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Erin Burnett Outfront
Defense Rests In Zimmerman Case; Ex-Police Chief Of Sanford Speaks Out; Not Guilty Plea from Boston Bombing Suspect
Aired July 10, 2013 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: OUTFRONT next, another big day in court. We have it all covered. The judge asks George Zimmerman directly if he wants to testify. Then, she gets testy with the lawyers and sets the timetable for closing arguments.
Plus, we are going to go live tonight to San Francisco where investigators late today say the pilots of Asiana Flight 214 originally told the crew not to evacuate the aircraft. Why? And then what made them suddenly want to change their minds.
And then the man accused of setting the Boston marathon bombs with his brother faces the judge and public for the first time today. You will see his face. There is a big change on that. Let's go OUTFRONT.
Good evening, everyone. I am Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight the defense rests. A huge day in the George Zimmerman trial, George Zimmerman himself apparently concerned about his fate. Today Zimmerman spoke. You actually heard his voice. You saw him talk in court to say that he would not testify in his own defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE DEBRA NELSON: What is your decision, sir?
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, DEFENDANT: After consulting with counsel not to testify, your honor.
JUDGE NELSON: You understand that no matter what counsel says to you it is still your decision? Do you understand that?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes, your honor.
JUDGE NELSON: OK, and I need to know is that your decision to not testify in this case?
ZIMMERMAN: Yes, your honor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And then when the day was done Zimmerman's lawyer was asked about his client's state of mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARK O'MARA, ZIMMERMAN'S DEFENSE LAWYER: He's happy with the way the evidence got out and that he has had an opportunity to have his lawyers present his case for him. But we still have a case where the state of Florida is trying to put him behind bars for the rest of his life. That is a very scary position to be in and he is worried.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Worried. Martin Savidge is in Sanford, Florida. As you know he has been watching every second of the trial for us. Martin, the defense obviously has rested, which is a significant event. Court is not done for the day. So what happened after that?
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There was a lot more that happened after that. One of the first things the prosecution wanted to do is to have testimony from what had been a pretty key witness from the defense stricken, that would be telling the jurors not to pay attention to John Donnelly. He was the Vietnam War medic who dramatically said he could identify George Zimmerman screaming for help in the 911 tape. He knew what people under stress could sound like.
The reason the prosecution wanted it out was apparently he was sitting in the courtroom a couple of days earlier. The judge listened and said that testimony can continue as it had been. That means the jurors can continue to think about it. The other thing they came out the lesser inclusives. These are lesser charges that George Zimmerman could face if not second degree murder.
They include the possibility of manslaughter and also aggravated assault. Manslaughter you could end up with decades behind bars and the assault charge could land you prison time. So those are going to be important issues as we go forward. They are not done by any means with those.
BURNETT: And obviously crucial if they go for one of those lesser ones what it means for jail time. So what happens tomorrow? Now we get the closing arguments and go straight to the jury. It doesn't happen that quickly.
SAVIDGE: No, it doesn't. The next thing that you probably will have in the morning is the attorneys going over the instructions with the judge as to how that jury is going to be instructed. Most attorneys would tell you this is crucial because this is really what the jury hears as far as their job before they go off and do their job. What are the instructions? That is really, really important stuff.
And then the next thing that will happen is you begin with closing statements. You know the prosecution will go first for about two hours and the day will end. That means the jurors overnight will listen to the words of the prosecution ringing in their hands before Friday morning when the defense gets to come back and give their account. And then lastly it will be the prosecution with one final hour before the jury deliberates. Friday is the key day. Deliberation is expected to begin. BURNETT: All right, of course, the question is to begin and when they end and how quickly this jury of six makes up its mind. Thanks for Martin Savage who has been following this trial. I want to bring in our legal analyst now, Sunny Hostin and Mark Nejame is also going to join us.
Sunny, let me start with you. Should George Zimmerman have taken the stand? This was a very contentious decision. Were you surprised at all? Did you think there was any chance he might?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think he wanted to. Even his attorney, Mark O'Mara said he wanted to. It was very clear from being in the courtroom that he has a story to tell and he wanted to tell it to the jury. It was very, very smart that he did not. He doesn't have to. He already has his statements that are out there, several statements. Many of them are inconsistent.
To get on the witness stand would have been a mistake because it is a prosecutor's dream to cross examine a defendant especially a defendant that has inconsistent statements that he's given several times. So this was a brilliant strategy by the defense to convince him not to get on the witness stand.
BURNETT: And they did indeed have to convince him. Mark, did the defense do its job or do you think they rested too soon, went too fast?
