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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  March 29, 2013 8:00am-9:00am PDT

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hello, everyone. i'm ashleigh banfield and we begin in latvia. due south of finland and due west of russia, where rescuers have just plucked horn 200 people off of ice floes that apparently broke away from shore. the bigger of those free floating ice sheets was just off the capital where 181 people stranded on top of it. another one was near a resort town and just as of moments ago, one person was still out on the ice, but not because they couldn't get to him, because he refused to get on the rescue helicopter, instead preferred to wait for a boat. so far we don't know of anyone who has been hurt, but certainly an intriguing story. ice floes breaking off with people stranded. also making news, the acting mayor of brunswick, georgia is in jail this morning. he's under arrest in connection with the murder of antonio
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santiago, that 13 honesty omonty who authorities say was shot while in his stroller with his mom. james brooks sr. is accused of obstructing the investigation. brooks allegedly wouldn't let a county investigator talk with the mother of one of those teenagers who were charged in the killing. plenty of people fear the dentist with absolutely no rational reason, but this story that we're about to tell you is about a dentist whom the state of oklahoma probably wishes more people would have feared and would have never let within a mile of their mouths. dr. scott harrington is accused of running a practice so disgustingly unsanitary that he may have exposed thousands of patients to hepatitis or hiv. my colleague ed lavendera is on the story live with us in tulsa. ed, the head of the state dental board is saying when inspectors went into this place, they were, and i'm quoting them, physically
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sick. how much are we finding out about what they found? >> reporter: well, all these investigations or these visits to this dental practice you see behind me have happened over the course of the last two weeks. i'll give you just some of the highlights in the complaint that they have filed against dr. harrington. some of the things that they had found inside. rusted and unsterilized equipment, reused needles, nonsterile gaus, open vials of drugs answer even one drug vial that had expired in 1993. and as you mentioned, when the investigators on on the couple visits that they have made me and speaking with the assistants, they felt sick, and they described the practice here as a menace to the community. so very serious allegations that are being levied against this dentist here in tulsa. >> he's in tulsa, but other patients there other states and other communities have undoubtedly visited his clinic. he's been practicing for 36
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years. and apparently without any complaints or previous issues. but what are the authorities doing to find all of his previous patients or at least the ones who might be at most risk? >> reporter: that is the interesting thing. like you say, more than 35 years of practice. nothing on his record. but now what authorities are most concerned with and really pushing on is trying to get in contact and sending letters out in the records they've been able to compile from inside the dentist's office to some 7,000 patients that have visited here over the course of the last six years. and they picked those six years because according to the health officials, the assistants that have worked with him had spent about that much time with him and so they were able to kind of document that far back. so they're trying to get those people to get out and get tested and for possibly being exposed to infections of hepatitis b and c as well as hiv. and they're offering free tests to people, those people who are getting those letters. but that's the real push
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thousand. not just people here in the tulsa area, but we understand there are several patients that are in out of state, as well. >> and i've just got the complaint that the oklahoma brd of dentistry has made public and inside the investigation, it's pretty remarkable to find that there is an admission here among two of his dental assistants that they were actually performing iv sedations, actually inverting the needles in to patients' arms and reinserting needles into open vials to sort of reinject -- i mean, this is remarkable stuff. could there be criminal activity coming their way? >> reporter: no question this could definitely lead to criminal charges. and what's interesting is that the investigators in that report, it also documents how the investigators were trying to find the certifications and the background of these assistants to kind of see where they were trained, if they were certified to do the kind of work that they could do. and in that complaint, they were unable to find the assistant
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certifications. so they were not legally supposed to be doing that according to these health officials. so not only does dr. harrington face possible criminal charges, although none have been filed yet, but the people who worked with him as assistants also face possible criminal charges. none have been filed so far, but this is something health officials are already this contact with prosecutors here. >> a whole mess of trouble that that office could be in. ed lavendera, thank you. we'll also talk about some of the actual legal implications in this story, that's later in this hour with our legal duo, sunny hostin and paul callan. other top stories now. north korea's kim jong-un approves a plan to prepare standby rockets to hit u.s. targets. that move comes after those american stelt bombers flu to south korea to carry out a
