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CNN NEWSROOM

Biden Talks Gun Control; Trial of Jodi Arias Continues; Latest on Oscar Pistorius Murder Case

Aired February 21, 2013 - 15:00   ET

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Here are some of the day's other hot stories we are following for you.

New twist in the case of Olympic runner, Oscar Pistorius. He is charged with the murder of his model girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in South Africa. Police today removed the lead investigator after it was revealed that he was facing his own charges of attempted murder.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIAH PHIYEGA, SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE COMMISSIONER: I, as the regional (ph) commissioner, am appointing a new team to take the long haul process, and General Moonoo is leading that team, and I.O. (ph) Botha is not part of that team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Meantime, Nike has suspended the contract with pistorius known as the blade runner. The company had previously marketed him as "the bullet in the chamber."

The U.S. Army has revoked a promotion for Paula Broadwell, the former mistress of General David Petraeus. Broadwell is a major in the Army Reserve and had been approved last August for promotion to lieutenant colonel. Since the Petraeus scandal broke, Broadwell has been under investigation for having classified information in her home without permission.

United Nations inspectors say Iran has begun upgrading its nuclear capabilities. They cite the installation of advanced new centrifuges that can accelerate the enrichment process.

Here is State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTORIA NULAND, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN: We are obviously concerned that Iran continues to flaut its international obligations and has refused to halt its enrichment activities and in fact is taking steps to expand its capacity. It already has enough uranium to fuel the Tehran research reactor for at least a decade, and its recent actions would allow it to increase its stockpiles well beyond the civilian need.

(END VIDEO CLIP) This seen as a defiant step just a week out from Tehran's nuclear talks with world leaders In Kazakhstan.

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld a 30-day stay of execution for a condemned Georgia inmate. Georgia officials had asked the high court to lift the stay, which was granted an hour before Warren Lee Hill was to be executed. Three doctors, who recently examined Hill, say he is mentally retarded. His lawyers say his life should be spared under a federal ban on the execution of mentally disabled people. Hill was sentenced for killing another inmate in a Georgia state prison in 1990.

An increasingly vocal owner of two big shotguns has just taken aim at the gun lobby.

Within the past hour, Vice President Joe Biden let loose on the arguments against gun control. He was appearing at a forum just 10 miles from Newtown, Connecticut, the scene of that massacre at Sandy Hook school.

Joe Johns is watching all this for us from Washington.

So, Joe, what did the vice president say?

JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the vice president went back to Connecticut and back to some of the gun control themes he has been promoting since he first started out on this crusade. And one of those themes is about the need for politicians to do something. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The standing assumption is in American politics today that this is kind of a third rail of politics, that if you take this on, somehow, there will be a severe political price to pay for doing it, because that's what's happened in the past. That's what's happened in the past.

People say and you read and people write about the political risks and why they're unacceptable to take on. I say it's unacceptable not to take these on.

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: It's just simply unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: OK. What is it that the Congress will settle on?

What a number of members of Congress, as well as people like Stuart Rothenberg of "The Rothenberg Report" in D.C. have said is that some kind of expansion for background checks for gun purchases could probably squeak through the Congress, though the gun lobby sees that as a slippery slope. They are opposed. David Keene of the National Rifle Association has said yes when asked if the organization would try to punish members of Congress who support gun control. Fred, even a modest change could get a challenge.

WHITFIELD: So, doesn't that seem like Biden is kind of stepping out as the Obama administration's gun owner in chief? Is this deliberate strategy?

JOHNS: Yes. Oh, yes, absolutely.

He told the audience today that the president gave him the option of not being taken on the role. We also I think have to mention that President Obama's political action committee, Organizing for Action, said today it was launching a new push to rally congressional members who might be on the fence and also to sway public opinion on the local level.

So, the challenge is being met, apparently, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Joe Johns in Washington, thanks so much.

All right, let's talk that nasty weather out there. Last hour, we showed you this video right here, Kansas City, Missouri, I-29, a look at that snow and look at the traffic.

And late this morning, CNN's Ted Rowlands and crew were caught in that mess right there. They shot this tape. Their flight to Chicago was canceled by snow, so they are trying to make the trip by car. And as you can see, this is what happened when they encountered their journey. Slow-going in Kansas and other parts of the region as well.

Ted Rowlands, he is with us now.