MARK NEJAME, CNN LEGAL ANALSYT: I actually think they rested a little too early. I think when Dr. Di Maio had given his testimony you don't get better than that.
BURNETT: That is the guy talking about whether Zimmerman was on top or bottom.
NEJAME: He was spectacular. I think what happened is that we had a little bit of what happened with the state. The state ran a great case. Clean case beginning, middle and clean story and it unravel at the very end. I don't think the defense unraveled to the extent of the states did. I will tell you that the state did not -- the defense did not end it with that bang that they were hoping to.
They would have done that if they ended it with their expert forensic. I think that they were looking for the best way to close it on a high. I think they got a gift by the judge leaving out the animations. That would have been cross examination for the state and they would have really unraveled at the end. They can use it in closing for demonstrative purposes.
I think they should have closed a little earlier and then try to put in his father at the very end to make a statement. We had heard seven other people that was George Zimmerman's voice. It wasn't that fireworks that they were hoping for. It was still a strong case, a strong defense case and I think they did as much as they could hope for.
BURNETT: Obviously that 3D animation, Sunny, you know, a re- enactment that the defense has in 3D of what happened that night, you know, according to George Zimmerman. Yesterday the defense had the forensics expert. Today their first witness was Dennis Root, another expert on the use of force. The cross examination on this one was really intense and the state brought a dummy into the courtroom to ask about the medical examiner's determination that martin was shot and the angle and the crucial questions to determine who was the aggressor. I want to play this to show you what happened with the dummy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN GUY, PROSECUTOR: Could not the defendant have shot him at a 90-degree angle?
DENNIS ROOT, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: If Trayvon Martin is backing up and you are saying that Mr. Zimmerman is laying on his back and brings the gun if he is backing up that the bullet is going to go straight in?
GUY: Could he shoot him at a 90 degree angle?
ROOT: I think I am getting really lost, this 90-degree thing. I don't want to misinform the jury with my answer.
GUY: If the defendant started to sit up and Trayvon Martin is getting up are you saying there couldn't be a 90-degree angle?
ROOT: Am I saying there couldn't be a 90-degree angle with him in a half up position? You're trying to get up, if the body is in line -- in order, my understanding to maintain the entry we will have to maintain some relativity between the two persons. So the relativity I can sit here and say the same thing that if I am laying completely back and you are more forward I can get a 90 degree entry. Could it happen that way? The absolutely answer is absolutely yes if he is getting up and he is getting up together, sure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: So Sunny, should the defense have called that witness. He seems a little confused.
HOSTIN: Yes, I didn't think he was a good witness for the defense. On cross examination he was eviscerated. This jury likes this prosecutor, John Guy. He is attractive. He is aggressive. He doesn't seem to mind to get his hands dirty doing courtroom demonstrations. Half stood up to see him do the demonstration.
Basically the prosecution took what was supposed to be a defense witness and turn him into a state witness. I think the defense had a strong day yesterday. They should have ended with Di Maio. They did not. Today probably was diminishing returns day for the defense. This was not a good witness for the defense.
BURNETT: All right, thanks very much to both of you. It's interesting, Mark and Sunny has disagreed on a lot of things, but agreeing the defense ended on a pretty weak note today. We have more on today's case plus an interview with the man who chose not to arrest George Zimmerman, the former police chief in Sanford, an exclusive interview. Later, tonight he speaks out.
Plus the latest on the investigation in the crash of 777 in San Francisco, we have new details tonight that came out late today about two members of the flight crew who were blown out of the back of the plane and survived.
And the head of the rail company whose runaway train exploded potentially killing dozens says he knows now who is to blame.
Later a driver does something you are going to find we think pretty hard to believe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: One man paying extremely close attention to the George Zimmerman trial is a man named Bill Lee. He is the former police chief of Sanford and you may remember his name. But if you don't, you remember his story. He was fired after he was widely criticized for his handling on the murder case and the big question was this, why did he let George Zimmerman go free after the shooting? He is now speaking publicly for the first time since he was fired in an interview with our George Howell.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What are the decisions that go into letting a person walk free?
BILL LEE, FORMER SANFORD POLICE CHIEF: Well, the main decision is do you have probable cause to charge that person? George Zimmerman made that self-defense claim and the evidence and the testimony we had corroborated his statement. For us to arrest him would have been unconstitutional.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: All right, Trayvon Martin's family attorney, Attorney Jasmine Rand, joins me now along with David Mattingly. They're OUTFRONT. You just heard the former police chief of Sanford say it would have been unconstitutional to arrest Zimmerman, didn't have probably cause. When you hear that, you hear him talking, what is your reaction?
