tv Anderson Cooper 360 CNN February 24, 2015 5:00pm-6:01pm PST
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have but he hasn't. what's here that hasn't been heard before is how he allegedly perpetrated these crimes. there was a ritual and they all talk about that. >> thank you so much alisyn. we should say bill cosby declined cnn's request for an interview but in recent months his attorneys vehemently denied the accusations of sexual assault but don't miss no laughing matter. it's tonight at 9:00 with alisyn here on cnn. and anderson starts now. good evening. thank you for joining us. we begin tonight with breaking news. the "american sniper" murder trial. the question of whether the defendant eddie ray routh was sane or whether it was murder in the hands of the jury. closing arguments just wrapped up. the defense seeking to show mr. routh was in the grips of a psychotic episode when he pulled the trigger. attempting to prove he knew what he was doing. ed lavandera is outside of the courthouse in texas. he joins us now.
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closing arguments ended less than 30 minutes ago. i know you were listening in. what can you tell us? >> reporter: prosecutors really hammered away at eddie ray mouthrouth far from insane. with a personality disorder. on the gun range that eddie ray routh led true colors show and let his freak flag fly and hammered away all of the excuses, describe all of the symptoms of psychosis and schizophrenia. those were simply excuses made by someone a cold and calculated killer. defense attorneys turned around anderson and hammered away at one of the central pieces of evidence we've talked about during the course of the trial. that was the lack of a blood test done on eddie ray routh after he was taken into custody. if you're watching this closely, they've been saying eddie ray routh was in a voluntary drug-induced psychosis that caused him to kill chris kyle
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and chad littlefield. that does not rise to insanity. if he was under the influence of drugs, why didn't they take a blood test? >> that's a key point. because the prosecutors, as you said, have continued to maintain that he smoked marijuana in a marijuana-induced psychosis. did his defense attorney seem to score points with the jury about questioning the fact that this test hadn't taken place, no drug test was done? >> reporter: i think that's the million dollar question in this situation. they fully acknowledge that the morning of the killings that he had smoked some marijuana drank some vodka and whiskey. by the time the murder took place, any effects would have worn off by then.
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that's the question, the jury doesn't have a firm answer to. the prosecutors hammered away for the last two weeks that he was a heavy drug user alcohol abuse and that was a much larger contributing factor than any mental or psychosis issues he might have had. >> i don't understand this family was so concerned about this young man, why an uncle of his would be drinking with him before noon obviously given his mental issues that they clearly seem to be worried about. did the jury receive any special instructions do we have any sense of how long they might deliberate tonight? >> reporter: we don't know how long they're going to go. they started deliberating 25 minutes ago. they have a lot to go over. we'll see if a verdict comes back tonight. there's three choices. guilty, not guilty, not guilty by reason of insanity. the defense attorney said there are really only two choices. it's guilty or not guilty by reason of insanity.
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that's where that expert testimony is going to be so crucial as these jurors will have to go over and probably debate at length the expert test they received that eddie ray routh made to various hospitals in years leading up to the murder of chris kyle and chad littlefield. all of that we presume played a big role in the jury room. >> ed lavandera, thank you very much. we showed you images on the highway when this suspect was arrested after stealing chris kyle's vehicle after the murders. for perspective on the closing arguments, all the jury has been asked to consider. i want to bring in danny cevallos and jeffrey toobin. insanity defense usually doesn't work. very skeptical. any reason to think this case will be different? >> i don't. although i think the defense has put on a better case than i expected. there is one question that the
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jury is going to have to answer. that is why. the answer is mysterious. it is not clear. if the jury can say the only reason he killed them is because he's crazy, an acquittal is a possibility. but jurors don't like insanity defenses or people try to put one over on them. i would certainly guess that a conviction is the most likely result here. >> danny, there's the question of mental illness or whether or not this guy was intoxicated when he committed the murders. does that have any legal bearing? >> very much so. they've gotten an instruction in texas that voluntary intoxication is not a defense to a crime. that's why you saw the prosecution introducing so much evidence of intoxication and a defense fighting that or stating that yes, even if he
