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tv   Anderson Cooper Special Report  CNN  October 19, 2013 4:00am-5:00am EDT

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somebody does care about them. >> you can vote for cnn hero of the year at cnnheroes.com. that's all fours tonight. anderson cooper starts now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com tonight a 360 exclusive. father of nsa leaker edward snowden speaks with us. he's back after seeing his son in russia. does he think russia is the best place for his son and if see him again. two convicted murderers walked out of prison. their reward for their chap tur got higher. we begin with something that passed you by this week. boston marked the six-month anniversary of the bombing shattered so many lives. three people died of course, 260 others were injured. the city came to a standstill but not for long. boston is strong.
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it's moving on, though it hasn't forgotten and of of course never will. today a temporary memorial to officer sean collier was unveiled on the campus at boston college. half a year later the survivors are trying to put their lives back together refusing to be defined by that day. they are truly all boston strong. one of them is adrien hasla davis, a professional dance instructor we met in the days after the bombing and who agreed to let us film her recovery. she lost her lower left leg in the blast and has vowed she'llfiedphyte again. her husband was also injured. she doesn't want to sugar a coat her story. some of the video she shot might be hard to watch. but she wants people to understand what survivors of the bombing are going through. >> do you want me to tell you each time i'm going to pull? do you want me not to tell you?
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>> no. >> okay. >> ow. >> okay. >> ow ow ow. >> take a break on that one. >> how am i doing? >> good, baby. >> is it scary looking? >> not at all. >> i'm realizing that this is going to be my leg now once the stitches come out. that means that it's all permanent. >> that's okay. that's okay. you're alive. >> yes. and strong. >> i am on my way to a prosthetician appointment. still working on that word. and they are going to fit me for my legs! yea!
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so exciting! >> you and those two legs walking all fast? i'm so going to race you. later. [ laughter ] >> oh, my gosh! i'm so excited. >> oh, my gosh. hi. >> here's your leg. >> oh. >> look at the other side. >> this is like seeing my child walk for the first time again. it's pretty emotionalers and it's pretty exciting. but she's a star. she's amazing. >> so stand up for me.
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>> does it hurt? >> no. she's standing on her own. >> so what do you feel? and what i need you to differentiate? okay? doing good. at your own speed. >> okay. okay. >> baby! >> 1. >> it feels really good just to stand up right now. i haven't stood up in a really long time. i almost forgot what it felt like. it reminds me of dancing. and i just so desperately want that again. i am so close. it feels really good. [ sobbing ] >> congratulations. >> thanks. >> pretty sexy. >> is it sexy? >> yeah.
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[ laughter ] >> navigating the streets of boston for the first time, it was really tough. i thought everybody had a bomb. i hate even saying things like that out loud, because it sounds crazy. but i would just -- i had horrible anxiety. obviously i know now that the majority of the population isn't like the two bombers. but it's hard. i mean, i don't know when or if that will go away. >> they lit fireworks over the harbor. and all of a sudden we heard explosions. i thought we were going to die. i started screaming and crying and called 911.
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[ screaming ] [ screaming ] >> can you please have somebody stop setting off fireworks? please! [ mute ]. >> we keep yelling stop with the fireworks. >> the fireworks in the harbor. stop them! >> okay. was your foot blown off like my wife's was in the [ mute ] bombing? >> i have gone through many, many stages.
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not only of ptsd but also of mourning the loss of my leg. i remember waking up many mornings and just bawling and crying and just being so sad. i've never felt that feeling of sadness. and i'm on the other side of sadness. i'm coming close to acceptance. but i'm not there yet. >> today, adam and i are going to talk to the prosecuting team about the case, and we are going through every gruesome detail leading up to the moment of the bombing. everything from what it felt like to the injuries. they want to know how it's impacted us, how has it not, really? they want to know if we would
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like them to seek the death penalty, which has been weighing heavy on our hearts. i always questioned whether i would be able to be in the same courtroom as him. but if they need me there i'll be there. justice needs to be done. i don't think about him often, but today's the day that i have to. >> i think i'm further than i thought i'd be in six months. i remember just getting my prosthetic and thinking that it would take forever, and then also in the same time thinking i've got to do this. i had made a very strong point to not dwell on the people that did this. i insist on being called a survivor and not a victim. a victim gives him ownership on me. i am not having that. that means that i somehow belong to somebody, or i'm suffering because of him. i'm not suffering.