JASMINE RAND, MARTIN FAMILY ATTORNEY: I think the Sanford Police Department's failure to arrest George Zimmerman for shooting and killing Trayvon Martin was a complete miscarriage of justice. We are always going to have people in our society who behave in morally deviant ways. For our system to fail to arrest a self-confessed killer of an unarmed child that is a complete miscarriage of justice. If that was me laying on the ground, Bill Lee would have found every reason in the world to arrest George Zimmerman.
BURNETT: David, let me ask you about this. About a month after the shooting the case got transferred away from Sanford to the state attorney general. George Howell asked Lee about that decision to basically take Sanford out of this. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is it fair to say that the investigative process in a way got hijacked?
BILL LEE, FORMER SANFORD POLICE CHIEF: Yes, in a number of ways.
HOWELL: What do you mean?
LEE: That investigation was taken away from us. We weren't able to complete it. And it was transferred to another district or a different state attorney. So that outside influence changed the course of the way the criminal justice process should work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: David, it wasn't until a special prosecutor was appointed though that George Zimmerman was arrested and charged with second degree murder. So, I guess this the question. Would he have been charged if the investigation hadn't been transferred?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are never able to answer that question because a grand jury in Seminole County was never called. The evidence against George Zimmerman was never presented so we just don't know how to answer the question.
But we have to know that the city was actually blindsided by the back lash about this case. Bill Lee gave a press conference outside of city hall early in March. And there were people shouting at him. Now, he had been on the job for less than a year. The city manager had been on the job just a very short time. And until then there was never any conversation in the city about the huge rift between the African-American community and the police department. So this caught them very much by surprise. And they were reeling at that time the case was taken away from them.
BURNETT: Jasmine, let me ask you about the 911 call and who was screaming for help. Obviously it is the heart of the case. Now, George Howell asked Lee about whether it was right, the initial decision made to play it to a room full of people which included Trayvon Martin's family. Here is how he responded to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: To our understanding it was a room full of people, you know, the Martin family in this room, the mayor and city managers and perhaps some others. They were all hearing the tape together. Is that how it should have happened?
LEE: Well, if you are trying to have someone identify a voice, no. You know, it should be done individually so there is no influence on the other people in the room.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BURNETT: It sounds like they may have made a mistake judgment. I'm just wondering how much of a difference do you think it would have made if they hadn't played this call to a room full of people because the only people that have said it is Trayvon Martin screaming were his mother and his brother. And the defense was able to bring multiple friends of George Zimmerman who said that that voice was George Zimmerman's.
JASMINE RAND, MARTIN FAMILY ATTORNEY: I don't think that it would make any difference on the outcome of the case. We have to remember that was played for the family in a private room because they were hearing the last moments of their son's life as he cried for help. And I think Sybrina Fulton got up and walked out of that room. She didn't said or talk to everybody because she had a visceral reaction when she heard her son yell for help and she couldn't help him because she knew he was dead.
BURNETT: OK. So, you know, I understand what you are saying it was because it was such a sensitive and emotional moment that they chose to do it in that way.
Jasmine, Billy told George Howell there were outside influences that this led to him being taken off the job. That it wasn't fair. And I wanted to play what he said for this because he says the words thrown under the bus. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWELL: One of our legal analysts today said, you know, Bill Lee, Chief Bill Lee, really got thrown under the bus. Would you agree?
LEE: Yes.
HOWELL: Why?
LEE: I love the city of Sanford. And I hate that the city and the men and women of the police department were mischaracterized. It was pretty special to be selected as the police chief. I knew there was a big responsibility there. And I knew that we could make a lot of progress and a lot of improvements. It's a vision that is going to be unrealized. And I am at peace with it on most days. I am a man of faith but it stings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Jasmine, at the time there were demonstrators around the nation calling for Zimmerman's arrest. I mean, it was an uncertain time. Do you think there is something to be said for what Bill Lee said? He was thrown under the bus.
RAND: Bill Lee failed to conduct a fair and impartial investigation which is why he lost his job. And I personally thank God that he does not have the ability to fulfill his vision to uphold an arcane practice that has no place in our legal system. BURNETT: All right, Jasmine. Thank you very much. We appreciate your time. And of course, to our David Mattingly who is going to be back with us later in the hour with a Special Report.
It was a contentious day in court. And you know, we have been saving some of this to share with you because there were some intense exchanges, I mean, incredibly tense exchanges between the judge and the attorneys. We are going to play them for you so you can hear it for yourself. It sounds extraordinary. Is it?
And later, a facebook employee takes a long leave after the birth of a child. Does it matter that that person is male?
