significant set of facts that the public doesn't know about yet. As soon as those facts come to light, we believe the public will have a different opinion."

Again, that's Ray Rice's attorney. What exactly is going on here? Well, TMZ has released this video which say is from the Revel Casino in Atlantic City and they say it was shot on February 15. You can see Ray Rice there and his seemingly unconscious fiancee, Janay Palmer.

So, what we have not been able to independently confirm, though, is when the video was taken in relation to the alleged incident. Atlantic City police have charged both Rice and Palmer with simple assault. They say that, at the casino, she hit him with her hand, and he hit her with his hand, leaving her unconscious. Both have received a court summons, but no date is set yet.