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CNN NEWSROOM

Newtown Carries Both Pain & Hope; Colorado Wildfires Turn Deadly; U.S. To Boost Support of Syrian Rebels

Aired June 14, 2013 - 14:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The pain of memories. You're about to hear from parents who lost children six months ago today in Newtown, Connecticut.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. The news is now.

In Santa Monica, the shooter, dressed in black and armed for war, left behind a note before his deadly rampage.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't, don't, don't turn the camera on me, OK?

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BALDWIN: A charity to help kids with cancer gets millions, but gives little to kids. This special CNN investigation will make you furious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. Can you stop for a second? No, where are you going, Mr. Reynolds (ph)? Mr. Reynolds (ph)?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Plus, President Obama declares the red line has been crossed in Syria, but did Bill Clinton force his hand?

And, as the blockbuster opens, we will take you through the evolution of Superman.

BALDWIN: Good to see all of you on this Friday. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me.

I want to begin with a tough story. Six months ago, 20 children lost their lives inside their classrooms. Six adults also killed. Twenty- four-year-old Jillian Sota was sitting in traffic, unaware of this horrendous shooting spree at Sandy Hook Elementary School back in December. And then she got a very frightening message on FaceBook. You see, her sister, Victoria, Vicki Soto, you've seen her name, you've seen her face, a first grade teacher at Sandy Hook, was shot and killed as she tried to protect her young students from a spray of bullets. Jillian, in the red coat, you're about to see, grieved and grieved for her older sister. Here she was. Jillian says her life has been hell for six months. Today an emotional Jillian Soto called for a moment of silence to honor her beloved sister and all of the victims in Newtown killed in a tragedy that absolutely shook the nation.

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JILLIAN SOTO, SISTER OF NEWTOWN VICTIM VICTORIA SOTO: My older sister, Victoria Soto, was brutally murdered in her first grade class. Although it's been six months, we have not forgotten and we will never forget the ones that have died. The pain is excruciating and unbearable. But thanks to people like you that come out and support us, we are able to get through this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Want to show you something. This little girl. Here it is. She held up a sign, "love wins." People wept. They shared hugs.

I want to talk about Newtown six months later here with author, staff writer, senior producer for CNN Wayne Drash and CNN Radio's Emma Lacey-Bordeaux.

Good to see both of you here.

It's a tough story. I don't even know how to - you know, how to explain. I was there six months ago. You were there six months ago, Wayne. This is your first time in Newtown.

EMMA LACEY-BORDEAUX, CNN RADIO: Right.

BALDWIN: So just before we hear these voices from some of the people you two visited for over a week, just explain to me what it was like going back and also having fresh eyes.

WAYNE DRASH, PRODUCER, CNN.COM: Well, I wanted to go back after the satellite news trucks have left, after the media has left, to spend time with residents. These were two, three-hour long conversations in some instances. Studies show that the toughest part of grief is in that window, three to six months after an event. I wanted to find out how the town is doing. There's no doubt about it, there's a suffocating grief. You can feel that all over the town. But it was also very inspiring to hear the power and strength of Newtowners.

BALDWIN: We'll hear some of that in just a minute.

But you told me, we were talking, you had never been. You were nervous.

LACEY-BORDEAUX: Yes.

BALDWIN: Why?

LACEY-BORDEAUX: Well, I mean, I've experienced grief in my life, as have most everyone and it's just - you never really know what to say. And Wayne had some experience being there initially. I didn't. And really it was just about listening. You know, I mean people -- we'd sit down, we'd ask one or two questions, and like Wayne said, it's two hours later. I mean people had a lot to say.

BALDWIN: Sometimes I find when you talk to folks who are mourning, it's cathartic to talk, to get it out.

Let's hear some of this. This is -- we're going to hear some vignettes from some of the people that these two talked to. So first you'll hear a voice from Neil Heslin. He's a father who lost his only son, Jesse, on that day. Also you'll hear from this high school student, Sarah Clements, who is a pretty strong gal, but still has panic attacks, wears bracelets on her arm representing all the lives lost. And you'll hear from this doctor, William Begg, who was in the emergency room on that fateful day. So take a listen.

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NEIL HESLIN, LOST SON IN NEWTOWN SHOOTING (voice-over): People say, I'm so sorry, I know how you feel. Well, you don't know how I feel. My name's Neil Heslin. I'm Jesse Lewis' father. Jesse was a victim in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. A little handshake, a hug, a pat on the back is all you can -- all you can do. There's no words. There's nothing to make you feel any better.

