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Deputy Executed at Gas Station; Erika Weakens; Labrie Found Not Guilty of Felony Sex Assault; WDBJ's First Live Report after Tragedy; Trump Event, Not a Fundraiser; Man Arrested in Deadly Bangkok Bombing; Trump: "This Is Not A Fundraiser"; Egypt Sentences Al Jazeera Journalists To Prison; Memorial Service, Wreath Laying To Honor Victims. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired August 29, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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

[10:59:58] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Don't put it like that. You're never done.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I'm good for the hour.

WHITFIELD: You're just taking a break. How's that?

BLACKWELL: For the hour -- yes. 20-hour break.

WHITFIELD: Ok. Well, we look forward to seeing you again when you're off your break and you're back.

BLACKWELL: All right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much you guys.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Have a great one.

PAUL: You too.

WHITFIELD: It is the 11:00 Eastern hour. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The NEWSROOM starts right now.

All right. We are following breaking news out of Texas where police have arrested a man following the execution style killing of a deputy. Police believe this man you're about to see allegedly shot and killed Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth while he was gassing up his patrol car.

CNN's Nick Valencia has been following this story since it broke last night. So Nick, the manhunt, where are we now? There was a person of interest. Does that mean that the manhunt continues or has it taken a turn?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As far as we know there is not an active manhunt under way right now. They're just still calling this person that they have in questioning right now a person of interest believed to be the gunman. Though I just got off the phone with the Texas Department of Public Safety and they say no formal charges have been leveled against this man that they're currently speaking to.

Harris County Sheriff's deputies just grieving and mourning over the loss of one of their own.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Captured at his mother's house, the man believed to be the gunman who fatally shot a sheriff's deputy at a Houston area gas station has been taken into custody. The Texas Department of Public Safety tells CNN the man's mother called the Harris County Sheriff's Department after learning her son may have been involved in the shooting. Police say it appears to be an unprovoked execution-style killing.

DEPUTY THOMAS GILLIAND, HARRIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: A witness called 911 to let us know that one of our deputies had been shot, multiple units arrived. EMS arrived on scene. Unfortunately the deputy passed.

VALENCIA: The deputy is identified as 47-year-old Darren Goforth, a ten-year veteran who was married with two children.

SHERIFF RON HICKMAN, HARRIS COUNTY TEXAS: I have been in law enforcement 45 years. I don't recall another incident this cold- blooded and cowardly.

VALENCIA: Authorities say the uniformed deputy was refueling his patrol car Friday evening when this man, caught on surveillance camera, came up behind him and opened fire.

GILLIAND: The deputy then fell to the ground, the suspect then continued over to him and shot the deputy again multiple times as he laid on the ground.

VALENCIA: The suspect then fled the scene in a red or maroon colored Ford Ranger pickup truck, also caught on surveillance camera.

GILLIAND: It is a very bizarre incident. People understand, you know, it is tough enough being a deputy and being a law enforcement in this country right now. But for people the way that they are right now, I have no words for what this type of person did.

VALENCIA: There's no apparent motive in the case. The deputy had investigated an accident about a half an hour before the attack. Police are looking into whether there's any connection.

HICKMAN: I think it is important to ask for prayers of our community for this deputy, his family and our department family.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: The local FBI there in Houston, as well as the Texas Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Marshall Service all involved in this investigation. What is still unclear is exactly what the motive was in this attack -- Fredricka. WHITFIELD: So this person of interest who is in custody, is it the

case that his own mother made a phone call because there seems to be some discrepancy about that.

VALENCIA: That's what we were told by Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman, that the mother learned some information that led her to believe that her son may have been involved in this attack. But KTRK caught up outside of this house where this person was taken into custody. And the mother was telling the affiliate that her son was innocent.

So it doesn't seem to match up with what we're hearing from officials, from Texas Department of Public Safety saying that it was the mom that turned him in. Mom telling the local affiliate that her son is innocent.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, keep us posted on this -- Nick Valencia.

VALENCIA: You got it -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

All right. Meantime, Florida bracing for some flooding as heavy rains move in from what was tropical storm Erika. Erika dumped 12 inches of rain over parts of the Caribbean in about ten hours' time. So far at least 20 people are dead and dozens are missing in other parts.

Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more on what's left of the storm and its track -- Allison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. We want people to understand that yes, it is not as strong as it once was, but not to let your guard down completely. The winds with this storm are nowhere near what they were, but the flooding potential is still there.

So we want to take a look, this is the remnant of Erika. Again on radar it does not look impressive by any means. But it still has some pretty good areas of convection just now starting to move over parts of Cuba.

Here is a look at the forecast estimates. Again notice along the West Coast of Florida basically from Tampa all the way down through the Florida Keys, three to five inches of rain is expected. And again, some of the areas that we'll see some of those potential thunderstorms embedded in some of the system. We could see in excess of five to six inches of rain.

[11:05:07] And again most of these areas will be getting this rain in just about 24 hours or less. We're getting us a lot of rain in a short amount of time. So as this system continues to track up into the gulf and along the western edge of Florida, flooding is still going to be the big concern. We know people have been at the stores trying to gather up water and supplies and sandbags just to be on the safe side with the storm. And it's always good, Fredricka, to err on side of caution. Even if the storm is downgraded, it does still has potential when it gets back out into the open waters of the Gulf that it could become yet again tropical storm Erika.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Allison -- appreciate that.

Meantime, a graduate of a prestigious New Hampshire prep school whose alumni include the likes of Secretary of State John Kerry and former FBI director Robert Mueller is facing up to 11 years behind bars. 19- year-old Owen Labrie was accused of raping a younger student while attending St. Paul School.

He broke into sobs as the verdict was read as you see right there. Jurors found him not guilty of felony sex assault but convicted him of having sex with a girl below the age of consent.

CNN correspondent Boris Sanchez joining me now with more on this for us.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey -- Fred. I was actually in the courtroom as the verdicts were read. I can tell you that the accuser was very, very emotional. She was anxiously shaking before she even walked into the courtroom. She sat next to her sister and mom. They had to console her several times, especially as some of those not guilty verdicts were being read, the aggravated felonious sexual assault charges that Labrie was acquitted on.

Owen Labrie himself became very emotional when the guilty verdicts were read, the four misdemeanors and the one felony that he was of. He hunched over, at one point his attorney Jay Carney had to console him as well. He was crying and visibly overcome with emotion.

He did share a moment with his mom -- they held hands together. And a bailiff had to separate them at one point, she was weeping throughout the entire proceeding.

After the verdicts came down, we heard from Labrie's attorney, and essentially he said that his client who had plans to go to Harvard is now devastated, his future not to be the same.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CARNEY, OWEN LABRIE'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Owen's future is forever changed. A conviction like this will be like a brand or a tattoo on him that will be impossible to remove. He will spend the rest of his life, I'm sure, showing people that this conviction should not have occurred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Meantime, we also heard from the victim's family. They put out a statement in part saying that she was walking out of this with her head held high. They also said that part of the blame belongs or falls upon the St. Paul's School. They write quote, "We still feel betrayed that St. Paul's School allowed and fostered a toxic culture that left our daughter and other students at risk to sexual violence. We trusted the school to protect her and it failed us", end quote. Those strong words and even strong words from the defense, leading to speculation that this case may wind up in court again but this time as a civil suit against the St. Paul's School, one which as you mentioned Fred is a prestigious school. Six congressmen went there including Secretary of State John Kerry and more than a dozen ambassadors. Obviously this case not a good look for that school.

WHITFIELD: All right. Boris Sanchez, thank you so much for that update. Appreciate that.

All right. Coming up, a news station trying to return to its regular programming, now doing its first non-shooting live shot since their reporter and cameraman were murdered in cold blood during a morning show interview.

CNN's Polo Sanchez (SIC) is live in Roanoke outside WDBJ -- Polo.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred -- that's right. This morning, the community continues gathering and really rally behind the families of two fallen journalists as well as the lone survivor. We check in on her condition coming up right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:12:36] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

Employees at WDBJ in Roanoke, Virginia are trying to resume their routine news coverage. They actually did a live shot last night at a local high school football game. As you can imagine, it was a very emotional moment for them. The reporter and photographer hugging right there just as it was over.

Their co-workers, Alison Parker and Adam Ward, were killed in the middle of live interview Wednesday morning. The woman they were interviewing, Vicki Gardner, was the only survivor of that shooting. Gardner's family released a statement saying she remains in good condition and is recovering. They also say she has amazing strength and that witnessing the murders, she managed to walk herself to the ambulance and then call her husband to let him know what happened.

