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CNN NEWSROOM

Landslide Growl, Homes on Edge; New Arrest in Baby Murder Case; Sweet 16 Begins Tonight; Judd Won't Run for Senate

Aired March 28, 2013 - 10:30   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: Good morning. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Carol Costello. Time to check the "Top Stories" at 30 minutes past the hour.

Olympian and accused killer Oscar Pistorius can leave South Africa provided he gives a week's notice. The track star can also go back to the home where police say he killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and he can drink alcohol again, all of this after a judge reset his bail term. Pistorius was not in court.

New court documents reveal suspected Colorado theater shooter James Holmes has offered to plead guilty and spend the rest of his life in jail if he can avoid the death penalty. Prosecutors have not yet accepted his offer. Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others in a mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado.

The streak is over. The Chicago Bulls beat Miami, snapping the Heat's 27-game winning streak. The Heat fell six games short of the LA Lakers all-time NBA mark. The Heat lost -- last lost a game rather, on February 1st. That was two days before the Super Bowl.

Now, we turn to Washington State where the minutes must seem like hours. Dozens of homeowners on Whidbey Island are watching helplessly as their homes inch ever closer to disaster. And their yards crumble into the Puget Sound.

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BRET HOLMES, HOMEOWNER: It sounded like an earthquake and I heard something really loud. And I looked out the master bedroom and notice that about 20 tall trees were gone. I got out there with a flashlight and then just kept hearing rumbling and watching more and more of it fall in.

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COSTELLO: I want to take you to the waterfront town of Coupeville on Whidbey Island. That's where CNN's Dan Simon is. Good morning, Dan.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well the worst appears to be over. Crews now focusing on just two homes dangerously close to that edge. They're probably -- the homeowners are probably not going to be able to live in those homes. At this point, it's just too unsafe. They say that they can't really rebuild that hillside.

As for some of the other homes, the ones that where residents can't get back in, there was a road that was destroyed by the landslide. The homes apparently are ok, but they're just inaccessible because of the road. I want you to listen now to some of those homeowners who described the frightening situation.

We're now about at the 24-hour stage in terms of when this occurred, but I want you to listen to what they had to say.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you look up to the top there, you can see it's constantly sliding, it hasn't hit that point of equilibrium. It's still very steep. So it's going to continue to slide until it stabilizes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got up this morning to see flashlights -- already down there and stuff. And found out the hillside slipped, you could still hear something coming down. And once it got daylight to see all the trees across the road and the road's gone. And I took a walk down along the beach. Got up on the new part of the slide stuff and I could see where a mobile home and garage had moved -- dropped 20 feet and moved over 40 feet.

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SIMON: This landslide approximately 1,000 feet long. There is concern that part of the hillside will continue to crumble today. Geologists are going to be out here inspecting things making sure that as far as some of the other homes that it is indeed ok for people to come back inside. This is a voluntary evacuation. They'd prefer that people stay away but of course, they can't prevent folks from coming back in. But -- but all they can do is warn people that perhaps it's not wise to do so, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Dan Simon reporting live for us this morning.

We're hearing about another arrest in the murder case of a 13-month- old baby in Georgia. This is Sabrina Elkins, she's accused now of tampering with evidence. There she is, her brother is one of two teenagers accused of shooting a baby in the head while his mother was walking him in a stroller. Those teenagers have now been indicted by a grand jury. Some other family members are in big trouble, too.

CNN's Victor Blackwell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Seventeen year old De'Marquise Elkins and 15-year-old Dominique Lane both now charged as adults in the shooting death of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago one week ago. Each faces five felony counts including felony to murder and cruelty to children. Elkins faces an additional charge of malice murder for allegedly firing the shot at the baby's face.

SHERRY WEST, MOTHER OF VICTIM: I found an outfit that my baby was wearing before he was killed. And I can't seem to let it go.

BLACKWELL: Something else little Antonio's mother can't let go. A question. Why?

CHIEF MATT DOERING, GLYNN COUNTY POLICE: We believe that the location and the victim were both random.

BLACKWELL: Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering's department is investigating this as a botched robbery. Elkins' attorney does not buy it.

KEVIN GOUGH, ATTORNEY FOR DE'MARQUISE ELKINS: It seems odd two individuals whoever they are, so desperate to rob someone who wouldn't have appeared to have any money. And going to the trouble of shooting two people would then leave the object of their attention at the crime scene.