SARAH CLEMENTS, STUDENT (voice-over): Sometimes I can't remember details from that first week. And sometimes it feels like it was yesterday. I'm Sarah Clements and I'm a junior at Newtown High School. It's still kind of hard for me to take tests. And I started hearing more people that have said that similarly, like, every time they go into a room, they, like, look for where they would hide. Even though it's, like, really hard to hear, it, like, makes me feel better because, like, I know I'm not the only one. Even teachers have said that they do that.

WILLIAM BEGG, DOCTOR (voice-over): Every time I see a shooting, every single time, I basically say to myself, not again. My name is Dr. William Begg. I'm an emergency room physician.

In medical school I saw gun violence. I saw someone die from an assault weapons injury. A store owner came in and he had -- he had -- they couldn't count how many bullet holes that he had. And he was essentially dead on arrival.

When I speak to families who have lost loved ones through the years, and they say, doctor, did you do everything you could do? I used to say, yes, I did everything I could do in the resuscitation room. But now I'm going to be able to say, I did everything I could do in the resuscitation room and I tried to do everything I could do politically to afford some change. So that's the difference as of December 14th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Wow. Let's begin with the father. When I read your piece, this 13-page piece, you talk about the father and his son Jesse and you talk about the day before the shooting. And they're at the grocery store because little Jesse has to - this is Christmastime, right, so they're making gingerbread houses for school. And he picks up a magazine. Tell me about that.

DRASH: Yes. The father, Neil, says that he picked up a magazine and it was a gun magazine. The dad was a former state champion marksman in Connecticut. He had taught his son how to buy a BB gun - or a BB gun. He had gotten him a BB gun the Christmas before. And his son picked up the gun magazine and he turned it to a page and on the page the son asked about three different types of gun. One was a Sig Sauer. One was a Bushmaster 223 AR-15. And the three guns that the son had asked about were the same three guns that Adam Lanza walked into school the next day.

BALDWIN: Very next day with those guns.

DRASH: Yes.

BALDWIN: So this is part of the father's story about Jesse.

Then we hear -- we read about Sarah. This high school junior whose mother, Emma, was a second grade teacher. She was in the building. How's she doing? I loved her point about how she thinks students - it's about the next generation being part of this whole discussion and action as well.

LACEY-BORDEAUX: Yes. Sarah was amazing.

BALDWIN: Yes.

LACEY-BORDEAUX: She was really, you know, day after day we're hearing these stories and it's a lot to absorb. And Sarah also, I mean, she's traumatized and she knows it and she talks like that, you know. But at the same time, she's so positive. And I mean you hear it in her piece. She talks about even the next days after the shooting, she has these positive recollections. And she tells us the story about she calls senators and she says, no, I can't vote yet. So she just - she has this amazing spirit. She's really incredible.

BALDWIN: And then there's the doctor who is not too far away in -- it was Danbury, right?

DRASH: Yes, Danbury.

BALDWIN: In the ER. And he's thinking, you know, and I remember we all were sitting around the newsroom. We had heard about, you know, shots fired in this elementary school. And he was hoping to help. And the thing was, because of the brutality of the shooting, there were not many kids who made it even to the hospital.

DRASH: That's correct. And as you heard in that piece, in the first hour of his stint as a medical student in the Bronx, he had witnessed a store owner gunned down by -- he thinks it was an AK-47. And -- but he was so young at that time, he had never spoken out about gun violence, especially from what some people call the assault rifle. Yet December 14th changed that for him and spurred him into action to at least be able to speak up and make himself feel that he's doing all that he can just in the -- in the emergency room, as well as politically.

BALDWIN: It's an incredible piece. I want all of you hopefully, just go to cnn.com and you can read it. It's 13 pages. I dare you to read it without a dry eye -- with a dry eye by the end. Final question, though, really your takeaway. I mean it was interesting you were saying that people there from Newtown, they go somewhere else and people ask, where are you from? And they say, we're from Newtown. And what's the response typically?

DRASH: People -

LACEY-BORDEAUX: They get - yes, they get people saying, like you might expect, oh, I'm so sorry. And all though that's a genuine response on the part of most people, they're not sorry they're from Newtown. They're thrilled to be from Newtown.

BALDWIN: Yes.

LACEY-BORDEAUX: What they're sorry about is the tragedy.

DRASH: Is the tragedy. And so they don't like that. And in some ways that sends them a step backwards a little bit that when somebody says sorry because they are proud of their town, just not what happened. And they want to -- as a rabbi told us, they want to be known as a bridge toward a kinder, better future.