And for the first time since the Boston marathon bombing the public sees the face of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the accused bombers and that face has changed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Hefty. All right, that might be one of the better words to describe the interaction today between one of George Zimmerman's attorneys and the judge presiding over the case. Here's what happened today when the judge spoke directly to George Zimmerman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBRAH NELSON, ZIMMERMAN MURDER TRIAL JUDGE: Have you made a decision, sir, as to when or not you want to testify in the case.
DON WEST, DEFENSE LAWYER: Your honor, I object to that question.
NELSON: OK, overruled. Do you have made a decision as to whether or not you want to testify in the case?
WEST: I object to that question. I think that's --
NELSON: Overruled. The court is entitled to inquire if Mr. Zimmerman's determination as to whether or not he wants to testify.
WEST: I was -- on Mr. Zimmerman's behalf.
NELSON: I am asking your client questions. Please, Mr. West.
WEST: I object to the court inquiring as to his decision about whether ear not to testify.
NELSON: Your objection is overruled.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Yes.
All right, OUTFRONT tonight, CNN legal analyst Paul Callan, maybe that is why we were talking earlier about how George Zimmerman wanted to testify. His attorneys didn't want him to. It seems clear from that. But you spent so much time in the courtroom, Paul. Does this happen all the time where the judge has to finally say basically shut it?
PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it brings back memories, Erin. I had a kidnapping case here in Manhattan where a judge ordered a court officer to stand behind with me with handcuffs out because he wanted me to sit down. I was trying to get the judge thrown off the case. And by the way, the judge was thrown off the case and then the client was acquitted ultimately.
But, this sort of thing is really arising out of the tension of this trial and the fast pace of this trial. I think everybody has admired Judge Nelson's hard working, you know, ethic but normally the judge doesn't ask the defendant if he is going to testify. She says to the lawyer first is your client going to testify. And then she may ask follow up questions to confirm that the client understands his rights. I have never seen a judge go right passed a lawyer like that and say to the defendant are you going to testify. It is very, very unusual, probably not illegal, but not the thing we see in court.
BURNETT: Not usual.
CALLAN: Yes.
BURNETT: And Paul, this is the lawyer that told the infamous knock knock joke at the very beginning of the trial which fell obviously extremely flat. And last night at 10:00 p.m., Don West, who you just saw there, said I am not physically able to keep this pace up anymore. It is 10:00 at night. I have been working nights. I have been working weekends. I'm exhausted. The judge basically just walked out on him. How does his interaction with her, does it hurt George Zimmerman?
CALLAN: Well, you know, I have been watching him carefully and I kind of thought he was the dopiest opening statement I ever heard in my life with the knock knock joke. But, I have grown to be an admirer of his cross examination skills. This guy is a really good lawyer and he works really hard. And let me tell you something. Everybody likes a hard working judge and let's push the case. But let's say, you know, we are having brain surgery or open heart surgery and you found out your surgeon was forced to work until 11:00 at night and then he had to come back at 8:30 and start the next morning on some more surgeries. You wouldn't like that. So, we like a slower pace with such serious charges.
BURNETT: Interesting. Wouldn't like it although doctors in this country do it all the time.
All right, thank you very much, Paul Callan. We appreciate it.
And still to come OUTFRONT, what would life be like for George Zimmerman if he is convicted?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have George Zimmerman lasting six months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: We will hear from a man who knows.
Allegations that Aaron Hernandez, the former New England Patriot -- big mistake there, was the man who fired the shots in the murder of the acquaintance. We have the details.
Plus, the latest on the final seconds before the crash of that 777 in San Francisco. The flight crews speak late today and what the NTSB says tonight about that crash.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Welcome back to the second half of OUTFRONT. We start with stories we care about where we focus on our reporting from the front lines.
I want to begin with new developments in the Aaron Hernandez case. Ernest Wallace, another man arrested in the murder of a man named Odin Lloyd alleges that Hernandez was the one who fired the deadly shots. Obviously, that's very significant. Now, that's according to court documents.
But here's what's also important. Wallace did not make that claim directly to authorities. He actually told another man and then that man went to police. And that extra step is going to be very important because "Sports Illustrated" legal analysts Michael McCann tells OUTFRONT that Hernandez's lawyers are going to use that double step to argue that the statement is inadmissible because it's hearsay.
And now, an OUTFRONT update, in May, you may remember, we reported that the Navy launched its X47B unmanned drone from a carrier for the first time. That was a big landmark. But, today, it achieved a much more difficult feat. The Navy actually landed the drone on the carrier.