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was on any drugs, that was separate and distinct from his mental illness. any drug use to the benefit of the prosecution but intoxication aside, even if the jury finds he knew the difference between right and wrong and when i say wrong in texas, that means illegal. if he's aware what he did was illegal, then he cannot use the insanity defense. voluntary intoxication is a part of this case but it is not the critical question. that is whether it was right or wrong and he was aware of it. >> paul you think the prosecutors put up a strong case though. >> yeah, but you have to look at the bigger picture on these things. although insanity is asserted 1% of cases in the united states in one of four of the cases, they win with the insanity defense. i was talking to homicide prosecutor yesterday who was bemowing the fact the only loss
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in his entire career occurred in an insanity case. you don't know what the jurors will do and don't understand a lot of times the instructions and judging how insane he looks to be and so it's a risky thing. in this case you've got two local hometown heroes, a lot of evidence of what we're indicating that he knew what he did was wrong. he stole kyle's car after shooting the truck and fled. why would you flee if you think you didn't do something wrong? he said he was sorry and a number of things would indicate the awareness of the wrongfulness of the act and in texas, it's a low standard for the prosecutor as long as he understood the difference between right and wrong. i say on balance, i have to agree with jeffrey and danny
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that a conviction is likely here. >> the fact this guy was released by the v.a. hospital days before the shooting besides apparently deemed a danger not only is that just stunning, but would that have an impact on the jury? >> well i don't think directly. one thing the defense did try to do is put the v.a. on trial. basically put the iraq war on trial, say, he didn't get the help he needed. he was betrayed by the v.a. and that's what led to this crime, not any sort of intentional decision on his part. that taps into feelings i think a lot of people have about the v.a. fairly or not. i think that's at least one vehicle for the jury to find not guilty by reason of insanity but still. personal responsibility is something the jurors feel strongly about and ultimately that's what usually comes to the
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fore in these cases. >> the tale you should remember is the tale of the scott pa neti case. he's on death row in texas now. panetti tried his case represented himself in a purple cowboy suit subpoenaed jesus christ john f. kennedy and the pope. the jury in that case found him guilty in an hour in one day and sentenced him to death. so another texas jury. so it's a tough defense in tough texas. >> all the expert witnesses, they aren't created equal, but it's often contradictory. >> oh, very much so. and in fact that's why you see such a huge disparity in insanity cases. with sometimes even very similar scientific or psychiatric evidence. ultimately all that science has to be decided by a lay jury and that's why you get those inconsistent results. so we've seen these arguments
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before and juries have the power to accept or reject them. texas courts have said that insanity is not strictly a medical determination. it is also a moral determination and a determination that our jury makes and not at the hospital. thank you, danny cevallos jeffrey toobin paul callan. the v.a. released him against the wishes of his family worried he was a threat to himself and others. that angle tonight from our gary tuchman. >> reporter: what if what if the v.a. hospital in dallas that had "american sniper" chris kyle and chad lyttelton's killer as a patient on four occasions listened to this woman, eddie ray routh's mother. during the trial she said under oath she told the v.a. her son was a danger to himself and others because of his ptsd and begged v.a. employees not to let
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him out. what if? we don't know if the daughter also expressed concerns but her views about her brother's mental state became clear in a frantic 9-1-1 call. >> she said he killed two guys. it's like he's all crazy. he's psychotic. >> reporter: officials at the v.a. called her saying they were releasing eddie and needed to pick him up. she testified she pleaded with them not to let him go but they did even though he had threatened in the past to kill his family and himself. so why did the hospital release him? we went to the dallas v.a. hospital in an attempt to get some answers. i'm gary tuchman with cnn. even before we were able to declare what we were there for, a security guard showed up. >> do you have the approval of the public affairs office? >> yes. sir, my name is gary tuchman with cnn. we're doing a story about eddie