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i'm thriving. >> she and her husband have come a very long way in six months. as you just heard, adrian and adam are helping investigators build their case. tonight there's a lot to bring you up on that case. susan candiotti joins me now. >> reporter: i hope you don't mind. i had a chance to meet adrian the first time she got out of rehab and saw the memorial for the first time. that was such a powerful story. what a remarkable young woman she is. >> she's amazing. >> reporter: she sure is. here's where the case stands. tsarnaev accused of doing this to her passed one birthday in jail. he's now 20 years old. he faces that 30-count indictment. right now we're slogging along in the investigation. the federal government, the prosecutors, are still waiting to decide by the end of this month whether they will indeed seek the death penalty. ultimately, it's up to attorney general holder to decide that. however, the defense gets to weigh in they wanted more time.
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and just today, a federal judge said i'm not going to get involved in that dispute. >> and what about catherine russell, the widow of the other brother? >> reporter: well, she is living quietly with her parents in rhode island. she has a lawyer. and as far as we know, she continues to cooperate with investigators. we know that her in-laws have testified before a grand jury, spent about four hours there just last month. so we're waiting to see what else might develop with her. >> at this point no charges against her. >> reporter: not yet. >> all right. susan candiotti, thanks so much. again a long journey for so many people. we'll continue to follow adrian's journey culminating in a one-hour special report on the one-year anniversary of the bombings. let me know what you think. follow me tweet me using #ac360. edward snowden's father sneaks with us.
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he just got back from seeing his son in russia for the first time. first time they met face-to-face and talked since all this began. we'll talk to lon ahead. also tonight, the latest in the manhunt for these two convicted murderers who simply walked out of a florida prison because of forged release documents. also breaking news tonight about the death of 17-year-old kendrick johnson found dead in a georgia high school gym. we got new information about surveillance footage from the school. the latest on that. you can cled but not your nasal congestion, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. zyrtec-d®. at the pharmacy counter.
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breaking news tonight in the kendrick johnson case, johnson the teenager whose death was initially called an accident, the body rolled up in a mat in the high school. the second autopsy found he died of blunt force trauma. we have new information about surveillance footage from the high school. what did you find out about the footage? >> reporter: cnn has confirmed kendrick johnson was was not alone inside the gym the day that investigators say he died. that's coming to us from an attorney for the school
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district. the johnsons do not believe as you said the story officially of how their son died. so they want to see the surveillance video. we've also asked for that surveillance video. we've been told by the school district that they do not have to release it because it contains educational records of students. so we asked the obvious but very specific followup question. and here it is. i'm going to read it in the letter that i wrote to the superintendent. "are minors for whom lowndes county schools depicted in the surveillance images recordeded in the old gym at lowndes high school on january 10th, 2013 between 1:09 p.m. and 1:20 p.m." we chose 1:09 because that's the time this picture was taken. in the response from the attorney for the school district, he writes "i answer your pointed question with yes." so confirmation ken direct was not alone in the gym. >> the school is saying the kid
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were in the gym but the authorities have not been clear on this. >> lieutenant stride jones has really been the face of this investigation for the lowndes county sheriff's office for the media. we have the official record from the georgia bureau of investigation, from the medical examiner's office. they recount a conversation with stride jones on january 16th. here it is. "the deseed end was seen on the school video going into the gym around 1300 hours alone. the video did not show any other children or staff in the gym with the decedent at the time." so here he's telling the state that kendrick was alone and there was no one else seen in the gym with him at that time. here's what stride jones told the valdosta daily times" he comes down the hallway and essentially he enters the gym. he's following another kid. the first kid comes, in goes to the left. kendrick goes in and off to the right towards the corner where the mats are." a clear discrepancy between those two statements.
