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Five Russian Fighter Jets Arrive In Iraq; Gas Prices Up For 4th Of July Holiday; Georgia Dad, Mom Researched Hot Car Deaths; Judge Wants Pistorius Case Done

Aired June 29, 2014 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The boy's mother did, too.

I want to bring in CNN's Nick Valencia.

So Nick, startling information. You were at the funeral yesterday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. And now, Georgia authorities have released more information about what they uncovered, what they have seen and the next set of questions.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The search warrant released just a couple of hours ago, new details this time about Leanna Harris, the mother. I want t read what it says here. It says Leanna Harris, the child's mother, was also questioned regarding the incident and made similar statements regarding researching in-car deaths and how would it occurs. Now it is important to note, we don't know the context to which the statement was given to authorities or when that search was conducted. Yesterday, at the funeral inside little Cooper Harris, 22-month-old

who died, his red casket was placed in front of hundreds of people who came to pay their respects.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA (voice-over): Under a light summer rain in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, 22-month-old Cooper Harris was laid to rest at a funeral service attended by hundreds. Not present, his father, Justin Ross Harris who is accused of killing the toddler. But he did call in from jail to thank funeral guests for supporting his son and apologized for not being there.

While he was on the phone, his wife Leanna said that she is absolutely not angry at her husband. She called him a wonderful father and said that the truth would come out. Harris could be heard sobbing over the phone as the crowd inside gave him a standing ovation.

Earlier Saturday, new starling details emerged about the 33-year-old. According to search warrants obtained by CNN, Harris told police, quote, "that he recently researched through the internet child deaths inside vehicles and what temperature it needs to be for that to occur." The police officer went on to say, quote, "Justin stated that he was fearful that this could happen." What remains unclear is exactly whether that search was done. Friends and family say the man police paint as a murderer is not the man they know.

CAROL BROWN, FAMILY FRIEND: I want that he would be able to forgive himself.

VALENCIA: Family friend, Carol Brown.

BROWN: It's just seems out of character for Ross and I know people change. It's been 15 years or so since we've had contact in the church. So, you know, people change. But -- it's just hard for me to imagine that that is the Ross, the sweet Ross Harris, sweet little funny boy that we knew.

VALENCIA: A lawyer has instructed Harris's family not to speak to the media. Those who have spoken off camera say a man with the moral fiber of Harris would not be capable of killing his son. Left for seven hours in his father's car under the blistering Atlanta sun, Cooper Harris died. What is still unknown is what could have motivated Harris as police say to kill his only child.

Outside the university church of Christ, friends and family grieve as they wait to find out if baby Cooper's death was a terrible accident or something more sinister.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Now, I was inside that funeral yesterday when Leanna Harris stood in front of the crowd. And besides standing by her husband, she said found solace in knowing that her 22-month-old would not suffer his first heartbreak and also never experience the deaths of his parents. She said that the truth will one day come out. Fred, she also talked about having more children.

WHITFIELD: Was there any kind of visible reaction when she talked about these things that this child would not, you know, or I guess would be able to avoid in his death?

VALENCIA: Well, the whole thing was just very bizarre. It was evident to the reporters in the crowd that they were speaking beyond those in attendance. There was media in the room. There was also people that weren't family and friends in the room, a crowd of about 400. Lots of sobs, lots of tears, perhaps the most extraordinary moment was that standing ovation that was given to Ross Harris as he was on the phone. And he could be heard thanking the crowd for their support of not only him but also of his young son, 22-month-old.

WHITFIELD: All right, well, keep us posted on this remarkable story. Thanks so much, Nick.

VALENCIA: Will do.

WHITFIELD: All right. Now to a severe weather slamming much of the country. In Prior lake Minnesota, south of the twin cities, the waters are rising and dozens of homes are flooded. More rain is expected there today.

Alexandria Field and meteorologist Karen Maginnis are both with me.

Alexandra, I want to begin with you. Minnesotans just can't get any relief from these rain which is are incredible. ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. They certainly can't, Fred.