CNN national correspondent Polo Sandoval is in Roanoke, Virginia right now. So Polo, do we know when Gardner could be getting out of the hospital?

SANDOVAL: We know that it will happen eventually, but at this point the condition of really the lone survivor here, Fred, still listed as good. Her family continues to really keep the rest of the community up to speed on her progress, even establishing a Facebook page as they know there's plenty of interest and a lot of people want to keep tabs on her progress there

And really as they continue to show their support because I will tell you what, Fred, dealing with the pain here in this community, it does not seem to get any easier by the day. Already three days since the shooting we continue to see people come and go at this makeshift memorial, just outside of WDBJ. In fact a few moments ago we saw two women walk up, stand in front of the memorial you see behind me, Fred, embrace for a few minutes. So clearly a sign that people here are still struggling to cope with the reality.

But I will tell you that there is a sense of normalcy that's been restored today. For example, over at the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce where the shooting happened, about 45 minutes away from the TV station here, we are told that those offices reopened today. There's a lasting memorial there for Alison Parker and Adam Ward that visitors will see.

And then perhaps really the more haunting reminder, some of the actually wooden decking there at the site of the shooting has been replaced. If you walk out there, you'll see some of that fresh wood that has been installed as well.

As for again as you mentioned Vicki Gardner, we are told that her condition does continue to improve. After two surgeries, she did lose her right kidney and portion of her colon. Nonetheless she remains on a slow but steady path to recovery. Back to you.

[11:15:12] WHITFIELD: And then Polo, yesterday the Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe actually visited the station, WDBJ, and renewed his calls for tighter gun control. This is what he had to say specifically.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TERRY MCAULIFFE (D), VIRGINIA: You're not going to stop all violence, you're not. The point is are we doing everything that we possibly can to keep our communities as safe as possible. If we could have background checks and one individual next week, next month or next year is prohibited from buying a firearm and we save a life, then it is worth doing it.

WHITFIELD: You know, we have been hearing over the last few days Andy Parker, who's the dad of Alison Parker, the reporter who was killed, he very much has been talking about the kind of support he's going to lend to the governor and vice versa, and that really this is in large part his mission now in life to try and do something about gun control or at least get the hands or keep hands out of the hands of people who have mental illnesses or mental issues.

SANDOVAL: Absolutely, Fred. There's no question that the terrible shootings have really -- this terrible shooting has really ignited this gun debate. On this very spot yesterday, we heard Mr. Parker join voices with the governor as well in calling for stricter gun control.

There seems to be really this human connection between him and the governor. Even the governor saying that he has five children -- GOVERNOR MCAULIFFE, one of which is actually Alison's age. These are two men who clearly would like this legislation passed.

I will tell you this though, one very important point here is that investigators have revealed a detail that suggests Vester Flanagan did in fact pass those necessary background checks, did legally purchase that firearm. And when both these men asked that question yesterday -- Mr. Parker and the governor -- they said that really still more can be done, while there's no guarantee that perhaps stricter background checks would actually prevent this kind of violence from happening, perhaps it's yet another way of trying to keep it from happening and another family feeling this kind of pain -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much. Appreciate that.

All right. Still ahead, police in Bangkok say they have arrested someone in connection with that deadly bombing two weeks ago. Details on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. New developments in the hunt for suspects in the Bangkok bombing. This is our first look at a man arrested after the deadly bombing at a popular shrine just two weeks ago. You get a brief look at him wearing the yellow shirt there, being escorted by authorities. That man is being taken into custody because of his alleged connection to the event.

CNN's Saima Mohsin is in Bangkok with details.

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, so far, a lot of questions need answering. The man is in an unknown location, being interrogated by police. He was taken away from the apartment just a few hours after police entered early Saturday, Bangkok time. It's now late evening here, he was whisked away, a shroud over his head, huge, heavy police convoy. Was this the bomb making factory? Could this man lead them to other members of the cell?

Now what police is telling is this man is connected, they believe to both the bombings that happened in Bangkok 12 days ago. The large one at the (INAUDIBLE) shrine that killed 20 people, injured more than 120, and the small one the next day when nobody was injured. (INAUDIBLE) here close to the child however, they say that this man is connected to both and they have found bomb making equipment in his apartment -- ball bearings, silver canisters and cylinders.