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but if you look at the pictures, anderson, of kendrick that have been supplied, he is not running off to the left. he's not running off to the right, i should say, he's running off to the left in those corners. so we're still waiting for some clarity from the lowndes county sheriff's office about that. tonight in answer for the johnsons, their son was not alone in that gym. >> victor, thank you very much. tonight authorities in florida are searching for two convicted murderers mistakenly set free. they're offering a reward at $10,000 apiece for information leading to their arrest. charles walker and wayne jenkins were confined to prison for life. a judge's signature forged ordered their release a couple weeks ago. immediately, the prison will not release any inmate whose sentence has been reduced unless a judge independently vary fight the release order. they both afterwards went to the orange county jail to register as felons.
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john zarrella joins us from orlando. so everybody's looking for these two guys. what's the latest? >> reporter: the latest, anderson, is really that was the height of arrogance that these two within days of their release both showed up here and filled out that paperwork registering with the state that they were here, obviously so they would deflect any potential attention towards them. now, the sheriff here in orange county a couple of hours ago held a press conference and said he does believe that both men are still in the area. they've also put up billboards now with that $10,000 reward on those billboards. and the sheriff says it was their intelligence that they have that leads them to believe that the two men are still here. anderson? >> it's so obvious, you would think a judge should independently verify a faxed document or letter that was sent to a prison. what are authorities saying about all this? it's still stunning to me they were able to just walk out.
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>> reporter: well, you know what, anderson, it's what authorities aren't saying. other than the sheriff nobody is really talking. the state attorney's office has refused our requests for an interview. the department of corrections has refused our requests for interviews. we did talk to the clerk of the court here who told us, listen, we just file the paperwork. the clerk's concern to us was, we don't know how the paperwork got in the system. it could have been put in a drop box. it could have been brought from the judge's office or from the state attorney's office. but they, they said, don't know how it got in the system. >> could there be other people, other prisoners who have had formed documents and gotten out? >> reporter: yeah. big question. in fact, the day before the second of the two guys was released, the state filed charges in an almost identical case against an inmate in another prison who tried to pull exact same scam, filing
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paperwork that basically said that there would be a motion to correct an illegal sentence. so that paperwork was filed but it was caught. so they're certainly concerned that there are others trying to pull the same scam. >> incredible. john zarella, thanks. my exclusive interview with the father of nsa leaker edward snowden. he just returned from a visit with his son in russia, the first time they've talked face-to-face. he's going to tell me about how he believes his son is doing. also at today's testimony in utah the trial of dr. martin mcneal who's accused of murdering his wife.
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tonight a 360 exclusive. in a moment i'll speak with the father of of nsa leaker edward snowden who has just returned from russia where his son has been granted asylum. in an interview, edward snowden says he did not take any secret documents with him when he fled to russia in june. he said he gave all the classified documents he could get his hands on to journalists. he says there's zero percent possibility the russians or chinese have receive any documents. he says he is free to move around. his father has come back from russia where he spent time with his son for the first time since this all happened. i spoke with lon snowden earlier this evening. >> you were able to finally see your son. what was that like? >> it was an emotional moment. it was something i had wanted desperately to do since june 9th when the story first broke and
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to see him walk into the room, i was already present where we were going to meet initially. it was really uplifting. >> was this the first time you've actually been able to talk to him directly? >> yes. yes. >> i'm not going to obviously ask you details about where he's staying or even if you knew that, because i don't want to obviously you don't want to do anything that's going to endanger his safety or locate him. but what can you say about his life there? >> i think it's very good. i was persistent in saying, ed, i don't want you to tell me what you think i want to hear. are you okay? i've wondered where he lays his head at night. every night when i go to bed, is he laying his head on a dirt floor? he's living very comfortably and he has quite a support system. and unlike many people suggested that he's under the control of the russian government or the fsb, that is absolutely not the case. >> he made clear in the recent
