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CNN Saturday Morning News

Casey Anthony Murder Trial Resumes; United Sorry for Computer Glitch; Obama to Make Announcement About Afghan Troop Withdrawal Policy Next Month; Passenger Arrested After Refusing to Deboard Plane

Aired June 18, 2011 - 09:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: All right. All right. We are just starting to cross the top of the hour here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

I'm T.J. Holmes. Thank you for being here.

The murder trial of Casey Anthony is resuming as we speak. Yes, they are resuming this trial. They've been having it on Saturdays, today no exception. Her defense team is trying to chip away at the prosecution's evidence against the 25-year-old mother who, of course, as you know is accused of killing her young daughter two years ago.

CNN's David Mattingly is there, he'll have the latest for us.

Also joining us this morning our Sunny Hostin with some legal analysis of what we've are watching.

But, David, let me start with you first. What do we expect in the trial at least inside the courtroom today?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., what we're already seeing is another expert witness being called to the stand, a Dr. William Rodriguez. He's an expert in human decomposition, he's a forensic anthropologist. He's there to bolster the case of the defense, the story that they're trying to push home, that Caylee Anthony was not murdered. That she drowned in a swimming pool and her body was later disposed of as an attempt to cover up the accident.

Now, what we're going to be seeing is similar to what we saw yesterday, which was an expert witness testifying, who is an expert in insects. And he said the bugs in this case, the evidence he examined, told him that Caylee Anthony's body was never placed in her mother's car, never placed in the trunk of that car.

There was a very dramatic moment yesterday when the prosecution was cross-examining that witness, looking at the research that he did, based on the carcasses of pigs, based on his research.

And he said, all the research that you did with the pigs, did you ever wrap them in a blanket? Did you ever put them in trash bags? Did you ever put them in the trunk of a car in 90-degree heat in the Florida sun? Of course, the answer was no. And there was a great moment where he possibly was able to discredit some of that testimony. So, look for more of that back-and-forth today; every expert that the defense is going to call to bolster their story. You're going to see the prosecution coming up, trying to pick away at it to let them - to let the jury know that their story is the one that is the most credible -- T.J.

HOLMES,: David, you stay with me as I bring in our legal analyst, Sunny Hostin, from "In Session," our sister network truTV.

And, Sunny, to our viewers, I want to remind you we are seeing live pictures of the trial going on right now. But, Sunny, from what the defense experts they put on yesterday, and the ones that David said they are putting on today, are they starting, it's the very beginning, but, still, I talked to you yesterday about this, they are starting to poke some holes in the prosecution's case.

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, certainly I think that's the defense's tactic right now, T.J. They want to poke holes in the prosecution's case, because the prosecution's case is a circumstantial case, there is no direct evidence linking Casey Anthony to this alleged horrible crime. And so this is a tactic that defense attorneys used very often. It's either my client is innocent or my client is not guilty because the prosecution has not proven its case.

And they are clearly going with the prosecution has not proven its case, and let me tell you why. That's why we're seeing so many forensic experts on the defense side because, again, this is a forensic case against Casey Anthony.

HOLMES: All right. And, David, let me bring you back in with something. We're talking with you and Sunny what's happening inside the courtroom, but unfortunately it has gotten ugly at times outside. I know we probably still have this video that we can queue up, probably one of the uglier moments as people have been lining up trying to get the coveted, I guess, 50 or so seats that the general public can get to go into the courtroom.

A bit of a fight broke out. This was yesterday. It has caused some rule changes. I'll ask Sunny about that in a second, but to you, David, has it been fairly tame, peaceful, calm outside the courtroom from what you've been able to notice since you've been there this morning?

MATTINGLY: Right. As long as this trial's been going on, people have been sort of policing themselves, lining up in the middle of the night, hoping to be one of the first 50 in line that gets one of those coveted seats inside the courtroom. People have had their own system, where the people in front will actually write numbers on the back of their hands to show that they're number one in line, number two in line.

What happened when we saw that melee yesterday, someone tried to cut in line. The interest in this case has ramped up significantly in the past few days as the defense has taken over. Everyone thinking possibly that Casey Anthony might herself be taking the trial. So, a lot of people wanting to get inside that courtroom, but you're not going to see incidents like that yesterday happen again. After that happened they changed their system. At 4:00 every day people are going to be lining up to show their IDs and the first 50 people in line at 4:00 in the afternoon are going to get a pass to go in.

So, all they have to do is show up in the morning, show their I.D. and they're going to get in the courtroom. There's not going to be people waiting in line overnight which was actually a problem yesterday, because the people who stayed in line overnight were actually so tired, some of them were falling asleep in court, and once you fall asleep, the bailiff is going to come around and say "You got to go." And we saw about, maybe, about a dozen people approached and asked to leave yesterday.