Where are you exactly? And explain the conditions for us.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, we are stuck. We are stuck on the I-35 South in Kansas City and snow has actually dropped off in terms of how hard it's coming down in the last 45 minutes or so.

But the roads are still horrific. And we have been stuck in the same spot now for about 45 minutes. Earlier in the day, I was stuck for about an hour-and-a-half on the freeway, on 29 South in the Kansas City area. The bottom line is that the amount of snow that came down in such a short period of time has just put huge accumulations on the ground.

And people are skidding out. There are cars everywhere on the freeways in and around Kansas City and people stranded and some people have been stranded four hours waiting for help. There are a lot of good samaritans out here pushing other people's cars, helping them to get out of ditches, but it is a doozy, this storm, and it's giving a lot of people a lot of headaches.

WHITFIELD: Wow. That's what I was wondering. For a lot of people -- if some people were getting out of their cars and trying to walk or just trying to hitch a ride on the opposite side of traffic, which when we look at those images, I think that's from the I-29 that you shot earlier on one side of the highway.

It looked like it was free-flowing. The other, it was bumper to bumper.

ROWLANDS: Yes. There are a lot of abandoned vehicles because people are calling their friends and family and they're just leaving their car because they were not moving.

It's going to be a huge cleanup here in Kansas City and around Kansas City for miles because all the freeways are suffering the same thing.

WHITFIELD: Yes, very uncomfortable, but really potentially very dangerous conditions as well. Ted Rowlands, thanks so much. Keep us posted. Be safe.

All right, take a look. Would you like to peer through these glasses? They are the new Google Glasses. That's Google co-founder Sergey Brin right there sporting them. The glasses are kind of like augmented reality. We are talking really high-tech here. We will tell you how you might be able to get a pair and why you would want to.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, you can try out Google's high-tech specks called Google Glass long before it actually debuts in the stores.

Google is opening up its testing program with a contest. Here's the catch. You have to submit a witty application. Big names already, like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, are tweeting to win. Gingrich tweeted this: "If I had glasses, I would take it on tours of zoos and museums to share the animals and fossils."

Here's another Gingrich tweet: "If I had glass, I could get Piers Morgan to see my point of view."

So, how do Google's augmented reality glasses have the tech world a buzzing? And do they work? What happens when you put them on?

Let's bring in ESPN sports tech contributor Katie Linendoll in New York, who is always sporting some fashionable frames herself.

I can see you sporting these Google Glasses.

KATIE LINENDOLL, ESPN: I know. I need them for my collection, absolutely.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LINENDOLL: And I say here we are one step closer to this "Jetsons" era.

And if you recall, the first time we saw Project Glass was last April of 2012. And now yesterday Google actually unveiled some new photos and new video of Google Glass and it has everybody on the Internet buzzing.

What are Google Glass? Basically, if you take a look at the glasses, there are no lenses inside there. There is just a near micro display that you can actually see through. And there is a little camera on the side. The functionality and the video that you're seeing right here, the functionality and the capability behind Google Glass what is phenomenal.

You can take photos and videos just by talking. You can also share that on social networks and you get maps and directions just from Google Glass. The coolest one to me is actually it can be a translator by wearing them. Imagine traveling in another country and having a translator just by putting on the glasses, pretty amazing effect.

WHITFIELD: We are looking at the point of view right now.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Everything you see is what you're kind of recording.

(CROSSTALK)

LINENDOLL: Exactly. And it's connected via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth to your smartphone. They just unveiled five different colors.

Design obviously very important when it comes to consumers. We will stay tuned to see what they come out with.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my. Yes, one more distraction out there for us, except that there is no lens or no glasses. It's not like you are watching videotape or something like watching a movie like we have seen in some. This is an issue of really videotaping what you see strictly, right?

LINENDOLL: Correct. Yes.

So, a capability to take photos and videos and do a number of different things. But let's talk about that design, too, because I think this will be a big challenge for Google. There's a speculation pointing to the fact that they're partnering with Warby Parker, which is a hip New York glasses manufacturer, because what we're seeing is, remember with 3-D glasses, though that is a very different area, people were not excited to put those on.

They thought they were big. They thought they were big funky. They didn't think they were hip. Imagine wearing these out. People want to have good functionality, yes, but also really cool designs. We will have to stay tuned on that.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Do you think it would be kind of cool to have that? What's the matter with just the little GoPro? I'm giving them a little plug. Having the camera kind of mounted on your hat or, I don't know, your helmet or something like that, a different kind of perspective. I don't know. This would get a lot of people staring at you.