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interview in the "new york times" that he says he absolutely did not give any information to the russians, that he didn't actually even have any of the classified documents on him when he left hong kong, and he did that consciously, that he'd given them away and he's quite confident the chinese were not able to get ahold of them because he himself was involved in looking into the chinese intelligence capabilities. did he talk to you about that? >> yes, he did. i asked about that. and i can tell you that on day one, when my son, the news broke on june 9th, june 10th, the fbi was in my home. and i specifically told them that there was no question in my mind -- of course this is a father talking but i know my son. i said my son would die before he would sell secrets to a foreign government that would harm his country. i know that for a fact. you know, his intention if it was to profit he would be in a much different circumstance now. if his desire was to profit from
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this he would have already signed a book deal. he's not interested in doing that at this point in time. >> he could have gone on television programs, probably been paid by some television programs around the world and done stuff and he hasn't done any of that. >> absolutely. he told me through other communications long ago, and again, dad, i did not do this to be safe. you need to let everyone know, don't worry about me. i'm committed to this. i didn't do this to be safe. i did it because it's the right thing to do. i could not live with what i've been exposed to, live the rest of his life, with that, knowing that he did not share that. >> does he have any regrets at this point? >> he said he has absolutely no regrets. none. >> it sounds like your son or that the information your son has given to the journalists there is still a lot more to come. glen greenwald said it on this program last night saying there's a lot more information he is still going through. a lot more information that will
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surprise a lot of people. >> right. glenn has that. my understanding the "new york times" has information, pro publica, the guardian. so yes, my understanding is there is much, much more to come. >> there are a lot of people out there who still believe your son committed treason. that he has done real damage to the interests of the united states of america. after seeing him what do you say to these people? >> what i would say to them is, you have a right to your opinion. but i would ask that you make sure that it's an informed opinion. and the problem is at this point they don't have all the facts. nor do i. but i know that i have spent hours upon hours every day researching articles, vetting the truth, researching companies. there's far more to this. far more to this that's going to be touched. >> are you proud of your son? >> i am absolutely proud of my son. proud of him, it could bring me to tears i'm so proud of my son.
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because i know what he sacrificed. i know who he is. i held him as a child. he's the same person. and he's a man of character. and no matter what happens, i know he loves his country. i know he's a humanist. i know that he is not so ethnocentric or blinded by nationalism that he looks at people in other countries as something less, that he looks at us as we are exceptional to the degree that others are lesser than us. >> what did you say to him when you left him? how do you say goodbye? >> it occur pretty quickly. again it was the same way we left one another back in april when we were in the shadow of the nsa, the last time i'd seen him in the states. we hugged. it was "i love you, dad" "i love you, son." but i know i'll see him again. >> lon snowden, thank you so much for talking to me. >> thank you very much, anderson. coming up tonight the latest trial of a utah doctor accused of killing his wife to be with his mistress.
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what neighbors say they shaw on the day michelle mcneal died. also new insight into the rise and especially the fall of lance armstrong. how he was able to hide his doping for so long and pull off what the authors of a new book called "the greatest sports conspiracy ever." i'll speak with the authors of a fascinating new book called "wheel men" when we continue. i'm beth... and i'm michelle. and we own the paper cottage. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people. so you have time to focus on the things you love. ink from chase. so you can.
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crime and punishment tonight, medicine the mistress and possible murder. day two of a trial in utah where dr. martin mcneal is charged with murder and obstruction of justice in the 2007 death of his wife michelle. at the time he is her death was attributed to natural causes due to cardiovascular disease. some of her eight children didn't buy it. a few years later a new analysis reopened the case and the whole thing started to unravel. at the center of the case, prosecutors say dr. martin mcneal was living a double life and his motive for the alleged murder was a desire to be with his mistress, a woman named gypsy. today the mcneal's former neighbors were on the stand describing what they saw the day michelle was found dead. jean cazares has more. >> reporter: neighbor kristi daniels recounted the tragic moments after michelle mcneal was found unresponsive in her bathtub. she had been called to the mcneal home by their youngest
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daughter, ada. >> i saw that michelle was in the tub and martin was over the tub. her head was right here, and her feet were -- or her legs were over here. >> was there water in it? >> no. >> okay. did you see any blood? >> no. >> reporter: no blood. but the prosecutor says definitely murder. prosecutor sam peed says michelle was dead because her husband of nearly 30 years, dr. martin mcneal, killed her and used his medical knowledge to pull it off. the motive? mcneal was carrying on an affair with gypsy willis, who moved into the mcneal home as a nanny shortly after michelle's death. mcneal, he says, was so determined to move forward with the murder plot that he forced his wife to have a facelift so he could kill her with a mix of drugs and blame it on the surgery. michelle went ahead with the surgery on april 3rd.