I mean, it is 35 different counties in that state are already in a declared state of emergency. Flash flooding is creating widespread damage across the state. River water levels just keep rising.

In Prior, these people are just trying to protect homes and streets for piling up sandbags five feet high.

In Waterville, Minnesota, they say they have already gone through 60,000 sandbags.

And we're seeing similar problems in Memphis, Tennessee, where the national weather service reported a flash flood emergency. Flash flood warnings are still in effect and drivers are being warned to stay off water-covered roads. Cars are being trapped there. Some rescues have already happened. And in Shelby county, there are reports that some underpasses are flooded with water three feet high.

It doesn't stop there, Fred. Over in Milwaukee, a 67-year-old man seriously hurt after a tree uprooted and fell on him while he was jogging. And in that case, we're told, that high winds are to blame.

So, just a number of problems right now across the country, Fred. And certainly, we are keeping an eye on all of them.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Alexandra.

Bad, very bad situation. And apparently, more terrible stuff on the horizon.

Let's check in with meteorologist Karen Maginnis. What's the next area, if not the same, still in the bull's eye?

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, that was the problem, Fred. It is that the sky has opened up on Sunday morning. We watched the storms just plow across Memphis and then did not move very much. And as a consequence, here's Memphis. Here's Little Rock. You can kind of see where the heaviest rainfall was in these pink and red shaded areas, between five and ten inches of rain fall and a number of areas. And these all happened very quickly.

Rain fall came down, the bulk of it, in just a very few hours. And for the most part, they did see in Memphis around five inches of rainfall in just about two hours time period. But not just there. Across sections of Arkansas, as well. Look at this. In excess of ten inches of rainfall at Little Dixie, Arkansas. Memphis, just over five inches of rainfall.

Now, we are -- let's go ahead and take a look at the tower cam that we have got because it's very interesting. We have looked at this all day long. Actually, this is an improved picture compared to what we saw just an hour ago. The temperature has hovered around 70 degrees with the cloud cover. The rain has come down. Neighborhoods with flooded. So, there's a brief respite and then from the Mississippi river over towards northern Georgia, three to five inches of rainfall expected over the next three days. And the upper Midwest, that's the other area. Tonight I dare say we could see severe weather outbreak across-sections of the upper Mississippi river valley and into the central plains, a moderate risk of severe weather.

What does that mean? Heavy down pours, Hail, high winds, potential for an isolated tornado.

And then, one other thing to tell you about. And that this disturbance. Now, the national hurricane center say there is a 60 percent chance, Fred, that we could see this become a tropical storm in the next several days and then 80 percent chance in the next five.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, it is hurricane season.

MAGINNIS: It is.

WHITFIELD: So patterns like that I guess we should expect but still it always sounds surprising with a forecast like that.

Thank you so much, Karen. Appreciate that.

All right. Off to Arizona now. They could use some of that wet Minnesota weather, especially in the eastern part of that state. The San Juan fire burned some 5,000 acres but conditions just might be improving. The weather is better today and crews are hoping they contain the fire before it reaches properties in the nearby city of Vernon.

Iraq's military just got a delivery that could significantly help their efforts to defeat militant Islamists that seized huge areas of western and northern Iraq. Today, five Russian fighter jets arrived in Iraq. They are the first of 25 war planes that will be delivered under a deal between the Iraqi and Russian governments.

The Pentagon is rejecting complaints by Iraq's prime minister that ISIS militants have been helped by the slow delivery of two U.S. fighter jets. A spokesman said the f-16s couldn't have stopped the ISIS advance.

Meanwhile, fighting rages on in several Iraqi towns. Iraq says, its air force carried out a strike against ISIS forces. They were trying t build a dam to block the river in Anbar. The official spokesman for ISIS has purportedly released a statement declaring the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq and renaming the ISIS group simply the Islamic state. So far, CNN has not been able to verify the authenticity of that message.