Winslow Wheeler of the Project on Government Oversight tells us as the program progresses, the conditions are going to get more and more rigorous and that's when he says we're going to begin to see how much of a future drones could have at sea.
And shocking surveillance video that we want to show you of a hit-and-run in Michigan. This is incredible. It was actually caught on tape.
What you're going to see is a young mother and her 1-year-old son. They are walking across a parking lot, a minivan backed into them. The falls over, the child then gets caught into the bumper and dragged several feet before the mother is actually able to free him.
Now, there is a happy ending in that the mother and the boy had only minor injuries. The driver, though, fled the scene. It must be that police released these pictures of the suspect.
Police tell us there have been 80 hit-and-run crashes so far this year.
Well, it has been 704 days since the United States lost its top credit rating. What are we doing to get it back?
Well, tonight, we found out, Federal Reserve officials are split on when to end the Central Bank's program of buying back bonds to lower interest rates. We just found out what the Fed, officials were talking about in their June meeting. That means we still don't know when the Fed is actually going to cut back on those purchases and uncertainty makes the market nervous.
And back to our top story tonight. A very big question in the George Zimmerman case. What will happen to him after the verdict is read? The defense team is fighting hard to keep the client out of prison. And here's why -- David Mattingly spoke to a former convict who spent more than a decade behind bars.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's been locked up before. But days spent on the county jail after his arrest is nothing compared to what would be waiting for George Zimmerman in prison.
LARRY LAWTON, FORMER CONVICT & AUTHOR: I don't got George Zimmerman lasting six months.
MATTINGLY: Larry Lawton is an ex-con and author who has some grim predictions for George Zimmerman if he is convicted. A wannabe cop who killed an unarmed black teenager guarantees trouble.
LAWTON: There is a whole litany of people that are going to either want a piece of George by either extorting him or protecting him. And that's just one case.
You know, George Zimmerman's first six months to two years is survival.
MATTINGLY: Zimmerman would have to get tough and quickly. His attorneys attribute his 120-pound weight gain to troubles he's already having dealing with stress.
ADAM POLLOCK, TRAINER FOR GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: He's still learning how to punch.
MATTINGLY: Zimmerman's own trainer testified he is no fighter.
(on camera): From one day, what is your best advice to him?
LAWTON: Well, communications with the outside world will keep him as sane as he can, because he will get support from various groups and various people. So, hopefully, that will keep him mentally. I think the prison system will protect him for as much as they can, for as long as they can.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): These pictures come from the Florida Corrections Web site. Protective custody means alone in a cell like this for 23 hours a day. The isolation can take its own toll.
Lawton was a jewel theft who spent 12 years in federal prison, three of them in isolation.
(on camera): What is that going to do to somebody like George Zimmerman?
LAWTON: It's the hardest in the world. You want to go crazy. I have watched men kill themselves, hang themselves.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): And if convicted, Zimmerman would be looking at decades, maybe a lifetime behind bars dealing with a daily possibility of violence.
(on camera): Is he ever going to be able to relax, not stop watching his back?
LAWTON: Great question. And I'll tell you something, I was in prison for 11 straight years. I ever, never slept past 6:00 in the morning. When the doors opened I got up and my boots on and my sneakers on. Where do you think they are going to get you in prison? When you put your guard down, when you're sleeping.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): A warning to Zimmerman about a life he is desperately trying to avoid.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: And, David, what will be the process for George Zimmerman if he is convicted and he's ordered to serve time? What happens then?
MATTINGLY: Well, if he's convicted, he's going to go to about 30 miles from here, to a facility called a reception center. It sounds very pleasant but it's not. That's where they take new inmates to be processed, where they determine what kind of needs they're going to have and that's where they're gong to decide what kind of custody he's going to have to be in, if they're going to have to protect him for a while, all sorts of things regarding the future he has behind bars.
And it's not going to be a very pleasant place for him to be. And it's only a stopping point to where he might be transferred at some other location. So, it's going to be his first taste of life behind bars in the state prison system.
BURNETT: All right. David Mattingly, thank you very much.
And tomorrow, a special OUTFRONT investigation from David on what happens if George Zimmerman is acquitted.
And now to San Francisco where we have new details on the chaotic moments after the crash of Asiana Flight 214. According to investigators, the pilots, actually, originally told the flight crew not to evacuate. Hard to imagine, right? But then they changed their minds after a flight attendant saw a fire outside the plane. Within minutes, the Asiana crew had helped save 305 lives by getting people off the burning jet. The situation could have been a whole lot deadlier.
OUTFRONT tonight, Kyung Lah, at the San Francisco airport.
And, Kyung, we learned a lot today. What else are investigators now saying?