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ray routh. >> do you have the approval of the public affairs? >> reporter: yes, we're doing a story who might be dangerous that are let out and why. >> until you get the approval of the public appearance officer. >> reporter: we were then ordered to turn off the camera and the public affairs people said no to an interview. after telling us days ago they would consider it and signing us a written response instead due to regular regulations and the ongoing trial, we are not able to provide you with patient health information regarding eddie ray routh but then added, although posttraumatic stress disorder may be associated with increased risk of aggression individuals with ptsd are not dangerous, and most behaviors mild. the majority of veterans and non-veterans do not engage in violence. but it's not just members of routh's family who don't feel he took care in evaluating him. former navy seal brandon webb with the navy seal sniper
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program was friends with chris kyle. >> i got to know chris when he was a new guy checking in to seal team 3. >> reporter: he himself had ptsd and given terrible posttraumatic stress care at a different v.a. hospital. never clearly informed if the powerful drugs he were given were safe to take at the same time. >> i don't hold all of the blame on the v.a. but they should have done a much better job of diagnosing this guy. and you certainly don't let somebody like that just out on the street and throw back pills at the situation. >> reporter: listen to this from this texas congresswoman berniece johnston. >> i was a nurse at the veteran's administration here in dallas. >> reporter: the chief psychiatric nurse. eddie ray routh's hospital. congresswoman johnson worked in the 1970s and said today, she receives complaints from v.a. employees saying they're afraid to lose their jobs if they speak out to hospital administrators
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about patient care sometimes being compromised. >> you cannot manage an institution by intimidation and think you're going to build the trust of the people that work for you to be focused on patient care when they're focused on survival. >> reporter: we asked the v.a. about that allegation. as of yet, no comment. if you were thrown in the hospital today, what would you have done? said? >> there's no way that you can just discharge a patient when the people closest to them realize how sick they are. >> reporter: in a written statement, the v.a. told us we are proud of our mental health program and mental health professionals but former patient eddie ray routh killed two people after he got out. two brave men who fought for their country. what if? >> so gary, what should a family do with a loved one in a v.a. hospital and believe that person would be dangerous to release? >> reporter: anderson it's an important question. unfortunately, there's no perfect answer, but doctors i've
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talked to not affiliated with the v.a. said be respectful but you can get the faces of your loved one's, social nurses if you think it's a danger. aggressively lobby for that and i want to tell you, we received a statement from the local hospital here in dallas responding to the allegations of intimidation by the administration against employees, the hospital saying that it is focused on further developing a culture of patient safety and epimpowering our staff with the tools and processes to speak up if they believe improvement to care can be made. anderson? >> thank you, gary. appreciate it. important story. thanks. a quick reminder this case is the hands of the jury. a quick verdict could be made at any time. we'll go back to texas if that happens. up next the california train crash investigation and what it was like to be in one of those cars as it flew off the tracks and tipped over moving
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fast. we'll have the breaking news as federal investigators arrive on scene. on top of all the damage already, yet another deadly winter storm is on the way. georgia declaring a state of emergency already. the latest on that and where it's all heading when we continue. there's nothing more romantic than a spontaneous moment. so why pause to take a pill? and why stop what you're doing to find a bathroom? with cialis for daily use, you don't have to plan around either. it's the only daily tablet approved to treat erectile dysfunction so you can be ready anytime the moment is right. plus cialis treats the frustrating urinary symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently, day or night. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache,
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investigators and officials talking to reporters right now at the scene of this morning's fiery train wreck outside of los angeles. already one big new item. we learned that the driver of the truck who got hit who left the scene after the crash is in custody charged with hit-and-run. the crash happened in the city of oxnard in ventura county northwest of l.a. a double deck metro commuter train hit a road truck that burst into flames, four rail cars left the track. amazingly so far, no fatalities. however, the number of passengers as well as the train's engineer are in pretty rough shape at area hospitals. kyung lah on the scene with all the late details. these new felony hit-and-run charges with the driver of the truck, doesn't mean the driver left his trucks on the track, does it? >> reporter: absolutely. they do say that they don't feel that this was a deliberate act. that's actually a quote, they don't feel this was deliberate. but the result is still the
