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CNN NEWSROOM

Zimmerman Jury Has 6 Women; Michael Jackson Went 2 Months without Real Sleep; Actress Talks Jodi Arias Movie; Space Shuttle "Atlantis" in New Home; Deaf Toddler Hears for First Time

Aired June 21, 2013 - 13:30   ET

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


CORD BYRD, FIREARMS LAW ATTORNEY: So I don't think it necessarily -- I think the women will understand the self-defense aspect of this case.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Also important, the level of comfort jurors may have with firearms. We saw defense attorney, Mark O'Mara, gauge that on Thursday.

MARK O'MARA, ZIMMERMAN'S DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Firearm.

UNIDENTIFIED POTENTIAL JUROR: (INAUDIBLE)

O'MARA: You would.

UNIDENTIFIED POTENTIAL JUROR: Yeah.

O'MARA: OK. (INAUDIBLE) I have a firearm. How about now? It's in my pocket but you know it's there. Who is concerned? Why?

UNIDENTIFIED POTENTIAL JUROR: I don't know you.

O'MARA: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED POTENTIAL JUROR: I don't know how responsible you are with that.

MARK NEJAME, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: What the defense is wanting to do is make sure that jurors are not alarmed or bothered by the fact that the defendant Zimmerman was, in fact, carrying a gun in a public place.

MACHADO: Factors that will play a role as the jury tries to weigh Zimmerman's guilt or innocence.

Alina Machado, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: I want to go live to Sanford, Florida. Jean Casarez from our sister network, HLN, joining us outside the courthouse.

Jean, what do you make of the fact you have this very interesting jury here, six women, almost all white, and a lot of people very familiar, comfortable even with guns? JEAN CASAREZ, HLN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: I think a lot of people are really surprised around here. The fact is there was going to be a man on the jury. It was an African-American male, and it was the prosecution that struck him. That's the reason why it's an all female jury.

I think what people believe is that these mothers could actually help either side because they are going to be two mothers in the courtroom. Benjamin Crump said Trayvon Martin's mother will take the stand, as well as his father for the prosecution. What about George Zimmerman's mother? She will be in the courtroom, too. These mothers have daughters. They have sons. Some are around the age of Trayvon Martin. Some are around the age of George Zimmerman. This is a case not only of the evidence but of mothers in the courtroom.

MALVEAUX: Jean, what do they think of the fact that a lot of people were very familiar and comfortable with guns? Do they have any way -- do they have any sense of how that will play out?

CASAREZ: One juror, by the way, used to have a concealed weapons permit herself but she said, during individual questioning, she doesn't have it anymore because she doesn't carry the gun on her anymore, but her husband has a concealed weapons permit.

I think it's interesting. They do come from gun families. But on the other hand, gun owners act responsibly. That's one thing you learn as a gun owner. And an issue will be, did George Zimmerman act responsibly.

MALVEAUX: What about the racial make up of this jury? Are people talking about the fact they think it will go either way when this has been case that's brought up a lot of debate, a lot of controversy, not only gun laws, but the fact the shooter was Hispanic and the victim was African-American.

CASAREZ: As far as the jurors -- and we have seen them in court. On their questionnaire is where it officially says what the race is and those are sealed. The prosecution not defense will not say -- we heard the prosecutor say in court that four of them are white, five of them are white and one is black or Hispanic. That's all we know at this point. But, yes, predominantly white female jury.

MALVEAUX: Jean, you've got that tape, the tapes that were played before we heard them. Are they going to be submitted as evidence?

CASAREZ: We're waiting. The judge is writing the order as we speak. We expect it to be released before the end of the day. What that will discern will be will there be expert testimony put on the stand to say we tentatively believe it's Trayvon Martin's voice. The defense wants the 911 call. That should be played in court. But they want the jury to look at the evidence to decide for themselves whose voice is crying out for help.

MALVEAUX: Jean, you're going to be a busy woman coming on Monday. This trial is under way.

Jean Casarez.

Again, opening statements in the Zimmerman trial, that's set for Monday. You'll want to watch that.

