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Democrats Try To Force Minimum Wage Vote; Mom Confronts Drunk Driver About Her Brain Damaged Son; National Enquirer Apologizes For Fake Gay Lover Story About Hoffman, Friend; Wingsuit Jumper Aims To Leap Off Mt. Everest

Aired February 26, 2014 - 14:30   ET

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

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But it is a political election year and Democrats, particularly in the House and the Senate as well, they are convinced that this is their issue. That when you frame the issue as they're not out for us, they meaning Washington, they're not out of the little guy, they're out for the big guy and the rich guy, then they are going to do well. In fact, one senior Democrat recently said to me if this election is about Obamacare, we lose. If it is about the way they are trying to frame it with this minimum wage issue, then they can do better. So that's really what this is all about. They are not diluted in thinking that they can likely to fine the vote they need the president desk at this time.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Politics and optics and mid-terms. Shocker, I hear you loud and clear. Dana Bash, thank you so much in Washington for us.

Meantime, Chris Christie's post bridge scandal charge offensive rolled on today. The New Jersey Governor held his second town hall in a week while trying to make up with voters back at home. He also showed why he was so popular before the scandal over the George Washington Bridge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: The only two professions in America where you keep getting paid even when you are always wrong affect my life every day. Pollsters and weather men, and they don't ever have to have it right. They just comeback the next day and they sound just as authoritative as they used to right, it's crazy. But hopefully we are getting to the end of February this week and hopefully that will mean they will stop this insane winter we have had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Chris Christie is great in one liner is New Jersey ready to forgive and forget. Chief political analyst, Gloria Borger is here with a little post-game -- town-hall post game analysis. Can he win over the state? Do they really loved him?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: You know you see him in these town halls and he is absolutely charming. He is not the Chris Christie that use to be a town hall. He was always looking for a fighter in the mood for a fight. This is a much more subdued Chris Christie if there were is such a thing. There haven't been questions about the George Washington Bridge controversy.

Whether he selectively picks people and he knows he doesn't know what they are going to ask obviously. But look, his popularity in New Jersey, his favorabilities have gone down 15 percent since the scandal, but I will tell you that among Republicans, seven out of ten still really like him in the state of New Jersey. That's down from nine out of ten, but most politicians will take seven out of ten if you offer it to them.

BALDWIN: He mentioned pollsters and weatherman, let's talk how he may not he may not think much pollster, but the feeling could be mutual, recent poll showed 41 percent of Republicans don't want him running for president. So know again, we look at the numbers and scratch our heads. How much stock which we should put in?

BORGER: You know not a lot right now I don't think Republicans want to win and they're desperate to get back to the White House. There are lots of Republicans are looking at Chris Christie and saying a couple of things. One is that he is not invincible, he clearly got this bridge scandal and they don't know how it's going to unfold. So it makes a lot of sense to start asking questions about where is this going?

Where is this going to lead? There other Republicans I might add who never liked Chris Christie in the first place. He thought he wasn't conservative enough and never will be able to win the nomination. He is way too moderate to represent the new Republican Party. He still has those people who don't like him.

I think at this point he's got to get through this. He has to see where it takes him and the Republicans will revaluate because by the way, they don't actually know who is going to run yet.

BALDWIN: They don't.

BORGER: No, they don't and nether do we.

BALDWIN: Gloria Borger, thank you very much. Coming up next, just an absolutely heart breaking story. What do you do when someone destroys your child's life? A Texas mother went to jail to confront the drunk driver who left her son incapacitated. She joins me live and talks about what happens after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to tell you about a little boy from Texas because in these photos (inaudible) rosy cheeked and happy and smiling kid with a whole world of possibilities ahead of him. But today, Abdullah is fed through a tube. He cannot talk. He can't walk. He can't sit or stand. He is on oxygen 24/7. His mother says he can't leave the house because he has no immune system. Recently his mother got to confront the man she blames for putting her son in that state that is, she says, worse than death. A warning for all of you because what you are about to see is raw, real, and hard to watch. Here is Jim Douglas from our affiliate WFAA.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM DOUGLAS, WFAA REPORTER (voice-over): She stood trembling her back turned as a jail guard led Stewart Richardson into a room behind her and she wheeled and for the first time faced the man who haunts her.

LOUBNA KHADER, MOTHER OF DRUNK DRIVING VICTIM: Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Look at this face. Look at him.

DOUGLAS: Richardson looked and looked away. This is what he saw. This is what he heard.

KHADER: Look at him. This is his daily life. Look at him. Just look at him! Stare at him now! Look at him. Stare at him!