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same. they do believe that the driver of this produce truck made a wrong turn. he mistook the railway as a roadway and now because of what has happened, they say he should be charged. jose alejandro ramirez sanchez left the scene and that's the heart of the charges, anderson. he was found a mile and a half away 45 minutes after the crash, appeared to have not called 9-1-1 but simply left. >> and do we know if the crossing arms the warning lights the bells at the railroad tracks were they working properly this morning? >> reporter: that has yet to be determined but it may not matter. he mistook the railway as the roadway, he made the turn into the train's path long before the train actually would have started those signals from starting. so that's what's really key here. he did it before the arms were
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down. >> reporter: >> metro link said that technology is why none of the rail cars crumpled up correct? >> reporter: yes. and that is key in perhaps something for other parts of this country to pay attention to. because it's this collision energy management system. it basically fortifies each train car. if there is an accident yes, there will be flipping over. yes, there will be people that are hurt by the jostling but because the train cars aren't crumpling, you won't have the severe injuries where people are crushed and that's really key here. >> kyung lah, thank you. no fatalities we've heard so far. we want to know what it was like to be in those cars. a man named joel bingham on his way to work in chatsworth when it hit the truck. you were the second car on the train. walk me through what happened
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before the crash. what did you see, what did you hear? >> reporter: well i work on train cars for a living and i realize that the train was definitely in emergency. we were stopping fast. normally it's a mechanical issue or something and happened to i felt the bumps so i knew we hit something. as we went through the crossing, i saw the car blow up and we started rocking and rolling. we went right on the ground there. and just incredible feeling, you know, okay for a little while and then got on our side and it got strange. >> so you actually saw the train hitting the vehicle? >> i felt it hit. i felt the impact but as i came to the crossing the car exploded. i guess our car was derailed and spashs caught on fire and the paint exploded. as i went by i saw the explosion. we started going to ground. i yelled at the guy across the way, are you okay? are you okay? we were okay for a while and then finally went on a 45 degree
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angle. stuff started flying everywhere. and had to fend for yourself. and it felt like an eternity until we came to a stop. >> how long until the time from the initial incident to actually going over from the train car tipping over? >> reporter: well normally it takes 55 miles per hour it takes about a mile to stop. we stop in three train lengths. the engineer definitely set the emergency brakes that were set before impact. once we hit at impact my car went at 60 miles per hour by its side. >> really 60 miles per hour? when that's happening, what is going through your mind? >> well i know people stiffened up in the accident got injured, so i thought i better stay loose. i grabbed the pole a pole that was there and flip around like a flag on the pole and got a
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little beat up but i hung in there. just outrageous. >> so you were able to wrap your arms around this pole and just kind of hang on? >> i grabbed with my hands and held on until the train came to a stop. it felt like in slow motion. everyone on the train agreed it felt like slow motion. it felt like it took half a minute to stop but i think it was quicker because we were on the track and next thing, we were on the dirt stopped. >> do you have time to think back? >> i definitely have to say i had a flash of death. it was a second there, i looked at the guy across the way and i didn't say it but i thought, we might be dead right now. >> you thought this was it? >> i definitely thought i was going. i thought it was it. a flash. and then finally came to a stop and we were okay. i went into rescue mode. and i yelled and said is anyone
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hurt a couple people said yes. i remove one of the safety windows and told everybody, listen to my voice because it was dark. come to my voice and i'll get you out of the safety window. i helped everyone out. i got out front and looking for my engineer. the front of the train was gone. turned out he did a 180 and was in the ditch behind me. i went looking for him. i said oh my god, my engineer might be dead and i found him. he said i'm the engineer and both started helping people until the fire department got there. >> were you working on this train or just happened to be on this train? >> i happened to be on this train. i work at a firm in chatsworth called tigm streetcar manufacturing and it was my third day of work as a machinist and i called them said i had a 60-mile-per-hour fiery train cash and didn't think i'd be in on time. they saw me on the news and said i should probably go to the doctor so i did. >> the people in that car are incredibly lucky to have you in that car to help them. how are you feeling now?
