Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Oscar Pistorius Freed on Bail; Homeless Man Sues Parents; New Moms Sue Birth Control Makers; One of Oscar's Best Actor Nominee

Aired February 22, 2013 - 11:30   ET

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


CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: The former Illinois cop who was convicted last fall of murdering his third ex-wife will likely spend the rest of his life in prison. Drew Peterson was sentenced yesterday to 38 years, minus four already served for the 2004 death of Kathleen Savio. Savio's death was initially ruled an accident but authorities reconsidered when Peterson's fourth wife disappeared. She is still missing.

A hearing today in the Trayvon Martin case. Attorneys for George Zimmerman accused of killing the 17-year-old want to question the Martin family's attorney. They say Ben Crumb has withheld information about an interview he did with Martin's girlfriend who's on the phone with the teen just before he was shot.

Oscar Pistorius walked out of a South African court today after the magistrate granted him bail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESMOND NAIR, CHIEF MAGISTRATE: That reaching out in the affidavit in the way that he did placing it before the court, together with the fact that none of the factors that need to be established had been established, I come to the conclusion that the accused has made a case to be released on bail.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: But Pistorius' troubles are far from over. His next court date is on June 4th and his trial may not start until the end of the year.

CNN legal contributor Paul Callan and chief presiding judge of the Fulton County Georgia Juvenile Court Glenda Hatchett join me now.

Paul, you're not surprised that it will take this long for a trial to start. You say it is in line with American standards and quite frankly standards around the world?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely. Here in New York City you rarely get a trial in a murder case in less than a year, in some places it takes considerably longer than that. So I do not think you can criticize the South Africans for how long it's going to take for this to go to trial.

ROMANS: Judge Hatchett, the magistrate had some very harsh words for the investigator of this case. I mean, how does that reflect on South Africa's police system and do you think that had a big bearing in granting bail to Pistorius?

GLENDA HATCHETT, EMMY-NOMINATED TV JUDGE: I listened to this hearing that went on, his decision that went on for almost two hours and took all these detailed notes and he was very critical of the investigators as well as some things around the prosecution.

I think that it had a big impact on his decision today, but I also think the commissioner, the police commissioner, I saw part of her interview yesterday, has a bigger issue now because they've got to go back and they've got to shore up this. They've got to make sure that they have dealt with some of these concerns before trial.

ROMANS: Paul, were you surprised that he was granted bail? I mean, it seemed -- people seem to be really divided. Early on it looked like the prosecution had a strong case and it looked like that they would keep him in and that it just sort of unraveled.

CALLAN: It looked like a very strong case. So I thought clearly there would be no bail when the thing started. By the end I new that the judge would be troubled by this. And there's one other thing I discovered in doing some research about this judge, Desmond Nair.

Desmond Nair had a case in front of him involving a famous rugby player who beat a cop to death in South Africa. And in a shocking decision he found him guilty of culpable homicide and gave him a suspended sentence.

So Nair is not afraid to go against the police. And in the end here with all this police bumbling, I think kind of that decision, that prior case comes to roost. He mentioned by the way the word culpable homicide in his bail decision, giving a hint maybe as to what the future will be in this case.

ROMANS: So, Judge, what's next in terms of the investigation here?

HATCHETT: Well, they've got a lot of work to do. This is certainly not a clear-cut case in this situation. And to Paul's point about -- homicide, the charge of homicide, that there may be some hint that they will come up and say that that's self-defense because that's comparable to our self-defense issues here in the States.

ROMANS: But self-defense from what? I mean, what was he -- he was defending himself from --

HATCHETT: Well, he -- yes.

ROMANS: Nothing.

HATCHETT: Yes, he will argue that the thought that there was an intruder and that he was within his rights to shoot in the bathroom for fear to his life and that he was of defending himself and others that he thought.

(CROSSTALK) ROMANS: But in South Africa can you just go and start shooting through a door even if you think an intruder is there?

CALLAN: Well, you know, this is sort of stand your ground on steroids.

HATCHETT: Yes, it is.

CALLAN: Because he's basically -- yes, it is. And you know we've heard from South African reporters that we have to understand the context of South Africa. People live in fear in South Africa, particularly wealthy people that somebody is going to come through the window and kidnap them and take their money.