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military exercise yesterday just about 50 miles from the north korean border. as the ground continues to rumble and crumble, people north of seattle will have to decide real soon whether they should stay or whether they should get out. a massive landslide has put several homes there at risk. one home has already been lost. homeowners are telling cnn that they moved here for the view and now they're having to move things out. this was not the view they say they had anticipated. okay. this is from the creepy file, folks. take a close look. do you see anything strange? ordinary guy? just maybe a little animated, maybe not animated enough? let me tell you, he's 100% animated. this is not a real live human being. this is a graphic animation. so incredibly realistic, developed by the company called activision. and revealed at a gaming conference just this week. you can look for this face or a face that's sort of like it coming to a computer game sometime soon, but take a close
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look at the blinking and the squinting and the emotion, the mouth movements, all of these thing, every single part of this is animation. it has nothing to do with an actor or any video that's been shot. that is so creepy. could have fooled me. wow. all right. bombshell testimony from a defense expert who stepped up on to the stand in defense of the woman on the left, jodi arias. she says the man on the right, travis alexander, who is now dead, says that e-mails indicate he had a history of abusing women. we'll look at what those e-mails really said and whether the level is something the jury is really going to seize on. uld sme for the first week... i'm like...yeah, ok... little did i know that one week later i wasn't smoking. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior,
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progressive and the great outdoors -- we make a great pair. right, totally, uh... that's what i was thinking. covering the things that make the outdoors great. now, that's progressive. call or click today. ...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. it looks like the jodi arias murder trial is having an effect on some other inmates when it comes to how they eat their meals. we reported this to you yesterday. they used to get two meals a day somewhere around 12 hours apart. that was given to us straight from the maricopa county sheriff's office and now that office says we have to update
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the information we gave you because about two weeks ago, inmates started getting an extra snack. so all trial inmates and not just jodi arias are now getting food three times a day, not twice. that amounts to 3,000 calories per day. they are also allowed to buy snacks like candy and soda and crackers. we reported to you yesterday the information was that they were splitting her breakfast in two and making it into breakfast and lunch. she'd been getting some headaches she says because of it possibly. in any self-defense murder case, a defendant had pretty well have a good compelling reason for killing. in the jodi arias case, she might need even more than that. somehow she has to convince the jury that she was so abused or so afraid of her ex-boyfriend that is he had to stab him 29 times and shoot him in the head and run off and pretend like nothing ever happened. so her defense has put a domestic violence on on the
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stand to discuss the level of abuse jodi arias says she suffered as a kid among other things. and i want you to hear her testimony. you can hear her voice on the clip. but the ladies you'll initially see are jodi's family memories in the gallery listening. >> i learned that in jodi's family, there was a certain amount of physical discipline, somewhat i would consider went over the line. some that didn't. when you leave welts on a child, that they were hit with spoons. >> jean casarez and beth karas live in phoenix two who have been covering the trial every day join us. the domestic violence expert said that jodi told her she had agreed to all of the kinky things that travis alexander had demanded because of, quote, loyalty and giving up what i
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want for people that i love. this is something that she said that had to do with her family. i guess the only question that i have at this point, jean, i'll start with you, lots of people suffered corporal punishment and worse. but they didn't take to the level of reaction that jodi arias had. that's got to be a tough traps la translation for a jury i'm guessing. >> i think what alice is testifying to is that there is no formula, there is no mold that goes from abuse victim to abuse victim, that there is this continuum of abuse that it begins with a honeymoon period and then it goes to some emotional abuse. but you're vested at that point so you stay in there. and remember, she is looking at e-mails and text messages and journal swris for much of her testimony. and in regard to emotional abuse, there are some entries from travis alexander that one could say was emotionally