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>> still a little in shock. a little beat up. i'm a little sore. but my engineer/conductor left on stretchers. they did everything they could. they were great. the rescue crew was incredible. gave us blankets water, everything. just everything went just as good as it possibly can and i just want to say, rail coach travel is the safest form of travel in the whole world, safer than walking. 100 of us all walked away no problem. >> it's incredible that fact and i'm glad you're standing and doing okay. thank you so much for all you did. i appreciate talking to you, joel. >> okay thank you too, anderson. >> it's amazing. more breaking news to tell you about. a new line of deadly weather, a state of emergency in georgia. the death toll rising from the ice and cold already. late details on where it's heading. we'll give you those next. and was it a road rage killing or something else? neighbors who knew about the
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a quick update now on jury deliberations. jurors got the case of 7:36 eastern time today. so they had a bit less than an hour. we're at the courthouse throughout the night obviously. we'll bring you a verdict if and when it comes tonight. in the meantime a new wave of dangerous weather spreading across the southern states on top of freezing temperatures and icy conditions that have already claimed a lot of lives. at least 30 in the state of tennessee alone. the forecast shortly with randi kaye what it's already looking like out there. >> reporter: tennessee may have been the hardest hit. slick roads and spinning tires made for some frustrated drivers in bradley county. this guy drove into a guardrail. >> hit an icy or slushy spot and held on for the ride. >> reporter: icey roads and big rigs don't miss. crawled to safety after losing
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control on an icy patch on 45 southwest of dallas. the truck's cab on monday afternoon. on tuesday, the truck was still dangling dangerously gripping the edge of the roadway. interstates all over north texas are a mess thanks to icy conditions. >> there's a path the cars have made and i've just kind of followed those paths. >> reporter: the 25 car pile-up outside of amarillo texas, snarled traffic for miles and it's not just the roadways. it's the runways too. this american airlines jet veered off the way at dallas fort worth international airport. luckily, none of the 68 people on board flight 296 were hurt. they deplainned through an emergency exit. runways reopened tuesday after more than a thousand flights cancelled monday. more than half of all the inbound and outbound flights for the evening.
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further east, slow going in parts of north carolina. a glaze of ice covering the highways brought traffic to a crawl. already, state highway patrol has responded to more than 1700 collisions. and look at this. north carolina's wrightsville beach dusted with snow. not exactly bikini weather. in west little rock, arkansas one road forced drivers to abandon their cars and others ended up in ditches or trees. >> a lot of cars have been trying and not many have been making it. >> i've only given rides to three people. driven four cars up the hill. >> reporter: even georgia got a healthy dose of the white stuff. numerous counties cancelled school thanks to hazardous driving conditions and the promise of more snow and ice to come. randi kaye cnn, new york. >> makes you wish for summer. again, there are weather advisories all across the south.
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jennifer gray is in the weather center tracking them all. what's the latest tonight? >> about 62 million people in the path of this one, anderson. we do have the winter storm warnings in effect anywhere from basically dallas all the way to charlotte, and we also have those winter storm watches that go in place all the way to raleigh and near the coast. so this one is going to be a big one but it's going to be a fast mover. the other good news with this one, it's going to be more of a snow maker, less of an ice maker. we had all the problems with the last storm with the ice. we still had a little bit of the ice but you can see dallas is mainly snow. by the time we go through tomorrow morning, we could see ice through the ark lo teches and then southern arkansas moving to the east. north georgia could see snow tomorrow afternoon all the way through thursday morning. this is going to continue to push to the east impacting north carolina once again, virginia. a lot of the same places that we
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saw with this last storm. what we can expect with snow accumulation 1 to 2 inches in dallas an inch or two in shreveport and the numbers go up. 4 to 6 inches around charlotte, 6208 to 8 inches and metro atlanta could pick up 1 to 3 inches. >> wow. if you were watching last night, you might have heard a tragic story take a bizarre turn. what many thought was a case of road rage could be turning into something else entirely. what exactly was the relationship between the young man and the woman he's accused of murdering? details ahead. with my android from tracfone, i can... order safety goggles. play music for seedlings. post science fair projects. schedule guinea pig feedings. video chemical reactions. take pics of mr. bones. time the next launch. calm down principal jones. i can do all that with my android from tracfone. 90-day plans start as low as $20. for a limited time get the samsung galaxy centura with the spongebob movie
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tonight a strange twist in the las vegas shooting death first described as a road rage incident. new details now painting a much more complicated picture. 19-year-old erich nowsch is accused of killing 44-year-old tammy meyers nearly two weeks ago. police still searching for his alleged accomplice. as you may remember the victim and suspect knew each other. the husband said supplying her
