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CNN NEWSROOM
Commuter Trains Crash; Powerball Jackpot at $600 Million; IRS Under Fire; Controversy Over Disney Line-Cutting; Donald Trump Gets Testy on Stand; Million-Dollar Jewelry Heist
Aired May 18, 2013 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. A quick look at some of the stories that we're following this hour.
In Connecticut a commuter trains colliding with another train. Three people are in critical condition right now. Dozens of others were treated at the hospital. We'll have the latest on the investigation.
Then after 16 tornadoes hit north Texas destroying homes and entire neighborhoods, residents are returning to this horrific deadly site.
And a little good news. The Powerball hopeful -- the Powerball jackpot keeps growing and growing. Now that there's more than $500 million up for grabs. The latest on the jackpot.
We have reporters covering all these stories this hour. We start with the train collision in Connecticut. NTSB investigators are on the scene right now trying to figure out what caused that commuter train crash. The two trains collided during rush hour last night in Bridgeport, Connecticut, sending dozens of people to the hospital.
Our national correspondent Susan Candiotti is following this story.
Any closer to finding out how in the world this happened?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The work is just barely begun at this hour. They're covering about 200 yards. That's the length of two football fields. The National Transportation Safety Board is on site. Staggering is how Senator Blumenthal of Connecticut is describing the damage to these trains. He said parts of the sides of trains are sledded like ribbon.
About 250 passengers were aboard when the two trains collided. Initially it was a train from New York to New Haven that derailed. And another train smacked into it. So they were going -- the two trains going in opposite directions.
Now Connecticut's Governor Malloy describes what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. DAN MALLOY (D), CONNECTICUT: What happened is a train derailed and is literally plowing through tons of gravel as well as tearing up metal. So it slows the point of impact. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now there are a lot of possible causes here including problems with the brakes, the signals, the tracks, what the crews were doing at the time. Nothing has been ruled in or out. And at last check, nine people remain hospitalized, three in critical condition. But at most 70 people at one point were taken to the hospital to be treated. A frightening experience for passengers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RENA RAMSHAWAN, PASSENGER: All of a sudden we just heard, boom, and then we saw smoke everywhere. And I was just focusing on my two kids just hugging them and embracing them.
HECTOR NAVARRO, PASSENGER: All I've seen people flew all over the places. I almost flew over the seat. But I just -- I held on and -- but I'm OK. Dozens of people was hurt, though.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now authorities are saying it could take days before they can reopen these tracks. And that's going to have a huge impact on this very popular commuter line that services about 280,000 people daily between New York and Connecticut. And for now, the whole line between New York and Boston has been temporarily shut down -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Wow. A big mess in so many ways. So what kinds of injuries are we talking about with many of the folks who ended up in the hospital?
CANDIOTTI: We don't have too many details on all of that, but fortunately the vast majority of people who were treated for injuries have now been released. So that's some good news there. And the fact that these were brand new trains authorities were saying may have helped limit the injuries -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Susan Candiotti, thanks so much from Bridgeport. Keep us posted on that.
All right. The other big story we're following there. You see Nick Valencia in Granbury, Texas. We're talking about tornadoes touching down there Wednesday destroying nearly all of the 110 homes in one neighborhood. And we know overall at least six people killed. Well, today some residents got permits to return to see what's left.
Nick, take it from there.
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, we've spent the morning out here at the Church of Christ in Granbury where residents of that neighborhood that was devastated by the EF-4 tornado have returned to try to get permits to reenter into the community. They have told us haunting stories of survival. The most -- the most haunting story that I've heard is that of 17-year-old Dillon Whitehead who said he was literally picked up by the tornado, about 20 feet in the air, tossed around, and Fred, he told me he thought it was the end. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DILLON WHITEHEAD, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I was in the air, and I closed my eyes, and I was about 20, 30 feet up in the air.
VALENCIA: The tornado picked you up?
WHITEHEAD: Yes. And when I opened my eyes, I saw the debris flying around me. And a piece of wood came and hit me in the back of the head. Knocked me down towards the ground. I was doing somersaults on the ground. Trying -- and I tried, like, stop and run away from it. And it kept on dragging me and pulling. I kept on getting hit by stuff. And something hit me and pushed me down to the ground, and I got knocked out.
