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Alligator Drags Child Away At Disney Resort; Emerging Details On How Gunman Planned Shooting; Angel Colon's Terrifying Tale Of Survival; Source: France Attacker Threatened Euro 2016; EUFA: "Suspended Disqualification" For Russia; Obama and Trump Debate Use Of Radical Islam; Oscar Pistorius Trial; Led Zeppelin Sued Over "Stairway to Heaven". Aired 2-3a ET

Aired June 15, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Robyn Curnow at the CNN center. We begin with breaking news out of Florida. The search for a little boy dragged off by an alligator. It's been an unimaginable few days for the Orlando area.

First, a popular singer from the NBC show "The Voice" is gunned down after her concert Friday night. She died a few hours later. Then a terror attack which massacred 49 people at the Pulse Nightclub early Sunday morning. Dozens more were wounded.

Now, police say an alligator, four to seven feet or more, grabbed this toddler and dragged him into a lagoon at Disney Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. The little --

(VIDEO CUT OFF 02:00:54 - 02:04:11)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: - but it's a lot of territory to cover in the darkness. They evacuated the guests immediately from the shoreline. You want to make sure that no one else is harmed. Now the effort is under way.

We are told that a specialist, an alligator trapper is among those assisting here. The sheriff of 35 years said he's never known anything like it. Alligators are part of the Florida landscape, but interacting and carrying out such a tragic attack as has happened here at Disneyworld is just unthinkable -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Indeed, what we're looking at is a luxury hotel in one of the world's most famous resorts, a family there just trying to enjoy their time. As you say, though, gators are common in Florida, but this is very, very unusual.

[02:05:04]SAVIDGE: It is. I mean, a particular attack like this, alligators are problematic. Any time you have water, they can show up, whether it's a golf course, whether it's a hotel, whether it's an ornamental lake in your backyard.

What's striking here is, of course, you're talking about Walt Disneyworld. Everything here is carefully controlled for the safety, for the enjoyment of the guests. So how something like this happens, there are going to be a lot of people asking questions.

How could it happen, why did they not control alligators and why would there be one of such size? That would be looked at, but right now the effort to try to find this child is the most important thing. The family is being cared for.

The father was injured in the effort to wrestle the child away from the alligator. That was unsuccessful. They have come from Nebraska, and the mother, father, and three children.

Initially, the lifeguard heard the family screaming and a call was put into the Walt Disney Fire Department. They have their own first responders. They initially responded and then of course Orange County, which oversees this, they've shown up.

Florida Fish and Wildlife, they've shown up. It continues to grow, but there's only so much they can do in the darkness. And they realized these are the most desperate and important hours -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Yes, we also heard from the authorities there that the family was receiving counselling as this desperate search is under way. Martin Savidge, thanks so much for bringing us up to date and we'll check in with you within the show. Thanks so much.

Now it's been a rough 48 hours for Walt Disneyworld. We've just learned that Sunday's nightclub shooter scouted out Disney ahead of his attack on the club.

Police say Omar Mateen visited the Disney entertainment and shopping complex known as Disney Springs at the beginning of June during this year's gay days celebrations. And all this happening just as Disney gets ready to open its highly anticipated Shanghai location on Thursday.

Turning now to the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history and the information investigators are now gathering on how the gunman planned it. They believe he targeted possible targets, including Orlando's Health Nightclub and Disneyworld.

The gunman's wife is talking to authorities. A source says the FBI does not think she's a co-conspirator, but she could face charges for not telling authorities what she knew about his general plans. Pamela Brown has the latest developments in the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, authorities now believed the gunman's wife visited a potential target with her husband in advance of the attack at Pulse Nightclub. They're trying to determine if she knew he was planning an attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you know your husband was going it do this?

BROWN: Sources tell CNN she's been providing helpful insight to investigators. For the first time, we're seeing inside the couple's apartment. Clothes and children's toys can be seen scattered on the ground.

Investigators have seized items in searches of this home and those of the shooter's relatives including a Dell computer, smartphone, digital camera, and related media.