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with prescription drugs and last night on the program, one of the suspect's attorneys did not deny it. >> the media and hopefully the police have had some contact with some people that have indicated that there may have been some exchanges that went on in the park between tammy meyers and erich nowsch. >> he said he doesn't know for sure but wants anybody with information to come forward. his answer prompted us to investigate further today. more on what we uncovered from sara sidner with the latest. >> reporter: robert meyers stood before a crowd of reporters to explain the relationship between his wife and 19-year-old erich nowsch after it was revealed this was not a random case of road rage and his wife knew the man suspected of killing her. >> my wife spent countless hours at that park consoling that boy and he's probably watching this right now and i know he's got to feel bad because she was really good to him. she fed him, she gave him money,
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she told him to pull his pants up and to be a man. >> reporter: a friend of nowsch who lives in the neighborhood said there was something else connecting meyers and the murder suspect. >> mrs. meyers used to come to the park and like try to purchase things off him. i don't know what she was purchasing but i knew she would talk to him previously. i mean that's what i just heard around but i didn't know for a fact that they knew each other. >> she purchased things off of him like bud, like what? >> she smoked weed so and right here in this park area is weed being sold everyday all the time. >> reporter: five neighbors we talked to said when the son goes down the park turns from a pristine calm place to an active drug scene. >> two elementary school children and i don't like them over there because it's a bad crowd. i can see them smoking pot, you know. >> reporter: that's not all. a source for the city who could
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not be on camera for fear of losing a job said erich nowsch had a reputation as an alleged marijuana dealer in this park and another resident trying to keep this park drug-free got into a tussle with nowsch. resident ricky robertson was there that day and witnessed what happened but could not identify whether nowsch was involved. park marshals could not find any incident report that matched that case. what have you seen going on in that park recently? >> a few months ago i saw an argument with an elderly gentleman and a teenager and what happened was i guess he must have caught him selling weed or something but he was wreging them to the ground telling me to call the cops and, you know as he's doing this, he ripped open this kid's bags and had a gallon ziploc bags full of marijuana. >> reporter: now seen pictures of marijuana, this is a shot from his instagram but that does
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not make him a drug dealer. but there's this who said nowsch asked police if he could smoke marijuana to calm down in order to surrender the day of the standoff. it's clear your client takes drugs. is he indicated that he also sells drugs? >> that's also a little bit early to get into right now. i think a lot of people have drawn in that conclusion and it's probably given the surrounding circumstances, not an unreasonable conclusion to draw depending what you're defining as drugs. >> reporter: i asked about the involvement with nowsch. meyers sent me this text. "we would love to pee test to prove, i have never done drugs in lie. and certainly never would let my kids. this is getting sicker by the day." he said this was not a case of road rage between meyers and nowsch but claims it's a case of
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self-defense. was he selling her drugs? >> right now, it's probably a little bit premature to make a definitive statement. right now, i can say there are independent witnesses that have made statements. i think it would be reckless at this point and tell myself or another until myself or another member of the defense team has spoken. >> the blurry faced guy you talked to said about, i want to be clear. he doesn't have any direct knowledge of tammy meyers buying anything from erich nowsch. he was just saying what he had heard around correct? >> reporter: that is correct. but then when he was asked again, well what was she buying and you heard the statement he made. we can tell you this about the person. the reason why that person is blurred is because he has apparently received threats, threats to harm him and his family and so we could not show you the face of that person.
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this case tragic, i think that what's happening is they've been saying a lot of different things, very emotional as you might imagine. and they just can't stand some of the information that is coming out. they don't believe it themselves. and they're still in shock and they're still grieving. and no one is saying that there is any reason why tammy meyers should have been shot and killed but the details of this case seem to change every single day, anderson. >> and i just want to be clear, in the statement that mr. meyers gave about him taking a drug test he's never done drugs, his kids haven't, he never mentioned anything about the wife in that statement, is that correct? >> reporter: no i pressed him on that. when i pressed him to say, wait i want to be clear. you mentioned your children and you mentioned yourself but i asked specifically about your wife or anyone else in the house. can you clarify for me? and then he wrote back look from now on the district attorney and the police will be
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the only ones that will speak on my behalf in this case. so he has pretty much stopped talking and the family is grieving anderson. >> obviously. and it's important to point out a lot of this can be unfair because mrs. meyers cannot defend herself because she's been shot to death. thank you, sara. a crime story plot. the victim tells police his mother was taken hostage while forced to rob his own bank and trying to get back before their daughter joins isis. details ahead. financial noise financial noise financial noise
