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CNN NEWSROOM
Winds Around Wildfire Could Die Down; California Wildfire Threatens Homes; New Info On Death Of Bombing Suspect; Search Is Under Way For Suspect's Gravesite; "No Evidence Against Him"; Explosive Residue Found In Suspect's Home; Kentucky Derby Tightens Security; First Boston Plan Was Suicide Attack; Friends Accused Of Tossing Evidence; Focusing On The Wife; Defending The Bombing Suspect; Colorado Readies For Pot Boom; Arias' Attorney: She Is A Liar; Jackson's Doctor Had Troubles; Markets Soar On Jobs Report
Aired May 4, 2013 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello to you, Randi. Thanks so much. Good morning, everyone. Families are desperately trying to get away from a raging wildfire in California. Firefighters have been working around the clock, but there could be some relief today.
And new evidence is surfacing in the Boston terror investigation. Details straight ahead on that.
Plus, there's a growing dilemma about where to bury suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body.
And if you thought growing marijuana was an easy way to make money, well, think again. We'll have more on the difficult science of cultivating pot later on in this hour.
All right, we begin in California where people forced out of their homes are nervously watching a raging wildfire. Wind has been whipping up the flames for the past two days. The fire has threatened as many as 4,000 homes. Take a look at this. People running down a street as the flames burned right next to them just feet away.
Stephanie Elam is live from Newbury Park, California. So Stephanie, where do things stand right now there?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the good news, Fred, is that overnight, firefighters were able to contain the fire now at 30 percent. So that's a little bit of growth there. They say the acreage of land that was born is 28,000. That's the same as it was the day before. So that's good news, that they're getting a hand on the fire here.
There's definitely also a change in energy if you look around. A lot of neighbors, as the sun has come up here on the west out, coming out to see where fire stands, but it doesn't have that nervous energy we were seeing over the last couple of days.
I also just want to show you behind me, the smoke that you're seeing here, these are from controlled burns. Firefighters are burning this on purpose because there's a lot of dry brush. We haven't had a lot of rain here.
So they're doing that to make sure that this area is burned out. There's no more fuel and it will protect the homes on just the side of the street where I am and this is where a lot of the evacuations have been -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: And what about people who have evacuated and, perhaps, in other regions where the fire is threatening folks have not left their homes yet. What's the status?
ELAM: Right. With some of them, they did stay in their homes. They didn't feel like they were that threaten. They were keeping up on updates on Facebook and Twitter, listening to whatever information they could get. Others decided to stay in their home. It became a personal call. We actually talked to a couple residents to find out how it's been for them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: Did you ever see any firemen around your house or anything.
ELIZABETH DICKENSON, LIVES NEAR WILDFIRE: They came through and told us it was a voluntary evacuation and when we decided to stay, we left for a few hours. When we came back at around 10, the sheriffs knew we were there and they said they'd compounding on the door if it came close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELAM: And that's the thing, they were waiting to get any information. One thing that's helping today is that the winds have calmed down. If you take a look at the way the flames are going, that smoke is heading back over that way.
Well, that's pretty much just rural area, wild land that on the other side is the Pacific Ocean where we were live yesterday. So this is pretty much burn that's what they want. If the winds were to shift and come this way, that's something that they would be concerned about, Fred, but right now things are looking much better.
WHITFIELD: Yes, and given that things can really turn on a dime. Say for instance, the women that you spoke with, do they explain why they think it's worth the risk? Why they're willing to take a chance and stay in their homes?
ELAM: Staying in their homes. A lot of people wanted to be there in case they thought the flames did come close, they could go ahead and fight back a little bit. But I did notice that a lot of people that we saw they had small children, if they had pets, they didn't want to take a chance. They wanted to get out to make sure that those animals were safe, but for a lot of people it was about gauging whether or not their homes would be at risk and if they could do anything to help them.
WHITFIELD: All right, Stephanie Elam, thanks so much in Newbury Park, California. Keep us posted.
We now have new information today on how Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev died. His death certificate says he died of gunshot wounds and blunt trauma to the head and torso. That's according to the owner of a funeral home where Tsarnaev's body is being held.