An expert who testified in the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial says that Michael Jackson went two months without real sleep. We'll tell you how the lack of sleep can damage your brain, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: A sleep expert testifying in Michael Jackson's wrongful death trial says that Jackson may be the first person ever to get no REM sleep for two whole months. This expert says he is basing his opinion on prior testimony that Jackson was given the drug Propofol for 60 days. That drug does not allow a person to get real sleep.

I want to bring in Elizabeth Cohen to, first of all, tell us what's real sleep? How do you know if you're getting real sleep?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Real sleep means you're getting all stages of sleep including REM sleep. REM sleep, you can watch someone's eyes moving under their eyelids. It's kind of freaky. I used to do it when my kids were sleeping. You can see their little eyeballs moving. They are dreaming. This is really an important part of the full sleep cycle. You need REM sleep.

This doctor says if he was on Propofol, he wasn't getting REM sleep. I want to be clear about this. Propofol is a drug you take when you're getting a colonoscopy. It's an anesthetic. But you're not supposed to use it to help you--

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: It'll knock you out, but it's not giving you sleep.

COHEN: He was sleep. He just, according to this expert, wasn't getting REM sleep. You're supposed to get all of the cycles of sleep. You're not supposed to lose REM sleep. It's important.

MALVEAUX: What happens if you lose REM sleep? You're not really sleeping, you're not in a deep sleep, how does it impact you or effect you?

COHEN: You are sleeping. REM sleep is actually, in some ways, the most wakeful part of the sleep cycle. So you're getting deep sleep but you're not getting REM sleep. REM sleep is important. You need it so the next day you can learn. If you don't get enough REM sleep, you can become paranoid or anxious or lose your balance. All sorts of bad things can happen if you don't get enough REM sleep.

MALVEAUX: People who don't get REM sleep and you're trying to fall asleep, how do you do that? Here you have Michael Jackson who, according to the story, he wasn't able to sleep? What's the proper way to make sure you can get real sleep?

COHEN: Michael Jackson wasn't getting enough of the right kind of sleep. That was his problem. I want to state this. Taking Propofol is beyond the pale. That's an absolute no, never. It's an anesthetic. It was outrageous what he was doing.

Let's talk about some things you can do. Many people like him struggle with it. Many things you can do. One of the things you can do is create your own sleep sanctuary. Make your bedroom truly a place to get a good night sleep. The other thing is exercise. Exercise during the day, not right before bedtime but during the day, can make your sleep better. Also tune technology out. Do not look at your iPad, phone, your whatever right before you go to sleep. The bright lights will confuse you. And also create a sleep schedule so you're going to bed and waking up at the same time.

For more, you can go to CNN.com/empoweredpatient. You can read more about getting a good night's sleep.

MALVEAUX: There's a couple of things on your list that I do.

(LAUGHTER)

COHEN: Not all of them.

(CROSSTALK)

MALVEAUX: The Blackberry and cell phone by the bed.

COHEN: Right. Right.

(CROSSTALK)

COHEN: Put them someplace else.

MALVEAUX: Thank you, Elizabeth.

COHEN: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Jodi Arias stabbed her boyfriend multiple times before shooting him. Now, a made-for-tv movie is reenacting the murder scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: This actress plays her in the film. We're going to talk to Tania Raymonde, live, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: This just in. This is news, yes. We're looking at the birth certificate of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's daughter. News. The baby's name -- Northwest. She was born Saturday at Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The document was filed in Los Angeles County. Congratulations to them. Convicted murderer, Jodi Arias, will have to wait a month to find out what a new jury thinks her fate should be for the murder of her boyfriend. The former waitress was wearing prison stripes and shackled when she appeared in court. This was on Thursday. Last month, the jury found her guilty of brutally stabbing and shooting Travis Alexander five years ago despite her claims of self defense. The jury was unable to decide whether or not she should be executed. A new jury will be seated July 18th to decide whether or not she gets life in prison or the death penalty.

This sensational case made headlines around the world. Everybody was following it. Now it's the subject of a new Lifetime movie. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TANIA RAYMONDE, ACTRESS: Let me see those big broad shoulders. Yeah. That's it. You look good Travis.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: You know you don't have to sweet talk me if you want to get some of this.