So there's this thought that shooting into an empty out of fear is justifiable. Maybe you can sell that in South Africa. I don't know. I think it's a tough sell. I think it's a reckless homicide. And that's what he's facing.

ROMANS: Well, we've got a long way to go before there's resolution in this.

HATCHETT: Yes, he did.

ROMANS: That's for sure.

HATCHETT: Absolutely.

ROMANS: OK, Paul and Glenda, stick with me, as a homeless man sues his parents, he wants them to take out a second mortgage to buy a pizza franchise so he can get a job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Mommy and Daddy don't love me. What child hasn't wanted to shout that from the rooftops once in a while. But, listen, get this, a 32-year-old homeless man allegedly has made this the basis of a lawsuit against his parents. Here's the kicker. According to the "New York Post" he wants them to bank roll two Domino's Pizza franchises so he can be a success. His mom's advice? Get a job.

My legal experts, Judge Glenda Hatchett and CNN legal contributor Paul Callan.

Wow, so Bernard Anderson Bay blames his homelessness on his mother and stepfather.

Judge, let me ask you, what do you make of this. He wants them to get a mortgage on a brown stone so that they could buy two Domino's Pizza franchises and break the cycle of poverty so he can have success.

HATCHETT: He needs to get a job. His mom is right. Even his sister thinks that his crazy. He needs to get a job. He has no basis to sue his parents and insist that they get a mortgage and buy these franchises. He needs to get a job.

ROMANS: Paul, is there anything in here that's not frivolous?

CALLAN: Well, I'm with the judge.

(LAUGHTER)

I'm with the judge in this. They're hiring at McDonald's. But no, there's nothing in this, and I hope whatever judge first sees this case, I hope he's got the backbone to just throw it out. Because what a waste of time. You know, when we've got serious cases in the courts. If they allow cases like this, God knows, you know, parents suing kids, how about kids suing parents? You know, both ways. There's no -- you know, we wouldn't have time for anything else.

ROMANS: Parents suing kids because of all the investment they put in them and they turned out to be --

CALLAN: They turned out to be wrong. I thought you were going to support me in my old and you're a bum, you know? So, all right.

ROMANS: So where is this -- aside from being a tabloid and interesting, where does this go, Judge, from here?

HATCHETT: I hope -- I agree with Paul, I hope that the judge will throw it out on preliminary motions and that -- they really won't -- I hope it won't go to trial.

ROMANS: Unbelievable. All right. Our next case is about a birth control pill packaged in the wrong order. Now a new mom wants the company to pay the cost of raising her child.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Welcome back. You may have heard that birth control pills are 99 point something, something percent effective and when taken as directed they are. Taken as directed means certain pills on certain days and they are packaged to make that as foolproof as possible.

But what if they're mispackaged, packaged out of order? It happened again and again and while we don't know how many pregnancies have resulted, the lawsuits are piling up.

One manufacturer alone is facing suit in California, Texas, Missouri, Tennessee and Georgia. So I asked my lawyers. Wrongful death is one thing, Judge Hatchett. Can you sue for wrongful birth?

HATCHETT: It's very interesting. I see this as a products liability case and there have been cases because the -- in most states that allow what we term wrongful pregnancies. Usually they are from vasectomies or tubal ligation procedures that have gone wrong but there have been a few involving contraceptions. So absolutely, bottom line, to answer your question. It is possible under these circumstances to sue.

What they'll be able to recover is a very different conversation, though, in terms of damages. ROMANS: You know -- yes. Paul, a woman in Kansas City wants compensation for her medical expenses, emotional distress and the cost of raising the child which, as we all know is incredibly expensive. Is it likely that she'll get compensation for the -- for the cost of rearing a child?

CALLAN: Well, I think a lot of women will be very sympathetic to her plight. She didn't want to have this child, the child is born. It's going to cost a lot of money. But here's the flipside of this.

ROMANS: She can still love this child, by the way.

CALLAN: Well, not only --

ROMANS: It's just not what you planned, you know?