BALDWIN: Yes. Yes. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your story. Emma Lacey-Bordeaux and Wayne Drash, thank you both so much. Again, please read the piece. Go to cnn.com. Thank you both.

LACEY-BORDEAUX: Thank you, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let's move on now to Colorado. The wildfires that have been raging all week long have now turned deadly. Here's what we know right now. Two people have died. Authorities believe they were trying to escape the fires. The worst fire is what's called the Black Forest Fire has scorched nearly 16,000 acres. At least 379 homes have been destroyed. And behind each of the homes lost, and each family evacuated, there's a story. We've been telling you, we've been sharing these stories day after day after day this week.

And I want to bring in Giselle Hernandez because she is one of those 38,000 evacuees, lives with her boyfriend, boyfriend's parents and sister.

And, Giselle, my goodness, thank you so much for joining me. Let's just begin with, I understand it was your boyfriend's parents who were going to check on the home. Any word?

GISELLE HERNANDEZ, FAMILY LIVES IN FIRE EVACUATION ZONE: Yes. Actually, I'm very happy to say, and thank you for having me, we just got the news about 20 minutes ago. We were able to go back to the house just for bare essentials and medication. We were -- we did loss some of the outbuildings on the property. So the fire got too close for comfort. But I am happy to say that we do have a home to come back to. So we are very, very happy about that.

BALDWIN: Thank goodness. My good - thank goodness. What about this -- the process of evacuating? You have a lot of people, it sounds like, who live in your home. You have cats. You have dogs. What was that like?

HERNANDEZ: Well, fortunately, we're very prepared people. My mother- in-law is one of those preppers. So two Christmases ago we all gave each other bug-out bags. So literally when we started seeing smoke coming up from the forest, we pretty much grabbed our bug-out bags, put them in our cars, put our pets in there and, fortunately, we had enough time to grab, you know, our mementos and some things that were close to our heart before it was -- you know, it was pretty much time to go. It went from, well, we should probably pack and get going, to we need to leave right now as the smoke started billowing, you know, through the trees on our property.

BALDWIN: Good thing for those in-laws and those bags. They were thinking. What about - what about your neighbors? Are they OK?

HERNANDEZ: Well, we're - you know, it's very unfortunate because from what we understand our neighbors right to the south of us did lose their home. Our neighbors to the north were very fortunate and they did not. So it just goes to show you how, you know, unpredictable these things can be.

We know that the firemen have, you know, have been fighting, you know, hard to keep as many homes up as possible. But sometimes, you know, it just gets out of control. So, actually, our -- my boyfriend's grandparents, who actually live less than a quarter mile down the road, lost their home.

BALDWIN: Oh, sorry to hear it.

HERNANDEZ: So, fortunately, you know, today was more about, well, hopefully we have, you know, one home that we can at least go back to. So that's really good that, you know, at least we have, you know, one place that we can all sort of get together and figure it out. And, however, they did say that the -- that we should be prepared for the devastation and the destruction because there is -- the house is actually nested behind a lot of trees and you can see clear through the house at this point.

BALDWIN: So it just sounds like talking to different people this week, it seems like no one's fully in the clear just yet but it sounds like you may be having more people under your roof shortly. Giselle Hernandez, thank you so much and I'm glad to hear your happy news. Thank you.

HERNANDEZ: Thank you so much, you guys.

BALDWIN: Yes.

Coming up, James "Whitey" Bulger. One time he was the FBI's most wanted mobster. Now he's on trial. And I talked to one of his proteges, if you will. The guy ran drugs for him many years ago. Spent time in jail. Now that's where Whitey Bulger is. He has some choice words for Bulger. Don't miss that interview.

But first, President Obama saying now that the red line has been crossed in Syria, promising support, aid to Syrian rebels. What does that mean? And what is Syria saying in return? That's next.

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BALDWIN: The United Nations says 93,000 Syrians have died in the civil war that has ravaged the country now for nearly two and a half years. But it's the deaths of 100 to 150 Syrians that have moved the Obama administration like we've never seen before. Because that's the number of people killed from detected chemical weapons. This is according to a U.S. government report. The global community says using the weapons is a clear breach of international law.

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GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FMR. NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Assad has completely forfeited any claim to morally remain in power by the use of those chemical weapon. That's simply inadmissible in the 21st century. Totally inadmissible. In the darkest days of World War II, when the Soviet Union was about to be overrun by Nazi Germany, even the Soviets didn't use chemical weapons.

