Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Arizona Bill: Freedom Or Discrimination?; FBI Investigates Ole Miss Noose Incident; Ukraine's Parliament Votes President Out; Michael Sam Meets NFL Scouts Today; Francis And Benedict Embrace At Vatican; People Shot In Streets In Ukraine; Baby In Roadside Rescue Stable; USA Hockey Loses To Finland For Bronze; "El Chapo" Guzman Busted In Joint Operation; Juror Speak Out On "Loud Music" Verdict; American Student Found Dead In Italy

Aired February 22, 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: We have much more straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM and it all begins right now.

Hello, again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the top stories we're following in the CNN NEWSROOM. Businesses that won't serve gay people, a new bill allows just that in one state, but will the governor sign it?

And fast moving developments today in Ukraine, a former prime minister released from jail as a president is voted out. We've got the very latest details from Kiev.

And it was a special moment at the Vatican. The old pope and new pope face to face. We have that and much more starting right now.

We begin with that controversial Arizona bill, which would make it legal for businesses to refuse service to gay people on the basis of freedom of religion. It has a lot of people outraged and protesting. The bill already passed the House and Senate there and it now goes to Governor Jan Brewer to sign. She has not said that she will do it, but protesters want her to veto that bill. They say it's a direct hit to the LGBT community.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's sending a message to progressive world -- global-based companies that this is not a friendly environment to work within or have a business within.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me, what this says is Phoenix and Tucson and flag staff have non-discrimination ordnances that protect LGBT people and we in the House of Representatives and we in the Senate do not like that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: There are some people who believe this bill will allow restaurant owners to discriminate against gay people when they dine, but a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom, told our Erin Burnett that's not the case. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS NAPIER, SENIOR LEGAL COUNSEL, ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM: This nation has had the long standing history of allowing people to freely live out their faith in private, in work, in business and this bill only does two things. It protects religious liberties.

In fact all those people that you showed, the protesters, if they're concerned about discrimination, they ought to be supporting this bill. These restaurant examples do not apply. This bill has nothing to do with serving people in restaurants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Others could be impacted though. For example, a pharmacist could refuse to dispense contraceptives claiming it's against his religion. I want to bring in CNN legal analyst, Paul Callan. So Paul, who does this bill protect? We just heard the one person who said this protects people of faith against discrimination. Is it that simple?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, that's the claim. The claim is that it's built to ensure religious freedom in the United States and that people exercising this freedom in good conscience should not be sued by gays and lesbians, who say that they're being discriminated against, but I think when you look carefully at the law, it really provides a blueprint for discrimination against gay people.

It -- I think it's the equivalent of stand your ground as applied to sexual orientation discrimination and I say that because it will create a mindset I think in many places that it's OK to discriminate against gay people because that's my religious belief. I think it goes -- it's unconstitutional, frankly as it's set up.

WHITFIELD: So give me some examples of how a business owner -- other examples how a business owner would be able to say I can't, you know, provide service to you because it's against my religious beliefs.

CALLAN: Well, I think a good way to start would be a case that really set this whole thing off originally. It was a photographer in New Mexico who refused to take photographs of a lesbian commitment ceremony, saying that this would violate her religion if she did so. Now, that was a violation of New Mexico's ordnances which ban discrimination based on sexual orientations.

So a lawsuit was brought and the defense by the photographer was this is my religious belief that this is sinful and I can't take pictures of a commitment ceremony. Now, if you were to extend that law, well, why couldn't Sears say when gay people come in and want to have a portrait taken together.

That it's against the religious belief of the corporation because the Arizona law extends this now to corporations and you could have all kinds of discrimination in public accommodations. Hotels, restaurants, all of these places could refuse to serve gay people based on this exemption. You hear the lawyer saying well, that's not really going to happen, but it could happen because if you have a sincere belief under the statute, you're protected so I think it's a dangerous law in terms of perpetuating discrimination.

WHITFIELD: All right, Paul Callan, thanks so much for your input. Appreciate that. We are going to talk more about this later on this afternoon and this hour, in fact.

And also new this morning, the FBI is investigating an act of vandalism at the University of Mississippi. A noose was placed on the statue of civil rights icon, James Meredith. Meredith desegregated Ole Miss in 1962. Police also want to know if a separate incident involving a female student and racial slurs is connected. And now, three freshmen have been kicked out of their fraternity in a possible connection to the vandalism.