I woke up and I pulled the debris off me and started running away from it. And the wind was still kind of pulling me and dragging me down. And I finally got away from it. I looked back at the tornado and it just -- it was unreal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: Just an incredible story of survival for Dillon Whitehead. He said he was outside at the time of the tornado. He saw the cloud formation shift. He saw the twister take shape, said by that time it was just too late. It picked him up. Did summersault. He was knocked out briefly unconscious by a piece of wood.
Now, Fred, I caught up with him inside here. He's one of hundreds of people inside receiving help from volunteers, insurance companies, charity organizations. Everybody trying to piece together life and get some sort of normalcy back into their lives -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Right, and of course, you know, a lot of folks are now staying in temporary housing. They're also waiting to see what kind of federal assistance they're going to be able to get. Do they feel like they're getting those kinds of answers right now?
VALENCIA: You know, that's a great question. People feel like they are being helped. The community has banded together. Lots of volunteers. People come out. We were just talking to somebody off camera who showed up here with his pickup truck just to volunteer. People bringing food, water.
We talked to Governor Rick Perry yesterday. We posed that question in a press conference about the federal assistance. He said it's too early to tell and he just doesn't have a timetable on if or when he will reach out to the federal government. But people here feel like they're getting the help they need. They just know what they go back to just won't be the same -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Valencia, thanks so much there in Granbury, Texas. All right, lots of folks counting their blessings there and even through all of that still considering themselves very lucky. Meantime, a whole lot of other folks are hoping to get very lucky this evening. Lisa Desjardins among them. They're in Falls Church, Virginia. We're talking about the Powerball.
LISA DESJARDINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right.
WHITFIELD: $600 million jackpot right now. The drawing is tonight.
Lisa, you've got two tickets now hoping to double your chances, but does that really?
DESJARDINS: You know I wish I could say I was feeling lucky. But I maybe cover Congress too much to have that sort of faith in numbers. And I know how long the odds are here, Fredricka. But I'm going to tell you who actually is going to make out no matter what. We're going to take you inside to where they're selling tickets right now. We had some folks just go in to buy some Powerball tickets.
Fredricka, the state of Virginia and every state that sells tickets at counters like this is going to make a lot of money. In fact, I just got the off the phone with the Virginia lottery spokesman. He tell me just today -- get this, Fredricka. Just today Virginia alone expects to sell 4.7 million Powerball tickets.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
DESJARDINS: That's only one state of the 43 that are selling these. So a lot of folks like me who buy these tickets are not going to get lucky, but the states, they're going to get money no matter what.
WHITFIELD: Well, that is very impressive. And that means it can also kind of up the ante, could it not, of the jackpot? We think it's $600 million but because of all these sales it really could change the number, increase it by the drawing tonight?
DESJARDINS: Yes. Yes, that's right. If sales pick up today, then absolutely the drawing jackpot will be more than $600 million.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
DESJARDINS: That's just an estimate. That noise you heard is the cash register, which has been going off all morning. And that's a sign that maybe that jackpot will be bigger. Of course there's even been reporting if no one gets the jackpot tonight --
WHITFIELD: Yes.
DESJARDINS: -- it will be close to $1 billion.
WHITFIELD: Gosh.
DESJARDINS: But, Fred, real quick, I want to break and we talk about this $600 million. Well, that's not actually what you take home. So we want to show folks a graphic of if they win the jackpot tonight, so they can do their planning, how much they would actually get from this. First of all, the lump sum from that would be about $376 million.
WHITFIELD: I still would not complain.
DESJARDINS: But, you know, the tax man wants a big chunk.
(LAUGHTER)
OK. Yes, exactly. I would take it. But if you take out federal taxes at highest rate, maybe they could get some breaks in there, hire a good accountant. But if you take out federal taxes in the end, the take home would be somewhere closer to $227 million.
WHITFIELD: Still not disappointed.
