all i know is, somehow, in season six, it is still managing to break new grounds. thanks for watching. "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next, the man who leaked details about the u.s.'s top surveillance plan is in hong kong. is he a threat to sell out to china? one of those who met him face to face joins us tonight. plus, jury selection in the george zimmerman trial. how one of his closest friends could hurt him during the trial. we have an exclusive report on that. and apple with a huge announce maintain today. we have details and of course, whether it will be enough. let's go "outfront." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening, everyone. i'm erin burnett. tonight, "outfront," hero or threat to national security?

what were edward snowden's true motivations for giving journalists details of a highly classified american surveillance program? according to snowden he's a whistleblower and he believes the government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. >> the public needs to decide whether these programs and policies are right or wrong, and i'm willing to go on the record to defend the authenticity of them and say i didn't change these, i didn't modify the story. this is the truth. this is what's happening. you should decide whether we need to be doing this. >> but not everyone thinks snowden's actions were in the best interests of this country. congressman pete king called him a defector, a crucial word we'll get to in a moment. he said what snowden did was dangerous. do snowden's motivations add up? you ewen macaskill is one of the reporters who broke the story and is joining us from hong kong. good to talk to you.

really appreciate you taking the time preponderance. i knows you've done a lot of travel to have this face-to-face with edward snowden. do you at this point even know anything about what his end game was, where he planned to go, why he did this? >> in his precipitations, he's very careful in preparing for the leaking of the documents and preparing to come out. it was all very detailed. he had been thinking about it for years. but this next phase, the phase we're in now, he was always vague about it. i don't think he actually knew or even cared that much. his main objective was to get the information about the level of surveillance out into the public domain. and then beyond that, you know, he didn't care. he knows he can't go back to america. he knows his relationship with his family is not going to be the same again. i don't know what's going to

happen to his partner. so, for him, he's now looking at, maybe he seeks asylum in some place like iceland. maybe he becomes involved in some long, protracted legal process here in hong kong. maybe the chinese will take him. he's not sure, but i probably suspect there will be a long, drawn-out legal process here in hong kong. >> it's just interesting, ewen, because it would seem to me, if you're going to do something like this and you've been thinking about it for years, you think through those options -- what am i going to do next? what do i do when they come after me? you would think that would be part of the thought process. and maybe i'm wrong. i'm just talking trying to put myself in his shoes. do you think talking to him that his motives were pure that this was, i just want transparency in government, they're doing the wrong thing? are you confident of that in talking to him? >> i think the question you

raise is a good one. why come to hong kong? it's got an extradition treaty with america. it's not the safest place. you know, any time the authorities in beijing could swoop down and take him. so, you say, well, if he wants to go to iceland, why then not go to iceland in the first place and leak the documents and conduct, you know come out there? so, your question is a good one, but i believe his motivation is pure. i spent the best part of the last week doing interviews with him, trying to establish is this guy a fantasist? is he for real? and after half an hour, i was fairly convinced that, yes, he was for real. and as the week went on, i thought, this is somebody who is very idealistic, has a lot of courage. this is not something you see that often these days. >> and interesting. and you had that face-to-face

time, so if that's your impression, that's powerful. there are reports, ewen, of course, as you're aware, that he out of the blue checked out of the hong kong hotel where he was staying, that he's now disappeared. do you have any idea where he is and how he plans to do some basic things like get enough money to move around? >> well, i don't know his location now. i know he's still in hong kong. he disappeared -- i suppose that's accurate. he's been in that hotel room in downtown hong kong for the best part of three weeks. he almost never left. i think he went out three times, but just briefly. he had these meals taken to the hotel room. so, i think he almost expected the knock on the door. it didn't come. but once the media descended and there was all that came out, i think he thought, you know, this isn't so sustainable anymore. the media, at least, are going to find me. so, he went to another location. as of yesterday morning, he was still in that hotel. as of yesterday afternoon, he had gone. >> he had gone. of course, everyone now, the crucial question is where is he? thanks very much, ewen macaskil from hong kong. gordon, you heard ewen talk about this. nothing adds up about this story.