RAYMONDE: I'm done talking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Tania Raymonde plays the lead role in this made-for-TV movie, "Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret." It premiers tomorrow. She joins us from L.A.

Thank you for joining us.

Jodi Arias, one of most hated --

RAYMONDE: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: -- vilified women in the country, and you had to play her. How did you do that?

RAYMONDE: It was very challenging. The challenge was that I had to portray someone that was potentially, obviously, very much in love with this man to the point where she would do anything for him but at the same time was capable of obviously going all the way and committing the ultimate sin. That was probably one of most challenging things for her.

MALVEAUX: How did you do that? Did you study? Were you following the trial like so many other people?

RAYMONDE: I wasn't like a die hard Jodi Arias follower in the beginning. I was aware of who she was because I had seen her on TV. It wasn't until I only started working on the movie that I got to know her more and as the filming progressed I became more and more interested in developments in the trial and what would happen to her and Travis's family reaction. I became much more interested in her fate. MALVEAUX: Some actors say they really kind of turn into the character. They have to get into the character as they play that role. Did you ever feel like you were morphing into who this woman was?

RAYMONDE: It was a very difficult nut to crack, but absolutely. My job is to try to immerse myself into the character as much as I could. It was difficult because I know the gravity of what she did and I would watch Travis' family in the courtroom mourning the loss of their child. At the same time, I was sympathetic to the character I was playing. I tried to play her as objectively as I could. I consider her as a human being and my job was to portray her as accurately as I possibly could.

MALVEAUX: Tania, I want our viewers to take a look at another clip.

RAYMONDE: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAYMONDE: Who the hell is Marie?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: A girl that I know.

RAYMONDE: How well do you know her?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Well enough that she texts me from time to time.

This is crazy. You're acting crazy. This is like insane jealousy.

RAYMONDE: I look like a prostitute, Travis. A piece of toilet paper.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: It's way too soon to be discussing this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Tania, is it more about the relationship or are a lot of people focused on the brutal killing, the murder, of the trial?

RAYMONDE: Right. The movie explores Jodi and Travis' relationship and how kind of intense and passionate their affair was and then kind of navigates their story together and progressively shows how obsessed Jodi became as a result. That's the majority of the movie. It's really truly about these two people meeting and falling in love. Everyone knows how the story ends, but that's the gist of the movie.

MALVEAUX: We don't know whether or not she lives or dies, if they sentence here to death.

RAYMONDE: Right.

MALVEAUX: So I'm not even sure like how -- how does your story end?

RAYMONDE: Well, the movie takes us, like, all throughout their relationship and ends with the trial and the verdict. The sentencing is not included in the film. The movie really just spans that whole part.

MALVEAUX: Finally, have you gotten any backlash? Do people go up and look at you or -- you resemble her in some ways? Do you think people will harass you because they might identify you as Jodi Arias?

RAYMONDE: I don't worry about it too much. Obviously, I wanted to approach with as much tact as I could. But at the end of the day, I'm only an actor and I was doing my job. If people recognize some of Jodi in my performance then I feel like I've won and I've done my job the right way.

MALVEAUX: Tania, I think a lot of people will be watching.

Thanks again. Appreciate it.

RAYMONDE: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: We'll be watching.

RAYMONDE: It's called "Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret." It airs tomorrow on Lifetime.

Thanks again, Tania.

MALVEAUX: Coming up, the space shuttle "Atlantis" now in its new home. We'll take you there, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Two, one, zero and liftoff. The final liftoff of "Atlantis" on the shoulders of the space shuttle. America will --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Awesome. This is the closest people ever get to seeing a space shuttle. But in a T-minus eight days the shuttle "Atlantis" is going to be put on public display at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

John Zarrella got a sneak peek at the shuttle's new home. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Up close, nearly close enough to touch it. But still it begs the question, is it real?

TOM JONES, SHUTTLE ASTRONAUT: You don't realize the size when you're living in the cabin up front.