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a lot of questions tonight about an incident in connecticut where police say the victim of a home invasion was forced to attend a bank heist while his mother was strapped with what seems to be explosive devices. will ripley reports. >> reporter: detectives in unmarked cars search for clues in this connecticut home trying to figure out the mystery of what happened on this quiet as you would sack. >> it's a bizarre story no matter what way you put it. >> reporter: a driver was getting ready to go inside and said there were two men waiting here and forced their way in. the homeowner, matt yusman said
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he took them hostage waiting for daylight strapping to him what looked like an explosive but deemed safe and still being analyzed. and then yusman said he was ordered to drive alone to the credit union where he's the cfo threatening to blow him up if he didn't bring back the cash. the process to figure that out. >> instead, yusman called the ceo telling them to get the money ready. the credit union evacuated. police called in the bomb squad, put schools in two towns on lockdown and shut down this busy highway for more than three hours. >> it's a very scary day not just for this man but the people in the area too. >> reporter: it's eeriely similar to brian wells. in 2003 the pizza delivery man said strangers strapped a bomb
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to him and forced him to rob a bank. the scene played out live on tv when police intervened the bomb went off. killing wells. the case remained a mystery for years until 2007 when authorities determined wells was in on the scheme all along. but tonight in connecticut, investigators are looking for two masked men. are there any security videos of these men, has anyone seen them? >> i don't know. that's part of the investigation that's ongoing. >> reporter: nobody came to the door at yusman's house. police say he's being extremely cooperative facing intense questioning. >> the whole story is just something right out of a movie. >> reporter: right now, it's a mystery and nobody knows how it will end. >> will ripley joining us from connecticut. are police saying anything about what they think really happened? >> reporter: they know there was some sort of a complex scheme to rob this credit union behind me and said there was an incident at that house about 20 minutes from here. but what they don't know
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anderson, is what to call it. the language is not home invasion but bank robbery scheme. they look for two suspects and every possibility in this case anderson. >> will appreciate it. thanks for the reporting. here's other latest stories with amara walker with a 360 bulletin. >> reporter: three teenage girls from london made it to syria in a suspected plan to join isis. airport surveillance pictures showed the three girls who flew from london to turkey one week ago. president obama today vetoed a measure to green light the construction of the controversial keystone pipeline. the pipeline project would transport oil from canada to the gulf of mexico. opponents say the potential environmental risks are not worth the jobs it would create. and the justice department today announced no civil rights charges will be brought against george zimmerman for killing 17-year-old trayvon martin. zimmerman was acquitted of criminal charges in 2013. anderson? >> amara, thanks. again, we wait a verdict in the "american sniper" trial.
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we'll break in when the jury reaches the decision. we'll be right back. ready for another reason to switch to t-mobile?, how about getting america's best unlimited 4g lte family plan. get 2 lines of unlimited 4g lte data... for just a hundred bucks a month with any smartphone, including the samsung galaxy note 4 for zero down. add more family members for just $40 bucks a pop. think the other guys have a family plan like this? think again! finally, it's full speed 4g lte data that really is unlimited. the real question that needs to be asked is "what is it that we can do that is impactful?" what the cloud enables is computing to empower cancer researchers. it used to take two weeks to sequence and analyze a genome;
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in the "american sniper" trial. jurors have it. let's go back to ed lavandera at the courthouse. ed? >> reporter: hi, anderson. this jury is basically deciding the fate and deliberating at 6:30 central time. 7:30 p.m. eastern and basically two decisions they have to make. if they find him guilty he would be sent to prison for life without the possibility of parole. there is no other option in termsoverterm terms of sentencing and if not by reason of insanity sent to a state prison hospital and one or two more locations that he would be sent to but that's the decision this jury must make tonight. >> any word how late they may deliberate? >> reporter: we've got a little bit of an indication. but we're really here at the discretion of the jury. we've been told that everything is in place to let them work as late as they want to go tonight. it's really at the skregsdiscretion of the jury and i don't think the court officials even though but
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if there's a court verdict, he's prepared to go into sentencing. it could be a late night or come here tomorrow. >> ed lavandera, thank you. that does it for us. for another edition of 360, cnn special report of no laughing matter inside the cosby allegations starts now. the following is a cnn special report. last fall, the legendary bill cosby was restaking his claim as an a-list super star at the age of 77. >> cosby was really looking at a career rejuvenation. >> 30 years after his nbc blockbuster, the network was cooking up another cosby sitcom. netflix had plans to stream a comedy special and a 500 page biography was in new yor
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