A search is underway for a burial site for Tsarnaev. So far, no cemetery in the area has provided one. The funeral homeowner who has the body right now told CNN's Randi Kaye that if he can't find a cemetery plot for Tamerlan then he plans to ask the government to find a grave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER STEFAN, FUNERAL DIRECTOR FOR TSARNAEV FAMILY (via telephone): Basically most of them have declined to do this. I think basically there some fear of reprisal. As I have told some of them, at the immediate moment you may feel that, but later on when things calm down, people are going to resent you because you didn't do it.
And we're having a problem locating a burial spot. We will find something on Monday. If I have to go to the higher authorities, this is a bad situation. My view is that we have to do something. We have to bury the person. This is what we do in a civilized society. I can't separate the sinner from the sins. I can't pick and choose what I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Earlier this week when Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body was taken to funeral home in the town of Addelburo, Massachusetts, protests actually were held outside.
The controversy surrounding the suspect isn't just here in the U.S. Our national correspondent Susan Candiotti joins us now from Boston with more details about protests taking place overseas -- Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred, yes. At this hour here in Boston as people here at this memorial honor the dead and injured from the Boston marathon bombing, a world away, overseas in Kyrgyzstan and in other regions of Russia in that region, there are people protesting as you said.
In fact, there's even a web page that has been created that authorities are taking a look at that includes the sentence, there is not a single piece of evidence against him. That's a quote in referring to the bombing suspect charged in this case, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Now they're also taking a look at some pamphlets that are being circulated overseas in that region as well, protesting the U.S. investigation of Dzhokhar -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: Now, Susan, investigators are also finding more evidence in Tamerlan Tsarnaev's home where his brother also stayed. What more do we know about the residue of bomb-making material and other physical evidence that's been retrieved?
CANDIOTTI: Well, sources are telling us that they have been able to find bomb residue on the kitchen sink, on the kitchen table and in the bathtub. Now officially, they're not commenting on this. So we don't know whether anything else has been found, but certainly they weren't taking at his word, Dzhokhar's statement to them, that the bombs were constructed in the apartment where his older brother lived with his wife and their small child.
But certainly it's stunning information to hear if true, if what he says is true, that the bombs were constructed there. And certainly, it seems they have been able to collect some physical evidence that that was the case -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, Susan Candiotti, keep us posted there from Boston.
So the Boston bombings have changed the way we plan for major events countrywide. So at Churchill Downs racetrack in Kentucky, security is being ramped up for today's running of the Kentucky Derby. Everything from coolers to laser pointers banned and the track is asking people to report anything that look suspicious.
Pamela Brown joining us live now from Louisville, Kentucky. So you got a little rain in the background, too, there, but that's not dampening the spirits. People are still coming out in large numbers. What are they encountering as it pertains to security procedures?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredericka, a lot of new measures put into place just in the last few weeks as officials scrambled to figure out ways to make it even safer here at Churchill Downs. This is the largest sporting event since the Boston bombing. A 160,000 people at least expected here today. It's clear security is top of mind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): Kentucky Derby weekend is usually all about the big hats and the mint juleps, and, of course, the horse races. But nearly three weeks after this sporting event ended in tragedy, folks here are thinking about more than just waging their bets.
(on camera): Is what happened in Boston on your mind today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It definitely is on my mind just for the fact that it's such a large crowd. You just never know what people's intentions are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Me and my buddy when we were coming, we are coming from Chicago and we're both talking today about how are you scared at all about it? Obviously, it was on the forefront of his mind and forefront of my mind coming in today.
BROWN (voice-over): Security has been tight at the derby since 9/11, but now officials are cracking down even more. KEVIN FLANERY, PRESIDENT, CHURCHILL DOWNS: The first thing you do after an event like that is you just get everybody back together and you say what's the plan, do we need to make any adjustments.
BROWN: Among those adjustments, a ban on coolers, cans, even large purses which came as a surprise to some. One hundred additional officers from federal, state and local agencies were brought in to conduct more thorough searches on the estimated 150,000 spectators pouring in to Churchill Downs. Most racing fans are taking the increased safety measures in stride.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was happy to hear that they had increased security. It means, you know, less make-up and goodies we can bring in, but it's worth it to be more comfortable and to know that we're going to all look after each other today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I bought this purse just for this.
BROWN: The one change had some women racing to the store.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only thing was we had to shop for different size purses.