BLACKWELL: Not left at the crime scene, the murder weapon. According to the indictment, Elkins' sister, Sabrina Elkins and their mother Karimah Elkins ditched the .22-caliber revolver in this marsh miles away from the crime scene. Tests will determine if the gun pulled from the marsh this week was the gun used to kill little Antonio.

WEST: I had to watch my baby die. And I want him to die, a life for a life.

BLACKWELL: That's West's wish shared with CNN's Piers Morgan. But under Georgia law it's not possible. Elkins and Lane are both under 18. If they're convicted of the new charges these boys could spend the rest of their lives in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Victor Blackwell reporting.

Coming up next, lost camera. A lost camera found six years later. It actually crossed the Pacific Ocean. And the pictures survived.

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COSTELLO: Ok. Here's a lost and found story that almost defies belief. More than five years ago, a Georgia woman lost her underwater camera in the waters off Hawaii. Lindsey Scallen thought all those fantastic images she shot on her vacation were just gone for good. Fast forward to just a few weeks ago, a man was walking on the beach in Taiwan when the wave washed the camera on shore. The camera was covered with barnacles, but the memory card was still intact.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know how this camera go to Taiwan.

LINDSEY SCALLEN, CAMERA OWNER: There's so much negativity in the world, that this is just a great fun story.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: That's just incredible. The pictures were posted on the Internet. A friend of Scallen's saw them and contacted her. The man who found the camera works for China Airlines.

So the carrier will fly Scallen free of charge all the way to Taiwan so she can meet the man who found her camera and get it. Isn't that a nice story.

CARLOS DIAZ, HLN SPORTS: Do you think in the media at some point that somebody said, ok, we can fly her to Taiwan or we could e-mail her the pictures? One costs a lot less than the other.

COSTELLO: I think that China Airline is probably getting some pretty good publicity from this Carlos Diaz.

DIAZ: Well it's a good thing for China Airlines, yes they will.

COSTELLO: Yes exactly.

DIAZ: Yes they will, there you go.

COSTELLO: Carlos is here obviously to talk about the Sweet 16 --

DIAZ: The Sweet 16.

COSTELLO: I know I'm nervous about it because it could like spoil my bracket for good.

DIAZ: Well not entirely spoil, let's talk about Cinderella, shall we?

COSTELLO: Ok.

DIAZ: We don't just have one, we have two Cinderella tonight going at it each other. When you think of Sweet 16, you think it's like Ohio State, Indiana, Syracuse all the teams playing tonight. But La Salle and Wichita State?

COSTELLO: What?

DIAZ: Two Cinderellas battling in one game tonight. La Salle breezed through the first four, but they had to survive two very tight games to make it to the Sweet 16. So you got 13th seeded La Salle the Explorers is taking on ninth seeded Wichita State, shockers. But do not compare these two teams to Florida Gulf Coast University.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN GIANNINI, LA SALLE HEAD COACH: It's won a national team. This is our 12th NCAA tournament it's not our second year of eligibility. This is a school that has the third most national players of the year. We play in one of the top six conferences in the country. So we're not rags to riches.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAZ: All right well, speaking of Florida Gulf Coast University, the darlings of this year's tournament, they party from Arlington, Texas and they had a hero send off. They're taking on the Florida Gators tomorrow night in a Sweet 16 game. It's truly David versus Goliath. Rocky versus Apollo, Bieber versus Timberlake, Florida Gulf Coast is trying to be -- to generate income by the way by trademarking the term "Dunk City" which is what the players called Fort Myers.

COSTELLO: Oh come on.

DIAZ: Well you got to have some cash. And here's your March Madness TV schedule for tonight. I'm go to be plunking down around 7:13 to watch the 7:15 tipoff between Martin Marquette and Miami and watch it over to TBS and watch Ohio State and Arizona, go back and forth. And then my Hoosiers take on Syracuse at 9:45 which is way past my bedtime. And then 10:17, you got the Cinderellas La Salle and Wichita State going on TBS.

COSTELLO: So much to do. I mean, how are you going to -- I don't know how you contain yourself with all that basketball.

DIAZ: That's sports. You're not going to get me again.

COSTELLO: I got him in trouble the last time he was on the air with me and Carlos isn't taking any chances. Ok Carlos Diaz, bye.

Are some Americans losing interest in the gun control debate? A new poll suggests support for any kind of gun control measure is way declining. We'll talk about it next.

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COSTELLO: At 44 minutes past the hour, time to check our top stories.

