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CNN NEWSROOM

Pistorius Defense Fights Back; Blast Felt "Like an Earthquake"; Winter Storm Slated for Southwest; Housing Permits Hit Four-Year High; Fighting as a Last Resort is OK; Jesse Jackson Jr. In Court This Hour; Post Office Launches Clothing Line; Ashley Judd Targeted in Political Ad

Aired February 20, 2013 - 10:00   ET

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


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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, fireworks in court, Oscar Pistorius' lawyers poking holes in the prosecution's case even accusing investigators of sabotage.

Plus, attacking a political threat before she even enters the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can never anticipate what is going to push me over the edge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell unveils his first ad targeting actress Ashleigh Judd.

And officials unveil a new slogan to keep you safe during a violent attack, run, hide, fight, but it's the video that has everyone talking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taking the shooting down no matter what.

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COSTELLO: Looking to make a fashion statement? The U.S. Post Office announces a line of clothing and accessories. We're live in the NEWSROOM.

Good morning. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Carol Costello. Final arguments are set for tomorrow in the Oscar Pistorius bail hearing. Today's session is now over. Pistorius as you know faces a premeditated murder charge in the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp.

The defense attorney tried to poke holes in the prosecution's case today. He accused investigators of discarding anything that supported the defense's position. He also got the investigating officer to acknowledge going into Pistorius's home without protective foot covers.

That investigator also testified he does not oppose bail for Pistorius. Of course, the final decision will be up to the judge. CNN's Robyn Curnow is outside the court in Pretoria, South Africa. Good morning.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. And what a difference a day makes. You know, yesterday I was telling you how Oscar Pistorius was at times inconsolable, physically falling over, crying, sobbing.

Today he was more, well, centered. He seemed to be more in control of himself. He was sitting upright, not bent over. You got a sense that even though he was still scared and perhaps lonely, he was a little bit more confident and with good reason.

Because it did seem like his defense team discredited even weakened the state's argument against him. Take a look at this.

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CURNOW (voice-over): More riveting details on what prosecutors say happened that Valentine's Day morning and counter charges from the defense. According to prosecutors witnesses heard arguing coming from the Pistorius home for an hour before the shooting.

The defense saying the witnesses' house was 300 meters, about 1,000 feet away. On the stand, the investigating officer said Pistorius used a cricket bat to break down the bathroom door. That bat and a cell phone found splattered in blood.

Using a diagram projected on a large screen, the officer said Pistorius aimed his gun at the toilet pointing out that he had to turn and fire at an angle in order to hit the toilet. Police also say a witness heard a gunshot and then heard a female scream and then more gunshots.

The defense says no female screamed. Defense attorneys pressed the police officer who admitted that Steenkamp's body had no signs of self-defense or defending herself. The officer also conceding he could find nothing inconsistent with Oscar Pistorius's version of events.

Pistorius says he thought he was shooting at an intruder. Prosecutors say police found bullets in a safe at home and they say that will lead to charges of possessing illegal ammunition.

But later the investigators say they did not establish whose ammunition it was. Authorities say they also found two boxes much testosterone and needles, which defense attorneys contend is actually herbal medicine.

Prosecutors say there's no way the killing of Reeva Steenkamp was self-defense that Pistorius knew his girlfriend was in the bathroom when he opened fire. They cited two previous incidents of police encounters with Pistorius, which suggest he could be prone to violence.

Adding that since they consider Pistorius a flight risk, he should be held without bail. And with that, court is adjourned until tomorrow.

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CURNOW: About an hour ago, a police van came blaring up the road next to us, sirens blasting, the windows covered to stop all the photographs from trying to get a picture of Oscar Pistorius who was taken back to his jail cell for the night.

It will be tomorrow morning he'll hear whether or not he'll be sleeping another night or perhaps the next few months in jail as that bail hearing, the final arguments, are due to start around 4:00 a.m. Eastern Time. When your viewers wake up they might have a better sense of what happened.

COSTELLO: Robyn Curnow, we'll check back with you tomorrow. Thanks so much.

Now to Kansas City, Missouri, where authorities are searching for a missing person after a huge natural gas explosion. It was so powerful it blew the roof off a restaurant during happy hour, that restaurant in downtown Kansas City.

Now people smelled gas and evacuated just minutes before the blast. Witnesses say it felt like an earth quake. Some people walked away with just a few scratches, but at least 15 people were hurt. Police believe a contractor may have hit an underground natural gas line.

From Southern California to Michigan, a nasty mess of snow, rain, wind being unleashed. The storm a triple threat, snow in the west, ice in the plains in Midwest and severe storms in the south.

Right now winter storm watches and warnings are up across California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. Close to a foot of snow is expected in the plains and severe storms could pop up in Texas and other Gulf Coast states.