BROWN (on camera): I heard the department stores had a ruler on the counter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every store you went in there was a ruler.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And Fredericka, the fact you can no longer bring large bags has really helped move things along at the entrances. The lines really haven't been so bad and that is good a thing because as you mentioned earlier it is raining here. People cannot bring umbrellas in to Churchill Downs. That's a measure that's been in place for several years. But as you said earlier, nothing is dampening people's spirits here today.
WHITFIELD: So Pam, as it pertains to the race, this kind of rain that you're experiencing right now won't in any way delay what's planned later on this afternoon, the most exciting two minutes in sports?
BROWN: No. So far, everything's going really smoothly. People have been expecting this rain to come. I mean, it's been in the forecast for several days so far, so good -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: OK, fingers crossed. We want to see that derby take place. All right, appreciate it. Pam Brown there in Louisville.
So as the young Boston bombing suspect sits in a jail cell, he's getting support from halfway around the world. Where it's coming from and what that could mean for the U.S. as investigators dig deeper into the case.
Also, closing arguments in the Jodi Arias trial are over, but did Jodi's defense attorney put forward a convincing case?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Getting back now to the Boston bombings. We learned a lot of new details this week about the suspects and what they may have been planning. Sources say younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev told investigators that he and his brother had initially planned a suicide attack and that they were aiming for the fourth of July.
Well, I'm joined now by our international security analyst Jim Walsh. Good to see you, Jim.
JIM WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: Do these new details in any way change your view at all, lead you to believe the brothers could be or were linked to an organized terror group?
WALSH: Well, you know, at this point, we don't know for sure, but it looks increasingly as if this was something where they were not getting help from overseas. Those investigations continue. You know, one of the interesting things that you reference is that because they thought they might originally target the fourth of July and they didn't because they made better progress than they anticipated.
In other words, they were doing things, testing, organizing, and trying to put together logistics in preparation for an attack. That would seem to suggest that they were working on their own. There have been reports that the police have been in rural areas near Dartmouth looking for possible sites where they could have been testing explosives.
Again, we'll want to see what that travel to Russia was about and to Chechnya. But so far, law enforcement has been pretty clear in suggesting that there are no further dangers in Boston. So that would suggest this is really located to them, with perhaps some outside support. But on the ground here, it was limited to them.
WHITFIELD: And then Russia news agency "Interfax," reported that special sources in Kyrgyzstan found pamphlets supporting Dzhokhar saying that he is innocent. So what does this or if anyway does that impact or influence the investigation in any way?
WALSH: No, I don't think so. You know, and this is to be expected, and I would draw a distinction, Fredricka, between governments and individuals in terms of the reactions. You know, every time a government has been referenced at all in the story, whether it was Chechnya or Kyrgyzstan or wherever, the governments have been quick to disavow any knowledge of it and to blame the attackers.
No government wants to draw the ire of the United States and so -- but, you know, then there are individuals. Of course, the U.S. is a major power. There are always people who are going to suspect it and think there is some strange plot going on. But those are people who already had grievances against the United States, already skeptical towards the United States.
I don't think it will impact the investigation whatsoever in terms of how more generally the world thinks about it. That will depend a lot on how we -- on the next step the U.S. takes. You remember after 9/11, there was tremendous sympathy for the United States.
Subsequent to that, there were actions taken where the international community, you know, was angry and responded negatively. So right now, I think the world community is sympathetic to us here in Boston and whether that changes or not depends on how we handle it going forward.
WHITFIELD: And then there were the arrests taking place of three individuals who were friends of Dzhokhar, who apparently were trying to help get rid of a computer, fireworks parts, et cetera. How involved in this mission might they have been? Do you believe they simply were roped into this to kind of clean up matters or do you think that there's any reason to believe investigators are finding more information that would imply that they were much more involved than that? Even in the planning stages.
WALSH: You know, yes, it's a great question. So, you know, there's a whole set of people on the outside here beyond the two brothers that may or may not have been involve. We have the college kids who it appears intervened after the fact, were not part of preparations prior to that. At least none of the charges suggest that.
Now in the last couple of days there's increasing focus on the spouse of the older brother. I think we ought to be cautious here. Right now, there are three possibilities any one of which could be true. It could be true that she was aware of what was going on and supported it.