All right, on to Ukraine now where a battle between the president and parliament is taking shape, in the last hour, we learned the former prime minister and an opposition leader was released from jail. She was a key opponent of President Viktor Yanukovych before she was jailed. Her release came just after parliament voted the president out of office, but today, he called the vandals and bandits.

He has left the capital city of Kiev, but he said earlier today, he will not resign. Nick Paton Walsh is live for us now in Kiev. So Nick, there is a whole lot going on there, what is the latest?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, a change on the grounds here. Viktor Yanukovych, who technically, I supposed you could say legally is the president, there aren't many scholars around to debate on that. He's left the capital. No sign of him coming back there at all. People calling all over that protest so it seems like where ever he says, the process is moving on regardless.

Parliament today, a lot of activity there, they put in a new speaker to conduct the roles of the president. They're pushing for new ministers. They are moving towards new elections in May for a new president. So the country is moving ahead certainly it seems in a different direction.

Yulia Tymoshenko, the former prime minister who's being released, now she's had a long political history here in Ukraine. She's going to become one of many people emerging, battling for the different posts in government. She has had allegations of corruption against her. She was jailed over some. Some people thought that was politically motivated. She was beaten in jail.

Now, she's emerging in an almost angelic light as a potential contender for many different posts here. Many Ukrainians too remember the often checkered past of many of their politicians. So I think it's fair to say now the reality on the capital, on the grounds here is that Viktor Yanukovych is very much sidelined in the east of the city, talking about coups, et cetera.

But the parliaments moved ahead. They've voted him out of office. They've asked for new elections and now, there are a lot of contenders in Ukraine who are going to be fighting for those key posts, for the much common day on the ground here -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so, Nick, even though Yanukovych says he's not resigning, going anywhere, he was voted out, what are his options? Where would he go? Because clearly, that country's not going to allow him to leave to rule, but where could he end up?

WALSH: There is a very small possibility that somehow, he can stage a comeback in the east of the country. There are supporters here. Many of them are wealthy. But also, the issue, too, is he has blood on his hands in the eyes of many Ukrainians are for the shooting that happened two days ago, just to the left of where I'm standing leaving dozens dead.

So his options are pretty small. That would be a small idea. It's possible he could stay in Eastern Ukraine and try and start some kind of protest or rebel movement there, opposition movement there. More likely, he would go and live somewhere else and looking to Russia as key sponsor.

But it does seem today that parliament's decided to move on, put him in the history books and it sounds a little like when you hear in that video he put up on YouTube, that he's kind of become yesterday's man -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Paton Walsh, thanks so much, for joining from Kiev.

All right, next in the NEWSROOM, we take you inside that jury room during deliberations in the loud music murder trial in Florida. Find out why one juror says the case wasn't about race.

And two popes, one ceremony, a unique moment at the Vatican. We'll go live to Rome, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, if Michael Sam, we all the name by now, is going to be the first openly gay player in the NFL, he has to impress the league's scouts first and that's what he's trying to do today. He is at the league's scouting combine in Indianapolis and that's where NFL hopefuls work out for teams and meet with their representatives and sometimes, there's a little one-on-one time, some interview time and really just kind of sizing them up as a whole.

Mike Freeman joins me now from Indianapolis, so, the combine is usually watched mostly by people who are the hard core kind of football geeks, but this Michael Sam story really has everyone kind of enamored in what takes place today. So give me an idea, Mike, what is his day likely to be like there in Indianapolis with this whole combine?

MIKE FREEMAN, "BLEACHER REPORT": Well, Fredricka, really good to be with you. It's very loud here, very buzzing. So, it's hard to hear, but it's - it's Michael Sam is basically going to be in a lot of ways, he's a piece of history. What he's doing is something we've never really seen before, an openly gay player at the combine.

There's a very good chance he will make an NFL roster. Probably the first openly gay player on an NFL team, so what he's going to go through here basically, he's going to talk to the media at some point soon. But behind the scenes, he's going to be asked a lot of questions about his declaration coming out, being openly gay.

Along with football, but there are teams, they're going to focus on that, Fredricka, because it's never been done before. We're seeing a piece of history here. So he is going to be facing a lot of queries about that, and it's going to be the beginning for him. He's going to see a lot of this really for the rest of his NFL career. He's going to be talking about this, being asked about this.