DESJARDINS: I'm with you, though, I would still take it. Later this afternoon -- that's right. Well, those are some -- we want to give folks an idea. We're going to tell you later on this afternoon what the luckiest numbers have been for Powerball and also the luckiest states. So stay tuned.
WHITFIELD: OK. We're staying tuned for that one. Thanks so much. Lisa, good luck to you.
DESJARDINS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: And to me because I'm going to buy some tickets today, too.
DESJARDINS: You got it.
WHITFIELD: Good luck, everybody.
All right, coming up, Donald Trump is on trial. He's hoping to feel rather lucky in this case. He is on trial now defending himself for allegedly conning an elderly woman? And while in court he had some rather harsh words for her attorney. You'll hear from attorneys on both sides in a few moments.
Then some are calling it worse than Watergate. The IRS under scrutiny for treatment of conservative groups filing for tax exempt status but did it have a good reason -- the IRS -- to put Tea Party groups under the microscope as it did? We'll explain, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. The IRS now is under damage control mode now that a federal report shows that it targeted conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status. The fallout the acting IRS commissioner resigned. IRS workers, some of them in Ohio, are under particular scrutiny now.
And it also means a lot of folks are asking the big question. What exactly is a 501(c)(4) organization and why do they get tax breaks? 501 (c)(4) groups are tax exempt operating exclusively to promote social welfare. They cannot be involved with a candidate for office, no donations, no promotions. They are allowed to educate the public about all sorts of issues including politics. And they can lobby the government. The key is they cannot do it in a partisan manner and cannot be affiliated with any political party.
So Shiela Krumholz executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics and she's joining us. The research group that tracks money in politics and its effect on elections and public policy. So is this an issue, you know, of finding those who are manipulating the tax code? What's wrong with it or is it the method that was chosen here?
SHEILA KRUMHOLZ, EXEC. DIRECTOR FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS: Well, I think we have a serious concern about 501 (c)(4) social welfare organizations and other tax-exempt organizations that are trying to have their cake and eat it, too. They're trying to in some cases masquerade as social welfare organizations while being largely, if not in some cases primarily, political in their activities. So we have an enormous issue to deal with. But first of course we need to grapple with what's happened this past week.
WHITFIELD: Right. So is this hyperbole or did the IRS in your view overstep its bounds?
KRUMHOLZ: There's no question the IRS overstepped its bounds. I mean, they were clumsy and that's the charitable view. At a minimum, there was incompetence. They was -- certainly they were tenured in that they weren't sensitive to the idea that would be viewed through a political lens on Capitol Hill during a presidential election year. So it's really outrageous that this -- this has happened at all.
WHITFIELD: OK, so, you know, you wrote in the "New York Times," in an op-ed, and you said, quote, you know, "After all some of these Tea Party groups are most likely not innocent nonprofit organizations devoted to the cultural significance of hot beverages or to other more civil virtues. Rather they are groups -- they and others are groups that may be illegally spending a majority of their resources on political activity while manipulating the tax code to hide their donors and evade taxes."
So if that is the suspicion then why so much flak over this? Resignations, hearings, et cetera?
KRUMHOLZ: Well, we have to grapple with what's just happened and there has to be consequences. It was a serious infraction on the part of these agents and their managers including those in Washington, D.C. Not just in the Cincinnati office. So there should be consequences and this will be an investigation that continues for weeks, if not months, and -- you know, if some have their way, through the midterm or presidential election cycle.
But we need to deal with this, of course. But we can't lose sight of the fact that there is a larger pressing issue which is that hundreds of millions of dollars were being spent by these so-called social welfare organizations and those are the really concerning ones on both sides of the aisle, liberals and conservatives.
WHITFIELD: All right. Sheila Krumholz, thanks so much for being with us this Saturday. Appreciate it. KRUMHOLZ: My pleasure, thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right. There are lines, crowds, and there's a lot of heat. You know what I'm talking about. Going to Disney. But, you know, in all it's a lot of fun. All those things you have to deal with at any amuse park, right? Well, now that we're hearing that there are wealthy visitors and that they might be hiring disabled people to pretend to be family members, they apparently want to skip lines. That's the story we're going to be delving into after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: all right. If you have ever been to Disneyworld, you know it can be a long wait to get on to the rides. Well, this week a social researcher in New York said she uncovered a group of parents who are paying disabled people to help them cut lines at Disneyworld. Well, Disney has a policy allowing those with disabilities and their friends and family along with them to go in the front of the line.