HOLMES: And, Sunny, let me bring you back in, and we've talked about all the cases and trials you have tried and have covered. And you said you've never seen anything like we've been seeing outside the courtroom. That was certainly an ugly scene that we saw yesterday with that fight.

But to wrap it up here for me, was it necessary? Were they going to have to make this change? How important is it that they've tried to get some order out there? And what do you make of what we've been seeing outside and that ugliness yesterday? What is this telling us about this trial, the media coverage, and ourselves?

HOSTIN: I mean, it's telling us that this is really the trial of the century. I think it's a direct result of social media, T.J. I think people feel they know the actors. They want to be a part of it. I think also part of this, the fact that this case, just the facts of this case, cuts against sort of what we believe as a society, right? We believe that mothers are nurturers. We can't believe that a mother would kill a beautiful little two-year-old, and so I think given that set of circumstances, people want to be in that courtroom to see either an innocent Casey or the monster Casey, and that's what I think we're seeing.

So, I'm thrilled that they've changed the system. I'm surprised that it took them so long, because in many of the cases that I've tried and some of them that I've covered, there's usually a lottery system for public seats. This system wasn't working. It was broken, clearly, and now it's been fixed, so those people that want to go out there and see this trial, there is a new system in place and hopefully we won't see any of the types of brawls that we saw this week.

HOLMES: All right. Sunny Hostin for us this morning. We appreciate you. David Mattingly who is covering this trial for us and is there, we appreciate you as well. Thank you both, so much.

We are five minutes past the hour now. For a lot folks who are flying today, you might have a little bit of a problem. You might have a little bit of a delay, because of a lingering - some of the lingering effects of a United Airlines' computer glitch. United says the problem is fixed, however. What happened is that system went for several hours last night, thousands and thousands of people were affected. Some passengers may still be at the airport this morning, waiting to try to get out. United tried to process everybody though by hand. How'd that go?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN HABBAS, STRANDED PASSENGER: We're waiting. We don't know what to do. We're hungry. We hope we can make it at least to the restaurants in there in time to have some food. We haven't had food since noon. And we're just really hungry, and nobody's accommodating us for anything.

It's horrific. It's the end of our vacation. We want to get home. We're exhausted. We're hungry. We're tired. We just want to get home. I feel sorry for the moms and their children that are out here. I don't know what they're going to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They've done a pretty bad job of communicating. They've done a pretty bad job of telling us what we can expect or what they might help us with. They haven't really offered a lot of help and on top of all if it, they don't really seem to care that we sit here and hang around and do nothing for several hours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, you can imagine why he would say something like that, he was right there in the midst of it, stuck in the airport, but this is the statement we get from the airline saying "United apologizes for the disruption caused to travelers at affected airports and is re-accommodating travelers where necessary." United also waived change fees for the stranded passengers.

Also, this morning a developing story we've been following out of Afghanistan regarding reported peace negotiations. Afghan television reporting that the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, told a youth group today that Washington is involved in peace talks with the Taliban. No word from Washington on that necessarily, but in the last hour I talked to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, about the possibility of peace talks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (ON THE PHONE): I think it's pretty unlikely, you know, that Bob Gates is sitting down with Mullah Omar directly across the table, you know, working out a peace agreement. Not to say that that isn't a goal, to have some communication with Taliban leaders and try and draw them back into the fold.

One of the big problems right now is when you say the Taliban, who are they? There's so many groups out there. There's so many different insurgent loyalties. Just to say you're going to sit down with the Taliban would be very tough. Wouldn't really solve the problem, so the strategy that President Obama's really going to talk about is, has there been enough governance, enough real improvement in the Karzai government, in the Afghan government, to make things work in that country enough so that there's no room for the Taliban to come back and rise to power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: President Obama is expected to make a major announcement next month regarding the plan for troop withdrawals from Afghanistan.

We turn to some politics and Republicans are gathering in New Orleans. They are getting plenty of enthusiasm from their presidential candidates. Candidates like that lady you're seeing there Michele Bachmann, Minnesota congresswoman who is running for president. She is making the most of her chance to talk to supporters. They're all in New Orleans for a three-day Republican leadership conference.

Several of the candidates taking shots on President Obama for the economy, the war in Afghanistan, Medicare, just to name a few things. And also today Texas Governor Rick Perry, his turn to take the podium. He's gaining some support and some buzz but he's yet to commit to being a candidate just yet.