A U.S. official tells CNN the suspected master mind of the Benghazi attacks denied to U.S. interrogator that is he took part in the 2012 assault. But the official says Ahmed Abu Khattala did implicate other people in the attacks. Abu Khattala talked to interrogators before and after he was read his Miranda rights. But some members of Congress said he should never have been Miranda-ized at all.

Erin McPike joins us now live from the White House.

So Erin, some Republican say that this interrogation was mishandled. What exactly are the concerns?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, they really wanted him to go to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, first because the real concern is they wanted to make sure that he underwent an intensive interrogation process so the U.S. could get as much intelligence as possible out of him.

Now, here's how house Republican Mike Rogers who chairs the House intelligence committee put it this morning on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE ROGERS (R), CHAIRMAN, HOUR INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: These are dangerous folks. If he doesn't give us anything and we get him -- put him in jail, what have we accomplished? I argue we've spent a lot of money and we have not gained anything valuable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: So in other words, he is saying without getting that intelligence, just capturing him and spending the money to do that, but not getting all the necessary intelligence, what's the point, Fred?

WHITFIELD: OK. Another issue that has the White House's attention, an official with the White House confirming to CNN that President Obama will seek emergency funds to deal with the flood of undocumented immigrants on the border. What are you learning?

WHITFIELD: Fred, we have heard that the White House on Monday will request at least $2 billion to basically try to end this humanitarian crisis of children who are trying to cross the border without parents. That's the key here.

But there are a number of things to do with those funds. That the first thing is they want to stem the tide of immigrants that are trying to cross the south Texas border illegally. They also want to see more housing for this big influx of undocumented minors who are arriving without the parents. They also just want to make this more efficient in terms of enforcement and removal proceedings. And also, of course, deporting these immigrants back to where they were coming from, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Erin McPike, thanks so much. And we will talk more. We are going to be speaking with Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist who lived and works here in America without legal documents.

All right. A shocking string of shootings at a hugely popular tourist attraction, New Orleans famous bourbon street. Police are looking for a suspect who shot nine people there overnight. And according to police, at least one of the victims is a woman in critical condition now. Seven other victims are reportedly stable and another had surgery. The shootings happened about 2:45 this morning. Police do not have a motive. And now, to the passing of a Hollywood star. Many of us remember from

the sitcom "Designing Women." Actor Meshach Taylor died last night. He was 67-years-old. Taylor was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of Anthony Bouvier on 'Designing Women." He was also well- known as the larger than life window dresser Hollywood Montrose in the movie, "Mannequin."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The windows last night film at 11:00. Yes, my dear, your favorite. She is gone, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get him!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Taylor had been fighting a terminal illness. He was surrounded by his familiar, wife, children and grandchildren and mother when he passed.

And we are now less than 50 hours from the U.S. world cup match against Belgium. But there's plenty to talk about today including a round of 16 match featuring our neighbor to the south. We'll have a live report from Mexico city.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Iraq under attack, the war in Syria, and sagging poll numbers, they are just some of the challenges President Obama is facing right now. So it's no wonder he is actually relishing a chance to get outside the Washington beltway and reconnect with voters. In the president's own words, the bear is loose.

Here's CNN's Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lost in the political wilderness for months.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm finding lately that I just want to say what's on my mind. So let me -- Can't be regular. Can't be routine.

ACOSTA: It's fair to say President Obama is doing more than working through some cabin fever these days.

OBAMA: The bear's loose.

ACOSTA: Now, these presidential bear sightings happen every week. But this creature of Washington is hungering for more than coffee runs and fast food as he told a town hall in Minnesota.

OBAMA: I'm like a caged bear and every once in a while I break loose.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God, it's a bear. ACOSTA: Unlike the actual bear that are trying to escape to the

Minnesota woods, Mr. Obama wants to reconnect with the voters outside the White House fence and beyond the beltway noise.

OBAMA: Critics and the cynics in Washington, you know, they've written me off more times than I can count.