>> nothing adds up. >> why hong kong? if he's thought about it for years, you think about your escape plan. hong kong has an extradition treaty with the u.s. they can kick him right out. why pick hong kong? >> he said because it is one of the few places in the world that has both the capability and the will to resist the u.s. and it was a great question. why would you -- if you're running from uncle sam, why go to a place that has an extradition agreement with us? and so, obviously, he thinks that there is somebody that can protect him. and the only somebody that can protect him in hong kong is china. so, clearly, what he's trying to do, he's trying to trade information. for instance, in that video with "the guardian," he talks about all the stuff that he has not yet disclosed. what he's doing is saying to beijing, look, i can tell you this if you protect me, if you make sure that hong kong -- >> so, he's bidding out, i have this information -- so, basically becoming a spy, an informant for china. >> it's basically treason. there's no question about what he's doing. i can't look into his mind. i don't know. but just from objectively what

he's doing, he's doing everything that you would do if you're going to try to trade information with beijing. >> so, when, you know, ewen's saying he feels he was idealistic and those were his motives, but at this point, you don't buy it. >> look, he could be idealistic, but guy burgess, you know, all those guys in england had these really idealized notions of the soviet union. this guy probably has idealized notions of china. he said china's not an enemy of the united states in that interview with "the guardian." so, clearly, i think here he's saying, look, it doesn't matter, i can trade information with them, you know, they're our friends. this is just a really bad story and it's going to get worse. >> that's a pretty amazing thing to say. chris lawrence joins us from the pentagon, and gordon, i wanted to bring chris in, because chris, you've been looking into this. how could this person or any person be getting all this top-secret clearance to get all this information that he had? he's one of 500,000 contractors,

500,000, according to your reporting, who have top-secret clearance. i mean, that seems incredible! >> it's a big number. and i mean, there's a million contractors with a clearance, 500,000 have the top-secret clearance, erin. i spoke with a former nsa official who went through that same background check that snowden would have gone through. he said it's pretty extensive. you fill out a form, you have to list your finances, your foreign contacts, you list your friends, your family. then the investigators come in and they interview those people you listed. they develop from those interviews even more people to talk to. so, they may be going as deep as three to four degrees of separation from the person that they're initially looking at. they look at your social media sites. the one thing they don't look at is political affiliation. so, i've heard it mentioned that snowden contributed to ron paul's campaign. the official said that wouldn't even come into play, but they're using all the information they do get and bringing that to bear in the polygraph test, in which case they're looking for honesty, trustworthiness and things like that. he says, look, it's not

fool-proof and they have to redo it about every five years, because he says, look, people's attitudes change. >> right. >> their social circles change. and he says it's possible, without knowing specifically anything about snowden personally, he says it's possible that, perhaps, he sailed through his background check with flying colors and then his attitude changed once he got to work. >> all right, chris, thank you. and gordon cheng, thanks to you also. still to in, what we are just learning about the mental health of the man accused of killing five people during a horrific shooting spree in santa monica this weekend. how did he get the gun? plus, comedian russell brand gets serious. he's "outfront" live to discuss the situation in turkey. then, america under attack by ants. they are coming and they're hunting you and your home specifically. and dramatic video of a building implosion. it is worth it and it's tonight's "shout-out." if there was a pill

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our second story "outfront," armed and mentally ill. tonight we are learning the suspect accused of killing five people during friday's shooting spree in santa monica suffered from mental health issues.

a law enforcement official telling cnn that 23-year-old john zawahri was hospitalized a couple years ago for allegedly talking about harming someone. and this raises the question yet again in this country that has been asked after these horrific recent mass shootings, do lawmakers need to focus more on mental illness when it comes to stopping gun violence? "outfront" tonight, radio show host stephanie miller and our contributor riehan salam. stephanie, we've been talking about how people with mental illnesses have been able to get access to semiautomatic rifles. james holmes in aurora, colorado, adam lanza in newtown, jared loughner in tucson, arizona. all of these people it appears very clearly had mental issues. what should the gun control debate be right now, stephanie, keeping guns away from the mentally ill or limiting the sale of semiautomatics? >> well, you know, i think both, erin. i remember the last, you know, in newtown, we all said i think we all need to get away from our entrenched positions.