President Obama, meanwhile, is going to be teeing expected sometime in the next 20, 30 minutes. He's going to be teeing off against House Speaker John Boehner, not teeing off in front of the microphone. Literally, teeing off on the golf course. This is the so-called golf summit. This is a chance for the two men to get together and swing clubs and maybe they'll talk about the economy, the debt ceiling, or maybe they'll just play golf.

CNN's White House correspondent Brianna Keilar has more on today's match up.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's pretty extraordinary T.J., today amidst negotiations over spending cuts and raising the debt ceiling and one day before Speaker Boehner said President Obama will be breaking the law for not seeking congressional authorization to have the U.S. involvement in Libya, these two men will hit the links.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR (voice-over): They may not be on the same course politically, but President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner both spend a lot of time golfing. The president even takes practice swings at work from time to time. This one was before a 2009 event in California. And Boehner's famous tan? He says it's from his hours spent golfing.

Appropriately, the president's a lefty. The speaker, right- handed, though oddly he putts left. Some common ground perhaps? For the first time Saturday, they'll be playing golf together. The interest in this game is intense. Well, at least among us reporters. White House press secretary Jay Carney has been answering questions about the round for more than a week. JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I've heard no trash talking from the president on this. He feels that it is a very useful thing to do. This was an opportunity that I think has value beyond the game.

KEILAR: That's because the White House and Congress are involved in negotiations to increase the debt ceiling before August 2nd, representing the White House in those talks, vice president Joe Biden. He's also the president's partner on Saturday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is he present? Is it because he's a little bit of a ringer?

CARNEY: I think because he's vice president of the United States.

KEILAR: Yes but it doesn't hurt that Biden is a six handicap, according to "Golf Digest." President Obama is a 17. That's not terrible, but he probably won't stand up so well to Boehner. He's an eight, good enough to pay with Tiger Woods in a pro-am two years ago. Boehner's partner, John Kasich, the governor of Ohio and the former member of the House budget committee could be his secret weapon. He hasn't released his handicapped. Birdies, par and bogeys aside, what will this game really accomplish? The speaker has a proposal.

REP. JOHN BOEHNER, HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Somebody said, well, you know, if the president want strokes from Boehner, Boehner would say to the president, Mr. President, you can have all the strokes you want, it will just cost you a trillion dollars a stroke. I thought it was a very good idea.

KEILAR: It seems the president won't be taking Boehner up on the offer.

CARNEY: I think I can say with great confidence that they will not wrap up the 18th hole and come out and say that we have a deal.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: OK, so maybe no deal, but the real question is, who is going to win? And we may find out because the White House says they might reveal the scores after the round. My money, well, it's on the vice president because an employee at a local golf course here in D.C. says that he has been on the driving range twice this week, T.J.

HOLMES: All right, 11 minutes past the hour now.

Coming up, tornado worries in parts of Colorado give way to pounding hail. Look at this. We're going to explain why this actually could have been a whole lot worse.

Also, Reynolds Wolf will be along with the forecast for us.

Also, have you seen this picture yet? You would think it's kind of telling the story. A couple embracing and kissing in the middle of a riot. But actually, it's a lot sweeter story than you could even imagine. I will explain my favorite picture of the morning. It's 12 minutes past the hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. 16 minutes past the hour, joined by my buddy, Reynolds Wolf here. To a lot of our viewers, we know you're walking around the house and doing things while you're listening to the news. I need you to stop and actually look at the television for a moment, because I want you to see a picture, a gorgeous picture. And what this appears to show is a couple that is laying down in the middle of the street during a riot.

This is in Vancouver earlier this week after the Canucks, the hockey team up there, lost in the Stanley Cup finals. They had rioting, a lot of clashes, they had fires, they were turning over - yes, you can see the scene here what was happening. Before - let me have the picture back and then I'll explain this. But the photo went viral on the internet. This is actually Scott Jones and his girlfriend, Alex Thomas. A lot of people wondering why are they laying down in the street making out in the middle of the riot.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I bet you'll tell us.

HOLMES: I'll explain in a second. But listen to them right quick.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Started beating us with the shields, like, trying to get us to move. I don't know why, we weren't being aggressive toward them or anything like that, but eventually they passed over us. That's why we were on the ground. She was a bit hysterical obviously, and I was trying to calm her down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think you will able to see that it's a moment that happened to be on camera, and it's not - it's not embarrassing at all, it's actually a really beautiful shot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: OK. Let me tell you just how beautiful this shot is. A lot of people saw this online and they thought, why are they making out? What's wrong? Are they drunk? What are they doing in the middle of the street? Well, here's the story.