CALLAN: Well, I know. But not only can you love the child but when a jury looks at damages, suppose this kid turns out to be, you know, Albert Einstein or a famous movie star and supports the mother for the rest of her life, where are the damages? Maybe it's the best thing that ever happened to her. So the states have been very reluctant to allow lawsuits for wrongful life and wrongful birth to go forward. Usually the cost to the pregnancy they'll give you, but not saying it's a bad thing to have a kid.

ROMANS: Because cost of the pregnancy. There's this sort of -- what they called the blessing -- doctrine where, you know, a baby, a healthy baby is a good thing. It can make life better. I mean, you point out, maybe the child is going to support you in your old age.

Glenda, these companies did issue recalls and the pills are color coded. So do the users bear some responsibility?

HATCHETT: Well, you know, I have been thinking about that, Christine. But if you've been in the habit of getting these pills and you just kind of take them, I don't know that they really bear the responsibility. But actually, there was a woman and a pharmacist who actually as I understand it alerted them to the problem. So I guess there are some people who have been diligent.

But I think you could just say I do it out of habit and I did not notice that the color was different. So I don't know that that's going to really stand up. This is going to be a very interesting case.

ROMANS: We'll see. It really will be. Judge Glenda Hatchett and Paul Callan, thank you.

All right. Five men are up for the Oscar of Actor in a Leading Role. Just ahead our Nischelle Turner talks to one of them about his movies and maturity.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: It's Oscar time. They are this Sunday and the big buzz surround "Argo." It's about a daring rescue during the Iranian hostage crises in 1979 starring Ben Affleck. President Jimmy Carter was in the White House at the time and he told our Piers Morgan what he thought about the film's accuracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PIERS MORGAN, HOST, PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT: You've seen "Argo" I take it?

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT: Yes, I have.

MORGAN: How accurate is it from your memory?

CARTER: Well, let me say, first of all, it's a great drama and I hope it gets the Academy Award for Best Film because I think it deserves it. The only thing that I would say was that 90 percent of the contributions to the ideas and the consummation of the plan was Canadian and the movie gives almost full credit to the American CIA. And with that exception the movie is very good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The film world has lost an Oscar winning pioneer of special effects. Remember the scene in "Mary Poppins" where Dick Van Dyke dances with penguins? The man behind that who also developed the green screen technology that weather reporters use, he has died. Peter Vlahos was 96.

In the hunt for the Best Actor this Sunday, Denzel Washington, the two-time Academy Award winner known for his roles in "Glory", "Malcolm X" and "Philadelphia", he's nominated this year for his performance as an alcoholic pilot in the movie "Flight." He sat down with our Nischelle Turner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NISCHELLE TURNER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I've never gotten to interview you as long as I've been doing this. And I've always said --

DENZEL WASHINGTON, BEST ACTOR NOMINEE, "FLIGHT": No?

TURNER: No, it's my very first time. So I'm kind of excited today. But the one thing I never thought I would say was that I thought you did better work than you did in "Malcolm X." But I really think Whip Whitaker may --

WASHINGTON: Well, I'm older, I'm more mature. Hopefully I'm a better actor. It's -- I wouldn't say it's a more complex role but it's a complex role. I mean this guy has got -- you know, it's a very well written -- you know, what do you do?

TURNER: Right.

WASHINGTON: Is he a hero? Is he -- I mean, he killed people, but he saved a bunch of people.

TURNER: Right.

WASHINGTON: He was drunk and then he spirals into this, you know, drunkenness. And -- when I read it, I was, like, I'm doing this one.

TURNER: How do you shake that at the end of the day? Because you convince me.

(CROSSTALK)

WASHINGTON: You don't drink during the day is how you shake it. You know?

(LAUGHTER)

I learned that lesson 30 some odd years ago when I thought I would try to have a drink during a scene. And it didn't. Me and this other young actor, we were in London. We're, like, you know, let's get into it, we're method, man. Listen, let's have some scotch. So we drank in the scene and we were -- the director was like, what's wrong with you guys? You're terrible. So you can't do that.

TURNER: What does Denzel today say or what advice would you give the Denzel who is nominated for "Glory" all those years ago? What would you tell that guy?

WASHINGTON: What I'd tell that guy?

TURNER: Yes.