it is mental health and guns, clearly. but you know, i think we need to point out that the vast majority of mentally ill people, erin, do not hurt anybody, you know. in fact, in newtown, the debate was the vast majority of people with asbergers like adam lanza had are much more likely to hurt themselves than anyone else. so i think we have to be careful about demonizing just the mentally ill. i think it is a deadly combination of mentally ill people getting access to -- you know, this guy had zillions of rounds, an ar-15 type weapon again. so, i think we have to look at every part of it. blunt, and action on mental

health has been supported by a number of other republicans like john cornyn of texas, real, rock-ribbed, hard-core conservatives who don't favor having tighter restrictions on assault weapons and what have you but said, look, we need more resources for community mental health centers and for teachers to detect these things earlier on. in my view-you taken that action on mental health earlier on, that would have gone much further because that's an area where democrats and republicans are eager to work together -- >> guess what -- >> by focusing on the symbolic issue, you weren't able to get the compromise you needed to get something done. >> stephanie. >> guess what really helps get stuff done on mental health? the affordable care act, which every republican voted against. they have voted to repeal it 37 times. i'm just reading an article in the "l.a. times today about how -- >> unemployment can damage mental health, economic weakness can damage mental health. if the affordable care act has other negative consequences, we have to take that into account as well. mental health is a complicated issue -- >> it expands mental health. every republican voted against it.

>> you're absolutely right, and they voted against it because they fear that it will actually undermine the growth prospects of this country and do a lot of damage. >> which is a fair but separate conversation. i don't want to debate on the affordable care act. let me ask you something, stephanie, that's important, because background checks is something democrats have been pushing for, and by the way, the majority of americans support. in this case, though, it appears this young man, john zawahri, had been hospitalized a couple years ago. we talked to the state of california. they're very clear, if you've been taken into custody, assessed or admitted to a designated facility, which he was, for a period of five years, you can't get a gun. so, he, at least this suggests, would never have passed a background check. but he got a gun anyway, and that's my point, background checks don't necessarily stop this. >> well, you know, erin, again, this is what happens is in every single case, everyone goes, oh, well, this wouldn't have stopped this or that wouldn't have stopped that. couldn't all of this help? again, republicans have voted repeatedly to cut funding for mental health. so, i'm just saying, yes, it is all a piece, but the problem is, the gun lobby makes sure that guns are never any part of the

discussion, even background checks, which as you just said, a huge majority of the american people are for. i mean, how can we not even get that done at a minimum? >> i believe we had a conversation of background checks for many months, and ultimately, it floundered. why? because there's a deep difference between folks who live in cities and suburbs and those who live in rural america. and we happen to have a political system that empowers people who live in rural areas, so you have to respect their opinions. and i think that if you look at mental health, there actually was a pretty broad bipartisan consensus that something could be done, yet we had a distracting conversation exclusively about assault weapons that i think was foolish. >> ron, there's also a quarter of adult americans suffer from mental health, according to the national institute of mental health, every year. if we're saying we're going to deal with that, as stephanie's point, you demonize or stigmatize those people, the vast majority of -- >> this is about getting people the help they need earlier rather than later.

the truth is, even if we expand funding for mental health, we are not going to prevent every incident at this time and there has to be a level of maturity and restraint. legislation is not going to solve all these problems. there is always going to be this kind of danger in a free society, but we can take steps to mitigate this danger by giving people the health treatment they need. >> well, thanks very much to both of you. our third story "outfront," core changes for apple. so, today the company unveiled what ceo tim cook calls the biggest change to apple's mobile operating system since the introduction of the iphone. that's a big deal. and you just heard him there say to critics, we can't innovate anymore? my -- yeah. the company also rolled out a redesigned macbook air with an all-day battery. that's pretty incredible. and a music streaming service called itunes radio, which supposedly is to fight competitors like pandora and spotify. but is this enough to boost apple's buzz? "outfront" tonight, molly woods, who covers consumer electronics