WHITFIELD: Wow, and so every player really is going to be scrutinized in order to make it to the NFL, but for Michael Sam, I hear you saying it's really going to be very different for him particularly because you know, his kind of free publicity. Clearly, he is very talented, but as you say there are going to be a lot of questions about his mental game, his mental fitness as well.

Mike Freeman, thanks so much. Keep it right there because we're having a really sizable delay technically in our conversation, but thanks so much for your input. Really appreciate it.

All right, coming up in the next hour, I'm going to talk to a couple of former NFL players about the pressure being put on Michael Sam, all this kinds of pressure trying to make it into the NFL. Today's combine and beyond that.

All right, and then also, quite a moment today at the Vatican, the current pope and retired pontiff at a cardinal ceremony today, it happened as Pope Francis selected 19 new cardinals at St. Peters Basilica. Both men embraced each other and then Francis saw the new cardinals.

It's his first such appointment since he was elected head of the church a year ago. Hard to believe it's just been a here. So much has happened. Let's bring in John Allen, CNN's senior Vatican analyst joining us live from Rome. So, John, just how complicated might it have been for Pope Francis to select 19 cardinals with the retired Pope Benedict there?

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Hi, Fredricka. Well, first of all, let me tell you, if it's hard for you to believe it's only been a year, think how I feel. This has become primetime all the time covering this pope. Look, I don't think this is complicated at all. The fact that Pope Francis and Pope Benedict were together today. I think it actually played out very naturally.

These are two men that have great affection and respect for one another. You know, at the beginning, when it was clear that Pope Benedict was going to step down, some new pope would take over. There was concern that there might be confusion about who was actually running the show. Well, I don't think anyone on the planet is confused that Pope Francis is now in charge, so today, what you saw is Pope Francis leading the ceremony and Pope Benedict, very naturally sort of coming through a side door and taking a chair. Bear in mind, in addition to the 19 new cardinals, most of the world's 200 some other cardinals were also on hand.

And many of them are men who were made cardinals by Pope Benedict and I think they were delighted to see him there. So I think what it shows you, Fredricka, is this juxtaposition of two popes, which not so long ago seemed like it might be weird or confusing, has now become in many ways, normalized.

WHITFIELD: Well, does this appearance you know, say in any way that there is still some influence from the retired Pope Benedict or that there is some kind of cooperation even between Pope Francis and Pope benedict?

ALLEN: Well, I don't think it says, Fredricka, there's any influence of Benedict over Francis, but I think, you know, Benedict is smart enough to realize that there are a lot of people in the Catholic Church who still do look to him as a point of reference and as a kind of spiritual leader.

I think it was probably important to him to be there today to show his support, not only for Pope Francis, but also to show his support for these 19 new cardinals, who as you say, this is the first crop of new cardinals created under Pope Francis and so it's him in effect putting his stamp now on the leadership level of the church and we probably should say, Fredricka, it's a pretty remarkable group.

I mean, not only is it remarkably global, I mean, in addition to this four Vatican figures and these 19 guys, they come from Haiti and from the Ivory Coast and South Korea and the Philippines. I mean, they are literally all over the map and then secondly, there is a clear love from the poor in this group.

Because not only that many of these cardinals come from impoverished nations, first ever cardinal from Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, for example. But in many cases, they come from the poorest diocese in those countries. So you know, Francis famously said he wants a poor church for the poor. Well, Fredricka, we saw that in action today in terms of these who he is lifting up as the new princes of the church.

WHITFIELD: Wow, you saw that in the cardinals selected. All right, thanks so much, John Allen. Appreciate it, from Rome, a beautiful sunset there.

All right, let's talk about the no beauty here, a country in turmoil after a week of deadly protests. Ukraine has been the scene of horrible violence. Next, we talk to a CNN photojournalist who caught some of the most dramatic situations as it was happening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: A tense situation unfolding right now in Ukraine. The president, Viktor Yanukovych, has left the capital city of Kiev, but he insists he will not resign or leave the country even though parliament just voted him out of office today. Parliament also voted to release the main opposition leader and former prime minister, Yulia Tymoshenko. She was in jail and protesters in Kiev can be heard cheering about her release.