There are new details about the bizarre behavior of Jared Loughner. He's the man accused of killing six people and seriously wounding Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. New documents show Loughner's parents were so disturbed by his behavior in the weeks before the shootings that they took away his shotgun and even disabled his car to keep him from leaving the house. Loughner is now serving life in prison without parole.

Ashley Judd is putting an end to weeks of speculation saying that she is not running for the senate in Kentucky. Judd tweeted, quote, "I realize that my responsibilities and energy at this time need to be focused on my family. Regretfully, I am currently unable to consider a campaign for the senate." End quote.

Fans of the Miami Dolphins are buzzing about some changes in the team's logo. The team confirmed the new look was indeed real after it was leaked and showed up on NFL.com. It features a helmet-free dolphin. The Miami Dolphins will officially unveil its new logo on April 25th which would be the beginning of the NFL draft.

A daring photographer is apologizing for the breathtaking views of Egypt's pyramid. That's because he and his friends broke the law and secretly scaled the pyramids at night. The images have lit up the Internet with everything from awe to anger. Today in 29 states across the country gun control advocates are holding a national day to demand action, urging Congress to support bills to help end gun violence. The next hour, President Obama will talk about the issue at the White House during an appearance with mothers who are also pressuring Congress to act. Both of those come as a new CNN poll shows public support for some forms of gun control since the Newtown tragedy appears to be on the decline. 43 percent of Americans favor major restrictions on gun control or making all guns illegal. That's actually down from 52 percent in December.

Joining me now are Sirius XM radio host and comedian Pete Dominick and Patricia Murphy the founder of Citizen Jane Politics and a contributor to the "Daily Beast". Welcome to you both.

PATRICIA MURPHY, CITIZEN JANE POLITICS: Hey Carol.

PETE DOMINICK, SIRIUS XM RADIO HOST: Hey Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So I was looking at this poll. That's a big drop in support for gun control legislation. Why do you suppose people are losing interest and passion for the issue, Patricia?

MURPHY: Well, I think that, really the issue, and you can just feel it when you read the newspaper, you can feel it when you watch TV and the news, the issue has just lost momentum. There was just such searing pain in the country after the Newtown shootings and then the country tends to move on from tragedies like that. And now even in politics we see that Senators and Congressmen are getting more focused on immigration reform.

There's a lot of talk this week about gay marriage and marriage equality. So once this issue is off the front pages, it reverts back to being just another issue where both sides really go back to their own corners. And because Democrats were not able to move quickly on this issue, I think their legislation is going to be in trouble because they don't have the momentum on their side anymore. Specifically, in the rural voters right after Newtown, there was double support among rural voters for gun control measures. And then you know, you kind of get away from the headlines of people --

COSTELLO: I don't think it's so much the tragedy of Newtown that's fading as it is the way that gun rights advocates are portrayed. And the other side is portrayed. It's so extreme we're like losing focus. Is that what it is, Pete?

DOMINICK: Well, I mean everything Patricia said, I mostly agree with. But out of sight, out of mind. Memories fade. As long as there's no white people and white children losing their lives, I mean it's still happening obviously in places like "Chicago", the Black Youth, then people don't think about it as much. But, you know, the President and the Vice President have done a really good job of trying to keep this on the forefront.

There have been other issues. We in the media deserve some responsibility, whether or not we're talking about it. We're talking about it right now, so that's good. You know who hasn't forgotten about this, parents of little kids like myself. I have an 8-year-old and a 5-year-old, every day that they've gotten in that bus -- I've thought about it. Every time this comes up I think about it.

You know who else hasn't forgotten about it, Mayor Bloomberg. This is a money thing. And the gun control -- you know the gun law of the Indiana Race has always been very well-funded. Now Mayor Bloomberg is using his own money to keep this up and keep funding. And that's really important, too.

This one, the phrase is, carol, this time, it's different. And it is different when 6- and 7-year-olds have their heads blown off their bodies and there's a reason I use that language, because this is not what we're forgetting.

COSTELLO: All right. Let's turn the corner and talk about something else in the world of politics. Let's talk about the actress Ashley Judd, because she will never be, at least for now the newest addition to congress. In a tweet, the actress writes in part that her, quote, "responsibilities and energy need to be focused on my family. Regretfully, I'm currently unable to consider a campaign for senate," which could be a wise move on Judd's part because as Politico is reporting her would-be rival senator Mitch McConnell is launching what the Web site called a scorched earth strategy.