for c-net. molly, the question is did the company go far enough? when we played that sound bite of steve cook, obviously, he's defensive against a lot of the criticism the company's been getting for not being as edgy and innovative as it used to be. >> yeah, they are definitely on the defensive. i know that they are frustrated. tim cook has said that he's frustrated about the company's stock price slide. and i have to say that today's event was, you know, in football terms, it was sort of a workmanlike performance. i would say they moved the ball forward, but there were no fireworks. there was nothing so dramatic that you'll see a big spike in the stock price tomorrow, no way. >> this is a company that became the biggest company in america and just kept going and going and going. everybody wanted to buy it. over the past year, the stock's fallen 20%. samsung, which a lot of our viewers may now own samsung galaxys, for example, has gained more than 12%. do investors really think samsung is more innovative than apple now? >> i don't know that it's so much about innovation as it is about expectation.

samsung with the galaxy phones has managed to surpass the iphone in terms of global sales, but also the expectation of apple is that they are a company that has changed the world twice over, legitimately, with the pc and then with the iphone. it's really hard to keep being the company that changes the world. and so, they may be doing very solid product improvements. today was definitely, you know, we saw improvements. >> right. >> we just didn't see massive innovation, despite what bill schiller said on stage. >> this is sort of like, you know, hey, apple, meet microsoft. you used to make fun of them, right? but they get it done. they just aren't that sexy. and what about -- >> exactly, and they've got a ton of money, it's not the worst thing. >> what about the radio service? is that a totally different thing. like we're going into offering new services, radio, for example, competing against new companies. is that smart or sort of just a random shot in the dark? >> you know, it's kind of, again, that's almost a natural evolution of itunes that, frankly, should have been there for years. you could only buy music with apple's music service, while the

entire industry was moving towards streaming and apple didn't have any streaming. so, to me, this is sort of an add-on, that if anything completes the product, it's not an evolution, it's not any better than any of the competition. so you know, it felt like, again, they got it done. i'll give them a passing grade, but not that much more based on what i saw today. >> thank you very much, appreciate it. still to come, the man who shot and killed trayvon martin is getting his day in court and the world is watching, but one of george zimmerman's friends could hurt him. and russell brand is getting serious on turkey. and america under attack by these. this is a close-up of a powerful pincer. oh, look at those jaws. that is an ant that is coming for you. hey kevin...still eating chalk for heartburn?

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welcome back. we start the second half of our show with stories where we focus on our reporting from the front line, so i want to begin in philadelphia tonight, where a judge has denied bail for a crane operator charged with six counts of involuntary manslaughter in last week's building collapse. we're also learning more tonight about the lead-up to the

collapse. a spokeswoman for the city's licenses and inspections department tells "outfront" that contractors are required to contact the city for an inspection prior to the start of a demolition, and in this case, the contractor did not, failed to contact the city. and an update tonight on ariel castro, the man indicted on 329 counts for allegedly holding three young women captive for ten years. cnn has learned tonight that castro is set to be arraigned on wednesday. among the charges, 139 counts of rape and 177 counts of kidnapping. the indictment ledges castro used chains, tape and a vacuum cord to restrain the women. cnn legal analyst paul cowen tells us castro is likely to enter a plea of not guilty but says that that could be changed to insanity in the future, depending on the defense's strategy. about a month ago, you may remember we told you about great joy about a giant rubber duck docked in hong kong that was captivating people of all ages.

how could this not captivate you? well, you know what? we became a little obsessed with this story, and we have learned tonight "outfront" that the united states is getting a rubber duck of its own. beginning on september 27th, we can report the rubber duck will make its american debut in pittsburgh during the pittsburgh international festival of firsts. i guess it's the first inflatable yellow duck that is that big in america. anyway, the question is, how's hong kong going to get the duck here? are they going to deflate the duck and send it over? that's what you would think, right? i mean, you can't sail the duck across the pacific. well, the answer is this. an exec tells us a new duck is made for every city, so the artist has already sent pittsburgh the plans for a 40-foot tall, 35-foot wide duck. and the company contracted to build this duck? well, the inflatable artist who built last year's floating duck, andrew carnegie, of course. it has been 676 days since