ACOSTA: Now, the White House is making these getaways part of the schedule while having the president spends more time with every day Americans. This week it was Rebecca Erler's turn. She is a Minnesota mom who wrote a letter to the president about her struggles making ends meet.

REBECCA ERLER, MINNESOTA MOTHER: I got the chance to start a conversation about what a lot of the people I know are going through.

ACOSTA: With the president's poll numbers approaching record lows after bearish stories from Obamacare to the VA, democratic strategists say the looser the better.

DONNA BRAZILE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's an election year so there's no question that the president will visit not just those important states but those not so important districts. So I'm sure that there's a little bit of politics in all of this.

ACOSTA: No surprise with the midterm election battle with Republicans under way, the claws are coming out.

OBAMA: They don't do anything except block me and call me names.

ACOSTA: The president prefers the bear, and aides say he's out to convince Americans that Washington can be more than the circus where he's not the popular exhibit he once was.

OBAMA: And I don't want you to ever forget that. I don't want you to be cynical. Cynicism is, you know, popular these days, but hope's better.

ACOSTA: President Obama is not the first occupant of the White House to see this place as a cage. Harry Truman once called it a glamorous prison. So don't be caught off guard. Aides to the president say he'll be back on the loose this summer to meet more Americans about their issues.

Jim Acosta. CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK. And it's do or die in, well, in Brazil, but it involves Mexico. Team Mexico taking on the Netherlands right now in world cup soccer. And guess what? A final score. We'll take you there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: World Cup fever surely you must be feeling it by now. Team USA's next match is just a little over 48 hours. So if you have been not bitten by the bug yet, you have a little bit of time.

The U.S. will be taking on Belgium Tuesday afternoon in their round of 16 match. Team USA landed just a little while ago in the coastal city of Salvador, Brazil. Weather conditions for the match supposed to be perfect.

And as the U.S. soccer team tries to advance in the world cup, our owned Chris Cuomo will be live from Brazil tomorrow. He is looking like a soccer player right there. Would you agree? Starting at 6:00 a.m., he will be live from Brazil.

All right. Now to a team that has a lot of followers right here in the U.S. I'm talking about Mexico. Mexico has been taking on the Netherlands in a match that just ended. And Nick Parker is in Mexico city where people have been over the top excited.

But now, Nick, they have to be pretty disappointed at the outcome not good for Mexico.

NICK PARKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Fredericka, that's right. It was the crushing disappointment I think for the fans that gathered in the main square to see the gripping match on the giant TVs. And (INAUDIBLE), I think it's a massive sense of what could have been, history could have been made. There's also essentially -- I don't know if you can hear it, but in the background, fans stayed behind long after the match ended to sort of shoulder -- the team -- chanting Mexico, Mexico. I think overall that does reflect perhaps a sense of resurgent pride and belief in the national team. So the locations into this team quite low. But since then, under the management, they have tried to show that anything can be possible. They had a very strong group performance and certainly, then 1-0 off against the Netherlands but the most of the match finally contending the two goals and dying minutes so -- sort of could have been pulled here with Mexico. But ultimately, denied historic passage through to the quarterfinals but still some sense of pride here, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Parker, what an exciting match right down to the end. Thank you so much.

I'm sure Tuesday's match between the U.S. and Belgium will be exciting, too. No one can predict that outcome.

Thanks so much, Nick, in Mexico city.

All right, just in time for the 4th of July holiday and gas prices are rising. How much will we be paying when we hit the roads this week?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Iraq's military got a welcomed delivery this weekend. Five Russian fighter jets, they're the first of 25 war planes that will be delivered to Iraq to help the army fight Islamic militants trying to take over their country.

Meanwhile, fighting continues to rage in several Iraqi towns. Iraq says its air force carried out a strike against ISIS fighters who were trying to build a dam to block the Euphrates river in Anbar province. And the official spokesman for ISIS has purportedly released a statement declaring the establishment of an Islamic state in Iraq and renaming the ISIS group to simply the Islamic state. So far, CNN has not been able to verify the authenticity of the message.