But just two days ago in Kiev, violence exploded. CNN's photojournalist, Todd Baxter, was there and saw his hotel turn into a morgue. I want to warn you. The images and the video that he captured that we're about to show you are very disturbing. Our crew saw people being shot in the street and it is indeed very difficult to watch.

Todd joining us live now from Kiev. Good to see you. So, Todd, you know, tell us what you saw. I mean, sometimes, these images are things that you see in the kind of overseas reporting that you have been doing as a photojournalist, but in this case, give us an idea of what kind of images you were seeing unfolding before your very eyes at the same time as a photojournalist, you were trying to capture to help tell the story.

TODD BAXTER, CNN PHOTOJOURNALIST: Yes, it was funny because Thursday was a very fast moving day. We went out to shoot the barricades, for the couple of days before that had been sort of a standoff between the police and the protesters, and we went down there and they were throwing a lot of rocks, Molotov cocktails, which was normal. We shot that for maybe 30, 40 minutes and then went back to our hotel, which we had to go back around our hotel through the police lines to get back to our hotel.

By the time we got upstairs from getting into our hotel, the situation had changed by the barricades dramatically and the protesters started going forward. So much so that the front line, which was in front of the hotel, moved to the back of the hotel and one of our producers shouted out that there was a lot of action going on in the back of the hotel.

So I took a camera and I was looking through a window out the back of the hotel and I looked at the footage today, again, and within 15 minutes, I shot pictures of 15 to 20 people being injured or being carried, who were injured, and are dead. And at one point, I shot a medic who was going to help somebody who was injured. He was helping him and he, too, got shot.

It was, you know, within 15 minutes, to see that many people carried away, I mean, Tuesday, we came in on Tuesday because 20 some people had been killed. It was very clear within 15 minutes that we were watching something that was dramatically increased from that Tuesday.

WHITFIELD: And Todd, what was it about your hotel? Was it simply the proximity of your hotel to, you know, where some of the violence of the protests were unfolding, that suddenly, the lobby area would become this morgue and this place where all of these, you know, bodies were being brought? BAXTER: It was. Simply, the hotel was facing the barricades in front of the hotel before it started. The barricades were about 400 meters in front of the hotel and when the protesters broke through those barricades because the police had pulled back, they moved to the back of the hotel and the police moved back of the hotel.

And so, the front line just went right through the hotel and when the people were injured and being carried, they were bringing them down the hill into the hotel lobby and when I went down to the hotel lobby was I heard reports there were people down there who were injured and killed.

It was this strange dichotomy because reception was still dealing with people coming into the hotel and there were bodies and blood on the floor. There were two different sets of bodies, five under a staircase and six in front of the reception desk.

WHITFIELD: And then was it the combination of, you know, opposition members, protesters as well as police or government forces whose bodies were all sharing that same space?

BAXTER: No. It -- no, no, this is all just protesters. There were some policemen who were injured and some were killed, but they didn't come down this way. But by the time they moved the bodies, the front line was uphill of the hotel.

WHITFIELD: All right, CNN photojournalist, Todd Baxter, thanks so much. Very compelling images, putting us right there on the front lines of the strike unfolding there in Kiev, appreciate your work.

A life or death drama on the side of a busy Miami highway, you probably heard about this story earlier, but now, more details of how this aunt helped to save her 5-month-old nephew right on the side of the road. Her message to people who actually stopped in traffic to also assist.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Now, an update on a harrowing rescue of a baby who stopped breathing along a Miami highway. In the end, it's really an uplifting story, the 5-month-old Sebastian Dela Cruz's aunt and doctors say he is now stable, but as the life or death drama unfolded Thursday, Sebastian's aunt said she did the best she could have done to save her nephew. She also expressed her gratitude for the people who stopped to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA RAUSEO, AUNT: I would like to thank them. I was a really hot mess and if it hadn't been for them, I don't know that I would have had the presence of mind to do what need to be done. When I got out of the car, I didn't think I was capable to do the CPR. I had my training seven years ago and I was just too nervous to do it.

That's why I screamed for help and asking for somebody to do the CPR, but when everybody said they didn't, you know, and I kneeled down and I did it, the people that were there with me, you know, they calmed me down. They helped you know, telling me that I can do it and thank God, you know, we did come through.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, so just a little background just in case you didn't know. This 5-month-old baby turned blue, stopped breathing. It was a preemie and so this aunt really stepped into action as you heard her explain. She wasn't sure if she could remember how to do CPR. She did, helped saved the baby's life.