As I was standing there, I saw dozens of police officers and military men, forensic teams taking away pieces from the apartment, piece by piece, mattresses, fridge, freezer, fan -- evidence in plastic bags as well.

They've also found some very confusing evidence. They found a lot of fake passports. They initially thought it was the main suspect's, they said that wasn't correct. Then they said this was a Turkish national. Now they're saying they've found fake Turkish passports in this apartment. Of course that is obviously meant as a decoy. They will want to know where these passports came from and why they want to try and pretend that they are from Turkey -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Saima Mohsin -- thank you so much for that update. All right. Still ahead, in this country, Donald Trump says he doesn't

need campaign donations because he's really rich. But his recent event asked donors to have their checks ready to go. Hear why Trump insists it was not a fund-raiser and the potentially key group he is courting today. More on all of that straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:28:01] WHITFIELD: All right. Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Live pictures right now at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking at an event in Nashville. Last night, the billionaire business man spoke at a private event in Massachusetts. Even though guests were charged $100 a head, there were signs outside the venue directing donors how to contribute. Trump has denied that it was actually a fund-raiser.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is not a fundraiser tonight just so you understand. I guess they're paying for some of the basics in terms of we have food, we have I guess 1,500 or 2,000 people. But this is not a fund-raiser, we are not doing anything in terms of fundraising.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about the checks payable to you?

TRUMP: I think what they're doing is some of the people -- many of the people that are coming in they can pay whatever they want. But I think they're doing something to offset the tremendous cost of food for 2,000 people. But this is not a fund-raiser.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. You heard him. He says said this is not a fundraiser. Meantime again, he is speaking now in Nashville. We are continuing to monitor what he is saying.

For now, let's kind of, you know, digest what was said last night. That was your conversation, M.J. between you and the Donald; Jeremy Diamond with CNN Politics also with us now joining us from Washington. So M.J., you are there in Nashville. We know he is speaking to a conservative audience right now.

But last night in this exchange where you were asking him about, you know, clearing up what do these donations mean, is this a signal that he's changing his tune about accepting money because he has been financing his campaign.

Explain more about what prompted that and did he say anything more than what we heard in that sound bite?

M.J. LEE, CNN REPORTER: Hey Fred, last night was quite the event. And you're right, there was a little bit of confusion as to whether or not the event was a fund-raiser. First of all, when we entered the event, there was a big sign said that said all of the checks, $100 per head, should be made to the Trump campaign. That seems pretty clear cut that it is a fund-raiser, that the campaign is raising money. When we have spoken to the host of the event, he also had said that it was a fundraiser. Trump when he spoke to the media, he clarified and said this is absolutely not a fundraiser. I turn away money all the time. I don't need money from donors.

There's a bit of tension and a little bit of confusion as to whether or not last night's event was a fundraiser. I think people are interested in that distinction because he has gone around as a candidate talking about that the fact he is different from other politicians and candidates in the fact that he is not beholden to big donors and doesn't need their help.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So then Jeremy, how is this being interpreted? Is this in that fuzzy category now? What is it really? I mean, for a long time he says he doesn't need anybody's money, MJ just said to the tune of thousands, millions thrown his way all the time, he says no because he doesn't want to owe anybody anything later.

He just kind of reiterated that when he was in Iowa. How is this different? His explanation is it is not a fundraiser, it helps pay for the events. Is it any different?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Listen, if you have a sign that says checks made payable to the Donald Trump campaign, that's probably a sign that it is a fundraiser of some sort, even to cover the cost of the event, they're raising funds to cover the cost of a campaign event, so that's pretty clear.

But I think what we're really seeing is you know, Trump also attended an event recently raising funds for a super PAC and nonprofit group supporting him. What's interesting is that the nonprofit can actually raise unlimited funds from secret donors.

And that's exactly the kind of stuff that Donald Trump has been decrying during his campaign when he talks about the influence of special interests and lobbyists.

I think the question in the coming days and weeks is how are you different from the politicians who you say are controlled by special interest, if you're starting to take this money, perhaps you're going in the same direction.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jeremy Diamond, MJ Lee, thank you so much. You gave us the appetizer of the conversation. We're going to talk more, dig deeper with a couple more points of view, Democratic strategist, Nomiki Konst, is in New York, and Republican strategist, Gianno Caldwell, joining us from Washington.