Sources tell CNN Omar Mateen was consuming large quantities of Jihadi propaganda online including ISIS beheading videos.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The killer took in extremist information and propaganda over the internet. He appears to have been an angry, disturbed, unstable young man who became radicalized.

BROWN: One of the survivors today revealing what she heard the gunman tell 911 dispatchers.

PATIENCE CARTER, SURVIVOR: The reason why he's doing this is because he wants America to stop bombing his country. From that conversation from 911, he pledged his allegiance to ISIS.

JERRY DENNINGS, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF: He was simply making statements about who he pledged allegiance to and other statements that was in a language believed to have been Arabic.

BROWN: As authorities piece together clues painting a picture of the shooter's life, CNN is learning more about his movements in the hours leading up to the attack.

Investigators say they used cell phone tower data to determine that he spent several hours the day before the shooting at Disney Springs, a shopping and entertainment center in the Orlando area, before the attack at the Pulse Nightclub early Sunday morning.

Law enforcement sources tell CNN, he also visited Disney Springs and the Pulse Nightclub at the beginning of June. Investigators believed the visits were intended to conduct surveillance of the locations.

DENNINGS: He came with a plan of action. He had multiple rounds of ammunition. He moved through the facility fairly fluidly. So everything that he did in the case that he had given forethought to what he was doing.

[02:10:04]BROWN: A performer at Pulse Nightclub tells CNN Mateen visited the club dozens of times averaging a couple of visits a month over three years. CNN has learned the FBI is now looking into claims Mateen was on gay dating apps such as Grinder. But it's unclear what his intentions were on those apps.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Well, the 49 victims ranged in age from 18 to 50. Many of them were just starting their lives as young adults, making plans for their futures.

That was certainly the case for Akyra Murray. She was 18 and just graduated from high school in Philadelphia and had gotten a full basketball scholarship for college. She was in Orlando on a family vacation.

Akyra was with her cousin and another friend at Pulse when the shooting began. She sent text messages to her mom, reading, please come get us now, please, they're shooting.

Her cousin who survived the shooting told CNN's Don Lemon that they hid in a bathroom and that Akyra pleaded with the gunman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TARA PARKER, NIGHTCLUB SHOOTING SURVIVOR: At some point, we just started to give out. Like we were hit, everybody was injured. My cousin was pleading with him, trying to bargain with him, trying to tell him everything, and he wasn't responding.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: What was he saying?

PARKER: He didn't say anything, but my cousin was more so like --

LEMON: Which cousin?

PARKER: Akyra.

LEMON: What was Akyra saying?

PARKER: Please, we're hit, we're hurt, please stop. Begging and pleading with them. He didn't come back, though. She was calling and texting my aunt. I took the phone from her at some point and was like, can y'all please come over. You can't hear at this point I'm losing myself.

Because I'm about to go, right. I was more settled with it because it wasn't nothing else I could do. My cousin, we had a system. You know the morse code? We was tapping each other legs.

And every time I would see a hand go up, or my cousin would scratch me back, tap me back real fast or something like that. Like she was communicating with me.

When the shooter finally came back in, like he came back into the bathroom, because I don't know if he -- when we came back in that's when the cops got on the horn and blew down the doors, he came into the stall with us.

He didn't shoot nobody just yet. But when the cops blew in the bathroom door, you heard him say, hey you? And whoever looked up at him on that side of the room, he shot three more shots.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Hard to listen to, isn't it? Well, Angel Colon is another survivor. He says at one point he just knew he was going to die on the nightclub floor. Mateen shot him at least five times. Well, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta has his emotional story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) COLON: We just grabbed each other. We started running --

SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're listening to 26-year-old Angel Colon describe the horrifying seconds before he was shot by the gunman Sunday morning inside Pulse Nightclub in Orlando.

COLON: I was shot about three times in my leg so I had fallen down. I tried to get back up but everyone started running everywhere. I got trampled over and I shattered and broke my bones on my left leg.