Now on to the subject of your money, new information from the Commerce Department shows a booming housing market. How long has it been since you heard that term? Home builders applied for more permits last month than at any time since 2008.

Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange. I'm ready to do my happy dance. Tell me more.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Let me see that, Carol. That would be fun. You know what? This housing recovery is for real, but there was a bit of a hiccup after showing pretty good strength in December, housing actually gave up some momentum in January.

I'm talking about construction of new homes. It fell in January, actually if fell 8.5 percent from December. But if you look at the number from January of 2012 comparing it to January of 2011, that number actually came in much stronger. And you look deeper in the report, much of the drop actually came from multi-family homes.

But new construction for single family homes actually makes up a bigger portion of the housing market. That rose to the highest level since July of 2008. Then there is a second part of this report you want to look at and many argue a more important part.

That's building permits, which you alluded to, they rose to their highest level in four and a half years. Now permits are good to look at because they're a great indicator of future building activity and builder confidence.

We talked with David Crow. He's a chief p economist of the National Association of Home Builders. He says permits better reflect the strength and recovery. He says we're continuing to climb -- Carol.

COSTELLO: OK, I'll take that. Alison Kosik live at the New York Stock Exchange.

There's a new safety video without that was made in part by the Department of Homeland Security. It has a message some of you have not heard before. That will be to fight back during a workplace or school shooting. Wait until you see the video and we'll talk about that when we come back.

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COSTELLO: Our new talk show -- "Talk Back" show comes your way in about 20 minutes. We are discussing three stories making headlines today. One of today's topics, Vice President Joe Biden talking about gun safety to parents, and he gave this piece of advice.

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JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Jill, if there's ever a problem, just walk out on the balcony, put that double barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house.

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COSTELLO: That would be Jill, as in Joe Biden's wife.

"Talk Back" question: Is Joe Biden helping or hurting Obama's gun control efforts? Join the conversation Facebook.com/CarolCNN or tweet me @CarolCNN.

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COSTELLO: School security, workplace security, how do you fight a gunman and live? For years we've been told to run, to hide. Now there's a new message, fighting back as a last resort. Look at this new video put out by the City of Houston and the Department of Homeland Security.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a last resort, if your life is at risk, whether you're alone or working together as a group, fight, act with aggression, improvise weapons, disarm him, and commit to taking the shooter down no matter what.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So let's talk about that. Sergeant A.J. Deandrea is with the Arvada Colorado Police Department. He is also SWAT team member who responded to three different school shootings. John Michael Keys is the founder of the "I Love You Guys" Foundation. His daughter was killed in a school shooting in Colorado in 2006. Welcome to you both.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. I'd like to start with you, Sergeant. Why the change? Why are you telling people now to fight back when you are confronted with someone with a gun?

SERGEANT A.J. DEANDREA, ARVADA, COLORADO POLICE: Well, I think you're safety is first and for foremost, your responsibility. If you can -- moment in time, if you are faced with that encounter, you need to fight for your life. You need to take some action to try and keep yourself or the people you're with safe.

COSTELLO: I just want to go down these points for the benefit of our viewers. In the fight back video it says attempt to incapacitate the shooter and we saw in the video people throwing fire extinguishers at the gunman, throwing chairs at the gunman, but I would suspect the gunman would win.

DEANDREA: Well, I think again, you know, if you are faced with that encounter anything you can do to keep yourself safe, that's improvised weapons, anything to try and protect yourself.

So the video is really kind of empowering people to understand that their safety is their responsibility and if they are faced with that, to fight, to fight to protect yourself.

COSTELLO: I want to address this question to you, John Michael, because one of the other tips on this video is act with physical aggression. We know at least some of the teachers and principals in Newtown did act with aggression, but that didn't stop the gunman.

JOHN MICHAEL KEYES, FOUNDER, "I LOVE YOU GUYS" FOUNDATION: Yes, but we have other instances. The Dear Creek shooting in Colorado in 2010, Dr. Benkey tackled the gunman and absolutely saved lives.

COSTELLO: Are you suggesting at some point that we do need armed security guards in schools or even in the workplace?

KEYES: That's a tough conversation, but I think it belongs in the local control. It's one of those things where it's important to give kids permission and staff permission to take charge of their own personal safety. Armed security is, I think, a local decision.

COSTELLO: Sergeant, when you say that people should fight back, I mean, what if kids are involved and -- if you're teaching this to kids as a way to survive, how young are the kids you're teaching the lesson to?

DEANDREA: Again, that's at the local level and that's through the school district for them to decide at what level to have the conversation, but I mean, high school kids definitely. There are some big high school kids that should if it happens, again -- first of all, you want to get away. If you can't get away of course we're going to hide. If in the moment in time all you have left is the opportunity to fight, we want you to fight.