I want to bring in CNN military analyst and retired lieutenant colonel Rick Francona.

So Colonel Francona, good to see you again. What is your reaction to this report that ISIS has renamed their group? can you put it in context what this means in their attempt to take things over?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. I think this shows us what their true goal really is. They're not interested in just an Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. They're not territorially bound by that. They want to set up the caliphate all over the Middle East. So I think this just shows their true intentions. I think we wondered when this would finally happen. So I think we are seeing their goals finally come clear.

WHITFIELD: What does this mean to you or, you know, how do you digest this information that Russian airplanes have been delivered, there's a relationship between I guess, you know, Iraq and Russia and that, of course, you know, all of these countries are ultimately going to have to work together in terms of building a coalition to help save Iraq.

FRANCONA: Yes. This is very interesting. You know, the Russians have a long history of supplying weapons to the Iraqis. They have -- goes back decades. Of course, once the U.S. invasion came it was shunted to the side. So the Russians are looking to get back into the game in the Middle East and Iraq in particular. So these five aircrafts, they're older, but they are aircraft that the Iraqis are familiar with it.

At one time the Iraqis had about 65 of these in the inventory and know how to fly it. They probably have pilots that can still operate these aircrafts so this is a big shot in the arm for the Iraqi Air Force because right now they have got no real serious aircraft. This gives them an ability to put a lot of munitions on target. This is a very capable aircraft.

WHITFIELD: So it's one thing to have the tools and another to be able to coordinate the use of the tools and have training to use these tools. Are Iraqi forces up to that?

FRANCONA: I think so. You know, the Iraqi Air Force, you know, really is an old institution and they've got people that have been to all the schools. I listened to the commander of the Iraqi Air Force last night when the weapons were delivered, and he seemed to be able to -- he sounded like they could integrate these quite rapidly. He says three to four days these aircrafts will be striking ISIS targets.

That's pretty aggressive, but he said that the Russians will be there and doesn't make me feel really good, but you bring up a very good point about the coordination. You will have Iraqi aircraft flying. American aircraft flying. We have seen Syrian aircraft in the west and now Iranian drones and add to the mix Turkish drones.

WHITFIELD: So will they be talking to one another on these missions?

FRANCONA: Somebody's going to have to control that air space. I assume one point it's going to be the United States. We'll move in there and try to control the air space, but as far as coordinating, I don't think we want to coordinate with the Iranians and the Syrians, but we probably would be telling them we're operating in the area, please stay out of our way.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then meantime there are conflicting reports now over who controlled Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. If Iraqi forces do indeed control it, what does that say about their strength? Sort to speak, to hold off ISIS?

FRANCONA: Yes, they have got to take back Tikrit. Not because itself is important. It's the ideal of taking back territory from ISIS. They're putting helicopters into the mix, they're moving troops, air assault troops. They are moving armor. If they're defeated trying to retake Tikrit, this says that the Iraqi army really has serious problems.

WHITFIELD: And Iraqi Prime Minister Al Maliki is saying a militant advances might have been avoided if Iraq had the proper air power. Are they now saying that now that everything is coming to terms with the Russian planes, things will come along better?

FRANCONA: Yes. A couple of thoughts on that. That was kind of a cheap shot on Maliki's part. Those F-16s were not supposed to be delivered until this fall anyway. It's long process. That said, you have got to give the Russians credit. Delivering the aircraft in a matter of two days and having them in combat three or four days later, that is really impressive. My hat's off to the Russian Air Force here.

WHITFIELD: All right, Lieutenant Colonel, thanks so much. Good to see you.

All right, just in time for the 4th of July holiday, rising gas prices and part of it might be due to the turmoil in Iraq. CNN's Zain Asher tells us how much we will be paying at the pump -- Zain.