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abusive toward jodi. now, she's going to have to rely upon jodi for the physical abuse aspect, but the whole point here is the state of mind of jodi arias. it's not travis. and although people are saying they're trying to create travis as a bad person, but the point is what is in jodi's mind. and the defense wants when this case gets to the jury saying you have to look at the state of mind of jodi in that bathroom as a victim of domestic violence. that's what they want the jury to have to look at. >> so beth karas, jump in here. because we have two issues that the domestic violence expert is answering to. first and foremost is the kind of violence that she said she suffered growing up and then the kind of violence that she said she suffered with travis alexander. i want to go back to the agreeing up part because i glue up in the 60s and 70s and the wooden spoon was part of everyone's vernacular or the belt or the brush or anything else. and i just have to wonder how
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many jurors, i'm not sure it's easy for you to tell, but how many jurors look for be about my anyone and have medical others that that's just standard operating procedure and it doesn't make and you killer? >> well, it is an older jury. there are 18 of them and six will be randomly selected as alternates. but i've spoken with a number of people around the courthouse and they said it sounds like what i experienced. it's not so bad. so maybe there will be some jurors that that are resonate with that will be on the same page with you. you know, the whole point about alice's testimony is as to explain the overkill in the bathroom. what you just said having to -- did she have to kill him the way she did 29 stab wound. it's really five of those wounds are defensive wounds and 24 are slices and stabs inflicted by her. but the other five to his hands. and she will explain rage. she will plain that jexplain ths
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had this rage, she couldn't stop. almost couldn't stop. the jury, though, has to believe that she was truly abused otherwise this whole against will fall apart. >> oh, my lord, i have covered cases where we've talking the kind of abuse you can't imagine a child could even physically survive let alone emotionally and you a survive and this doesn't seem to rise to any of those levels. but i want to go back to the defense witness who was on the stand talking about e-mails that she read through between travis alexander and some of his friends that seem to indicate he had some major issues with women. have a listen. >> they advised her to move on from the relationship that mr. alexander has been abusive to women. there was information about mr. alexander calling miss arias a
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skank and then acting like it was a joke. >> jean, again, if we're talking about the level of abuse that would lead to the kind of rage that beth just described, being called a scank in an e-mail or being treated by somebody who thinks that's appropriate language. i'm looking for abuse here. help me. help me help jodi. how much abuse, true abuse, are we hearing from -- so far from this expert? >> well, i agrees if has to do with how it is assimilated into the person of jodjodi. and there was definitely that i am calling toward jodi from travis in e-mails and calling her very, very bad things. the letter, though, that this witness got to summarize yesterday, it was critically important for the defense because chris and sky hughes are a couple that were like family to travis alexander. they had known him for five years. he's the one that they turned to, he turned to them and she got to summarize a letter that they had written to him saying
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you've got to let jodi move on because you're not treating her well. you don't acknowledge her in public. you don't show her affection. and if my own sister wanted to date you, i would say no because of how you treat women. the jury heard that yesterday. and you know what that does, that krocorroborates jobd s jod the stand. sgr >> i just keep coming back talk to me about serious abuse when you stab somebody 29 times. because my twitter account is meaner than those e-mails. stand by for a moment. jodi arias is not the only person notorious at this point. the spotlight has shifteded to the process ku tcouture. we'll talk about it in a moment. and even fewer that make moms happy too. with wholesome noodles and bite sized chicken, nothing brings you together
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the jodi arias trial has gone on since january. and like many other high break file trials, the longek eger it lasts, the more popular it seems
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to get. everyone the attorneys end up hitting celebrity status. take the prosecutor. all it took was for him to go out that front door of the courthouse just one time and, bam, look at that, people crowding around wanting pics. >> i want you to sign my cane. >> really? >> i do. >> this morning when we got here, we got to the elevator and he was standing right there. and i was just kind of like shocked. and he just looked at me and said hi and i was like, hi, it's so nice to meet you. >> there you have it, martinez joins a list will of attorneys who reached newfound fame. remember the o.j. simpson case? who can forget johnny cochran, the late great johnny cochran. and in the casey anthony case, jose baez to the left, cheney mason to the left, surrounded by camera crews. a little more recently, as well, drew peterson, his attorneys came out and here is thousand they did their news conference.