COSTELLO: John Michael, sadly, this happened in your family. I don't know, when you examine what happened to your daughter, do you think that this kind of advice would have helped?

KEYES: At that moment in time, it was a very difficult thing for the kids in that room. With the foundation we talk about actions that are shared vocabulary and shared expectations and behavior between students, staff and first responders.

It's a tough conversation sometimes in talking about lockdown, but we're creating a time barrier. Law enforcement has changed tactics. Across the country there's a movement in agencies and departments to really train the patrol and school resource officers, even in single officer response.

So the lockdown is a time barrier to allow the first responders in law enforcement to get there. Certainly getting out of sight is an important factor in that.

COSTELLO: All right, Sergeant Deandrea, John Michael Keyes, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us this morning.

KEYES: Thank you.

COSTELLO: We'll be right back.

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COSTELLO: It's 20 minutes past the hour. Time to check our top stories. The Pope may change the constitution of the Vatican so that cardinals can vote on a new Pope before March 15. Pope Benedict announced his resignation, citing old age. He officially steps down on the 28th and the Vatican wants a new Pope installed before Easter.

Former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. is in federal court right now. He is expected to plead guilty to using campaign funds to buy luxurious personal gifts including a $43,000 Rolex watch. The Democrat from Chicago faces up to five years in prison, but could get less time as parts of a plea deal.

In Wisconsin, a highway has been re-opened after white out conditions caused a 26-car pileup snarling traffic on for three hours, snarling traffic on Highway 41 for three hours. A truck jack knifed, crashed into a ditch. Visibility was so poor that some drivers had no time to stop. They also reported they are only minor injuries.

And the cash-strapped Post Office is launching a clothing line. Yes, a clothing line, the Post Office announced a licensing agreement with a Cleveland apparel company, which will design clothing and accessories under the rain, heat and snow name. The Post Office will get a small percentage of the sales.

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COSTELLO: A life on camera and under attack is nothing new for the actress Ashley Judd.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Kate McTernan. Somebody talk to me. Who is out there? Be quiet. Be quiet or he'll kill you!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Judd probably didn't expect her latest attack to come courtesy of Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Jim Acosta reports on the latest political ads targeting Judd who has not even said whether she's running for office yet.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From the Volunteer State, I proudly stand to nominate.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Ashley Judd, it's like a bad movie sequel. For the second time this month, the Kentucky native is a target in a political attack ad.

The ad from the man Judd may be looking to unseat, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, debuted just days after the movie star met with Democratic donors in Kentucky. Top party leaders in the state say a Judd candidacy could happen.

REP. JOHN YARMOUTH (D), KENTUCKY: She's smart. She knows the issues. I think she'd be a great candidate.

ACOSTA: She spent much of her childhood in Kentucky, her mother and sister, both country music stars, hang in the local museum.

CAROL ALLEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HIGHLANDS MUSEUM: We are proud that Ashley Judd is from this area and all the achievements that she has made.

ACOSTA: But Judd's grandmother who can still be found in the home where the actress lived as a girl seems to question the wisdom of the Senate run.

POLLY JUDD, GRANDMOTHER OF ASHLEY JUDD (via telephone): She is a Hollywood liberal. I say that and that has different meanings for different people. It depends which side of the fence you're on.

ACOSTA: Earlier this month another attack ad from the Karl Rove Super PAC Crossroads pointed out the actress lives in Tennessee.

ASHLEY JUDD, ACTRESS: It just clicked, Tennessee is home.

ACOSTA: But Judd's toughest hurdle may not be her roots. She still attends basketball games at her alma mater, the University of Kentucky.

JUDD: I love and am proud of being a hillbilly.

ACOSTA: She's a fear critic of coal mining, a big industry in the state.

JUDD: The fact that the Appalachians are the Appalachians makes this environmental genocide possible.

ACOSTA: As for McConnell's new TV ad, it appears to be a change in strategy from earlier this month when he said he's not focused on potential Democratic rivals.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: I'm not going to start handicapping who might be my opponent.

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ACOSTA: McConnell disputes the notion that Senate minority leader is worried about a Judd candidacy or his re-election, which is still a long way off in 2014. And the McConnell aide went on to say the senator is, in fact, a fan of Judd's movies. Jim Acosta, CNN, Washington.

COSTELLO: Coming up next our special "Talk Back" show: hot topics, hot conversation and your comments.

First "Talk Back" question: Is Joe Biden helping or hurting President Obama's gun control efforts? Facebook.com/CarolCNN or tweet me @CarolCNN.

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COSTELLO: Fresh off hosting a political fundraiser for Republican Chris Christie, Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg announcing a prize for research in science. He will be live on CNN this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Eastern to discuss that new project. Be sure to join us then.

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