ZAIN ASHER, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. The national average price for gas this 4th of July weekend is expected to be $3.68 a gallon according to AAA. That's 20 cents higher than last year. Typically gas prices fall in June. That didn't happen this year. Mostly because of all the turmoil in Iraq. Still the national average is nowhere near the all-time high of $4.11 we hit in 2008.

Crude oil back then topped $140 a barrel. At this time, now, right now, just under $106 a barrel so we are not even close to the record highs, but still analysts eyeing the situation in the Middle East and they are always sort of wondering what if and asking if the conflict in Iraq and the Middle East could send oil back to the scary highs, which would, of course, translate into more pain at the pump. But nearly everyone we spoke to seemed to think it's highly unlikely. While $4 a gallon is already reality in some parts of the country, don't expect to see $5 a gallon any time soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFFREY GROSSMAN, ERG BROKERAGE PRESIDENT: I don't see $5 as a distinct possibility in the coming months. The market is not ready for it unless a major geopolitical occurrence takes place. The dynamics of the market mean that possibly we could have a little bit of a price increase because of the driving and inventory issues but as far as $5, that's quite remote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: So experts basically saying demand here in the U.S. and issues with inventory here are having a much bigger impact on how much you pay for gas than anything happening in the Middle East and demand is rising right now. This 4th of July weekend more cars on the road than last year. AAA says 41 million people, that's 2 percent more drivers than last year -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Big numbers. All right, thanks so much, Zain Asher. Appreciate it.

A toddler is dead after being left in a hot car by his dad. So why did the dad and mom research that exact cause of death online? When did that happen? My legal ladies weigh in next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, new details today in the case of a Georgia toddler who died after his dad left him locked in a hot car. CNN has learned that the boy's father wasn't the only one that researched child deaths in hot vehicles. The child's mother did, as well. And at Cooper Harris' funeral yesterday in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, his father, Justin Ross Harris, made an emotional statement by phone from the Georgia jail where he is being held on a felony murder charge.

I'm joined now by Tanya Miller, defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, and Glenda Hatchet from "The Judge Hatchet" TV series. Good to see both of you, Ladies.

My goodness, OK, so incrementally there are new things that are revealed just about every day. So Tanya, now when you hear that the mother, as well, may have researched this kind of -- what does it take for a child to die in a hot car -- what's that tell you, even though police are not revealing the sequence of events? We don't know when that search took place. What does that tell you, though, as an investigator, as a defense and prosecutor?

TANYA MILLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY AND FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes. Well, I'd like to wear my prosecutor hat for this one. I tell you. Look. The fact that this was being researched by the mom and by the dad is a bad fact for them and difficult to explain. If -- I'm saying if, because we are very early in the investigation and we don't know what law enforcement knows right now. But if the mom was somehow a part of a conspiracy or a plot to kill this baby and make it look like an accident, then she will be charged as a party to the crime under Georgia law.

WHITFIELD: Absolutely.

MILLER: And that means she will be charged with murder just like the father is. She can be punished just like the dad is under law. They can get the same exact penalty even if she wasn't the one who actually left him in the car.

WHITFIELD: Judge, what's the information you still want to hear or investigators need to hear in order to get a complete picture as best they can before trial on what exactly may have happened here?

GLENDA HATCHETT, THE "JUDGE HATCHETT" SHOW: It's interesting to see if the surveillance tape in the Home Depot headquarters will show anything about what he was doing when out to lunch time. When he got into the car, did he put something in the car? What was he doing in the car?

WHITFIELD: Because what we know in terms of sequence of events, getting to work, parking the car, going into work, coming out and going back to work and then leaving for hours later leaving for the day.

HATCHETT: Right, right, right. I will tell you they may be trying to get in front of this by saying that they researched this, to say that they wanted to avoid it. It makes it worse, actually. To say that they went on the internet to research this and to avoid this happening to their own child. You would think it's much more sensitive and other thing is the surveillance tape if any at Chik-Fil-A and the pattern and time the time it took him there.