Well, a social worker, famous Wednesday Martin, says that she discovered this practice of the wealthy hiring the disabled to cut lines because of friends that she knows. And I asked her about this practice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDNESDAY MARTIN, SOCIAL RESEARCHER: I'm a participant of (INAUDIBLE) basically in this culture, I'm a Midwesterner and I came to live among this tribe if you will through marriage and child rearing, and I discovered that there is a very rare five world in New York of parents and children in private school. And they have their own rituals and practices.
And I learned about this practice, as I said, through word of mouth, through other parents talking to one another about it. And I think that when that mother said this is how the 1 percent lives and does Disney, she was probably being ironic, but it points out a truth, which is that this particular tribe does live differently from the rest of the country to state it mildly.
WHITFIELD: Do you think it says something about the American culture as a whole or strictly the culture of his, you know, so-called tribe?
MARTIN: No.
WHITFIELD: Those who, you know, have the money to dispense, who want to cut corners in this way.
MARTIN: I think that, as you point out, this is a behavior that many people who have the power and the money to engineer everything from the perfect vacation to the perfect wardrobe. This is something that they do. It's a surprising practice. It's only one of many. And it is baffling and shocking to most of America. And I think that that's why it has sparked such a conversation, this particular story. WHITFIELD: Is there no outrage within this -- you got me saying now, tribe? You know, there's no outrage within the tribes, within these families on either side, you know, whether it be --
(CROSSTALK)
The disabled family's side or whether it'd be those who were dispensing the money? No outrage?
MARTIN: I think that there's been a lot of outrage. I've been following -- as an anthropologist or a social researcher, your job is really to study the culture, to study the human behavior and put it out there. And then people honestly have an open conversation about it. And while it's not by job to form opinions or pass judgment, I've been really interested to see how this particular story has been a spring board really for conversations all across the country about power and prestige and wealth and who has it and why.
And just this one anecdote opens a window onto a world that I think people are going to find fascinating and, as I said, baffling and sometimes (INAUDIBLE) distressing as people have found. And I have to say that the other side of this story is that some of my native informants, as we refer to them in anthropology, expressed great ambivalence about this particular practice. Some of them were very ironic as I presumed the woman was being when she spoke to the "Post" and she said you -- this is how the 1 percent does it.
People have a sense and another woman said to me, you know, the way we live our lives here and by which she meant the privileged and powerful parents in Manhattan is ridiculous. And a lot of people realize that and have misgivings about it. A lot of them do a lot of charitable work. A lot of them do a lot of giving back, but that doesn't change the fact that much of their lifestyle is something that other Americans will find fascinating, off putting and want to know more about it.
WHITFIELD: Wednesday, thanks so much. Good to see you. Appreciate it.
MARTIN: Thank you for having me, Fredricka.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right. CNN did reach out to the tour company allegedly involved in using disabled people at the park, but we've not received a response. And Disney says it is looking into the matter and will crack down on any abuse of their policy for people with disabilities.
All right. Donald Trump, he's on trial and he got a little nasty in the courtroom. The words of others, not ours. So we'll explain, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Here are the top stories making headlines today.
Eight people are still in the hospital, three in critical condition following a frightening commuter train crash in Connecticut. It happened at the height of rush hour last night. NTSB investigators are searching for the cause and telling commuters to find another way to work come Monday.
All right. Now to the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial. E-mails once thought lost now could prove helpful to the Jackson family. The e-mails could show that the star's now deceased manager was working more for the interest of the concert promoter AEG Live than for Jackson.
The computer containing the messages disappeared but the manager's wife ended up locating it. The Jackson family blames AEG Live for the lawsuit says hiring Conrad Murray, the doctor convicted in Jackson's death. The civil trial resumes on Monday.