Who could forget before Judd even said she was running, McConnell's people released this ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her own grandmother said she's a Hollywood liberal. But isn't that what we need? Ashley Judd -- an Obama- following, radical Hollywood liberal who is right at home here in Tennessee -- I mean Kentucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: He's also vowing now to drop $21 million to fight for his seat. And I don't think Ashley Judd could keep up with that, can she, Patricia?

MURPHY: I don't think money would have been the tiniest problems for Ashley Judd, she has plenty of money herself. In fact she says she's one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood. And she would have had all kinds of money from Democratic loyalists. No problem on the money front.

I think the problem are just politics for her. She is registered in Tennessee. I think her own politics in Kentucky would have been very, very tough to sell. Money just was not the problem.

You look at a race like Linda McMahon last cycle $50 million; she didn't win that race. President Obama was outspent by huge amounts when she kind of lumped other Republican money together. You have to have money to get into the game, but money doesn't win the game for you. And I don't even think that money was the problem here. She's just going after a particularly ruthless Republican senator who was probably going to win that seat anyway.

COSTELLO: Well, I was mostly fascinated by the preemptive strike. I mean she didn't even announce that she was going to run. And already her opponent was fighting against her. Is that just the way of the world now, Pete?

DOMINICK: Well, I think it's always been the way of the world, Mitch McConnell is a really shrewd politician. He's a really great campaigner, obviously. And Ashley Judd's big problem Carol was that -- oh, she's Ashley Judd. I mean that was her problem and her advantage.

I mean one of the best ways to succeed in politics is to have a name that's recognizable like say Bush or Clinton. But, you know, even I would have a better chance, I'm on TV, I'm on the radio. But it doesn't make me any more qualified than another person who might be a much better leader. So name recognition really helps a lot. And obviously, money helps a lot.

You need $1 million about to run for a House seat, for the U.S. House of Representatives. You need about $10 million to run for senate. So ordinary Americans can't raise that kind of money without some kind of network or name recognition or the Democratic/ Republican machines behind them. We've got to ruin this two-party system. We've got to re-create everything. We've got to strike at the root. And we have to get money out of politics so ordinary Americans can represent ordinary Americans.

COSTELLO: Easy.

MURPHY: But Carol, look at 2010, we had more than 100 new members of congress. Those were nurses. Those were farmers. That was just a kind of a grassroots, money really had very little to do with who won the races. Again you got to have money to play, but money's not going to win it for you.

COSTELLO: All right. Pete Dominick, Patricia Murphy, thanks for playing today.

MURPHY: Thanks a lot.

DOMINICK: Thanks Carol.

COSTELLO: Just ahead on the NEWSROOM, an incredible rescue caught on camera. A man trapped inside a burning car. Oh, we'll tell you what happened next.

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COSTELLO: At 55 minutes past the hour, time to check our top stories.

Pope Francis is taking part in an Easter tradition today. He's washing the feet of 12 juveniles at a youth detention center. The choice of prisoners maybe a nod to this pope's no frill style. The previous popes have chosen to conduct the ceremony by washing the feet of other priests inside the Roman Basilica. Three police officers in Ohio saved a man from a burning truck and their heroic action caught on camera. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car.

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COSTELLO: Wow. The man's truck had burst into blames after it crashed into a building. The officers used batons to smash up the windows. Another officer then pulled the driver to safety. The man was treated for smoke inhalation, and then promptly charged with drunk driving.

Finally, this morning, we have some very exciting news to share at CNN. Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan will be hosting our new morning show. Congratulations, Kate and Chris. Joining the team also KTLA's Michaela Pereira. Pereira actually made her announcement just a little bit ago on her soon-to-be old station's morning show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN HOST: I'm announcing that I'm leaving to move to New York city to become part of the brand-new morning team for CNN. I leave here the last day of May, so I'm working for two whole months. So you can be tired me by the time I go. But I'm going to start this amazing, new and exciting journey that I never imagined would come my way. And I couldn't be more thrilled.

But at the same time, isn't that interesting about life. When something great happens there's this gigantic sadness about leaving a place that I've called home for nine years.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine years now, wow.

PEREIRA: Nine years with these people at this desk in this place. You've opened your homes to us and allowed me to be part of your morning every day. So I thank you and I'm going to miss all of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're so excited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Don't worry Michaela, you will love it here. We'll make sure of it. Congratulations to all. And thank you for joining us today. I'm Carol Costello.

"CNN NEWSROOM" after a quick break.

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