the u.s. lost its top credit rating. what are we doing to get it back? well, we're just a step closer, and this is a significant development. we celebrate that standard & poor's today raised its outlook on the american government's credit rating from stable to negative. it's still aa-plus, we don't have aaa back, but raising the outlook to stable means there is a less than one in three chance that the agency will cut the rating any time soon. so, let's keep going, guys. however you want to get there, we're not going to get involved in that, just do it. and the trayvon martin murder trial is under way. today, george zimmerman came face to face with the potential jurors who could decide whether or not he goes to prison for killing 17-year-old trayvon martin. lawyers from both sides began the task of narrowing down a pool of 500 potential jurors. they need to get to just half a dozen with four alternates. the potential panelists had to answer a questionnaire that, from our understanding, focused on race and what they had heard about the case. "outfront" now, trayvon family attorney benjamin crump.

good to talk to you. appreciate it, ben. it's been a while. but i wanted to ask you about this, because obviously, this jury selection process is crucial, 500 people. a lot of jurors may have been exposed to information in the media that is not going to be admissible in court. because of all the coverage this is a fair trial? >> well, trayvon's parents believe in the jury system. they have faith that the jury will follow the court's instruction and the law and base their verdict on the evidence. and that being said, erin, absolutely all that irrelevant information that was released by the defense team to pollute the jury pool, hopefully, won't be successful, and the jury will give a verdict that's fair based on the evidence. >> and in terms of the verdict, zimmerman's brother came out today and talked about why he

thinks his brother will be acquitted and i wanted to play you his main reason. >> i can tell you as a family we are very confident in the outcome of the case and we're very confident that the state will not be able to meet its burden, and it's a two-fold burden here in florida. not only do they have to prove that this was a murder, as they allege, they also have to prove simultaneously that it could not have been self-defense. >> and that, obviously, mr. crump, is the difficulty, right? the defense -- >> this is not a hard case, erin. >> okay. >> this is not a complicated case. if you would change the dynamics and you had a 28-year-old black man get out of his car and chase an unarmed, white teenager and shoot and kill him, nobody would say this is a difficult case. the evidence is overwhelming to hold george zimmerman accountable for killing trayvon martin. the only thing his family prays is that the jury just follows that evidence. it is all there, and the

evidence is george zimmerman's words himself. go back and listen to his many inconsistencies, his physical impossibilities how he said this happened. >> well, and to your point on that, what about other inconsistencies? you know, you're apparently going to have to answer questions under oath about witness number eight. that's the young woman who was believed to have been on the phone with trayvon martin moments before his death who heard him calling out for help, right? i mean, she could be a crucial witness. she initially -- >> she's not the star witness. george zimmerman is the star witness, but i can address that. >> let me make sure viewers understand the background on her. she claimed to be in the hospital on the day of his funeral, but that turned out to be a lie. she's not in the hospital. so her credibility has also been called into question. >> well, erin, witness number

eight allegedly told an untruth about whether she was in the hospital so she wouldn't have to go to a funeral and see trayvon dead. george zimmerman allegedly told untruths about why he shot and killed trayvon martin, causing him to be bed. which one is more relevant? the jury will have to decide that, and i think once they think about those two things, it will be rather clear what's relevant and what's not. >> benjamin crump, always good to talk to you and thank you very much for taking the time. one of george zimmerman's best friends could complicate his defense. mark osterman came to zimmerman's aid the night he shot and killed trayvon martin, and the account that he says zimmerman told him about what happened that night doesn't add up to some of zimmerman's later statements. david mattingly is "outfront" with the story. >> reporter: when george zimmerman was worried about an aggressive neighborhood dog in 2009, he decided to buy a gun and went to his friend, mark osterman, for help. did he tell you why he wanted this gun? >> um, no. he didn't tell me why. >> reporter: did it seem like he was afraid -- >> no, it -- >> reporter: -- that something may have happened? >> no. the thing was, he had felt that once he gets married, once you get married, you kind of -- he