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lined up in sunglasses. i want to bring back jean casarez who is there every day. in fact, the fame factor got under the skin of the defense attorney yesterday so much so that he even hauled you, you, into court and had you on the stand. i looked up and i saw you and i thought what on earth has this trial come to. what had the really come to that you had to be pulled in? >> i was called by the judge to the stand so that's why i went up. it all happened very quickly and the defense attorney stood up because he was concerned and he has a right to be concerned that a juror could actually see the public just in awe of the prosecutor. and he misunderstood something that i had said believing i said that i had witnessed a juror looking and watching as mr. martinez signed autographs. i did not say that.
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and so he wanted to question me. and the judge said fine with me, are you in the courtroom. and so i was sworn in and i testified. i've never testified before. and it's very serious. when you're up there doing it, you know how serious it is. i knew that he was misnd stood and not correct and i was happy to correct what he thought i had said. >> it's a very soberi ining experience. there is something very different about take stand when take you that stand and all of a sudden you face everyone. just quickly, i have to wrap it up there, but not before i ask you this, this essential rock star status that is being ascribed to the prosecutor, is it having any effect otherwise on the trial or are we okay to move on and continue our road do down? >> i think they polled all the jurors yesterday after court. so i assume we're fine. we will see on monday. but you know, there is a trend in this area when i covered the
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conrad murray case in los angeles, there would be applause for thes from cute tore on the entire ninth floor. and i was very concerned that a juror could hear this because they were on the ninth floor. so there seems to be a trend in this direction. >> you can keep them segregated for so long, even try to sequester them, but ultimately it gets hard to shield them from everything that's going on. jean, thank you. nice to see you out there. you did an excellent job. >> thank you. i want to ask you this question. what would you do if you found out that you could be among several thousand people infected with a deadly disease just from having gone to see your dentist? this is happening in oklahoma right now. what are the legal rights involved for those who might actually be infected and how about the dentist? i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes.
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and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here. we've been talking about that really awful health scare in oklahoma. health inspectors there saying a tulsa dentist may have exposed thousands of his patients to hiv and hepatitis all because of very unsanitary practices in that building. and we found out a couple hours ago that the doctor scott hair ton also allowed unauthorized and up licensed employees to put ivs in the patient's arms.hairt unauthorized and up licensed employees to put ivs in the patient's arms. now 7,000 patients could be at risk of developing life
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threatening diseases. i want to bring in sunny hostin and paul callan. paul, no criminal charges yet, but is this an in-kreftable thing? >> i think it is given the large number of patients involved and serious nature of the potential injuries. hepatitis, a small risk of transmission of aids. so this is a serious matter and certainly a number of criminal statutes have been violated. >> so let me jump off that, sunny, and, gosh, when you're talking about 7,000 potential victims, how do you -- let's just say one of those people has a disease, let's say it's hiv. how do you know that patient contracted it at that dental office because it's been years and years apparently in the making? >> i think anyone that's tried medical malpractice cases, there is a way to be able to tie the disease or infection to the practice. and i suspect and i agree with
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paul that this is something that is likely to happen. let's face it, this has -- will everyone is talking about it, it's almost shaken the dental industry. and the fact that this dentist did treat a high population of people with diseases, that happens all over the country. but the fact that they just weren't doing what they were supposed to do in terms of the conditions within which they practiced dentistry is just -- >> have you read this thing? it's disgusting. the complaint is unbelievable. i'm not a doctor and i know that you can't leave schedule a medications open and share vials between patients and reinsert needles. just sounded like it was san francisco frannen stein in there. paul, is there one of those cases where people can wheel their wheelbarrows to that office and sue for you name it?