All the while, "Miami Herald" photographer, Al Diaz, just happened to be stuck in traffic when he captured these amazing images. He tried to flag people down, then got the attention of an officer who actually rushed in to help and performed the chest compressions on this baby. We spoke to the photographer on "NEW DAY WEEKEND."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AL DIAZ, "MIAMI HERALD" PHOTOGRAPHER: When you're driving along, your mind wanders and there's plenty of times where I visualize something like this occurring, and so my mind has always been clear to be humanitarian first and then a photojournalist second.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow. Isn't that an amazing story? I mean, just how everything came together at the right moment. The baby's doctor says it's too early to say when Sebastian will be released, but the good news, in stable condition.

Talk about aiming for gold, aiming high, let's talk Olympic fever now. The U.S. men's hockey team back on the ice playing for bronze. Come on, give us some good news -- Carter.

JOE CARTER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: No, don't have any good news. This is a total bummer. I mean, I think a lot of people expected the United States to contend for a gold medal, we lost to Canada, didn't show up yesterday. If you didn't think we didn't show yesterday, we certainly didn't show up today against Finland, we just lost. The game just ended moments ago, 5-0.

So now, the United States of America, the men's hockey team, comes home empty handed. This one got ugly fast. I can't show you the video highlights because of NBC's restrictions, but I can tell you what happened. Finland scored two goals in 11 seconds. That really set the tone for Finland to have the dominating performance that they did.

Patrick Kane, who plays for Chicago Blackhawks, a star for the Chicago Blackhawks, missed not one, but two penalty shots. One in the first, one in the second, and then Finland absolutely put this game away with three more goals in the third period and this is an overall hockey buzz kill I'm calling it, three losses in three days.

The women on Thursday lost to Canada in the gold medal game. The men of course lost to Canada yesterday and then lost today, failing to medal, losing 5-0 to Finland.

WHITFIELD: There's something about the U.S. on ice at this Winter Olympic Games. We just haven't done well, period, except for the men's relay on, you know, speedskating, but sorry, USA in hockey, better luck next time.

CARTER: I told you last week. Spirit was a little down. In other Olympic news, Vic Wild, he won another gold medal this morning. He won the snowboarder parallel slalom event. He is now the first male snowboarder to win two gold medals at one single Winter Games. Now earlier this week, he won gold in the slalom event.

This one hurts for the U.S. He's from Washington State. He used to compete for the United States, but after becoming frustrated with the lack of funding for his sport, he married a Russian snowboarder, and then one year later was granted Russian citizenship.

So now, he's winning gold medals for Russia, not for America and his two gold medals certainly help this morning because as of now, Russia leads in the overall medal count with 29. The United States slipping behind with 27 total medals. Russia and Norway tied for the most gold medals. They each have 11.

So the second to last day of competition is about to close. You got one more day of competition tomorrow. The closing ceremony is tomorrow and then four more years until the Winter Olympics kick back up again. U.S. again going home empty handed --

WHITFIELD: The curse of the Olympic games. You just never know. You may think because they're in these favorites heading into it, but stuff happens.

CARTER: Yes. I mean, Canada's definitely the better hockey team. We all knew that Canada was the team to beat.

WHITFIELD: Now we really know. All right, better luck next time. Go USA. I'm still pulling for them in some other kind of way. I know. All right, thanks so much, Joe.

All right, coming up, let's talk about a heated trial and a jury. A juror from that loud music murder trial giving us an inside look into the jury deliberations, many people say the case was about race. Jury number eight says race was never a factor. Our legal guys weigh in, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, this breaking news, a major Mexican drug lord has been captured. A senior U.S. administration official says the capture of drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is huge. El Chapo means shorty and this has been a long time in coming for this administration. Putting to rest -- well, apparently, this has been an investigation that has unfolded for a long time.

We're going to get more on the circumstances of this arrest of Guzman taking place in Mexico during a joint operation. We'll have much more at the top of the hour.

And we're also learning more about what went on in that jury room during deliberations in the so-called loud music murder trial. We're hearing from the jurors themselves. One juror says it was wild with people yelling and screaming as they tried to decide the fate of Michael Dunn, the man was accused of murdering 17-year-old Jordan Davis.