said that he possibly changed his perspective in life and that he was responsible and not just for himself anymore, but for his wife. >> reporter: osterman, a federal law enforcement officer, helped zimmerman weigh the pros and cons before he settled on a thin, lightweight, .9-millimeter. it was easy to conceal, easy to carry. and acting on osterman's advice, zimmerman carried it everywhere. >> always. he carried it always, and the one thing i did tell him for the reason for doing that was, if it is on your person, it can't be anywhere else. >> reporter: it was on zimmerman's person the night he encountered trayvon martin, and he told osterman how martin grabbed the gun during their fight. >> according to what he told me was, when the head-bashing on the concrete stopped and trayvon reached for the firearm that was at his side, grabbed a hold of it, that snapped him out of that and he snapped out of that tunnel vision.

he was able to smack the hand away from the firearm, and that's when he drew the firearm and fired. >> reporter: osterman wrote about it in a book, quoting zimmerman -- "somehow, i broke his grip on the gun where the guy grabbed it between the rear site and the hammer. i got the gun in my hand, raised it toward the guy's chest and pulled the trigger." and this is where the problem lies for george zimmerman, because comments quoted by his friend, osterman, do not match what zimmerman told police. listen to what he says as he walks investigators through the crime scene. >> and he reached for it, but he reached -- like, i felt his arm going down to my side, and i grabbed it and i just grabbed my firearm and i shot him one time. >> reporter: in multiple recorded interviews, zimmerman never tells police that trayvon martin ever touched his gun. >> and i saw him take one hand off my mouth and slide it down my chest, and i just pinched his arm and i grabbed my gun and i

aimed it at him and fired one shot. >> reporter: dna testing seems to agree. there was no trace of trayvon martin's dna on the gun's grip. prosecutors list osterman's book with zimmerman's conflicting account as potential evidence, possibly to challenge zimmerman's credibility. as for his connection to the gun zimmerman was carrying, osterman says it's hard to answer the question does he feel regret. >> so, i would wish it would have never happened. however, the reason why george had it, it was not for malice. he didn't have it to go out and commit a crime of hunting someone down and harming them. it was for self protection. and i'm glad that that firearm was used to protect george. >> and now david, so, if he really is george zimmerman's best friend, how does mark feel

about, at this point, you're talking about your reporting, being a possible witness for the prosecution? >> well, not only is he on the prosecution's witness list, he's also on the list for the defense. but as far as what he has to tell them, he says it's possible he may have got it wrong, but in his mind, the idea of someone grabbing a gun or grabbing for a gun, he says he doesn't see a difference here and he still believes that his friend, george zimmerman, was defending himself. >> all right, david mattingly, thank you very much. so, as you know, every night we take a look outside the day's top stories for the "outfront outtake," and tonight it's about the crazy ants, because they are a coming. yes, this is their technical scientific name for the species of aunt. the tawny crazy ant is from south america. tawny must come from the lovely reddish, spindly hairs. look at those teeth. first spotted in the u.s. in houston in 2002, the species has now spread to florida, mississippi and louisiana. the tawny crazy ant is very invasive, infesting homes, vehicles and phones.

yes, phones. just last year, the crazy ant caused $150 million worth of damage in electronics in texas alone. yes. they go in and they eat your phone. people we spoke to think it's either the heat or the magnetic field they're attracted to. i don't know, but it seems amazing natural selection. the crazy ant squeezes inside smartphones and laptops and munches on the wiring and it's good for them for a while. sometimes they get electrocuted. when that happens, though, that's not the end of it. it may be for that one little tawny ant, but when that ant dies it lets off a stink that attracts other crazy ants because there's good food in there. so, then the entire device is full of ants and they eat it up before they get electrocuted. it is a huge problem with no end in sight, because this might amaze you, the pesticides that kill most ant species do not work on the crazy ants. despite the problems, i can't decide how i feel about these at-bats.

sure, they seem like a biological weapon that emanated from the pits of hell. talk about axis of evil. maybe it's the universe's way of telling our gadget-crazy society chill out, people. talk on the phone less, don't text so much. put it down, turn it off. you know what? i'm rooting for the ants. and still to come, actor, comedian and activist russell brand gets serious. he joins us next. but first, tonight's "shout-out." this is a building implosion i want to show you. it's an 11-story building on new york city's governors island blown up over the weekend. look at that. that's how it should be done, people. it used to house coast guard families, but it hadn't been used since 1996. it wasn't up to code, so they decided to destroy it. our "shout out" goes to the demolition experts who brought down that 45-year-old building -- watch this -- in ten seconds, people. and no one was injured. our fifth story "outfront," russell brand.