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>> a lot of people think that, but i was checking the oklahoma medical malpractice statute and there are limitations of damages in oklahoma. $300,000 cap on what they call noneconomic loss which is pain and suffering. the hard part about this case, you know you've been treated with a contaminated instrument and you're afraid you develop hepatitis or aids, but you never do. should you be compensated for that fear. very hard to prove that. so these won't be easy medical made practice cases. so leave the wheelbarrow at home. somebody who has actually developed hepatitis and we can tie it back to that dentist, that's a good case. but the other cases not such a great case. >> how about one further. paul said somebody who has developed hepatitis and can tie that hepatitis directly back to the clib i go. what if that person walked freely among us with a dormant disease for years and years
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affecting other people? >> exactly. isn't that something? it's as if it could never end. i mean, i suspect that they could possibly sue also. but again, i mean, this is everyone's worst nightmare. right now we're hearing 7,000 patients. to your point, there could be so many others affected. it's mind boggling. >> paul, tell me about the practice of having dependtal assistants who are not doctors inserting a needle and an iv. in fact, i want to hear straight from the head of the state dentistry board what she said this morning about what they may have been up to. have a look. >> the thing that was most upsetting to us because we take a very dim view of this from our board's perspective is he was allowing unauthorized unlicensed personnel to do iv sedation.
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and that is completely unacceptable. and illegal in oklahoma. >> and the complaint goes on to say that not only were they doing it, they were doing it while he wasn't even in the room. they were sedating these pictures and choosing the levels of medication to sedate these patients before the dentist even arrived. >> shocking. >> shocking, but what kind of crime? it show as recklessness, a negligence, but is an attempted manslaughter? if someone might have died later, what could this be? >> it's clearly practicing medicine or dentistry without a license. there are statutes that criminalize that. that will be the lowest level of crime. it's very hard to reach the higher level. as shocking as this is, unless a patient actually died, it would be hard to prove that it was manslaughter or some kind of an attempted homicide or something. it's xwrogross negligence and violation of practice statutes,
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but in the end, i think that's probably all it is. >> and there is still exposure there. still criminal exposure. and we want this type of behavior criminalized i think. >> sets an example for everyone else out there who is not properly use being their autoclave and not properly assigning their dental assistants. sunny hostin, paul callan, thank you both. family secrets. a fired housekeeper. a multimillion-dollar blackmail bl plot. and, yeah, all of it caught on tape and you'll hear it next. [ moderator ] you sure? i am absolutely positive! [ little boy ] two times is awesome. the thing i can do is wave my head and wave my... assistants. 've never seen anything like that. look i can do -- hold on -- i'm watching this. i'm getting dizzy... [ male announcer ] it's not complicated. doing two things at once is better. and only at&t's network lets you talk and surf on your iphone 5. ♪ lets you talk and surf on your iphone 5. oh, hi thehey!ill.
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there is big money in trinkets and earrings for teens and tweens and the disgruntled daughter of a fired housekeeper allegedly wanted a lot of that money. and she allegedly thought a pile of dirty laundry was going to
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help her get it. are you confused? sarah ganim has the story. >> reporter: you probably haven't heard of this family, but likely you've seen, shopped or maybe got your ears pierced at one of the accessory stores they created. now police say they're the victims of a blackmail plot all caught on audiotape. >> $3 million? >> that's the minimum. >> okay. >> i can go higher, but that's the minimum. >> no, they're not going to agree to $3 million. >> the woman on that tape is camille brown, the daughter of the long time housekeeper for roland shaver oig, the man who first opened claire's. >> reporter: i feel that the family should -- shouldn't even position twice about paying that amount to get this material back. >> reporter: the material is this brown says she has embarrassing letters and journals details domestic abuse in the schaffer home. these documents say camille brown came to this hotel
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thinking she'd be meeting with a family representative. instead, she met with an undercover officer who recorded their conversation. >> i don't doubt that you have the documents. what we're saying is we want the documents back so they're not going a threat to be released anymore. >> right. you'll have them as soon as i have my payments. >> reporter: brown was arrested in the parking lot charged with extortion. police say the blackmail began just days after brown's mom was fired. in an e-mail, brown's attorney denies any extortion and says brown was given the letters by roland schaffer's own wife. not true the family attorney told us, adding this is about taking advantage of an elderly couple. >> many family members rely and trust on the help of trained professionals who will look after both medical needs and day to day needs of elderly parents. and this was one of those situations. unfortunately it ended the way it did with trust betrayed.