GUPTA: Unable to move, Angel just lays there waiting.

COLON: All I could hear was the shotgun, one after another and people screaming, people yelling for help.

GUPTA: In a cold, calculating move, the gunman seemed to zero back in on the victims.

COLON: I hear him come back and he's shooting everyone that's already dead on the floor, making sure they're dead.

GUPTA: He closes in on Angel.

COLON: I can hear the shotguns closer and I look over and he shoots the girl next to me and I'm just there laying down. I'm thinking I'm next, I'm dead. So I don't know how, but by the glory of God, he shoots towards my head but it hits my hand.

And then he shoots me again and it hits this side of my hip. I had no reaction. I was just prepared to just stay there laying down so he won't know that I'm alive.

GUPTA: Angel is finally rescued by a police officer who drags him to safety and becomes just one of 22 survivors who are now recovering at Orlando's Regional Medical Center. Today the doctors tending to those patients describe how they were overwhelmed in the immediate aftermath of the massacre.

DR. CHADWICK SMITH, ORLANDO REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: This is not a drill, this is not a joke. We have 20-plus gunshot wounds coming in.

GUPTA: Forty four victims all needing different levels of care. Doctors had to make quick decisions on who was to be seen first. Tonight as the hospital tries to return to normal, doctors and staff are trying to come to grips with what happened.

[02:15:09]SMITH: I was walking out of the hospital and walking out I saw team members walking into work crying. And I just -- I just couldn't express how -- it's hard to describe how you feel, but I know how they feel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: And I can tell you, they do a lot of drills and practices to try and be prepared for this sort of thing. But after hearing those real-life scenarios, you can understand why it's never going to be the same as what they experienced here. Back to you.

CURNOW: So much strength amid so much loss. Now, this nightclub massacre is dominating the U.S. presidential campaign and sparking a new argument between President Obama and Donald Trump. Mr. Obama says his words won't defeat terrorists, but his actions will.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The main contribution of some of my friends on the other side of the aisle have made in the fight against ISIL is to criticize this administration and me for not using the phrase "radical Islam." That's the key they tell us.

We can't beat ISIL unless we call them "radical Islamists." What exactly would using this label accomplish? What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIL less committed to trying to kill Americans?

Would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this? The answer is, none of the above.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Republican leaders in Congress were quick to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSEY GRAHAM, U.S. SENATE REPUBLICAN: I think that is like beyond out of line. I have been all over President Obama's failed policies when it comes to destroying and defeating and containing radical Islam. I think his model of doing it is a complete failure, won't work. I've never doubted that he loves his country.

ADAM KINZINGER, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: I hope in the process of the next few months, he realizes that in order to win this war, you're going to need people that he has already alienated.

DARRELL ISSA, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: The what-ifs that people on both sides are talking about are really inappropriate. We should look, as Congress should always look at major failures and say how did it happened.

(VIDEO CUT 02:17:43 - 02:21:00)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS: -- 48 hours are crucial. The group "be action" moved to the cities of Lille and Lens, which are just 24 miles apart.

A Madrid court has ruled that the blood bags used as evidence in a major Spanish doping scandal, must be handed over to authorities for investigation. The operation has been going on for more than a decade. It's one of the biggest doping scandals in sports.

Following the hearings, these bags will be released and not destroyed. It could mean that we'll learn who these bags belong to and which athletes in a variety of sports were cheating at the time they were seized back in 2006.

That's a quick look at your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: I'm Robyn Curnow. You're watching CNN. It's 21 minutes past the hour. A recap of our breaking news out of Disneyworld in Florida. Police say an alligator dragged a 2-year-old boy into a lagoon a few hours ago at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.

The Orange County Sheriff said the toddler was playing in the water when he was taken. The boy's father jumped in and tried to grab his son from the gator, but he couldn't get a hold of him. Police say the alligator is between one and two meters long.

This comes as Disney Shanghai is set to open on Thursday, and of course, this has been a horrific few days for the Orlando area with the nightclub shooting early Sunday morning there.