And the Powerball jackpot is at $600 million. Today is the last day to buy a ticket. The lump sum before taxes could mean more than $376 million. It is the largest jackpot in Powerball history. The drawing is tonight. So remember, you have to play to win.
All right. Donald Trump took the stand in his own defense this week in a civil suit brought against him by an 87-year-old woman. Things got a little feisty between him and the woman's lawyer. The judge, in fact, had to tell him to kind of cool it.
Sara Schulte with our affiliate WLS has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SCHULTE, WLS REPORTER: Donald Trump gives a peace sign as he walks into federal court, but inside the courtroom it was anything but peaceful. The 66-year-old real estate mogul and reality TV star went head to head with the lawyer questioning him. It became so contentious between the two Judge Amy St. Eve stopped the proceedings, stood up and told Trump and Shelly Kulwin, quote, "This is not a boxing match." St. Yves demanded that Trump and Kulwin get control of themselves and take a deep breath.
DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MAGNATE AND HOST OF "THE APPRENTICE": I think everyone was agitated. He had asked the same questions 15 different ways over and over again. Is he a good attorney? Personally, I don't think so.
SCHULTE: Kulwin represents Jackie Goldberg, the 87-year-old mother of four suing the Trump organization for an alleged bait-and-switch job over two hotel condo units Goldberg wanted to buy in the Trump Tower. Goldberg claims she was told the deal would include profits from the hotel's hospitality business. She says the Trump organization renege on the deal after she plucked down over $500,000 in non-refundable deposit. The big haired billionaire says he's the victim in this case.
TRUMP: She's trying to rip me off. She put up a deposit. The market changed and now she wants to get a deposit back so she concocted this whole situation.
SCHULTE: Goldberg decided not to buy the hotel units after she says the terms of the deal changed. The 87-year-old is suing to get her $500,000 back and more. Trump continued to blast Goldberg after he concluded his testimony this afternoon.
TRUMP: Nobody that I have ever seen has played the age card better than her. She's got a lot of money, she's made a lot of money, she knows everything that's going on and it's really disgraceful.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Boy, that was Sara Schulte reporting from our affiliate WLS.
OK, let's talk about this some more. Strong words from the real estate mogul. This lawsuit is stirring up a whole lot of emotions as you can imagine. We're going to hear from both sides in fact right now.
We'll start with Shelly Kulwin, the lawyer for the 87-year-old plaintiff, Jacqueline Goldberg.
All right, so, Shelly, you know, it sounds like things got very tense in the courtroom. Did you anticipate that it would get so fiery?
SHELLY KULWIN, ATTORNEY FOR WOMAN SUING DONALD TRUMP: You know, you never know what's going to happen with a witness. You know, when people aren't telling the truth, it tends not to get as fiery. When they refuse to answer a question, I'm the type of lawyer that I'll -- he's right, I will keep asking it different ways if they never answer the question.
And, Mr. Trump, he wanted to talk about a lot of things except one thing, the truth, what happened. He wanted to talk about everything else. And that's what he did. And I kept coming and it bothered him because he's probably not used to people saying to him, hey, you know what, just -- you know, stop, you know, giving infomercials and answer the question.
WHITFIELD: And so --
KULWIN: I don't think people do that to him very often.
WHITFIELD: And so you've been trying to press him on behalf of your client, Miss Goldberg, that, you know, she went into this thinking that this was going to be a great investment opportunity. She put money down to buy these condominiums and she would also receive a certain percentage from parties that would take place in the meeting rooms, et cetera, but the Trump folks are saying there was a condition in a clause even in that contract which said they could change that if they wanted to. And that's what they did. And she's saying, no, that's not the case?
KULWIN: Well, the whole thing about this contract clause is the biggest red herring in this case. I mean, this is a fraud case. There is no contract claim in the case. You know, if I -- if you come to me and say, I want to buy a red car because red is your favorite color and I say, sure, I'll sell you a red car, but there's a clause in the contract that says, but you know for some reason I can't give you a red car, you have to take blue.