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eight days later, her husband was calling 911. >> my wife's fallen in the bathtub. >> who's my bathtub? >> my wife. >> okay. is she conscious? >> she's not. i'm a physician. >> sir, i can't understand you. can you calm down just a little bit? >> i need help. >> okay. your wife is unconscious? >> she is unconscious. she's underwater. in the bathtub. >> could you get her out of the water? >> i can't. i let the water out. >> she's out of the water? >> she's out of the water now. i want you to get me an ambulance. >> prosecutors brought in a bathtub similar to the one in the mcneal home so witnesses could demonstrate how michelle was found. kristi's husband doug said mcneal instructed them when they were trying to revive her. >> he'd throw his hands in the air. i think twice he would say, why? why would you do this?
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all because of a stupid surgery. then he would say, okay, continue. so i continued doing chest compressions. >> medical examiners found several powerful drugs in her system, including valium, per percoset and ambien. the doctor who did the facelift told the court mcneal had great influence on michelle's prescriptions and that the combination of drugs could be dangerous if taken together. >> was it your intention that michelle take all these drugs together? >> no. >> would you have prescribed this combination to her if martin was not a physician? >> no. >> reporter: for months leading up to his wife's death, mcneal was telling neighbors and members of his church that he had cancer and didn't have long to live. but prosecutors say it was all a ruse, one he continued at his then dead wife's funeral. >> prior to the funeral, the defendant was seen unloading boxes of michelle's memorabilia and walking around without any difficulty.
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however, when following the casket the defendant exhibited a profound limp and walked with a cane. >> reporter: and what did he tell his neighbor just days after her death? . he told me that she'd died of some kind of heart problem like the basketball player that just died over on the court. i asked him well martin how are you doing? i heard that you only have like six months to live. and he said something to the effect of, don't write me off yet. i'm still here now. >> reporter: in fact, mcneal was already introducing his mistress around town, saying she was the new nanny. >> at first it was very vague. and then we learned that she was the nanny. then eventually as everybody could tell that the relationship was more than that, as to whether or not they were getting married. >> jean cazarez joins me live from utah. he sounded so frantic on the 911 call. how did neighbors describe his mood when they arrived? >> reporter: they said he was frantic. they said he was instructive as
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all the neighbors tried to help with that cpr. they said though as he had his head buried on top of michelle's mouth, allegedly giving her cpr, he would then stop and raise his hands and say, why did you have that surgery? what about those medications." one witness the officer one of the first responders said that he was absolutely erratic and that he was concerned for his own safety thinking he had to defend himself at some point because dr. mcneal was so frantic. now, the other side to that is, this is a man that is losing his wife. and although he had that other life, he's still losing the mother of his eight children. >> were the witness accounts consistent with how they found michelle in the bathtub? >> reporter: they really were. all of the neighbors said that when they got there that michelle's face was next to the faucet in the bathtub and her feet were laid out to the end of the bathtub. but here's what could be significant. the prosecution has dr. joshua
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perpera, medical examiner, who will testify that he believes the immediate cause of death was drowning. well, one neighbor said her clothes were dry and her hair was dry except for the tips of her hair that was wet. another neighbor said her clothes maybe could have been damp. the officer says her clothes were drenched. so you've got eyewitnesses that are really all over the map here. >> that's confusion. jean appreciate it. joining me now criminal defense attorney and prosecutor. paul none of the medical examiners who inspected the wife's body concluded she was a victim of homicide. how badly does that weaken the prosecution's case? >> well, it's a report obviously that the prosecution will have to deal with. but obviously what they'll be doing is putting those witnesses on that made that report and presenting to them new evidence or evidence in a different way that may not have been considered when that report was drafted. so, for instance, i'm presuming that what they're likely to do is talk about with the medical