LINENDOLL: Yes. And a lot of people already excited, as you alluded to earlier.

In the contest, they're actually taking a few thousand individuals to be early testers of Google Glass. And to do that, you have to submit a 50-word application. If we can, we will show you a few of those requirements and those guidelines, because, as you can see there, include a few photos and a short video. Also, you have to have that hashtag #ifIhadglass, 50 words or less.

But here's the kicker, $1,500 if you are an early tester, early adopter. It's going to cut you some cost this time around.

WHITFIELD: Wait a minute. You are paying, you, the consumer, you're paying the $1,500 to win?

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

LINENDOLL: How about you pay me, right?

WHITFIELD: Yes. That's the way it's supposed to go.

My goodness, it's not a contest if you're not going to receive.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: I guess you get the glasses. There you go.

All right, Katie Linendoll, thanks so much. I think next we speak, I would like to see you wearing that glass.

LINENDOLL: I hope so. I have been talking to Google. I'm pressing them hard-core.

WHITFIELD: OK. You got pull. You can make it happen. Thanks a lot, Katie.

LINENDOLL: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about a provocative court case under way. Jodi Arias accused of murdering her boyfriend, she took to the stand today and, wow, it was pretty explosive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUAN MARTINEZ, PROSECUTOR: You can tell us, for example, what type of sex you had with Mr. Alexander many years ago, but you are having trouble telling us what you said a couple of days ago?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. Pretty graphic. An update on the trial of Jodi Arias when we come right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Intense cross-examination today in the Jodi Arias trial.

She is the woman who admits shooting her boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in self-defense. But she says she doesn't remember stabbing him 27 times.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez hammering away at Arias today concerning her claim that Alexander, the boyfriend, broke her finger and kicked her in the ribs. Martinez questioned why she never wrote about it in her journal.

Just listen to Martinez grill Arias.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTINEZ: This your journal and your journals were meant to be private, right?

JODI ARIAS, DEFENDANT: Yes.

MARTINEZ: And that's what it said. "Well, I guess it's a good thing that nobody else reads this, because I write right now that I love Travis Victor Alexander so completely that I don't know any other way to be."

Correct? That's what it says.

ARIAS: Yes.

MARTINEZ: The reason why you confronted Mr. Alexander was not because he owed you an explanation or anything like that. The reason you confronted back him in August of 2007 was because you were in love with him and you didn't want to let him go, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Objection. (OFF-MIKE)

ARIAS: That's not right. But I was in love with him.

MARTINEZ: Ma'am, is there any other intervening date between the January 20 of 2008 where we started and the very end where you put J.A.? Is there any other date in there?

(CROSSTALK)

MARTINEZ: Yes or no.

ARIAS: There might be. I haven't...

MARTINEZ: Well, why don't you take a look? Let's take a look at the first page. The first page starts Sunday January 20, 2008, doesn't it?

ARIAS: When it wrote it, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Defense attorney Joey Jackson is "On the Case."

Joey, how do you think this line of questioning is working for the prosecution? Seems very aggressive, but she seems awfully cool and kind of unshaken.

JOEY JACKSON, ATTORNEY: I think as this goes forward, Fredricka, he's going to make a lot of progress.

And here's why. This is a person, the defendant, who has so many memories of everything, remembers every detail and just yesterday when she was testifying, she lapses on her memory as it relates to the critical event of the murder.

What he is doing now, Fredricka, is impeachment. What does that mean? It means that I am going to show that you are lying and misrepresenting the truth. And all of a sudden you mention that he broke your finger and you mention all of these things. He was involved with little boys? You have a journal where you can document and you can record things. Nobody else will see it but you. Guess what? There is nothing in there about it.

What does that tell you, ladies and gentlemen of the jury? That's what he is going with this.

WHITFIELD: The story about the finger, apparently the prosecutor is really trying to underscore that there have already been inconsistencies, that her story has changed.

Is this an effective approach to convince the jurors that she is a liar and that she is not telling the truth?

JACKSON: Well, you know what, Fredricka? He has a reputation of being a pit bull. We attorneys do things differently.

Some of are calmer. Some of are more animated. He's a pit bull. That's his approach. That's his way. With regard to the finger, the pictures you were showing, what is the relevance? She says in front of the jury as she held her crooked finger that, you know what, this happened because he attacked me and he kicked me.