Another juror also says things got pretty intense. Listen to what these jurors say about the role of race in this trail and how they made this very difficult decision.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CRESHUNA MILES, JUROR #8 IN LOUD MUSIC TRIAL: I never once thought about, this was a black kid. This was a white -- because that wasn't the case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So people who say, you know, he's another white guy, who got away with shooting and killing a black kid, what would you tell them?

MILES: I would tell them they really should acknowledge themselves on the law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think Michael Dunn got away with murder?

VALERIE, JUROR #4 IN LOUD MUSIC TRIAL: At this point, I do myself personally, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you went to the deliberating room, you thought Michael Dunn was guilty.

VALERIE: Yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What convinced you?

VALERIE: To me, it was unnecessary.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You didn't think Michael Dunn had to kill Jordan Davis.

VALERIE: I don't believe so.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: In the end, the jurors didn't agree that Michael Dunn was guilty of first degree murder and the judge declared a mistrial on that charge. Let's bring in our legal guys, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor joining us from Cleveland and Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor joining us from Las Vegas. Good to see you, gentlemen.

OK, so, Avery, you first, what you learned about this jury's decision, just listening now to these jurors about what was taking place behind closed doors. What they omitted? What they thought was present and what they thought was present in this case?

AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, often in jury litigation, Fredricka, you will have stronger jurors and jurors that are less assertive. And I heard the remarks by some of the jurors, by two. It seems impossible that race was not a consideration. To me, if you had a remorseless black guy that shot a white guy, there would be no question. I absolutely believe that Michael Dunn got at least with first degree murder, got away with it, and frankly, I believe the prosecution the right. It's time to retry this case from first degree.

WHITFIELD: And so, Richard, as you look to the jurors, the way in which the jurors applied the law based on what was presented in court, do you think that this underscores the glaring I guess mistakes made, that they couldn't connect the dots enough, they couldn't paint the picture so these jurors would go into deliberations better equipped with the facts or all the circumstances that may have been surrounding this event, this shooting?

RICHARD HERMAN, NEW YORK CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That's a great question, Fred. Let me answer in two parts, first, with respect to race, that's the challenge in jury selection or vor dire to determine whether or not any jurors come in with personal biases. You want a juror to come in with a clear head, not to have personal biases. It's virtually impossible to detect that, Fred, that's number one.

And here, I don't know if that played a role in this or not. But number two, I don't know that the prosecution made that big of a mistake. There was a self-defense claim here. Had Jordan Davis come out of the car with an assault rifle, an AK47 or a shotgun, would Dunn have had the right to be able to shoot him at that point?

Because that's basically what the defense of self-defense in this case was. Three of those jurors believed that he came out of the car with some sort of weapon. Thereby allowing Dunn to shoot, now they did not find the weapon, like the Trayvon Martin case, where actually Zimmerman had cuts behind his head to somehow corroborate the fact he was being beaten at the time.

Here there was no evidence to corroborate whether or not Mr. Davis came out of the vehicle with the gun, that's why it's so hard for people to accept. But it was self-defense that prevailed for three of those jurors -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK, so we heard from the jurors. We also had a chance to hear from the Florida prosecutor, Angela Corey. She said she will indeed seek a new trial for Michael Dunn on the murder charge. This is what she told our Chris Cuomo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA COREY, FLORIDA STATE ATTORNEY: Our intention is to retry count one for all the reasons I stated earlier because Jordan Davis deserves justice, because the state of Florida deserves justice and because we always like to have that back-up case where a person gets consecutive time in case something happens on the other charges.\ (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Avery, what strikes you as interesting about those comments? The fact that she said it's good to have a back-up?

FRIEDMAN: Yes, in case of procedural errors or substantive errors on appeal, but you know what? There's something even deeper than that and Miss Corey said this with Chris Cuomo. She said it's time to change the stand your ground law. Not because it was involved this this case, but, Fredricka, generates a sense of mentality, it's OK, have that gun ready. The law should be a duty to retreat.

And even though this was a self-defense case, we agree on that. The idea of stand your ground being in Florida as part of the law, it's time for a change. The state attorney is right and it's time to go back to duty to retreat.

WHITFIELD: All right, Richard, last word on that?