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BALDWIN: Now the Obama administration says it will increase, quote, "the scale and scope," these are their words, of its support to the opposition. But Syria's government says it's a lie. Russia, longtime ally of Syria and the president there, Bashar al Assad, also has doubts. Even on the ground, while many support American aid, some Syrians are skeptical.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): America is inventing stories about chemical weapons. Syrian government never used chemical weapons. The rebel have used them, not the government, so they are inventing stories because our army is winning.

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BALDWIN: Want to turn now to Hala Gorani with CNN International.

Just join (ph) me more on what the aid actually means.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL: Right.

BALDWIN: Let's just first begin with that.

GORANI: Right. Well, I spoke just a short while ago to the -- essentially the spokesperson for the Free Syrian Army, Louay Moqdad.

BALDWIN: Yes.

GORANI: Whose right now based in Turkey, but is regularly in meetings with officials from Europe and the United States. And essentially I asked him, what does this mean, the scale end scope being increased regarding weapons shipments potentially from the United States to the rebels? BALDWIN: Right.

GORANI: And he said the kinds of weapons were probably small arms and ammunition at this stage. And that what the United States and other European countries are asking for right now are guarantees that these arms will not go to extremist groups. And he repeated the requests from these rebel groups that what they need are not essentially rifles and ammunition and bullets, but that they need surface to air missiles, that they need a no-fly zone and that is not in the cards as far as the U.S. is concerned right now.

BALDWIN: But he is saying small arms and ammunition?

GORANI: He's saying down the line, in the near future, once these guarantees have been provided to the United States, that it appears as though these shipments will go ahead without providing a specific timeline.

BALDWIN: OK, what about, on the flipside, you have pushback not only from Syria -

GORANI: Right.

BALDWIN: Who, again, as we mentioned in this statement saying, you know, this is all full of lies, including also Russia pushing back.

GORANI: Russia is an ally of the Bashar al Assad regime. We've seen it time and time again over the last two years. The head of the Russian lower house of parliament is saying these are fabricated, these allegations, that the regime has used chemical weapons against its citizens. Remember Saddam Hussein and the claims of weapons of mass destruction there.

BALDWIN: Right. Right.

GORANI: That's being brought back a lot.

But let's put things in perspective. Iraq and Syria are two entirely different scenarios. There you had faulty intelligence as far as Iraq was concerned. Here you have evidence. More and more evidence piling up from different countries conducting independent research and analysis proving that these weapons have been used on a small scale.

BALDWIN: Hala Gorani, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Coming up here, James "Whitey" Bulger, he was the most wanted man in America. Now he's on trial in Boston, charged with the murders of 19 people. You're about to hear my chilling conversation with one of Bulger's proteges.

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JOHN "RED" SHEA, FORMER MOBSTER: I mean, look at what he did to informants, allegedly. You know, he executed them because they were ratting on him. And here he is, the biggest rat of all. King rat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Do not miss my interview with John "Red" Shea after this quick break.

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BALDWIN: (INAUDIBLE) loan sharks and pictures of bookies wearing double-knit (ph) pants, shakedowns and witness protection programs. Today's testimony in the trial of reputed Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger is a snapshot, I tell you, right out of a mob novel. On the witness list today, you have these two Boston bookies Bulger and his gang allegedly shook down, forcing them to pay financial tributes to stay in business, demanding double during football season. The jury heard about the checks from out of town betters made out to John Hancock or Babe Ruth, laundered in a dive bar, endorsed by the bookie who finally agreed to testify against Bulger and then went into witness protection program fearing Bulger would come after him. Listen to this. This is exactly what one former Boston mobster says Whitey Bulger would do. He wrote a book about his life and Bulger's inner circle. It's called "Rat Bastards." This is John "Red" Shea.

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JOHN "RED" SHEA, " FORMER MOBSTER: Look at what he did to informants, allegedly. You know, he executed them because they were ratting on him. And here he is, the biggest rat of all. King rat. He says today, which is such hogwash, he says today that he wasn't an informant. Let me tell you something, he's going to try to hurt anybody he can along the way. If -- and he's going to do what he did in the past. As a fraud, he's going to lie. He's going to make up stories to try to take anyone down with him. He's an angry man. This is his last hurrah. And he's going to showcase it in federal court, and he's going to try to drag this on as long as he can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We're going to follow the trial for you. Whitey Bulger charged with the murders of 19 people.

Coming up, fired from her job as a teacher because of something her ex-husband did. She says she was fired for reporting her abusive ex. We're on that case next.

And, have you heard this today? The "Happy Birthday" song. Sixteen little words and millions of dollars at stake. Did you know you could be fined for singing that? A new lawsuit seeks to return the song to the public domain.

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