There's some evidence to suggest that she was becoming increasingly religious and separated from her family and the community. So it's a possibility. But I would not jump to that conclusion. There are at least two other possibilities here, one is that she had no idea what was going on, even if there was -- you find explosive residue in the house, that doesn't mean she was present at the time these things were being constructed and if there's literature on her laptop, I don't consider that damning evidence.
So you know, we've had experiences in the past with serial killers and with other terrorist plots where spouses and family members were completely surprised. The third possibility is that maybe she knew, but she may have been coerced, abused or not under full autonomy to act on her own. You know, that the older brother did have allegations of domestic violence against from a previous girlfriend.
We don't much about the nature of that relationship. So I think we need to keep an open mind with respect to her. If she was not involved, obviously, the last thing we want to do is be accusing her because she has suffered tremendously through this and will continue to suffer as a consequence of all of this. So I think we should let that story unfold on its on time.
WHITFIELD: All right, well done. Thanks so much. Jim Walsh, appreciate that from Boston.
So, of course, we are learning more about this case overall against the bombing suspect. We're also finding out about the high profile team that this young man has lined up to defend him. I'll tell you who they are and how they may make their case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: The team set to defend the Boston bombing suspect includes some of the nation's most high profile attorneys. Our Jake Tapper looks at their resumes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAKE TAPPER, HOST, CNN'S "THE LEAD": When Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has his day in court, he'll be defended by some of the best lawyers in the business. Only two weeks after he and his brother allegedly set off the bombs that took three lives and severely maimed so many others, the court has appointed a defense team with client rosters that read like a worst of the worse list.
Meet Miriam Conrad, one of the country's best respected public defenders, a graduate of Harvard Law School. Conrad has defended notorious clients for more than two decades. This isn't even Conrad's first terrorism case. She assisted in the defense of Richard Reid, the so-called shoe bomber who tried to blow up a passenger plane in 2001 with explosives packed in his sneakers. Reid was sentenced to life in prison.
She also recently defended a Muslim-American radicalized by online videos who plotted to fly remote control model airplanes packed with explosives into the Pentagon and the U.S. capitol. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.
TAMAR BIRCKHEAD, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA SCHOOL OF LAW: Miriam is really committed to the cases that have no chance of winning, just as committed as she is to the cases that she could possibly win. She's really hard working and cares a whole lot about her clients and really a determined tenacious lawyer.
TAPPER: Tamar Birckhead, an attorney who also defended Richard Reid, worked with Conrad in Boston's Federal Public Defender's Office.
BIRCKHEAD: Miriam is extremely well regarded by the judges in Boston as well as by the attorneys in the U.S. Attorney's Office, the prosecutors. She has an excellent reputation and combined with her own intellect and natural talent. She's a very effective attorney.
TAPPER: She will have her work cut out for her. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is charged with detonating a weapon of mass destruction. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. And for that reason, prominent Defense Attorney Judy Clarke also has joined the team. Death penalty cases are her specialty. Clark has defended the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Eric Rudolf who was responsible for the Atlanta Olympics bombing and most recently Jared Loughner who went on a shooting rampage in Tucson, Arizona killing six people and severely wounding Congresswoman Gabby Giffords when he shot her in the head.
All of them escaped the death penalty, getting life sentences instead. An outcome that Tsarnaev's attorneys likely will be pursuing if prosecutors decide to seek the death penalty.
BIRCKHEAD: The primary goal that Miriam is going to have is saving her client's life and the first step towards doing that is making a connection with the client establishing rapport so that he trusts her, so that she can get the information that she needs from him. And so that ultimately he respects and listens to her legal advice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: Legal experts say a big strategy for the defense team right now is to delay until the American public is not paying as close attention. Jake Tapper, CNN, Boston.
WHITFIELD: Let's talk more about the legal strategy. Let's bring in Avery and Richard, our usual legal minds here, Civil Rights Attorney Avery Friedman as well as criminal defense attorney joining us from Las Vegas, Richard Herman.
All right, gentlemen, so investigators say Dzhokhar Tsarnaev already told them that he and his brother built the devices in Tamerlan's home and now investigators say they found explosive residue in the apartment that Tamerlan, the slain suspect, shared with his wife, Katherine Russell and their daughter as well.