DOUGLAS: Stewart Richardson said he wanted to tell the family he was sorry and that he prays for them. Five years of volcanic suffering and rage erupted.

KHADER: My son is dying every single day. Every single day he is suffering. He can't see. He can't talk. He can't breathe. He can't eat. He can't do anything. He is in pain every single day, every single day.

DOUGLAS: Richardson remains in Tarrant County Jail while an appeals court decides whether prosecutors can enhance his punishment. They want to use prior DWI related arrests in four other states to keep him off the streets for life instead of a maximum of 20 years. Abdalah Khater is not expected to live 20 years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry to hear it.

KHATER: I don't care about your sorry. Don't say it. You make me more angry when you say sorry.

(END VIDEOTAPE

BALDWIN: Loubna Khater joins me now live from Dallas. Loubna, thank you so much for coming on and talking to me. My goodness. Let's just begin with tell me why, why did want to go confront this man in jail?

KHATER: Well, first, I always wanted for the past five years to go and visit and see him. I was always told no, that I cannot go. On every occasion and every time my son gets sick, I wanted to contact my district attorney to ask him if I can go and describe this to this man. The magnitude of the pain that my son goes through every day. Always the answer was no, I cannot.

I took the first chance that came to me that when I found out that Jim Douglas was able to go and visit with him. I asked him if I can go and he said he doesn't see a reason why everybody can go and have a visit with him.

BALDWIN: And so this reporter says he would go with you because you didn't tell a single person in your family because you knew they would potentially try to stop you from doing that. And tell me every step towards that jail, every step towards that glass partition, you relived the accident all over again.

KHATER: Yes, I did. I asked Jim Douglas if he can go to the jail because I didn't know what the environment was going to be like in the jail. He was very helpful. He came with me. And just every step I took towards the room. I remembered everything that happened on February 20th. I was in so much pain. I had memories of my son.

We walked in the room and I face the wall because at that moment, I was still thinking whether I really wanted to face this man or not. The minute they told me he entered the room, I turned around and I did not know what was going to happen.

The minute I saw him and I looked so close to his eyes, I saw the evil in him. I saw no remorse and I saw that he was not really sorry. I wanted to tell him in person what my son goes through every day.

BALDWIN: What does your son go through every day? Because you told us every day you watch your son die. Every morning you rush to your son's side because why?

KHATER: We live moment by moment with my son because he can suddenly just get sick. He doesn't give a sign that he is going to get sick, but he can get sick to the point where his oxygen drops. We have time to rush him to the ER. We call the ambulance to take him to the ER. Every day my son is sick and has to six seizures a day. He is on morphine and hospice services.

As we speak, hospice is at our house right now. There no words to describe what my son goes through on a daily basis. Every day in the morning, I just wake up and the first thing I do is look at him whether he is breathing or not.

BALDWIN: I cannot imagine. I cannot imagine. The only thing I saw with Stewart Richardson. We have reached out to his attorney, but no further comment or response. When you learned this man has a picture of your son and says he is sorry, that infuriates you, does it not?

KHATER: Yes. The day before when I saw three different things that he said really, really made me very angry. One of them is that he had a picture of my son that he talks to him every day. I did not want this man to have a picture of my son in his cell. I did not want this man to talk to my son or anything like that. My son is an angel. This man is a devil. He is evil. I don't want him to talk to my son.

The other thing he said, he said he has been in jail for 1,824 days in jail. I'm very sorry. My son has been in a vegetative state for 1,824 days plus the rest of his life. My son has no quality of life whatsoever. He doesn't see or stand. My son lives on a feeding tube and eats about ounces of formula. That's the only thing my son can have a day. BALDWIN: Why did you want on come on national TV and share such a personal story. What do you want people to know? Will you ever be able to forgive?

KHATER: At this time I don't know if I can forgive him. I'm not in my son's shoes to decide whether or not to forgive him. My son has to make that decision. I forgive Stewart Richardson for the injuries he's done to me. My husband forgives him for the injuries he did to him. So does my stepson.

But I am not in my son's shoes to forgive this man. Forgiveness for something with this magnitude of pain and suffering is really hard to become easy. I will work on it. I will work on it for myself and my family. At this time I don't see myself forgiving this man. He comes on national TV saying he is sorry, why is he sorry after several DWIs you didn't before.

Why weren't you sorry? After the first person you hurt or the second or the third or the fourth or the fifth. Why now you are sorry because we didn't go to trial and you are going to trial and trying to get sympathy for people? No, you are not sorry. I know he is not sorry. He is sorry --

BALDWIN: Our thoughts with your child and I thank you for coming in as if anyone needed another reason not to drink and drive. They just got it. Thank you.