Your heart is set on red, you show up, there's the blue car, you go, I wanted red, they say look at the contract clause. They normally would win that case, except for one thing. If at the time you sign the contract, they had no red paint and they just have enough red paint to paint the owner's car and knew they were never going to give you a red car, that's fraud. And that's exactly what happened here. Donald Trump --
WHITFIELD: So you're saying there was no contract clause? There were no conditions at all?
KULWIN: No, that's not what I'm saying. No. There was a contract clause, but what I'm saying is if you know when you sign the contract, Donald Trump signs the contract, he's never going to give what's promised in the contract. The fact that later on a clause allows him to take it away doesn't matter because he committed fraud when he had you sign the contract? Understand that?
WHITFIELD: Yes. So now she apparently, or at least Trump is saying and testified, that she was about to walk the other way and said, wait a minute, I really don't want there to be a condition. I would like to know that I'm making this down payment and I'm also going to get profits. Will you take that out of the contract? He's alleging, no, and she still proceeded. Is that true?
KULWIN: Well, her lawyer wrote a letter. I don't know whether that letter is going to get into evidence. I don't think it's going to. And I don't think -- again, it's irrelevant. Once again, if you're lying to get somebody to sign a contract, that's fraud. People keep losing sight of that. Mr. Trump knew when he made the deal he wasn't going to give away $40 million of real estate to the Hotel Condo Association in the Trump Tower.
He wasn't going to give away a $5 million revenue stream with $1.3 million of profits. He did it because he had to sell units because he couldn't find an anchor tenant for his office space and he couldn't get financing unless he could sell more units. It's crystal clear. Forget about the contract clause. It's meaningless and that's just my argument. There's no contract claim in this case at all. Zero, none.
WHITFIELD: All right. Shelly Kulwin, you all are back in court starting Monday, yes?
KULWIN: Yes, we are. And one other thing I'd like to say if I could. This whole buyer's remorse thing that they've been pushing, she wants to get out, you hear them talking about a lot. This isn't a case of buyer's remorse. This is a case of an 87-year-old woman who is sharp, she's smart, and she -- she knew when she was being taken. That's why she walked away from the deal. And they have no evidence at all. In fact the evidence is in the contrary that she had any buyer's remorse at all. Yes, we're back on court on Monday. Looking forward to it. WHITFIELD: All right. And Trump's words where he's using the age card here. Your response to that?
KULWIN: That's right. An 84-year-old woman, because we've been at this now for almost six years. An 84-year-old woman decides -- you know, I think I'll just go file a lawsuit against a billionaire and then try to play sympathy. It has nothing to do with the age card. I'd be like Mr. Trump -- I'd be like us saying Mr. Trump is trying to playing the -- you know, people are hair-challenged card. It has nothing to do with the case.
WHITFIELD: All right. Shelly Kulwin --
KULWIN: Come on now.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: Come on now. All right. Thanks so much. Appreciate your time. All the best to both sides.
In fact, we're now going to talk to the other side after this break. What Donald Trump's side of story is saying. His defense attorney joining us right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Donald Trump is being sued by an 87-year-old Jacqueline Goldberg who put a $500,000 deposit on two condos in the Trump Tower in Chicago. She says by purchasing the units she would also get a cut of profits from ballroom and meeting room rentals. So to her that was a smart business decision. But then she says Trump's company rescinded that money-making incentive, and Goldberg says no deal, and she wants her deposit back.
So before the break you heard the argument from her attorney, Shelly Kulwin. Well, now I'm joined by Donald Trump's defense attorney, Stephen Novack.
All right, so, Mr. Novack, is that right as Shelly Kulwin out it that Donald Trump was lying and in his words lying to get that contract signed? That he, quote, "knew he wasn't going to live up to the promise?" That's from Shelly Kulwin just moments ago.
STEPHEN NOVACK, DONALD TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: Well, no, that's not right at all. You have to remember how this started. She's a very smart person. She was represented by a lawyer. She was presented with a contract that said that those changes could be made. Her lawyer tried to get that clause out of the contract and Trump disagreed. She had 10-day period within which to say, you know what, if you're not going to take that out of the contract, I'm walking away from the deal. She could have had her earnest money back, no questions asked. Instead she decided to go forward with the deal.