This is a variety of voices, talk about it all at once. So Nomiki, what's going on as it pertains to money that's being raised? Is it a fundraiser when you accept money from people who are enjoying your event? Is that the same as taking money from a donor who writes a check to your campaign? NOMIKI KONST, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I'm pretty sure when the SEC looks at filings, it will be very clear it was a fundraiser. The laws are specific. Anybody that runs for office, I have run for office, anybody that advised campaigns, knows that campaign compliance is very specific.

And you can get fined if you don't declare donations properly. He is not just accepting checks if people want to throw him checks, OK, we will take them if they want to give them to us, no, it is a fundraiser.

No, it's a fundraiser. They have to take down their information and file it properly. That's how campaigns are run. He is backtracking because maybe he doesn't want to spend $1 billion on his campaign, now that it is real. I don't know.

WHITFIELD: So Gianno, is it any different? Now you have Donald Trump, is he going to have to change his language, vernacular where he said I am not accepting anybody's money, I don't want to answer to them, but if you are accepting people's money and people place demands, what is Mr. Trump saying?

GIANNO CALDWELL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: What I think it is, it looked like a rally/fundraiser, I'll admit to that. At the end of the day, we are talking $100 a head so he might have raised about $10,000 out of the entire event. But what you don't see is the fact that Hillary Clinton who is raising millions of dollars and will charge 10, $15,000 a head to get in --

WHITFIELD: Collectively receiving $10,000, collective amount of checks versus one check that's $10,000.

CALDWELL: This is the difference. He is saying he is not receiving money from big donors. Those are the folks that are going to spend $10,000, $15,000 and then get a picture with you for $20,000. He is not doing that. Out of his entire campaign, he's raised $1.9 million, 95 percent of that came from himself.

The other $90,000 came from small donations. He says he receives small dollar donations whereas Hillary Clinton over her career received $376 million, from some groups like Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, and a number of other influencers that work in Washington, D.C. on the Hill to influence policy.

So I think right there is what you're going to see and what changes the dynamic of the conversation.

WHITFIELD: OK, All right, let's give that one a rest for a hot second because Donald Trump in the style that only Donald Trump can execute decided he is not only going to be critical of the other candidates.

[11:35:06] But he is going to reach now into the advisers, people who work with, people they're married to. This is what he had to say about Hillary Clinton's right hand, one of her right hand policy advisers, and the man she's married to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you look at what she's done and how she's done it, and the servers, and Huma, here's the story. So Huma is one of the people it came through Huma. Who is Huma married to? One of the great sleaze bags of our time. Anthony Weiner. Did you know that?

She's married to Anthony Weiner. You know, the little bing, bing, bing, bum, bum. I love you very much. So no, think of it. So Huma is getting classified secrets. She's married to Anthony Weiner, who's a perv. No, he is! He is!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, that was last night in Massachusetts. Donald Trump talking about Huma Abedin who is a very close adviser to Hillary Clinton and of course, who happens to the married to the former congressman.

So Nomiki, what is going on here? What are voters to think of his antics, what he delivers, is he serious, is he joking, is this standup, is it comedy, is it politics? What is this?

KONST: I think it is something we've never seen before. To me it seemed like he was doing a comedy act, roasting Huma and Anthony Weiner. That may play to his audience. I don't know if that plays to the national audience per se.

I would be concerned if I were Huma Abedin because it can borderline defamatory comments. I think he knows how to connect with people, he is a skilled politician, believe it or not, Donald Trump may be the most skilled politician in the race right now.

And he knows that humor and gossip and whatever it is that he's doing on stage is working for him. I don't know if that's going to work for the national audience though.

WHITFIELD: I wonder, so this is working for him when you look at poll numbers, he is still way out front. The margin is very sizable. At what point, if at all, does this kind of backfire, talking about voters, not analysts, et cetera.

But start really trying to discern whether this is presidential, whether this is the person that they want trying to drive policy or represent this country, whether it be the state of the union or overseas talking to other leaders of other nations? CALDWELL: You know what, I'm going to have to disagree with Nomiki by

saying I don't think he is a skilled politician at all, and that's what's resonating with the American public right now.