So Avery, this seems to be a very big challenge for Dzhokhar's defense team, if he pleads not guilty, with that admission already?
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, we have the not guilty plea coming up, but honestly, the struggle here, and I think it's a riveting one is there is so much other intelligence that needs to be developed. Judy Clark and the other extraordinary defense lawyers are going to try to have their client avoid the death penalty for a simple reason. We're going to provide you with information.
Whether the Department of Justice is simply going to accept that I think is unlikely. I still believe the department is going to be asking for the death penalties specs in the charges. But I think the team is as good as it gets. We are going to have to see how this involves again. We still have another hearing coming up in federal district court. That is going to tell us what's going to happen.
WHITFIELD: And then Richard, you know, with the discovery of evidence being made so public, can the defense even argue that it will be hard for Tsarnaev to get a fair trial altogether?
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, they can argue that like Scott Peterson argued, like they all argue that, Fred, but it's going nowhere. Listen, Fred, he is going to get the death -- unlike Jodi Arias who we'll talk about later, this boy is going to get the death penalty and if the U.S. Attorney's Office might not even entertain any issue of plea bargain here.
And while the criminal defense attorneys are spectacular, Avery's right, they don't get any better than that in these types of cases where you need mitigation and you want to delay and you want to try to offer information up to try to spare his life. There is no other information this guy can give. He's not giving credible information.
And our intelligence, I mean, really, do we have confidence in it? These guys, the other kids were on visas with violations. These guys are here are on asylum, Fred. They're going to home to visit their families when they're here on asylum. It just doesn't make sense.
Somebody dropped the ball big here. This gentleman that you're looking at on the screen, he is going to get the death penalty. I don't think there's any way out of it.
WHITFIELD: And Avery --
FRIEDMAN: There are other issues, Fredricka. That is that, yes, we have the arrests of these three friends of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev this week. What do they know? I mean, we really don't know. They seem to be after the fact. But I think the deeper, more complex issue is there's no way these two guys would have been able to assemble this level of weapons of mass destruction without the appropriate training, Jihadist information notwithstanding. I'm convinced --
WHITFIELD: Except there have been some who argue this is information that's right on the internet. It's very easy to get.
HERMAN: Exactly! Exactly!
FRIEDMAN: That's the argument. That's the argument, but six months in Dagestan and Kyrgyzstan and Chechnya. Let me tell you something, there is information that the older brother brought back here, this is much deeper than simply this prosecution. Where we're in agreement is that I think death penalty is not going to come off the table. I think that's what Dzhokhar is looking at.
WHITFIELD: Are we looking at potentially as they found residue in the apartment, that potentially, you know, this widow might be facing some legal trouble of her own, Richard, down the line?
HERMAN: Yes.
WHITFIELD: If it turns out her fingerprints are anywhere on the materials?
HERMAN: Nnot only that, they have telephone conversations with her between the older brother and her after his picture was posted all over the news. And law enforcement is very interested in what the substance of those conversations and apparently -- apparently there's recordings of those conversations.
WHITFIELD: There's a picture of Katherine Russell up there.
HERMAN: Right, so let's see what happens there. But she may be an aider or abetter.
FRIEDMAN: In Jim Walsh's report, he said, you know what, let's not jump to conclusions. Actually I don't disagree with what was said, but again, making assumptions until such time as the case -- that's where this case has to go.
WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, gentlemen, we'll see you again in a matter of 15 minutes. We're going to talk about what a paramedic says he saw when he responded to the 9/11 call from Michael Jackson's estate, very chilling stuff, straight ahead, about 15 minutes from now.
All right, Pepsi thought rapper Lil Wayne was the man to pitch its Mountain Dew soda. Well, not anymore. What the rapper said in a song that has the company outraged.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Now let's take a look at the stories that are trending online. An expert says several factors could have caused the air crash in Afghanistan early this week. The U.S. civilian operated cargo jet plunged into the ground shortly after takeoff from Bagram Airbase. All seven people on board were killed.
A solar-powered airplane is traveling across the country without using a single drop of fuel. It landed in Phoenix this morning after takeoff from San Francisco on the first legs of its journey. The solar impulse is considered the world's most advanced sun powered plane.