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>> reporter: and they want their journals and letters back. brown isn't talking. but in the court file, a draft agreement she signed, she promises if she gets the $3 million, all efforts to coerce, control, blackmail or extort the schaffer family will end. sarah ganim, cnn west palm beach florida. and perhaps the lesson would be which my two very smart attorneys will tell you, don't blackmail people. hey, i want you to both weigh in and tell me a lot of things about it. a, when does blackmail start, b, what can you get for it, do you end up in the clink, do you have to pay. lots of questions coming up. the stunning lexus es. get great values on your favorite lexus models during the command performance sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection.
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i doubt anyone will even notice. leading the pack in motorcycle insurance. now, that's progressive. call or click today. aarrggh! ganim. ganim. gani want to get back to the legal briefs with my excellent attorneys sunny hostin and paul callan. so i said before the break lesson don't ever blackmail people, but the bigger question here is, a lot of elderly people are at risk for this very same thing. you don't have to be a big jewelry store chain or big celebrity. a lot of elderly people get targeted this way. >> absolutely. it's one of the things that i think people specialize in elder law have to deal with. extortion is a serious crime. punishment varies, but you're talking about generally a felony. it's a federal offense, as well.
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and you could spend up to 15 years in prison for doing something like that. and i find it fairly easy to prove. i mean, in some states, just by making the threat, if you're trying to get money and threatening to reveal damaging information, just making the threat, it could be verbal, nonverbal, that could be considered a crime. so it's unbelievable that our elderly and others are oftentimes targeted like this. and we talk about dumb criminals, wow. it's in writing and also on tape. >> so many of them are. let me ask you this, paul. do you have to have a good, you know, on camera setup to do the catch them in the act in order to prevail if you want to go to the police and stop these blackmailers from doing this kind of thing or could you prevail in a their word against mine? how much do you have to have
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before you know you'll be okay legally? >> in a normal case, if you go to the police when this starts, they will come into the picture and they will wire you or they will set up your phone and they'll tape record it for you. what i found to be interesting, in this case, the defendant in the case prepared a release that said basically if you give me the money, we won't blackmail you. so i would say she needs better legal advice. you generally don't want to admit to the crime in the release. >> are you kidding me, did t the -- >> no criminal case is a slam dunk, but that one comes kind of close. >> yeah, exactly. >> you don't have to be wired to win that case. that's the way it is. >> dumb with a capital d. >> a lot of rich elderly people are at risk. and go to the police when this
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happens. >> and they can help. paul, sunny, thank you. paul, stay with me for a moment because you and i had a big conversation off camera about the death penalty and it turns out the james holmes case in colorado, prosecutors are pretty upset that they have leaked information about a possible plea deal and i need you to explain how it could effect generations down the road. first, though, think about it for a moment, i just have to tell you something. all the talk around the office is march madness. this is the holy grail of men's college basketball. i have tried, i have tried so hard to get invested in this. i am a hockey fan. but you know if you filled out a bracket it is not an aeasy thin to do. this tournament has been so unpredictable. already witnessed bracket busting moments. for instance, the number one seed indiana lost last night to
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the number four seed syracuse. and ohio state dropped a big three-pointer, that's what i'm told they're called, late in the final seconds against arizona to secure the win. and then of course we have some big winners and big losers in our very own cnn anchor bracket challenge. i don't want to brag, but looky, loo looky who is at number one. and i know nothing about basketball. i'm tied in first place with christine romans. and to my knowledge, christine doesn't know that much either. this means we beat out some heavy hitters in the world of basketball loving like wolf blitzer and john berman. yeah, it's enough to get the control room of this program going. because omar butcher in the yellow, finest producer ever, you did my bracket, my man, i'm
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. . . prosecutors in the colorado movie theater shooting trial are pretty darn angry it seems with the suspect's defense team, james holmes' defense team. they are talking a lot about a plea deal, the defense team saying they offered one. that it might take that off the table. the prosecutors saying there was no formal offer. don't go there and don't make that public. that wrecks the process. a lot of questions about all of this and of course it does lead to the question, what about a plea deal? what about avoiding a trial. what about saying, okay, we will take death off the table. let's just put you away forever. no chance for parole. i want to bring paul back into this conversation. you had and i had a lengthy conversation about the way that could go this week.