Now you asked the counsel pointblank, was there such a clause and he said yes. But then he had a bunch of yes buts. And the one but that you just asked me about was, well, that they never intended to do this from the get-go. Well, the trial has been going on for days. He's had every one of the Trump people, the relevant Trump people, on the witness stand. He's gotten to evidence whatsoever of that intent and every single witness Mr. Trump included said that was not the case.
The decision to put those things in in the first place was made by one set of executives for good reason to them at the time. It was taken out for very good reason, including that it was better for the unit owners for them not to have that burden and that risk. There's testimony in the record that money was lost on those amenities and the unit owners were shielded from that. And so that statement that there was no intent from the get-go is just -- is just not going to carry any water just like the rest of the case has carried no water so far.
WHITFIELD: So the intent is irrelevant here. You're saying that this buyer knew exactly what she was getting into. That yes, as we heard from Shelly Kulwin, there was a clause that said there were conditions and the Trump Tower folks could make a decision as to whether to rescind that incentive. But you know we heard from Mr. Kulwin who were saying, you know, there really was never going to be a living up to the promise, and that that underscores the whole argument of intent. That Donald Trump was really kind of conning potential buyers.
NOVACK: Well, again, that's not the case and that's not the evidence. The evidence is that one set of executives for reasons they thought were good at time put those elements into the deal.
WHITFIELD: Are there others that --
NOVACK: Those people were gone years before --
WHITFIELD: Go ahead. Sorry.
NOVACK: Those people were gone years before -- don't mean to speak over you. There's a little delay going on as you know.
WHITFIELD: We got a delay. Sorry about that.
NOVACK: Those -- the people that made that decision were gone for years before the decision to change was made. The new person that came in that made the decision to remove these items for his good reasons made that conclusion. And as I said one of the reasons, only one, he believed was in the best interest of everyone. It was in the interest of Trump to be sure. It was in the interest of the unit owners and it was in interest of their association.
We will have an expert witness, our first witness when our turn comes, will testify exactly to that, that that's the standard in the industry.
WHITFIELD: And as far as you know, no one else challenging their contract like Miss Goldberg?
NOVACK: There was one other challenge out of 150 purchasers. These have been people that have been there for years. No one has sued to say I didn't get what I was supposed to get. No one has sued to say that the quality is bad as far as I know. One suit was filed. It was filed by Mr. Kulwin, same lawyer who filed this suit, filed the other suit. That suit was resolved amicably. This is the only suit that's going to go to judgment on this issue.
WHITFIELD: Steve Novack, thanks so much for your time. As I mentioned to Mr. Kulwin --
NOVACK: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Best of luck to both sides. Hopefully this can be resolved amicably, if possible.
(LAUGHTER)
NOVACK: Thank you -- thank you very much for having me.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. We'll have much more in the NEWSROOM after this.
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WHITFIELD: All right, now to the Cleveland kidnapping case. Three women went from years of enslavement, fear and abuse to the moments of May 6th when one of them broke free. A bystander captured the scene that day on a cell phone, as you see right there. Officers first rushing to the scene experiencing a turn of events so powerful they describe it actually brought tears to one officer's eyes.
Listen to that officer explaining what happened as he entered the home to help liberate two of the victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFFICER ANTHONY ESPADA, CLEVELAND POLICE: You know, something is going on in this room and, you know, I'm looking that way, just waiting to see what's -- you know, what's going to happen. And it was Michelle, she kind of popped out into the doorway and paused there for a second. Within moments she came charging at me. She jumped on to me. She's like, you saved us, you saved us. And I'm holding on to her so tight.
And then within a few seconds I see another girl come out of the bedroom. I just look at her. You can immediately tell who it is. Just thinner and I just needed confirmation. And I asked her, what's your name? She said my name is Georgina DeJesus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Incredibly powerful. Cleveland Officer Barbara Johnson also says one of the victims jumped into her arms saying please don't let me go. She said that repeatedly.
You'll hear more from these first responders in our 3:00 Eastern hour right here on CNN. Powerful stuff.
All right. A million bucks worth of jewelry gone just in a flash. Just like that. How life is imitating art at the Cannes Film Festival next.