And PepsiCo is dropping rapper Lil Wayne over some offensive lyrics. The singer made a derogatory reference to revered civil rights icon, Emmitt Hill, in his song "Karate Chop." A Mountain Dew spokesman said the singer's comments don't reflect the values of the company's brand.
All right, it's not exactly a cash crop. That's what some growers say about marijuana. We take you inside a pot growing business.
And this programming note, the next Anthony Bourdain, head north for a hearty adventure. Two of the funniest and most brilliant chefs in Canada take us on a tour of their country by rail. Watch "Anthony Bourdain: PARTS UNKNOWN" Sunday night 9:00 Eastern Time right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Colorado's legalization of recreational marijuana is expected to spark a boom in pot sales, but for the state's growers who already produce medical marijuana, it's proving to be a tough business in which to make money. Our Jim Spellman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like many small businessmen, Shaun Gindi has employees, a warehouse, retail stores and his fair share of headaches.
SHAUN GINDI, COMPASSIONATE PAIN MANAGEMENT: I make this business work paycheck to paycheck.
SPELLMAN: But his product is anything but usual. Gindi grows and sells marijuana.
GINDI: This is a flower room looks like.
SPELLMAN: He grows the cannabis in this warehouse in Denver and has two medical dispensaries in the suburbs.
GINDI: I have about 20 people working for me. They do anything from growers to trimming to working as caregivers in the stores.
SPELLMAN: So far, his business has been limited to medical marijuana, selling only to Colorado residents with a doctor's recommendation and state-issued red card. But last year, voters passed amendment 64 legalizing recreational use of marijuana.
The state is still working out regulations ahead of January 2014 when recreational marijuana stores are expected to open. Dispensaries like Gindi's are expected to be able to convert and sell to anyone over 21, but there are several catches.
(on camera): This is still against federal law. That must create an unbelievable amount of stress for you.
GINDI: Yes, it does. I'm talking to you right now. There is a voice in the back of my head that, there is an innate nervousness to being in this business.
SPELLMAN (voice-over): A bill in Congress would bar the federal government from going after people in states that have legalized marijuana, but it is unclear if the bill has a chance of becoming law.
(on camera): Are you afraid that all that you've built here will be taken away from you?
GINDI: Yes. I can't even keep my face straight saying that. That's such a real fear.
SPELLMAN (voice-over): Nate Laptegaard runs the warehouse.
(on camera): I want to learn more about exactly how you grow marijuana on essentially an indoor farm. Where does it start?
NATE LAPTEGAARD, COMPASSIONATE PAIN MANAGEMENT: It starts in the lab.
SPELLMAN (voice-over): With cuttings known as clones.
LAPTEGAARD: Get a little gel on there.
SPELLMAN: That go into these tanks for about two weeks then to this room for five weeks under simulated sunlight.
(on camera): Each of these plants gets in its own bar code?
LAPTEGAARD: That's right. Every single plant when it comes out of the conner, once it gets into here it's coded individually. We're able to trace that plant from this stage all the way to the end product.
SPELLMAN (voice-over): Then the light is cut back, to simulate the shorter days of autumn triggering the plants to flower and finally it's off to be trimmed and dried. The entire process is regulated by the state.
After a criminal background check employees are issued a Colorado marijuana worker I.D. card. Every time a plant is moved, the employee logs it using this software. A fingerprint scanner tracks the employees at every turn.
LAPTEGAARD: There's no scar face here. There's no AK-47s, none of that stuff. We have inspectors from the state in here all the time.
SPELLMAN: Even though Gindi pays sales and income tax, marijuana is still against federal law so expenses cannot be deducted from federal taxes and FDIC-backed banks won't take their money.
GINDI: There's nothing glamorous about this business. It's a struggle trying to operate without a bank account, trying to run a business without being able to take deductions.
SPELLMAN: At his dispensary, Gindi operates in a highly competitive marketplace. About 500 medical marijuana dispensaries in Colorado compete for the business of the 108,000 people on the medical marijuana registry.
(on camera): Have they become more kind of sores about their marijuana?
LEAH, BUDTENDER: Definitely, definitely. You don't ever see a, quote/unquote, "swag" any more. It's all chronic. It's all hydroponic.