To France now, where an Islamic extremist who killed a police commander and his partner, also threatened the Euro 2016 football championship. Police say the killer made the threat in an online video he broadcast from the murder scene. French authorities say events like this and the Orlando mass shooting called for increased vigilance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNARD CAZENEUVE, FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): The government has been fully mobilized for many months now, in dealing with a threat which we have not stopped considering a high level threat. It's high level in France. It's high level in Europe. It's high level in the west. After we have witnessed the events that have unfolded in the past 48 hours in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Our Jim Bitterman in is Paris standing by with the latest -- Jim.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Robyn, just like in the United States after the attack, the focus now is on the victims themselves, the two police officers that were killed in their home, in and outside of their home.

Jean-Baptiste Salvaing and Jessica Schneider, a couple both had worked for the police for some years and had been attacked as they were spending an evening off duty at their house in the suburbs about 25 miles west of Paris.

As for the assassin, he left that message, a chilling video that you talked about. I saw it yesterday and he made specific threats against not only the Euro 2016, but specific personalities in France, including journalists and politicians, a rap singer, that sort of thing. And he said blood will flow. He also said, I have a thirst for blood. It was a really very chilling sort of thing. And it hasn't been made public yet, but I don't believe it probably will. But it does put everyone here on edge.

One of the things that the police have gotten out of this, this is probably the only concrete thing that's come out of it, they're now going to be allowed to carry their weapons when they're off duty.

This is something which did not exist in the past and that had been talked about in the framework of the state of emergency that exists here.

But in fact, now they are going to be able to take their weapons home at night. One can only wonder if the police commander had his gun when he was attacked, if this would have turned out differently.

[02:25:13]CURNOW: So much. Jim Bitterman there in Paris. There was a 3-year-old boy who was also in that hostage video who lost both of his parents as well. Jim, thanks so much.

To the northern French city of Lille where authorities are bracing for more possible violence from football fans when Russia takes on Slovakia at Euro 2016, just hours from now. Fears stem from clashes that happened over the weekend, between Russian fans and English supporters. Our Matthew Chance has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a thug's eye view of the violence that's marred Euro 2016. One Russian hooligan actually filming his own rampage through the streets of Marseilles. One seen he shows himself and his comrades vandalizing a cafe.

In another, they're kicking an English fan as he cowers on the ground. It is this kind of appalling behavior that's seen UEFA impose a suspended disqualification on Russia. If it happens again, UEFA says they're out.

(on camera): Do you still think it is OK for football fans to fight?

(voice-over): It is a message even the most belligerent Russian officials appear to be heeding including the MP who tweeted support for the fighting. Out of step with the kremlin, which condemned the violence, he's now changed his tone.

IGOR LEBEDEV, RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARIAN (through translator): The softest punishment would have been a fine. The harshest one would have been a total disqualification. UEFA's decision was something in between and we only have to be thankful for that. And I support the opinion of the Russian football union chairman who said we would not appeal the decision.

CHANCE: Back in France, the authorities are finally, perhaps belatedly, getting tough. Riot police surrounding a Russian fan bus suspected of carrying some of the hard-core hooligans French prosecutors say were behind the violence.

Russian social media postings say many on board have been told they'll be deported. The rest are being returned to Marseilles for questioning as French police struggle to prevent the events of this weekend being repeated in the games ahead. Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: And ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, the latest on the search for a 2-year-old boy, snatched away by an alligator at a Disney resort.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:30:00] CURNOW: OK, I wanted to return to Martin Savidge and the breaking news out of Florida. The search for a child dragged away by an alligator at a Disney World resort. Hard to imagine I'm even saying those words. A devastating wrestle between a father and an alligator, and the child still missing.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Robyn, this is supposed to be of course the happiest place on earth. That's how often Disney World is described. Tonight is a very different scene that's playing out. It's about a half mile away that the search effort is now being conducted on The Seven Seas Lagoon. This all transpired around five hours ago. A little after nine o'clock in the evening local time.