[ lorenzo ] i'm lorenzo.

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our fifth story "outfront," russell brand. actor, comedian, activist. like us here at "outfront," brand has been paying a lot of attention to what's happening in turkey right now with antigovernment protests. today they continued for the 11th day running. turkish riot police fired tear gas at a demonstration in ankara in an attempt to disperse hundreds of protesters, and the unrest is continuing despite an agreement with the turkish prime minister to lead meet with the leaders of the protest. russell brand is joining me live and in color in the u.s. you tweeted about what's happening in turkey and a lot of people are surprised. you wrote "our leaders are our trusted servance, not our masters." i know you've been to turkey, but it's important to you, why? >> well, i have been to turkey, but i have no particular affiliation with that nation, but the principles for which

they are protesting i happen to agree with in that a public space was being reclaimed for corporate use, their government not behaving in accordance with their principles under which they were elected and a powerful symbol of the turkish people, ataturk, has been in their minds to some degree desecrated. >> and so, the president of turkey, it's such a complicated situation. he was democratically elected, a lot of conservatives support him and now you have these protests. for someone like you deciding to take a stand on an issue, how do you make a decision? are they going about this the right way by having protests or not? >> erin, yes. i think protesting and activism and direct action where appropriate and nonviolent i think is very, very positive. it's not like they're making a decision to take a stand. maybe i'd feel different if they say you've got to come to the square and kicking off, but me sort of tweeting a few things because i happen to generally agree with people being active

against governments that are oppressing them and not correctly representing them, particularly in an issue where public space is being taken, particularly where a regime is oppressing people in a way that's quite so palpable and tangible, where people feel like they've had enough. i don't feel like this is only happening in turkey. it feels like it's happening everywhere. >> it does, and you wrote about in "the sun" op ed, you wrote about the horrific beheading in london. >> op ed. op ed. >> opinion column. we call them op eds. >> all right, i just learned a whole new word. op ed. yeah, i've done an op ed. i have plenty more op eds where that's from, too. >> so, you wrote about it -- >> yeah in an op ed. >> you wrote "blame this on mad ness, not muslims," talking about the horrific beheading in london. you got a lot of criticism for this. >> did i? why? >> people were hitting you up on twitter and you fought back.

but why do you think it's about madness and not muslims? >> it looks great in that tank top. when i saw me, i annoyed myself. i think that face is sort of an annoying thing to see. >> i see the straps, okay. >> i think what happens when something of this nature occurs, a tragic, violent event, immediately afterwards, a narrative is formed, blame is designated, opinions we feel formulated around us. i think it's important that we are cautious not to generate more conflict, particularly if the conflict generated fulfills the agenda of the perpetrator of the crime. i thought that the fella that did that crazy murder, that afterwards, if he knew that mosques were getting burned, he'd think, well, brilliant, this is a successful technique for generating -- >> more hate going on between muslims and non-muslims. >> but that doesn't seem to help anybody. also, i think the people that are powerful, be they sort of powerful, media conglomerations like this one we're currently on right now, or the people that govern us, they have an interest

in people on the lower rungs of society -- i mean us -- being opposed against one another for, you know, reasons of varying severity. of course, i'm not saying that the murder isn't tragic and awful. i'm just saying that we don't necessarily need to take the stated reason that person says they killed someone, that seriously. >> and this is a serious issue that you deal with in britain. we're dealing with it here in the u.s., but you're dealing with this in britain perhaps in an even more tangible way, which is the role of muslims in society, right, and whether they can be accepted and integrated or not. >> i'm not dealing with that. i think you can integrate and incorporate anybody as long as those people are peaceful and loving. i don't think that there's anything in islamic faith that predisposes people towards acts of violence, and people that i know that are muslim are cool. in fact, that's not a deciding factor. and i think by constantly exacerbating our awareness, by