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Something that really caught my ear is that investigators are looking at multiple mode changes of the auto pilot and auto throttle in the final two and a half minutes of this flight. They don't know why all these changes happened. They're also going to be looking at something the pilot says was an unusual flash of light that he saw at 500 feet. He doesn't know if it was a laser or not, but it was a temporary issue for him.
And we also learned that there were three flight attendants ejected from the plane, not two. And, Erin, we also got to see some of this cabin crew.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): Through a packed international terminal, one flight attendant in a wheelchair and five of the crew spoke to reporters, crying throughout their brief statement. The visibly shaken crew prepared to leave San Francisco where they survived Asiana Flight 214 days before.
"The families who suffered losses are in my prayers", says the cabin manager. She added her airline is working as quickly as possible to recover from this accident.
The NTSB says the evacuation of the aircraft did not begin until 90 seconds after the plane came to a stop. As these flight attendants helped passengers escape, they tried to put out a fire in one section of the plane. It was a hectic evacuation amid a burning, smoking and dark cabin, holes punctured in the walls, evacuation slides opened inside the aircraft pinning two of the flight attendants. But still, fairly successful given that all but two passengers survived.
DEBORAH HERSMAN, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD CHAIRWOMAN: About two minutes after the crash, the first emergency response vehicle arrived on scene, and approximately three minutes after the crash, the first extinguishing agent was started to apply to the aircraft on the right side.
LAH: Adding to the chaos, some passengers grabbed their carry on luggage as they evacuated.
Look at this picture. That's two duty free bags purchased in Asia. Others pulled down roller bags.
Chinese bloggers were outraged, blaming Chinese passengers. One writing, "At least one man said he first grabbed his luggage and then grabbed his children." Another writing, "Outside the plane, many were carrying their luggage even duty free liquor. When I saw this, I felt ashamed."
Former airline pilot and now author Patrick Smith called it human nature to grab luggage but a dangerous instinct when aboard a burning jumbo jet.
PATRICK SMITH, AUTHOR, "COCKPIT CONFIDENTIAL": It's irresponsible. It is reckless. There may have been circumstances where it was relatively calm and moving certain belongings was a way of clearing the pathway a little bit. But on the whole, it's just a terrible idea.
LAH: So, six of the flight attendants did leave, returning to Korea. But an additional six, Erin, remain here in the United States primarily because they are injured and cannot fly -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Kyung Lah.
Still OUTFRONT: the alleged Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared in court for the first time today. That means we saw him for the first time. And we'll show you how he look.
And mystery of the run away train and that explosion that leveled a town getting even more mystery. The latest and a live report, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Alleged marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev appeared in public today. This is the first time since his arrest. This is really the first time we've seen him as the public.
And speaking in court, the surviving suspect in the April 15th bombing pleaded not guilty to all 30 public charges, all of which come from the series of explosions in which three people were killed and more than 260 injured. Seventeen of those counts carry a possible death sentence.
Deb Feyerick is OUTFRONT from Boston with more tonight.
Deb, you know, we haven't seen Dzhokhar Tsarnaev since he was arrested nearly two months ago. And, you know, even then, we didn't see him really. He was severely injured in the police shootout, at least we understood, in that boat.
What did he look like today?
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was very interesting when he first walked in. First of all, he was much taller than I anticipated just from the pictures that I've seen of him. He's probably a little over 6 feet. He was wearing an orange prison jump suit. His hair has grown and quite disheveled actually.
He looked immediately in the direction of some family members that were sitting in the court. And he got over to the table with his lawyers. His feet were shackled. He seemed almost uninterested in the proceedings. In the words of the mother of one of the victims, that there was no remorse. The judge was speaking to him. He looked around. He wasn't focused on it seemingly to ignore the situation or the gravity of the situation and the charges that he's facing.
One interesting thing also when he entered his plea of not guilty, the judge made him speak the words not guilty. And there was a thick Russian accent.
And I ran into some wrestling buddies of his from high school after the hearing, they were there because they just really wanted to get a look at the guy they had known so well. They said when they knew him, there was never a trace of a Russian accent. So, it was very curious to them as to why he was speaking clearly with an accent that when they knew him he never had -- Erin.
BURNETT: Yes, it's amazing when you say that. Significant point, right? I mean, everyone told us he appeared to be totally acclimated.
Now, Deb, I know in the courtroom, some of the survivors were there, as well as others who were there to actually support Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Now, did he interact with any of these people at all? Look at them? Interact?
FEYERICK: He didn't look at the people behind him, the victims, and some of the victims' family members. It may have been he didn't know that that's who they were. But what he did do is he locked on to two women, both wearing head scarves. One black, one white, one of them holding a young -- an infant who actually was fussing during the court proceeding.