SPELLMAN (voice-over): Competition has driven prices down to half of what they were just three years ago, creating razor thin margins. But could that change when more people, even pot tourists from out of state are able to legally buy weed? Gindi isn't so sure.
GINDI: There's a risk that comes along with it.
SPELLMAN (on camera): That might push the federal government into acting where they were comfortable not acting with medical marijuana.
GINDI: Right. And I have to make that choice.
SPELLMAN (voice-over): These marijuana pioneers will probably never convince all of their critics that pot should be legal, but they see themselves as the good guys.
LAPTEGAARD: Every single person that comes here that works for me, when they clock in, they put their finger on a sensor. And they know they're committing a federal crime. So every single person that works in this industry are all here for one reason and one reason only, we believe marijuana prohibition is immoral and we have to do something about that.
SPELLMAN: Jim Spellman, CNN, Denver.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Coming up at 3:00 Eastern Time, meet some people who decide decided to grow their own marijuana legally. Hear from the legislator who is going to put some of the rules into place. That's all straight ahead at 3:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
All right, next stop, the Jodi Arias murder case is now in the hands of the jury. Our legal guys weigh in on whether or not prosecutors proved their case.
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WHITFIELD: The Jodi Arias case is now in the jury's hands. Finally, they started debilitating late yesterday and will get back to it on Monday. In his closing arguments yesterday, even Jodi Arias' own lawyer admitted that she's a liar, but he said she is not on trial for lying.
Our legal guys are back, Avery Friedman in Cleveland and Richard Herman in Las Vegas. All right, gentlemen, so let's first talk about how the defense summed up the case in closing arguments. The defense attorneys saying it doesn't matter if you like Jodi or not, the bottom line is prosecutors didn't prove their case. So you can't convict her. Richard, is that a smart strategy? Does he have a good point?
HERMAN: It's smart strategy. It's the only strategy. By the way, Fred, both the prosecution and the defense attorneys were very, very good in this case. They fought very, very hard. They gave it their all. The prosecutor in his summation was like a screw driver. He screwed it in pretty tight.
Premeditation was his theme, she's a liar. You can't believe anything she says. She's lied to everyone. Jurors, she lied to you. Don't believe here. Nermy gets up there in defense and begins to break apart the premeditation and he argues to the jury you can't have it both ways, Mr. Prosecutor.
You can't say she's that smart of a person. She is brilliant. She is that sly and then have her leave the scene the way it was, have her wait some 13 hours -- 13 hours when she got there before he died, drive away surreptitiously with the license plate upside down. It doesn't make sense.
If it doesn't make sense, Fred, it's not premeditated murder and this is not going to be a conviction on premeditated murder, no way.
FRIEDMAN: We'll see. Yes. I think if you're the prosecutor in a case like this, I don't care who it is, it's shooting fish in a barrel prosecution. The burden really is on defense counsel. You know what, putting everything aside, I think what struck me about the final arguments, closing argument, was that he said, look, Jodi could have shot Travis in bed, could have shot him a million different times, but this was a crime of passion.
So the argument I think is a really good one. I don't think it's going to work frankly. I think if you're defending a case like this, the bottom line, Fredricka, that's all you've got. She could have killed him otherwise. We believe it's a crime of passion. We don't believe it's first degree. That's it.
WHITFIELD: All right, so the prosecutors, their case, on the other hand, Juan Martinez always very animated, displayed in this case, some very gruesome photographs from Travis Alexander's autopsy. There was nothing that was going to be clean about a murder case of this caliber, right?
FRIEDMAN: That's right.
WHITFIELD: One has to wonder, despite the fact that the family members of Alexander were just crushed in the audience there, having to see this, did the prosecutor have any other recourse but to do that? Richard?
HERMAN: No. He had to do that. He had to do that because it's part of the case. And it was absolutely a slaughter. There's no question about it. It was gruesome and he died a violent death. And Jodi Arias is the one that did it. The question is, was it premeditated or not. If it's premeditated she's going to face a needle. If it's not premeditated, I think, Fred, this jury is eight men, four women. Men are much easier on women than women are. Women are much tougher on women.
FRIEDMAN: That doesn't work.
HERMAN: I do not believe -- please, Avery, that's how it is in criminal cases. That's how it is. She is not going to get convicted of first degree murder with eight men on that jury.