heightening our awareness of these differences, it causes conflict. the majority of all people are relatively cool. i say get the extreme people in the christian right, get the extreme muslims, get the extreme everybody -- >> put them all in a room. >> yeah, let them go to some crazy island and do extreme stuff and the rest of us will just chill out. >> it would be a much better world. i have to say, that's a great solution. >> sounded a bit like a concentration camp, so we probably shouldn't actually do it, but as a theory, it's okay. everything's okay as a theory. >> and just explain, because people look at you, a lot of people know you as an actor, a comedian, all these things, but yet, you're choosing to speak out on these issues. how come? >> because i care about those things. i'm a comedian. some say the function of a comedian is to bring humorous information into public consciousness. i'm just telling jokes. i don't really have any direct solutions other than the one that applies in my own life, which is treat people kindly and

try not to put my selfish urges ahead of compassion. >> russell brand, thank you very much. it was a real pleasure to meet you. >> it is nice to meet you. and i stay aid out of your shot. i didn't lean into your shot. >> we tell them don't lean in you're not allowed to lean in. >> good luck in tehran. >> thank you very much. i'm very excited about that. >> your husband is a lucky and possibly crazy man. >> if he's watching, he'd probably agree with both things. thank you. >> it's a pleasure. all right, and a preview of my trip to iran that russell just mentioned is "outfront" next. keep our country in the lead. ♪ load! we keep moving to deliver what you need. and that means growth, lots of cargo going all around the globe. cars and parts, fuel and steel, peas and rice, hey that's nice! ♪ norfolk southern what's your function? ♪ ♪ helping this big country move ahead as one ♪ ♪ norfolk southern how's that function? ♪ with centurylink visionary cloud a brinfrastructure, and custom communications solutions, your business is more reliable, secure, and agile.

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iran is at the center of almost every international story. even our top story tonight. the government's surveillance of americans is kind of about iran. according to "the guardian" newspaper, the national security agency shows that in march of this year, in one month, the agency collected 97 billion pieces of intelligence from computer networks worldwide. the country where most of that intelligence was gathered, iran. with more than 14 billion reports in that month alone. yes, that is billion with a "b." is the american government paranoid about iran or is there something more to it? this week we want to pull the curtain back on iran. the presidential election for the country is on friday, and so many crucial issues from nuclear power to syria's civil war depend on it. it matters for america. will any of the seven candidates make a difference in how iran is

won? almost every single one have ties to the supreme leader ayatollah khomeini. jalili's slogan is "no compromise, no submission, only jalili." another cleric has talked about constructive interaction with the world, but what does that really mean? we're going to be there. it's an "outfront" special report live from iran thursday and friday night. we'll see you from tehran. finally tonight, you get to pick what cnn covers. it's a new initiative called "change the list." go to cnn.com/changethelist, pick the five stories you think need to change the most and we'll send cnn opinion columnist john sutter to cover the story. "piers morgan" is next. last 10 mins of piers in 1am ♪

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>> welcome to "piers morgan live," i want to welcome my studio audience. and all of our viewers in the united states and around the world, we're taking your questions and comments. tweet us @piersmorganlive. an incredible story of a woman who came face to face with a killer.

she risked her life trying to stop a santa monica rampage killer. now she says this about people who believe guns will make it safer. >> anybody who goes out to buy a gun thinking that they could defend themselves against someone like this is crazy. >> she joins me in a moment. also, how many of your privacy are you willing to give up? the government tracks your calls and e-mails. how much safer will you feel? a former head of the cia and ron paul who says that nsa leak edward snowden has done a great service for americans. on the other side, jeffrey toobin says snowden is no hero and should go to jail. my exclusive, the brother of the man who shot trayvon martin. this is "piers morgan live."