And he looked back at them and he smiled, and he kept looking back at these two women who were visibly upset. You know, one of them sobbed the moment she saw him. They were wiping away tears.
And at the end, when he was leaving court actually, his hands were shackled. And he sort of pursed his lips and blew them a kiss.
And also, you mentioned the injuries earlier, Erin -- he did appear to have sustained some nerve damage to his face. There was a twitching that was going on. Also, he did have one of his hands in a cast.
So -- just -- he was moving. He was fidgeting. He didn't look focused. And even just watching him in the center of all of this, when everybody around him was so serious, and just -- it was one of the strangest arraignments of suspected terrorists that I had personally attended, Erin.
BURNETT: Pretty incredible, though, just -- I mean, curiosity about what he looks like. Thanks to Deb.
And now to our "Outer Circle", where we reach out to our sources around the world. And tonight, we go to Canada. There are dramatic developments tonight in the investigation to train derailment. At least 20 are dead and that number is going to go higher. Thirty people are missing but presumed dead. So, that number is 50, that is stunning.
And Anna Coren is there tonight.
Anna, the chairman of the railway company spoke today. What did he say?
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR/CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, he certainly met with a hostile reception. People calling him a murderer, saying that he was unwelcome in this town and if he came, that he would need security. He certainly came with police escort.
And, you know, people are angry, because it has taken him five days to get here and actually confront this local community. Let's have a listen to what Ed Burkhardt from Rail World had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EDWARD BURKHARDT, CHAIRMAN, MONTREAL, MAINE & ATLANTIC RAILWAY: I understand the extreme anger. And beyond that, I will do what we can to address the issues here. We can't roll back time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: He is obviously cooperating with police. But the company has suspended the engineer in charge of the freight train. They are investigating what his role is with the disaster, whether or not he correctly applied the brakes.
But, Erin, as you say, the death toll has been revised. It's now 20 confirmed dead, 30 missing, presumed dead.
So, this is a town basically dealing with a loss of 50 lives.
BURNETT: I mean, it's just -- it's impossible to imagine, 50 people in a small town dead. How are people in the town reacting?
COREN: Well, Erin, as you can imagine, their sadness and their grief has really turned to anger. How was this able to happen? How was it that this train carrying all this crude oil as people described as a bomb is allowed to basically go through the heart of this town's center?
The people want answers. And that is what they are demanding.
You know, Erin, we spoke to a mother today who is one of her sons is among the missing. And she said that in her heart, she knows he is dead. The reason being is because his house has been vaporized. It is no longer standing.
So, that is what we are dealing with this community -- people looking for answers, looking for the bodies of their loved ones. But in the end, you know, these bodies have been vaporized, have been incinerated. It is a gruesome imagery but at the end of the day, that is what we are facing here in this town.
BURNETT: Perfect word.
All right. Anna Coren, thank you.
And now, taking time off to raise a child. A new dad writing about his experience while on paternity leave says that during the four months that he took a paid leave, he was often ridiculed because he wasn't working. That's because dads are in the minority, the vast minority when it comes to taking time off. It's estimated that just one in 20 new fathers actually take more than two weeks off after their child is born. When it comes to companies that actually offer paternity leave, in the United States, it's only about 15 percent.
OUTFRONT tonight, contributors and expected parents, Margaret Hoover and John Avlon. And they are expectant parents together, I should note. And they disagree on this, which makes it great.
All right. John, some of the companies that do offer paid paternity leave for fathers, Ernst & Young, the accounting company, being one of them, give it with stipulation, that you have to prove you are primary caregivers. You can't take some mammoth amount of time off if someone else is a primary caregiver. Then, some people say that's a double standard.
Do you think there should be a double standard when it comes to companies giving fathers paid leave?
JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I don't think there should be a double standard. As you know, I mea, this is personal. We're around four weeks away and I'm under no illusion that guys don't have it easier until delivery.
But afterwards, it's an opportunity to reset as a family. And while responsibilities are different, I think giving some paid leave is important to just regroup as a family with this extraordinary new addition.
BURNETT: All right. Margaret, what do you think? Fathers -- do you agree that there should be a double standard?
MARGARET HOOVER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I do think that there is a double standard for a very clear reason, reasons that you and I are quite aquatinted with, in which and our husbands are acquainted with. Biology has created a double standard. This is not company policies acting unfairly. This is the fact I'm going to have an entirely different experience in the three months following the birth of our child than my husband is, and I think it's reasonable for company policies to reflect that in their time off and paid leave policy.