WHITFIELD: We know our own Martin Savidge did that and he is under 5 minutes --

HATCHETT: Actually it was under 3 minutes that Martin did it. There's going to be a lot of pieces that the police where I think the most damning part of this is the fact that the searches have happened on the internet and both the mother and the father -- it could very well mean that the father will be charged, she will be charged, I agree absolutely with Tanya. They may do a plea deal with her for exchange for information about him. That could happen.

MILLER: Let's remember we're still very early in this investigation.

WHITFIELD: Very early.

MILLER: Really, two big categories of investigation that law enforcement is probably doing right now but certainly they'll need to do before they charge. One, they will have to look into the background of this guy, his relationship with the baby. Were there any other instances of abuse or neglect? What did the baby --

WHITFIELD: What if we noticed from the funeral and leading up to it, so many people that know, you know, this family, who feel like they really knew Ross are saying he was an upstanding, great father. The mother even says to folks at the funeral saying -- she says he was and is a wonderful father.

MILLER: That's what they're saying now. You have to dig deeper, take a deep dive. How did it present at day care? Other individuals and adults outside of the immediate family, is there going to be any information from neighbors or other people who interacted with the baby to contradict that?

They have to dig deep, look at other internet searches, when did they do this internet search? What was the context of it? Is there an explanation or did they do it very soon before this death happened? All of those things will factor in and they're also going to have to look closely, right, Judge, at what happened on that day. From the time he got up to the time he jumped out of that car yelling.

WHITFIELD: Conducting himself even at work.

HATCHETT: At work and also -- absolutely. What was his routine? This was the man I think primary caretaker in terms of taking the child to the day care.

WHITFIELD: On the premises of work.

HATCHETT: Of his work. And also, they're going to be looking to see what really happened after he left work, too. They're going to go back to all those witnesses in that parking lot and all of this really is circumstantial because he says it was an accident. They've got to build a strong case because the state has the burden of proof to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that his was not intentional. Murder has to have intent.

WHITFIELD: So he is in jail, you know, pending his charges, of course, in trial, but the mother has not been charged. However, it is likely -- I mean, help us understand how she is being watched, examined, how even she is being investigated even though we haven't heard anything about charges.

HATCHETT: All of the subpoenas, we know that they're going to be looking at cell phones. Were they talking back and forth several times in that day? Did they talk after he went to the car? They won't know what was said.

WHITFIELD: Search warrant did include cell phones, computer.

HATCHETT: The homes, the car. What was going on there? And so, they're going to ask him, when you came out, what did you put in the car? What did they find in the car? All that's going to be very, very important.

WHITFIELD: They're going to ask these questions even though they can discover it for themselves, but then you want to match the consistencies and inconsistencies.

MILLER: Because remember, Fred, any time a child of this age is murdered, statistically, it's the mom, dad, somebody close to the child and look at that mom very closely just like they're looking at that father.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

HATCHETT: I wouldn't be surprised if both of them aren't charged and if she is charged, whether it's a deal with her for evidence in exchange.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Incredible. All right, thanks so much, Tanya Miller --

HATCHETT: Death penalty. Death penalty in Georgia.

WHITFIELD: Potentially?

HATCHETT: Potentially is a death penalty case. Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: All right, Judge Glenda Hatchett, Tanya Miller, thanks so much.

MILLER: Good to be here.

HATCHETT: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: There's another case to talk about coming up. The Oscar Pistorius murder trial, guess what? It resumes tomorrow. It was a very long break. Will an opinion from mental experts cause it to go in a completely different direction now?

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WHITFIELD: The Oscar Pistorius murder trial is scheduled to resume tomorrow after he underwent a nearly month-long psychiatric evaluation. At issue, did he have psychological problems the night he shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp? CNN's Robyn Curnow reports the judge is ready for this case to wrap up.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For the past month, Oscar Pistorius's mental state had been assessed, analyzed by a panel of doctors at an institution in Pretoria. Now the court sent Pistorius for observation after his own psychiatrist testified that he suffered from a general anxiety disorder. And that could have impacted how he acted that night he shot and killed his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

Very crucially, this panel of experts will have to decide whether Oscar Pistorius is criminally responsible for his actions. They will give a report to the court and then over the next week or so, the defense will continue with their case calling witnesses.