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WHITFIELD: All right. So sounds of gunfire and a jewelry heist, not unusual on the screen at the Cannes Film Festival.
Oh, boy, but this was not on screen. This was real life, real drama at the film festival, and in the end a 43-year-old man was arrested after firing a gun loaded with blanks during a live television interview that was taking place on that set there.
The chaos of course sent even Oscar-winning actor Kristof Waltz running for cover. The suspect Warren Helm who authorities are not identifying, by the way, did tell police apparently that he believes in God and wants to change the world. He was examined by a psychiatrist who says he is not mentally ill.
And if that wasn't exciting enough, how about jewels worth about $1 million stolen from a hotel room in Cannes?
Our chief Washington correspondent Jake Tapper has more details on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This week they're the most riveting sight on the Riviera. Their bodies bejeweled by the biggest bobbles. All that bling an irresistible target for paparazzi and it turns out for thieves. As the celebs at the Cannes Film Festival discovered, those diamonds disappeared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Diamonds, the only thing in the world you can't resist.
TAPPER: A jewelry heist in the luxurious Cote d'Azur? Sounds just like the plot of Hitchcock's 1955 classic "To Catch a Thief."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Filmed on the beautiful French Riviera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have a strong grip. The kind of burglar needs.
TAPPER: But the jewelry company Chopard says this thief is no Carey Grant, managing to make off with less than $1 million worth of bling, small potatoes when you're talking diamonds in 2013.
But a bigger question for us, why are all these jewelers bringing their wares to Cannes? I mean, what's in it for them? Well, it turns out big bucks.
WENDY ADELER, VP MARKETING, PHILANTHROPY/ADVISER JEWELERS: They're definitely not passing through a lot of hands along the way so that they're very, very secure as they travel. We make sure that we have accountability every step of the way.
TAPPER: Wendy Adeler says once her father jeweler Jorge Adler started loaning his pieces to celebrities to wear on the red carpet, sales to real people, well, they spiked.
ADELER: Sort of helps to showcase your designs on a larger scale and a larger audience.
TAPPER: While the investigation in Cannes continues French police say the thieves swiped the safe unscrewed from the wall in the hotel room sometime between 8:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m. Prime party time during the weeklong film festival.
Perhaps the thief was taking advantage of that night's hot premiere, "The Bling Ring" by director Sophia Coppola. That film is about, you guessed it, a jewelry heist. And it debuted within hours of the real- life lift. Life imitating art imitating life on the movie world's most glamorous stage.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Jake, on that one. So police say whoever did that clearly knew where the jewels were in that hotel room and it's likely they say that more than one person was involved. Chopard, by the way, has also released a statement saying that the jewels stolen were not part of the collection for the stars. Somebody else was lucky enough to get them now suddenly unlucky not to get them.
All right, coming up, 3:00 Eastern Time, O.J. Simpson behind bars for robbery. But of course he wants a new trial right now. We'll take a look at the facts stacked against him.
And Angelina Jolie has a double mastectomy. A look at the mutated gene that caused her to get that surgery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Stories trending right now online. This young girl's expression you're about to see says it all in what has become a trend. A high school senior asks someone famous to her prom. In this case pro basketball player Dwyane Wade of the Miami heat and yes, look at that, he accepted. He simply showed up. Nicole (INAUDIBLE) says she is not going to forget this evening. The video "Prom Night" is a real hit on YouTube.
All right. To St. Petersburg, Russia right now. Take a look at that right there. Lightning striking, a television tower creating a quite -- quite of a brilliant light show there. Wow. See it again. The tower is the highest point in St. Petersburg and acts like a lightning rod.
And you ever want to see an Alaskan grisly bear up close but safely? Take a look right here. A photographer for the BBC set up a camera to see grizzlies in the wild never knowing that one would actually try to eat his camera and show his dental work or lack thereof and its tonsils and everything. Hard to believe that camera actually survived.
But first even after the tragedy at a clothing factory in Bangladesh, some U.S. retailers are opting out of a pact to increase safety standards for workers.
Christine Romans is naming the names next on "YOUR MONEY."