A family of five, they had come from Nebraska and were playing along the waterfront right beside the Grand Floridian Hotel. It's an upscale, beautiful, large hotel, one of a number that are on the properties of Disney World. And while the two year old, according to authorities was playing near the water's edge, the alligator that was said to be anywhere from four to seven feet in length came up and grabbed the child.

The father was nearby and immediately dove into the water and wrestled with the alligator and fought to try to retrieve his own child, but he alligator was able to get away and the child went with it. So right now there are at least 50 officers, Sheriff's Department, Fish and Wildlife, as well as we are told an alligator trapper out on the water or on the edge of this lagoon. It is quite a substantial body of water, to try to locate the child.

They are up against a number of problems of course: one a wild animal, they are also up against the darkness, and they are also up against the underbrush that is along the shoreline there. All of that making this extremely difficult, and as more time goes by, the Sheriff's authorities will tell you the outcome is not projected to be good here.

The family is being cared for, but they know that with every passing moment the odds of finding that child alive are less and less. The Sheriff of 35 years says he has never known or seen anything like it. Alligators are common, but this sort of thing is definitely not, Robyn.

CURNOW: OK Martin Savage thanks so much.

And US president Barack Obama has clearly had it with Donald Trump and his reaction to the Orlando terror attacks. He met with reporters on Tuesday at the White House and not mentioning his name, blasted Trump over his ideas on immigration and terrorism. Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash filed this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are now seeing how dangerous this kind of mindset and this kind of thinking can be.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A rhetorical explosion, rare for any president, especially one who prides himself on keeping calm.

OBAMA: we now have proposals from the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States to bar all Muslims from immigrating to America. In your language this singles out immigrants. And suggests entire religious communities are complacent in violence. Where does this stop?

BASH: Tearing into Donald Trump with visible anger and disgust.

OBAMA: That's not the America we want. It doesn't' reflect our democratic ideals. It won't make us more safe; it will make us less safe. BASH: The power of his words amplified by the stage crowd, a Commander-in-Chief coming out of a counter terrorism briefing standing with his top military office, a four-star general.

OBAMA: We've gone through moments in our history before when we acted out of fear, and we came to regret it. We don't have religious tests here. Our founders, our constitution, our Bill of Rights are clear about that. And if we ever abandon those values, we would not only make it a lot easier to radicalize people here and around the world, but we would have betrayed the very things we are trying to protect.

BASH: And what really got him going, the GOP refrain that he is weak on terrorism because he refuses to use the term radical Islam.

OBAMA: There has not been a moment in my seven and a half years as President where we have not been able to pursue a strategy because we didn't use the label radical Islam. Not once has an advisor of mine said man, if we really use that phrase, we're going to turn this whole thing around. Not once. So someone seriously thinks that we don't know who we're fighting?

BASH: All that as the candidate Obama endorsed delivered a more measured version of the same message.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He is fixated on the words radical Islam. Now I must say I find this strange. Is Donald Trump suggesting that there are magic words that once uttered will stop terrorists from coming after us?

BASH: Hillary Clinton continues to use Trump's response to the Orlando massacre to define him as too volatile for the White House.

CLINTON: Yesterday morning, just one day after the massacre, he went on TV and suggested that President Obama is on the side of the terrorists. Now just think about that for a second. Even in a time of divided politics, this is way beyond anything that should be said by someone running for President of the United States.

BASH: Dana Bash, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Donald Trump is firing back at Mr. Obama. He says the president can't effectively deal with Isis and terrorism if he can't even utter the words radical Islam.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I watched President Obama today, and he was more angry at me than he was at the shooter, and many people said that. One of the folks from television said boy, has Trump gotten under his skin. But he was more angry, and a lot of people have said this, the level of anger, that's the kind of anger he should have for the shooter, and these killers that shouldn't be here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Well the Orlando terror attack is putting renewed focus on LGBT rights in Florida. CNN's Anderson Cooper challenged the state's Attorney General, Pam Bondi on Tuesday. Take a listen to this:

(BEGIN TAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to ask you, I saw you the other day saying that anyone who attacks the LGBT community will be gone after with the full extent of the law.