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examiner and ask him, look, we know that these drugs influenced her death. would it have made a difference to you at the time if you were aware that someone else was directly responsible for identifying which drugs that she was going to be taking and those were drugs that that doctor would not normally have ordered for her. these are all things that the medical examiner will be commenting on that will be different from the evidence that he evaluated when he first made that report. because that was six years ago. and now they're looking at this with fresh eyes and with a new perspective. >> and danny, the defense is saying you may think this guy's a jerk but it doesn't make him a killer. is it difficult for juries to make that distinction? >> i'll go a step further. we've seen case like this. this doctor is guilty of some galactic level creepiness, guilty of being happy that his wife is dead so he can engage in sha nan begans with a mistress. we've seen cases like this before. the question is can the prosecution get by the biggest problem they have is that not
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one, not two but three of the prosecution's medical examiner experts concluded that cardiac arrythmia may have caused the death. you have to wonder if that's going to get them to that reasonable doubt that the defense needs. the only thing is that recently in other cases we've seen similar evidence be enough for conviction. so it is a question of whether the science will be enough for this jury. >> and paul, the prosecution says that their plan on calling several inmates who are going to testify that mcneal told them he was responsible for his wife's death and that the cops wouldn't be able to pin it onim. i mean, does testimony from inmates hold a lot of weight? >> well, it matters. it depends. each case is unique. but as a juror when you hear information like that you have to weigh and consider it. i think what they're really going to be pushing this jury is to try and present evidence to them to show them just how much influence he had on her exact death.
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it wasn't just that she had a heart attack. it was she had a heart attack because of these drugs. and when they make the connections and connect the dots to show how he was involved and not just what drugs she took but how she actually took the drugs, i think they are going to weigh and consider that. and it's going to hurt him. and the statements like that that come in against him, they're certainly not going to help him in his defense. there's got to be something they've got to consider and it makes a difference to the case. >> danny, what about the presence of this mistress gypsy? >> well, we've seen many defendants unfortunately in america it's a fact of life that people engage in nonsense with mistresses or whoever. and we've seen a lot of defense. that's the prosecution's chief motive here. and the problem is, the prosecution has to hope that that motive is so powerful and this behavior is so odd and unexplainable that it will get them over the fact that they simply do not have science in their favor. you look for the defense to absolutely hammer home the fact that each of these medical examiners never conclusively really said that cardiac arrythmia could be ruled out as a cause of death.
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and at most, at most the first medical examiner said natural causes. >> right. danny savales good to have you on, paul henderson as well. an amazing book outlining lance armstrong's doping scandal and about all the other people who helped the disgraced cyclist cover it up for so many years. we'll talk to the authors ahead. [ female announcer ] we take away your stuffy nose. you keep the peace. we calm your congestion and pain.
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to help maintain healthy cholesterol levels without a prescription. cardioviva. lance armstrong's dramatic fall will go down in history as one of the great tragedies in the world of sports. seven time winner of the tour de france, a man who beat cancer, admired around the world for his incredible athletic abilities. it all came crashing down this year when he finally admitted to the rumors that he'd been doping all along. many of us have asked was it worth it all that lying. armstrong's amazing career, what we were all led to believe was an amazing career certainly in ruins. his reputation pretty much worthless, stripped of his medals and titles. a new book called "wheel men lance armstrong and the tour de france and greatest sports conspiracy ever" is written by vanessa o'connell and reed albergotti, reporters for the "wall street journal." >> the last time people paid attention to lance armstrong was when oprah was interviewing him. i want to play a little bit of what he said.