AVLON: Yes, hard to argue with that, except I will.
BURNETT: You know what? I don't know about you getting paid leave -- you know, she's going through what she's going through, which is a lot and, you know, you kind of get to hang in there. I'm kidding. (CROSSTALK)
AVLON: No, I'm excited for a little bit of parental leave.
BURNETT: Right, right. All right. And that's important. Prince William said to be going on paternity leave for two weeks, which is, you know, apparently what a lot of Americans do as well.
But you get 28 weeks legally in the United Kingdom as a man, which is pretty incredible. The United States, of course, the only industrialized nation that doesn't require paid parental leave.
Do you think that needs to change?
HOOVER: Look, I -- you may be surprised here. You know, I'm going to go conservative, I'm going to go small government -- I don't, actually. I am for more policies that allow people to take paid time off with their family, but you can do that through private insurance program. I'm not for the federal government saying we have to pay for people to take time off to be with their children, and I'm not sure we want to look at Europe in terms of their model for how to spend out public money.
AVLON: I mean --
BURNETT: John Avlon, let me tell you, did you see this, Sweden. Men in Sweden get 61 weeks of paid paternity leave and yet, Sweden is not bankrupt.
AVLON: Yes, I did notice that. Sixty-one weeks? More than -- I mean, that's a socialist paradise. Just kidding, that's nuts.
But I do think that some -- some paid leave -- look, we have these things in the '90s over Family Medical Leave that small government conservatives saying it was wrong, it was reset. And folks generally agree it's the right thing.
Some bare minimum, two weeks seems about right. Some companies take more, some fathers take more and it does seems like a paid vacation. But I think some baselines are probably the right to do.
BURNETT: Well, of course, you know, it's tough, too. Margaret, you know, in this country, it's hard for women to take their full maternity leave. I mean, most women don't. They might be given more by their company, but they don't feel comfortable taking it because of job security.
HOOVER: Right. Well, and that's -- I mean, that's why we do laws that say you're guaranteed your jobs for 12 weeks, you're just not guaranteed for it to be paid for 12 weeks. You should be able to know that you can go off, have a child and come back and have your job safely in place. I think that's a reasonable law and thank God for the Family Medical Leave Act.
AVLON: Oh, wow, Margaret is praising Bill Clinton. I want the record to show -- HOOVER: But the federal government isn't paying for my time off. That's a difference, John Avlon.
AVLON: That's a pretty big one.
You know, look, obviously, this is personal and we're totally excited and I'm excited for a little bit parental leave dang it. A little bit, just like a week.
HOOVER: And I want to encourage that impulse because, it would be nice to have you around.
AVLON: I agree. I'm looking forward to it.
BURNETT: All right. And on that nice note of peace, we will leave it there.
John Avlon, Margaret Hoover, thank you.
And OUTFRONT next, a truly rare find, only seen depicted in the movies until to this point -- long lost footage of an American president and his secret.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: It's one of history's worst or perhaps best kept secrets. Most of us only saw Franklin D. Roosevelt's physical disability in the movies. After a bout of polio, he'd actually gone swimming got it, Roosevelt lost the use of both legs when he was 39 years old. That was in 1921, and it was 12 years before we knew him as President Roosevelt.
Only Hollywood showed us moving images of FDR's daily life and the challenges of being in a wheel chair. Here's Ralph Bellamy as Roosevelt in "Sunrise at Campobello".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RALPH BELLAMY AS FDR: I am not going to let myself go down a drain. A bad beating either breaks the stick or the student. Well, I'm not broken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Jon Voight as FDR in "Pearl Harbor."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFEID MALE: Mr. President --
JON VOIGHT AS FDR: Get back, George, get back.
Do not tell me it can't be done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And then, there's Bill Murray in "Hyde Park on the Hudson".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL MURRAY AS FDR: So nice of you to come.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President.
MURRAY: Forgive me for not getting up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Those movies were some of the only tools that helped us better picture what life was like for the 32nd president -- leader of the free world, running the country from a wheelchair. I remember the first time when I went to his library and his house and saw what he had to deal with. I was completely shocked because we weren't exposed to it at all.
His physical condition frankly to the American public was a mystery until now. Indiana college professor Ray Begovich stumbled upon this 35 millimeter film of FDR at National Archives, an incredibly rare find. This is actually FDR.
You see the president being wheeled down a ramp on a visit to the USS Baltimore at Pearl Harbor in July of 1944.
Such a brief window into his life, but one that really didn't exist until now. The question is, did presidents have too much privacy then or do they not get enough now? Let us know what you think.
"A.C. 360" starts right now.