PAM BONDI, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: That's absolutely right.

COOPER: I talked to a lot of gay and lesbian people here yesterday who are not fans of yours, and who said that they thought you were being a hypocrite that you for years have fought; you basically have gone after gay people. Said that in court that gay people simply by fighting for marriage equality were trying to do harm to the people in Florida, to induce public harm I believe was the term you used in court. Do you really think you are a champion of the gay community?

BONDI: Let me tell you. When I was sworn in as attorney general, I put my hand on a bible and was sworn to uphold the constitution of the state of Florida. That's not a law that was voted into our state constitution by the voters of Florida. That's what I was defending. It had nothing to do; I never said I don't like gay people. That's ridiculous.

COOPER: But do you worry about using language accusing gay people of trying to do harm to the people of Florida when doesn't that send a message to some people who might have bad ideas in mind? BONDI: Anderson, I don't believe gay people could do harm to the State of Florida.

COOPER: But you argued that in court.

BONDI: My lawyer argued a case defending what the Supreme Court allowed the voters to put in our state constitution.

COOPER: Right. And you were arguing that if there was gay marriage, if there was same sex marriage, that it would do harm to the people of Florida. That it was constitutional to put that in the constitution Are you saying you did not believe it would do harm to Florida?

BONDI: Of course not. Of course not.

(END OF TAPE)

CURNOW: Well the state's attorney general says more than 69% of Florida voters decided that state's constitution should ban same-sex marriage.

Still ahead on CNN, Reeva Steenkamp's father delivers an emotional plea to a South African court which is deciding the fate of his daughter's killer. We'll hear why he says Oscar Pistorius has to pay.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: You are watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. I want to update you on our breaking news. The search for a little boy dragged away by an alligator at Walt Disney World. The Sheriff now says it's unlikely they will find the child alive but they will continue all night to search for him. Now the toddler was playing on the water's edge at the Disney Grand Floridian Resort and Spa when the animal attacked him. His father jumped in and wrestled with the gator but couldn't save his son.

Oscar Pistorius will be back in court next hour in South Africa for his sentencing hearing. Tuesday Reeva Steenkamp's father made an emotional plea, saying Pistorius must be punished for killing his daughter. The former Olympian could face at least 15 years in prison for murdering Steenkamp in 2013.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARRY STEENKAMP, FATHER OF REEVA STEENKAMP: You know people say it takes you two years, three years to start feeling a little bit better about the whole thing. But every day of my life is the same. I talk to her and little things that come up, if I see a feather or something like that, Reeva is with me all the time, yes. Ever since Reeva's death I myself have changed completely. I wouldn't say that I've become a recluse, but I can't really mix with people anymore. And I sit on that veranda at two or three o'clock in the morning, which has become a habit, and I smoke my cigarettes and drink my coffee, yes. I don't wish that on any human being. Finding out what happened, it devastated us. I ended up having a stroke and so many things since then. We have gone to doctors and to surgeons, which I still have to go in for my heart and everything like that. It's, I just don't wish that on anybody in this whole world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well CNN's David McKenzie joins us now from Pretoria, South Africa. You're outside the high court where the sentencing hearing will continue. That was very dramatic testimony. What are we expecting to hear today?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Robyn, yes it was perhaps the most harrowing moments of this entire legal saga, Barry Steenkamp breaking down several times during that testimony. You know, he was asked after the main testimony whether he had forgiven Oscar Pistorius the disgraced Olympian, and he said well, they have forgiven him, but they want him to pay. And that's what these days of sentencing hearing in Pretoria in the court behind me are all about. The prosecution will look for a heavy sentence, at least 15 years. We expect them to bring another witness, an emotional witness, as they called it, but we don't know exactly who in the coming hours. And we will get closing arguments we believe today could be the last stages of this saga that has gripped South Africa and frankly, the world. Robyn.