HERMAN: Yes, Fred, Miss Corey left out another big reason to retry and that is to say, for job because that's the reason this case is being retried in my opinion. Although when a verdict comes in with three dissenters like this, usually the prosecution will take another look at it. If it came in half and half, they will probably let it go. But here I believe, the retrial was politically motivated. I don't know that it's worth it here and you may very well, Fred, get the exact same result next time.

WHITFIELD: All right, Richard, Avery, thanks so much. We're going to have you back at the top to have the hour. We're going to talk more about the Arizona bill passed by the legislature and now, coming from the governor, some folks are saying it has license to discriminate.

Our legal guys, just a reminder here, every Saturday at about this time, to give us their take on the most intriguing legal cases of the day, week, month, you name it. We'll be right back with much more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This breaking news just in to CNN, an American student missing in Rome, has been found dead. John Dirken was last seen at a bar with a group of friends two days ago in Rome. Our Alexandria Field is following development from New York. What more can you tell us about the circumstance of the death.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, police in Rome are now saying that they found John Dirken's body in a railroad tunnel in Central Rome. They said the body had been hit by a train. He was discovered on Friday morning two days after he disappeared. His family identified his remains earlier today.

Dirken was an economics major from Bates College in Maine, who had been studying aboard in Rome through a foreign exchange program run by Trinity College in Connecticut. He was a linebacker on the football team originally from Rye, New Hampshire. He had been out on Wednesday night with a group of friends we are told. They had left the bar before him. He never returned home. That's when he was reported missing. Family and friends went on a desperate search to find him. We know that Dirken's father had flown to Rome to look for his son and had arrived by the time it seems this news was delivered.

WHITFIELD: Terribly sad. All right, thank you so much, Alexandra. Let us know if you learn any more details about the investigation. You know, before I let you go, are they looking at this as, you know, foul play or is it terrible accident? Do we know anything like that in terms of the direction of the investigation?

FIELD: Sure, what police are saying right now is that they are still investigating the circumstances of the death, what they can say definitely is where his body was found and that it appears he was hit by a train. But we don't know how he got into the railroad tunnel, what may have happened between the time he was last seen by his friends and when his body was discovered on Friday.

WHITFIELD: All right, so sad, thank you so much. Alexandra, appreciate that. We'll have much more from the NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A massive multi-alarm, multi-boat fire out of control for hours at a marina near Seattle. As many as 20 boats caught fire before things got under control. Propane tanks in boat flares also caused several small explosions. No injuries have been reported.

It's Girl Scout cookie season and one scout in California has found a very unique place to sell her goods. Right in front of a medical marijuana shop and as Kyung Lah reports sales are high.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pot and Girl Scout cookies. What sounds like a punch line to the joke was a business plan for the 13-year-old, Danielle Lay. She parked her thin mints and tag-alongs outside San Francisco medical marijuana dispensary, The Green Cross. Sales lit up. The dispensary says she burned through 117 boxes in just two hours.

HOLLI BERT, SPOKESPERSON, THE GREEN CROSS: This girl is smart. She is business savvy. She is monopolizing this new market, and taking advantage in a big way.

LAH: The young teen has become an internet darling. The "Daily Mail" calling her one smart cookie. One declaring her the smartest kid ever as Yahoo points out her sales are blazing. The dispensary which also sells a strain called girl scout cookies call the partnership a classic community effort, a local business supporting a storied American institution.

This may fly here in California, but ironically, not so much in Colorado, where recreational marijuana is legal. The Colorado Girl Scout Council tweeting about marijuana dispensaries, "We don't feel they are an appropriate place for girls to be selling cookies."

But the headquarters, the Girl Scouts of the USA has a different take, saying the Girl Scout cookie program is girl run and local counsels make all decisions on how the cookie program is run. But what is important is what they don't say.

The national headquarters is not condemning the partnership. If the girl scouts are on board say marijuana advocates, the stigma must be going up in smoke.

BERT: This is a really hot topic around the country, but it's this time when people are becoming more open-minded and welcoming to the idea of medical cannabis. It sort of reflects the view of the country and the way we are moving forward.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: What does Danielle's mom think? She actually started all this for her daughter as a teachable moment. She wanted to open up the lines of communication with her child, to talk about drugs, what's legal, what's not, but also to remove the stigma of medicinal marijuana. They were planning on going back to the pot dispensary this weekend to sell more Girl Scout cookies, but they may not anymore because of all of the media interest. Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

WHITFIELD: All right, we have much more straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, and it all begins right now.