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we had another conversation after the show. that's why i wanted to bring you back. let's say they get past this bitter dispute and let's say the prosecutors pursue a death penalty trial and prevail and in subsequent appeals, getting way ahead of myself, prevail. there is still the chance of execution that at the time of execution in decades, they won't prevail. >> imposition of the death penalty in the united states takes at least ten years of appeals is generally the rule. we're kind of looking at what will the supreme court be saying ten years from now about the death penalty? there tends to be a trend towards reducing imposing it. prosecutors are saying why are we going through the huge battle when the end he is going to end up with life anyway. it takes somewhere between 10-20
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years to get to an execution and millions of dollars. >> this is very true. i have to say, ashley, there is a flip side to this. the voters enacted the death penalty in colorado this case is the poster boy for that. he is mentally ill. is he legally insane? he did planning and bought the weapons and bobby trapped his apartment. he killed 12, injured 58. if you go and pose the death penalty, holmes is the kind of guy that gets the death penalty. >> if you are not going to carry it out, what is the point of spending the money and dragging these families through this. >> i don't know what the polling comes out on that. the prosecutor is walking a tight rope. he is looking at exactly what you are saying which is the realistic view of the world. even if i get the death penalty, it will probably never be imposed. people are going to be furious
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if he let's holmes walk after such a brutal crime. >> i appreciate you sending me some supreme court decisions that gave the obvious words. if you are going to put the needle in someone's arm, they can't be mentally retarded with an i.q. of low 70. he is not. and they have to be competent. aware of the punishment they are about to suffer and why they are going to suffer it and have a rational understanding of the reason for the execution. i think 20 years locked up in a box, i could see someone that sick not being competent after all those expensive appeals. >> a lot of case law where somebody is not competent and they medicate him to wheel him in and put the needle in. >> can you come back and talk about that later. paul callan, he is so smart. it kills me. back in just a moment. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things.
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for some kids, growing up in camden, new jersey, it is hard. it is considered one of the most violent cities in the country. 42% of its population is below the poverty line. it has one of the lowest high school graduation rates in the state. that's the bad news. there is one woman that believes that you can dance your way out of those ugly statistics and she is doing it. meet cnn hero, tuwanda jones. who are we? ♪ it is very hard for children growing up here today. it i dangerous. you can hear gunshots almost every other night. these kids want more. they don't want to be dodging bullets for the rest of their life. >> my name is tawa in. da jones. my mission is to empower the
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youth of camden new jersey through this structured drill team. what i try to do for them to go to the right path. it's simple. you instill discipline. drill team is a facade to bring these children in, because it is something they love to do. once i have them, i introduce them to the college life. css changed me a whole lot. my dad was shot and killed. when my dad passed, i stopped going to class. i started hanging with the wrong people. >> did you complete your homework? let me check it. she is my second mom. without her, i don't know where i would be right now. in camden, the high school graduation rate is 49%. in my program, it is 100 graduate. we have never had a drop-out. >> my grades now, i have a gpa of a 3.0. i want to be a sports manager. we need to take back our city and most importantly, take back our youth. let them know we really care about them. >> i don't think people really understand how ior