KHATER: Thank you.

BALDWIN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: In a CNN exclusive, Philip Seymour Hoffman's close friend who is actually the one to find the actor's body with the needle in his arm. He was talking about drug use and defending his friend against media lies. Days after Hoffman's death, the "National Enquirer" did this false story stating that Katz and Hoffman were gay lovers who did cocaine together. So Katz sat down and talked to CNN's "NEW DAY" anchor, Chris Cuomo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BAR KATZ, FRIEND OF PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN: My initial reaction was ludicrous when my son first saw something and told that said Phil and I were lovers.

CHRIS CUOMO, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY": You heard from it about your son?

KATZ: Yes. He had been online. When it blew up, this is now becoming the story and I was being chased by photographers and it became a thing where I unfortunately had to deal with in the midst of dealing with more important things. That's when luckily I was friends with someone that's the kind of person that handles this sort of thing, and -- and the lawsuit forced "The Enquirer" to admit that they totally screwed up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Well, Katz sued the "The National Enquirer," which apologized and here's the fascinating part of this story, the money will now go to support emerging playwright. That caused near and dear to Philip Seymour Hoffman's heart. Also Katz said the media's focus on Hoffman's heroin use is overblown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATZ: It's unfortunate that what we tend to do is the last moment that is given inordinate importance and maybe too much in the course of Phil's adult life, which is composed of countless moments. He was rigorously sober for his entire adult life and those are the moments that I think I most important to stress.

CUOMO: One of the strong messages that came out of death was the power of addiction. How difficult it is that it has to be recognized that anyone is susceptible. What is the truth? We keep hearing that 20 years he was sober. Had there been struggles? Was this the only struggle that he ever had? It's hard to believe that.

KATZ: You know, I can't speak to his personal struggles. I know that he was rigorously sober. And this was just one relapse this time. He maintained his sobriety and helped other people maintain theirs. That's who he was and that's what he did. That's really all I want to say about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Chris Cuomo there with the "NEW DAY" interview. By the way, you can see the whole thing, go to CNN.com/newday. Filmmakers across the nation are pushing today to honor a 72-year-old camera woman at Sunday's Academy award ceremony. Here is the back story, this freight train killed Sarah Jones last week while she was out working on a movie about musician, Greg Alman of the Alman brothers in Georgia.

Now the crew was reportedly filming a dream sequence with the hospital bed on a train track. Authorities are investigating and in just a couple of hours, Jones funeral will begin in South Carolina. Nearly 27,000 people signed a petition to honor Jones, during Oscars's annual memoriam segment. Facebook page includes tributes from crews on Downtown Abby, The Vampire Diaries.

Coming up, how did two former Navy SEALs die on board the ship now made famous by the film "Captain Philips" with the details about their final night together?

Plus, breaking news involving same-sex marriage. A federal judge striking down the ban in Texas. What this means, next on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Daredevil Joby Ogwyn is at it again. He already has set world records such as fastest ever climber, youngest American to do so. This guy jumped over the peaks of a Matterhorn in a jump suit. He wants to be the first to jump off Mount Everest in a wing suit and Discovery Channel is planning to take the whole thing live.

The 40-year-old has begun training, just this morning, he made a practice at a popular spot in Paris, California. He joins me by phone and Chad Myers is joining in as well. Joby, he is our weather man who is curious about what you are up to. Let me begin with that. I'm never going to find out. What does it feel like to fly?

JOBY OGWYN, DAREDEVIL (via telephone): It's an incredible feeling because it takes so long to train. It's a lifestyle type thing. You are super man and fly wherever you want to go.

BALDWIN: Butterflies.

OGWYN: It's exhilarating and thrilling. Every time it's never something you get used to. Humans should not be able to see and that's special.

BALDWIN: Chad, jump in.

OGWYN: Joby, there is not much atmosphere and lift for your wing or whatever you want to call that thing. How are you compensating for that lack of air?

OGWYN: I have been here close to Mount Everest. Tested my suits and all my different equipment that I will use this time. It worked really, really good. What I found is my suit, I thought what I did was a lot faster and further than I could have in that thicker air. In a lot of ways it lends itself very well.

MYERS: Kind of like the golf ball goes further.

BALDWIN: So Joby, good luck jumping off this perfectly good mountain. I'm sure it's beautiful. Let's talk once you land and we will see how great the jump went. Joby Ogwyn joining me. Chad Myers, thank you very much.

Let's get to that breaking news here as we enter hour two.