In addition to that, the way the sound bite was created talking about Anthony Weiner, he had everything to do with Hillary Clinton's e-mail scandal which gave us an open view to what a Hillary Clinton administration would look like, laziness, corruption, and cover up.

So I think in this particular situation, there are a number of factors we have to look into, which I think he brought up a solid point, throwing his as you guys are calling comedy. Huma is under investigation by the inspector general of the State Department for holding outside employment she didn't reveal to the State Department.

She worked for a consulting firm that had a ton of relationships with CEOs all over, and she had access to the White House and secretary of state. To me, that's corrupt behavior because you're not giving that information to the people as you should be, to the government as required. That's disappointing and that's what that was about, that Donald Trump made those comments.

WHITFIELD: All right, we have to leave it right there. Gianno Caldwell, Nomiki Konst, thanks so much, appreciate it. Good to see both of you.

All right, don't forget, the Republican presidential contenders will debate on CNN next month Wednesday, September 16th. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:43:03]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. We are following a developing story out of Egypt. Three Al Jazeera journalists have been sentenced to three years in prison. They were charged with aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, which is now considered a terrorist organization in Egypt. George Clooney's wife, Amal Clooney, is the lawyer for one of the journalists and she warned about precedent being set.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMAL CLOONEY, LAWYER FOR CONVICTED JOURNALIST: The fact that they've reached this verdict today sends a very dangerous message. In Egypt, sends a message that journalists can be imprisoned for doing their job and courts that allow their courts to be political tools.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Ian Lee is in Cairo. So talk to us about the significance of this ruling.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, as we just heard, this does send a message to the journalism community that the government is willing to try and convict a journalist. We have been following this very closely. It has been widely condemned by the international community, including the United States, European Union, Canada, and Australia.

Even Egypt's own president said he wishes that this trial wasn't taking place. He wishes it never got to a trial in the first place. We heard from a technical committee that was set up by the court itself that said that these -- the evidence does not back the charges against the journalists.

But despite all of that, they were found guilty. They were given three years in prison. We talked to -- I talked to Amal Clooney after the trial. She said the next step is putting more pressure on the Egyptian president and officials to get him deported.

A similar situation that happened to another Al Jazeera journalist, but if that doesn't happen, they have one last appeal -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Then what are the chances of the appeal? What's the process?

[11:45:01] LEE: It is a very long process. It would probably take roughly a year. This was the second appeal that just ended. They get one last appeal, takes a year. They will go through all of the evidence again.

Even though we've seen the technical committees and higher courts in Egypt say there is no evidence, there really is no guarantee what is going to come out of this. But these journalists, if they are found guilty again, that's it. They will be serving the sentences out, yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ian Lee, thank you so much. Keep us posted from Cairo, appreciate it. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, ten years ago today, Hurricane Katrina roared through the Gulf of Mexico and slammed the U.S. coast, it pounded 150 miles of gulf coastline. Well, today there was a wreath laying ceremony to commemorate the 1,833 people that died as a result of the storm that devastated New Orleans today, ten years ago.

CNN Suzanne Malveaux is in New Orleans. Suzanne, tell us more about today's commemorations.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fred, it really started off kind of in a somber way as you can imagine because it was ten years ago to this day that the storm hit. And it was not just those that lost their lives, but specifically it was for 80 unidentified victims of the storm, which really spoke to the chaos, the confusion in the immediate hours and days following Hurricane Katrina and the lack of response, immediate response from the federal, local, and state officials to people's needs here.

Then the day has moved on and the focus here is about resilience, about the people of New Orleans, and how the city is trying to get back to where it was. There are some good things, some things that really have improved.

You look at the levee system, it's $14.5 billion system in place can handle a Hurricane 5 storm if necessary. That's a great thing.

[11:50:03] We have seen a school system that has emerged, very controversial because it emerged from a public school system to now a chartered school system, but the test scores for some of the students is improving.

People feel pretty good about that, that students in the next generation are doing better. Some people have come back to homes. There are still thousands of people who are on a waiting list for affordable housing.

Businesses are booming as you can imagine the French quarter as well. Tourism is the main important industry in this city, so that's why you're going to see the celebrations today.

Later today, Fred, we were talking of president number three, three presidents in three days. We saw President Bush. We saw President Obama. Today President Clinton is going to be here about 5:00.