CURNOW: Indeed, as we know David, I reported from there exactly where you are for many years. I think it started in March 2014 this trial. So what happens next? Is Oscar Pistorius coming to the end of his legal options?

MCKENZIE: He has come to the e4nd of his legal options, except for one small possibility. If the sentencing is way out of the norm according to the defense; I mean if he gets a sentence that they feel is harsh and unusual, they may appeal that sentence. But frankly, his legal options have run out, because the prosecution took the case to the Supreme Court of Appeal where they hanged the conviction from culpable homicide to murder.

The defense attempted to get the court, the highest court in the land, the constitutional court to hear their case on constitutional grounds, and they said no. So frankly his options have run out. So he is just here to see whether he will spend a long time in prison or a longer time. And throughout these proceedings, it has been quite extraordinary Robyn, as you say, you were here through the trial, Oscar Pistorius is a shell of his former self.

He seems heavily medicated. His head is in his hands a lot of the time. He is yawning even in the breaks of the proceedings. Looking very dazed, sometimes confused, and defense sources told us that he does seem to be a broken man, a very far cry from the Olympic hero of some years ago, but this does seem to be finally winding to a close. The final result will be Oscar Pistorius heading back to a maximum security prison.

CURNOW: OK David McKenzie, thanks so much. We will leave it at that. I know you need to go into court to listen to today's proceedings. Thank you so much for updating us.

Well you're watching CNN. Rock band Led Zeppelin goes to court to face accusations over their most iconic guitar riff. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

CURNOW: Well police in Florida now say it is unlikely the boy dragged away by an alligator will be found alive. He was wading in water at a Walt Disney World resort several hours ago when the alligator snatched him. The two-year-old's father tried to get his son back from the gator. His other also jumped in to try and help, but they couldn't save him. Officials say they will search all night for the boy.

And cyber security experts say hackers linked to Russian intelligence are behind the computer attack on the US democratic national committee. The party contracted a firm last month called Crowd Strike when it discovered the intrusion. Authorities say there were two hackers, but they weren't working together. Now the intruders apparently roamed around the network for about a year. In one case they allegedly stole opposition research on Donald Trump. The US has not officially determined the hackers are connected to the Russian government.

In a copyright infringement trial against rock group Led Zeppelin is happening in Los Angeles. Their hit Stairway to Heaven is at the center of this case, and millions of dollars in potential royalties could be at stake. CNN's Paul Vercammen has all the details.

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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Led Zeppelin superstars Robert Plant and Jimmy Page walked into court dressed for business, black suits, long hair neatly pulled back in a ponytail. They intently listened as the copyright infringement suit got underway. In the opening statements, the lawyers for the estate of Randy California Walsh is the late singer/songwriter of the 60s band Spirit. They basically assert that Led Zeppelin took the first 2 minutes and 14 seconds of the rock anthem's Stairway to Heaven from the Spirit Randy California song Taurus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's irrefutable. If you listen to the sound recording, if you listen to the actual composition, it's the notes itself which are very unique and distinct, and they are the same.

VERCAMMEN: The lawyer for Randy California estate also pointing out that one point Led Zeppelin actually opened for the band Spirit. Now the counter. Led Zeppelin's attorney saying Robert plant and Jimmy Page and no one else period wrote Stairway to Heaven. He said the band was not even aware of the Spirit song until long after Stairway to Heaven had been written. They have a panel, as they do in federal court here, four women, four man jury, so that's eight jurors. The

trial is not without some moments of levity, in fact while they were picking the jury, one potential juror proclaimed his love for Plant and Page, another said he learned Stairway to Heaven as his first song ever on the guitar. Predictable, both of them did not make the jury. Reporting from federal court in Los Angeles I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Thanks to Paul. I'm Robyn Curnow, and I'll be back in a moment with the second hour of CNN Newsroom. Stay with us, there's a lot of news ahead.

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CURNOW: Welcome to our viewers in the US and around the world. I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks so much for joining me, and we are continuing our coverage of breaking news out of Florida. Police now say the little boy dragged off by an alligator.