We understand, though, from a court official that the judge is very keen for this case to be wrapped up by the end of July. So it's likely that Pistorius and for Reeva Steenkamp, we are entering the final phase of a judicial process that began in the early hours of Valentine's Day last year. Robyn Curnow, CNN, Johannesburg. WHITFIELD: Ahead, in this country, calls for Congress to pass immigration reform. Why one journalist who was also an undocumented immigrant is taking his story public in a film airing tonight on CNN.

And next hour, the 8-month pregnant Olympian who ran an 800-meter race, why and how did she do that?

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The challenges for Wimbledon were huge. In our case, we looked at, how do you keep water out of a center court and you think, what does everybody do when it rains now, they put up umbrellas. We just started thinking about, what if we had a giant umbrella?

When you press the button to start the roof closing, a computer starts to work out the exact positions of all the motors. They all work on hydraulics, so they start pushing the roof out, and each panel can be pushed out in succession.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've enjoyed it. It's a great atmosphere when the roof's closed. It gets extremely loud in there and I think the crowd really enjoys it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a way, changing something that had almost become folklore was a very strange feeling. But as I say, on that opening day when we realized that we'd changed the history of tennis in a small way, that was wonderful.

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WHITFIELD: President Obama will ask Congress for nearly $2 billion to deal with a flood of undocumented immigrants. Many are children crossing the border of Central America. The funds would get those people back to their home countries and also pay for more border patrol agents and deportation proceedings. Yesterday hundreds of undocumented immigrants protested in New York. They said they're tired of being separated from their families.

Tonight on CNN, the airing of a film called "Documented." Highlighting the plight of one man that entered the U.S. at the age of 12. Jose Antonio Vargas continued to live here illegally, go to school and work as a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. He told me why he felt compelled to do this film.

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JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS, JOURNALIST: Immigration is the most controversial yet least understood issue in America. And I think the film really underscores that.

WHITFIELD: And I guess it really underscores -- I guess the real contradiction here that people know who you are now, know your story that you have lived in America undocumented since your mom made a decision that, what, at the age of 12 to send you from the Philippines to be with family members here and all along the way you're going to school, getting jobs. You're undocumented and now the government knows your situation. While you qualify to be deported, you have not been. Why is that?

VARGAS: I don't know. Really, the question here is -- this is really the question we should ask, you know, all political leaders, congressional leaders and President Obama which is, what do you want to do with me? What do you want to do with us, the 11 million of us and then how do you define American?

I think those are the questions that our leaders have yet to really answer or explore. I mean, this issue is so politicized and people think of it in black or white terms. You're illegal or legal. The people have not explored or bothered to think about the complexity of the issue. All this talk, for example, about the U.S.-Mexico border. My border was the Pacific Ocean. I got here on a plane.

Forty percent of the undocumented people in this country overstayed their visa. Meaning that they came here legally and fell out of status. These are not the topics of immigration reform. It's always from the perspective of the politicians and framed around the politics. Not about the people and not about the lack of process.

There's a scene in the film when I, you know, crash a Mitt Romney rally in Iowa, in Cedar Rapids. Why don't you get legal? Why don't you get in the back of the line and get legal?

WHITFIELD: And what is the answer?

VARGAS: The answer is there is no line! There is no line.

WHITFIELD: So you don't find a need, you haven't felt compelled to fill out paper work, go through the motions to --

VARGAS: Because I can't -- again --

WHITFIELD: To have legal status. Does it matter?

VARGAS: The fact that politicians don't know that, the fact that many journalists haven't really explored that to me speaks again to the level of misperception that people has coming to this issue. Right? We need immigration reform because there is no line. There is no one -- there is no way for somebody like me to make myself legal --