WASHINGTON: Relax. Yes, calm down. Yes. I'm much more relaxed now. Older and wiser.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TURNER: Older, wiser and one of the best actors of our time. Now this year for the Oscars I do believe the race for best actor is the strongest. And if not for Daniel Day's performance as our 16th president, Denzel Washington could very well be taking home the Oscar for best actor this year -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. Nischelle, I've got two days left. I've seen "Argo" and "Silver Linings Playbook."

TURNER: Yes.

ROMANS: I want to talk about best picture. I'm not going to see them all. So what must I see in the next two days so I can make a very, very, you know, insightful commentary on Monday morning?

TURNER: OK. Well, here's the thing. First of all, I would just say lock yourself in your house for the next 48 hours and just have a movie marathon.

(LAUGHTER)

But since you can't do that, you've seen "Argo," you've seen "Silver Linings Playbook." I believe you have to see "Lincoln." I thought it was really well done. I thought it was really interesting the debate now about some of the accuracies or inaccuracies. So I say see that for yourself.

I also say see "Django Unchained" because my three favorite films this year were "Argo", "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Django Unchained". I thought they were all really, really well done films.

ROMANS: What about actresses? What are you -- what's the feeling in Hollywood about the Best Actress category?

TURNER: You know, this is another good one. I mean, it seemed like it could have been wide open at the beginning of award season, but now we've seen Jennifer Lawrence win category after category, award after award. She's 22 years old, Christine. This is her second Oscar nomination.

ROMANS: Wow.

TURNER: She's fast becoming one of the best actresses in Hollywood. She's so good and she definitely could take home the Oscar on Sunday night. But don't forget about Jessica Chastain because her performance in "Zero Dark 30" as the CIA agent, Maya, was so good, understated but so very strong and so complex and for women in Hollywood, Sally Field was just talking to me about this the other day. There aren't many really, really good complex, strong roles and Jessica Chastain has one of them.

ROMANS: Listen to you. Sally Field, just talking to me about that the other day. You have the best job in the world. Nischelle Turner --

(LAUGHTER)

It's going to be an awesome weekend.

You can join CNN Sunday night for Hollywood's biggest night, our red carpet special, "THE ROAD TO GOLD" begins at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROMANS: Those automatic federal spending cuts will begin kicking in one short week from today. Most lawmakers in both parties and the White House eager to find some alternative and most Americans agree. Fifty-four percent to be precise, according to a brand new Bloomberg survey, 40 percent say they're OK with taking $85 billion out of a wide array of government departments through the end of the year.

Thirty-eight thousand pounds of sausage is being recalled over fears it may contain small bits of plastic. Among the products Smithfield Packing Company is recalling, one pound packages of Gwaltney mild pork sausage roll with a used by date of March 12th. They were sold in 11 states and Washington, D.C. Investigators think it might have workers' gloves accounting for the plastic in that product.

Michael Carter had a vision. To inspire low-income high school students to aim higher. That's why he launched Strive for College and why he's this week's CNN Hero.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The state took me and my siblings away from my mom when I was 14. Now we live with our grandparents. I don't want to be faced with the limits that my mom faced and that's why I want to go to college. My grandparents only went to grade school. There was nobody at home that could help me figure out how I could reach my dream.

MICHAEL CARTER, CNN HERO: Applying to college can be very bewildering. There's over 400,000 low-income students every year who graduate and qualified to go to a four-year college and they just don't go.

My name is Michael Carter and I help qualified underserved students apply to, pay for and stay in college. We bring college to the mentors to high schools to help students through the entire process.

How many more apps do you have to do?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: None.

CARTER: None? You're done?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did them all.

CARTER: That's pretty good.

It's completely free. Students pick their mentor and they meet weekly until they're accepted into college.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never really thought of myself as the greatest student. Like, college was not on my mind. Now I'm a sophomore at the Southeast (ph) State University. My full tuition is covered and I'm mentoring a high school student. I'm proof that Strive for College works.

CARTER: Together we are going to solve this problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Over a career, having a college degree can mean earning nearly a million dollars more than if you only have a high school degree.

To get more details on Michael's program or if you know someone who's making a big difference in the lives of others, please go to CNNHeroes.com. Do it now and nominate a CNN Hero.

Thanks for watching. Tune in tomorrow morning for "YOUR BOTTOM LINE." That's my show at 9:30 Eastern right here on CNN.

NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL is next.