And a huge celebration, local bands and jazz bands and community leader and everybody, really coming together to ask people to come back to New Orleans because that's again one of the things that President Obama talked about.

It's that this city seems to be poised for the folks who could not make it here, the elderly people, a lot of poor people and African- Americans who never came back because it was just so tough to live in this city.

Well, now it seems that they're making a turn. It's an unequal and uneven progress if you will, still 50 percent African-American men, unemployed in this city, and 50 percent of young black children in poverty.

So there's a long way to go, but we have seen a great deal of progress, and that's what this weekend is all about -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Those significant numbers. All right, thank you so much, Suzanne Malveaux. Appreciate that. It's pretty hard to believe that it's been ten years since Katrina.

Presidential historian, Douglas Brinkley, is someone we turn to, to put perspective on all things presidential. At the time of Katrina, Brinkley was a professor at Tulane University in New Orleans and living along the Mississippi River in a high-rise building.

He too lived through the devastation and helped to rescue people that he details in the book, "The Great Deluge, Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast."

He is joining me right now from New Orleans. All right, good to see you, Douglas. There you are. Describe New Orleans of today in your view while keeping in mind what happened ten years ago?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, AUTHOR, "THE GREAT DELUGE": Well, there's a recovery under way here and people should come back and celebrate the joys of New Orleans, the music, the culture, the great vibe and Mississippi River.

However, there's a lot of poverty here. That did not get swept away because of the hurricanes, the lower ninth zones. I think that what people have been using is that it's half time at a football game that Katrina would go on for another ten years in that it will go on for year of year after year and that we're in mid-recovery mode right now. But things are better and we do not have the corrupt politicians here. Congressman Jefferson went to jail. I think the federal governments done a good job of trying to root out some of the corruption that crippled New Orleans pre-Katrina.

WHITFIELD: One of the things that you welcome. What are the changes that you have seen and things been brought that have really assisted the city and the people that live there?

BRINKLEY: Well, it's been said that the hearts of American people after Katrina hit particularly young people came down here and feel in love with it, people started to build homes and working with Habitat for Humanity or working with Catholic charity groups, on and on.

Many of them said this is where I want to live. There's a youth culture that's helping to participate in New Orleans. There's a liveliness that's going on here in the up, and parts of the city that's above sea level. Other neighbors, it's a different story.

WHITFIELD: There's a lot of heroism that was displayed ten years ago, and in your book you detail stories about some of the heroes. In your view, you know, who are they? Who are among the heroes of your view?

BRINKLEY: Well, one high profile one is Mayor Mitch Landrieu. I wrote in my book about Mitch Landrieu working the rescue boats and pulling people out when the industrial canal breached and working with the Louisiana Fish & Wildlife.

The Fish & Wildlife people have boats and the also knew the water system. Mitch really was the real deal. I think on the tenth anniversary, he is the best of the New Orleans. Last night he ran an event that celebrated. It was not a morning like today.

It celebrated music and people like Thomas sang. A huge amount of talent was there. He has survived the storm, worked the rescue and the mayor for the rebuild.

[11:55:06] WHITFIELD: This week and today you have former President Clinton that will be there. This week we saw two presidents marking the anniversary in New Orleans.

President Obama describing Katrina as one that, quote, "started out as a natural disaster, but became a man made one, a failure of the government to look out for its own citizens."

And then you also have former President Bush who had a rosier view of the aftermath saying that Katrina, quote, "Sparked a decade of reform." How do you characterize the importance of these presidents past and present being there together.

Particularly for Bush and Obama and being together for the same week just months after we saw the two presidents together in Selma, marking 50 years of the Voting Rights Act.

BRINKLEY: Well, I think it's significant. Mississippi Gulf Coast got wiped out in Hurricane Katrina. That was an act of God. It cleaned the slate of cities like bay St. Louis and Biloxi. We have to remember what Mississippi endured.

A lot of the media focus is on New Orleans ten years later. Barack Obama came here and he was the rebirth energy that we're back and a resilience to New Orleans and in a booster mode about the achievements and George W. Bush came back and he went to a charter school to promote that.

WHITFIELD: All right, Douglas Brinkley, thank you so much. Thanks for competing with the music in the background there. Beautiful none the less.

BRINKLEY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you from New Orleans. Appreciate it. We will be right back.

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