However, if you see that picture, that is a picture that is after that event. Her photo in that picture and her finger looks just fine. So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you figure it out. Did she lie about him breaking her finger when she showed you her finger and it shows to be bent? But you see a picture of a finger after that event and nothing seems to be wrong with it.

All those inconsistencies in his cross-examination and his aggressive way, Fredricka, he's trying to display and put on public view for the jury to see.

WHITFIELD: What's potentially next in this proceeding?

JACKSON: If it will ever end, what will ultimately happen is he will continue his cross-examination because there's so many things he has left to cross-examine her on.

She made many inconsistencies to the police. First, she was not there and then she was there. Intruders did it. Now it's self-defense. She has represented things about people she has known and the relationships she's had. There's so much more.

But after this cross-examination, I think you will hear expert witnesses from the defense explaining her lapse of memory. They will say I would suspect, the defense experts, that she doesn't have memory of the event because has post-traumatic stress disorder. It was an event that was so psychologically damaging and traumatizing that she's not expected to have that...

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: You got to prove that.

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: Right. And it's a matter of expert -- it's very difficult., because ultimately experts come in on both sides.

And the defense experts will say that it's normal not to have memory. But you can suspect, Fredricka, and you can know that the state in its rebuttal case will have experts to come in to say, no, no, no, believe us, not them. It's left to common sense. What do you think, ladies and gentlemen of the jury? Who is telling the truth, them, us? Certainly not her.

WHITFIELD: All right, some folks are finding this case to be very riveting. All right, Joey Jackson, thank you so much.

JACKSON: Pleasure and a privilege.

WHITFIELD: All right. A new study said up to one-third of all the fish that you buy is not what you think it is. Cheap fish being labeled and sold as the good stuff. They are calling it fish fraud. We will what to look out for.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A bizarre twist today in the murder case against Oscar Pistorius.

The Olympic known as the Blade Runner is charged with the Valentine's Day shooting of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp. The officer who was leading that investigation has now been taken off the case. He is facing his own charges of attempted murder. No decision was reached today on whether Pistorius will be released on bail.

Meantime, Steenkamp's cousin told CNN about the woman he is accused -- Pistorius is accusing of murdering.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Kim Martin, Cousin Of Reeva Steenkamp: Reeva was -- she was exceptional.

You have heard in the media what an amazing person she was, but she really was. From a young age, there was something magical about her. She had this kind, nurturing soul. And it doesn't matter if you were 20 years older than her or 20 years younger than her. You always felt like she was mothering you and looking after you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Robyn Curnow has been following this case for us and join us now from Johannesburg.

Robyn Curnow, the chief investigator off the case and he was the one who said the evidence lined up with Pistorius' version of events. His credibility is on the line. Now what?

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think what the South African -- the police service has done, they have removed him from this case, Because, as you say, yesterday in court, he represented quite a weak argument.

In fact, I don't think the prosecution was pretty happy with him, because it kind of contradicted what they were saying today. And then, of course, then we hear that he has been also charged with allegedly trying to attempt to murder some people in a minibus taxi, shooting at them.

What this means now is that, after a week, the South African government has put in literally their best team. This is the most senior detective who is now leading this case. And, of course, the question is, why wasn't this done sooner?

WHITFIELD: Mm-hmm. And then there are reports that Pistorius has actually been sleeping on the floor of his cell because there are no beds.

How did he seem in court? What do you know about the conditions he's being subjected to?

CURNOW: Well, we know he's been held in a police cell in a police station. He's not in sort of the main jail. That'll come if he doesn't get bail.

And he was put in a cell. We are unaware if he's having to share it, but just remember, this is a violent society and criminals are getting processed throughout these prisons quite regularly.

So, I think there are times when he might be sharing with other people. We do understand from local media reports that, yes, he's not sleeping on a bed, that he has a mattress.

And I do also hear from other local media reports that he hasn't been sleeping well, understandably, and perhaps he's been given some assistance, some medication to help him.

I did notice today in court he was far more sort of switched off in a way to the proceedings. You know, we've talked about it over the last few days, about how he's been quite emotional, sobbing, quite physically distraught.

Well, today, he sat rock still. I mean, I was in the court the whole day. He barely moved. He looked like a statue with his head slightly bent.

But he really does look like a different character. Perhaps it's all just sinking in.

WHITFIELD: Robyn Curnow, thanks so much, from Johannesburg.