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>> yes or no. did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance? >> yes. >> yes or no. in all seven of your tour de france victories, did you ever take banned substances or blood dope? >> yes. >> so he said a lot. but there was a lot he didn't say. what were some of the major things that he didn't go into? >> well, i think he didn't talk about the people who around him who helped him for 14 years cover up this massive doping conspiracy. >> he didn't talk about how it all transpired. >> right. the people who helped him, the enablers, the people who -- the governing bodies of cycling. like the uci. that took donations from him. that is -- to us that's really the interesting thing about this story is, it's not just the doping, it's all the stuff around the doping. >> and you really get into this
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in the book. the sheer number of people who had an interest in protecting lance armstrong and protecting sort of lance incorporated as you refer to it >> yes. we've always viewed this as sort of a business story. it's more than just doping and cycling or doping and sport. we view this as a story about a business enterprise essentially. and cheating was at the heart of >> it did the fact that he also had this charity, did he use that to kind of blunt criticism of him or suspicion of him? >> absolutely. i mean, the lance armstrong foundation, which is now known as the livestrong foundation after the scandal, really was his shield. i mean, he was fighting cancer. he wasn't just an athlete, he was above all that. and that really in the minds of so many of his fans and followers, protected him over those 14 years. >> he would even say sometimes, you know, i survived cancer, why would i take drugs. and people believed it.
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it gave him special status in the eyes of the public. >> what happens to him now? i mean, he's still facing at least one lawsuit, correct? >> yes. and it's a big lawsuit. floyd landis filed a lawsuit under the federal false claims act as a whistle blower, essentially blowing the whistle on the u.s. postal service's violation of the contract. lance armstrong team violated the contract by doping. and the u.s. department of justice has joined that lawsuit to the tune of potentially $120 million. >> that lawsuit really points to some of the business themes they think we bring up in the book. for instance, armstrong argues that the u.s. postal service should have known it got this marketing benefit by sponsoring the team because he won so many times the postal service had the benefit of all the media exposure of his victories. and he's basically argue the in lawsuit that the postal service should have known he was doping. >> it's obviously incredibly important to him to be able to compete in triathalons.
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that's one of the things he cannot do now, correct? >> correct. >> was he doping during triathalons after his cycling career? is that known? >> i think there have been allegations that he was and he was still working with mckelly ferrari. but his side of the story, lance's side of the story is that he wasn't doping, he was just sort of helping him with the training regimen. >> but that dr. ferrari, when lance started to work with him from your book there were allegations about him even then. the fact he chose to work with that doctor was highly suspicious. >> highly suspicious. it came out in the news. and lance's story was the same at the time. i'm not working with him for doping purposes, i'm working with him just to train. >> and that was also a brazen move that was very kind of characteristic of lance armstrong. he was working with a doping doctor, an alleged doping doctor but he really felt he could control the situation, control the story, deflect the criticism. and for awhile it worked. >> is there a lesson to be
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learned from this? >> yeah. i -- we think one of the morals of the story is that yes, cycling was a mess. and armstrong was a master of it. and others were doping and cheating as well. but when you win at a rigged game, you're going to pay the steepest price in the end. and so that's essentially what we're seeing now. >> how much money in endorsements was he making, do you know? and so how much did he lose? >> estimated at 20, 25 million a year at times. >> he lost about 75 million in endorsements in late october when all of his sponsors fled shortly after -- >> $75 million? >> that's his exactly his estimate. >> there was also always this belief that -- which think from what i read in the book that he certainly promoted that his heart was bigger or his ability to process oxygen. i mean there were all these stories about how he was just this incredibly freak of nature and that's why he could do all these things. >> he is certainly a great athlete.
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there's no question about that. but when you look at those measurements, like his vo 2 max that was measured in the low 80s, that's normal for those high level athlete in the tour de france. so he wasn't some physical freak that could just win without drugs like everyone else. he was good, but it was more of his mental touchness and his demeanor. now we know the doping program. >> it's a fascinating read. and even if you're not interested in cycling or think you're not interested, it's a really compelling story. so congratulations. thank you so much. >> thanks. >> the book again is called "wheel men." this sunday night cnn will broadcast "the world according to lance armstrong" sunday night at 10:00 p.m. eastern. a 6-year-old girl was killed after she was run over a fire truck rushing to a plane crash in san francisco. new developments ahead. ñw?ñçñññw?ñçó]ç9wjyó
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the california firefighter who accidentally ran over and killed a 16-year-old plane crash survivor will not be charged in the case. the d.a. announced his decision today. the report said she was flung from the asiana airliner. the new york police department denies it is actively searching for the mysterious street and graffiti artist known as banksy. he's been unveiling new works of art around new york. the works are then announced on his web site. teenagedcation activist malala yousafzi met the queen today.

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