WHITFIELD: Interesting.
FRIEDMAN: Really?
WHITFIELD: OK.
FRIEDMAN: I don't -- all right. We'll see what happens.
WHITFIELD: Remember, we want to see how long they'll be debilitating.
FRIEDMAN: Remember, we have a commitment right there.
WHITFIELD: I know. We're going to have to rewind the tape when we do get a verdict. OK, let's move on to the Michael Jackson wrongful death trial. The singer's mother and children are suing his concert promoter, AEG Live, saying that company is responsible for Michael Jackson's death because they hired and supervise his doctor, Conrad Murray.
So Murray as we know, he's serving time after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death. The financial problems are now the major part of testimony. We saw that playing out this week. So Avery, what did we learn about this case that makes AEG Live complicit in the death of Michael Jackson?
FRIEDMAN: I'm not sure. We're at the beginning. We heard Detective Orlando Martinez testify. There's so much hearsay in this case, it's going to wind up in the Guinness book. Martinez testified that Dr. Murray had eight children by seven women. Who cares?
The more important issue was the indebtedness. So what the plaintiff's lawyers for the estate are trying to do is simply build up the reasons why AEG should have known Michael Jackson hired this doctor. Again, we are one week into probably Fredricka, three more months of this trial. I think the plaintiffs' lawyers are feeling good after the first week, let's see what happens here.
WHITFIELD: OK, Richard? What was the highlight for you in this case this week?
HERMAN: The highlight, Fred, is in the case itself. What is the burden of proof here? The burden they must show is that AEG hired and supervised Dr. Conrad Murray. That's the big issue. They say they never hired him. They did not supervise him. He was Michael Jackson's personal attorney for years.
We don't know what treatments he was giving him. We didn't know about the Propofol. We didn't know he was a drug addict. And you know, it's not our responsibility. That's a big hurdle.
WHITFIELD: All right, this is going to be a colossal case. This may be three months that this will be kind of unravelling.
HERMAN: Latoya is going to testify. Come on, this is going to be good.
FRIEDMAN: And the kids. And the kids.
WHITFIELD: All right, we shall see it all unfold. Richard, Avery, thanks so much. Great to see you guys.
All right, the legal guys are here every Saturday at about this time to give us their take on the most intriguing legal cases of the day and week.
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WHITFIELD: If you have a 401(k) you have reason to smile these days. The stock market got a big push from the monthly jobs numbers that came out on Friday, a record-breaking day. Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange with more for us -- Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. A milestone day for Wall Street after a better than expected monthly jobs report, the U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs in April, according to the latest report from the Labor Department while the unemployment rate fell to 7.5 percent, the lowest level since December of 2008.
And February and March numbers, those were revised higher. The Labor Department says the economy added 114,000 more jobs in those months than previously thought. The economy has added an average of 173,000 jobs a month for the last year, but that means March and April were below average months and the economy could be headed for another tough spring and summer.
That didn't stop traders from celebrating when the Dow touched 15,000 for the first time ever Friday morning. And the S&P 500 crossed the 1,600 level for the first time ever. That was especially important because the S&P 500 is more closely watched by investors and it's typically a better reflection of the average American's investments.
It's been a while since we've hit a milestone like this. There was a seven-year drought between Dow 11,000 and Dow 12,000. It took less than a year to get from 12,000 in October 2006 to 14,000 in July of 2007. So that makes almost six years between 14,000 for the first time and 15,000 for the first time.
But here's the problem. The upward momentum is being fuelled not just by decent job numbers, but more so by the Federal Reserve. The jobs picture is improving, but not enough to push the fed out of the mix, which many believe is the reason you're watching stocks rocket to this new highs.
Another milestone will have to wait for next week, the first close above 15,000. The Dow ended Friday at 14,973 after a gain of 142 points, a pretty good day to end the week -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Alison.
All right, coming up at the top of the hour, we're monitoring the wildfires out in southern California. How the weather could bring much-needed relief.
And could the FBI or CIA have done move to prevent the Boston bombings? I'll talk to two members of the Homeland Security Committee about that.
And all-star basketball guard Kobe Bryant is being sued by a New Jersey auctioneer. It has to do with a lot of sports memorabilia and his mom. Find out.
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