ZARRELLA: Tom Jones flew four shuttle missions, one on "Atlantis." But one of the last times he saw it, it was wrapped in shrink wrap as the museum was being built around it. Now even he, an astronaut, is in awe of it. JONES: To really see the spaceship up close was a rare event. It was always cloaked in scaffolding in the hangar. You saw bits and pieces like seeing the elephant as a blind man. But you never got this close to the vehicle fully revealed until it was right after landing. Even that was just for a glimpse.

ZARRELLA: When the $100 million "Atlantis" exhibit opens, this is how everyone will see it, a flying machine like none ever built.

JONES: Were we ever that audacious to go build spacecraft to do things like that? I think we're going to look back and it's going to be as if it was something out of a science fiction movie.

ZARRELLA: Atlantis and the other orbiters, now retired, are reminders of both the past and the present. For two years since "Atlantis" touched down at the Kennedy Space Center, the U.S. has been without its own means to put astronauts in space.

CHRISTOPHER FERGUSON, SHUTTLE COMMANDER: We call it a gap. Not sure how long it's going to last. That's dependent upon these future commercial providers.

ZARRELLA: Commercial companies have taken over ferrying cargo to the international space station, but not people. That was supposed to happen by 2015. Now the gap has widened. It's a very iffy 2017. Target dates are etched in sand, not stone. Not enough money from Congress, NASA says. So astronauts fly on Russian rockets.

Jones believes a new generation of space explorers will find their inspiration right here.

JONES: A young person can come in here and say, I want to fly something like this. I want to help design something like this. It can be a part of their future. And that's a very bright future for America in the 21st century if we capitalize on the experience we have here.

ZARRELLA: NASA is also working on a rocket for deep-space missions. That, too, is years away.

So for now, the inspiration gap is being filled by vehicles, not on the launch pad, but in museums.

John Zarrella, CNN, at the Kennedy Space Center.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Cool stuff.

Thanks, John.

In Boston today, James "Whitey" Bulger was not the most recognizable person at his murder trial. Courtroom witnesses actually say Oscar- winning actor, Robert Duvall, was sitting in the back of the room watching the trial, the judge, the lawyers, soaking in the atmosphere. Duvall is in Boston, filming a movie called "The Judge." He wouldn't tell a reporter for sure if he was there for work reasons, only that he found the trial interesting.

And this. A story we've been following. A child born deaf hears for the first time. You're going to hear from his parents, up next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEN CLAMP, GRAYSON'S FATHER: Daddy loves you. Daddy loves you.

(LAUGHTER)

LEN CLAMP: Daddy loves you.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER OF GRAYSON CLAMP: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEN CLAMP: Daddy loves you. Daddy loves you.

(LAUGHTER)

LEN CLAMP: Daddy loves you.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER OF GRAYSON CLAMP: Yes.

LEN CLAMP: Can you hear daddy?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It's an update to a story you just can't turn away from. This is amazing. A North Carolina boy who was able to hear for the first time just soaking in the sounds around him, taking it all in. We showed you this video yesterday. This is when Grayson Clamp heard his dad's voice for the very first time. The 3-year-old, he is the first child in the United States to receive an auditory brain stem implant. He was born without a nerve that connects the brain stem to audio waves. His parents, they're absolutely thrilled, as you can imagine, with all of his progress.

This morning they were on CNN's "New Day." We learned little Grayson loves music. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEN CLAMP: I don't know that there's any that he doesn't like.

CHRIS CUOMO, CO-HOST, NEW DAY: He likes it all.

LEN CLAMP: Yeah, yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER OF GRAYSON CLAMP: He loves it all.

LEN CLAMP: We've had a few times where there's been live music that he's really been drawn to.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm curious about the relationship between the boys, too. I imagine they have their own way of communicating, as siblings often do, right?

LEN CLAMP: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have things changed? Are you seeing how they're discovering new things together?

LEN CLAMP: I don't think -- yeah. They like to communicate through wrestling moves.

(LAUGHTER)

KATE BOLDUAN, CO-HOST, NEW DAY: That's a very important way to communicate.

LEN CLAMP: Breaking various things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: That was just great to see him this morning.

Grayson's mom and dad say they really -- there are no words to describe how excited they are about their son's progress. We are so excited for them.

That's it for me. Don Lemon takes it from here. CNN NEWSROOM continues.