Let me have that video. What is happening, I'm highlighting that circle this, that is actually the young lady being injured during the riot.

So, she was actually injured and ended up in the middle of the street. Her boyfriend then goes and to comfort her just lays down next to her in the middle of the street, and what you're seeing in the photo was, as he explained, she's hysterical, she's crying and he just gave her a simple kiss to try to comfort her and the photographer happened to catch that exact moment, Reynolds.

WOLF: But if you look just at them, the two of them, it looks like it's picture perfect and they happen to be on a beach in Jamaica but then you see Darth Vader in the foreground and then in the background, some of the storm troopers or maybe even some people from the Boston Marathon running away. It's just demented and freaky and weird, and it probably smells like tear gas in that picture.

HOLMES: But, again, it's a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful story. The young man's mom said he's kind of a romantic, said he's kind of aloof, not always aware of what's going on. She said he probably wouldn't aware the riot was going on unless you told him.

WOLF: It's focused.

HOLMES: Do we still have time for weather?

WOLF: I have no idea. Let's go, should we do it? Yes, no?

HOLMES: Yes. We spent too much time on the picture. The beautiful moment. But, in just a second, we'll be right back with a story that got a lot of people's attention as well this week. A star football player arrested after boarding a U.S. Airways flight. So, what was the problem? His pants on the ground!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESHON MARMAN, UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO: My pants were actually not even below my knees, below my buttocks, you know, they were slightly below my waist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, that's not what they were saying. That's Deshon Marman, he plays football for the University of New Mexico. We'll tell you what happened when he was asked to pull up his pants, on that flight. That is coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twenty-two minutes past the hour now on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

A star college football player under arrest. Why? His pants were a little lower than they should have been, at least according to some. Deshon Marman is his name, he plays d-back for the University of New Mexico. He refused to pull up his pants before boarding a flight to California, and that's when the problems started.

We get the story now from reporter Vic Lee of our CNN affiliate KGO in San Francisco.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARMAN: I really want to apologize to the passengers of flight 488. You know, I never had any intentions of interrupting the flight.

VIC LEE, KGO REPORTER (voice-over): Deshon Marman believes the crew on his flight overreacted to his comfortable traveling attire. A windbreaker and pajama bottoms. The gate agent told him to pull up his pants as she took his boarding pass. The airline told ABC 7 his pants were below his knees, exposing his underwear.

MARMAN: My pants were actually not even below my knees, below my buttocks, you know, they were slightly below my waist. As I took my seat, I pulled up my pajama bottoms, and I felt everything was fine.

LEE: But it didn't end this. Marman says a flight attendant told him to leave his seat, and then the captain wanted his boarding pass. Marman says he refused to deplane, saying he was a paying passenger.

MARMAN: I said, I'm just like everybody else on this plane. I'm human, and the pilot said, "No, you're not. You're not like everybody else."

LEE (on camera): What do you think he meant when he said that?

MARMAN: I don't know what he meant, you know? Only the man who said it knows what he meant.

LEE (voice-over): The captain made a citizen's arrest and told police Marman was trespassing on his plane.

MARMAN: I don't see how they booked me on trespassing when I'm a paying customer.

LEE: Marman was arrested and taken to the Redwood City jail. His mother bailed him out, Marman told me he felt like he was attacked and harassed without reason.

MARMAN: I feel like if it was a rapper or a superstar walking on the airplane, hanging, sagging his pants, they would want his autograph. They wouldn't tell him, "Hey, can you pull your pants, please?"

LEE: Marman said he's never had problems with U.S. airways before?

(On camera): Would you ever fly them again?

MARMAN: I doubt it. I don't think they want me to fly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, he made a reference there to rapper or superstar, he, like we said, a star player for the University of New Mexico, on the football seem there. Meanwhile, U.S. Airways says passengers are required to dress appropriately and follow flight crew requests.

Meanwhile, the road to the White House leads to New Orleans for Republican presidential hopefuls, and, yes, Michele Bachmann is among them. The story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: Looking at some of the stories making headlines. United Airlines apologizing for the computer glitch that left thousands either delayed or stranded. The airline said they fixed the problem around midnight and travelers can rebook flights without having to pay for it.

Also in New Orleans this weekend, the final day of the Republican leadership conference. This GOP presidential hopefuls compete for the party's nomination, noticeably absent from the Congress are former governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, saying they had scheduling conflicts. And also this afternoon, possible presidential candidate and current Texas Governor Rick Perry will be there to make a speech.

Affecting American schools, Christine Romans talking about some of the best minds about the future of your child's education in "YOUR BOTTOM LINE."

I'll be back at the top of the hour with more live news.